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  • Best Practices under Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP)

    The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) was launched in January 2018 with the vision that renewed focus on interventions in the most backward districts of India. Anchored by NITI Aayog, the programme rests on the three pillars:

    • Convergence (of Central and State Schemes)
    • Collaboration (between Centre, State, District and Citizens)
    • Competition (among the districts through NITI Aayog’s Champions of Change dashboard)

    This edition of Burning Issues focuses on Best Practices that have been compiled by the Aspirational Districts Programme team of NITI Aayog under various areas of focus that include-

    In the cut-throat competition of civil services, each mark counts. “How can I make my answers different from the lot?”  is every aspirant’s constant worry. One way to do so is by quoting EXAMPLES in your answer. So, scroll down and find a list of contemporary best practices in various social sectors. Use these practices as examples in your mains papers to get that extra edge.

     

    [I] HEALTH AND NUTRITION

     

    1) Arogya Kunji (Chatra Dist. Jharkhand)

    Arogya Kunji initiative is an endeavor to ensure accessibility and availability of healthcare facilities in the district. It aims to extend the outreach and efficacy of timely medical aid and healthcare services in rural areas of this district through medical kits.

    2) Centralised Kitchens for Better Nutrition (Nandurbar Dist. Maharashtra) 

    In order to tackle deep-rooted problems of Malnourishment and Anaemia in the tribal-dominated district, the District Administration has established a Centralised Kitchen to provide hot and nutritious meals to children in residential schools, also known as Ashram Shalas.

    3) Model Anganwadi Centres (Ramgarh Dist. Jharkhand)

    The District Administration has established Model Anganwadi Centres across blocks to encourage best practices in management and improve learning outcomes.

    These Anganwadis host regular outreach and awareness campaigns in the community to promote better health and hygiene, such as VHSNDs (Village, Health, Sanitation & Nutrition Days) that have been benefiting families across blocks. The Model Anganwadis include an upgraded in-house kitchen where nutritious meals are prepared for children to ensure a balanced diet.

    4) ‘Hamar Swasthya’ App (Rajnandangaon in Chhattisgarh)

    It helps for early detection of Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) and registers the medical record of patients so that doctors and health workers have access to the medical history of patients and initiate timely treatment and subsequent follow-ups.

    5) Hostels for pregnant tribal women (Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh)

    The District Administration has constructed Hostels for pregnant women of these villages. All the frontline workers including ASHAs and Anganwadis are creating awareness among the villagers about these Hostels. Pregnant women are brought to the Hostel one month prior to the Expected Delivery Date (EDD). There, they are provided with home-like care and support along with nutritional food and intensive medical care, under the close observation of gynaecologists.

    6) Kanya Taru Yojana (Hailakandi in Assam)

    For encouraging Hospital Delivery parents of girl children born in any of the Government Hospitals are gifted with 5 saplings (Coconut, Litchi, Assam Lemon, Guava & Amla).

    Parents are asked to take care of the saplings like their daughters. The fruits of the trees can be used to feed the child to develop her immunity through Vitamin C in Amla, fight malnutrition by Coconut and the profits earned from the sales could be redirected to investing in the girl’s education and improving green cover of the district.

    [II] EDUCATION

     

    1) Aakar Residential School for differently-abled (Sukma in Chhattisgarh)

    To ensure inclusion of differently-abled students and to reduce their dropout rates, the District has started Aakar Residential School. The School undertakes other special activities catering to the overall need of these children including therapies for their cognitive development.

    2) Bal Sansad (Shrawasti and Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh)

    Bal Sansad has been established in more than 3,200 schools across the District of Shrawasti in Uttar Pradesh. It provides a platform to young students to express their views on various issues like family, school, society, good values among other things. Students are not only informed about their rights as a citizen but also encouraged to speak freely about them.

