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KEY TRENDS
• The growth is estimated to be 2.5 per cent in agriculture, 3.9 per cent in industry and 9.4 per cent in services during 2011-12.
• Monthly food inflation declined from 20.2 per cent in February 2010, to 9.4 per cent in March 2011 and turned negative in January 2012.
• The enrolments into the Aadhaar system have crossed 20 crore and the Aadhaar numbers generated upto date have crossed 14 crore.
• The outlay for Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is being increased from Rs. 7,860 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 9,217 crore in 2012-13.
• An allocation of Rs. 15,850 crore in 2012-13 has been made as against Rs. 10,000 crore in 2011-12 for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, which amounts to an increase of over 58 per cent.
• In 2012-13, National Programme of Mid Day Meals in Schools has been allocated Rs. 11,937 crore as against Rs. 10,380 crore in 2011-12.
• Budgetary allocation for rural drinking water and sanitation has been raised from Rs. 11,000 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 14,000 crore in 2012-13, which is an increase of over 27 percent.
• For 2012-13, Rs. 25,555 crore has been provided for Right to Education-Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. This is an increase of 21.7 per cent over 2011-12.
• Allocation to NRHM has been increased from Rs. 18,115 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 20,822 crore in 2012-13.
• Under the ongoing Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme for BPL beneficiaries, the monthly pension amount per person is being raised from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300.
Source: Budget Speech 2012-13 delivered by Pranab Mukherjee, http://indiabudget.nic.in/bspeecha.asp
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According to the Budget Speech 2012-13 delivered by Pranab Mukherjee, http://indiabudget.nic.in/bspeecha.asp:
• India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to grow by 6.9 per cent in 2011-12, after having grown at the rate of 8.4 per cent in each of the two preceding years.
• The growth is estimated to be 2.5 per cent in agriculture, 3.9 per cent in industry and 9.4 per cent in services during 2011-12.
• Monthly food inflation declined from 20.2 per cent in February 2010, to 9.4 per cent in March 2011 and turned negative in January 2012. The February 2012 inflation figure has gone up marginally.
• The Government has decided that from 2012-13 subsidies related to food and for administering the Food Security Act will be fully provided for. All other subsidies would be funded to the extent that they can be borne by the economy without any adverse implications. It will be the endeavour to restrict the expenditure on Central subsidies to under 2 per cent of GDP in 2012-13. Over the next three years, it would be further brought down to 1.75 per cent of GDP.
• The recommendations of the task force headed by Nandan Nilekani on IT strategy for direct transfer of subsidy have been accepted. Based on these recommendations, a mobile-based Fertiliser Management System (mFMS) has been designed to provide end-to-end information on the movement of fertilisers and subsidies, from the manufacturer to the retail level. This will be rolled out nation-wide during 2012. Direct transfer of subsidy to the retailer, and eventually to the farmer will be implemented in subsequent phases. This step will benefit 12 crore farmer families, while reducing expenditure on subsidies by curtailing misuse of fertilisers. Pilot projects show that substantial economies in subsidy outgo can be achieved by the use of Aadhaar platform.
• The enrolments into the Aadhaar system have crossed 20 crore and the Aadhaar numbers generated upto date have crossed 14 crore. There is plan to allocate adequate funds to complete another 40 crore enrolments starting from April 1, 2012. The Aadhaar platform is now ready to support the payments of MG-NREGA; old age, widow and disability pensions; and scholarships directly to the beneficiary accounts in selected areas.
• The total plan outlay for the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation is being increased by 18 per cent from Rs. 17,123 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 20,208 crore in 2012-13.
• The outlay for Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is being increased from Rs. 7,860 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 9,217 crore in 2012-13.
• The initiative of Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI) has resulted in a significant increase in production and productivity of paddy. States in eastern India have reported additional paddy production of seven million tonnes in Kharif 2011. There is a proposal to increase the allocation for this scheme from Rs. 400 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 1000 crore in 2012-13.
• Under RKVY, Rs. 300 crore has been allocated to Vidarbha Intensified Irrigation Development Programme. This Scheme seeks to bring in more farming areas under protective irrigation.
• To improve productivity in the dairy sector, a Rs. 2,242 crore project is being launched with World Bank assistance. To broaden the scope of production of fish to coastal aquaculture, apart from fresh water aquaculture, the outlay in 2012-13 is being stepped up to Rs. 500 crore. Suitable allocations are also being made for poultry, piggery and goat rearing.
• The target for agricultural credit in 2012-13 has been raised to Rs. 5,75,000 crore. This represents an increase of Rs. 1,00,000 crore over the target for the current year.
• The interest subvention scheme for providing short term crop loans to farmers at 7 per cent interest per annum will be continued in 2012-13. An additional subvention of 3 per cent will be available to prompt paying farmers. In addition, the same interest subvention on post harvest loans up to six months against negotiable warehouse receipt will also be available. This will encourage the farmers to keep their produce in warehouses.
• A Short term RRB Credit Refinance Fund is being set-up to enhance the capacity of Regional Rural Banks to disburse short term crop loans to the small and marginal farmers. Rs. 10,000 crore has been allocated to NABARD for refinancing the RRBs through this fund.
• Kisan Credit Card (KCC) is an effective instrument for making agricultural credit available to the farmers. KCC scheme will be modified to make KCC a smart card, which could be used at ATMs.
• A sum of Rs. 200 crore would be set aside for incentivising research with rewards, both for institutions and the research team responsible for scientific breakthroughs in agriculture.
• To maximise the flow of benefits from investments in irrigation projects, structural changes in Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) are being made. The allocation for AIBP in 2012-13 is being stepped up by 13 per cent to Rs. 14,242 crore.
• To mobilise large resources to fund irrigation projects, a Government owned Irrigation and Water Resource Finance Company is being operationalised. The Company would start its operations in 2012-13 by focusing on financing sub-sectors like micro-irrigation, contract farming, waste water management and sanitation.
• A new centrally sponsored scheme titled “National Mission on Food Processing” would be started, in cooperation with the State Governments in 2012-13.
• The Government has taken steps to create additional foodgrain storage capacity in the country. Creation of 2 million tonnes of storage capacity in the form of modern silos has already been approved. Nearly 15 million tonnes capacity is being created under the Private Entrepreneur’s Guarantee Scheme, of which 3 million tonnes of storage capacity will be added by the end of 2011-12 and 5 million would be added next year.
• To reduce India’s import dependence in urea, Government has taken steps to finalise pricing and investment policies for urea. It is expected that with the implementation of the investment policy, country will become self sufficient in manufacturing urea in the next five years. In case of the potassic-phosphatic (P&K) fertiliser, use of single super phosphate (SSP) will be encouraged through greater extension work. This fertiliser is manufactured entirely in the domestic sector.
• The Government has taken definite steps to create food security at the household level by making food a legal entitlement for all targeted people, especially for the poor and vulnerable segments of India's population. The National Food Security Bill, 2011 is before the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
• To ensure that the objectives of the National Food Security Bill are effectively realised, a Public Distribution System Network is being created using the Aadhaar platform. A National Information Utility for the computerisation of PDS is being created. It will become operational by December 2012.
• Following the decision taken in the Prime Minister’s National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges, a multi-sectoral programme to address maternal and child malnutrition in selected 200 high burden districts is being rolled out during 2012-13. It will harness synergies across nutrition, sanitation, drinking water, primary health care, women education, food security and consumer protection schemes.
