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GS Paper: Government Scheme/Policies

  • Sahakar Mitra Scheme

    The Union Ministry for Agriculture has launched Sahakar Mitra: Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP).

    Note: Article 19 states that the Right to form co-operative societies is a Fundamental Right and DPSP Article 43-B provides for the promotion of co-operative societies.

    Sahakar Mitra Scheme

    • The scheme is an initiative by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the cooperative sector development finance organization.
    • It aims to help cooperative institutions access innovative ideas of young professionals while the interns will gain experience of working in the field to be self-reliant.
    • The scheme is expected to assist cooperative institutions to access new and innovative ideas of young professionals while the interns gain experience of working in the field giving the confidence to be self-reliant.
    • Professional graduates in disciplines such as Agriculture and allied areas, IT etc. will be eligible for an internship.
    • Professionals who are pursuing or have completed their MBA degrees in Agri-business, Cooperation, Finance, International Trade, Forestry, Rural Development, Project Management etc. will also be eligible.
    • Each intern will get financial support over a 4 months internship period.

  • PM Swanidhi Scheme for street vendors

    The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched a micro-credit facility for street vendors under the Swanidhi Scheme.

    Try this question from CSP 2016:

    Q.Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’ is a national campaign to

    (a) rehabilitate the homeless and destitute persons and provide then with suitable sources of livelihood

    (b) release the sex workers from the practice and provide them with alternative sources of livelihood

    (c) eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and rehabilitate the manual scavenger

    (d) release the bonded labourers free their bondage and rehabilitate them

    PM Swanidhi Scheme

    • The Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi Scheme is aimed at benefiting over 50 lakh vendors who had their businesses operational on or before March 24.
    • The scheme was announced by Finance Minister as a part of the economic package for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.
    • The loans are meant to help kick-start activity for vendors who have been left without any income since the lockdown was implemented on March 25.
    • The scheme is valid until March 2022.

    Expected beneficiaries

    • This loan will be given to those who run shops on the roadside, handcart or streetcar.
    • Fruit-vegetable, laundry, saloon and paan shops are also included in this category.

    Facilities provided under the scheme

    • The vendors will be able to apply for a working capital loan of up to ₹10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments within a year.
    • On timely/early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy of 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer on a six-monthly basis.
    • The loans would be without collateral. There will be no penalty on early repayment of the loan.

  • How would Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of power subsidy work?

    Context

    • Punjab has been providing free power to the agriculture sector.
    • The new Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 has proposed providing subsidy on power to farmers through DBT, which is contrary to the prevailing ‘free power’ system in Punjab.

    Free or subsidised power is being provided to millions of consumers in almost every state. Punjab is no exception but its free power scheme is. Other states can learn from the example of Punjab, here.

    Practice questions for mains:

    Q. Discuss the efficacy of Direct Benefit Transfer in power subsidy for farmers.

    Punjab on knees

    • Before it submits suggestions regarding the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020, recently drafted by the Union Power Ministry to amend the Electricity Act 2003, a big challenge lies ahead for the Punjab government.
    • Under the garb of DBT, it is a move to stop the free power supply to them.

    What is the current system of power subsidy for farmers in Punjab?

    • At present, Punjab is supplying free power to 14.16 lakh electricity-run tubewells of the agriculture sector which are getting power through 5,900 Agricultural Pumpset Feeders (APFs).
    • These APFs are metered and the Punjab Power Corporation charges the state government for consumed units recorded in metered APFs.

    The Free Power Scheme

    • Farmers are getting power supply for their Kharif and Rabi crops from these feeders as per the recommendations of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana.
    • It is supplied for around eight hours every day in Kharif season and four hours on alternate days during Rabi crop season.
    • The state government pays around Rs 6,000 crore power subsidy bill to Power Corporation every year under the scheme to the farming sector.

    What would change under the DBT allowed under the new Electricity Bill 2020?