    3) BALA- Building as Learning Aid (Shrawasti in Uttar Pradesh)

    It is an innovative concept for teaching through child-friendly, learning and fun-based physical environment by building new infrastructure or refurbishing the existing School and Anganwadi buildings. The concept was originally developed by Vinyas, Centre for Agricultural Research and Design with the support of UNICEF. BALA includes the development of the entire physical environment of the School – indoor, outdoor and semi-open spaces.

    4) Project Second Innings (Dahod in Gujarat)

    Project Second Innings was launched by the District Administration to increase attendance of students in schools and their learning outcomes. Retired teachers voluntarily sign-up for teaching primary and upper primary classes in various subjects including languages and Mathematics.

    5) Shiksha Saarthi Yojna (Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh)

    Shortage of teachers in schools of rural areas is a major reason for poor learning outcomes. The main reason for the shortage is that teachers from urban areas are unwilling to move to rural areas due to lack of infrastructural facilities. To address this issue and ensure the availability of teachers in primary schools, Shiksha Saarthi Yojna was launched.

    After the appointment of Shiksha Saarthis, student enrolments, attendance and proficiency level in all subjects have risen.

    [III] AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES

     

    1) Agriculture Entrepreneur Scheme (Ramgarh in Jharkhand)

    It is a promising example of coordination between District Administration, CSOs and local citizens to develop a sustainable and scalable model of Agricultural development. The scheme involves imparting training to selected ‘Agri-Entrepreneurs’ for the incorporation of best practices in farming for a cost-effective and profitable model of Agricultural development.

    2) Horticulture Price Agreement Initiative (Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh)

    To make farming a profitable venture, this initiative was launched. The initiative has forward and backward linkages and guarantees procurement at maximum price & partnership in local microprocessing units for farmers, while generating employment for the local youth. The target groups in this Scheme are small and marginal farmers, families with female heads, families with specially challenged people as head of the family and farmers of deprived castes.

    3) Sarvajal Project (Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand)

    The project involves the installation of customised and decentralized drinking water solutions.

    It leverages technology to bring community-level safe drinking water to the underserved. The solar-powered, cloud-connected water dispensing kiosks installed under the project have enabled citizens residing in remote areas, accessibility to clean palatable water.

    4) ‘Taanka’ technique for rainwater harvesting and water conservation (Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh)

    Taankas are underground rainwater storage tanks up to the capacity of 25,000 litres. This initiative follows the standard rainwater harvesting technique wherein rainwater from rooftops is collected through gutters and then made to pass through a sieve before being stored. Use of taankas has helped the district save enough water for lean summer months when the water demand is at its peak and supply invariably falls short.

    [IV] FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

     

    1) Solar MAMAs (Gumla in Jharkhand)

    In the remote district, few hamlets have not yet been electrified due to scattered settlements, difficult topography and challenges of inaccessibility. To mitigate this challenge, the District Administration had organised local women in SHGs and trained them with skills needed for fabrication of solar panels, lights and photovoltaic circuits. These women are fondly addressed as Solar Mamas.

    2) Khawa cluster concept (Osmanabad in Maharashtra)

    In order to keep themselves afloat during severe droughts, farmers, within a Khawa cluster have come together, as an alternative to selling only milk. Khoya or Khawa (reduced dry milk) as a product has more demand and shelf life than milk and every farmer makes a profit for every litre. Farmers have organised themselves in cooperatives and are pooling their cattle for making Khawa (milk solids) from their daily milk production.

    [V] BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE

     

    1) Green technologies in Road Construction (Goalpara in Assam)

    Depleting natural resources and closure of stone quarries had gravely hampered the progress of all-weather road construction. Despite this challenge, in order to provide all-weather connectivity to citizens, the district adopted various Green technologies for the construction of roads. Through this measure, apart from reducing dependence on natural resources and recycling waste plastic, the district has also been able to bring down the cost of construction and maintenance.

    The technologies deployed by the district for construction of roads are-  Waste Plastic Technology, Cell Filled Concrete Technology, Geogrid Technology (Tenax 3D Grids), Cold Mix Technology and Interlocking Concrete Pavement Block (ICBP).