• For 2012-13, an allocation of Rs. 15,850 crore has been made as against Rs. 10,000 crore in 2011-12 for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. This amounts to an increase of over 58 per cent
• In 2012-13, National Programme of Mid Day Meals in Schools has been allocated Rs. 11,937 crore as against Rs. 10,380 crore in 2011-12.
• Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls, SABLA, has been introduced in 2011-12 with a view to address the nutritional needs and other educational and skill development initiatives for self development of adolescent girls in the age group of 11 to 18 years. For 2012-13, an allocation of Rs. 750 crore has been proposed for the scheme.
• Budgetary allocation for rural drinking water and sanitation has been raised from Rs. 11,000 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 14,000 crore in 2012-13, which is an increase of over 27 percent.
• A major initiative has been proposed to strengthen Panchayats across the country through the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA). This programme will expand on the existing schemes for Panchayat capacity building.
• Backward Regions Grant Fund scheme is given an enhanced allocation of Rs. 12,040 crore in 2012-13, an increase of about 22 per cent over BE of 2011-12. This includes the State component which covers projects in backward areas in Bihar, West Bengal and the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region of Odisha, development projects for drought mitigation in the Bundelkhand region and projects under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) to accelerate the pace of development in selected tribal and backward districts.
• Allocation under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) is enhanced to Rs. 20,000 crore. An amount of Rs. 5,000 crore is earmarked from the above allocation exclusively for creating warehousing facilities under RIDF.
• For 2012-13, Rs. 25,555 crore has been provided for Right to Education-Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. This is an increase of 21.7 per cent over 2011-12.
• In the Twelfth Plan, 6,000 schools have been proposed to be set up at block level as model schools to benchmark excellence. Of these, 2500 will be set up under Public Private Partnership (PPP).
• The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) was launched in March, 2009 to enhance access to quality secondary education. In 2012-13, Rs. 3,124 crore has been allocated for RMSA, which is nearly 29 per cent higher than the allocation in 2011-12.
• National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is being implemented through ‘Accredited Social Health Activist’- ‘ASHA’. The scope of ASHA’s activities is being enlarged to include prevention of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, ensure 100 per cent immunisation and better spacing of children. At the community level, a more active role is envisaged for ASHA as the convenor of the Village Health and Sanitation Committee, as also to support the initiative on malnutrition.
• Allocation to NRHM has been increased from Rs. 18,115 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 20,822 crore in 2012-13.
• National Urban Health Mission is being launched to encompass the primary healthcare needs of people in the urban areas. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) aimed at setting up of AIIMS-like institutions and upgradation of existing Government medical colleges is being expanded to cover upgradation of 7 more Government medical colleges.
• The Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) has been restructured into National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) to provide self-employment opportunities. A sub-component, Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana, under NRLM seeks to provide better targeting of women farmers. For NRLM, allocation has been increased by over 34 per cent from Rs. 2,914 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 3,915 crore in 2012-13.
• A ‘Women’s SHG’s Development Fund’ has been set up in NABARD. Rs. 200 crore will be provided to enlarge the corpus to Rs. 300 crore. This Fund will support the objectives of Aajeevika i.e. the National Rural Livelihood Mission. It will empower women SHGs to access bank credit.
• Interest subvention to Women SHGs is provided to avail loans up to Rs. 3 lakh at 7 per cent per annum. Women SHGs that repay loans in time will get additional 3 per cent subvention, reducing the effective rate to 4 per cent. The initiative, in the first phase, would focus on selected 600 Blocks of 150 districts, including the Left Wing Extremism affected districts.
• A credit linked subsidy programme namely Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is being implemented through KVIC. The allocation for this programme has been increased by 23 per cent from Rs. 1,037 crore in 2011-12 to Rs. 1,276 crore in 2012-13.
• Under the ongoing Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme for BPL beneficiaries, the monthly pension amount per person is being raised from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300.
• Organised retail helps in reducing cost of intermediation due to economies of scale, benefiting both consumers and producers. At present, FDI in single brand and in cash and carry wholesale trade is permitted to the extent of 100 per cent. The decision in respect of allowing FDI in multi-brand retail trade up to 51 per cent, subject to compliance with specified conditions, has been held in abeyance. Efforts are on to arrive at a broad based consensus in consultation with the State Governments.
• For the year 2012-13, Rs. 15,888 crore is provided for capitalisation of Public Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks and other financial institutions including NABARD.
• In 2010-11, “Swabhimaan” campaign was launched to extend banking facilities through Business Correspondents to habitations having population in excess of 2000. Out of 73,000 identified habitations that were to be covered by March, 2012, about 70,000 habitations have been provided with banking facilities. With this, over 2.55 crore beneficiary accounts would have been operationalised. The remaining habitations are likely to be covered by March 31, 2012. As a next step, Ultra Small Branches are being set up at these habitations, where the Business Correspondents would deal with cash transactions.
• In 2012-13, the “Swabhimaan” campaign will be extended to habitations with population of more than 1000 in North Eastern and hilly States and to other habitations which have crossed population of 2,000 as per Census 2011.
• 82 RRBs in India, 81 have successfully migrated to Core Banking Solutions (CBS) and have also joined the National Electronic Fund Transfer system so as to meet rural credit needs.
• In 2012-13, the allocation for Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) is Rs. 37,113 crore which represents an increase of 18 per cent over 2011-12. The allocation for Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) in 2012-13 is Rs. 21,710 crore representing an increase of 17.6 per cent over 2011-12.
• With the objective of promoting market access of Micro and Small Enterprises, Government has approved a policy which requires Ministries and CPSEs to make a minimum of 20 per cent of their annual purchases from MSEs. Of this, 4 per cent will be earmarked for procurement from MSEs owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs.
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According to Social Protection for a Changing India (May, 2011), The World Bank, http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2011/04/20/000333037_20110420235516/Rendered/PDF/612750v10ESW0P1rt0Volume0I01PUBLIC1.pdf:
• During 2009-10, Rs. 42490 crore was allocated for food and Rs. 2866 crore was allocated for kerosene/ LPG under the public distribution system (PDS). It covered 23.3 percent of all households (above poverty line-APL and below poverty line-BPL in 2004-05). Annapurna scheme covered 1.7 percent households with elderly.
• During 2009-10, Rs. 30100 crore was allocated under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREG) Scheme. It covered 33 percent of rural households in 2008-09.
• For the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Rs. 2115 crore was allocated during 2001-10. It covered 0.8 percent of rural households in 2004-05. Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana covered 1 percent rural households in 2004-05.
• During 2009-1o, Rs. 5109 crore was allocated under India Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS). It covered 8.3 percent households with elderly in 2004-05. Widows pension scheme covered 6.2 percent of households widows.
• For the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), Rs. 7920 crore was allocated during 2009-10. It covered 12.8 percent rural households in 2004-05.
• For the Midday Meal Scheme (MDMS), Rs. 8000 crore was allocated during 2009-10.
• For the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Rs. 350 crore was allocated during 2009-10.
• For Social Insurance for Unorganized Workers, Rs. 270 crore was allocated during 2009-10.
According to the Budget Speech 2011-12 delivered by Pranab Mukherjee, http://indiabudget.nic.in/bspeecha.asp:
• The total food inflation declined from 20.2 per cent in February 2010 to less than half at 9.3 per cent in January 2011. At the beginning of the 2011, food inflation was high for some cereals, sugar and pulses.
• The recent spurt in food prices was driven by increase in the prices of items like fruits and vegetables, milk, meat, poultry and fish, which account for more than 70 per cent of the WPI basket for primary food items.
