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The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment reported progress under the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) in Andhra Pradesh, where 1,159 villages have been selected under the Adarsh Gram component since 2018-19 and 892 have been declared Adarsh Grams by the State Government.
Tirupati has the most selected villages at 221, followed by Prakasam (111), Chittoor (101), Eluru (99) and Krishna (88); all 88 in Krishna, and all selected villages in Sri Sathya Sai and Vizianagaram, have achieved Adarsh Gram status.
267 selected villages are still progressing towards the status, with gap-filling infrastructure works under way to reach the prescribed score of 70 out of 100 across socio-economic development indicators.
The Grants-in-Aid component covered 1,19,679 beneficiaries in the state from 2023-24 to 2025-26 — 1,11,697 under infrastructure development, 6,132 under income-generating and livelihood activities and 1,850 under skill development.
No additional funds were released to Andhra Pradesh under the Adarsh Gram component during 2023-24 to 2025-26 because of an unspent balance and pending Utilisation Certificates; further releases are tied to utilisation and documentation.
Socio-economic development of Scheduled Caste communities through integrated village development, livelihoods, skill development and essential infrastructure.
Key: Launched in FY 2021-22 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment by merging three Centrally Sponsored Schemes — PMAGY, SCA to SCSP and BJRCY. It is 100 per cent centrally funded, and initially targeted the comprehensive development of 3,500 SC-majority villages in 2021-22 to benefit about 6 lakh beneficiaries.
Integrated development of Scheduled Caste-majority villages into model villages.
Key: Launched in 2009-10 following the Budget Speech of 6 July 2009 and rolled out on a pilot basis in March 2010 for 1,000 villages with more than 50 per cent SC population, across Tamil Nadu (225), Rajasthan (225), Bihar (225), Himachal Pradesh (225) and Assam (100). Progress is measured on 50 monitorable socio-economic indicators grouped into 10 domains.
Top up state efforts on income-generating, skill and infrastructure projects for Scheduled Caste households.
Key: Absorbed into PM-AJAY in 2021-22 as the Grants-in-Aid component for district and State-level socio-economic development projects. In Andhra Pradesh it reached 1,19,679 beneficiaries between 2023-24 and 2025-26, overwhelmingly through infrastructure works.
Provide hostel accommodation to Scheduled Caste students in higher educational institutions.
Key: A Centrally Sponsored Scheme for construction of new hostels, expansion of existing ones and repair and maintenance. Under the erstwhile scheme the Centre funded 100 per cent of all girls' hostels and of boys' hostels proposed by UT Administrations, 90 per cent for Central Institutions and 50 per cent for boys' hostels proposed by State Governments. Merged into PM-AJAY from 2021-22.
A Directive Principle of State Policy: the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. This is the provision SC-focused development schemes such as PM-AJAY rest on. It reflects the Gandhian strand of the Directive Principles.
Empowers the President, in consultation with the Governor for a State, to specify by public notification the castes deemed to be Scheduled Castes; Parliament alone may include or exclude a caste from that list. This determines who PM-AJAY's beneficiaries legally are.
Establishes the National Commission for Scheduled Castes as a constitutional body to investigate and monitor safeguards for Scheduled Castes and to advise on their socio-economic development — the oversight counterpart to schemes like PM-AJAY.
Selection is not the same as declaration. A village is first selected on the basis of its Scheduled Caste population share; it then draws up a need-based Village Development Plan that identifies gaps in infrastructure and service delivery and maps them against existing Central and State schemes. Most gaps are meant to be filled by convergence with those schemes; PM-AJAY money is 'gap-filling' assistance, intended only for critical requirements that existing programmes cannot meet. The village is declared an Adarsh Gram by the State Government once it scores 70 out of 100 across the prescribed socio-economic development indicators — under PMAGY these are 50 monitorable indicators grouped into 10 domains including drinking water and sanitation, education, health and nutrition, social security, rural roads and housing, electricity and clean fuel, agricultural practices, financial inclusion, digitisation, and livelihood and skill development.
Simple Analogy: The scheme works like a top-up recharge, not a full bill payment: existing schemes are expected to cover most of the village's needs, and PM-AJAY pays only for what is left over to cross the pass mark.
The Village Development Plan-plus-gap-filling design mirrors other saturation-model programmes; PM-AJAY's distinguishing feature is that eligibility is defined by Scheduled Caste population share rather than by geography or backwardness index.
The release states plainly that no fresh Adarsh Gram funds went to Andhra Pradesh in 2023-24 to 2025-26 because of unspent balances and pending Utilisation Certificates — a live illustration of how Centrally Sponsored Scheme transfers are gated on absorption capacity, a recurring theme in fiscal federalism questions.
PM-AJAY is one of the clearest examples of the Centre's umbrella-scheme consolidation: three separate Centrally Sponsored Schemes with distinct histories folded into one scheme with three components from 2021-22.
Article 46 is non-justiciable, so it works through budgetary schemes rather than enforceable rights — PM-AJAY is the standard example to cite when asked how DPSPs shape policy despite being unenforceable in court.
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections; Polity > Directive Principles
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Constitutional Articles
Social Welfare Administration; Andhra Pradesh-specific schemes and districts
General Awareness > Schemes
SC welfare schemes and Article 46 recur every year across UPSC, SSC and state PSC general studies papers.
Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana, launched FY 2021-22 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; 100 per cent centrally funded, with three components.
A selected Scheduled Caste-majority village declared a model village by the State Government on scoring 70 out of 100 across socio-economic development indicators.
A need-based plan identifying a village's infrastructure and service-delivery gaps and mapping them for convergence with existing Central and State schemes.
PM-AJAY funding restricted to critical requirements that existing programmes cannot meet, rather than full financing of village needs.
The document certifying that previously released funds were spent for the sanctioned purpose; pending UCs block fresh releases.