Promotion of Food Processing Industries

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN PROCESSED FOOD SECTOR             In order to promote research and development in processed food sector, Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing a Scheme namely ‘Quality Assurance, Codex, R&D and Other Promotional Activities’. Research and Development is one of the components of this scheme. The objective of the scheme is that the end product / outcome / findings of R&D work should benefit Food Processing Industry in terms of product and process development, improved preservation, packaging, storage and distribution technologies, value addition, standardization of additives, coloring agents, preservatives, pesticide residues, etc. with focus on enhancement of production, quality, consumer safety, public health and trade.             All Universities, IITs, Central / State Government Institutions, Public FundedOrganisations, R&D laboratories and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) recognized R&D units in private sector are eligible for grant-in-aid under this scheme.             The scheme is being implemented by Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), under Department of Science and Technology w.e.f. 01.04.2012.             Ministry of Food Processing Industries implemented a Scheme for Human Resource Development (HRD) in the Food Processing Sector in 11th Plan. This Scheme focusses on developing technologists, managers, entrepreneurs and manpower for quality management in food processing. Under the scheme, assistance is provided for Creation of Infrastructure facilities in academic institutions for degree/diploma course in food technology and for setting up of Food Processing Training Centres (FPTC) and Entrepreneurship Development Programmes.              There are also two academic-cum-research institutions under this Ministry viz. National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) at Kundli, Sonepat, Haryana and the Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology (IICPT) at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, which offer academic programmes at Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. level courses in Food Processing. The institutes are also conducting short term training courses.             During the 12th Five Year Plan, the HRD Scheme has been subsumed under the National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP), for implementation through State/UT Governments.

Promoting Production of Organic Fertilizers

Government is promoting production of organic fertilizers in the country through various programmes under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) and Network Project on Organic Farming under ICAR. Under Soil Health Management (SHM) component of NMSA, financial assistance up 33% of financial outlay, subject to a maximum ceiling of Rs.63.00 lakhs for establishment of agro/vegetable waste compost production units, and 25% of financial outlay subject to a maximum ceiling of Rs.40.00 lakh for biofertiliser production units, is provided as back-ended subsidy through NABARD. And also, financial assistance upto 50% of cost subject to a limit of Rs.5, 000/- per hectare and Rs.10, 000/- per beneficiary is provided for promotion of organic inputs including organic fertilizers. Assistance has been provided for 42 biofertiliser production units and 16 agro/vegetable waste compost production units under the scheme. The ICAR has developed technologies to prepare various types or organic manures such as phosphocompost, vermin compost, bio-enriched compost, municipal solid waste compost etc. from various organic wastes. Improved and efficient strains of biofertilizers specific to different crops and soil types are being developed under Network Project on Soil Biodiversity – Biofertilizers being operated in 14 different States. Liquid biofertilizer technology with high shelf life has also been developed.

PM lays foundation stone of Leh-Kargil-Srinagar power transmission line. Dedicates to the nation the 45MW capacity Nimmo-Bazgo hydropower project