• The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is estimated to have grown at 8.6 per cent in 2010-11 in real terms. In 2010-11 agriculture is estimated to have grown at 5.4 per cent, industry at 8.1 per cent and services at 9.6 per cent.
• Indian economy is expected to grow at 9 per cent with an outside band of +/- 0.25 per cent in 2011-12.
• During the year 2010-11, the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) policy was successfully implemented for all fertilisers except urea. The policy has been well received by all stakeholders, and the availability of fertilisers has improved. The extension of the NBS regime to cover urea is under active consideration of the Government.
• The Government provides subsidies, notably on fuel and food grains, to enable the common man to have access to these basic necessities at affordable prices. A significant proportion of subsidised fuel does not reach the targeted beneficiaries and there is large scale diversion of subsidised kerosene oil. To ensure greater efficiency, cost effectiveness and better delivery for both kerosene and fertilisers, the Government will move towards direct transfer of cash subsidy to people living below poverty line in a phased manner.
• A task force headed by Shri Nandan Nilekani has been set-up to work out the modalities for the proposed system of direct transfer of subsidy for kerosene, LPG and fertilisers. The interim report of the task force is expected by June 2011. The system will be in place by March 2012.
• As a part of financial strengthening of Regional Rural Banks, an amount of Rs. 350 crore was given to these banks during this year. Rs. 500 crore will be provided to them during 2011-12 to enable them maintain a Tier I Capital to Risk Weighted Asset Ratio (CRAR) of at least 9 per cent as on March 31, 2012.
• There is a proposal to create in the course of the year, "India Microfinance Equity Fund" of `100 crore with SIDBI.
• To empower women and promote their Self Help Groups (SHGs), there is a proposal to create a “Women’s SHG’s Development Fund” with a corpus of `500 crore. The Committee set up by RBI to look into issues relating to micro finance sector in India has submitted its report. The Government is considering putting in place appropriate framework to protect the interests of small borrowers.
• The Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) is an important instrument for routing bank funds for financing rural infrastructure. This is popular among State Governments. There is a proposal to raise the corpus of RIDF XVII to Rs. 18,000 crore in 2011-12 from Rs. 16,000 crore in the current year. The additional allocation would be dedicated to creation of warehousing facilities.
• Handloom weavers have been facing economic stress. Consequently, many of them have not been able to repay debts to handloom weaver cooperative societies which have become financially unviable. There is a proposal to provide Rs. 3,000 crore to NABARD, in phases for these cooperative societies. The initiative would benefit 15,000 cooperative societies and about 3 lakh handloom weavers. The details of the scheme would be worked out by the Ministry of Textiles in consultation with Planning Commission.
• Outstanding loans to minority communities which stood at 13 per cent of total priority sector lending at the end of last year have increased to 13.6 per cent in the current year. It has been directed to the Public Sector Banks to achieve the target of 15 per cent at the earliest.
• The total allocation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) has been increased from Rs. 6,755 crore in 2010-11 to Rs. 7,860 crore in 2011-12.
• In order to make Green Revolution reach the Eastern Region, allocation of Rs. 400 crore has been made. The program would target the improvement in the rice based cropping system of Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• Government's initiative on pulses has received a positive response from the farmers. As per the second advance estimates, a record production of 165 lakh tonnes of pulses is expected in 2011-12 as against 147 lakh tonnes in 2010-11. There is a proposal to provide an amount of Rs. 300 crore to promote 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas for increasing crop productivity and strengthening market linkages.
• The domestic production of edible oil meets only about 50 per cent demand. The gap in supply is met through imports, which are often at high prices due to the quantum of India's requirement. Recent interventions by the Government and good rains are expected to result in a higher oilseeds production of 278 lakh tonnes in 2010-11 as against 249 lakh tonnes in 2009-10. To achieve a major breakthrough, There is a proposal of an amount of Rs. 300 crore to bring 60,000 hectares under oil palm plantation, by integrating the farmers with the markets. The initiative will yield about 3 lakh metric tonnes of palm oil annually in 5 years.
• The growing demand for vegetables has to be met by a robust increase in the productivity and market linkage. An efficient supply chain, to provide quality vegetables at competitive prices will have to be established. There is a proposal to provide an amount of Rs. 300 crore for implementation of vegetable initiative to set in motion a virtuous cycle of higher production and incomes for the farmers. To begin with, this programme will be launched near major urban centres.
• Bajra, jowar, ragi and other millets are highly nutritious and are known to possess several medicinal properties. The availability and consumption of these Nutri-cereals is, however, low and has been steadily declining over recent years. A provision of Rs. 300 crore is being made to promote higher production of these cereals, upgrade their processing technologies and create awareness regarding their health benefits. This initiative would provide market linked production support to ten lakh millet farmers in the arid and semi-arid regions of the country. The programme would be taken up in 1000 compact blocks covering about 25,000 villages. This will help improve nutritional security and increase feed and fodder supply for livestock.
• The consumption of foods rich in animal protein and other nutrients has risen of late, with demand growing faster than production. The National Mission for Protein Supplements is being launched in 2011-12 with an allocation of Rs. 300 crore. It will take up activities to promote animal based protein production through livestock development, dairy farming, piggery, goat rearing and fisheries in selected blocks.
• There is a proposal to provide Rs. 300 crore for Accelerated Fodder Development Programme which will benefit farmers in 25,000 villages.
• There has been deterioration in soil health due to removal of crop residues and indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, aided by distorted prices. To address these issues, the Government proposes to promote organic farming methods, combining modern technology with traditional farming practices like green manuring, biological pest control and weed management.
• For the year 2011-12, there has been a raise in the target of credit flow to the farmers from Rs. 3,75,000 crore this year to Rs. 4,75,000 crore in 2011-12. Banks have been asked to step up direct lending for agriculture and credit to small and marginal farmers.
• The existing interest subvention scheme of providing short term crop loans to farmers at 7 per cent interest will be continued during 2011-12. There is a proposal to enhance the additional subvention to 3 per cent in 2011-12. Thus, the effective rate of interest for such farmers will be 4 per cent per annum.
• In view of the enhanced target for flow of agriculture credit, there is a proposal to strengthen NABARD's capital base by infusing Rs. 3000 crore, in a phased manner, as Government equity. This would raise its paid-up capital to Rs. 5,000 crore.
• An estimated 40 per cent of the fruit and vegetable production in India goes waste due to lack of storage, cold chain and transport infrastructure. To address these issues, the Eleventh Plan target for number of Mega Food Parks was set at 30. So far, 15 such parks have been sanctioned. During 2011-12, approval is being given to set up 15 more Mega Food Parks.
• The years 2008 to 2010 saw very high levels of foodgrain procurement. On January 1, 2011, the foodgrain stock in Central pool reached 470 lakh metric tonnes, 2.7 times higher than 174 lakh metric tonnes on January 1, 2007. The storage capacity for such large quantities requires augmentation. Process to create new storage capacity of 150 lakh metric tonnes through private entrepreneurs and warehousing corporations has been fast tracked. Decision to create 20 lakh metric tonnes of storage capacity under Public Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) Scheme through modern silos has been taken. While India will be able to add about 2.6 lakh tonnes of capacity by March 2011, based on existing sanctions, the addition will reach 40 lakh tonnes by March 2012. During 2010-11, another 24 lakh metric tonnes of storage capacity has been created under the Rural Godown Scheme.
• Investment in cold storage projects is now gaining momentum. During this year, 24 cold storage projects with a capacity of 1.4 lakh metric tonnes have been sanctioned under National Horticulture Mission. In addition, 107 cold storage projects with a capacity of over 5 lakh metric tonnes have been approved by the National Horticulture Board.
