Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: E-KAUSHAL, Krishi UDAAN
Mains level: Agricultural promotion
The Union Minister of Civil Aviation has launched Krishi UDAN 2.0.
Krishi UDAN 2.0
- The scheme proposes to facilitating and incentivizing movement of Agri-produce by air transportation.
- It lays out the vision of improving value realization through better integration and optimization of Agri-harvesting and air transportation.
- It works by contributing to Agri-value chain sustainability and resilience under different and dynamic conditions.
- It will be implemented at 53 airports across the country mainly focusing on Northeast and tribal regions and is likely to benefit farmer, freight forwarders and Airlines.
Key highlights of the scheme
- Facilitating and incentivizing movement of Agri-produce by air transportation: Full waiver of Landing, Parking, TNLC and RNFC charges for Indian freighters and P2C at selected Airports. Primarily, focusing on NER, Hilly, and tribal regions.
- Strengthening cargo-related infrastructure at airports and off airports: Facilitating the development of a hub and spoke model and a freight grid.
- Concessions sought from other bodies: Seek support and encourage States to reduce Sales Tax to 1% on aviation fuels for freighters / P2C aircraft as extended in UDAN flights.
- Resources-Pooling through establishing Convergence mechanism: Collaboration with other government departments and regulatory bodies.
- Technological convergence: Development of E-KUSHAL (Krishi UDAN for Sustainable Holistic Agri-Logistics).
What is E-KAUSHAL?
- It is a platform to be developed to facilitate information dissemination to all the stakeholders.
- This will be a single platform that will provide relevant information at the same time will also assist in coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the scheme.
- Furthermore, integration of E-KUSHAL with the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) is proposed.
Airports under the scheme
| Proposed timeline |
Locations |
| 2021 – 2022 |
Agartala, Srinagar, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Hubballi, Imphal, Jorhat, Lilabari, Lucknow, Silchar, Tezpur, Tirupati, Tuticorin |
| 2022 – 2023 |
Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Jharsuguda, Kozhikode, Mysuru, Puducherry, Rajkot, Vijayawada |
| 2023 – 2024 |
Agra, Darbhanga, Gaya, Gwalior, Pakyong, Pantnagar, Shillong, Shimla, Udaipur, Vadodara |
| 2024 – 2025 |
Holangi, Salem |
7 focus routes & products
| Routes |
Products |
| Amritsar – Dubai |
Babycorn |
| Darbhanga – Rest of India |
Lichis |
| Sikkim – Rest of India |
Organic produce |
| Chennai, Vizag, Kolkata – Far East |
Seafood |
| Agartala – Delhi & Dubai |
Pineapple |
| Dibrugarh – Delhi & Dubai |
Mandarin & Oranges |
| Guwahati – Hong Kong |
Pulses, fruits & vegetables |
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Palk Bay Scheme
Mains level: Fisheries development
The Union Government is considering increasing the unit cost of deep-sea fishing vessels under the Palk Bay scheme to make it more attractive to fisherfolk.
Palk Bay Scheme
- The Palk Bay Scheme is the official scheme for diversification of trawl fishing boats from Palk Strait into deep sea fishing boats.
- It is aimed at encouraging fishermen to take up deep-sea fishing and put an end to disputes arising between the India and Sri Lanka.
- The project helps fishermen in the Palk Straits, who are not exposed to deep-sea fishing, to venture deep into the Indian Ocean, Arabian sea and other deep-sea areas to look for fish like tuna that are in high demand.
Why need such a scheme?
- Bottom trawling, an ecologically destructive practice, involves trawlers dragging weighted nets along the sea-floor, causing great depletion of aquatic resources.
Key components of the scheme
- The project aims to replace all trawler boats and introduce over 2,000 deep sea fishing boats in a course of five years.
- The scheme, under the aegis of Blue Revolution scheme – is funded by the Centre – 50 per cent and state government – 20 per cent for a boat costing Rs 80 lakh.
- Of the balance 30 per cent, 10 per cent is contributed by the beneficiary (fisherman), and the remaining 20 per cent is funded by banks.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] India- Sri Lanka Fishermen Issues
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
Mains level: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), was recently launched by the PM.
About Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
- The pilot project of the National Digital Health Mission was announced by PM Modi during his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort on August 15, 2020.
- The mission will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
- This will ensure ease of doing business for doctors and hospitals and healthcare service providers.
The key components of the project include
- Health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application,
- Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR)
- Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine
How will it work?
- In order to be a part of the ABDM, citizens will have to create a unique health ID – a randomly generated 14-digit identification number.
