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Context

• Apple recently announced that consumers will have the right to purchase spare components of their products.
• Google also announced plans to expand access to the parts and tools that consumers need to fix their own devices.
• These announcements by big-tech companies follow widespread calls for Right To Repair reforms.

In this article, we will analyze what is the Right to Repair, how it helps consumers like you and me and how will these reforms help in protecting the environment.

Right to Repair Movement: A Backgrounder

What is Right to Repair?

• It refers to proposed government legislation that would allow consumers the ability to repair and modify their own consumer products (e.g. electronic, automotive devices).
• The idea behind “right to repair” is in the name: If you own something, you should be able to repair it yourself or take it to a technician of your choice.
• People are pretty used to this concept when it comes to older cars and appliances, but right-to-repair advocates argue that modern tech, especially anything with a computer chip inside, is rarely repairable.

The Right to Repair movement aims for:

1. Easy repair: The device should be constructed and designed in a manner that allows easy repairs
2. Access to critical components: End users and independent repair providers should be able to access original spare parts and tools (software as well as physical tools) needed to repair the device at fair market conditions
3. No technical barriers: Repairs should by design be possible and not hindered by software programming
4. Proper communication: The repairability of a device should be clearly communicated by the manufacturer.

How did it came to existence?

• The average consumer purchases an electronic gadget, knowing that it will very quickly become obsolete as its manufacturer releases newer and more amped up version.
• As your device grows older, issues start to crop up — your smartphone may slow down to a point where it is almost unusable, or your gaming console may require one too many hard resets.
• When this happens, more often than not, you are left at the mercy of manufacturers who make repairs inaccessible and an inordinately expensive affair.

Why is such right significant?

• Lifespan enhancement: The goal of the movement is to increase the lifespan of products and to keep them from ending up in landfills.
• Against planned obsolescence: The electronic manufacturers are encouraging such culture so that devices are designed specifically to last a limited amount of time and to be replaced.
• Scarcity of natural resources: Obsolescence leads to immense pressure on the environment and wasted natural resources.
• Mitigating climate change: Manufacturing an electronic device is a highly polluting process. It makes use of polluting sources of energy, such as fossil fuel.
• Boost to repair economy: Right to repair advocates also argue that this will help boost business for small repair shops, which are an important part of local economies.

Issues with obsolete devices

• Unfair trade practice:  For manufacturers, either of these options is a win-win case, because high-priced repairs, as well as new sales, mean more profits.
• High cost to consumers: This often led to higher consumer costs or drive consumers to replace devices instead of repairing them.
• Generation of E-waste: The global community is concerned over the continuously growing size of the e-waste stream.
• Recyclability: Up to 95% of raw materials used to produce electronic devices can be recycled, while the vast majority of newly produced devices use little to none recycled material due to the higher cost.

Why do electronic manufacturers oppose this movement?

Large tech companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Tesla, have been lobbying against the right to repair.

• IPR violations through reverse engineering: Their argument is that opening up their intellectual property to third party repair services.
• Threats to device safety: Amateur repairers could lead to exploitation and impact the safety and security of their devices.
• Personal data security: Tesla, for instance, has fought against right to repair advocacy, stating that such initiatives threaten data security and cyber security.
• Sheer casualization: Tech giant has allowed repairs of its devices only by authorised technicians and not providing spare parts or DIY manuals on how to fix its products.

Successful implementation of the Right to Repair

(I) United States

• In his executive order to promote economic competition, President Biden called to force tech companies to allow consumers to fix their own electronic devices — either themselves or using a technician of their choice.
• He specifically called out cell phone and tractor manufacturers in the White House’s fact sheet.
• With this, some believe manufacturers of electronic devices may even start making their products more durable and long lasting.

(II) Europe

• Earlier this month, the UK government introduced right-to-repair rules with the aim of extending the lifespan of products by up to 10 years.
• Manufacturers of products like washing machines, TVs and refrigerators are required to make spare parts available to people purchasing electrical appliances.
• The new legislation gives manufacturers a two-year window to make the necessary changes to abide by the new legislation.

