The PM has hoped to extend the Aspirational District Programme (ADP) to block and city levels.

Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP)

• Launched in January 2018, the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ initiative aims to remove this heterogeneity through a mass movement to quickly and effectively transform these districts.
• The broad contours of the program are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts driven by a spirit of mass Movement.
• With States as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.

Behind the name

• PM then negated the idea of naming any scheme based on their backwardness.
• Rather the name ‘Aspirational’ presents a more affirmative action-based execution of the scheme.

Selection of districts

• A total of 117 Aspirational districts have been identified by NITI Aayog based upon composite indicators.
• The objective of the program is to monitor the real-time progress of aspirational districts based on 49 indicators (81 data points) from the 5 identified thematic areas.

Weightage has been accorded to these districts as below:

• Health & Nutrition (30%)
• Education (30%)
• Agriculture & Water Resources (20%)
• Financial Inclusion & Skill Development (10%)
• Basic Infrastructure (10%)

Strategy of the ADP

The core Strategy of the program may be summarized as follows.

• Making development a mass movement in these districts
• Identify low hanging fruits and the strength of each district, to act as a catalyst
• for development.
• Measure progress and rank districts to spur a sense of competition.
• Districts shall aspire to become State’s best to Nation’s best.

Features of the ADP

• It has transformed into a Jan Andolan.
• The ADP is different in trying to monitor the improvement of these districts through real-time data tracking.
• The programme seeks to develop convergence between selected existing central and state government programmes.
• District performance in the public domain and experience building of the district bureaucracy is another notable feature.
• The programme is targeted, not towards any single group of beneficiaries, but rather towards the population of the district as a whole.

What makes this program special?

The program reflects what has become of the development project in India under neoliberalism, especially after the end of planning.

• Long overdue sectors have been given more emphasis.
• It is not a tailor-made program with one-size-fit strategy. More onus has been laid on the districts. It has a district-intervention strategy.
• It works on the principle of SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity and threats) model and comparison with national best parameters for effective resource management.
• It is the most reviewed programme by the Prime Minister.
• A general idea behind the idea is that a good work never goes un-noticed. It is duly appreciated on social media as well as by the officials.

Programmatic Strengths

• A key strength of the ADP is the collection of baseline data and follow-ups at regular intervals.
• Sustaining this effort would create a robust compilation of statistics for use by both researchers and policy-makers.
• In doing this, the government also brings much-needed attention to human development and a willingness to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Incremental progress being made in the chosen districts as reflected in the rankings.
• The programme also claims to be “non-partisan and unbiased” and geared towards all-India growth.
• The selection of districts indeed suggests that the programme has not favored any bias either regional, political or any other.
• The programme seeks convergence of central and state schemes anchored around specific activities.

Issues with the programme

• Using the case of Bihar, they argue that the programmes selection of districts itself is problematic.
• In fact, it actually excludes the most backward districts because per capita income, the most basic measure of development, has not been considered.
• There seems to be some ambiguity around the issue of whether the programme is concerned only with improved access or also with the quality of service provided.
• The indicators used are not defined relationally, rather they are static human development indicators that do not see people mired in dynamic social relations.
• It is also accused that the state is not making any new or focused public investment (except for possible use of Flexi-funds) into these districts, on the other hand, it is moralizing about their inability to improve (through rankings).
• The programme is carrying the burden of proving the government’s “developmental” work without addressing any of the fundamental issues around achieving equitable development.
• Yet, the NITI Aayog justifies the overall approach as capitalizing on “low-hanging fruit.”

Way forward

• The program has been able to make difference in the lives of citizens of India, in education, health, nutrition, financial inclusion, skill development and this has made a difference to some most backward and most geographically far-flung districts of the nation.
• ADP is ‘aligned to the principle of “leave no one behind—the vital core of the SDGs. Political commitment at the highest level has resulted in the rapid success of the program the report said.
• UNDP has recommended revising a few indicators that are slightly close to reaching their saturation or met by most districts like ‘electrification of households’ as an indicator of basic infrastructure.

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At a time when MPs have been asking for an increase in the MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund, the Union Finance Ministry has ordered revised rules, under which the interest that the fund accrues will be deposited in the Consolidated Fund of India.

What is the MPLAD scheme?

• The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a program first launched during the Narasimha Rao Government in 1993.
• It was aimed towards providing funds for developmental works recommended by individual MPs.

Funds available

• The MPs then were entitled to recommend works to the tune of Rs 1 crore annually between 1994-95 and 1997-98, after which the annual entitlement was enhanced to Rs 2 crore.
• The UPA government in 2011-12 raised the annual entitlement to Rs 5 crore per MP.