- The ID will give the user unique identification, authentication and will be a repository of all health records of a person.
- The ID can also be made by self-registration on the portal, downloading the ABMD Health Records app on one’s mobile or at a participating health facility.
- The beneficiary will also set up a Personal Health Records (PHR) address for the issue of consent, and for future sharing of health records.
Major privacy issues involved
- Informed Consent: The citizen’s consent is vital for all access. A beneficiary’s consent is vital to ensure that information is released.
- Data leakages issue: Personalised data collected at multiple levels are a “sitting gold mine” for insurance companies, international researchers, and pharma companies.
- Digital divide: Other experts add that lack of access to technology, poverty, and lack of understanding of the language in a vast and diverse country like India are problems that need to be looked into.
- Data Migration: The data migration and inter-State transfer are still faced with multiple errors and shortcomings in addition to concerns of data security.
Other challenges
- Existing digitalization is yet incomplete: India has been unable to standardise the coverage and quality of the existing digital cards like One Nation One Ration card, PM-JAY card, Aadhaar card, etc., for accessibility of services and entitlements.
- Lack of healthcare facilities: The defence of data security by expressed informed consent doesn’t work in a country that is plagued by the acute shortage of healthcare professionals to inform the client fully.
- Lack of finance: With the minuscule spending of 1.3% of the GDP on the healthcare sector, India will be unable to ensure the quality and uniform access to healthcare that it hoped to bring about.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SBM, AMRUT
Mains level: NA
The PM has launched the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation.
What are the missions?
[A] Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0
The Mission will focus on ensuring complete access to sanitation facilities to serve additional populations migrating from rural to urban areas in search of employment and better opportunities over the next 5 years.
- Complete liquid waste management in cities in less than 1 lakh population to ensure that all wastewater is safely contained, collected, transported, and treated so that no wastewater pollutes our water bodies.
- Source segregation- Under Sustainable Solid Waste Management, greater emphasis will be on source segregation.
- Material Recovery Facilities and waste processing facilities will be set up, with a focus on phasing out single-use plastic.
- Construction & demolition waste processing facilities will be set up.
- Mechanical sweepers deployed in National Clean Air Programme cities and in cities with more than 5 lakh population.
- Remediation of all legacy dumpsites will be another key component of the Mission.
[B] AMRUT 2.0
- Water management: It will build upon the progress of AMRUT to address water needs, rejuvenate water bodies, better manage aquifers, reuse treated wastewater, thereby promoting circular economy of water.
- Water supply: It would provide100% coverage of water supply to all households in around 4,700 ULBs.
- Sewerage: It will provide 100% coverage of sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities.
- Rejuvenation of water bodies and urban aquifer management: It will be undertaken to augment sustainable fresh water supply.
- Recycle and reuse of treated wastewater: It is expected to cater to 20% of total water needs of the cities and 40% of industrial demand.
- Pey Jal Survekshan: It will be conducted in cities to ascertain equitable distribution of water, reuse of wastewater and mapping of water bodies.
Back2Basics:
All about the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PM POSHAN Scheme
Mains level: Mid-day meal scheme
The existing Mid-Day Meal scheme, which provides hot meals to students, has been renamed as the National Scheme for PM Poshan Shakti Nirman.
Key propositions in the PM POSHAN Scheme
- Supplementary nutrition: The new scheme has a provision for supplementary nutrition for children in aspirational districts and those with high prevalence of anaemia.
- States to decide diet: It essentially does away with the restriction on the part of the Centre to provide funds only for wheat, rice, pulses and vegetables. Currently, if a state decides to add any component like milk or eggs to the menu, the Centre does not bear the additional cost. Now that restriction has been lifted.
- Nutri-gardens: They will be developed in schools to give children “firsthand experience with nature and gardening”.
- Women and FPOs: To promote vocal for local, women self-help groups and farmer producer organisations will be encouraged to provide a fillip to locally grown traditional food items.
- Social Audit: The scheme also plans “inspection” by students of colleges and universities for ground-level execution.
- Tithi-Bhojan: Communities would also be encouraged to provide the children food at festivals etc, while cooking festivals to encourage local cuisines are also envisaged.
- DBTs to school: In other procedural changes meant to promote transparency and reduce leakages, States will be asked to do direct benefit cash transfers of cooking costs to individual school accounts, and honorarium amounts to the bank accounts of cooks and helpers.
- Holistic nutrition: The rebranded scheme aims to focus on “holistic nutrition” goals. Use of locally grown traditional foods will be encouraged, along with school nutrition gardens.