Right to Repair in India

The ‘right to repair’ is not recognised as a statutory right in India, but certain pronouncements within the antitrust landscape have tacitly recognized the right.

• Necessary consumer right: Monopoly on repair processes infringes the customer’s’ “right to choose” recognised by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
• Acknowledgement by agencies: Consumer disputes jurisprudence in the country has also partially acknowledged the right to repair.
• Upholding Competition: In Shamsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (2017), for instance, the Competition Commission of India ruled that restricting the access of independent automobile repair units to spare parts as anti-competitive.
• Part of consumer welfare: The CCI observed that the practice was detrimental to consumer welfare.
• Laws for recycle: The e-waste (management and handling) rules addresses not only to handle the waste in an environmentally friendly manner, but also has laid down rules about its transportation, storage and recycling.

These regulations have had little impact and a strict law is needed for proper implementation.

Way forward

• If people want to fix things in a timely, safe and cost-effective way, whether by doing it themselves or taking it to a service centre of their choice, providing access to spare parts and information is imperative.
• Well-drafted legislation will not only uphold the right to repair but may aid in striking a much-needed balance between intellectual property and competition laws in the country.

Conclusion

• The Right to Repair is necessarily a battle between the customer and the manufacturer. The right to repair can apply to any industry.
• It’s a win-win situation for consumers if the proposed laws help in ending monopoly and make the repair information available in the public domain.

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10th May, 2022

Educational Commissions

(1) Charles Wood Despatch – 1854

• Objective: Wood’s despatch proposed several recommendations in order to improve the system of education.
• According to the recommendations, it was declared that the aim of the Government’s policy was the promotion of western education. In his despatch, he emphasized on the education of art, science, philosophy and literature of Europe.
• In short, the propagation of European knowledge was the motto of the Wood’s Despatch.
• According to the despatch, for higher education, the chief medium of instruction would be English.
• However, the significance of the vernacular language was no less emphasized as Wood believed that through the mediums of vernacular language, European knowledge could reach to the masses.
• Wood’s Despatch also proposed the setting up of several vernacular primary schools in the villages at the lowest stage.
• Moreover, there should be Anglo-Vernacular high schools and an affiliated college in the district level.
• Wood’s Despatch recommended a system of grants-in-aid to encourage and foster the private enterprise in the field of education.
• The grants-in-aid were conditional on the institution employing qualified teachers and maintaining proper standards of teaching.

(2) Hunter Commission – 1882

• Appointed by: Viceroy Lord Ripon
• Objective: Hunter Education Commission was a landmark commission with objectives to look into the complaints of the non-implementation of the Wood’s Despatch of 1854; the contemporary status of elementary education in the British territories; and suggests means by which this can be extended and improved.
• Headed by: Sir William Wilson Hunter
• He submitted its report in 1882.

Commission suggestions:

1. There should be two types of education arrangements at the high school level, in which emphasis should be given on giving a vocational and business education and other such literary education should be given, which will help in admission to the university.
2. Arrangement for emphasis on the importance of education at the primary level and education in local language and useful subjects.
3. Private efforts should be welcomed in the field of education, but primary education should be given without him.
4. Control of education at the primary level should be handed over to the district and city boards.

(3) Hunter Commission of 1882 on Primary Education:

• Primary education should be regarded as the education of the masses. Education should be able to train the people for self-dependence.
• The medium of instruction in primary education should be the mother tongue. Normal Schools should be established for the training of teachers.
• The curriculum should include useful subjects like agriculture, elements of natural and physical science and the native method of arithmetic and measurement, etc.
• The spread of primary education for the tribal and backward people should be the responsibility of the Government.
• Fees should be an example to students on the basis of their financial difficulties.

