Subject: Polity

#1. Non-lapsable Central Pool of Resources

Background:

• The North Eastern Region (NER) comprises 8 States viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura
• All the States in the NER are Special Category States whose Development Plans are centrally financed on the basis of 90% Grant and 10% Loan
• In October 1996, the then Prime Minister announced “New Initiatives for North Eastern Region” and stipulated that at least 10% of the Budget(s) of the Central Ministries/Department will be earmarked for the development of North Eastern States
• But, what if they are not able to use all funds? We created a Central Pool of Resources for the North East out of the unspent amount of stipulated 10% of GBS to support infrastructure development projects in the North East
• Subsequently, this fund became non-lapsable

Objective:

The broad objective of the Non-lapsable Central Pool of Resources scheme is to ensure speedy development of infrastructure in the North Eastern Region by increasing the flow of budgetary financing for new infrastructure projects/schemes in the Region.

Funds from the Central Pool can be released for State sector as well as Central sector projects/schemes.

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#2. North East Rural Livelihood Project

• North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP) is implemented in 4 North Eastern States of Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura
• 2 districts in each of these 4 states only
• It was launched in 2013 for a period of 5 years
• Aiding agency: World Bank
• Objective: Create sustainable community institutions around women Self Help Groups (SHG), Community development groups (CDG) and the youth of the select districts

Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) is a conditional maternity benefit scheme.

It is being implemented using the platform of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.

This scheme is for the pregnant and lactating women of 19 years of age or above for first two live births to contribute to a better enabling environment by providing conditional cash transfer for improved health and nutrition and to also promote health and nutrition seeking behaviour in them.

It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices.

It provides cash maternity benefit to the women. The pregnant women of 19 years of age and above is entitled to a cash incentive of Rs. 4000 in three installments for first two live births.

Eligibility criteria?

1. Pregnant Women & Lactating women of 19 years of age and above for their first 2 live births.
2. Women hve to register pregnancy at the Anganwadi centre (AWC) within four months of conception
3. Women have to register the birth
4. All Government/PSUs (Central & State) employees are excluded from the scheme as they are entitled for paid maternity leave

IGMSY was launched in 2010. What are some of the issues that plague its implementation?

• Leveraging the Integrated Child Development Scheme’s (ICDS) platform, in 2010, the IGMSY programme was piloted in 53 districts across the country
• In September 2013, the IGMSY cash incentive was increased from Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 6,000 to comply with the minimum maternity entitlement provision of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013

The causes for poor implementation are invariably the same:

1. It was found that most beneficiaries were unaware or misinformed about the scheme.
2. Under the IGMSY, cash is only deposited into an account. Opening and accessing accounts is often expensive and time consuming because banks and post offices are often far from villages.
3. IGMSY guidelines specify that the accounts should have to be zero-balance no-frill accounts. Here again, the misinformation proved to be the menace
   • Since women were unaware, they were asked to cough up and maintain a minimum deposit which went against the incentive of opting for the scheme
4. In few of the study states – there was a delay in payment by up to 1 year. Such delays undermine the objective of the scheme — to provide partial wage compensation during pregnancy to enable adequate rest.

What’s required to get things in order?

You will invariably find that the solution to the mal-implementation of any govt. scheme lies in these 4 pillars. Might as well memorise them for a generic answer template:

1. Awareness building,
2. Establishment of implementation cells,
3. A responsive grievance redress mechanism and
4. A publicly accessible management information system

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing following schemes for protection of women:

#1. Swadhar and Short Stay Homes to provide relief and rehabilitation to destitute women and women in distress.

The Schemes, Swadhar and Short Stay Homes have been merged and revised as “Swadhar Greh” Scheme.

#2. Ujjawala Homes for rehabilitation of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.

Note: Do not confuse this with PM Ujjawala scheme – The Rs. 8,000 crore scheme to provide 5 crore free LPG connections to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families using the money saved from 1.13 crore cooking gas users voluntarily giving up their subsidies.

#3. Working Women Hostels for ensuring safe accommodation for working women away from their place of residence.

#4. One Stop Centre to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence. Read the full coverage, here.

