Ministry of Urban Development launches three schemes for urban areas

Ministry of Urban Development launches three schemes for urban areas

The Ministry of Urban Development launched three new schemes on June 25, 2015.21 The schemes are Smart Cities, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All in urban areas. As per the new guidelines, states and UTs will now appraise and approve individual projects.  Selection criteria: Potential smart cities and AMRUT cities will be selected based on an objective and equitable criteria with equal weightage to urban population and number of statutory cities in each state/UT. The housing scheme will be implemented in all the 4,041 statutory towns.  Financial assistance: Each smart city will be provided central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year. Under AMRUT, allocation of funds will be as per urban population and number of towns in each state/UT. Under Housing for All, assistance will be based on the number of urban poor and slum dwellers.  Members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies will be involved in the formulation and monitoring of projects. Key guidelines of the schemes include:  Smart Cities: Central assistance will be used only for infrastructure projects which have larger public benefit.  Special Purpose Vehicles will be set up for the implementation of smart city plans with the equity share being 50:50 between states and urban local bodies.  AMRUT: A set of 11 reforms will be implemented in four years including: (i) promoting e-governance, (ii) improving collection of various taxes, fees and user charges, (iii) devolution of funds and functionaries to urban local bodies, (iv) setting up financial intermediaries for pooling and disbursement of resources, and (v) credit rating of urban local bodies.  Housing for All: Central grants of one lakh rupees per house, on an average, will be available under the slum rehabilitation programme. State governments will have the flexibility to use these grants for any slum rehabilitation project as deemed fit.  Ownership of houses will be in the name of the woman or jointly with her husband. 

Ministry launches National Skill Development Mission and Policy

Ministry launches National Skill Development Mission and Policy

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched the National Mission for Skill Development and the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on July 15, 2015.51 The Policy aims to provide an umbrella framework to all skilling activities being carried out in the country:52 Key features of the Mission and Policy include:  Objectives of the Policy and Mission include: (i) Make available quality vocational training to benefit the youth as well as employers, (ii) focus on an outcomebased approach to improve livelihoods, (iii) increase capacity and quality of training infrastructure and trainers, (iv) establish an IT based information system to match demand with supply of skilled workforce, (v) ensure that the skilling needs of the socially and geographically and marginalised groups, as well as women, are taken care of, and (vi) encourage entrepreneurship as a career option, etc.  Implementation: The objectives of the policy will be achieved through advocacy, a quality assurance framework, strengthening of existing sector skills councils, a demanddriven curriculum framework, enhancing employability skills, placements, improving access to finance and through the usage of information and communication technology. The National Mission for skill development will be the vehicle for implementing the policy in mission mode. The National Skill Development Agency will be the nodal agency for implementation. States will also have state skill development missions. A Policy Implementation Unit will be responsible for monitoring and evaluation.  Financing: The National Skill Development Fund will be used for funding skilling activities. 

Standing Committee submits report on ewaste and e-radiation

Standing Committee submits report on ewaste and e-radiation
The Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests submitted its report to Parliament on e-waste and eradiation on July 21, 2015.42 E-waste means wastes from electrical and electronic equipment, or rejects from their manufacturing and repair processes, which are intended to be discarded (like TVs, mobiles). Ewaste contains toxic substances such as lead, mercury and cadmium which may have adverse effects on human health or the environment. E-radiation refers to the electromagnetic radiation which emanates from natural sources (like the sun) and man-made sources (like fixed and mobile radio communication). Currently the Department of Telecommunications is conducting studies to assess the long term effect of e-radiation on human health, flora and fauna. However, precautionary exposure limits have been prescribed by the Department.42 In light of the above, the Standing Committee recommended the following:  Current infrastructure to deal with e-waste is inadequate, and must be increased. Presently, there are 126 e-waste recyclers and dismantlers to deal with about 8 lakh tonnes of e-waste across the country.  Extended producer‟s responsibility should cover more producers of e-waste, and should be enforced. Extended producer‟s responsibility means the producers are responsible for the equipment they produce after the end of its life.  Comprehensive scientific studies should be undertaken to establish level of risks of eradiation from mobile towers. Regulations should be established regarding location and inspection of mobile towers.




Standing Committee submits two reports on disasters (and other environmental issues) in J&K and Uttarakhand
The Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests submitted two reports on July 23, 2015, on: (i) floods and environmental issues in parts of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), and (ii) the earthquake in Uttarakhand.43,44 Key recommendations of the Standing Committee include:  Dredging or de-silting of water bodies must be conducted, and the drainage system of Srinagar must be replaced to prevent floods;  Some environmental issues must be addressed in Leh including solid waste management (for example, through setting up a landfill), air and water pollution (by setting up monitoring stations); and  In light of the earthquake early warning system in Uttarakhand (which can communicate a warning to Delhi within a minute of an earthquake in the Himalayas), government ministries should (i) coordinate to make the information public in real time, and (ii) educate people about steps to be taken before/ during/ after an earthquake