(4) Raleigh Commission – 1902

• Appointed under: Raleigh Commission was appointed under the presidency of Sir Thomas Raleigh on 27 January 1902.
• Objective: To inquire into the condition and prospects of universities in India and to recommend proposals for improving their constitution and working.
• Evidently, the Commission was precluded from reporting on primary or secondary education.
• As a result of the report of the recommendations of the Commission the Indian Universities Act was passed in 1904.
• The main objective of the Act: to improve the condition of education in India and upgrade the system to a better level

Important changes introduced for the upliftment of University Education:

1. Universities were empowered to appoint their own staff including the teaching staff.
2. The number of Fellows of a University was limited within 50 to 100.
3. The number of elected Fellows was fixed at 20 for the Bombay, Madras and Calcutta Universities and 15 for others.
4. The Governor-General was now empowered to decide a University’s territorial limits and also affiliation between the universities and colleges.
5. After the implementation of the provisions of the University Act, though the number of colleges declined, yet the number of students increased considerably.

Government Resolution on Education Policy (1913)

• In 1906, the progressive state of Baroda introduced compulsory primary education throughout its territories. In its 1913
• Resolution on Education Policy, the government refused to take up the responsibility of compulsory education, but accepted the policy of removal of illiteracy and urged provincial governments to take early steps to provide free elementary education to the poorer and more backward sections.

(5) Sadler Commission – 1917

• In 1917, the Calcutta University Commission (Sadler Commission) was appointed by the Government of India under the Chairmanship of Mr. Michel Sadler, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds.

Recommendations:

1. All the teaching resources in the city of Calcutta should be organized so that the Calcutta University may become entirely a teaching university.
2. A separate teaching and residential university should be established at Dacca.
3. There was a need for a coordinating agency. Hence an inter-University Board should be set up.
4. Honors courses should be instituted and they should be distinctly different from the Pass courses.
5. Full time and salaried Vice-Chancellor should be appointed to be the administrative head of the university.
6. The Senate and the syndicate should be replaced by the Court and the Executive Council respectively.
7. Universities should be freed from excessive official control.
8. Government interference in the academic matters of universities should stop.

(6) Hartog Commission – 1929

• Sir Philip Joseph Hartog committee was appointed by the British Indian government to survey on the growth of education in India.
• The Hartog committee (1929), had devoted more attention to mass education than the secondary and University education.
• The Hartog committee highlighted the problem of wastage and stagnation in education at the primary level.
• It recommended the policy of consolidation instead of multiplication of schools. The duration of the primary course was to be fixed to four years.
• It recommended for the improvements in quality, pay, and service conditions of teachers and relating the syllabus and teaching methods to the local environment of villages and locality
• The Hartog committee on education recommended for the promotion of technical and commercial education by universities to control the problem of unemployment.
• The recommendation of the Hartog committee of 1929 was an attempt for consolidation and stabilization of education. The Hartog committee of 1929 was seen as a torchbearer of the government’s effort to improve the quality of education.
• However, these recommendations of Hartog committee of 1929 remained only on paper and could not be implemented due to the great economic depression of 1930-31.

(7) Sargent Plan – 1944

• The Sargent plan of education came after Sir John Sargent was given the task to prepare a comprehensive scheme of education for India in 1944.

Recommendations:

1. Pre-primary education for children between 3 to 6 years of age. Universal, compulsory and free primary or basic education for all children between the ages 6—11 (junior basic) and 11—14 (senior basic).
2. High school education for six years for selected children between the years 11—17.
3. Degree course for three years beginning after the higher secondary examination for selected students
4. Technical, commercial, agricultural and art education for full time and part-time students, girls schools are to teach domestic science.
5. The liquidation of adult illiteracy and the development of a public library system in about 20 years.
6. Full provision for the proper training of teachers.
7. Educational provision is made for the physically and mentally handicapped children.
8. The organization of compulsory physical education.
9. Provision to be made for social and recreational activities.
10. The creation of employment bureaus.
11. The creation of the Department of Education in the centre and in the states.
12. The use of mother tongue is to be used as the medium of instruction in all high schools.