    • Under DBT, farmers will have to pay the bill for the power consumed for agriculture purposes.
    • After that, they will get the subsidy in their bank accounts through DBT.
    • A meter would be installed on every individual tubewell.

    Issues with Punjab farmer

    • Approximately the annual power bill will come to around Rs 46,000 to Rs 48,000, and farmers are required to pay a bill of Rs 4,000 per month.
    • In Punjab, 67 per cent of farmers come under the small and marginal categories with 1-2 hectares land.
    • Paying bills in advance is not possible for them due to debt.
    • If farmers don’t pay their bills, the department will disconnect their connection, which could lead to farmers’ agitation.

    Can it work like DBT on LPG gas cylinders?

    • The bill suggests the subsidy be paid directly to consumers in cash on the pattern of LPG subsidy.
    • This proposal should be tried in a pilot project and if results are encouraging, only then it should be included in the amendment bill.
    • It is not feasible to provide meters on every pump set up across the country and then give cash subsidy every month after the consumer has paid the bill.

    Punjab government’s own DBT scheme titled ‘Paani Bachao Paisa Kamao’ is also working here. How it is different from DBT under the new Bill?

    • The Punjab government’s scheme is a voluntary one.
    • The farmers who have adopted it need to get install a power meter on their tubewell but are not required to pay any power bill.
    • The main purpose of PBPK is to save groundwater by using it judiciously because, under the traditional system, several farmers are misusing the water by over-irrigating the crops due to free power available to them.

    What do farmers’ organisations think of this?

    • Farmers’ organisations say that if the Punjab government agrees to this bill, they will fight it tooth and nail.
    • From where will poor farmers pay such heavy bills when they get an income after six months following the sale of their crop, they ask.
    • Anywhere in the world, the agrarian sector cannot run without the support of the government as it is the base of every human being who is dependent on farmers’ produce from his/her morning tea to dinner.

    Back2Basics

    [pib] Draft Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020

  • ‘Rozgar Setu’ Scheme for skilled workers

    The Madhya Pradesh has announced the launch of the ‘Rozgar Setu’ Scheme to help secure employment for skilled workers who have returned.

    State schemes are quite often seen in the news. They are very important from the prelims perspective:

    Rytha Bandu (Telangana): Cash transfer scheme of Rs 5,000/acre, per season

    KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) Scheme (Odisha)

    Mukhya Mantri Krishi Aashirwad Yojana (Jharkhand)

    Krishak Bandhu Scheme (West Bengal)

    ‘Rozgar Setu’ Scheme

    • The ‘Rozgar Setu’ scheme to provide work to the maximum number of returned skilled workers.
    • After such workers requiring employment are identified, the government will contact factory and workshop owners and contractors overseeing infrastructure projects such as road and bridge construction.
    • This would fulfil the manpower requirement of industries as well as provide employment to workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Ensuring MGNREGA lives up to its potential

    With migrant workers returning home, work demand under MGNREGA is bound to rise. Sensing that the government increased the allocation to MGNREGA. This article suggests some steps to make the MGNREGA more effective in catering to this surge in the wake of the pandemic. Some issues that plague the scheme are also examined at the end. So, what are the suggestion? and what are the issues? Read to know….

    Acknowledgement of the importance of MGNREGA

    • The government made an allocation of an additional Rs 40,000 crore as part of the stimulus package.
    • This is an acknowledgement of the importance of MGNREGA.
    • The most important part of MGNREGA’s design is its legally-backed guarantee for any rural adult to get work within 15 days of demanding it.
    • This demand-based trigger enables the self-selection of workers and gives them an assurance of at least 100 days of wage employment.

    Let’s put allocation in context of World Bank recommendations

    • Since 2012, an average of 18 per cent of the annual budgetary allocation for MGNREGA has been spent on clearing pending liabilities from the previous years.
    • Even this financial year began with pending wage and material liabilities of Rs 16,045 crore.
    • An allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore for FY 2020-21 would mean that approximately Rs 84,000 crore is available for employment generation this year.
    • This will still be the highest allocation for MGNREGA in any year since the passage of the law.
    • However, the allocation, which amounts to 0.47 per cent of the GDP continues to be much lower than the World Bank recommendations of 1.7 per cent for the optimal functioning of the programme.

