Comparing the efficiency of different scheme's under "Bharat NirmanYojana": A Malmquist DEA analysis

The development of rural infrastructure is an important component in improving the standard of living in developing countries. In India, the government has taken up numerous measures to contribute toward the development of rural infrastructure, thereby initiating the Bharat Nirman Yojana (BNY). In this research study, the Malmquist model of input-oriented DEA has been conducted to determine the efficiency of six schemes of the BNY for the time period of 2013-2015. The input variables selected were; designated investment and total amount released by the central government against the output variable of number of villages covered or achieved. The analysis of the data observed that only the telecommunication scheme has constant efficiency of 1.000 for all the years. On the other hand, the least efficiency from the Constant Return to Scale model was found for Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) (0.014 for 2013; 0.026 for 2014 and 0.007 for 2015). Again, the Variable Return to Scale model indicated technical efficiency for the electrification scheme and telecommunication for all the years. Further, in terms of technical efficiency, all the schemes had decreasing change where Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) showed the highest change with 99.98% and the telecommunication scheme reflected the least change. Furthermore, the productivity index was found to be highest for Telecommunications (1.443) followed by AIBP (1.312), and the lowest productivity index was found for Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) (0.353). Thus, it was interpreted that among all the schemes, telecommunications scheme was the most efficient.