Famine Commissions during British Rule in India

(1) Campbell Commission

• In 1865-66, a famine engulfed Orissa, Bengal, Bihar, and Madras and took a toll of nearly 20 lakhs of lives with Orissa alone loosing 10 lakh lives, since the famine was most severe in Orissa; it is called the Orissa famine.
• The Government officers though forewarned took no steps to meet the calamity.
• The Government adhered to the principles of free trade and the law of demand and supply, the Government did provide employment to the table booked men leaving the work of charitable relief to the voluntary agency.
• But the famine proved a turning point in the history of Indian famines for it was followed by the appointment of a committee under the chairmanship of Sir George Campbell.

(2) Stratchy Commission

• It was set up in 1878 under the Chairmanship of Sir Richard Strachey.
• The commission recommended state interference in food trade in the event of famine. India witnessed another major famine in 1896-97.

(3) Lyall Commission

• It was constituted in 1897 under the Chairmanship of Sir James Lyall. This commission recommended the development of irrigation facilities.

(4) MacDonnell Commission

• It was set up in 1900 under the Chairmanship of Sir Anthony (Later Lord) McDonnel to re-evaluate and recommend changes in report of the previous commission, based on the findings of the recent famine.
• This Commission recommended that the official machinery dealing with a famine must work around the year so that the scarcity of food grains could be controlled well in time.

Law Commission

• Law Commissions in India have a pre-independence origin. The first Law Commission was formed in 1834 as a result of the Charter Act, 1833 under the chairmanship of TB Macaulay.
• The first commission’s recommendations resulted in the codification of the penal code and the Criminal Procedure Code.
• Three other law commissions were constituted before independence by the British government.
• All four pre-independent law commissions have contributed to the statute books immensely.
• After independence, the first Law Commission was constituted in 1955 in a continuance of the tradition of bringing law reforms in the country through the medium of law commissions.
• Second Pre-Independence Law Commission,1853 – Sir John Romilly.
• Third Pre-Independence Law Commission, 1862- Sir John Romilly.
• Fourth Pre-Independence Law Commission, 1879 – Dr Whitley Stokes.

Currency Commission

(1) Mansfield Commission by Dufferin in 1886

• The Indian Currency Committee or Fowler Committee was a government committee appointed by the British-run Government of India on 29 April 1898 to examine the current situation in India.
• Until 1892, silver was the metal on which Indian currency and coinage had largely been based. In 1892, the Government of India announced its intent to “close Indian mints to silver” and, in 1893, it brought this policy into force.

Other Commissions on Currency:

1. Fowler Commission by Elgin II in 1898
2. Babington Smith Commission by Chelmsford in 1919
3. Hilton Young Commission by Linlithgow in 1926

Other Important Commissions

1. Scott-Moncrieff Commission (Irrigation) by Curzon in 1901
2. Fraser Commission (Police Reforms) by Curzon in 1902
3. Hunter Commission (Punjab Disturbances) by Chelmsford 1919
4. Butler Commission (Indian States relation with British Crown) by Irwin in 1927
5. Whiteley Commission (Labour) by Irwin in 1929
6. Sapru Commission (Unemployment) by Linlithgow in 1935
7. Chalfield Commission (Army) by Linlighgow 1939
8. Floud Commission (Tenancy in Bengal) by Linlighgow in 1940

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An out and out performer, Pooja Gupta has done it again. She has kept it simple and clean. As she mentions in the interview, her strategy revolved heavily around NCERTs, solving sufficient numbers of question papers and obtaining timely guidance.

She appeared in UPSC IAS exam twice and aced it on both the occasions. Going through the process of structuring upsc syllabus extensively, she recommends the NCERTs over other sources.

Pooja’s answers before she joined Civilsdaily.

Pooja-Gupta(AIR-42)-Answers Before Feedback From CD

Notice the change in her writing after guidance from our mentors.