• To attract investment in this sector, henceforth, capital investment in the creation of modern storage capacity will be eligible for viability gap funding scheme of the Finance Ministry. It is also proposed to recognize cold chains and post-harvest storage as an infrastructure sub-sector.
• The recent episode of inflation in vegetables and fruits has exposed serious flaws in our supply chains. The government regulated mandis sometimes prevent retailers from integrating their enterprises with the farmers. There is need for the State Governments to review and enforce a reformed Agriculture Produce Marketing Act urgently.
• Infrastructure is critical for India's development. For 2011-12, an allocation of over Rs. 2,14,000 crore is being made for this sector, which is 23.3 per cent higher than current year. This amounts to 48.5 per cent of the Gross Budgetary Support to plan expenditure.
• To provide a real wage of Rs. 100 per day, the Government has decided to index the wage rates notified under the MGNREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labour. The enhanced wage rates have been notified by the Ministry of Rural Development on January 14, 2011. It has resulted in significant enhancement of wages for the beneficiaries across the country.
• The Anganwadi workers and Anganwadi helpers are the backbone of Integrated Child Development Services Scheme. It has been announced to increase the remuneration of Anganwadi workers from Rs. 1,500 per month to Rs. 3,000 per month and for Anganwadi helpers from Rs. 750 per month to Rs. 1,500 per month. This will be effective from April 1, 2011. Around 22 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers will benefit from the increase.
• In the Budget for 2011-12, specific allocations are being earmarked towards Scheduled Castes Sub-plan and Tribal Sub-plan. These will be shown in the Budget of the relevant Ministries and Departments under separate minor heads of account. There is a proposal to increase the Budget allocation for primitive tribal groups from Rs. 185 crore in 2010-11 to Rs. 244 crore in 2011-12.
• There is a proposal of an allocation of Rs. 52,057 crore for education, which is an increase of 24 per cent over the current year.
• The existing operational norms of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have been revised to implement the right of children to free and compulsory education which has come into force with effect from April 1, 2010. For the year 2011-12, there is a proposal to allocate Rs. 21,000 crore which is 40 per cent higher than Rs. 15,000 crore allocated in the Budget for 2010-11. A revised Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Vocationalisation of Secondary Education” will be implemented from 2011-12 to improve the employability of youth.
• In 2011-12, there is a proposal to introduce a scholarship scheme for needy students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes studying in classes ninth and tenth. It would benefit about 40 lakh Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students.
• For health, there is a proposal to step up the plan allocations in 2011-12 by 20 per cent to Rs. 26,760 crore. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana has emerged as an effective instrument for providing a basic health cover to poor and marginal workers. It is now being extended to MGNREGA beneficiaries, beedi workers and others. In 2011-12, there is proposal to further extend this scheme to cover unorganized sector workers in hazardous mining and associated industries like slate and slate pencil, dolomite, mica and asbestos etc.
• In Budget 2010-11 a co-contributory pension scheme “Swavalamban” was announced. This scheme has been welcomed by the workers in unorganised sector. Over 4 lakh applications have already been received. On the basis of the feedback received, exit norms have been relaxed whereby a subscriber under Swavalamban will be allowed exit at the age of 50 years instead of 60 years, or a minimum tenure of 20 years, whichever is later. There is proposal to extend the benefit of Government contribution from three to five years for all subscribers of Swavalamban who enroll during 2010-11 and 2011-12. An estimated 20 lakh beneficiaries will join the scheme by March 2012.
• Under the on-going Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme for BPL beneficiaries, the eligibility for pension is proposed to be reduced from 65 years at present to 60 years. Further, for those who are 80 years and above, the pension amount is being raised from Rs. 200 at present to Rs. 500 per month.
• There is proposal to allocate Rs. 200 crore from the National Clean Energy Fund as Centre's contribution in 2011-12 for launching environmental remediation programmes.
• The UID Mission has taken off and Aadhaar numbers are being generated in large numbers. So far 20 lakh Aadhaar numbers have been given and from 1st October 2011, ten lakh numbers will be generated per day. The stage is now set for realising the potential of Aadhaar for improving service delivery, accountability and transparency in governance of various schemes.
• To provide green and clean transportation for the masses, National Mission for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles will be launched in collaboration with all stakeholders.
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Highlights of the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherji's budget speech (2010-2011) delivered on 26 February, 2010, http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2010-11/bs/speecha.htm:
• During 2009, growth had started decelerating and the business sentiment was weak. The economy's capacity to sustain high growth was under serious threat from the widespread economic slowdown in the developed world.
• There was uncertainty on account of the delayed and sub-normal south-west monsoon, which had undermined the kharif crop in the country. There were concerns about production and prices of food items and its possible repercussions on the growth of rural demand.
• The economy stabilised in the first quarter of 2009-10 itself, when it clocked a GDP growth of 6.1 per cent, as against 5.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of the preceding year. It registered a strong rebound in the second quarter, when the growth rate rose to 7.9 per cent. The Advance Estimates places the likely growth for 2009-10 at 7.2 per cent.
• The growth rate in manufacturing in December 2009 was 18.5 per cent— the highest in the past two decades. There are also signs of a turnaround in the merchandise exports with a positive growth in November and December 2009 after a decline of about twelve successive months.
• A major concern during the second half of 2009-10 has been the emergence of double digit food inflation. There was a momentum in food prices since the flare-up of global commodity prices preceding the financial crisis in 2008, but it was expected that the agriculture season beginning June 2009 would help in moderating the food inflation. However, the erratic monsoons and drought like conditions in large parts of the country reinforced the supply side bottlenecks in some of the essential commodities. This set in motion inflationary expectations. Since December 2009, there have been indications of these high food prices, together with the gradual hardening of the fuel product prices, getting transmitted to other non-food items as well. The inflation data for January seems to have confirmed this trend.
• A Nutrient Based Subsidy policy for the fertiliser sector has been approved by the Government recently and will become effective from April 1, 2010. This policy is expected to promote balanced fertilization through new fortified products and focus on extension services by the fertiliser industry. Over time, the policy is expected to reduce volatility in the demand for fertiliser subsidy in addition to containing the subsidy bill. Government will ensure that nutrient based fertiliser prices for transition year 2010-11, will remain around MRPs currently prevailing. The new system will move towards direct transfer of subsidies to the farmers.
• Provide further capital to strengthen the RRBs (regional rural banks) so that they have adequate capital base to support increased lending to the rural economy.
• The Government intends to follow a four-pronged strategy covering (a) agricultural production; (b) reduction in wastage of produce; (c) credit support to farmers; and (d) a thrust to the food processing sector.
--The first element of the strategy is to extend the green revolution to the eastern region of the country comprising Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern UP, West Bengal and Orissa, with the active involvement of Gram Sabhas and the farming families. For the year 2010-11, Rs.400 crore will be provided for this initiative. Proposal to organise 60,000 "pulses and oil seed villages" in rain-fed areas during 2010-11 and provide an integrated intervention for water harvesting, watershed management and soil health, so as to enhance the productivity of the dry land farming areas. Rs.300 crore will be provided for this purpose. This initiative will be an integral part of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. More focues on conservation farming, which involves concurrent attention to soil health, water conservation and preservation of biodiversity. An allocation of Rs.200 crore will be made for launching this climate resilient agriculture initiative.