    2) ‘Liter of Light’ Portable Lights (Ranchi in Jharkhand)

    Here, women of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are being trained to lighten the lives of villagers in the district by producing portable room lights, designed and developed by the students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai.

    Recycled plastic bottles filled with water and a bit of bleach are fitted into the roof to provide lighting during the day, while at night, the same is upgraded with an LED bulb, micro-solar panels and a battery to provide a low-cost night lighting system.

    3) Patsendri: A model colony under PMAY (Mahasamund in Chhattisgarh)

    A Model Colony has been developed under the PM Awas Yojana (PMAY), with convergence between various physical work-related schemes and social sector schemes. Further expanding on this initiative, the District Administration has initiated convergence of various social sector schemes in Patsendri, and created a self-sustainable model for capacity building, employment generation, development & positive use of social capital, with a focus on the Patsendri Community.

    Firstly, the convergence of schemes has led to the development of a Model Colony, wherein the houses, community hall, drainage, CC road have been built under PMAY, toilets are built under NREGA, electricity connection is provided under the Saubhagya Yojana, transformers, poles, etc. are provided under the Mukhya Mantri Majra-Tola Vidyutikaran Yojana, & water supply is provided under the Nal-Jal Yojana by the Public Health Department.

    4) Swajal Water Testing (Barpeta, Assam)

    The greatest threat to public health from Arsenic originates from contaminated groundwater. High levels of inorganic Arsenic is naturally present in the groundwater of the Aspirational District of Barpeta in Assam. Contaminated water used for the purpose of food preparation and drinking poses a great threat to the public. With community ownership and through participative planning, villagers, especially women in Barpeta, were sensitized about safe water practices and trained to use Field Testing Kits to ascertain the quality of drinking water.

    [VI] GOVERNANCE

     

    1) BDO Scorecards (Hazaribagh in Jharkhand)

    To motivate the Block Development Officers (BDOs) who are the true foot soldiers of rural development in our country, here the District Administration has taken a first-of-its-kind initiative by devising a ‘BDO Scorecard’ to assess the performance of the BDOs in a transparent manner while taking into account the officers’ self-assessment.

    Civil Servants are the first point of contact for citizens with the Government, and a motivated civil service is the best instrument to achieve outcomes desired by the State and society.

    2) Lok Sewak App (Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh)

    This district has established a new dimension in the direction of good governance by using the Lok Sewak App; an e-attendance and field monitoring tool that uses Geo-tagging technology. Through this App, the district has ensured the presence of Government officials at workplace thereby leading to significant improvement in the quantum and quality of work and facilitating their accessibility to the public.

    The App has also ensured the availability of ASHA, Anganwadi workers, teachers and other key frontline workers involved in the implementation of various programmes.

    3) Infrastructure Snapshot App (Goalpara in Assam)

    Infrastructure Snapshot App, an innovative Android-based mobile application is a one-of-its-kind application developed specifically for the monitoring of Public Institutions like Government Offices, Schools, Health Centres and effective implementation of Government Schemes.

    The App has smart features like GPS location-based service to capture current location in both online and offline modes with data sync facility, filing grievances for issues pertaining to infrastructure, recording absence of Government personnel like doctors, teachers, Anganwadi workers, etc. along with pictorial evidence.

    The objective of the App is to reduce the gap between the public and the Administration and provide stepping stones for good governance through harnessing ICT.

    The App has led to an increment in the resolution of public grievances and fast service delivery to the public. The App has also multiplied the community’s involvement in uplifting and ameliorating the District Infrastructure.

    The App also serves as a platform for registering any emergency including disaster alerts, reporting issues pertaining to domestic violence, etc.

    4) Maha Land Bank System (Washim in Maharashtra)

    This district has created a unique repository of Government Land on a Portal, as a part of a State-wide programme in Maharashtra. The Land Bank serves as a repository of information for taking policy decisions on the allocation of Government Land such as the provision of Affordable Housing, Irrigation, Public Supply, Self-supplied Industries, Aquaculture, Mining, Tree Plantation, etc.