Pooja-Gupta (AIR-42)-Answers After Feedback From CD

6th May 2022

Dear Aspirants,

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1.1 Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

Objective

• To achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level.
• To enhance the recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices.
• To explore the feasibility of reusing treated municipal wastewater for peri-urban agriculture.
• To attract greater private investments in irrigation.
• To promote extension activities relating to water harvesting, water management and crop alignment for farmers and grass root level field functionaries.

Salient features

• Decentralized State level planning and projectized execution’ structure, in order to allow States to draw up a District Irrigation Plan (DIP) and a State Irrigation Plan (SIP). These plans need to be prepared in order to access the PMKSY fund.
• It will be supervised and monitored by the Inter-Ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) under PM with Union Ministers of all concerned Ministries. A National Executive Committee (NEC) is to be constituted under the Chairmanship of the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog to oversee programme implementation.
• PMKSY has been formulated amalgamation ongoing schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP); Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP); and On-Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• Water budgeting is done for all sectors namely, household, agriculture and industries.
• Investments will happen at farm level. So, farmers know what is happening and can provide valuable feedback.
• Recently, the Long Term Irrigation Fund has been instituted under PMKSY in NABARD for funding and fast-tracking the implementation of incomplete major and medium irrigation projects.

1.2 Large Area Certification Scheme

Background

   Despite deep inroads of modern agricultural practices, still, there are large contiguous areas in hills, tribal districts, desert and rained areas in India that continue to remain free from chemical input usage. With little efforts, such traditional/ default organic areas can be brought under organic certification almost immediately.
  Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under its flagship scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY) has launched a unique quick certification programme “Large Area Certification” (LAC) to harness these potential areas under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yajana.

 Salient features

• LAC is a Quick certification process that is cost-effective and farmers do not have to wait for 2-3 years for marketing PGS(Participatory Guarantee System) organic certified products. Whereas As per the established norm of organic production systems, the areas having chemical input usage history are required to undergo a transition period of minimum 2-3 years to qualify as organic. 

• Under LAC, each village in the area is considered as one cluster/group.  
• Documentations are simple and maintained village-wise.
• Plan based on agro-climatic conditions, availability of appropriate technology and natural priorities.
• All farmers with their farmland and livestock need to adhere to the standard requirements and on being verified get certified en-mass without the need to go under conversion period. Certification is renewed on annual basis through annual verification by a process of peer appraisals as per the process of PGS-India.

1.3 NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY MISSION

Objective

• Increasing production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals and commercial crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner.
• Restore soil fertility and productivity at the individual farm level.
• Enhancing farm level economy.

Salient features

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme which was launched in 2007.
• The approach of the scheme is to bridge the yield gap in respect of these crops through dissemination of improved technologies and farm management practices while focusing on districts which have high potential but relatively low level of productivity at present.
• Major Components – National Food Security Mission – Rice, National Food Security Mission – Wheat, National Food Security Mission – Pulses,
• National Food Security Mission – Coarse Cereals and National Food Security Mission –Commercial Crops.

1.4 GRAMIN BHANDARAN YOJANA

Objective of this Scheme:

• Create scientific storage capacity with allied facilities in rural areas.
• To meet the requirements of farmers for storing farm produce, processed farm produce and agricultural inputs.
• Promotion of grading, standardization and quality control of agricultural produce to improve their marketability.
• Prevent distress sale immediately after harvest by providing the facility of pledge financing and marketing credit by strengthening agricultural marketing infrastructure in the country.

 

1.5 SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME

Objective

• To issue soil health cards every 3 years, to all farmers of the country, so as to provide a basis to address nutrient deficiencies in fertilization practices.
• To strengthen the functioning of Soil Testing Laboratories (STLs) through capacity building, the involvement of agriculture students and effective linkage with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) / State Agricultural Universities (SAUs).
• To diagnose soil fertility related constraints with standardized procedures for sampling uniformly across states.
• To build capacities of district and state level staff and of progressive farmers for promotion of nutrient management practices.