--The second element of the strategy relates to reduction of significant wastages in storage as well as in the operations of the existing food supply chains in the country. The deficit in the storage capacity is met through an ongoing scheme for private sector participation where the FCI has been hiring godowns from private parties for a guaranteed period of 5 years. This period is now being extended to 7 years.
--The third element of the strategy relates to improving the availability of credit to farmers. For the year 2010-11, the target has been raised to Rs.3,75,000 crore from Rs.3,25,000 crore in the current year. Under the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for Farmers, there is proposal to extend by six months the period for repayment of the loan amount by farmers from December 31, 2009 to June 30, 2010. The effective rate of interest on short-term loans for farmers who repay on timely basis will now be five per cent per annum.
--The fourth element of the strategy aims at lending a further impetus to the development of food processing sector by providing state-of-the art infrastructure. In addition to the ten mega food park projects already being set up, the Government has decided to set up five more such parks. As a part of the farm to market initiative, External Commercial Borrowings will henceforth be available for cold storage or cold room facility, including for farm level pre-cooling, for preservation or storage of agricultural and allied produce, marine products and meat.
• The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission envisages establishing India as a global leader in solar energy. An ambitious target of 20,000 MW of solar power by the year 2022 has been set under the mission. There will be an increase in the plan outlay for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy by 61 per cent from Rs.620 crore in 2009-10 to Rs.1,000 crore in 2010-11.
• In order to set up solar, small hydro and micro power projects in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, an allocation of Rs.500 crore will be made.
• A one-time grant of Rs. 200 crore to the Government of Tamil Nadu towards the cost of installation of a zero liquid discharge system at Tirupur to sustain hosiery industry .
• The draft Food Security Bill will be placed in the public domain very soon. To fulfil these commitments, the spending on social sector has been gradually increased to Rs.1,37,674 crore which now stands at 37 per cent of the total plan outlay in 2010-11. Another 25 per cent of the plan allocations are devoted to the development of rural infrastructure.
• About 98 per cent of habitations are now covered by primary schools. There will be an increase in the plan allocation for school education from Rs.26,800 crore in 2009-10 to Rs. 31,036 crore in 2010-11. In addition, States will have access to Rs.3,675 crore for elementary education under the Thirteenth Finance Commission grants for 2010-11.
• An Annual Health Survey to prepare the District Health Profile of all Districts shall be conducted in 2010-11. There will be an increase in the plan allocation for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, from Rs. 19,534 crore to Rs. 22,300 crore for 2010-11.
• An augmentation of Rs.100 crore for each of the Financial Inclusion Fund and a Financial Inclusion Technology Fund, which shall be contributed by Government of India, RBI and NABARD.
• For the year 2010-11, Rs.66,100 crore will be made available for rural development. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has completed four years of implementation during which it has been extended to all districts covering more than 4.5 crore households. The allocation for NREGA has been stepped up to Rs.40,100 crore in 2010-11. Bharat Nirman has made a substantial contribution to the upgradation of rural infrastructure through its various programmes. For the year 2010-11, there will be an allocation of Rs. 48,000 crore for these programmes.
• The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana will extend its benefits to all such Mahatma Gandhi NREGA beneficiaries who have worked for more than 15 days during the preceding financial year.
• The unit cost of construction under this Indira Awas YOjana is raised to Rs.45,000 in the plain areas and to Rs.48,500 in the hilly areas. For the year 2010-11, the allocation for this scheme is being increased to Rs.10,000 crore.
• There will be an enhancement in the allocation to Backward Region Grant Fund by 26 per cent from Rs. 5,800 crore in 2009-10 to Rs. 7,300 crore in 2010-11.
• Allocation of Rs. 1,270 crore for 2010-11 as compared to Rs. 150 crore last year for Rajiv Awas Yojana for slum dwellers. This marks an increase of over 700 per cent.
• Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute 8 per cent of the country's GDP, 45 per cent of the manufactured output and 40 per cent of our exports. They provide employment to about 6 crore persons through 2.6 crore enterprises. A High Level Council on Micro and Small Enterprises will monitor the implementation of the recommendations and the agenda for action. Allocation for this sector will be raised from Rs. 1,794 crore to Rs. 2,400 crore for the year 2010-11.
• The fund corpus for 'Micro-Finance Development and Equity Fund' is being doubled to Rs. 400 crore in 2010-11.
• As a follow up to the Unorganised Sector Workers Social Security Act, 2008, it has been decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for unorganised sector workers with an initial allocation of Rs. 1,000 crore. This fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, bidi workers etc. To encourage the people from the unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement and to lower the cost of operations of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) for such subscribers, Government will contribute Rs. 1,000 per year to each NPS account opened in the year 2010-11. This initiative, "Swavalamban" will be available for persons who join NPS, with a minimum contribution of Rs. 1,000 and a maximum contribution of Rs. 12,000 per annum during the financial year 2010-11. The scheme will be available for another three years. An allocation of Rs. 100 crore for the year 2010-11 has been made. It will benefit about 10 lakh NPS subscribers of the unorganised sector.
• The plan outlay for Women and Child Development will be raised by almost 50 per cent. A Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana to meet the specific needs of women farmers is being launched. Rs. 100 crore will be provided for this initiative as a sub-component of the National Rural Livelihood Mission.
• Allocation of Rs. 1,900 crore to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for 2010-11.
According to the Interim Budget 2009-10 of the Ministry of Finance
http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2009-10(I)/bh/bh1.pdf
• With record procurement of 22.7 million tonnes of wheat and 28.5 million tonnes of rice for India's Public Distribution System in 2008, the granaries are full.
• Annual growth rate of agriculture rose to 3.7 per cent during 2003-04 to 2007-08. The foodgrain production recorded an increase of 10 million tonnes each year during this period and touched an all time high of 230 million tonnes in 2007-08.
• Despite a high base, the outlook for 2008-09 is encouraging with the country receiving normal rainfall during the agricultural season.
• In the period between 2003-04 and 2008-09, our Government increased the plan allocation for agriculture by 300 per cent.
• The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana was launched in 2007-08 with an outlay of Rs.25 thousand crore, to increase growth rate of agriculture and allied sector to four per cent per annum during the Eleventh Plan period. The scheme has encouraged State Governments to take initiatives to develop the agricultural sector.
• On June 18, 2004, the Government formed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had announced a package for doubling the flow of credit to agriculture. The credit disbursements have already gone up from Rs.87 thousand crore in 2003-04 to about Rs.2.5 lakh crore in 2007-08 marking a three fold increase.
• To strengthen the short-term co-operative credit structure, the Government is implementing a revival package in 25 States involving a financial assistance of around Rs.13 thousand five hundred crore. The Government is expected to continue to provide interest subvention in 2009-10 to ensure that farmers get short-term crop loans upto Rs.3 lakhs at 7 per cent per annum.
• The Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for farmers, announced in the last budget speech, was implemented by June 30, 2008 as scheduled. The Scheme has been able to restore institutional credit to indebted farmers. As per early reports, the total debt waiver and debt relief so far, amounts to Rs.65,300 crore covering 3.6 crore farmers.
• The UPA-I (2004-09) Government was committed to ensuring “food security” in the country and meeting the food requirement of the poor under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). In spite of higher procurement costs and higher international prices during the last five years, the central issue prices under the TPDS have been maintained at the level of July 2000 in case of Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) categories and at July 2002 levels for Above Poverty Line (APL) category.