About the Mid-Day Meal Scheme
- The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal program designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.
- It was launched in the year 1995.
- It supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in:
- Government, government aided, local body schools
- Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative education centres,
- Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and
- National Child Labour Project schools run by the ministry of labour
- The Scheme has a legal backing under the National Food Security Act, 2013.
Objective:
To enhance the enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among school going children studying in Classes I to VIII
History of the scheme
- In 1925, a Mid Day Meal Programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation.
- By the mid-1980s three States viz. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a same scheme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage.
- In 2001, the Supreme Court asked all state governments to begin this programme in their schools within 6 months.
Calorie approach
- Primary (1-5) and upper primary (6-8) schoolchildren are currently entitled to 100 grams and 150 grams of food grains per working day each.
- The calorific value of a mid-day meal at various stages has been fixed at a minimum:
| Calories Intake |
Primary |
Upper Primary |
| Energy |
450 calories |
700 calories |
| Protein |
12 grams |
20 grams |
Impact created by the Scheme
- The MDM Scheme has many potential benefits: attracting children from disadvantaged sections (especially girls, Dalits and Adivasis) to school, improving regularity, nutritional benefits, socialisation benefits and benefits to women are some that have been highlighted.
- Apart from nutrition, this scheme has been miraculous. Mothers who first used to interrupt their work to feed their children at home, now no longer need to do so.
Issues with the Scheme
- Discrimination: Caste-based discrimination continues to occur in the serving of food, though the government seems unwilling to acknowledge this.
- Leakages: The scheme has been subjected to leakages similar to the Public Distribution System.
- Unhealthy and unhygienic: There have been cases of eating pesticide-contaminated mid-day meals leading to food poisoning.
Try this PYQ:
Which of the following can be said to be essentially the parts of Inclusive Governance?
- Permitting the Non-Banking Financial Companies to do banking
- Establishing effective District Planning Committees in all the districts
- Increasing government spending on public health
- Strengthening the Mid-day Meal Scheme
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Post your answers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
Mains level: Features of the ABDM
The PM has launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to provide a digital Health ID to people which will contain their health records.
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
- The pilot project of the National Digital Health Mission was announced by PM Modi during his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort on August 15, 2020.
- The mission will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
- This will ensure ease of doing business for doctors and hospitals and healthcare service providers.
The key components of the project include
- Health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application,
- Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR)
- Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine
What makes this special?
- The mission will create integration within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in revolutionising payments.
- Citizens will only be a click-away from accessing healthcare facilities.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PM-SAUBHAGYA Scheme
Mains level: Rural and Urban Electrification
The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – SAUBHAGYA Scheme has successfully completed four years of its implementation.
Progress till date
- 82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of SAUBHAGYA till 31st March, 2021.
About SAUBHAGYA Scheme
- The Saubhagya is a scheme to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas.
- It was launched in September 2017.
- The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is the nodal agency for the operationalization of the scheme throughout the country.
Objective
- To provide energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified households in rural as well as urban areas
- To achieve universal household electrification in the country
Beneficiaries of the project
- The beneficiaries for free electricity connections would be identified using Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
- However, un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 installments through electricity bill.
- The solar power packs of 200 to 300 Wp with battery bank for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible areas, comprises Five LED lights, One DC fan, One DC power plug.
- It also includes Repair and Maintenance (R&M) for 5 years.
Implementation process
- For the easy and accelerated implementation of the Scheme, modern technology shall be used for household surveys by using Mobile App.
- Beneficiaries shall be identified and their application for electricity connection along with applicant photograph and identity proof shall be registered on spot.
- The Gram Panchayat/Public institutions in the rural areas may be authorised to collect application forms along with complete documentation, distribute bills and collect revenue in consultation with the Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.
Expected outcomes of the scheme
The expected outcome of the Scheme is as follows:
- Environmental upgradation by substitution of Kerosene for lighting purposes
- Improvement education services
- Better health services
- Enhanced connectivity through radio, television, mobiles, etc.
- Increased economic activities and jobs
- Improved quality of life especially for women
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: White Goods, PLI Scheme
Mains level: Success of the PLI Scheme
A total of 52 companies have filed their application with a committed investment of Rs 5,866 crore under the PLI scheme to incentivize the domestic manufacturing of components of White Goods.
What are White Goods?
- White goods refer to heavy consumer durables or large home appliances, which were traditionally available only in white.
- They include appliances such as washing machines, air conditioners, stoves, refrigerators, etc. The white goods industry in India is highly concentrated.
