Ministry of Rural Development has two departments namely Department of Rural Development and Department of Land Resource.

Being the nodal Ministry for most of the development and welfare activities in the rural areas, the Ministry of Rural Development plays a pivotal role in the overall development strategy of the country. The vision and mission of the Ministry is sustainable and inclusive growth of rural India through a multipronged strategy for eradication of poverty by increasing livelihoods opportunities, providing social safety net and developing infrastructure for growth. This is expected to improve quality of life in rural India and to correct the developmental imbalances, aiming in the process, to reach out to most disadvantaged sections of the society.

The Ministry of Rural Development consists of two Departments, viz.,

Department of Rural Development,
Department of Land Resources.

Broadly, the aims of the Ministry of Rural Development are:

• Providing livelihood opportunities to those in need including women and other vulnerable sections with focus on Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.
• Providing for the enhancement of livelihood security of households in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household demanding it.
• Provision of all weather rural connectivity to unconnected rural habitations and upgradation of existing roads to provide market access.
• Providing basic housing and homestead to BPL household in rural areas.
• Providing social assistance to the elderly, widow and disabled persons.
• Providing urban amenities in rural areas for improvement of quality of rural life.
• Capacity development and training of rural development functionaries.
• Promoting involvement of voluntary agencies and individuals for rural development.
• Restoring lost or depleted productivity of the land. This is done through watershed development programmes and initiating effective land reform measures for providing land to the landless rural poor.

Budget 24-2025

For the fiscal year 2024-25, the Ministry has an estimated annual budget of Rs 1,80,233 crore.