FAQ

The RBI has decided to launch pilot projects to digitize Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to transform rural credit delivery systems and to improve the quality of credit delivery in the rural areas .

The Digitisation Project 

• RBI will launch a pilot project for end-to-end digitalisation of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) lending, developed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) Bengaluru. 

• The pilot project would entail automation of various processes within banks and integration of their systems with the service providers. 

• The proposed digitalisation of the KCC lending process will make it more efficient, reduce costs for borrowers and reduce Turn Around Time (TAT) from loan application to disbursement  significantly.

Where it will be launched 

The pilot  project will commence in September 2022 in select districts of Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with Union Bank of India and Federal Bank, respectively, as partner banks and with active cooperation of the state governments.

Kisan Credit Cards(KCC)

• It was introduced in India by banks  in August 1998 to meet the agricultural credit needs of the farmers.

• The model of KCC scheme was prepared by NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development)on the  recommendations of RV Gupta Committee.

• RBI set up a High Level Committee on Agricultural Credit Through Commercial Banks in 1997 . The committee was  headed by RV Gupta. 

The Government of India has decided to rename the Centre’s fertiliser subsidy programme as a prime minister’s scheme, naming it as the “Pradhanmantri Bharatiya Janurvarak Pariyojana”

Pradhanmantri Bharatiya Janurvarak Pariyojana

• The new fertiliser subsidy regime will also be known as “One Nation One Fertilisers.
• There will be one name for the fertilisers under the pariyojana 
• The single brand name for fertilisers such as urea, di-amonimum phosphate (DAP), muriate of potassium (MOP) and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) sold by companies, state trading entities and marketing companies will be henceforth named as Bharat urea, Bharat DAP, Bharat MOP and Bharat NPK.
• Packaging bags of various fertilisers bought by millions of farmers across the country will also have a uniform new logo and design.
• Two-thirds of the area on the top half of a fertiliser bag will be used for the official branding of the subsidy programme as a prime minister’s scheme.
• A fertiliser firm can use the rest one-third area for its own logo and branding as well as printing other information relating to the product,
• The new bag will come into the market in October.

Fertiliser subsidy in India 

• Under the central government fertiliser subsidy programme, the Union government reimburses fertiliser companies for selling their products to the farmers at lower-than-market prices.
• This subsidy stood at ₹1.62 lakh crore in 2021-22 and is projected to touch a record ₹ 2.50 lakh crore in 2022-23.
• India is a big importer of rock phosphate and DAP fertilizers.

The government of India has extended the benefits of its flagship Health Insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) to the transgender communities.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to provide composite health care services to the transgender community under AB-PMJAY.

The MoU was signed by RS Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority and R Subramanyam, Secretary Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Dr. Virendra Kumar, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment and Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

Who will benefit 

• Those transgender persons who are holding a certificate issued by the National Portal for Transgender Persons.
• There are close to 480,000 transgender persons registered under the scheme.
• The social justice ministry will fund the ₹5 lakh insurance cover per transgender beneficiary per annum.

Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is a centrally sponsored scheme. 

The Scheme has two components 

1. Health and wellness Centres 
2. National Health Protection Scheme.

Health and Wellness Centres

• Government will set up 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness centres which will include the existing Sub Centres and Primary Health Centres..
• It will provide basic and primary health care services to the population like   maternal and child health services and non-communicable diseases, including free essential drugs and diagnostic services.

 National Health Protection Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)

This scheme was launched on 23rd September, 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Feature of the Scheme:

• It is the largest health assurance scheme in the world which aims at providing a health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
•  There is no cap on how many members of the family will get the benefit.
•  Beneficiaries covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.
• Over 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable entitled families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) are eligible for these benefits.
• It covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalization and 15 days post-hospitalization expenses such as diagnostics and medicines.
• It is a cashless facility.

 Who are the beneficiary 

Poor and vulnerable sections of society identified on the basis of Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011.