Implementation

• To implement their plans in an area, MPs have to recommend them to the District Authority of the respective Nodal District.
• The District Authorities then identify Implementing Agencies that execute the projects.
• The respective District Authority is supposed to oversee the implementation and has to submit monthly reports, audit reports, and work completion reports to the Nodal District Authority.
• The MPLADS funds can be merged with other schemes such as MGNREGA and Khelo India.

Guidelines for MPLADS implementation

• The document ‘Guidelines on MPLADS’ was published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in June 2016 in this regard.
• It stated the objective of the scheme to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs in their Constituencies.
• Right from the inception of the Scheme, durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation, and roads, etc. should be created.
• It recommended MPs to works costing at least 15 percent of their entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 percent for areas inhabited by ST population.
• It lays down a number of development works including construction of railway halt stations, providing financial assistance to recognized bodies, cooperative societies, installing CCTV cameras etc.

Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

With reference to the funds under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), which of the following statements are correct? (CSP 2020)

1. MPLADS funds must be used to create durable assets like physical infrastructure for health, education, etc.
2. A specified portion of each MP’s fund must benefit SC/ST populations.
3. MPLADS funds are sanctioned on a yearly basis and the unused funds cannot be carried forward to the next year.
4. The district authority must inspect at least 10% of all works under implementation every year.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 and 4 only

(c) 1, 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 4 only

 

Post your answers here.

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The Ministry of Civil Aviation’s flagship Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) has been awarded Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration this year.

What is UDAN Scheme?

• The Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme is a low-cost flying scheme launched with the aim of taking flying to the masses.
• The first flight under UDAN was launched by the PM in April 2017.
• It is also known as the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) as it seeks to improve air connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities through revival of unused and underused airports.

Working of the Scheme

• Airlines are awarded routes under the programme through a bidding process and are required to offer airfares at the rate of ₹2,500 per hour of flight.
• At least 50% of the total seats on an aircraft have to be offered at cheaper rates.
• In order to enable airlines to offer affordable fares they are given a subsidy from the govt. for a period of three years.

Success of the scheme

• In a short span of 5 years, today 419 UDAN routes connect 67 underserved/unserved airports, including heliports and water aerodromes, and over 92 lakh people have benefited from it.
• More than 1 lakh 79 thousand flights have flown under this scheme.
• UDAN scheme has immensely benefitted several sectors pan-India including Hilly States, North-Eastern region, and Islands.
• The scheme also led to development of new Greenfield Airports such as Pakyong near Gangtok in Sikkim, Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh.
• Krishi UDAN Scheme launched in August 2020, on international and national routes has assisted farmers in transporting agricultural products.

Issues with the working

• Discontinuance: In reality, some of the routes launched have been discontinued as most of the routes awarded under UDAN are not active.
• On-paper Ambitions: UDAN was expanded to provide improved connectivity to hilly regions and islands through helicopters and seaplanes. However, they mostly remain on paper.
• The reasons include:

1. Failure to set up airports or heliports due to lack of availability of land
2. Airlines unable to start flights on routes awarded to them or finding the routes difficult to sustain
3. Adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Various challenges

• Lack of funds: Many small airlines await infusion of funds, to be able to undertake maintenance of aircraft, pay rentals to lessors, give salaries to its staff, etc.
• Maintenance issue: Many players don’t have more than one or two planes and they are often poorly maintained. New planes are too expensive for these smaller players.
• Availability of pilots: Often, they also have problems with the availability of pilots and are forced to hire foreign pilots which costs them a lot of money and makes the business unviable.
• Competition: Only those routes that have been bagged by bigger domestic players such as IndiGo and SpiceJet have seen a better success rate.

Way forward

• The govt offers subsidies for a route for a period of three years and expects the airline to develop the route during this time so that it becomes self-sufficient.
• Airlines need an extension of the subsidy period for their operational continuity.
• Due to the rise in COVID cases, travel restrictions and passenger safety too needs to be taken into consideration in the loss-making of such airlines.

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The Supreme Court has upheld the Centre’s one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme for the armed forces.

What is the news?

• The Supreme Court has ruled that there was “no constitutional infirmity” in the way the government had introduced ‘one rank, one pension’ (OROP) among ex-service personnel.
• The scheme, notified by the Defence Ministry on November 7, 2015, was challenged by Indian Ex-Service Movement, an association of retired defence personnel.

What is OROP Scheme?

• OROP means that any two military personnel retiring at the same rank, with the same years of service, must get an equal pension.
• While this might appear almost obvious, there are several reasons why two military personnel who may have retired at the same rank with the same years of service, may get different pensions.

Need for the scheme

Military personnel across the three services fall under two categories, the officers and the other ranks.

