Department of Rural Development: Year Ender 2025

• 03 Jan 2026

Source: PIB

Why in News?

The Department of Rural Development released its Year Ender 2025, highlighting major gains in rural connectivity, housing, livelihoods, employment, skilling, and social security, alongside the enactment of a new employment guarantee law- marking a significant push towards inclusive and resilient rural growth.

What were the Major Outcomes of India’s Rural Development Efforts in 2025?

• Rural Connectivity and Physical Infrastructure: Since its inception in 2000 the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) has completed nearly 95% of sanctioned rural roads (7.87 lakh km) were completed, strengthening economic integration, border connectivity, and all-weather access.
  • In 2025, high-performing states such as Tamil Nadu (highest number of roads laid), and Himachal Pradesh (highest road length) and Bihar (highest number of bridges constructed ) demonstrate region-specific gains, while focused investments in border, hilly, Left-wing extremists (LWE)-affected, and northeastern regions strengthened both economic integration and strategic access. 
  • Digital reforms like e-Bank Guarantees, and Standard Bidding Document (SBD) improved transparency and execution efficiency.
• Women-Centric Livelihood Transformation: The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) emerged as a cornerstone of inclusive growth by mobilising 10.05 crore women into 90.9 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs).
  • The sharp decline in non-performing assets (NPAs) from 9.58% (2014) to 1.76% (2025) reflects institutional maturity, disproving the narrative that poor households are “high‑risk borrowers”.
  • The creation of 2 crore Lakhpati Didis marks a structural shift from subsistence to sustainable income generation, corroborated by evidence of 19% income growth and 28% increase in savings (3ie–World Bank study).
• Housing Security and Human Development: Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) achieved large-scale housing outcomes with 3.86 crore houses sanctioned and 2.92 crore completed by December 2025, including 23.4 lakh houses completed in 2025 alone. 
  • Under Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyaan (PM JANMAN), 4.71 lakh houses were sanctioned and 2.42 lakh completed for PVTG households, directly addressing historical deprivation.
  • Digital initiatives like AwaasSoft, Awaas+, PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh), and Aadhaar-based e-KYC improved beneficiary targeting, transparency, and disaster-resilient housing design.
• Skill Development and Employment Linkages: Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) under National Rural Livelihood Mission strengthened placement-linked skilling by training around 82,000 rural youth in 2025, while cumulative placements reached 11.64 lakh. 
  • Complementing this, Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) trained 59 lakh rural youth, achieving 43 lakh settlements, with RSETI 2.0 enhancing credit linkage targets to 50%.
  • Together, these schemes improved employability, entrepreneurship, and non-farm income diversification.
• Employment Security and Asset Creation: MGNREGS generated 161.6 crore person-days in FY 2025–26, with 56.73% women participation. 
  • The emphasis on productivity is evident in 49.62 lakh completed works, of which 60.59% were Category-B assets (community assets or individual assets for vulnerable sections) linked to agriculture and livelihoods.
  • Digital interventions like National Mobile Monitoring System (95% attendance capture), GeoMGNREGA (6.44 crore assets geotagged), and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) (99% wage payments) enhanced transparency and reduced leakages.
  • The Viksit Bharat- Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–G RAM G) Act, 2025 marked a paradigm shift by expanding the statutory employment guarantee to 125 days, embedding Gram Sabha-led, bottom-up planning through Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans (VGPPs). 
    • These plans are aggregated into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack (VBNRIS), which consolidates Gram Panchayat proposals at district and state levels.
    • The Act aligns employment generation with durable asset creation and the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047.
• Social Security and Welfare Delivery: National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) operationalised Article 41 of the Constitution by supporting 3.01 crore beneficiaries in 2025–26. 
  • Near-universal digitisation, 91.45% Aadhaar seeding, and 44 lakh Digital Life Certifications improved inclusion and efficiency, while state top-ups enhanced pension adequacy.
• Governance and Cooperative Federalism: Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice (DISHA) strengthened last-mile governance through district-level meetings, integrating 100 schemes from 35 ministries on a real-time dashboard. 
  • With district committees chaired by MPs and state-level committees led by Chief Ministers, DISHA institutionalised convergence, accountability, and cooperative federalism, improving coordination and on-ground delivery of rural development programmes.

Conclusion

Rural development outcomes in 2025 indicate a decisive shift from fragmented welfare delivery to an integrated, technology-enabled, and institution-driven development model. India is strengthening rural resilience, inclusiveness, and state capacity, aligning grassroots transformation with the long-term goal of Viksit Bharat.

Drishti Mains Question:

Q. “Rural development in India is no longer about welfare delivery alone but about institution-building and resilience.” Discuss.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the significance of the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025?
   It expands the statutory rural employment guarantee to 125 days, integrates bottom-up planning via Gram Sabhas, and links employment with durable infrastructure creation.
   
   
2. How did PMGSY contribute to rural connectivity by 2025?
   Nearly 95% of sanctioned rural roads (7.87 lakh km) were completed, strengthening economic integration, border connectivity, and all-weather access.
   
   
3. Why is DAY-NRLM considered transformative for rural women?
   It mobilised 10.05 crore women into SHGs, reduced NPAs to 1.76%, and enabled 2 crore Lakhpati Didis, signalling sustainable income generation.

UPSC Civil Services Examination Previous Year Question (PYQ)

Prelims

Q1. Which of the following grants/grant direct credit assistance to rural households? (2013)

1. Regional Rural Banks
2. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
3. Land Development Banks

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Ans: (c)

Q2. How does the National Rural Livelihood Mission seek to improve livelihood options of rural poor? (2012)

1. By setting up a large number of new manufacturing industries and agribusiness centres in rural areas
2. By strengthening ‘self-help groups’ and providing skill development
3. By supplying seeds, fertilisers, diesel pump-sets and micro-irrigation equipment free of cost to farmers

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Ans: (b)

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Mains 

Q. Despite consistent experience of high growth, India still goes with the lowest indicators of human development. Examine the issues that make balanced and inclusive development elusive. (2016)