PM announces series of development initiatives for Jammu and Kashmir: Additional funding of Rs. 8000 crore for road projects Prakash-Paryvaran-Paryatan (Energy, Environment and Tourism) will be given a boost in Ladakh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid the foundation stone for the Leh-Kargil-Srinagar power transmission line, at Leh. This 245 km long transmission line will be built at a cost of Rs. 1788 crore. Shri Narendra Modi also dedicated to the nation the 45 MW installed capacity Nimmo Bazgo hydroelectric power project on the River Indus. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said these projects will connect Ladakh, and the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the other parts of the country through energy. Addressing the large number of people gathered at the venue, the Prime Minister said these timeless peaks of Ladakh would have witnessed such a mammoth gathering of people after a very long time. He said he is well-acquainted with the love, affection and strength of the people of Ladakh. He said he would return the love that the people of Ladakh have showered on him over the years, now that he has a chance to serve them as the Prime Minister. This would enable Ladakh to join the mainstream of national development. He said there was a time when Prime Ministers would not visit the state for several years. "But I have come here twice in two months - it is your love which draws me here." He said "prakash (energy), paryavaran (environment) aur paryatan (tourism)" of Ladakh are such a strength that not just Jammu and Kashmir - the entire nation will benefit from it. Energy (prakash) from here will dispel darkness, save the environment and help attract tourism. The Prime Minister said the Ladakh has tremendous potential for solar energy and his Government is committed to developing a solar energy park here. He said Ladakh would soon produce all its energy needs. (swayam prakashit roshni). Stating that in the past, there was an issue between the Centre and State governments over a sum of Rs. 60 crore, for the solar project, the Prime Minister announced a waiver for this amount. Stressing on infrastructure for the nation`s development, the Prime Minister said he wants to connect all parts of the country through rail, road, telephone, power. He said his idea of development was to bring about a change in the lives of common people. Talking of the development strategy of Himalayan states, he said the natural resources of this area can help build a development model for the entire country. The Government is committed to boosting tourism in all parts of the country including Jammu and Kashmir. He said a series of announcements for development of the Himalayan states have been made in the budget. These include organic farming - for which we will provide a global market. This will boost the incomes of farmers in rural areas. A research institute for conservation of the natural and environmental resources of the Himalayas would be established. He said saffron cultivation would be given a big boost in the state. A new unit for saffron will be established in Spices Development Board for this purpose. Saying Pashmina is the pride of Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said a special scheme will be launched to enhance the skill of Pashmina producers and craftsmen. The Prime Minister said 4 important road projects were conceived for the state in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee`s tenure. However, these projects witnessed cost escalation, which neither the Centre nor the State was willing to bear. He announced an additional funding of Rs. 8000 crore from the Centre, for these projects. He said his Government is committed to providing power and water, not just for industries, but also to make a difference in the lives of ordinary people, and help in skill development of the youth. In this context he said, there is no dearth of funds for development, but a lot of funds are lost in corruption. Therefore, he said, his Government would fight corruption with full force. The Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Shri N.N. Vohra, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Shri Omar Abdullah, the MoS(i/c) for Power, Shri Piyush Goyal, were present on the occasion.

PM's address at the Outstanding Parliamentary Awards Function

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted the importance of the combination of three qualities "Netritva, Kartutva, Vaktutva" - Leadership, Action and Speech - as essential in the making of an Outstanding Parliamentarian. Addressing the Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards function at the Balyogi Auditorium in Parliament Library today, the Prime Minister urged the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to convene a meeting of Speakers of all Vidhan Sabhas, so that the practice of awarding outstanding legislators could be extended to the states as well. Complimenting the three award winners - Shri Arun Jaitley, Shri Karan Singh and Shri Sharad Yadav - for their contribution to Parliament, the Prime Minister hoped that younger MPs would learn from the examples set by them. The Prime Minister said the country is looking at Parliament with a lot of hope, adding that it may also be worthwhile to conduct a survey among the people as to how they judged a particular session of Parliament. This may be an eye-opener, the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister regretted the decline of the use of wit and humour in the proceedings of Parliament in recent years.

Steps to Reform Foodgrains Management

The Government has taken a number of steps to reform food management and control inflation in the country. FCI is upgrading its godowns to ensure safe storage of foodgrains. The older stocks have been issued and liquidated on priority and at present the stocks available with FCI are of last two crop years only. Laboratory and training structure is continuously upgraded to strengthen the quality control mechanism and to monitor the quality of foodgrains at the time of procurement, storage and distribution so as to avoid damage to foodgrains. States are encouraged to adopt Decentralised Procurement (DCP) system to maximize procurement and to ensure better reach of MSP to farmers. Select godowns have been identified for mechanization of handling operations. Under Private entrepreneur Guarantee Scheme (PEG) Government has created a storage capacity of 120.30 lakh tonnes upto 30.06.2014 in various locations in 19 states for proper storage of foodgrains procured for central pool. For storage modernization, the Government has also approved construction of 20 lakh tonnes of storage capacity in silos. End to end computerization of the Targeted Public Distribution is being undertaken as one of the reforms stipulated under the National Food Security Act 2013. This information was given by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. He said that The Government has taken a number of steps to check prices of rice and wheat which include: Reduced import duties to zero – for wheat. • Imposed stock limits in respect of paddy and rice up to 30.11.2014. • Maintained the Central Issue Price (CIP) for rice (at Rs 5.65 per kg for Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Rs 3 per kg for Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) and wheat (at Rs 4.15 per kg for BPL and Rs 2 per kg for AAY) since 2002. • Suspended Futures trading in rice. • During 2014-15 Government has allocated 100 lakh tonnes of wheat for sale under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) . • Released additional five million tonnes of Rice to BPL & APL families in states pending implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA) between July 2014 & March 2015. • The Government is also implementing “The Essential Commodities Act 1955” and “The Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act,1980” with the objective of preventing hoarding and black marketing of essential commodities. • Issued advisory to State Govts. to take concerted action against hoarding & black marketing Act 1955 & The Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supply of Essential Commodities Act (PBMMSEC Act) 1980 effectively.