• The UPA-I (2004-09) government has ensured remunerative prices for the farmers for their crops. Since 2003-04, Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the common variety of paddy was increased from Rs.550 to Rs.900 per quintal for the crop year 2008-09. In case of wheat the increase was from Rs.630 in 2003-04 to Rs.1,080 per quintal for the year 2009.
• The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was launched in February 2006 and has now been extended to all the districts of the country. During the year 2008-09, employment of 138.76 crore person days, covering 3.51 crore households, has already been generated. The implementation of this programme has resulted in increased wage employment, enhanced wage earnings, improved equity with significant benefits flowing to SC/ST and women. This has also led to increased demand for and consumption of wage goods. There has been an allocation of Rs.30,100 crore for NREGS for the year 2009-10.
• The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) aims to bring about uniformity in quality of preventive and curative healthcare in rural areas across the country. There has been an allocation of Rs.12,070 crore for this programme during the year 2009-10.
• The gross capital formation in agriculture as a proportion of agriculture GDP has increased from 11.1 per cent in 2003-04 to 14.2 per cent in 2007-08
• ‘Priyadarsini Project’ a rural women’s employment and livelihood programme will be implemented as pilot in the district of Madhubani and Sitamarhi in Bihar and Shravasti, Bahraich, Rai Bareli and Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
• Rs.8,000 crore allocated for Mid-day Meals Scheme for the year 2009-10.
• Allocation of Rs.6,705 crore proposed for Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) for the year 2009-10. New WHO child growth standards adopted for monitoring growth of children under ICDS.
• Major subsidies including food, fertilizer and petroleum estimated at Rs.95,579 crore.
Rural Development Schemes running in India
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA): The NREGA, which was notified on 7th September, 2005, aims at better livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment, in a financial year, to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The choice of works suggested in the Act addresses causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion, so that the process of employment generation is maintained on a sustainable basis. The Act covered 200 districts in its first phase, implemented on February 2, 2006, and was extended to 330 additional districts in 2007-2008. All the remaining rural areas have been notified with effect from April 1, 2008. The Ministry of Rural Development and National Informatic Centre (NIC) commenced the preparation of appropriate e-governance solution to strengthen NREG scheme way back in October, 2005 and when the scheme was launched in February, 2006, the NREGASoft was also launched across the country. The software is available to all stakeholders online through http://www.NREGA.nic.in and also could be downloaded for off-line working. The package is Unicode enabled and supports local languages. The training to use the software has been organized in States.
Funding
The Central Government bears the costs on the following items:
• The entire cost of wages of unskilled manual workers
• Seventy five percent of the cost of material and wages of skilled and semi-skilled workers
• Administrative expenses as may be determined by the central government, which will include inter alia, the salary and the allowances of the Programme Officer and his supporting staff and work-site facilities
• Expenses of the National Employment Guarantee Council
The state governments bear the costs on the following items:
• Twenty five percent of the cost of material and wages of skilled and semi-skilled workers
• Unemployment Allowance payable in case the state government cannot provide wage employment on time
• Administrative expenses of the State Employment Guarantee Council
Permissible works under NREGA
• Water conservation
• Drought proofing (including plantation and afforestation)
• Irrigation canals
• Minor irrigation, horticulture and land development on the land of SC/ST/ -BPL/IAY and land reform beneficiaries
• Renovation of traditional water bodies
• Flood Protection
• Land Development
• Rural connectivity
• Any other work that may be notified by the Central Government in consultation with the State Government
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY): This programme was launched on 25th September 2001, with the enshrined objectives of providing additional wage employment ensuring food security while creating durable community, social & economic infrastructure and assets in the rural areas. The programme was evolved by merging two of the then existing schemes of Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana and Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS). The programme is self-targeting in nature with special emphasis to provide wage employment to women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and parents of children withdrawn from hazardous occupations. However, SGRY along with National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) have been subsumed in the NREGA districts. The SGRY is Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) on cost sharing basis between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25. In case of Union Territories (UTs), the Centre provides entire funds. Foodgrains are provided, through Food Corporation of India (FCI), free of cost to States and UTs. No contractors are permitted to be engaged for execution of any of the works and no middle men/ intermediate agencies employed for executing works under the Scheme. Use of machinery, which may displace manual labour, is also not permissible with a view to create maximum possible additional employment opportunities. During 2007-08, SGRY is being implemented in 264 districts.
Work prohibited under SGRY
• Buildings for religious purposes and the like
• Monuments, Memorials, Statues, Idols, Arch Gates/ Welcome Gates and the like
• Bridges
• Buildings for higher secondary schools/ senior secondary schools
• Buildings for colleges
• Black topping of roads
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY): The promotion of self-employment amongst the rural poor for their socio economic uplift has been long an integral part of the strategy for poverty eradication. SGSY is the largest self-employment programme for the rural poor. The assisted families (Swarozgaris) may be individuals or groups (Self-Help Groups). However, the emphasis is on the group approach. The objective of the SGSY is to bring the assisted poor families above the poverty line by providing them income-generating assets through a mix of bank credits and government subsidy. It is a holistic programme covering all aspects of self-employment such as organization of poor into Self-Help Groups and taking care of training, credit, technology infrastructure and marketing. SGSY is being implemented by the District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) with the active participation of Panchayat Raj Institutions, the banks, the line Departments, and Non-Governmental Organisations. In order to provide incentives to rural artisans, SARAS fairs are also organized in various parts of the country to promote sale of products produced by Self- Help Groups. The SGSY programme was started from 01.04.1999 after restructuring the erstwhile Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and its allied programmes: Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM), Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), Supply of Toolkits in Rural Areas (SITRA) and Ganga Kalyan Yojana (GKY), besides Million Wells Scheme (MWS). The SGSY is financed on 75:25 cost sharing basis between the Centre and the States. SGSY stresses on cluster approach for taking up economic activities. The key activities are to be taken up in clusters. The cluster may not merely be geographic agglomerations but limits where backward and forward linkages can effectively be established. Separate clusters are to be taken up for each activity. More and more Swarozgaris can be added to the cluster each year. The cluster approach in the programmes is adopted to facilitate infrastructure and marketing support to the activity. Families below the Poverty Line (BPL) in rural areas constitute the target group of the SGSY. Within the target group, special safeguards have been provided to vulnerable sections, by way of reserving 50% benefits for SCs/STs, 40% for women and 3% for disabled persons.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY): This scheme was launched in December, 2000 as a 100% centrally sponsored scheme to provide connectivity to unconnected habitations. The scheme is one of the components of Bharat Nirman with the target of providing road connectivity to all habitations with a population of thousand (500 in case of hilly or tribal areas) with all weather roads by 2009. It is expected under the scheme that an expanded and renovated rural road network will lead to increase in rural employment opportunities, better access to regulated and fair market, better access to health, education and other public services, and thus bridge the rural-urban divide and pave the path of economic growth.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Indira Awas Yojana (IAY): Housing is one of the basic needs of mankind. The Ministry of Rural Development is implementing the Indira Awaas Yojana since 1985-86 to help build or upgrade homes to households below the poverty line. Rural housing is one of the components of Bharat Nirman package. In a major initiative to impart transparency to the selection process of beneficiaries, a 'permanent waitlist' is being prepared under IAY. The funding of IAY is shared between the Centre and States in the ratio of 75:25. In the case of Union Territories, the entire fund of IAY are provided by the Centre. Under IAY, a BPL family is given grant of Rs. 25,000/- for new construction in plain areas and Rs.27,500/- for construction in hilly/difficult areas. Besides, IAY funds (upto a maximum of 20% of the allocation) can be made available for upgradation or/ and credit-cum-subsidy scheme at the rate of Rs. 12,500/- for each dwelling unit. Since inception of the scheme 171 lakh houses have been constructed with an expenditure of Rs. 1,89,898.56 crore (upto 12/2/08).