Why PLI scheme for white goods?
- Indian appliance and consumer electronics (ACE) market reached INR 76,400 crore (~$10.93 bn) in 2019.
- Appliances and consumer electronics industry is expected to double to reach INR 1.48 lakh crore (~$21.18 bn) by 2025.
- The PLI Scheme on White Goods is designed to create complete component ecosystem for Air Conditioners and LED Lights Industry in India and make India an integral part of the global supply chains.
- Only manufacturing of components of ACs and LED Lights will be incentivized under the Scheme.
What is PLI Scheme?
- As the name suggests, the scheme provides incentives to companies for enhancing their domestic manufacturing apart from focusing on reducing import bills and improving the cost competitiveness of local goods.
- PLI scheme offers incentives on incremental sales for products manufactured in India.
- The scheme for respective sectors has to be implemented by the concerned ministries and departments.
Criteria laid for the scheme
- Eligibility criteria for businesses under the PLI scheme vary based on the sector approved under the scheme.
- For instance, the eligibility for telecom units is subject to the achievement of a minimum threshold of cumulative incremental investment and incremental sales of manufactured goods.
- The minimum investment threshold for MSME is Rs 10 crore and Rs 100 crores for others.
- Under food processing, SMEs and others must hold over 50 per cent of the stock of their subsidiaries, if any.
- On the other hand, for businesses under pharmaceuticals, the project has to be a greenfield project while the net worth of the company should not be less than 30 per cent of the total committed investment.
What are the incentives offered?
- An incentive of 4-6 per cent was offered last year on mobile and electronic components manufacturers such as resistors, transistors, diodes, etc.
- Similarly, 10 percent incentives were offered for six years (FY22-27) of the scheme for the food processing industry.
- For white goods too, the incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years was offered to companies engaged in the manufacturing of air conditioners and LED lights.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PLI scheme for various sectors
Mains level: Textile sector of India
The Union Government has approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles. This move is a part of the overall announcement of PLI Schemes for 13 sectors made earlier during the Union Budget 2021-22.
What is PLI Scheme?
- As the name suggests, the scheme provides incentives to companies for enhancing their domestic manufacturing apart from focusing on reducing import bills and improving the cost competitiveness of local goods.
- PLI scheme offers incentives on incremental sales for products manufactured in India.
- The scheme for respective sectors has to be implemented by the concerned ministries and departments.
Criteria laid for the scheme
- Eligibility criteria for businesses under the PLI scheme vary based on the sector approved under the scheme.
- For instance, the eligibility for telecom units is subject to the achievement of a minimum threshold of cumulative incremental investment and incremental sales of manufactured goods.
- The minimum investment threshold for MSME is Rs 10 crore and Rs 100 crores for others.
- Under food processing, SMEs and others must hold over 50 per cent of the stock of their subsidiaries, if any.
- On the other hand, for businesses under pharmaceuticals, the project has to be a greenfield project while the net worth of the company should not be less than 30 per cent of the total committed investment.
What are the incentives involved?
- An incentive of 4-6 per cent was offered last year on mobile and electronic components manufacturers such as resistors, transistors, diodes, etc.
- Similarly, 10 percent incentives were offered for six years (FY22-27) of the scheme for the food processing industry.
- For white goods too, the incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years was offered to companies engaged in the manufacturing of air conditioners and LED lights.
What is in the box for Textiles?
- The PLI scheme for textiles aims to promote the production of high value Man-Made Fibre (MMF) fabrics, garments and technical textiles.
- Any person or company willing to invest a minimum of Rs 300 crore in plant, machinery, equipment and civil works (excluding land and administrative building cost) to produce products of MMF fabrics, garments and products of technical textiles will be eligible.
- Investors willing to spend a minimum of Rs 100 crore under the same conditions shall be eligible.
Benefits offered
- PLI scheme for Textiles will promote production of high value MMF Fabric, Garments and Technical Textiles in country.
- The incentive structure has been so formulated that the industry will be encouraged to invest in fresh capacities in these segments.
- This will give a major push to the growing high-value MMF segment which will complement the efforts of the cotton and other natural fiber-based textiles industry.
- This will help to generate new opportunities for employment and trade, resultantly helping India regain its historical dominant status in global textiles trade.
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Back2Basics: India’s textile sector
- The textile industry in India traditionally, after agriculture, is the only industry that has generated huge employment for both skilled and unskilled labour.
- The domestic textiles and apparel industry contributes 5% to India’s GDP, 7% of industry output in value terms, and 12% of the country’s export earnings.