For the unbanked

Financial inclusion is a process of ensuring the availability of financial services to all sections of society, at an affordable cost. A key objective of financial inclusion is to help the unbanked population with institutional finance, to enable them to become self-employed and ensure a stable income.

The government has made a concerted effort to extend financial inclusion by nationalising banks and establishing a network of rural cooperatives and regional rural banks. The RBI too has initiatives like priority sector lending since the early 1970s, opening of no-frills accounts, establishing business correspondents (BCs) and easing of know-your-customer (KYC) norms. Its latest efforts include the preparation of guidelines for licensing payments of banks and small banks. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has also supported the cause, adopting measures for cooperative banks and regional rural banks, enabling kisan credit cards and spreading financial literacy. In addition, a number of private sector institutions have also been operating in the area. Despite all this, nearly half the population/ households do not even have a bank account.

It is in this context that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his maiden budget speech, mentioned the Financial Inclusion Mission (FIM) to provide banking services to all households in India. The FIM, focused on empowering the weaker sections of society, is likely to be launched on August 15, with two bank accounts eligible for credit per family. The scheme reportedly conceives six pillars to achieve comprehensive or sampoorn financial inclusion. These are — universal access to banking facilities, financial literacy, basic bank accounts and availability of micro credit, micro insuranc, and pension scheme. The vision is to have a banking account for each family and beneficiary by March 2016. To encourage people to start using banking facilities, the government is considering providing an overdraft of Rs 5,000 through a debit card to every basic banking account holder. The strategy is to strengthen the existing business correspondent model (BCM) to make it operationally flexible and viable with the expansion of banking services.

There are numerous challenges to successfully implementing the above proposals. In the absence of Aadhaar, the implementation of some components of the FIM would have to be phased over a few years, requiring sustained monitoring and supervision by the finance ministry.

There is also the need for a bottom-up approach for the FIM to be successful. This implies the active participation of state governments as well as local governments and panchayati raj institutions (PRI). The panchayats could provide office space on their premises or at common service centres, as well as play an important role in resolving the issue of KYC norms. The retention of staff by BCs is another challenge, as the attrition rate is high becauseof low remuneration to the agent. Stationary BCs at gram panchayats are a viable option, provided they are also integrated with the common service centre and all payments of government schemes — both state and Central — to rural people are routed through bank accounts and a reasonable commission is fixed for their services.

The role of financial literacy, of both potential customers as well as financial service providers, also needs to be emphasised. This implies distribution of literature in the local and simple language, designing flexibility in instruments and offering tenors that are attractive to the local population and training banking officials to be consumer-friendly. In the field survey undertaken by us in Gubbi, Tumkur, it emerged that financial literacy also needs to be imparted to bank officials. The financial requirements of farmers are different from those of artisans in the same rural area. In general, unbanked people prefer ease in banking transactions, the opportunity to make tiny deposits regularly, small loans and an assured channel for remittances. Other findings from the survey revealed that difficult documentation, high transaction costs and time taken to grant loans were the major reasons for the reluctance to borrow from institutional sources and for preferring, instead, informal sources.

The most important factor for success would be changing the mindset of financial institutions. The need is to convince such institutions, especially commercial banks, that financial inclusion is a viable business proposal. To illustrate, the number of postal accounts (savings, recurring and time), at more than 21 crore, amounts to an outstanding balance of Rs 1,20,000 crore. Similarly, the number of bank accounts at non-metropolitan branches, at 70 crore, records an outstanding deposit of Rs 26,88,322 crore.