    5) Meekosam Meal Scheme (Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh)

    Labourers and daily wage workers coming to file their grievances and attend proceedings of the grievance cell, from places as far as 100 km will henceforth not have to return empty stomach.

    For a meal worth ` 28/-, ` 10/- is collected from the petitioner and balance ` 18 is directly paid to the owner of the canteen. This initiative has resulted in a sharp rise in the number of petitioners attending grievance cell meetings.

    For more insights into other best practices, you can refer to the document below. But the list above is also comprehensive and sufficient for mains exams.

    With inputs from:

    NITI Aayog Report on Best Practices in Aspirational Districts

     

  • Dwarf Planet Ceres

    The dwarf planet Ceres, which lies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter now, has the status of an “ocean world”.

    Note various dwarf planets and the criteria making a planet dwarf, as mentioned in the B2b section.

    Ceres exploration

    • The dwarf planet was first spotted by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801, who assumed that Ceres was the missing planet between Mars and Jupiter.
    • It was classified as a dwarf planet in 2006 and is the first dwarf planet to be orbited by a spacecraft.
    • In 2015, NASA’s Dawn reached it to study its surface, composition and history.

    What does it mean to be an “ocean world”?

    • With a crust that mixes ice, salts, rock-forming minerals and other materials, Ceres looks to be a remnant “ocean world,” wearing the chemistry of its Old Ocean and records of the interaction on its surface.
    • The observations from Dawn suggest the presence of briny liquid (saltwater) water under Ceres’s surface.
    • Scientists have determined that Ceres has a brine reservoir located about 40 km deep and which is hundreds of miles wide, making the dwarf planet, “water-rich”.

    Why do researchers study Ceres?

    • Scientists are interested in this dwarf planet because it hosts the possibility of having water, something that many other planets do not have.
    • Therefore, scientists look for signs of life on Ceres, a possibility that has also maintained scientists’ interest in the planet Mars, whose atmosphere was once warm enough to allow water to flow through it.
    • Another reason why scientists are interested in that studying it can give insights about the formation of the Solar System since it is considered to be a fossil from that time.

    Back2Basics: Dwarf Planets

    • As of today, there are officially five dwarf planets in our Solar System.
    • The most famous is Pluto, downgraded from the status of a planet in 2006.
    • The other four, in order of size, are Eris, Makemake, Haumea and Ceres. The sixth claimant for a dwarf planet is Hygiea, which so far has been taken to be an asteroid.
    • These four criteria are – that the body orbits around the Sun, it is not a moon, has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit and has enough mass for its gravity to pull it into a roughly spherical shape.

  • Bhadbhut Project

    The Gujarat government recently awarded the contract for a the Bhadbhut project in Bharuch, Gujarat. It has faced protests from local fishermen for its likely impact on fishing patterns, notably those of hilsa.

    Make a note of major dams in India along with the rivers, terrain, major wildlife sanctuaries and national parks incident to these rivers.

    What is the Bhadbhut Project?

    • It is planned to be a 1.7-km causeway-cum-weir barrage with 90 gates, across the river Narmada, 5 km from Bhadbhut village, and 25 km from the mouth of the river, where it flows into the Gulf of Khambhat.
    • The barrage will stop most of the excess water flowing out of the Sardar Sarovar Dam from reaching the sea and thus create a “sweet water lake” of 600 mcm (million cubic metres) on the river.
    • The barrage will also have a six-lane road that will connect the left and right banks of the river and provide shorten the land distance between two large industrial estates in Surat and Bharuch.
    • The project also aims to prevent flooding in years when rainfall is higher than normal.
    • Embankments 22 km long will be made and will extend upstream towards Bharuch, from either side of the river.
    • The project is part of the larger Kalpasar Project, which entails the construction of a 30-km dam across the Gulf of Khambhat between Bharuch and Bhavnagar districts.
    • The reservoir is meant to tap the waters of the Narmada, Mahisagar and Sabarmati.

    Why are fishermen upset?