    Some immediate steps to ensure the MGNREGA lives up to its potential

    • First, state governments must ensure that public works are opened in every village.
    • Workers turning up at the worksite should be provided work immediately, without imposing on them the requirement of demanding work in advance.
    • Second, local bodies must proactively reach out to returned and quarantined migrant workers and help those in need to get job cards.
    • Third, at the worksite, adequate facilities such as soap, water, and masks for workers must be provided free of cost. For reasons of health safety, MGNREGA tools should not be shared between workers.
    • The government should provide a tool allowance to all workers — some states are already providing such an allowance.
    • Fourth, procedures for implementing MGNREGA must be simplified but not diluted.
    • The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of decentralised governance.
    • Gram panchayats and elected representatives need to be provided with adequate resources, powers, and responsibilities to sanction works, provide work on demand, and authorise wage payments to ensure there are no delays in payments.
    • Fifth, as per a study by the RBI, more than half the districts in the country are under-banked.
    • The density of bank branches in rural India is even more sparse.
    • At this time, payments need to not only reach bank accounts on time, but cash needs to reach the workers easily and efficiently.
    • The limited coverage of bank infrastructure in rural areas must not be made a hurdle.
    • Attempts to distribute wages in cash, sans biometric authentication, must be rolled out.
    • Sixth, there needs to be flexibility in the kinds of work to be undertaken, while ensuring that the community and the workers are the primary beneficiaries.

    Issuse with MGNREGA

    • Over the last few years, MGNREGA had begun to face an existential crisis.
    • Successive governments capped its financial resources, and turning it into a supply-based programme.
    • Workers had begun to lose interest in working under it because of the inordinate delays in wage payments.
    • With very little autonomy, gram panchayats had begun to find implementation cumbersome.
    • Barring a few exceptions, state governments were only interested in running the programme to the extent funds were made available from the Centre.
    • Allocating work on demand, and not having enough funds to pay wages on time was bound to cause great distress amongst the workers and eventually for the state too.
    • As a result, state governments had begun to implement MGNREGA like a supply-driven scheme, instead of running it like a demand-based guarantee backed by law.

    Consider the question “With migrant workers returning to villages in the wake of corona pandemic, demand for work is likely to increase. In light of this, discuss the utility of MGNREGA and challenges it may face.”

    Conclusion

    With nearly eight crore migrant workers returning to their villages, and with an additional allocation for the year, this could be a moment for the true revival of MGNREGA. A revival led by workers themselves.

    Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005

    • The Act aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members (at least 18 years of age) volunteer to do unskilled work.
    • The central government bears the full cost of unskilled labour, and 75% of the cost of material (the rest is borne by the states).
    • It is a demand-driven, social security and labour law that aims to enforce the ‘right to work’.
    • Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Government of India in association with state governments, monitors the implementation of the scheme.

  • Is the suspension of labour laws a silver bullet?

    In keeping with the exigencies caused by the pandemic, some State governments have suspended several provision of labour laws. This article analyses the implications of such suspensions. And also emphasises the lack of legal basis in the State governments actions. Evolution of the labour laws in India is also discussed here. So, what are these legal issues? Read to know more…

    Some labour laws suspended by the UP government

    • The Uttar Pradesh government has issued an ordinance keeping in abeyance almost all labour statutes.
    • Which includes laws on maternity benefits and gratuity.
    • The Factories Act, 1948.
    • The Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
    • The Industrial Establishments (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
    • The Trade Unions Act, 1926.
    • This will take away the protection conferred on organised labour by Parliament.