Funding of the scheme 

Being a health insurance scheme the premium will not be paid by the beneficiaries but will be paid by the Central and State government on following basis:

• The ratio of contribution towards premium between Centre and State is 60:40 in all States 
• In North Eastern States and the three Himalayan States, where the ratio is 90:10.
•  In the case of Union Territories  without legislature, , the Central contribution of premium is 100% and  for  
• Union Territories having a legislature (Delhi and Puducherry) the ratio of contribution is 60:40.

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in partnership with Seva Bharti and Yuva Vikas Society, has launched the second phase of the Grameen Udyami Project on 20 August 2022 at Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The project was launched virtually by the Union Minister for Tribal affair, Arjun Munda.

Grameen Udyami project 

The Grameen Udyami Project has been launched by the government to empower the tribal youths by upgrading their skills for their inclusive and sustainable growth, and to strengthen their sustainable livelihood.

Grameen Udyami Yojana is implemented under Sansadiya Parisankul Yojana.

The project is being implemented in six states— Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Gujarat. 

Implementation of the Project 

The project is being implemented in phases.

In the first phase of training, candidates were mobilized from rural and tribal areas of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat.

Phase 2 

The phase-II of the pilot project launched in Ranchi and is being implemented by Yuva Vikas Society, through Seva Bharti Kendra in Ranchi.

Which organisation manages Grameen Udyami project 

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in association with various Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) is implementing the project. The project is funded by NSDC.

Objectives of the project 

The tribal youths are provided training which will help them in finding jobs in the local economy like Electrician & Solar PV Installation Technician, Plumbing & Masonry etc.

This will lead to;

• Enhancement of  employment opportunities in the tribal areas ,
• Reducing  forced migration due to lack of local opportunities and 
• Conservation of natural resources.

The Government of India has decided to extend the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Scheme to the entire country by the end 2022. This was announced by the Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav at the Employees' State Insurance Corporation's Chintan Shivir at Surajkund in Haryana.

Presently, ESI Scheme is fully implemented in 443 districts and partially implemented in 153 districts, whereas 148 districts are not covered under ESI Scheme.

The medical care services will be provided through establishing new DCBOs (dispensary cum branch offices), by empanelling mIMP (Modified Insurance Medical Practitioner) and tie-up hospitals of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).

WHAT IS ESIC 

The Employees State Insurance (ESI) Scheme is one of the largest social security schemes in the world which comes under the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) under the Union Labour and Employment Ministry.

The ESIC was set up in 1952 under the ESI act 1948.

It provides medical benefits to the insured employees and their dependents under the scheme. There is no limit on the medical expense.

Who are eligible

It is applicable on factories employing 10 or more workers.

It is applicable on shops, establishments, insurance, Non-Banking Financial Companies etc. employing 20 or more persons.

Wage Limit 

It provides medical insurance facility to workers earning upto Rs.21, 000/- per month (Rs.25, 000/- per month in the case of Persons with Disability).

Contribution

The insured employee has to contribute   1% of his monthly wages per month to the scheme and the employer is required to contribute 3% of the employee’s wages to the Scheme. 

Union Minister for Labour and Employment: Bhupendra Yadav 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 19 August 2022, that the government has achieved the milestone of providing piped water connection to 10 crore houses in villages under the Jal Jeevan Mission. He said that at least 7 crore houses were provided such connections over the last three years.

The Prime Minister was speaking during his address via video conference at an event in Goa to mark 100% piped water supply coverage in rural households of the state.

Achievements of the Har Ghar Jal  mission 

According to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti ,  only 3.23 crore (16.90%) of the households in villages had access to piped water connection when the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced by the Prime Minister on 15 August 2019.

The country achieved the milestone of 10 crore tap water connection on 19 August 2022.

First certified State, Union Territory and District 

Goa and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu became the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ certified State and Union Territory in the country respectively,

Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh is the first certified ‘Har Ghar Jal’ district in India.

States and Union Territory to achieve this target in near future

According to the ministry, 3 States (Goa, Telangana and Haryana) and 3 Union Territories of Puducherry, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, have reported 100% coverage. 

