The Government of Rajasthan has given top priority to eradicating rural poverty. Each year, over Rs.850 crore are spent on various poverty alleviation and employment generation programmes.

It has announced a slew of schemes to address rural poverty:

• Food for Work and Sampoorn Grameen Rozgar Yojana aim to provide supplementary employment and food security to the weakest sections of the society during the lean period and also create permanent assets in the rural areas. During the year 2005-06, 262.41 lakh mandays were generated and over 160,000 M.T. food has been provided towards part payment of wages.
• The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme is operational in 12 districts of the State. Under the scheme 7.74 lacs people are being provided employment. Rajasthan is the first state in the country to have undertaken a comprehensive social audit of NREGS in partnership with NGOs in Dungarpur District. This has been accepted as a national model.
• Van Jan Shakti Yojana provides 100 days of guaranteed employment to about 38,000 families of primitive tribe Sahariyas. Rs.8.25 crore have been spent to create about 5 lakh man-days of wage employment.
• 2.26 lakh Below Poverty Level citizens across 7 districts have benefited from the World Bank aided District Poverty Initiatives Programme up to March 2005. Besides, under the Drought Mitigation and Management Programme, over 14.6 crore mandays were created in relief operation at an average wage rate of Rs.60.13.
• Pannadhai Jeevan Amrit Yojna (Jan Shree Bima Yojna), a social security scheme, provides free life insurance coverage to head of BPL families, with the premium being borne by the Government.