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP): The Constitution of India directs the States to provide public assistance to its citizens in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disability and in cases of other undeserved want within the limit of the economic capacity of the State. The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) was launched for fulfillment of this obligation in 1995-96. The NSAP then comprised of National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS). Under NOAPS, till 31st March 2006 Rs. 75 per month was being provided per beneficiary over the age of 65 in case of destitution. The amount of pension was increased to Rs.200 per month from 1st April 2006 and States were requested to top up with another Rs.200 from their own resources. Hon'ble Prime Minister in his address on 15th August 2007 made a commitment to provide old age pension to all citizens above the age of 65 years and living below the poverty line. Accordingly, a new scheme named Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS) was launched on 19.11.2007 by the Hon'ble Prime Minister. Under the scheme, the States have been asked to certify that all eligible persons have been covered. The coverage under IGNOAPS is therefore estimated to increase to 157.19 lakh from 87.56 lakhs covered under NOAPS in 2006-07.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Resettlement & Rehabilitation Policy: The National Common Minimum Programme claims that "more effective system of relief and rehabilitation will be in place for tribal and other groups displaced by development projects". Accordingly, the Ministry of Rural Development formulated a revised National Resettlement & Rehabilitation Policy-2007, after wide ranging consultations with the concerned Ministries of Govt. of India, State Govts., members of civil societies and all interested citizens. The provisions of the NRRP-2007 provide for the basic minimum requirements, and all projects leading to involuntary displacement of people must address the rehabilitation and resettlement issues comprehensively. The Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007 has been developed on the lines of the provisions of the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007, so as to give a statutory backing to them. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6th December, 2007 during the Winter Session of Parliament.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP): The Central Government supplements efforts made by the States for providing safe drinking water and sanitation by providing financial and technical assistance under two centrally sponsored programmes namely, the 'Accelerated Rural Water Supply' (ARWSP) and the 'Central Rural Sanitation Programme' (CRSP). Rural Drinking Water is also one of the six components of Bharat Nirman, envisaging coverage of the remaining habitations of Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) of 1999, dealing with the problem of quality of water in some areas and to address the problem of slippage in the habitations. For promoting the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in the planning, implementation, operation and maintenance of rural drinking water supply schemes of its choice, 'Swajaldhara' has also been launched. Under the scheme, 90% funds towards the project cost is provided by the government and the beneficiary group has to contribute 10% of the cost.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
'Central Rural Sanitation Programme' (CRSP): This scheme, which was launched in 1986 aims at improving the quality of life of the rural poor and to provide privacy and dignity to women in rural areas. In 1999, 'Total Sanitation Campaign' (TSC) under restructured CRSP was launched to promote sanitation in rural areas. TSC follows participatory demand-responsive approach, educating the rural households about the benefits of proper sanitation and hygiene. Special thrust has also been given on school sanitation and hygiene education. An incentive scheme called Nirmal Gram Puraskar has been launched for Panchayati Raj Institutions, which is helpful in eliminating the practice of open defecation.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA): The Scheme of Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA), announced by the Hon'ble Prime Minister in his speech on 15th August 2003, aims at bridging the rural-urban divide and achieving balanced socio-economic development. It was implemented on a pilot basis w.e.f 2004–05 for a period of three years in seven States by selecting one cluster of 10 to 15 villages in each of them, to provide physical and social infrastructure in the identified rural clusters to further their growth potential. The pilot phase of PURA was implemented in seven clusters viz. Rayadurg (district Annanthpur in the State of Andhra Pradesh), Gohpur (district Sonitpur in the State of Assam), Motipur (district Muzaffarpur in the State of Bihar), Basmath (district Hingoli in the State of Maharashtra), Kujunga (district Jagatsinghpur in the State of Orissa), Shahpur (district Bhilwara in the State of Rajasthan) and Bharthana (district Etawah in the State of Uttar Pradesh). The budgetary provision for the scheme had been Rs. 10 crores per year in 2004 -05, 2005-06 and 2006 -07. The funds were mainly released for roads, market connectivity, education, drinking water, Common Facility Centre for readymade garment industries etc. The States had reported an expenditure of Rs. 20.27 crores as on 31.12.2007 against the total release of Rs. 30 crores during the pilot phase of PURA. The pilot phase of PURA ended in March 2007.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP): It is a Centrally Sponsored Programme, which has been under implementation since 1989-90. From 1st April 1995, the programme is being implemented through watershed approach under the Common Guidelines for Watershed Development. The development of wastelands and degraded lands under the programme is expected to promote the generation of employment in the rural areas besides enhancing the participation of people at all stages, leading to sustainable development of land and equitable sharing of the benefits. IWDP envisages the development of non-forests wastelands in the country. The basic approach in implementation of this programme has been modified from 1.4.1995 when the Guidelines for Watershed Development through watershed approach came into force. Since then, projects for development of wastelands on micro watershed basis have been sanctioned. 170 projects covering an area of 15.48 lakh hectares were completed by 31.1.2008. During 2007-08, 40 projects were completed by 31.1.08. An area of 3.31 lakh hectares has been treated as a result of completion of these projects in 2007-08.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP): It is the earliest area development programme launched by the Central Government in 1973-74 to tackle the special problems faced by those fragile areas, which are constantly affected by severe drought conditions. These areas are characterized by large human and cattle populations, which are continuously putting heavy pressure on the already degraded natural resources for food, fodder and fuel. The major problems are continuous depletion of vegetative cover, increase in soil erosion and fall in ground water levels due to continuous exploitation without any effort to recharge the underground aquifers. At present, the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) is under implementation in 972 blocks of 185 districts in 16 States. Till March 1999 the funds were shared on 50:50 basis between the Central Government and the State Governments. However, with effect from 1st April 1999, the funding is shared on 75:25 basis between the Centre and State Government.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
Desert Development Programme (DDP): The Desert Development Programme (DDP) was started both in hot desert areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana and the cold deserts of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh in 1977-78. From 1995-96, the coverage has been extended to a few more districts in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The programme has been conceived as a long-term measure for restoration of ecological balance by conserving, developing and harnessing land, water, livestock and human resources. It seeks to promote the economic development of the village community and improve the economic conditions of the resource poor and disadvantaged sections of society in the rural areas. The Desert Development Programme (DDP) is under implementation in 235 blocks of 40 districts in 7 States. With effect from 1.4.1999, the programme is being funded on the basis of 75:25 between the Centre and State Government for the watershed projects sanctioned on or after 1.4.1999.
Source: Annual Report 2007-08, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, http://rural.nic.in/annualrep0708/anualreport0708_eng.pdf
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM): The National Rural Health Mission (2005-12) seeks to provide effective healthcare to rural population throughout the country with special focus on 18 states, which have weak public health indicators and/or weak infrastructure. These 18 States are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. The Mission is an articulation of the commitment of the Government to raise public spending on Health from 0.9% of GDP to 2-3% of GDP. It seeks to revitalize local health traditions and mainstream AYUSH into the public health system. It aims at effective integration of health concerns with determinants of health like sanitation & hygiene, nutrition, and safe drinking water through a District Plan for Health. The NRHM seeks decentralization of programmes for district management of health. It seeks to address the inter-State and inter-district disparities, especially among the 18 high focus States, including unmet needs for public health infrastructure. The NRHM seeks to improve access of rural people, especially poor women and children, to equitable, affordable, accountable and effective primary healthcare. It aims at strengthening existing primary healthcare centers (PHCs) and community healthcare centers (CHCs) and provision of 30-50 bedded CHC per lakh population for improved curative care to a normative standard (Indian Public Health Standards defining personnel, equipment and management standards). Every village/large habitat will have a female Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), chosen by and accountable to the panchayat so as to act as the interface between the community and the public health system.