• Early age of retirement: The other ranks, which are soldiers, usually retire at age 35.
• No benefits from pay commissions: Unlike government employees who retire close to 60, soldiers can thus miss out on the benefits from subsequent pay commissions.
• Salary based pension: And since pensions are based on the last drawn salary, pensions too are impacted adversely.
• Ranks based discrimination: The age when officers in the military retire depends upon their ranks. The lower the rank, the earlier they superannuate.
• Liability against the sacrifice: It was argued that early retirement should not become an adverse element for what a soldier earns as pension, compared with those who retire later.

Earlier pension mechanism

• From 1950 to 1973, there was a concept known as the Standard Rate of Pension, which was similar to OROP.
• In 1974, when the 3rd Pay Commission came into force, certain changes were effected in terms of weightage, additional years of notion service, etc., with regard to pensions.
• In 1986, the 4th Pay Commission’s report brought further changes.
• What ultimately happened was that the benefits of the successive pay commissions were not passed to servicemen who had retired earlier.
• Pensions differed for those who had retired at the same rank, with the same years of service, but years apart.

Demand for OROP

• Ex-servicemen demanded OROP to correct the discrepancy.
• Over the decades, several committees looked into it.
• The Brig K P Singh Deo committee in 1983 recommended a system similar to Standard Rate of Pension, as did Parliament’s standing committees on defence.
• The Narendra Modi government notified the current OROP scheme in November 2015, and it was made applicable from July 1, 2014.

Issues with OROP

• During the OROP protests of 2013-15, it was argued repeatedly that meeting the demand would be financially unsustainable.
• Because soldiers retire early and remain eligible for pension for much longer than other employees, the Defence Ministry’s pension budget is very large, impacting capital expenditure.
• The total defence pensioners are 32.9 lakh, but that includes 6.14 lakh defence civilian pensioners.
• The actual expenditure of the Defence Ministry on pensions was Rs 1.18 lakh crore in 2019-2020.
• The Defence Ministry’s pension-to-budget ratio is the highest among all ministries, and pensions are more than one-fifth of the total defence budget.
• When the late Manohar Parrikar was Defence Minister, it was estimated that a one-time payout of Rs 83,000 crore would be needed to clear all past issues.

Challenge to OROP

• The petitioners contended that the principle of OROP had been replaced by ‘one rank multiple pensions’ for persons with the same length of service.
• They submitted that the government had altered the initial definition of OROP and, instead of an automatic revision of the rates of pension.
• Under this, any future raising of pension rates would be passed on to past pensioners — the revision would now take place at periodic intervals.
• According to the petitioners, this was arbitrary and unconstitutional under Articles 14 and 21.

What has the SC ruled now?

• The court did not agree with the argument that the government’s 2015 policy communication contradicted the original decision to implement OROP.
• It said that “while a decision to implement OROP was taken in principle, the modalities for implementation were yet to be chalked out.
• The court also said that while the Koshyari Committee report furnishes the historical background of the demand, and its own view on it, it cannot be construed as embodying a statement of governmental policy.
• It held that the OROP policy “may only be challenged on the ground that it is manifestly arbitrary or capricious”.

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Parliament’s Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has asked the government to roll back the system of caste-based wages, under which NREGS workers are paid based on whether they belong to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, or Others.

Back in news: MGNREGA

What is the caste-based payment system?

• Last year, the Rural Development Ministry sent an advisory to states asking them to take necessary action for payment of wages to NREGS workers according to their categories — SC, ST, and Others.
• Under the new system, if 20 individuals (say, six SCs, four STs and 10 others) work together at a site under MG-NREGA, a single muster roll would be issued.
• But payment would be done by issuing three separate Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs), one for each of the three categories.
• Due to this, some beneficiaries started complaining that despite working at the same site and registering on the same muster roll, they were getting their wages at different times depending on their categories.
• Beneficiaries in the ‘Others’ category, which includes the ‘General’ and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories, especially complained of delays.

What was the earlier system of payment?

• The Rural Development Ministry notifies wage rates for states and Union Territories under Section 6(1) of The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
• Until 2020-21, the wages were being paid to NREGS beneficiaries through a single funds transfer order.
• In other words, if 20 beneficiaries, including SCs, STs and Others work at a site under MGNREGA, all received their wages at the same time, through a single muster roll and a single funds transfer order.

Why was the system of caste-based wage payment introduced?

• According to the Ministry, the system of category-wise payment of wages was introduced to “accurately reflect on the ground flow of funds to various population groups”.
• Last year, a process of “streamlining” of the new system was taken up.

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The Union Labour and Employment Ministry has launched the “donate a pension” scheme.

‘Donate a Pension’ Scheme

• This scheme allows any citizen to pay the premium amount on behalf of an unorganized worker under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan
• Maan-Dhan scheme is a government scheme meant for old age protection and social security of unorganized workers.