Punjab at 99.93%, followed by Gujarat at 97.03%, Bihar at 95.51% and Himachal Pradesh at 94.88% are also poised to achieve the 100% coverage target.

Status of Schools and Anganwadi

Under the mission   8.67 lakh (84.35%) schools and 8.96 lakh (80.34%) anganwadi centers in the country have been provided with safe tap drinking water facilities.

Status in Aspirational districts 

According to the ministry,  at the time of launch of the Mission, in the 117 aspirational districts of the country, only 24.32 lakh (7.57%) households had access to tap water which has now increased to 1.54 Crore (48.00%). 

Three Aspirational districts from Telangana (Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Jayashankar Bhupalpalli and Bhadrabri Kothagudem) and 1 district each in Punjab (Moga), Haryana (Mewat) and Himachal Pradesh (Chamba) have reported 100% tap water coverage.

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)

• It is a centrally sponsored  flagship programme 
• It was launched by the government of India on 15 August 2019 replacing the National Rural Drinking Water Mission. 
• The scheme is being implemented by the Union Jal Shakti Ministry.  The mission follows a bottoms up approach where panchayats are involved in the planning and execution of the mission.

Aim of the scheme 

• The mission under the Har Ghar Nal se Jal scheme aims to provide potable, quality drinking water to every rural household by 2024.
• It will be provided by Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every eligible household with reliable drinking water.
• The goal of JJM is to provide functional household tap connection to every household with service level at the rate of 55 litres per capita per day.

Funding pattern of the mission 

Total estimated cost of JJM is Rs. 3.60 Lakh Crore. 

The fund sharing pattern are as follows: 

• For Himalayan states (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh) Center will contribute 90% while the state will provide 10%.
• For Union Territories  the Center will provide 100% funds 
• For the rest of the states the cost is split between the center and state, 50:50.

 Union Jal Shakti Minister: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched ‘Krishna Kunj’ plantation drive in the state on the auspicious occasion of the Janmashtami on 19 August 2022. 

 According to the Chief Minister the “initiative has been named ‘Krishna-Kunj’ so that people understand the god-like and divine values of life-giving trees”.

Where was it launched 

The Chief Minister launched the Krishna Kunj plantation drive from   in Raipur district where a Krishna Kunj is being developed.

Feature of the plantation drive 

• Trees of cultural and medicinal significance will be planted in a total of 162 selected sites of the state.
• Several varieties of trees that hold special importance in our culture and Ayurveda like Banyan, Peepal, Kadamba, mangoes, tamarind, plum, Ganga tamarind, Jamun, Ganga ber, Mulberry, Tendu, Chironji, Pomegranate, Kaitha, Neem, Gular, Palas, Guava, Plantation of Sitaphal, Bel, Amla will be planted through this initiative.
• The Chief Minister has directed all the collectors of the Districts to allot at least one acre of land to the Forest Department for developing ‘Krishna-Kunj’. 

Benefit of the scheme

• These trees have medicinal and cultural importance for the people and by the plantation drive the government wants to increase the number of trees and help in its preservation.
• Trees like peepal Banyan and Neem have a higher capacity of releasing oxygen and they grow at a rapid pace with long life. This will help in tackling global warming.
• The initiative is also expected to increase the green cover in the state. 
• The initiative of ‘Krishna-Kunj’ will also increase the awareness about the importance of trees to our coming generations.

Forest Cover in Chhattisgarh

According to the Indian State of the Forest Report (ISFR) 2019 the Forest Cover in the State is 55,610.57 sq. km which is 41.14 % of the State's geographical area.

Goa and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu have respectively become the first Har Ghar Jal certified State and Union Territory (UT) in the country.

In order to be a certified  State or UT under the Har Ghar Jal scheme , the Gram Sabha of every village in the state or the UT has to pass a resolution  certifying that all households in the villages have access to safe drinking water through taps, 

The villages also have to confirm through a resolution of the Gram Sabha, that every household is getting regular supply of water of prescribed quality and not a single household is left out. They have to also confirm that all schools, Anganwadi centers and other public institutions are also getting tap water.