Salient features

• It is a centrally sponsored scheme launched by the Government of India in 2015.
• It is being implemented through the Department of Agriculture of all the State and Union Territory Governments.
• Assistance is provided to the State Government to issue Soil Health Card and also develop a database to improve service delivery.
• Soil Health Card issued to farmers carry crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilizers required for the individual farms.
• The experts will analyze the strength and weaknesses (micronutrients deficiency) of the soil collected from farms and suggest measures to deal with it.
• It will contain the status of his soil with respect to 12 parameters, namely N,P,K (Macronutrients); S (Secondary nutrient); Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micro – nutrients); and pH, EC, OC (Physical parameters).

1.6 PM FASAL BIMA YOJANA

Objective

• To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
• To stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
• To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
• To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.
• Intended beneficiary – All farmers including sharecroppers and tenant farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.

Salient features

• It replaced all other existing insurance schemes except the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (uses weather parameters as proxy for crop yield in compensating the cultivators for deemed crop loses).
• A uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.
• In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.
• There is no upper limit on Government subsidy so farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.
• The difference between the premium paid by farmers and the actuarial premium charged was paid by the Centre and state government in the ratio of 50:50.
• It is compulsory for loanee farmers availing crop loans for notified crops in notified areas and voluntary for non-loanee farmers.
• Yield Losses: due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado.
• Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.
• Post-harvest losses are also covered.
• Mandatory use of technology: Smart phones, drones etc., will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
• The Scheme shall be implemented on an ‘Area Approach basis’. Defined Area (i.e., unit area of insurance) is Village or above. It can be a Geo-Fenced/Geo-mapped region having homogenous Risk Profile for the notified crop.
• Presently, 5 public sector insurers (Agriculture Insurance Company of India, United India Insurance Company etc.) and 13 private insurance companies are empanelled for implementation of the scheme.
• Recently, states have been allowed to set up their own insurance companies for implementing the scheme.

1.7 National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) has been formulated for enhancing agricultural productivity especially in rainfed areas focusing on integrated farming, water use efficiency, soil health management and synergizing resource conservation.

Objectives

• To make agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific Integrated/Composite Farming Systems
• To conserve natural resources through appropriate soil and moisture conservation measures
• To adopt comprehensive soil health management practices based on soil fertility maps, soil test based application of macro & micro nutrients, judicious use of fertilizers etc.
• To optimize utilization of water resources through efficient water management to expand coverage for achieving ‘more crop per drop’.
• To develop capacity of farmers & stakeholders, in conjunction with other on going missions e.g. National Mission on Agriculture Extension & Technology, National Food Security Mission, National Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) etc., in the domain of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.
• To pilot models in select blocks for improving productivity of rainfed farming by mainstreaming rainfed technologies refined through NICRA and by leveraging resources  from other schemes/Missions like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), RKVY etc.; and
• To establish an effective inter and intra Departmental/Ministerial coordination for accomplishing key deliverables of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture under the aegis of National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

1.8 PARAMPARAGAT KRISHI VIKAS YOJANA

Objective

• Promotion of commercial organic production through certified organic farming.
• pesticide residue free produce and improved health of consumer
• Raise farmer’s income and create potential markets for traders.
• Motivate the farmers for natural resource mobilization for input production.
• Increase domestic production and certification of organic produce by involving farmers.

Intended beneficiary

• Farmers doing organic farming
• Farmers from NE India such as Sikkim
• Food processing industries
• Organic foods – export industry

Salient features

• “Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) under National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• Cluster Approach: Fifty or more farmers form a cluster having 50 acre land to take organic farming. Each farmer will be provided Rs. 20000 per acre in three years for seed to harvesting crops and to transport them to market.
• Government plans to form around 10 thousand clusters in three years and cover an area of 5 Lakh hectares under organic farming.