Eligibility criteria and benefits

• The scheme was launched in 2019, allows unorganized sector workers between 18 and 40 years who earn up to ₹15,000 a month to enroll by paying a premium amount between ₹55 and ₹200, depending on the age, that would be matched by the government.
• On reaching the age of 60, the beneficiaries would get a ₹3,000 monthly pension.

Features of the scheme

• The scheme allows a citizen to “donate the premium contribution of their immediate support staff such as domestic workers, drivers, helpers, caregivers, nurses in their household or establishment.
• The donor can pay the contribution for a minimum of one year, with the amount ranging from ₹660 to ₹2,400 a year depending on the age of the beneficiary, by paying through maandhan.in or visiting a Common Service Centre.

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Maharashtra may follow several other big states and opt-out Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the government’s much-highlighted crop insurance scheme.

Why do many states want to opt-out?

• The major reasons are denial and delay of claims along with a huge subsidy burden on state governments.
• The farmers are facing a problem with timely claim settlement.
• Maharashtra is studying the Beed Model for insurance settlement.

Who else has stepped out?

• Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Bihar, Gujarat (PM’s home state), Punjab and West Bengal — all predominantly agriculture states — have already opted out of the scheme.
• Some of these states have their own insurance schemes.

What is PMFBY?

• The PMFBY was launched in February 2016. It is being administered by Ministry of Agriculture.
• It provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers.
• It is implemented by empanelled general insurance companies.
• The scheme is compulsory for loanee farmers availing Crop Loan /KCC account for notified crops and voluntary for other others.

Its functioning

• PMFBY insures farmers against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest.
• Farmers have to pay a maximum of 2 per cent of the total premium of the insured amount for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi food crops and oilseeds as well as 5 per cent for commercial / horticultural crops.
• The balance premium is shared by the Union and state governments on a 50:50 basis and on a 90:10 basis in the case of northeastern states.

Farmers covered

• All farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.
• To address the demand of farmers, the scheme has been made voluntary for all farmers from Kharif 2020.
• Earlier to Kharif 2020, the enrolment under the scheme was compulsory for following categories of farmers:

1. Farmers in the notified area who possess a Crop Loan account/KCC account (called as Loanee Farmers) to whom credit limit is sanctioned/renewed for the notified crop during the crop season. and
2. Such other farmers whom the Government may decide to include from time to time.

Risks covered under the scheme

• Comprehensive risk insurance is provided to cover yield losses due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado.
• Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.
• In post-harvest losses, coverage will be available up to a maximum period of 14 days from harvesting for those crops which are kept in “cut & spread” condition to dry in the field.
• For certain localized problems, Loss/damage resulting from the occurrence of identified localized risks like hailstorm, landslide, and Inundation affecting isolated farms in the notified area would also be covered.

Back2Basics: Beed Model

• The model of crop insurance in place in Maharashtra’s Beed district is being studied by a central government panel set up to suggest suitable working models for PMFBY.
• In the Beed model, there is a cap on the profit of the insurance companies.
• If the claims exceed the insurance cover, the state government pays the bridge amount.
• If the claims are less than the premium collected, the insurance company keeps 20 per cent of the amount as handling charges and reimburses the rest to the state government.
• This is expected to reduce burden of subsidies from state.

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India plans to prepare digital maps of all its 6,00,000 villages and pan-India 3D maps will be prepared for 100 cities to mark a year of the updated geospatial policy guidelines under the SVAMITVA Scheme.

What is SVAMITVA Scheme?

• SVAMITVA 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.

Broad Objectives

1. Leveraging property as a financial asset by the citizens of rural India
2. Creation of accurate land records for rural planning
3. Provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India
4. Serve as a means of reduction in property-related disputes. Facilitate with the determination of property tax
5. Creation of survey infrastructure and GIS (Geographic Information System) maps that can be used by any department or agency

Features of the Scheme

• Accurate survey: SVAMITVA Scheme uses the combination of Survey Grade Drones and CORS network (Continuously Operated Reference Stations) to accurately survey large areas in a very short span of time.
• High resolution: The 1:500 scale maps generated through the drone survey are of very high accuracy i.e., 3-5 cms, which the conventional methodology does not provide.
• Geo-tagging: Moreover, editable and geo-tagged maps are produced at a fraction of the cost without the need for line-of-sight.
• Permanent records: These maps facilitate the creation of the most durable record of property holdings in areas with no legacy revenue records.

What are the updated guidelines?

• The updated guidelines help private companies to prepare a variety of maps without needing approvals from a host of ministries.
• They aim to make it easier to use drones and develop applications via location mapping.
• It encompasses the trinity of geospatial Systems, Drone Policy, and unlocked Space Sector will be the hallmark of India’s future economic progress.

Also read:

[Yojana Archive] SVAMITVA Scheme

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