Central sector scheme for promotion of National Agricultural Market approved

Central sector scheme for promotion of National Agricultural Market approved
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a central sector scheme for the promotion of a National Agricultural Market through the Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund on July 2, 2015.25 The scheme will be set up through the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium by creating a common electronic platform for farmers. The scheme, among other things aims to: (i) promote reform in the agriculture marketing sector, (ii) promote the free-flow of agricultural commodities across the country, (iii) improve access to market related information and better price discovery through a more efficient and competitive marketing platform, and (iv) increase access to markets through warehouse based sales. The scheme has been allocated Rs 200 crore for the period 2015-16 to 2017-18. It aims to cover 585 regulated markets across the country in this period. In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation will give a onetime grant of Rs 30 lakh per mandi for the purpose of setting up equipment and infrastructure under the scheme. Big private mandis will also be allowed to participate in the scheme, but will not be supported by such grants. States and union territories are mandated to undertake the following reforms in order to be eligible to receive funds for the scheme: (i) create a single license which will be valid across the state, (ii) a single point levy of market fee, and (iii) provide for electronic auctions to enable price discovery

Ministries of Rural Development and Finance jointly release the SECC data

Ministries of Rural Development and Finance jointly release the SECC data
 the Ministries of Rural Development and Finance jointly released the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) data- 2011.22 It involved enumeration of data from 640 districts in the country and is intended to be used for programmes related to MGNREGS, National Food Security Act, Housing for All, etc. with regard to targeting of households.

Key findings of the data include: There are 179 million rural households and 65 million urban households in the country. This implies that 73% of all the households are rural.
 Source of Income: Manual casual labour is the main source of income for 51% of the rural households across the country except the UTs. It is the highest in East India where 62% of the households are engaged in this profession. Cultivation is the second highest contributor to household income, with 30% of the households drawing their main income from it.
 Income: 10% of rural households have a member with a salaried job. 5% of households pay income or professional tax. In 74% of the rural households across the country, the highest earning member of the household has a monthly income of less than Rs. 5,000 per month. 17% households have a member who earns between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 and 8% have a member who earns more than Rs 10,000 a month.  Landholdings: In the country, 56% of the rural households are landless. 65% of the households in the Eastern and Southern states have no land holdings. In comparison, about 50% of the households in the Northern, Central and Western states have no land holdings.
 Education: 36% of the total rural population is illiterate. Less than 10% of the population has studied up to the higher secondary level or a higher level.
 In the country, 18% of the rural households belong to the Scheduled Castes and 11% to the Scheduled Tribes. The share of SC households is highest in the Northern region at 26% while 29% of the households in the North East are STs

National Renewable Energy Bill, 2015

Draft National Renewable Energy Bill, 2015 released
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy released the draft National Renewable Energy Bill, 2015 on July 14, 2015.20 Presently, the Electricity Act, 2003 regulates the renewable energy sector.
 The draft Bill provides for a framework to facilitate and promote the use of renewable energy. In addition, the draft Bill aims to address issues that are not adequately covered in the Electricity Act, 2003, such as principles of grid planning and operation.
Key features of the draft Bill include:
 Creation of the National Renewable Energy Fund and State Green fund: These funds will be operated by the central and state governments respectively. The National Renewable Energy Fund will obtain revenue from the National Clean Energy Fund. The Bill does not mention the percentage of annual proceeds which will be routed to this fund. The State Green Fund will obtain a corpus from the National Renewable Energy Fund. Both of these funds would provide for meeting the expenses of implementing the National Renewable Energy Policy and National Renewable Energy Plan.
 Licenses and Accreditation: Under the Electricity Act, 2003 supply of electricity requires a license. However, under the draft Bill, no license would be required to supply electricity from a renewable energy source. The Ministry will be responsible for setting up an accreditation program for renewable energy manufacturers, system integrators and others.
 Committees: The draft Bill provides for the creation of the National Renewable Energy Committee. The Committee would review the implementation of the National Renewable Energy Policy and National Renewable Energy Plan.
The Committee would also enable inter ministerial coordination and coordinate matters on grid integration of renewable energy. A grid is a high voltage backbone system of interconnecting transmission lines, sub-stations and generating plants. The National Renewable Energy Advisory Group is also established under the draft Bill. The group would keep track of the latest developments in technology. The group would also advise the central government on the utilisation of the National Renewable Energy Fund. 

High Level Committee Report on the Status of Women in India released

High Level Committee Report on the Status of Women in India released

A High Level Committee constituted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in May 2013 submitted its report on the status of women in India in July 2015.17 The recommendations of the Committee ranged across parameters such as socio-economic status, violence against women, health and education, etc. Key recommendations include:  Implementation of existing Acts: Laws such as the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, Dowry Prohibition Act, Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, Prevention of Child Marriage Act, Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace, etc, should be effectively implemented and monitored.
 Criminal laws: The budget for the implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 is insufficient for effective implementation. This allocation needs to be increased.
 Marital rape should be made an offence and age of consent, which is currently 18 years, should be revised.
 Other laws: Under the Hindu law, irretrievable breakdown of marriage should not be a ground for divorce, as it is at present. Under the Muslim law, a complete ban should be imposed on oral, unilateral and triple divorce (talaq). The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 should be amended to make it illegal to preferentially employ women based on marital status and pregnancy. Specific provisions regarding women workers should be included in the Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008.
 A national level monitoring agency should be set up to collect data on gender every five years. A national policy