    Some repressive labour laws in colonial era

    • Bengal Regulations VII, 1819 was enacted for the British planters in Assam tea estates.
    • Workers had to work under a five-year contract and desertion was made punishable.
    • Later, the Transport of Native Labourers’ Act, 1863 was passed in Bengal.
    • The Act strengthened control of the employers and even enabled them to detain labourers in the district of employment and imprison them for six months.
    • Bengal Act VI of 1865 was later passed to deploy Special Emigration Police to prevent labourers from leaving and return them to the plantation after detention.

    Workers’ struggle in British India

    • The labour laws in India have emerged out of workers’ struggles, which were very much part of the freedom movement against oppressive colonial industrialists.
    • Since the 1920s there were a series of strikes and agitations for better working conditions.
    • Several trade unionists were arrested under the Defence of India Rules.
    • The workers’ demands were supported by our political leaders.
    • Britain was forced to appoint the Royal Commission on Labour, which gave a report in 1935.
    • The Government of India Act, 1935 enabled greater representation of Indians in law-making.
    • This resulted in reforms, which are forerunners to the present labour enactments.
    • The indentured plantation labour saw relief in the form of the Plantations Labour Act, 1951.

    Acts passed in India to protect workers’ rights

    • The Factories Act lays down eight-hour work shifts, with overtime wages, weekly offs, leave with wages and measures for health, hygiene and safety.
    • The Industrial Disputes Act provides for workers participation to resolve wage and other disputes through negotiations so that strikes/lockouts, unjust retrenchments and dismissals are avoided.
    • The Minimum Wages Act ensures wages below which it is not possible to subsist.

    Constitutional basis of the labour laws

    • These enactments further the Directive Principles of State Policy.
    • These laws also protect the right to life and the right against exploitation under Articles 21 and 23.
    • Trade unions have played critical roles in transforming the life of a worker from that of servitude to one of dignity.
    • In the scheme of socio-economic justice the labour unions cannot be dispensed with.

    Is the suspension of labour laws legally sound?

    • The Supreme Court, in Glaxo Laboratories v. The Presiding Officer, Labour (1983) said about contract between employer and employee “the contract being not left to be negotiated by two unequal persons but statutorily imposed.”
    • The ‘two unequal’ here refers to the inequality between employee and employer.
    • In Life Insurance Corporation v. D. J. Bahadur & Ors (1980), the Supreme Court highlighted that any changes in the conditions of service can be only through a democratic process of negotiations or legislation.
    • Moreover, Parliament did not delegate to the executive any blanket powers of exemption. 
    • Section 5 of the Factories Act empowers the State governments to exempt only in case of a “public emergency”.
    • Which is explained as a “grave emergency whereby the security of India or any part of the territory thereof is threatened, whether by war or external aggression or internal disturbance”.
    • There is no such threat to the security of India now.
    •  Labour is a concurrent subject in the Constitution and most pieces of labour legislation are Central enactments.
    • The U.P. government by Ordinance has said that labour laws will not apply for the next three years.
    •  How can a State government, in one fell swoop, nullify Central enactments?
    • The Constitution does not envisage approval by the President of a State Ordinance which makes a whole slew of laws enacted by Parliament inoperable in the absence of corresponding legislations on the same subject.
    • The orders of the State governments therefore lack statutory support. 

    Consider the question, “Several State governments have resorted to the suspension of labour laws in the aftermath of corona crisis. Examine the implications of the suspension of the laws for the rights of the labours.”

    Conclusion

    Governments have a constitutional duty to ensure just, humane conditions of work and maternity benefits. The health and strength of the workers cannot be abused by force of economic necessity. Labour laws are thus civilisational goals and cannot be trumped on the excuse of a pandemic.

     

     

  • ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ System

    Finance Minister has announced the nationwide rollout of a ‘One Nation, One Ration Card (ONORC)’ system in all states and UTRs by March 2021. As of now, about 20 states have come on board to implement the inter-state ration card portability.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. The  ‘One nation one ration card ‘scheme would bring perceptible changes to the lives of India’s internal migrant workers. Comment.

    What is PDS?