- The textile industry continues to be the second-largest employment generating sector in India. It offers direct employment to over 35 million in the country.
- India is first in global jute production and shares 63% of the global textile and garment market. India is second in global textile manufacturing and also second in silk and cotton production.
- 100% FDI is allowed via automatic route in textile sector.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Glue Grant Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
Forty Central universities will kick off the implementation of innovative measures such as the academic credit bank and the glue grant meant to encourage multidisciplinary in UG courses.
Glue Grant Scheme
- Under the glue grant, announced in this year’s budget, institutions in the same city would be encouraged to share resources, equipment and even allow their students to take classes from each other.
- This is the first step for multidisciplinary.
- We intend to start this from the second semester of the current academic year.
- Ultimately, faculty will be able to design joint courses.
- This also meant that institutions need not duplicate work by developing the same capacities, but would be able to build on each other’s expertise.
Credit bank
- The first step would be the academic credit bank, which would have to be adopted separately by the academic council of each university to kick off implementation.
- To start with, the system would allow students to attain qualifications by amassing credits rather than specific durations on campus.
- A certain number of credits would add up to a certificate, then a diploma and then a degree, allowing for multiple entries and exit points.
- Students can earn up to 40% of their credits in online Swayam classes, rather than in the physical classroom. In the future, these credits will hold validity across different institutions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bhuvan Yuktdhara Portal
Mains level: MGNREGA
A new portal under Bhuvan “Yuktdhara” has been released to facilitate planning of new MGNREGA assets using Remote Sensing and GIS based information.
Bhuvan Yuktdhara Portal
- Yuktdhara is a geospatial planning portal meant for facilitating Gram Panchayat level planning of MGNREGA activities across India.
- Portal integrates a wide variety of spatial information contents to enable a holistic approach towards planning using open-source GIS tool.
- Subsequent to pan Indian initiative of geo-tagging assets created under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, harnessing the strength of GIS for identifying upcoming activities and their locations was a natural corollary.
Features of the portal
- The current level of integration under Yuktdhara, as part of Bhuvan, incorporates multi-temporal IRS satellite data of better than 3M detail in natural color, digital terrain, thematic layers as wed as locations of MGNREGA works and watershed management assets.
- The interface currently has a Gram Panchayat-specific logo to address planning as well as approval mechanisms intended to ensure the evaluation and acceptance of proposed activities.
- This will be enhanced for other levels of users gradually.
- Access for other Gram Panchayat will be facilitated at the earliest, by addressing the case multiple logins created for geotagging and moderation.
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Back2Basics: MGNREG Scheme
- The MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.
- This is labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘Right to Work’.
- The act was first proposed in 1991 by P.V. Narasimha Rao.
The objectives of the MGNREGA are:
- To enhance the livelihood security of the rural poor by generating wage employment opportunities.
- To create a rural asset base that would enhance productive ways of employment, augment and sustain a rural household income.
Features of the program
- MGNREGA is unique in not only ensuring at least 100 days of employment to the willing unskilled workers, but also in ensuring an enforceable commitment on the implementing machinery i.e., the State Governments, and providing a bargaining power to the labourers.
- The failure of provision for employment within 15 days of the receipt of job application from a prospective household will result in the payment of unemployment allowance to the job seekers.
- Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid.
- Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MEIS, RODTEP Scheme
Mains level: Export promotion schemes in India
The Centre has notified the rates and norms for the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme asserting that it would put ‘direct cash in the pockets of exporters’ soon.
RoDTEP Scheme
- RoDTEP is a scheme for Exporters to make Indian products cost-competitive and create a level playing field for them in the Global Market.
- It has been kicked in from January 2021, replacing the earlier Merchandise and Services Export Incentive Schemes (MEIS and SEIS) that were in violation of WTO norms.
- The new RoDTEP Scheme is a fully WTO compliant scheme.
- It will reimburse all the taxes/duties/levies being charged at the Central/State/Local level which are not currently refunded under any of the existing schemes but are incurred at the manufacturing and distribution process.
Answer this PYQ:
Q.With reference to the international trade of India at present, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- India’s merchandise exports are less than its merchandise imports.
- India’s imports of iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizers and machinery have decreased in recent years.
- India’s exports of services ye more than its imports of services.
- India suffers from an overall trade/current account deficit.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 4 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 3 and 4 only
Post your answers here (You need to sign-in for that).
Why need such a scheme?
- The scheme was announced last year as a replacement for the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), which was not found not to be compliant with the rules of the World Trade Organisation.