These are the figures when only half the population has any type of bank account. Another indicator of untapped resources is the large amount committed to numerous chit funds operating in India and the potential business in remittances from cities to rural areas. According to the latest economic census, of the 58.5 million establishments in 2014, 59.9 per cent were in rural areas. Thus, there is scope for substantial business opportunities in tapping and providing appropriate instruments to unbanked households, especially in rural areas. This would make efforts by commercial banks profitable and commercially viable

The fifth Metro letter from Bangalore: Science of giving

A development some months ago electrified the science community in India. It was reported that billionaire Infosys co-founder and executive vice chairman Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, better known as Kris Gopalakrishnan, was giving a sum of Rs 225 crore to fund brain research at the Indian Institute of Science. Around the same time came unrelated reports that thousands of Indian researchers in over 100 top institutions, including the IISc, were agitating for better and timely stipends. Providing further context, last week, Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani stated in Parliament that India invests 0.81 per cent of GDP in research and development compared to China’s 1.84 per cent (2011 data). These disparate incidents capture the extremities of science and technology research in India.

At one end is Gopalakrishnan’s giving, which is remarkable for several reasons. It is the biggest individual philanthropic donation towards pure sciences in the history of India. It is also the biggest funding received from an individual by the century-old IISc, the country’s paramount research institution, since it was founded with the active support of Jamsetji Tata in 1899. Scientists dare speculate that this could spark off a trend of private funding for scientific research in a country where government resources are meagre, even nonexistent.

The money will go towards establishing a Centre for Brain Research at the IISc. The centre will be an independent entity within the institute, with an international advisory board consisting of neurobiologist and Nobel laureate Torsten Wiesel and several other eminent scientists from the United States and Europe. The centre will work to understand the functioning of the human brain, an area where little serious research is taking place in India, as well as focus on Indian genetic and environmental linkages in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Gopalakrishnan has since committed a further $1.8 million to Carnegie Mellon University to add a collaborative element to the research but has said little about his philanthropic act. “I want the centre to start before I talk about this,” he said in an email.

The technology tycoon has pledged funds for a decade of research activity and to bring in distinguished specialists who work in the field of brain-computer interfaces. The money could help Indian expertise in the highly specialised neuroscience niche grow, and seed future research. The timing is fitting. With increasing life spans in India, neurodegenerative diseases are expected to be widely prevalent and become a huge drain on national healthcare resources.

“Kris Gopalakrishnan’s funding has seeded a unique idea and we neuroscientists are thrilled,” said Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, chairperson of the Centre for Neuroscience at the IISc. In the West, private endowments and individual generosity have fuelled research. But, in India, that has simplynot happened so far. “Here, we are entirely dependent on public funding,” she said.

According to a recent report, India is home to close to 15,000 dollar multi-millionaires, individuals with net assets of at least Rs 61 crore. The country has the eighth-largest group of super-rich in the world. Yet, individual philanthropy has begun to gain currency only in the last few years, and much of this individual giving is going into the cause of education. Funding for medical research is insignificant, even nonexistent. In the West, in contrast, large projects like the human genome sequencing project were aided by private philanthropy.

“The human genome sequencing project is a brilliant example of how it can be done,” said R.A. Mashelkar, the former director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research who has helped shape post-liberalisation India’s science and technology policy. “To optimise the search for truth, we need a galaxy of private funders,” he said. Private giving towards science can only be a leap of faith. “We may have mandated a 2 per cent company spend on corporate social responsibility, but we cannot legislate individual compassion,” Mashelkar said in a phone conversation from Pune.

Gopalakrishnan’s philanthropy is applause-worthy as it is supporting fundamental research. “It is geared not towards short-term economic gains but towards long-term research goals and that is what makes it special,” said Mashelkar. Ravindranath said that she and others working on the new brain research centre are willing the entity to be successful and transformational

so that it can spur others to give to scientific causes. Who knows, what Gopalakrishnan has done could set off more giving and birth the private-public partnership model in science and research in India.