Type: Schemes

Prime Minister has launched the government’s Aspirational Block Programme (ABP), which is aimed at improving the performance of blocks lagging on various development parameters.

Aspirational Block Programme (ABP)

• The Aspirational Blocks Programme is on the lines of the Aspirational District Programme that was launched in 2018 and covers 112 districts across the country.
• The Centre had announced its intention to launch this initiative in the Union Budget 2022-23.
• The programme will cover 500 districts across 31 states and Union Territories initially.
• Over half of these blocks are in 6 states—Uttar Pradesh (68 blocks), Bihar (61), Madhya Pradesh (42), Jharkhand (34), Odisha (29) and West Bengal (29).
• However, states can add more blocks to the programme later.

About 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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The government discontinued the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and has decided to provide free foodgrains to all 81 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for one year.

About PMGKAY

• PMGKAY is a food security welfare scheme announced by the GoI in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The program is operated by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
• The scale of this welfare scheme makes it the largest food security program in the world.

Targets of the scheme

• To feed the poorest citizens of India by providing grain through the Public Distribution System to all the priority households (ration card holders and those identified by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme).
• PMGKAY provides 5 kg of rice or wheat (according to regional dietary preferences) per person/month and 1 kg of dal to each family holding a ration card.

Success of the scheme

• Pandemic mitigation: It was the first step by the government when pandemic affected India.
• Wide section of beneficiaries: The scheme reached its targeted population feeding almost 80Cr people.
• Support to migrants: It has proven to be more of a safety net to migrant people who had job and livelihood losses.
• Food and Nutrition security: This has also ensured nutrition security to children of the migrant workers.

Limitations of the scheme

• Corruption: The scheme has been affected by widespread corruption, leakages and failure to distribute grain to the intended recipients.
• Leakages: Out of the 79.25 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), only 55 crore have so far received their 5 kg.
• Inaccessibility: Many people were denied their share due to inability to access ration cards.
• Low consumption: Livelihood losses led to decline in aggregate demand and resulted into lowest ever consumption expenditure by the people owing to scarcity of cash.
• Resale of subsidized grains: This in turn led to selling of the free grains obtained in the local markets for cash.

Back2Basics: National Food Security (NFS) Act

• The NFS Act, 2013 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.
• It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
• It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
• Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
• The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS 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.

Key provisions of NFSA

• The NFSA provides a legal right to persons belonging to “eligible households” to receive foodgrains at a subsidised price.
• It includes rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg and coarse grain at Rs 1/kg — under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
• These are called central issue prices (CIPs).

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The Union government has extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for another three months from October 1.

What is PMGKAY?

• PMGKAY is a food security welfare scheme announced by the GoI in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The program is operated by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
• The scale of this welfare scheme makes it the largest food security program in the world.

Targets of the scheme

• To feed the poorest citizens of India by providing grain through the Public Distribution System to all the priority households (ration card holders and those identified by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme).
• PMGKAY provides 5 kg of rice or wheat (according to regional dietary preferences) per person/month and 1 kg of dal to each family holding a ration card.

At what rate are food grains provided under the NFSA?

• NFSA beneficiaries are entitled to receive foodgrains at highly subsidised rates.
• Under the food law, rice is provided at Rs 3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2 per kg, and coarse grains at Re 1 per kg.

Why was such a scheme needed?

• The devastation by pandemic has increased manifold in the second wave resulting into localized restrictions and lockdowns from the States.
• This resulted in massive jobs losses in urban areas since the largest employers being construction and hospitality sectors have been completely shut down.
• The virus penetrated deeper in the countryside in rural areas halting almost every sources of livelihood.
• These areas are such where 60% of the income was earned from non-pharm activities. This resulted in livelihood losses of large section of population.

Success of the scheme

• It was the first step by the government when pandemic affected India.
• The scheme reached its targeted population feeding almost 80Cr people.
• It has proven to be more of a safety net to migrant people who had job and livelihood losses.
• This has also ensured nutrition security to children of the migrant workers.

Failures

• The scheme has been affected by widespread corruption, leakages and failure to distribute grain to the intended recipients.
• Several of the states above have claimed that the ineffective distribution has been caused by the beneficiaries, especially migrant workers, not being available to receive their rations.
• Out of the 79.25 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), only 55 crore have so far received their 5 kg.
• However, almost 90% of beneficiaries have received their regular subsidized grain for the month, raising questions over why the free grain has reached fewer beneficiaries.
• Many people were denied their share due to inability to access ration cards.
• Livelihood losses led to decline in aggregate demand and resulted into lowest ever consumption expenditure by the people owing to scarcity of cash.
• This in turn led to selling of the free grains obtained in the local markets for cash.

Way forward

• There should be an all-encompassing database for migrant workers and their family. This should accurately capture the data on migration.
• The One Nation One Ration Card should be implemented in true spirit by all the states.
• Along with food security, there should be a sustainable income support through schemes like MGNREGS accompanied by free vaccines in nearest future.
• The leakages in PDS should be minimized through modernize PDS.
• To avoid leakages, there should be food-token system.

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Pulling up the States for the delay in completion of the government’s flagship rural household scheme — Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana –Gramin (PMAY-G) — the Union Ministry of Rural Development has come up with a set of penalties that the State governments will have to bear for any further delay.

About PMAY-G Scheme

• In pursuance of the goal – Housing for all by 2022, the rural housing scheme Indira Awas Yojana was revamped to PMAY-G and approved during March 2016.
• The main aim of the PMAY-G scheme is to provide pucca house with some of the basic amenities.
• This scheme is meant for people who do not own a house and people who live in kutcha houses or houses which are severely damaged.
• At present, the minimum size of the houses to be built under the PMAY-G scheme has been increased to 25 sq. mt. from 20 sq. mt.
• Under PMAY, the cost of unit assistance is to be shared between Central and State Governments in the ratio 60:40 in plain areas and 90:10 for North Eastern and hilly states.

Subsidies under PMAY – G scheme

There are various subsidies offered under PMAY G. These include:

• Loans up to Rs. 70,000 from financial institution
• Interest subsidy of 3%
• Subsidy for the maximum principal amount is Rs. 2 lakh

Why in news?

• Opposition-ruled states such as West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Odisha are the leading four States who are far behind their targets.
• The initial deadline for the scheme was March 2022, which owing to the COVID-19 pandemic was extended by another two years till March 2024.

What are the penalty provisions?

• If the sanction of the house is delayed for more than one month from the date of issue of the target, the State government will be penalised.
• The penal fees are per week ₹10 per house for the first month of delay and ₹20 per house for each subsequent month of delay.
• Similarly, if the first instalment due to the beneficiary is delayed for more than seven days from the date of sanction, then the State governments will have to pay ₹10 per house per week of delay.

Also read:

Govt. extends PMAY-Urban scheme

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