The Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) was a poverty alleviation program launched by the Government of India in 1978-79. The main objective of the program was to provide income-generating assets to the rural poor and to improve their standard of living through an integrated approach.
The program was implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development and was designed to provide rural poor households with a package of income-generating assets such as cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, poultry, fish ponds, small tools and equipment, and other inputs. The program also included various other components such as training, credit, and marketing support. The program was intended to be implemented through a community-based approach, involving the active participation of the rural poor in the identification, planning, implementation, and monitoring of the program.
The IRDP focused on providing support to the rural poor households who belonged to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and other economically and socially disadvantaged sections of society. The program was implemented through a network of Rural Development Blocks and Panchayats, which were responsible for the identification of the beneficiaries, and the distribution of assets and inputs. The program also included a credit component, which provided financial assistance to the beneficiaries to purchase the assets and inputs.
The IRDP was implemented in all the states and Union Territories of India and covered nearly 5.5 crore rural households, providing them with income-generating assets and credit support. The program was also implemented in tribal and hilly areas and provided special assistance to the residents of these areas.
The program was gradually phased out, and was replaced by other poverty alleviation programs such as the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) in 1999 and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) in 2016. These programs have continued to build on the successes of the IRDP, while incorporating new and innovative approaches to addressing poverty and improving the standard of living of the rural poor in India.
Overall, the IRDP was a significant program, aimed at reducing poverty in rural India by providing income-generating assets and other support to the rural poor. The program was implemented with a community-based approach and was successful in improving the standard of living of many rural households. However, the program was phased out and replaced by other programs which continue to address poverty in rural India.