Components –

• Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification through cluster approach – mobilization of farmers, form clusters, identification of land resources and training on organic farming and PGS Certification and quality control.
• Adoption of organic village for manure management and biological nitrogen harvesting through cluster approach –action plan for Organic Farming, Integrated Manure Management, Packing, Labelling and Branding of organic products of cluster.

1.9 NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL MARKET (NAM)

Objective

• To promote genuine price discovery
• Increases farmers’ options for sale and access to markets
• Liberal licensing of traders / buyers and commission agents. One license for a trader valid across all markets in the State
• Harmonisation of quality standards of agricultural produce
• Single point levy of market fees, i.e on the first wholesale purchase from the farmer.
• Provision of Soil Testing Laboratories in/ or near the selected mandi to facilitate visiting farmers to access this facility in the mandi itself

Intended beneficiary

• 585 regulated wholesale markets in states/union territories (UTs).
• Farmers
• Local traders
• Bulk buyers, processors
• Farm produce exporters
• Overall economy of the nation

Salient features

• NAM is a pan-India electronic trading portal which seeks to network the existing APMCs and other market yards to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
• Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) has been selected as the lead agency to implement it.
• Central government will provide the software free of cost to the states and in addition, a grant of up to Rs. 30 lakhs per mandi or market or private mandis will be given for related equipment and infrastructure requirements.
• New Features added to the scheme such as E-NAM Mobile App, BHIM Payment facility, MIS dashboard for better analysis and insights, grievance redressal mechanism for Mandi Secretaries and integration with Farmer Database to ease the registration and identification process will further strengthen e-NAM.
• Fund Allocation – The Scheme is being funded through AgriTech Infrastructure Fund (AITF).

1.10 Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

Objective

• ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.
• Subhash Palekar perfected it during the 1990s at his farm in Amravati district in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Vidarbha region.
• According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.
• Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy — are already present in nature.
• The remaining 1.5-2% are taken from the soil,

Four wheels of ZBNF

The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.

• Jiwamrita is a fermented mixture of cow dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery, pulses flour, water and soil from the farm bund.
• This isn’t a fertilizer, but just a source of some 500 crore micro-organisms that can convert all the necessary “non-available” nutrients into “available” form.
• Bijamrita is a mix of desi cow dung and urine, water, bund soil and lime that is used as a seed treatment solution prior to sowing.
• Mulching, or covering the plants with a layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is meant to conserve soil moisture and keep the temperature around the roots at 25-32 degrees Celsius, which allows the microorganisms to do their job.
• Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain the required moisture-air balance, also achieves the same objective.

1.11 MERA GAON-MERA GAURAV

Objective

• To promote direct interface of scientists withthe farmers and hasten the land to lab process.
• To imbibe a sense of ownership among the agricultural scientists
• To provide farmers with required information, knowledge and advisories on regular basis by adopting villages.

Intended beneficiary

• Scientists with ground level experience
• Farmers

 Salient features

• This scheme involves scientists of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and state agricultural universities.
• Groups of four multidisciplinary scientists each will be constituted at these institutes and universities. Each group will “adopt” five villages within a radius of maximum 100 km.

1.12 Price Stabilization Fund

Objective: to safeguard the interest of the growers and provide them financial relief when prices fall below a specified level.

Scheme:

• Central Sector Scheme.
• To support market interventions for price control of perishable agri-horticultural commodities.
• PSF will be used to advance interest free loan to State Governments and Central agencies to support their working capital and other expenses on procurement and distribution interventions for such commodities.
• Procurement of the commodities will be undertaken directly from farmers or farmers’ organizations at farm gate/mandi and made available at a more reasonable price to the consumers.
• Initially the fund is proposed to be used for onion and potato only. Losses incurred, if any, in the operations will be shared between the Centre and the States.

Framework and Funding:

• States will set up a revolving fund to which theCentre and State will contribute equally, i.e. 50:50.
• The ratio of Centre-State contribution to the State-level corpus in respect of Northeast States will, however, be 75:25.