    • The barrage is expected to interfere with the migration and breeding cycle of hilsa.
    • A marine fish, hilsa migrate upstream and arrives in the brackish water of the Narmada estuary near Bharuch for spawning usually during the monsoon months of July and August, and continue doing so till November.
    • Once the barrage is built, it is expected to block its natural entry.

    About Hilsa Fish

    IUCN status: Least Concerned

    • The Hilsa is a species of fish related to the herring, in the family Clupeidae.
    • It is a very popular and sought-after food fish in the Indian Subcontinent.
    • Though it’s a saltwater fish, it migrates to sweet waters.
    • It is the national fish of Bangladesh and state symbol in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura.
    • The fish contributes about 12% of the total fish production and about 1.15% of GDP in Bangladesh.

  • Death Valley records the highest temperature on Earth

    California’s Death Valley registered a temperature of 54.4 degrees Celsius or 129.9 degrees Fahrenheit on August 16, 2020, which, once verified, could be the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

    Some years back, there was a question in the mains:

    Major hot deserts in the northern hemisphere are located between 20-30 degree north and on the western side of the continents. Why?

    Death Valley and its location

    • Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert.
    • It is one of the hottest places on Earth, along with deserts in the Middle East and the Sahara.
    • The valley is extremely dry because it lies in the rain shadow of four major mountain ranges (including the Sierra Nevada and the Panamint Range).
    • Moisture moving inland from the Pacific Ocean must pass eastward over the mountains to reach Death Valley; as air masses are forced upward by each range, they cool and moisture condenses, to fall as rain or snow on the western slopes.
    • When the air masses reach Death Valley, most of the moisture has already been lost and there is little left to fall as precipitation.

    Key factors leading to its high temperature

    • Solar heating: The valley’s surface (consisting of soil, rocks, sand, etc.) undergoes intense solar heating because the air is clear and dry, and the land is dark and sparsely vegetated. This is especially noticeable in summer when the sun is nearly directly overhead.
    • Trapping of warm air: Warm air naturally rises and cools; in Death Valley, this air is subject to continual reheating as it is trapped by high, steep valley walls and recycled back to the valley floor.
    • Migration of warm air from other areas (advection): Warm desert regions adjacent to Death Valley, especially to the south and east, often heat air before it arrives in Death Valley.
    • Warm mountain winds: As winds are forced up and over mountains (e.g., the numerous ranges west of Death Valley), the winds can be warmed in several ways. The resulting dry, warm winds are known as foehn winds.

  • [pib] Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS) 2.0

    As part of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, announced by the Government, the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS) 2.0   was launched to provide Portfolio Guarantee for purchase of Bonds or Commercial Papers (CPs) with a rating of AA and below issued by NBFCs/HFCs/ MFIs by Public Sector Banks (PSBs).

    Try this PYQ:

    When the Reserve Bank of India reduces the Statutory Liquidity Ratio by 50 basis points, which of the following is likely to happen? (CSP 2015)

    (a) India’s GDP growth rate increases drastically

    (b) Foreign Institutional Investors may bring more capital into our country

    (c) Scheduled Commercial Banks may cut their lending rates

    (d) It may drastically reduce the liquidity to the banking system

    About Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS)

    • Under the scheme, any PSB can purchase securities (minimum rating of ‘AA’) of financially-sound non-banking finance companies.
    • The objective is to address temporary asset-liability mismatches of otherwise solvent NBFCs/Housing finance companies (HFCs) without having to resort to distress sale of their assets to meet their commitments.
    • The government will provide a one-time, six months’ partial credit guarantee to public sector banks for first loss of up to 10%.
    • Also, these NBFCs/HFCs are mandated that the CRAR (capital to risk-weighted assets ratio) shall not go below the regulatory minimum while exercising of the option to buy back the assets.

    What is CRAR?