Goals
• Reduction in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)
• Universal access to public health services such as women’s health, child health, water, sanitation & hygiene, immunization, and nutrition.
• Prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, including locally endemic diseases
• Access to integrated comprehensive primary healthcare
• Population stabilization, gender and demographic balance
• Revitalize local health traditions and mainstream AYUSH
• Promotion of healthy life styles
Source: National Rural Health Mission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, http://www.mohfw.nic.in/NRHM/Documents/NRHM%20Mission%20Document.pdf
Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS): The programme of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) was launched in 1975 seeking to provide an integrated package of services in a convergent manner for the holistic development of the child. It is the only major national programme that addresses the health and nutrition needs of children under the age of six. It seeks to provide young children with an integrated package of services, including supplementary nutrition, health care and pre-school education. Since the needs of a young child cannot be addressed in isolation from those of his or her mother, the programme also extends to adolescent girls, pregnant women and nursing mothers. ICDS services are provided through a vast network of ICDS centres, better known as "Anganwadis". Given the central role of ICDS in this context, and the fact that about half the child population and over 70% of all poor children are malnourished, an effective strategy for children under six must include the universalisation of ICDS, or more precisely, “universalisation with quality”. In concrete terms, “universalisation with quality” would mean: (1) Every settlement has an Anganwadi center; (2) All ICDS services are extended to all children under the age of six years and all eligible women; and (3) Quality of services is radically improved.
Goals
• Lay the foundation for proper psychological development of the child
• Improve nutritional & health status of children 0-6 years
• Reduce incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school drop-outs
• Enhance the capability of the mother and family to look after the health, nutritional and development needs of the child
• Achieve effective coordination of policy and implementation among various departments to promote child development
Source: Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, http://wcd.nic.in/icds.htm
Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG): To address the problem of under-nutrition among adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers, the Planning Commission, in the year 2002-03, launched the Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG), on a Pilot Project basis in 51 districts in the country. Under this scheme, 6 kg of food-grains were given to under nourished adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Eligibility was determined on the basis of their weight. The Pilot Project was continued in the year 2003-04 also. It, however, could not be continued in the year 2004-05. The Government approved the implementation of NPAG, through the Department of Women and Child Development, in 51 backward districts identified by the Planning Commission in the year 2005-06 to provide 6 kg of free food-grains to undernourished adolescent girls only (pregnant women & lactating mothers are not covered as these are targeted under ICDS). The scheme is being continued for the Annual Plan 2006-07 on pilot project basis. The funds are given as 100% grant to States/UTs so that they can provide food grains through the Public Distribution System free of cost to the families of identified undernourished persons. The success of the intervention is dependent on effective linkages with the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Source: Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, http://wcd.nic.in
National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS): This scheme is a component of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), which came into effect from 15 August, 1995. It is a 100 percent Centrally Sponsored Programme. The National Old Age Pension Scheme is available to all poor persons aged 65 years or older. Under the NOAPS, the Central Government provides for Rs. 200/- per pensioner per month and the States are urged to contribute an equal amount. The scheme should be implemented as per State guidelines and the old age pension beneficiaries should get the benefit regularly each month. After the expansion of the scheme to all old persons below the poverty line, the scheme has been renamed as “Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme”.
Source: Supreme Court Commissioners, Government of India, http://www.sccommissioners.org/schemes/noaps
Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS): The Mid-Day Meal Scheme was launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Education) with effect from 15th August, 1995 for the benefit of students in primary schools under Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS)/earlier Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) blocks (2368). The Scheme covers students of Class I-V in the Government Primary Schools / Primary Schools aided by Government and the Primary Schools run by local bodies. Foodgrains (wheat and rice) are supplied free of cost @ 100 gram per child per school day where cooked/processed hot meal is being served with a minimum content of 300 calories and 8-12 gms of protein each day of school for a minimum of 200 days and 3 kgs per student per month for 9-11 months in a year, where foodgrains are distributed in raw form. In drought-affected areas, the mid day meal is distributed in summer vacations also. To cut down delays in implementation of the scheme, Department of Elementary Education & Literacy has been authorized to make State / UT-wise allocation of foodgrains under intimation to this Department. Food Corporation of India (FCI) releases foodgrains to States/UTs at BPL rates as per allocation made by Department of Elementary Education and Literacy.
Source: Department of Food and Public Distribution, Government of India, http://fcamin.nic.in/dfpd/EventDetails.asp?EventId=152&Section=Welfare%20Schemes&ParentID=0&Parent=1&check=0
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA): It is Government of India's flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to the children of 6-14 years age group, a fundamental right. SSA is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover the entire country and address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million habitations. The programme seeks to open new schools in those habitations, which do not have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure through provision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant and school improvement grants. Existing schools with inadequate teacher strength are provided with additional teachers, while the capacity of existing teachers is being strengthened by extensive training, grants for developing teaching-learning materials and strengthening of the academic support structure at a cluster, block and district level. SSA seeks to provide quality elementary education including life skills. SSA has a special focus on girl's education and children with special needs. SSA also seeks to provide computer education to bridge the digital divide. Quality issues in elementary education under the SSA will revolve around the quality of infrastructure and support services, opportunity time, teacher characteristics and teacher motivation, pre-service and in-service education of teachers, curriculum and teaching-learning materials, classroom processes, pupil evaluation, monitoring and supervision etc.
Source: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, http://ssa.nic.in/
Public Distribution System (PDS): With a network of more than 400,000 Fair Price Shops (FPS), the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India is perhaps the largest distribution machinery of its type in the world. PDS is said to distribute each year commodities worth more than Rs 15,000 crore to about 16 crore families. This huge network can play a more meaningful role if only the system is able to translate into micro level, a macro level self-sufficiency by ensuring availability of food grains for the poor households. The PDS was criticised on a wide front: its failure to serve the population Below Poverty Line (BPL), for its perceived urban bias, negligible coverage in States with a high density of rural poor and lack of transparent and accountable arrangements for delivery. Given that backdrop, the Government acted to streamline PDS during the Ninth Five Year Plan period by issuing special cards to BPL families and selling to them foodgrains through PDS outlets at specially subsidised prices (with effect from June, 1997). Under the new Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) each poor family is entitled to 10 kilograms of food grains per month (20 kg w.e.f. April 2000) at specially subsidised prices. This is likely to benefit about six crore poor families, to whom a quantity of about 72 lakh tonnes of food grains per year is earmarked. The identification of the beneficiaries is done by the States, based on state-wise poverty estimates of the Planning Commission. The thrust is to limit the benefit to the truly poor and vulnerable sections: landless agricultural labourers, marginal farmers, rural artisans/craftsmen, potters, tappers, weavers, blacksmiths, and carpenters in the rural areas; similarly those covered by TPDS in urban areas are: slum dwellers and people earning livelihood on a daily basis in the informal sector like the porters and rickshaw pullers and hand cart pullers, fruit and flower sellers on the pavements, etc.
Source: Planning Commission, Government of India, http://planningcommission.gov.in/plans/mta/mta-9702/mta-ch8.pdf