- Following a complaint by the US, a dispute settlement panel had ruled against India’s use of MEIS as it had found the duty credit scrips awarded under the scheme to be inconsistent with WTO norms.
Coverage of the scheme
- It covers about 75% of traded items and 65% of India’s exports.
- To enable zero-rating of exports by ensuring domestic taxes are not exported, all taxes, including those levied by States and even Gram Panchayats, will be refunded under the scheme.
- Steel, pharma, and chemicals have not been included under the scheme because their exports have done well without incentives.
Back2Basics: Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)
- MEIS was launched with an objective to enhance the export of notified goods manufactured in a country.
- This scheme came into effect on 1 April 2015 through the Foreign Trade Policy and was in existence till 2020.
- It intended to incentivize exports of goods manufactured in India or produced in India.
- The incentives were for goods widely exported from India, industries producing or manufacturing such goods with a view to making Indian exports competitive.
- The MEIS covered almost 5000 goods notified for the purpose of the scheme.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ujjwala Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
Prime Minister has launched the second phase of the Ujjwala gas connection scheme for the poor and said it would provide the biggest relief to lakhs of migrant worker families in the country.
Ujjwala 2.0
- Under Ujjwala 2.0 migrant workers would no longer have to struggle to get address proof documents to get the gas connections, Mr. Modi said.
- Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.
- Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.
About the PM Ujjwala Yojana
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016, with the aim to provide Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to five crore women members of below poverty line (BPL) households in the first phase.
- he scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, Islands).
- In the second phase the target was expanded to eight crore LPG connections.
Significance of Ujjwala 2.0
- LPG infrastructure has expanded manifold in the country due to the Ujjwala scheme.
- In the last six years, more than 11,000 new LPG distribution centres have opened across the country.
- The LPG coverage in India is now very close to becoming 100 per cent.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NMEO-OP
Mains level: Oilseeds and India
The Centre has increased the financial outlay for the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).
About NMEO-OP
- National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) was implemented during the 12th Five Year Plan, to expand the oil palm areas and increase the production of edible oils.
- It was later merged with the National Food Security Mission.
- NMEO-OP aims to resolve to allow India to be independent or self-reliant in edible oil production.
- Through this mission, more than ₹11,000 crores will be invested in the edible oil ecosystem.
- The government will ensure that farmers get all the needed facilities, from quality seeds to technology.
- Along with promoting the cultivation of oil palm, this mission will also expand the cultivation of our other traditional oilseed crops.
Why such a mission?
- India is one of the major oilseeds growers and importers of edible oils.
- India’s vegetable oil economy is the world’s fourth-largest after the USA, China & Brazil.
- The oilseed accounts for 13% of the Gross Cropped Area, 3% of the Gross National Product, and 10% value of all agricultural commodities.
- During the last few years, the domestic consumption of edible oils has increased substantially and has touched the level of 18.90 million tonnes in 2011-12 and is likely to increase further.
- A substantial portion of our requirement of edible oil is met through the import of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.
- It is, therefore, necessary to exploit domestic resources to maximize production to ensure edible oil security for the country.
Alternative sources
- Oil Palm is comparatively a new crop in India and is the highest vegetable oil yielding perennial crop.
- With quality planting materials, irrigation, and proper management, there is a potential of achieving 20-30 MT Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFBs) per ha after attaining the age of 5 years.
- Therefore, there is an urgent need to intensify efforts for area expansion under oil palm to enhance palm oil production in the country.
- Tree Borne Oilseeds (TBOs), like Sal, Mahua, Simarouba, kokum, Olive, Karanja, Jatropha, Neem, Jojoba, Wild Apricot, Walnut, tung etc. are cultivated/grown in the country under different agro-climatic conditions.
- These TBOs are also good sources of vegetable oil and therefore need to be supported for cultivation.
Try answering this PYQ:
Q.An objective of the National Food Security Mission is to increase the production of certain crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner in the identified districts of the country. What are those crops?
(a) Rice and wheat only
(b) Rice, wheat, and pulses only
(c) Rice, wheat, pulses, and oilseeds only
(d) Rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, and vegetables
Post your answers here:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Rural Development has taken several measures for the successful implementation of the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) Gram Panchayats.
Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)
- SAGY is a village development project launched in October 2014, under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.
- SAGY aims at instilling certain values in the villages and their people so that they get transformed into models for others.