    • CRAR also known as Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is the ratio of a bank’s capital to its risk.
    • CRAR is decided by central banks and bank regulators to prevent commercial banks from taking excess leverage and becoming insolvent in the process.
    • The Basel III norms stipulated a capital to risk-weighted assets of 8%.
    • In India, scheduled commercial banks are required to maintain a CAR of 9% while Indian public sector banks are emphasized to maintain a CAR of 12% as per RBI norms.
    • It is arrived at by dividing the capital of the bank with aggregated risk-weighted assets for credit risk, market risk, and operational risk.
    • RBI tracks CRAR of a bank to ensure that the bank can absorb a reasonable amount of loss and complies with statutory Capital requirements.
    • The higher the CRAR of a bank the better capitalized it is.
  • IAS prelims 2021 date announced. How to crack IAS in one go? | Fill Samanvaya form for IAS 2021

    IAS prelims 2021 date announced. How to crack IAS in one go? | Fill Samanvaya form for IAS 2021

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  • 17th August 2020 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 502]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 501]

  • Economic crisis without culprit

    Contradictions in the present crisis

    • India registered negative economic growth in 1972-73, 1965-66 and 1957-58.
    • All these were drought years.
    • 1957-58 also registered a significant balance of payments (BOP) deterioration and 1979-80 witnessing the second global oil shock following the Iranian Revolution.
    • Farmers harvested a bumper rabi crop last year and public cereal stocks at 94.42 million tonnes as on July 1 were also 2.3 times the required level.
    • There’s no shortage today of food, forex or even savings.
    • Foreign exchange reserves were at an all-time high of $538.19 billion.
    • So, the real GDP decline of 5-10 per cent for 2020-21 would be the country’s first-ever not triggered by an agricultural or a BOP crisis.

    “Western style” demand slowdown in India

    • What India has been going through is a full-fledged recession bereft of consumption and investment demand.
    • Households have cut spending.
    • The same goes with businesses. Many have shut or are operating at a fraction of their capacity and pre-lockdown staff strength.
    • This demand-side uncertainty and the resulting economic contraction is something new to India.
    • Banks are also facing a problem of plenty.
    • While their deposits are up 11.1 per cent, the corresponding credit growth has been just 5.5 per cent.
    • At some point when all this reduced spending and investments leads to a further contraction of incomes, it is bound to reduce savings as well.

    Why the government is not spending?

    • Solution in such a situation is the spending by the government.
    • There are three probable reasons why government isn’t doing that.

    1.Optimism

    • Hope that once the worst of the pandemic is behind us, people will start spending and businesses, too, will spring back to life.
    • However, this assumes the economy wasn’t doing all that badly previously and that the lockdown hasn’t caused too much of permanent damage.
    • The truth is that growth had already slid to 3.9 per cent in 2019-20.

    2.State of Government finances

    • In 2007-08 global financial crisis, the Centre’s fiscal deficit was only 2.5 per cent of GDP, whereas it stood at 4.6 per cent in 2019-20.
    •  The space for a fiscal stimulus, in other words, is very limited compared to that time.

    3.Sustainability of debt

    •  Between 2007-08 and 2019-20, the Centre’s outstanding debt-GDP ratio has come down from 56.9 to 49.25 per cent.
    • So has general government debt, which includes the liabilities of states, from 74.6 to 69.8 per cent.
    • Economists such as Olivier Blanchard have shown that public debts are sustainable provided governments can borrow at rates below nominal GDP growth (i.e. GDP unadjusted for inflation).
    • The nominal GDP averaged 11.1 per cent during  2014-15 to 2018-19.
    • As against this, the weighted average interest rate on Central government securities ruled between 6.97 per cent in 2016-17 and 8.51 per cent in 2014-15.
    • Only with nominal GDP growth falling to 7.2 per cent in 2019-20, and most likely zero this fiscal, has the Blanchard debt sustainability formula come under threat.

    Way forward

    • Government can take lessons from the Vajpayee period when the weighted average cost of Central borrowings more than halved from 12.01 per cent in 1997-98 to 5.71 per cent in 2003-04.
    • In the last four months, yields on 10-year Indian government bonds have softened from 6.5 to 5.9 per cent and even more for states — from 7.9 to 6.4 per cent.
    •  Interest rates will fall further as banks have nobody to lend to.

