Ministry of Rural Development (India)

The Ministry of Rural Development, a branch of the Government of India, is entrusted with the task of accelerating the socio-economic development of rural India. Its focus is on special rural grants for health and education, piped filtered drinking water programs, public and affordable housing programs, public work programs and grants for rural roads and infrastructure. It also provides special grants to rural local bodies.

Ministry of Rural Development

Branch of Government of India
Ministry of Rural Development
Ministry overview
Formed	20 January 1980 (1980-01-20)
Jurisdiction	Government of India
Headquarters	Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi
Annual budget	₹159,964 crore (US$19 billion) (2023-24 est.)
Minister responsible	Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Cabinet Minister
Deputy Ministers responsible	Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Minister of State Kamlesh Paswan, Minister of State
Ministry executive	Shailesh Kumar Singh, Secretary of Department of Rural Development
Website	rural.nic.in

The current minister is Shivraj Singh Chouhan who has been in office since 10 June 2024, while the ministers of state are Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani and Kamlesh Paswan.

History

On 31 March 1952, the Community Projects Administration was established under the Planning Commission to manage programs for community development. The community development program, which began on 2 October 1952 marked a significant step in rural development history. Over time, this program went through several changes and was overseen by different government bodies.

In October 1974, the Department of Rural Development was created as part of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Then, on 18 August 1979, it became its own Ministry called the Ministry of Rural Reconstruction. This ministry was later renamed the Ministry of Rural Development on 23 January 1982. In January 1985, it was once again made a department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which was later renamed the Ministry of Agriculture in September 1985.

On 5 July 1991, the department was upgraded back to a Ministry called the Ministry of Rural Development. A new department, the Department of Wasteland Development was established under this Ministry on 2 July 1992. In March 1995, the Ministry was renamed as Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment, which included three departments namely the Department of Rural Employment and Poverty Alleviation, Rural Development and Wasteland Development.

Again, in 1999 the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment was once again renamed as Ministry of Rural Development.

Departments

The ministry has two departments: the Department of Rural Development and the Department of Land Resources. Each is headed by a senior civil servant designated as the Secretary of the Department. Anita Choudhry is the secretary of Land Resources and Jugal Kishore Mahapatra, a senior bureaucrat from Odisha, is the secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development.

Department of Rural Development

The department run three national-level schemes: Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for rural roads development, Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) rural employment and for rural housing, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana It handles the administration of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), and has three autonomous organisations under it:

• Council of Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART)
• National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD)
• National Rural Road Development Agency (NRRDA)

The Minister of Rural Development is the Chairman of these three organisations and the Secretary of the Ministry is the Vice-Chairman. The Minister is currently Mr Giriraj Singh, and the Secretary is Subrahmanyam Vijay Kumar.

Department of Land Resources

The Department of Land Resources runs three national-level programs:

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (Watershed Development Component)
• Digital India Land Record Modernization Programme
• Neeranchal National Watershed Project
• Other Programmes
  • GIZ led pilot Land Use Planning and Management Project
  • Ease of Doing Business - Initiatives