These values include:
- Adopting people’s participation as an end in itself – ensuring the involvement of all sections of society in all aspects related to the life of village, especially in decision- making related to governance
- Adhering to Antyodaya – enabling the “poorest and the weakest person” in the village to achieve well being
- Affirming gender equality and ensuring respect for women
- Guaranteeing social justice
- Instilling dignity of labour and the spirit of community service and voluntarism
- Promoting a culture of cleanliness
- Living in consonance with nature – ensuring a balance between development and ecology
- Preserving and promoting local cultural heritage
- Inculcating mutual cooperation, self-help and self-reliance
- Fostering peace and harmony in the village community
- Bringing about transparency, accountability and probity in public life
- Nurturing local self-governance
- Adhering to the values enshrined in the Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties of the Indian Constitution
Identification of an Adarsh Gram
- A Gram Panchayat would be the basic unit.
- It will have a population of 3000-5000 in plain areas and 1000-3000 in hilly, tribal and difficult areas.
- In districts where this unit size is not available, Gram Panchayats approximating the desirable population size may be chosen.
- The MP would be free to identify a suitable Gram Panchayat for being developed as Adarsh Gram, other than his/her own village or that of his/her spouse.
- Lok Sabha MP has to choose a Gram Panchayat from within his/her constituency and Rajya Sabha MP a from the rural area of a district of his/her choice in the State from which he/she is elected.
- Nominated MPs may choose a Gram Panchayat from the rural area of any district in the country.
- In the case of urban constituencies, (where there are no Gram Panchayats), the MP will identify a Gram Panchayat from a nearby rural constituency.
- The newly elected MPs will have the option to select the GP of their choice.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MPLAD Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
Virtually, 50% of funds allotted for ongoing MPLADS projects have lapsed.
What is the MPLAD scheme?
- The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a program first launched during the Narasimha Rao Government in 1993.
- It was aimed towards providing funds for developmental works recommended by individual MPs.
Funds available
- The MPs then were entitled to recommend works to the tune of Rs 1 crore annually between 1994-95 and 1997-98, after which the annual entitlement was enhanced to Rs 2 crore.
- The UPA government in 2011-12 raised the annual entitlement to Rs 5 crore per MP.
Implementation
- To implement their plans in an area, MPs have to recommend them to the District Authority of the respective Nodal District.
- The District Authorities then identify Implementing Agencies that execute the projects.
- The respective District Authority is supposed to oversee the implementation and has to submit monthly reports, audit reports, and work completion reports to the Nodal District Authority.
- The MPLADS funds can be merged with other schemes such as MGNREGA and Khelo India.
Guidelines for MPLADS implementation
- The document ‘Guidelines on MPLADS’ was published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in June 2016 in this regard.
- It stated the objective of the scheme to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs in their Constituencies.
- Right from the inception of the Scheme, durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation, and roads, etc. should be created.
- It recommended MPs to works costing at least 15 percent of their entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 percent for areas inhabited by ST population.
- It lays down a number of development works including construction of railway halt stations, providing financial assistance to recognized bodies, cooperative societies, installing CCTV cameras etc.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q. With reference to the funds under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), which of the following statements are correct? (CSP 2020)
- MPLADS funds must be used to create durable assets like physical infrastructure for health, education, etc.
- A specified portion of each MP’s fund must benefit SC/ST populations.
- MPLADS funds are sanctioned on a yearly basis and the unused funds cannot be carried forward to the next year.
- The district authority must inspect at least 10% of all works under implementation every year.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 and 4 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 4 only
“Post your answers here”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dalitha Bandhu Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
Telangana CM has recently been informed to spend Rs 80,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore for Dalit Bandhu Scheme, touted as the country’s biggest direct benefit transfer scheme, to empower Dalits across the state.
Dalit Bandhu Scheme
- Dalit Bandhu is the latest flagship program of the Telangana government.
- It is envisioned as a welfare scheme for empowering Dalit families and enable entrepreneurship among them through a direct benefit transfer of Rs 10 lakh per family.
- This is, once implemented on the ground, going to be the biggest cash transfer scheme in the country.
- Apart from monetary assistance, the government plans to create a corpus called the Dalit Security Fund permanently to support the beneficiary in the event of any adversities.
- This fund will be managed by the district collector concerned, along with a committee of beneficiaries.
- The beneficiary would be issued an identity card with an electronic chip, which will help the government monitor the progress of the scheme.
Where is the scheme being implemented?
- The CM decided to implement it on a pilot basis in the Huzurabad Assembly constituency.
- Based on the experiences of implementation in Huzurabad, the scheme will be rolled out across the state in a phased manner.