1.13 Mission Fingerling

• It is a programme to enable holistic development and management of the fisheries sector in India.
• The mission aims to achieve the target to enhance fisheries production from 10.79 mmt (2014-15) to 15 mmt by 2020-21 under the Blue Revolution.

Programme:

• Government has identified 20 States based ontheir potential and other relevant factors to strengthen the Fish Fingerling production and Fish Seed infrastructure in the country.
• This program will facilitate the establishment of Fingerling rearing pond and hatcheries.
• This will converge in the production of 20 lakh tonnes of fish annually, which will in turn benefit about 4 million families.
• The implementation of this program will supplement the requirement of stocking materials in the country up to a large extent, which is a much needed input to achieve the enhanced fish production.

1.14 Umbrella Scheme Green Revolution — Krishonnati Yojana

Aim

These schemes look to develop the agriculture and allied sector in a holistic and scientific manner to increase the income of farmers by enhancing production, productivity and better returns on produce.

The Schemes that are part of the Umbrella Schemes are :-

1. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
2. National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
3. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
4. Submission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE)
5. Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP)
6. Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM)
7. Sub Mission on Plant Protection and Plan Quarantine (SMPPQ)
8. Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics (ISACES)
9. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation (ISAC)
10. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM)
11. National e-Governance Plan (NeGP-A) The Schemes/Missions focus on creating/strengthening of infrastructure of production, reducing production cost and marketing of agriculture and allied produce.

1.15 Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)

1. The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018.
2. It is expected that the increase in MSP will be translated to farmers’ income by way of robust procurement mechanism in coordination with the State Governments.

The three schemes that are part of AASHA are:

1. the Price Support Scheme (PSS)
2. the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS)
3. the Pilot of Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPPS)

• These three components will complement the existing schemes of the Department of Food and Public Distribution.
• They relate to paddy, wheat and other cereals and coarse grains where procurement is at MSP now.
• PSS – Under the PSS, physical procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra will be done by Central Nodal Agencies.
• Besides, NAFED and Food Corporation of India will also take up procurement of crops under PSS.
• The expenditure and losses due to procurement will be borne by the Centre.
• PDPS – Under the PDPS, the Centre proposes to cover all oilseeds.
• The difference between the MSP and actual selling/modal price will be directly paid into the farmer’s bank account.
• Farmers who sell their crops in recognised mandis within the notified period can benefit from it.
• PPSS – In the case of oilseeds, States will have the option to roll out PPSS in select districts.
• Under this, a private player can procure crops at MSP when market prices drop below MSP.
• The private player will then be compensated through a service charge up to a maximum of 15% of the MSP.

1.16 Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

What is the news:

• The Central Government notified a decision to extend the benefit of ₹6,000 per year under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to all 14.5 crore farmers in the country, irrespective of the size of their landholding.
• Central sector scheme

Objective

○ To provide income support to all farmer families having cultivable land.

○ To supplement the financial needs of the farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income.

Salient Features:

• The revised Scheme is expected to coveraround 2 crore more farmers, increasing the coverage of PM-KISAN to around 14.5 crore beneficiaries.
• Responsibility of identifying the landholder farmer family eligible for benefit under the scheme shall be of the State/UT Government.
• The lists of eligible beneficiaries would be published at the village level to ensure transparency.
• Exclusions: Certain categories of beneficiaries of higher economic status such as institutional landholders, former and present holder of constitutional posts, persons who paid income tax in the last assessment year etc. shall not be eligible for benefit under the scheme.
  • Professionals like doctors, engineers and lawyers as well as retired pensioners with a monthly pension of over ₹10,000 and those who paid income tax in the last assessment year are also not eligible for the benefits.
  • For the purpose of exclusion State/UT Government can certify the eligibility of the beneficiary based on self-declaration by the beneficiaries.
• A dedicated PM Kisan Portal will be launched for the implementation of the scheme.
• This is a Central Sector Scheme and will be funded fully by the Government of India

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