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Type: Schemes

  • SC to hear plea against Electoral Bonds Scheme

    The CJI N will soon take up a long-pending challenge against the government’s electoral bonds scheme.

    What are Electoral Bonds?

    • Electoral bonds are banking instruments that can be purchased by any citizen or company to make donations to political parties, without the donor’s identity being disclosed.
    • It is like a promissory note that can be bought by any Indian citizen or company incorporated in India from select branches of State Bank of India.
    • The citizen or corporate can then donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice.
    • An individual or party will be allowed to purchase these bonds digitally or through cheque.

    About the scheme

    • A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond
    • Such bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of â‚č1,000, â‚č10,000, â‚č10 lakh, and â‚č1 crore from any of the specified branches of the State Bank of India
    • The purchaser will be allowed to buy electoral bonds only on due fulfillment of all the extant KYC norms and by making payment from a bank account
    • The bonds will have a life of 15 days (15 days time has been prescribed for the bonds to ensure that they do not become a parallel currency).
    • Donors who contribute less than â‚č20,000 to political parties through purchase of electoral bonds need not provide their identity details, such as Permanent Account Number (PAN).

    Objective of the scheme

    • Transparency in political funding: To ensure that the funds being collected by the political parties is accounted money or clean money.

    Who can redeem such bonds?

    • The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank.
    • Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the Lok Sabha or the State Legislative Assembly, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.

    Restrictions that are done away

    • Earlier, no foreign company could donate to any political party under the Companies Act
    • A firm could donate a maximum of 7.5 per cent of its average three year net profit as political donations according to Section 182 of the Companies Act.
    • As per the same section of the Act, companies had to disclose details of their political donations in their annual statement of accounts.
    • The government moved an amendment in the Finance Bill to ensure that this proviso would not be applicable to companies in case of electoral bonds.
    • Thus, Indian, foreign and even shell companies can now donate to political parties without having to inform anyone of the contribution.

    Issues with the Scheme

    • Opaque funding: While the identity of the donor is captured, it is not revealed to the party or public. So transparency is not enhanced for the voter.
    • No IT break: Also income tax breaks may not be available for donations through electoral bonds. This pushes the donor to choose between remaining anonymous and saving on taxes.
    • No anonymity for donors: The privacy of the donor is compromised as the bank will know their identity.
    • Differential benefits: These bonds will help any party that is in power because the government can know who donated what money and to whom.
    • Unlimited donations: The electoral bonds scheme and amendments in the Finance Act of 2017 allows for “unlimited donations from individuals and foreign companies to political parties without any record of the sources of funding”.

    Way ahead

    • The worries over the electoral bond scheme, however, go beyond its patent unconstitutionality.
    • The concern about the possibility of misuse of funds is very pertinent.
    • The EC has been demanding that a law be passed to make political parties liable to get their accounts audited by an auditor from a panel suggested by the CAG or EC. This should get prominence.
    • Another feasible option is to establish a National Election Fund to which all donations could be directed.
    • This would take care of the imaginary fear of political reprisal of the donors.

     

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  • Old Pension Scheme vs New Pension Scheme

    Many states are trying to restore Old Pension Scheme and discontinue the National Pension System (NPS).

    What is the Defined Pension Benefit Scheme (old)?

    • The scheme assures life-long income, post-retirement.
    • Usually the assured amount is equivalent to 50% of the last drawn salary.
    • The Government bears the expenditure incurred on the pension.
    • The scheme was discontinued in 2004.

    What is the National Pension System (NPS)?

    • The Union government under PM Vajpayee took a decision in 2003 to discontinue the old pension scheme and introduced the NPS.
    • The scheme is applicable to all new recruits joining the Central Government service (except armed forces) from April 1, 2004.
    • On the introduction of NPS, the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 was amended.

    Features of NPS

    • It is a scheme, where employees contribute to their pension corpus from their salaries, with matching contributions from the government.
    • The funds are invested in earmarked investment schemes through Pension Fund Managers.
    • At retirement, they can withdraw 60% of the corpus, which is tax-free and the remaining 40% is invested in annuities, which is taxed.
    • It can have two components — Tier I and II.
    • Tier-II is a voluntary savings account that offers flexibility in terms of withdrawal, and one can withdraw at any point of time, unlike Tier I account.
    • Private individuals can opt for the scheme.