- Officials were asked to visit Dalit colonies and interact with Dalit families to find out their views and opinions before preparing guidelines for the scheme.
- The pilot project will focus on monitoring the implementation of the scheme, evaluating the results, and also creating a safety fund for the beneficiaries with the government’s participation.
How is Dalitha Bandhu being implemented?
- The CM has ensured that the Dalit Bandhu is free.
- The governments in the past came out with some schemes and asked for bank guarantees.
- This is not a loan. There is no need to repay it. There is no chance of any involvement of middlemen.
- To promote Dalit entrepreneurship, the government has decided to start a system of reservations for Dalits in sectors where the government issues licenses.
- The government will provide reservations for Dalits in issuing licenses for wine shops, medical shops, fertilizer shops, rice mills, etc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SMILE Scheme
Mains level: Transgenders rehabiliation
The Government has approved a comprehensive scheme named “Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE)” which includes a sub-scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons.
About SMILE Scheme
- This scheme is a sub-scheme under the ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’.
- It also focuses on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities and intervention, counselling, education, skill development, economic linkages to transgender persons.
- It covers several comprehensive measures including welfare measures for persons who are engaged in the act of begging.
- The focus of the scheme is extensively on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, basic documentation, education, skill development, economic linkages and so on.
Its implementation
- The scheme would be implemented with the support of State/UT Governments/Local Urban Bodies, Voluntary Organizations, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), institutions and others.
- The scheme provides for the use of the existing shelter homes available with the State/UT Governments and Urban local bodies for rehabilitation of the persons engaged in the act of Begging.
- In case of the non-availability of existing shelter homes, new dedicated shelter homes are to be set up by the implementing agencies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP)
Mains level: Promotion of Organic Farming
The Union Minister of Agriculture has provided useful information regarding the Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP).
Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP)
- Natural farming is promoted as BPKP under a centrally sponsored scheme- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
- The scheme mainly emphasizes the exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs and promotes on-farm biomass recycling.
- It stresses biomass mulching; use of cow dung-urine formulations; plant-based preparations and time to time working of soil for aeration.
- Under BPKP, financial assistance of Rs 12200/ha for 3 years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building, and continuous handholding by trained personnel, certification, and residue analysis.
About Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana
- “PKVY” is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) of the major project National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
- Under PKVY Organic farming is promoted through the adoption of the organic village by cluster approach and PGS certification.
The Scheme envisages:
- Promotion of commercial organic production through certified organic farming.
- It will raise farmer’s income and create a potential market for traders.
Program implementation
- Fifty or more farmers will form a cluster having 50 acres of land to take up the organic farming under the scheme.
- In this way, during three years 10,000 clusters will be formed covering a 5.0 lakh acre area under organic farming.
- There will be no liability on the farmers for expenditure on certification.
- Every farmer will be provided Rs. 20,000 per acre in three years for the seed to harvesting crops and to transport produce to the market.
- Organic farming will be promoted by using traditional resources and organic products will be linked with the market.
- It will increase domestic production and certification of organic produce by involving farmers.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.With reference to organic farming in India, consider the following statements:
- ‘The National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) is operated under the guidelines and directions of the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
- ‘The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) functions as the Secretariat for the implementation of NPOP.
- Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic State.
Which of the above statements is/are correct? (CSP 2018)
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: One District One Focus Product
Mains level: Not Much
ODOFP programme
- The ODOFP programme cover products of agriculture and allied sectors for 728 districts of the country.
- The products have been identified from agricultural, horticultural, animal, poultry, milk, fisheries, aquaculture, marine sectors across the country.
- These identified products will be supported under the PM-FME scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, which provides incentives to promoters and micro-enterprises
- This scheme is being implemented for a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
- The scheme adopts One District One Product (ODOP) approach to reap the benefits of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing of products.
About ODOP
- The ODOP scheme aims to identify one product per district based on the potential and strength of a district and national priorities.
- A cluster for that product will be developed in the district and market linkage will be provided for that.
- It is operationally merged with the ‘Districts as Export Hub’ initiative implemented by the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce.
- Under the initial phase of the ODOP programme, 106 Products have been identified from 103 districts across 27 States.
Back2Basics: PMFME Scheme
- A centrally sponsored scheme that aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry.
- It aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and promote formalization of the sector,
- It further aims to promote formalization of the sector and provide support to Farmer Producer Organizations, Self Help Groups, and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain.
- The scheme envisions directly assist the 2,00,000 micro food processing units in providing financial, technical, and business support for the up-gradation of existing micro food processing enterprises.
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