    • The Public distribution system (PDS) is an Indian food Security System established under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution.
    • PDS evolved as a system of management of scarcity through distribution of food grains at affordable prices.
    • PDS is operated under the joint responsibility of the Central and the State Governments. 
    • The Central Government, through Food Corporation of India (FCI), has assumed the responsibility for procurement, storage, transportation and bulk allocation of food grains to the State Governments.
    • The operational responsibilities including allocation within the State, identification of eligible families, issue of Ration Cards and supervision of the functioning of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) etc., rest with the State Governments.
    • Under the PDS, presently the commodities namely wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene are being allocated to the States/UTs for distribution. Some States/UTs also distribute additional items of mass consumption through the PDS outlets such as pulses, edible oils, iodized salt, spices, etc.

    Evolution of PDS in India

    • PDS was introduced around World War II as a war-time rationing measure. Before the 1960s, distribution through PDS was generally dependant on imports of food grains.
    • It was expanded in the 1960s as a response to the food shortages of the time; subsequently, the government set up the Agriculture Prices Commission and the FCIto improve domestic procurement and storage of food grains for PDS.
    • By the 1970s, PDS had evolved into a universal scheme for the distribution of subsidised food
    • Till 1992, PDS was a general entitlement scheme for all consumers without any specific target.
    • The Revamped Public Distribution System (RPDS) was launched in June, 1992 with a view to strengthen and streamline the PDS as well as to improve its reach in the far-flung, hilly, remote and inaccessible areas where a substantial section of the underprivileged classes lives.
    • In June, 1997, the Government of India launched the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) with a focus on the poor.
    • Under TPDS, beneficiaries were divided into two categories: Households below the poverty line or BPL; and Households above the poverty line or APL.
    • Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY): AAY was a step in the direction of making TPDS aim at reducing hunger among the poorest segments of the BPL population.
    • A National Sample Survey exercise pointed towards the fact that about 5% of the total population in the country sleeps without two square meals a day. In order to make TPDS more focused and targeted towards this category of population, the “Antyodaya Anna Yojana” (AAY) was launched in December, 2000 for one crore poorest of the poor families.
    • In September 2013, Parliament enacted the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Act relies largely on the existing TPDS to deliver food grains as legal entitlements to poor households. This marks a shift by making the right to food a justiciable right.

    How does the PDS system function?

    • The Central and State Governments share responsibilities in order to provide food grains to the identified beneficiaries.
    • The centre procures food grains from farmers at a minimum support price (MSP)and sells it to states at central issue prices. It is responsible for transporting the grains to godowns in each state.
    • States bear the responsibility of transporting food grains from these godowns to each fair price shop (ration shop), where the beneficiary buys the food grains at the lower central issue price. Many states further subsidise the price of food grains before selling it to beneficiaries.

    Importance of PDS

    • It helps in ensuring Food and Nutritional Security of the nation.
    • It has helped in stabilising food prices and making food available to the poor at affordable prices.
    • It maintains the buffer stock of food grains in the warehouse so that the flow of food remains active even during the period of less agricultural food production.
    • It has helped in the redistribution of grains by supplying food from surplus regions of the country to deficient regions.
    • The system of minimum support price and procurement has contributed to the increase in food grain production.