    What were the changes introduced in 2019?

    • In 2019, the Finance Ministry said that Central government employees have the option of selecting the Pension Funds (PFs) and Investment Pattern in their Tier-I account.
    • The default pension fund managers are the LIC Pension Fund Limited, SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Limited and UTI Retirement Solutions Limited in a predefined proportion.

    Who is the regulatory authority?

    • The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the regulator for NPS.
    • PFRDA was set up through the PFRDA Act in 2013 to promote old age income security by developing pension funds to protect the interest of subscribers to schemes of pension funds.

    What is the subscriber base?

    • As on February 28, there were 22.74 lakh Central government employees and 55.44 lakh State government employees enrolled under the NPS.

    Why in news now?

    • In Feb, Rajasthan CM announced restoration of the old pension scheme for the government employees, who joined the service on or after January 1, 2004.
    • The announcement meant that the National Pension System (NPS) would be discontinued in the State.
    • The center had maintained that restoration of the old system would cause an unnecessary financial burden on the government.

    Cons of NPS

    • Forfeiture of pension: The NPS scheme was created by the Government of India, in order to stop all the defined pension related benefits that it gave to its employees.
    • Withdrawal restrictions: NPS restricts all kinds of withdrawals, before the subscriber reaches the age of 60 years.
    • No tax benefits: The NPS corpus, which the subscriber can use for buying annuity or for drawing pensions, is taxable, when the schemes matures.
    • Limit on investment: The subscriber cannot invest more than 50% of his or her total investment in the NPS account, towards the equities.
    • No guarantee: While NPS is a government scheme, the corpus is created according to the returns, which are generated under the corporate bonds, government securities, and equity.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Who among the following can join the National Pension System (NPS)?

    (a) Resident Indian citizens only

    (b) Persons of age from 21 to 55 only

    (c) All-State Government employees joining the services after the date of notification by the respective State Governments

    (d) All Central Governments Employees including those of Armed Forces joining the services on or after 1st April 2004

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”2nr2jt9g7y” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • SC backs Centre’s OROP scheme

    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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  • 13% reduction in air pollution deaths due to UJJAWALA Scheme

    Greater penetration and usage of LPG as a cooking fuel is estimated to have prevented at least 1.5 lakh pollution-related premature deaths in the year 2019 alone, according to the first independent impact assessment of the government’s flagship Ujjwala program.

    About the PM Ujjwala Yojana

    • Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016, with the aim to provide Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to five crore women members of below poverty line (BPL) households in the first phase.
    • he scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, Islands).
    • In the second phase the target was expanded to eight crore LPG connections.

    Why was this scheme launched?

    • Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children.
    • Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country.
    • This measure has empowered women and protected their health. It reduced drudgery and the time spent on cooking.
    • It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

    Ujjwala 2.0

    • Under Ujjwala 2.0 migrant workers would no longer have to struggle to get address proof documents to get the gas connections.
    • Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.
    • Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.

    Significance of Ujjwala 2.0

    • LPG infrastructure has expanded manifold in the country due to the Ujjwala scheme.
    • In the last six years, more than 11,000 new LPG distribution centres have opened across the country.
    • The LPG coverage in India is now very close to becoming 100 per cent.

     

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  • Caste-based NREGS Wages Payment System

    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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  • What is Vibrant Village Programme?

    The Union government plans to open the villages along the Chinese border for tourists under the Vibrant Village programme announced in the Union Budget 2022-23.

    Vibrant Village Programme

    • The program aims to improve infrastructure in villages along India’s border with China.
    • Infrastructure will be improved in states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh.
    • Under the programme, residential and tourist centres will be constructed.
    • It will also provide for improvement in road connectivity and development of decentralized renewable energy sources.
    • Apart from that, direct access of Doordarshan and education related channels will be provided. Support will be provided for livelihood.