#5. Scheme for Universalisation of Women Helpline intended to provide 24 hours immediate and emergency response to women affected by violence.

Taking the case for Universalisation of women helpline further:

source

According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, during the year 2013, 3,09,546 incidence of crime against women (both under Indian Penal Code and other laws) were reported as against the 2,44,270 cases reported during 2012, showing an increase of 26.7% over the previous year.

What are the gaps in the existing emergency response system?

#1. Lack of centralised system functional across the country

Currently, different State governments had set up helpline in collaboration with NGOs, and private organizations. Various NGOs working on women’s issues have also undertaken helpline initiatives to provide information and referral service to women facing violence within the home as well as outside, but these attempts have been sporadic and state/ city-centric due to the limitations of outreach and resources. 

#2. Tracing the location of the caller

In the existing emergency response system, the information about the location is provided by the caller and the emergency responders rely on this information. If the caller is not able to convey her location or location conveyed by her is vague or erroneous, then there is a possibility that responding unit may not locate her/him.

#3. Lack of unified approach

Presently, there are different numbers for different emergency services i.e. 100-Police, 101-Fire, 102 and 108-Ambulance, 1091 and 181-women in distress etc.

In case the caller does not know the correct emergency number to dial or is confused between various emergency numbers, he will be either deprived of any help or will get help after avoidable delay.

#4. Jurisdictional Issues

Many a time call made to emergency numbers land at the control room that may not have jurisdiction of the location of caller causing delay in response. This is quite common in cases where the caller is using mobile handsets and calling from a place that is at the boundary of a District or State.

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In view of the above, it has been decided that a Women Helpline (state level toll free number such as 181) would be made universal for providing an immediate and 24 hour emergency response to women affected by violence including rescue (where necessary), information, first point contact counseling and referral (linking with appropriate authority such as police, One Stop Centre, hospital) services to any woman in distress across the country.

Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), has formulated a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for setting up One Stop Centres (OSC), to be funded from the Nirbhaya Fund.

source

Aim?

• Centres will be established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces
• An integrated range of services including medical, legal, and psychological support
• In the first phase, one OSC will initially be established in each State/UT
• The OSC will be integrated with 181 and other existing helplines

What’s 181? It is the women in distress helpline number. It was recently in news when this helpline for women in Delhi was transferred under the Delhi Commission for Women with the AAP government handing over its charge to the panel.

Implementation guidelines and appraisal process?

• The implementation guidelines have a prescribed proforma, for the submission of proposal for the establishment OSCs by States/UTs.

The term pro forma (Latin for “as a matter of form” or “for the sake of form”) is most often used to describe a practice or document that is provided as a courtesy and/or satisfies minimum requirements, conforms to a norm or doctrine, tends to be performed perfunctorily and/or is considered a formality.

• Feedback received from states/ UTs will be examined by a Programme Approval Board (PAB) to be constituted in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

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Concerns? Areas of improvements?

• While providing counselling, can these centres be equipped with a direct line to state police stations to file FIRs? Online FIR system for sex related violence may be a possible solution
• How would these centres fare against the AFSPA provisions which guarantee safeguards for the security personnel?
• The Nirbhaya fund, though allocated, has still not been utilised to the full capacity

Read here and here about how OSC comprise only a small %utilisation of the otherwise 3,000cr heavy Nirbhaya fund.

Questions

1. What has the GoI done with Nirbhaya fund since its inception in 2013? Mark out the small or big schemes (along with ministries) where the funds’ utilisation was pegged to bring about a social change?

Hint: In the fiscal year 2013-2014, one proposal was made by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and the Ministry of Railways each.