    Issues Associated with PDS System in India

    • Identification of beneficiaries: Studies have shown that targeting mechanisms such as TPDS are prone to large inclusion and exclusion errors. This implies that entitled beneficiaries are not getting food grains while those that are ineligible are getting undue benefits.
    • According to the estimation of an expert group set up in 2009, PDS suffers from nearly 61% error of exclusion and 25% inclusion of beneficiaries, i.e. the misclassification of the poor as non-poor and vice versa.
    • Leakage of food grains: (Transportation leakages + Black Marketing by FPS owners) TPDS suffers from large leakages of food grains during transportation to and from ration shops into the open market. In an evaluation of TPDS, the erstwhile Planning Commission found 36% leakage of PDS rice and wheat at the all-India level.
    • Issue with procurement: Open-ended Procurement i.e., all incoming grains accepted even if buffer stock is filled, creates a shortage in the open market.
    • Issues with storage: A performance audit by the CAG has revealed a serious shortfall in the government’s storage capacity.
    • Given the increasing procurement and incidents of rotting food grains, the lack of adequate covered storage is bound to be a cause for concern.
    • The provision of minimum support price (MSP) has encouraged farmers to divert land from production of coarse grains that are consumed by the poor, to rice and wheat and thus, discourages crop diversification.
    • Environmental issues: The over-emphasis on attaining self-sufficiency and a surplus in food grains, which are water-intensive, has been found to be environmentally unsustainable.
    • Procuring states such as Punjab and Haryana are under environmental stress, including rapid groundwater depletion, deteriorating soil and water conditions from overuse of fertilisers.
    • It was found that due to the cultivation of rice in north-west India, the water table went down by 33 cm per year during 2002-08.

    What is the one ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ system?

    • Under the National Food Security Act, 2013, about 81 crore persons are entitled to buy subsidized foodgrain — rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg, and coarse grains at Re 1/kg — from their designated Fair Price Shops (FPS) of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
    • Currently, about 23 crore ration cards have been issued to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries of NFSA in all states and UTs.
    • In the present system, a ration cardholder can buy foodgrains only from an FPS that has been assigned to her in the locality in which she lives.
    • However, this will change once the ONORC system becomes operational nationally.

    How would that work?

    • Under the ONORC system, the beneficiary will be able to buy subsidised foodgrains from any FPS across the country.
    • The new system, based on a technological solution, will identify a beneficiary through biometric authentication on electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices installed at the FPSs.
    • This would enable that person to purchase the number of foodgrains to which she is entitled under the NFSA.

    How will the system of ration card portability work?

    • Ration card portability is aimed at providing intra-state as well as inter-state portability of ration cards.
    • While the Integrated Management of PDS portal provides the technological platform for the inter-state portability of ration cards.
    • It enables a migrant worker to buy foodgrains from any FPS across the country.
    • The Annavitaran portal hosts the data of the distribution of foodgrains through E-PoS devices within a state.
    • The portal enables a migrant worker or his family to avail the benefits of PDS outside their district but within their state.
    • While a person can buy her share of foodgrains as per her entitlement under the NFSA, wherever she is based, the rest of her family members can purchase subsidised foodgrains from their ration dealer back home.

    Revamping of the PDS

    • The PDS system was marred with inefficiency leading to leakages in the system. To plug the leakages and make the system better, the government started the reform process.
    • For, this purpose it used a technological solution involving the use of Aadhaar to identify beneficiaries. Under the scheme, the seeding of ration cards with Aadhaar is being done.
    • Simultaneously, PoS machines are being installed at all FPSs across the country.
    • Once 100 per cent of Aadhaar seeding and 100 per cent installation of PoS devices is achieved, the national portability of ration cards will become a reality.
    • It will enable migrant workers to buy foodgrains from any FPS by using their existing/same ration card.

    How many states have come on board?

    • It was initially proposed to nationally roll out the ONORC scheme by June 1, 2020.
    • So far, 17 major states and UTs have come on board to roll out the inter-state portability of ration cards under the NFSA.
    • Three more states — Odisha, Mizoram, and Nagaland — are expected to come on board by June 1, taking the number of States and UTs to 20 under the One Nation, Once Ration Card System.

    How has been the experience of Ration Card Portability so far?

    • The facility of inter-state ration card portability is available in 20 states as of now but the number of transactions done through using this facility has been low so far.
    • According to data available on the IMPDS portal, only 275 transactions have been done until May 14.
    • However, the number of transactions in the intra-state ration card portability is quite high.
    • The data available on the Annavitaran portal shows that about one crore transactions took place using the facility last month.
    • It means that usages of intra-state ration card portability are way higher than the inter-state portability.