Cabinet Ministers

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
Minister of Rural Reconstruction
1			Bhanu Pratap Singh (born 1935) Rajya Sabha MP for Uttar Pradesh (MoS, I/C)	30 July 1979	14 January 1980	168 days	Janata Party (Secular)	Charan		Charan Singh
2			Rao Birender Singh (1921–2000) MP for Mahendragarh	20 January 1980	23 January 1982	2 years, 3 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
Minister of Rural Development
(2)			Rao Birender Singh (1921–2000) MP for Mahendragarh	23 January 1982	29 January 1983	1 year, 6 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
3			Harinath Mishra MP for Darbhanga (MoS, I/C)	29 January 1983	2 August 1984	1 year, 186 days
4			Mohsina Kidwai (born 1932) MP for Meerut (MoS, I/C until 31 October 1984)	2 August 1984	31 October 1984	90 days
				4 November 1984	31 December 1984	57 days		Rajiv I		Rajiv Gandhi
5			Buta Singh (1934–2021) MP for Jalore	31 December 1984	25 September 1985	268 days		Rajiv II
Ministry disestablished during this interval
Minister of Rural Development
–			P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921–2004) MP for Nandyal (Prime Minister)	21 June 1991	11 June 1995	3 years, 355 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
Minister of Rural Areas and Employment
6			Jagannath Mishra (1937–2019) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar	11 June 1995	16 May 1996	340 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
–			Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924–2018) MP for Lucknow (Prime Minister)	16 May 1996	1 June 1996	16 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee I		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
7			Kinjarapu Yerran Naidu (1957–2012) MP for Srikakulam	1 June 1996	21 April 1997	1 year, 291 days	Telugu Desam Party	Deve Gowda		H. D. Deve Gowda
				21 April 1997	19 March 1998			Gujral		Inder Kumar Gujral
8			Babagouda Patil (1945–2021) MP for Belgavi (MoS, I/C)	20 March 1998	13 October 1999	1 year, 207 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee II		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Rural Development
9			Sundar Lal Patwa (1924–2016) MP for Narmadapuram	13 October 1999	30 September 2000	353 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Vajpayee III		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
10			M. Venkaiah Naidu (born 1949) Rajya Sabha MP for Karnataka	30 September 2000	1 July 2002	1 year, 274 days
11			Shanta Kumar (born 1934) MP for Kangra	1 July 2002	6 April 2003	279 days
12			Ananth Kumar (1959–2018) MP for Bangalore South	6 April 2003	24 May 2003	48 days
13			Kashiram Rana (1938–2012) MP for Surat	24 May 2003	22 May 2004	364 days
14			Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (1946–2020) MP for Vaishali	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	4 years, 364 days	Rashtriya Janata Dal	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
15			C. P. Joshi (born 1950) MP for Bhilwara	28 May 2009	19 January 2011	1 year, 236 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan II
16			Vilasrao Deshmukh (1945–2012) Rajya Sabha MP for Maharashtra	19 January 2011	12 July 2011	174 days
17			Jairam Ramesh (born 1954) Rajya Sabha MP for Andhra Pradesh (MoS, I/C)	12 July 2011	26 May 2014	2 years, 318 days
18			Gopinath Munde (1949–2014) MP for Beed	27 May 2014	3 June 2014 (died in office)	7 days	Bharatiya Janata Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
19			Nitin Gadkari (born 1957) MP for Nagpur	4 June 2014	9 November 2014	158 days
20			Birender Singh (born 1946) Rajya Sabha MP for Haryana	9 November 2014	5 July 2016	1 year, 239 days
21			Narendra Singh Tomar (born 1957) MP for Gwalior (until 2019) MP for Morena (from 2019)	5 July 2016	30 May 2019	5 years, 2 days
				31 May 2019	7 July 2021			Modi II
22			Giriraj Singh (born 1957) MP for Begusarai	7 July 2021	9 June 2024	2 years, 338 days
23			Shivraj Singh Chouhan (born 1959) MP for Vidisha	10 June 2024	Incumbent	162 days		Modi III