 

 

• A NITI Aayog panel on Innovation headed by Prof. Tarun Khanna submitted its report recommending that the private sector should help fund research and development, including in research labs at universities and startups
• It was constituted following the 2015 budget speech of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, where he allocated 150 crore rupees for Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
• The committee was asked to suggest ways to promote innovation and build an entrepreneur-friendly ecosystem to drive job growth

Recommendations:

• It recommended improved tax benefits for investments equivalent to a percentage of corporate profits in research labs in universities and startups
• It recommended that all contracts with foreign defence companies above 5 billion dollars should include a clause for five percent of contract value to be directed to establish research-centric universities with strong emphasis on its core product areas
• It suggested a Make in universities program which would involve setting up 500 tinkering labs, where aspiring entrepreneurs can experiment to create products that address local problems, with one 3D printer per institute
• For these labs, the panel recommends utilisation of half of the 1000 crore rupees fund that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had set aside for the Self Employed and Talent Utilization (SETU) scheme
• It also recommends Grand Prizes approach to find ultra-low-cost solutions to India’s most intractable problems, on the lines of what is followed in some developed countries
• It recommends that the AIM budget of 150 crore rupees be used entirely to award up to 12 grand prizes annually. Each challenge should carry a prize of between 10 crore and 30 crore rupees
• The panel also pitched for an increase in investment in business incubators with up to 200 crore rupees public spending per year and roping in the private sector for the purpose
• Establishing a fund-of-funds (FOF) by the Union Government to seed other early stage venture funds with a corpus of 5000 crore rupees

 

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• Launched on 22 January 2015
• Small savings instrument for the girl child
• Account can be opened in a post office or a public sector bank

Who is eligible?

• Girl child only
• Child should be Indian citizen
• Age limit: On the date of opening the account, the child’s age should 10 years or younger

Who can Invest?

Parent, or Legal Guardian of the eligible Girl child

Investment limit:

• In 1 year, minimum Rs 1000/- needs to be invested., thereafter in multiples Of 100/-
• Maximum of Rs 1,50,000/- can be invested
• Deposits can be made in lump-sum or spread out manner
• No limit on number of deposits either in a month or in a financial year

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Operation of the account:

• The account will be opened and operated by the guardian of a girl child till the girl child, in whose name the account has been opened, attains the age of 10 years
• On attaining age of 10 years, the girl child may herself Operate the account

Tenure:

• Deposit needs to made until 14 years from opening of account
• Deposit under scheme will mature 21 year after opening of the account

Withdrawal:

• No Premature Withdrawal is permitted
• However, maximum up to 50% of deposit amount can be withdrawn for marriage or higher education of girl child, once she reaches 18 years of
  age

Termination:

• Scheme Tenure is 21 years from date of opening, or when the marriage of the girl child happens; whichever happens earlier
• Account will compulsorily have to be closed after marriage of the girl child
• In case after maturity of the account (21 years) the girl child does not marry, and if account is not closed after maturity, balance will continue to earn interest as specified for the scheme from time to time

Published with inputs from Swapnil

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• Aim: To generate awareness and improve efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for women
• Launched on 22 January 2015 with an initial corpus of Rs. 100 crore
• Joint initiative of Ministries of Women & Child Development, Health & Human Resource Development

Districts Identified

The three criteria for selection of districts:

1. Districts below the national average (87 districts/23 states);
2. Districts above national average but shown declining trend (8 districts/8 states)
3. Districts above national average and shown increasing trend (5 districts/5 states- selected so that these CSR levels can be maintained and other districts can emulate and learn from their experiences)

• First Phase:

100 districts have been identified on the basis of low Child Sex Ratio as per Census 2011 covering all States/UTs as a pilot With at least one district in each state

• Second Phase

The scheme has further been expanded to 61 additional districts selected from 11 States/UT having CSR below 918

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Strategies:

• Implement a sustained Social Mobilization and Communication Campaign to create equal value for the girl child & promote her education
• Focus on Gender Critical Districts and Cities low on CSR for intensive & integrated action
• Mobilize & Train Panchayati Raj Institutions/ Urban local bodies/ Grassroot workers as catalysts for social change
• Ensure service delivery structures/ schemes & programmes are sufficiently responsive to issues Of gender and children’s rights
• Enable Inter-sectoral and inter-institutional convergence at District/ Block/ Grassroot levels

Implementation:

1. Centre: A National Task Force (NTF) headed by Secretary WCD
   State: A State Task Force (STF)
2. District: District Task Force (DTF) headed by the District Collector/ Deputy Commissioner with representation of concerned departments
3. Block: A Block Level Committee headed by SDM/ SDO/ BDO
4. Gram Panchayat/ Municipality: Respective Panchayat Samiti/ Ward Samiti
5. Village: Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees

Published with inputs from Swapnil

This is a follow up discussion on Net Neutrality. Read these two important articles to enhance your understanding:

• Net Neutrality & The Debate Around It
• RSTV | The Big Picture | Net Neutrality: Debate Rages On

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Let’s understand the different stakeholders in the internet space

4 stakeholders –

1. Consumers (us)
2. TSPs & ISPs – Telecom Service Providers & Internet Service Providers
3. Over-the-top (OTT) service providers – Those who build websites, applications over the top of the internet layer
4. Government or the regulator

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator of the telecommunications business in India.

The recommendations made by the TRAI are not binding on the Central Government. However, the Central Government has to mandatorily ask for recommendations from TRAI with respect to need and timing of new service provider and terms and conditions of the licence to be granted to the service provider.

3 basic tenets of net neutrality

1. All websites or applications should be treated equally by TSPs
2. All applications should be allowed to be accessed at the same internet speed
3. All applications should be accessible for the same cost [The bone of contention with allowing FREE Basics!]

What are OTT services?

Essentially they refer to the online content. OTT service can be facilitated by the TSP or ISP itself (music app from Airtel) or can be issues by a third party (Saavn.com, gaana.com).

The creation of OTT applications has led to a wide-ranging conflict between companies that offer similar or overlapping services. Think of it this way – Airtel might offer you better browsing speeds because it wants you to use its music service – Wync but you happen to take the 3G pack from Airtel and use Saavn.com/ Gaana.com

Take the controversy over the use of Whatsapp/ Normal messaging (where bulk revenue goes to the company which was the ISP).

How is net neutrality regulated in other countries?

The US Federal Communications Commission (telecom regulator in the USA) released new internet rules in March 2015, which mainly disallow:

• Blocking,
• Throttling or slowing down, and
• Paid prioritisation of certain applications over others

UK still allows paid discrimination.

Coming back to TSPs/ ISPs & OTT service providers, what was the issue?

We touched this point above (briefly) that TSPs are at the helm of making and maintaining the infrastructure over which the OTT services operate.

1. They don’t get any share in the revenues of the OTT service providers
2. Certain websites or applications require higher bandwidth than others for which the TSPs need to build and upgrade network infrastructure. Customers fret when they are not able to enjoy a seamless experience
3. The case of common interests – VoIP vs. Call over Mobile network, SMS vs. Whatsapp!

The Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released the Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, 2016. These regulations prohibit Telecom Service Providers from charging different tariffs from consumers for accessing different services online.

What do TRAI’s 2016 Regulations say?

(i) no service provider is allowed to enter into any agreement or contract that would result in discriminatory tariffs being charged to a consumer on the basis of content (data services),

(ii) such tariffs will only be permitted in closed electronic communications networks, which are networks where data is neither received nor transmitted over the internet,

(iii) a service provider may reduce tariff for accessing or providing emergency services,

(iv) in case of contravention of these regulations, the service provider may have to pay Rs 50,000 per day of contravention, subject to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh, etc

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Sources: Ref1 |  Ref2 | Ref3 (PRS Blog - for basics)

 

Aim: Redressal of grievances of consumers related to drug pricing and availability of medicines

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Key facts:

• The scheme is a web-enabled system created by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)
• It seeks to serve as a robust E-governance tool for protection of interests of consumers through effective implementation of the price of drugs
• The scheme will provide consumers with an online facility to redress their complaints related to over-pricing of medicines, non-availability of medicines and refusal of supply for sale of any medicine without good and sufficient reason
• After receiving the complaint, NPPA will initiate action on any complaint within 48 hrs
• The scheme also seeks to create awareness among the people and act as a deterrent against black-marketing, spurious medicines and inflated cost of drugs by creating phama-literacy initiative

To read more on the related topic, visit the news on this story –

• Drug Pricing Policy and Essential Medicines

Published with inputs from Swapnil