    Back2Basics: National Food Security Act, 2013

    • The NFS Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
    • It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
    • The NFSA 2013 converted into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes.
    • It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services scheme and the Public Distribution System.
    • Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
    • The Midday Meal Scheme and the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
    • Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.

  • [pib] Atal Pension Yojana:  Marking 5 Years of Implementation

    The flagship social security scheme ‘Atal Pension Yojana’ (APY) has completed five years of successful implementation.

    Five years of successfull implemention of APY is a significant feat. A statement based prelims question on terms of enrolment of the APY can be asked.

    Atal Pension Yojana

    • APY is a government-backed pension scheme, primarily targeted at the unorganised sector.
    • It is a social security scheme launched by the government on 9th May 2015 to provide a defined pension between Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000.
    • It aims of delivering old age income security particularly to the workers in the unorganised sector with a guarantee of minimum pension after 60 years of age.

    Terms of enrolment

    • APY can be subscribed by any Indian citizen in the age group of 18-40 years having a bank account and its uniqueness is attributable to three distinctive benefits.
    • First, it provides a minimum guaranteed pension ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 on attaining 60 years of age,
    • Secondly, the amount of pension is guaranteed for a lifetime to spouse on death of the subscriber.
    • And lastly, in the event of the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, entire pension corpus is paid to the nominee.

    Success of the scheme

    • The scheme has now 2.23 crores enrolment.
    • Apart from remarkable enrolments, the scheme has been implemented comprehensively across the country covering all states and UTs with male to a female subscription ratio of 57:43.

    About PFRDA

    • Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the statutory authority established by an enactment of the Parliament.
    • It aims to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies.
    • NPS was initially notified for central government employees recruits w.e.f. 1st Jan 2004 and subsequently adopted by almost all State Governments for its employees.
    • NPS was extended to all Indian citizens (resident/non-resident/overseas) on a voluntary basis and to corporates for its employees.

  • Should we do away with the MPLADS?

    Since its inception in 1993, MPLADS has continued uninterrupted for 27 years. But COVID-19 came as a roadblock for MPLADS. Recently, it was suspended by the government for two years. As expected it led to huge political drama. However, as an aspirant, it is our duty to cut the drama out and focus on issues that matter. This article discusses MPLADS and argues for its abolition owing to various issues associated with it.

    Reason for suspension of MPLADS

    • The government suspended the scheme to strengthen the government’s efforts in managing the challenges and adverse impact of COVID-19 in the country.
    • It has been suspended for two years.
    • BTW scheme in short: Each MP has the choice to suggest to the District Collector for works to the tune of ₹5 crores per annum to be taken up in his/her constituency.

    Why should MPLADS be abolished?

    1. It goes against the spirit of the Constitution

    • The scheme violates one of the cardinal principles: separation of powers.
    • Simply put, this scheme, in effect, gives an executive function to legislators or the legislature.
    • The argument that MPs only recommend projects, but the final choice and implementation rest with the district authorities is unfounded.
    • There are hardly any authorities in the district who have the courage to defy the wishes of an MP.

    2. Lacunae in implementation

    • Consider some of the observations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India:
    • Expenditure incurred by the executing agencies being less than the amount booked.
    • Utilisation of funds between 49 to 90% of the booked amount.
    • The scheme envisages that works under the scheme should be limited to asset creation, but 78% of the works recommended were for improvement of existing assets.
    • Wide variations in quantities executed against the quantities specified in the BOQ (Bills of Quantity) in 137 of the 707 works test-checked. Variations ranged from 16 to 2312%.
    • Use of lesser quantities of material than specified by contractors resulting in excess payments and sub-standard works.
    • Delays in issuing work orders ranging from 5 to 387 days in 57% of the works against the requirement of issuing the work order within 45 days.
    • Extensions of time granted to contractors without following the correct procedure.
    • Register of assets created, as required under the scheme, not maintained, therefore location and existence of assets could not be verified.