    Consider the question “Examine how covid induced economic recession is different from the past recessions? What are the options with the government to deal with the situation?” 

    Conclusion

    Governments should borrow and spend. They need worry only about GDP growth, real and nominal.

    Sources: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-crisis-without-villains-6557602/

  • Correcting the agri market

    The article analyses the highlights the importance of post harvest infrastructure for the better price realisation of agri-commodities. It also suggests the two areal which could help the farmers in this regard.

    Purpose of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

    • Creating post-harvest physical infrastructure is as important as the changes in the legal framework (like the recent ordinances).
    • The recently announced Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) will be used over the next four years.
    • This fund will be used to build post-harvest storage and processing facilities.
    • NABARD will steer this initiative in association with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, largely anchored at FPOs.
    • The creation of the AIF presumes that there is already large demand for storage facilities and other post harvest infrastructure.

     Reforms in 2 areas which could help farmers get better price realisation

    1) Negotiable warehouse receipt

    • More and better storage facilities can help farmers avoid distress sellingimmediately after the harvest.
    • But small farmers cannot hold stocks for long as they have urgent cash needs to meet family expenditures.
    • Therefore, the value of the storage facilities at the FPO level could be enhanced by a negotiable warehouse receipt system.
    • FPOs can give an advance to farmers, say 75-80 per cent of the value of their produce at the current market price.

    How NABARD can play an important role

    • Since NABARD is also responsible for the creation of 10,000 more FPOs, it can create a package that will help these outfits realise better prices
    • FPOs will need large working capital to give advances to farmers against their produce as collateral.
    • NABARD can ensure that FPOs get their working capital at interest rates of 4 to 7 per cent.
    • Currently, most FPOs get capital from microfinance institutions at rates ranging from 18-22 per cent per annum which is not economically viable unless the off-season prices are substantially higher than the prices at harvest time.

    2)Improving Agri-futures markets

    • A vibrant futures market is a standard way of reducing risks in a market economy.
    • Several countries — be it China or the US — have agri-futures markets that are multiple times the size of those in India.

    Way forward

    • 1) NABARD  should devise a compulsory module that trains FPOs to use the negotiable warehouse receipt system and navigate the realm of agri-futures to hedge their market risks.
    • 2) Government agencies dealing in commodity markets — the FCI, NAFED, State Trading Corporation (STC) — should increase their participation in agri-futures.
    • That is how China deepened its agri-futures markets.
    • 3) The banks that give loans to FPOs and traders should also participate in commodity futures as “re-insurers” for the healthy growth of agri-markets.
    • 4)  Government policy has to be more stable and market friendly.
    • In the past, it has been too restrictive and unpredictable.

    Consider the question “Creating post-harvest physical infrastructure is as important as the changes in the legal framework. In light of this, highlight the importance of recently announced Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and suggest the measures to increase the price realisation of agri-products by farmers.” 

    Conclusion

    India needs to not only spatially integrate its agri-markets (one nation, one market) but also integrate them temporally — spot and futures markets have to converge. Only then will Indian farmers realise the best price for their produce and hedge market risks.

  • 17th August 2020| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement

    Important Announcement:  Topics to be covered on 18th August-

    GS-1 Distribution of key natural resources across the world.

    GS-4 Human Values

    Question 1)

    Explain the mechanism of the monsoon rains in India. Discuss in detail its effect and significance on the economy. 10 marks

    Question 2)

    Analyse the salience of India-Sri Lanka relations as neighbours. Also examine how domestic politics in both the countries influence bilateral relation. 10 marks

     

    Question 3)

    Creating post-harvest physical infrastructure is as important as the changes in the legal framework. In light of this, highlight the importance of recently announced Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and suggest the measures to increase the price realisation of agri-products by farmers. 10 marks

    Question 4)  

    What is environmental ethics? What are the various issues involved in environmental ethics? 10 marks

     

     

    Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.

    *In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.

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