First Certified District in India

Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh  was the first certified district in the country to  provide safe drinking water through taps to all the 1 lakh 1 thousand 905 rural households of the 254 villages in the district.

Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)

• It is a centrally sponsored  flagship programme 
• It was launched by the government of India on 15 August 2019 replacing the National Rural Drinking Water Mission. 
• The scheme is being implemented by the Union Jal Shakti Ministry.  The mission follows a bottoms up approach where panchayats are involved in the planning and execution of the mission.

Aim of the scheme 

• The mission under the Har Ghar Nal se Jal scheme aims to provide potable, quality drinking water to every rural household by 2024.
• It will be provided by Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every eligible household with reliable drinking water.
• The goal of JJM is to provide functional household tap connection to every household with service level at the rate of 55 litres per capita per day.

Funding pattern of the mission 

Total estimated cost of JJM is Rs. 3.60 Lakh Crore. 

The fund sharing pattern are as follows: 

• For Himalayan states (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh) Center will contribute 90% while the state will provide 10%.
• For Union Territories  the Center will provide 100% funds 
• For the rest of the states the cost is split between the center and state, 50:50.

 Union Jal Shakti Minister: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

In a major boost towards putting an end to the manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and to improve the safety of all sanitation workers, 500 cities in India have declared themselves as ‘Safai Mitra Surakshit Sehar’. 

This is a major achievement of the NAMASTE Scheme launched by the government of India to improve the working condition of the Safai karamchari.

Many sanitation workers die from inhaling toxic gasses while cleaning the sewers and septic tanks in India. In July this year, Union minister for social justice and empowerment Virendra Kumar said in the Lok Sabha that 347 such deaths had occurred in the past five years.

The NAMASTE scheme aims to reduce the fatality rate to zero.

National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE)

Namaste is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment as a joint initiative with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Duration and outlay of the scheme 

The Scheme has been approved with an outlay of Rs. 360 crore for four years from 2022-23 to 2025-26.

Aim of the scheme 

NAMASTE envisages safety and dignity of sanitation workers in urban India by creating an enabling ecosystem that recognizes sanitation workers as one of the key contributors in operations and maintenance of sanitation infrastructure.

NAMASTE aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• Zero fatalities in sanitation work in India
• All sanitation work is performed by skilled workers
• No sanitation workers come in direct contact with human faecal matter
• Sanitation workers are collectivized into SHGs and are empowered to run sanitation enterprises
• All Sewer and Septic tank  sanitation workers (SSWs) have access to alternative livelihoods

How many cities to be covered 

Initially the NAMASTE scheme is being implemented in the 500 cities which have been identified under the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Transformation) mission under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

It will cover all the eligible Indian cities by March 2024.

The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, virtually launched the Early Childhood Development Conclave, Paalan 1000 National Campaign and Parenting App in Mumbai on 16 August 2022.

While launching the app she said that India has been successful in reducing child mortality from 45 per 1000 live births in 2014 to 35 per 1000 live births in 2019.

Paalan 1000 National Campaign and Parenting App

‘Paalan 1000 - Journey of the First 1000 Days’, focuses on the cognitive developments of children in the first 2 years of their life. 

Paalan 1000 combines early years coaching for parents, families and other caregivers with services designed to meet families’ basic needs.

 The programme is aligned with the mission of the Rashtriya BAL Swasthya Karyakram, emphasizing responsive care and focusing interventions on the first 1000 days.

PAALAN 1000 parenting app will provide caregivers with practical advice on what they can do in their everyday routine and will help resolve the various doubts of parents and will direct our efforts in the development of a child.

The app has focused on the 6 principles on Maximize Love, Talk & Engage, explore through Movement and Play, Read and Discuss Stories, Mother’s Engagement with the Child while Breastfeeding and Managing Stress and Staying Calm.