    3. Wide variation in utilisation of MPLADS funds

    • A report published in IndiaSpend has some very interesting insights based on data made available to it by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
    • A year after they took office, 298 of 543 members of the 16th Lok Sabha— have not spent a rupee from the ₹5 crore.
    • Though ₹1,757 crore had been released for MPLADs, only ₹281 crore had been utilised by all the 543 MPs till May 15, 2015.
    • This means only 16% of the money had been spent in one year by all the MPs put together, because the Lok Sabha was constituted in May 2014.
    • Since the MPLADS began in 1993, ₹5,000 crore was lying unspent with various district authorities by May 15, 2015.
    • It is clear from the details above, as well as later experience, that most MPs use money under MPLADS quite haphazardly, and a significant portion of it is left unspent.

    4. Misuse of the money under MPLADS

    • There is widespread talk of money under MPLADS being used to appease or oblige two sets of people: opinion-makers or opinion-influencers, and favourite contractors.
    • There have been cases of the contractor and the MP being financially linked with each other.

    5. Legality issue

    • The constitutional validity of MPLADS was challenged in the Supreme Court of India in 1999, followed by petitions in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
    • The combined judgment for all these petitions was delivered on May 6, 2010, with the scheme being held to be constitutional.
    • The SC seems to have placed an unquestioned trust in the efficacy of the scheme of implementation of MPLADS drawn up by the government without an assessment of the situation prevalent in the field.
    • The court should pay more attention to its skewed implementation, evidence of which is available in audit reports.

    Contrast and compare the provision of MPLADS with the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. A direct question on the MPLADS could be asked by the UPSC, for instance, consider this question-“There has been the debate around the MPLADS. Discuss the issues involved in the MPLADS.”

    Conclusion

    Reports of underutilisation and misutilisation of MPLADS funds continue to surface at regular intervals but there seems to have been no serious attempt to do anything about it till now. Some concrete decisions on the future of the scheme is now inevitable.

     Back2Basics: What is MPLADS?

    • MPLAD is a central government scheme, under which MPs can recommend development programmes involving the spending of Rs 5 crore every year in their respective constituencies.
    • MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated ones, can do so.
    • MPs do not receive any money under these schemes.
    • The government transfers it directly to the respective local authorities.
    • The legislators can only recommend works in their constituencies based on a set of guidelines.
    • For the MPLAD Scheme, the guidelines focus on the creation of durable community assets like roads, school buildings etc.
    • Recommendations for non-durable assets can be made only under limited circumstances.

    For example, last month, the government allowed the use of MPLAD funds for the purchase of personal protection equipment, coronavirus testing kits etc.

     

     

  • SWAMITVA Scheme to map rural inhabited lands

    The Prime Minister has launched the Swamitva Scheme and e-Gramswaraj Portal & mobile app as a portal to prepare and plan Gram Panchayat Development Plans.

    Swamitva Scheme

    • SWAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas.
    • Under the scheme, the latest surveying technology such as drones will be used for measuring the inhabited land in villages and rural areas.
    • The mapping and survey will be conducted in collaboration with the Survey of India, State Revenue Department and State Panchayati Raj Department under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
    • The drones will draw the digital map of every property falling in the geographical limit of each Indian village.
    • Property Cards will be prepared and given to the respective owners.

    Benefits

    • The scheme will create records of land ownership in villages and these records will further facilitate tax collection, new building plan and issuance of permits.
    • It will enable the government to effectively plan for the infrastructural programs in villages.
    • It would help in reducing the disputes over property.

    What is e-Gramswaraj Portal?

    • E Gram Swaraj portal is the official portal of central govt for the implementation of Swamitva scheme.
    • By visiting this portal people can check their Panchayat profile easily. It will also contain the details of ongoing development works and the fund allocated for them.
    • Any citizen can create his or her account on the portal and can know about the developmental works of villages.
    • The user of E Gram Swaraj portal can also access all work of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
    • This single interface will help speed-up the implementation of projects in rural areas from planning to completion.