Ministers of State

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Prime Minister
				From	To	Period
Minister of State for Rural Reconstruction
1			R. V. Swaminathan MP for Sivaganga	24 November 1980	23 January 1982	2 years, 3 days	Indian National Congress (R)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
2			Baleshwar Ram (1928–2015) MP for Rosera	16 January 1982	23 January 1982	7 days
Minister of State for Rural Development
(1)			R. V. Swaminathan MP for Sivaganga	23 January 1982	29 January 1983	1 year, 6 days	Indian National Congress (R)	Indira IV		Indira Gandhi
(2)			Baleshwar Ram (1928–2015) MP for Rosera	23 January 1982	29 January 1983	1 year, 6 days
Minister of State for Rural Development
3			Gaddam Venkatswamy (1929–2014) MP for Peddapalli	21 June 1991	2 July 1992	1 year, 42 days	Indian National Congress (R)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
4			Uttambhai Patel (1927–2018) MP for Valsad	21 June 1991	2 July 1992	1 year, 42 days
5			Gaddam Venkatswamy (1929–2014) MP for Peddapalli (Rural Development)	2 July 1992	18 January 1993	200 days
6			Uttambhai Patel (1927–2018) MP for Valsad (Rural Development)	2 July 1992	11 June 1995	2 years, 344 days
7			Colonel Rao Ram Singh (Retd.) (1925–2012) MP for Mahendragarh (Wasteland Development)	2 July 1992	11 June 1995	2 years, 344 days
8			Rameshwar Thakur (1925–2015) Rajya Sabha MP for Bihar (Rural Development)	18 January 1993	22 December 1994	1 year, 338 days
Minister of State for Rural Areas and Employment
(6)			Uttambhai Patel (1927–2018) MP for Valsad (Rural Development)	11 June 1995	16 May 1996	340 days	Indian National Congress (I)	Rao		P. V. Narasimha Rao
(7)			Colonel Rao Ram Singh (Retd.) (1925–2012) MP for Mahendragarh (Wasteland Development)	11 June 1995	30 March 1996	293 days
9			Vilas Muttemwar (born 1949) MP for Nagpur (Rural Employment and Poverty Alleviation)	15 September 1995	16 May 1996	244 days
10			Chandradeo Prasad Verma (1921–2005) MP for Arrah	1 June 1996	21 April 1997	1 year, 291 days	Janata Dal	Deve Gowda		H. D. Deve Gowda
				21 April 1997	19 March 1998			Gujral		Inder Kumar Gujral
Minister of State for Rural Development
11			A. Raja (born 1963) MP for Perambalur	13 October 1999	30 September 2000	353 days	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	Vajpayee III		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
12			Subhash Maharia (born 1957) MP for Sikar	13 October 1999	29 January 2003	3 years, 108 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
13			Rita Verma (born 1953) MP for Dhanbad	30 September 2000	1 September 2001	336 days
14			Annasaheb M. K. Patil (born 1939) MP for Erandol	1 September 2001	22 May 2004	2 years, 264 days
15			Krishnam Raju (1940–2022) MP for Narasapuram	29 January 2003	22 May 2004	1 year, 114 days
16			Suryakanta Patil (born 1948) MP for Hingoli	23 May 2004	22 May 2009	4 years, 364 days	Nationalist Congress Party	Manmohan I		Manmohan Singh
17			Ale Narendra (1946–2014) MP for Medak	23 May 2004	24 August 2006	2 years, 93 days	Telangana Rashtra Samithi
18			Chandra Sekhar Sahu (born 1950) MP for Berhampur	24 October 2006	22 May 2009	2 years, 210 days	Indian National Congress
19			Pradeep Jain Aditya (born 1962) MP for Jhansi	28 May 2009	26 May 2014	4 years, 363 days		Manmohan II
20			Sisir Adhikari (born 1941) MP for Kanthi	28 May 2009	22 September 2012	3 years, 117 days	Trinamool Congress
21			Agatha Sangma (born 1980) MP for Tura	28 May 2009	27 October 2012	3 years, 152 days	Nationalist Congress Party
22			Lalchand Kataria (born 1968) MP for Jaipur Rural	31 October 2012	26 May 2014	1 year, 146 days	Indian National Congress	Manmohan II
23			Upendra Kushwaha (born 1960) MP for Karakat	27 May 2014	9 November 2014	167 days	Rashtriya Lok Samta Party	Modi I		Narendra Modi
24			Sudarshan Bhagat (born 1969) MP for Lohardaga	9 November 2014	5 July 2016	1 year, 239 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
25			Ram Kripal Yadav (born 1957) MP for Pataliputra	5 July 2016	30 May 2019	2 years, 329 days
26			Niranjan Jyoti (born 1967) MP for Fatehpur	31 May 2019	9 June 2024	5 years, 9 days		Modi II
27			Faggan Singh Kulaste (born 1959) MP for Mandla	7 July 2021	9 June 2024	2 years, 338 days
28			Kamlesh Paswan (born 1976) MP for Bansgaon	10 June 2024	Incumbent	162 days		Modi III
			Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani (born 1976) MP for Guntur				Telugu Desam Party

See also

• District Rural Development Agencies (India)
• NREGS (Kerala)

External links

• Official website
• National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, website