    Key focus areas

    • It focuses livelihood generation, road connectivity, housing, rural infrastructure, renewable energy, television and broadband connections.
    • This objective will be met by strengthening infrastructure across villages located near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

    Why need such scheme?

    • The programme is a counter to China’s model villages but the name has been carefully chosen so as to not cause any consternation in the neighbouring country.
    • China has established new villages along the LAC in the past few years particularly across the Arunachal Pradesh border.
    • While China has been settling new residents in border areas, villages on the Indian side of the frontier have seen unprecedented out-migration.

     

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  • Labour Ministry launches ‘Donate a Pension’ Scheme 

    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 â‚č15,000 a month to enroll by paying a premium amount between â‚č55 and â‚č200, depending on the age, that would be matched by the government.
    • On reaching the age of 60, the beneficiaries would get a â‚č3,000 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 â‚č660 to â‚č2,400 a year depending on the age of the beneficiary, by paying through maandhan.in or visiting a Common Service Centre.

     

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  • [pib] Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED)

    The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of De-notified, Nomadic, and Semi Nomadic Communities (SEED).

    Who are the DNTs?

    • The term ‘De-notified Tribes’ stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between l87l and I947.
    • These Acts were repealed after Independence in l952, and these communities were “De-Notified”.
    • The DNTs (of whom most are the medieval period Banjaras) are the most neglected, marginalized, and economically and socially deprived communities.
    • Most of them have been living a life of destitution for generations and still continue to do so with an uncertain and gloomy future.

    SEED Scheme

    • Under the scheme, the government seeks to provide free coaching to students for civil services examinations, competitive exams for admission to professional courses; health insurance; livelihood support and housing.
    • It has been formulated for families having income from all sources of Rs.2.50 lakh or less per annum and not availing any such benefits from similar Scheme of Centre Government or the State Government.
    • The Scheme will be implemented through a portal, developed by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.
    • Post verification, the funds will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries in their account.
    • The other implementing agencies are Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Health Authority (NHA).

    Components of the scheme

    The Scheme will have the following four components:

    [I] Free Coaching

    • A component of free Coaching for DNT Students has been envisioned for the educational empowerment of these communities.
    • The objective of this component is to enable them to appear in competitive examinations/ admission to professional courses like medicine, engineering, MBA, etc for obtaining an appropriate job in the Public/Private Sector.
    • The selection of the candidates for each course will be based on system generated merit list through the portal.
    • Approximately, 6250 students will be provided free coaching under this component in five years. The total funds spent in the five years will be Rs.50 crore.

    [II] Health Insurance

    • Members of these communities are likely to have little or no access to medical facilities and other benefits available under the mainstream health policies.
    • The primary objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to National Health Authority (NHA) in association with State Health Agencies (SHAs).
    • These agencies will provide a health insurance cover of Rs.5 lakhs per family per year for families as per norms of “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

     [III] Livelihood Initiatives

    • The decline of traditional occupations of DNT/NT/SNT communities has exacerbated their poverty.
    • A focus to support livelihood generation for these communities is required.
    • The primary objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
    • It would enhance productivity growth in key livelihood sectors for employment generation through investments in institutional support, technical assistance.

    [IV] Financial support for Housing

    • Considering the shortage of houses for DNTs, it has been proposed to earmark a separate outlay for PMAY to support specific importance in providing houses only for DNTs living in rural areas.
    • It is for those who have not taken benefit of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as SC, ST, OBC and are living below the poverty line.
    • The admissible support is Rs 1.20 lakhs in plains and 1.30 lakhs in hilly areas (per unit assistance).

    Why need such a scheme?

    • DNTs escaped the attention of our developmental framework and thus are deprived of the support unlike Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
    • Historically, these communities never had access to private land or homeownership.
    • These tribes used forests and grazing lands for their livelihood and residential use and had “strong ecological connections.
    • Many of them are dependent upon various types of natural resources and carve out intricate ecological niches for their survival.
    • The changes in ecology and environment seriously affect their livelihood options.

     

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  • Maharashtra may become 8th state to opt out of PMFBY

    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 to prepare digital maps of all villages

    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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