68 crore persons getting subsidized foodgrains under NFSA

68 crore persons getting subsidized foodgrains under NFSA

The Government of India has accorded high priority to the issue of hunger and malnutrition in the country and is implementing several schemes/programmes through State Governments/UT Administrations to improve food security situation in the country. These include Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), Wheat Based Nutrition Programme (WBNP) for providing Supplementary Nutrition, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme for pre-school children and pregnant and lactating mothers through the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (MDM) for primary and upper primary children through Ministry of Human Resource Development, Annapurna Scheme for the senior citizens, Nutritional Programme for Adolescent Girls, Emergency Feeding Programme, etc. This information was given by the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

The Minister said that National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving foodgrains (rice, wheat & coarsegrains) at highly subzided rates. Thus, 81.35 crore persons which constitute about two-thirds of the population is covered under NFSA. This coverage has been delinked from poverty estimates. The eligible families under NFSA comprise of priority households and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families. Priority households are entitled to receive 5 Kg of foodgrains per person per month at highly subsidized price of Rs.3, 2 & 1 per Kg. for rice, wheat & coarsegrains respectively. The existing AAY households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kg. of foodgrains per household per month. The Act also provides that in case annual allocation of foodgrains to any State under the Act is less than the average annual offtake of foodgrains for the last three years under normal TPDS, the same shall be protected. Implementation of the Act has started in 30 States/Union Territories (UTs), covering about 68 crore persons. Foodgrains allocation under erstwhile TPDS is being continued in remaining States/UTs.

He said that Government of India has provisionally allocated 289.46 lakh tonnes under NFSA and 207.31 lakh tonnes of foodgrains under erstwhile TPDS during current year. Further, an additional 50.01 lakh tonnes of foodgrains have also been allocated during the current year for Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL) families to the States/UTs where NFSA has not been implemented. In addition, during the current year, 11.70 lakh tonnes of foodgrains have been allocated to the States for festival, calamities and other additional requirements. The Government has also allocated 52.18 lakh tonnes of foodgrains under Other Welfare Schemes such as Mid Day Meal Scheme, Annapurna Scheme, SC/ST/OBC Hostel Scheme, Welfare Institutions Scheme, SABLA Scheme and Wheat Based Nutrition Programme Scheme.

Shri Paswan said that the Act also has a special focus on nutritional support to women and children. Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to meals as per nutritional norms as well as to receive maternity benefit of not less than Rs.6,000. Children upto 14 years of age are entitled to meals as per the prescribed nutritional standards. Higher nutritional standards have been fixed for malnourished children upto 6 years of age. In case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, the beneficiaries will receive food security allowance. 

Fertilizer companies are required to print the MRP and available subsidy on each bag of P&K fertilizers.

            The Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers  Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir informed the Lok Sabha  today in reply to an Unstarred Question  that  the existing mechanism put in place to monitor the prices of P&K fertilizers is as under:-

i.                    Sale of fertilizers above the printed  price is punishable under the EC Act.

ii.                  (a) It has been made mandatory for the fertilizer companies to submit alongwith their subsidy claims, the cost data of their fertilizer products from 2012-13 onwards in prescribed format on six monthly basis . The Department has also appointed Cost Accountants/ Firms to scrutinize the said cost data to ensure that the prices fixed by the fertilizer companies are reasonable.

(b) It has also been stipulated in the provisions that in cases, where after scrutiny, unreasonableness of MRP is established or where there is no correlation between the cost of production or acquisition and the MRP printed on the bags, the subsidy would be restricted or denied even if the product is otherwise eligible for subsidy under NBS Scheme. In proven case of abuse of subsidy mechanism, the Department of Fertilizers, on the recommendation of Inter-Ministerial Committee may exclude any grade/grades of fertilizers of a particular company or the fertilizer company itself from the NBS Scheme. This punitive provision checks overpricing of Fertilizers.

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88 drugs and surgical and consumables are included in Jan Aushadhi Scheme

88 drugs and surgical and consumables are included in Jan Aushadhi Scheme

            With a view to achieving the objective of making available quality medicines at affordable prices, the Government has been taking several regulatory and fiscal measures from time to time.   In order to provide further relief to the common man in the area of healthcare, a countrywide campaign for ensuring  availability of generic medicines at  affordable prices to all, in the name of “Jan Aushadhi”, was launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in November, 2008 in collaboration with the State Governments as a direct market intervention strategy.

            Under the Jan Aushadhi Scheme, those Jan Aushadhi Stores proposed within Government hospital premises, a one-time financial assistance to the extent of Rs.2.50 Lakh (Rs.1 Lakh for furnishing, Rs.50000/- for computer and peripherals, Refrigerator etc. and another Rs.1 Lakh worth medicines to commence operations) is granted.  Besides, the Jan Aushadhi Stores run by private entrepreneurs/ pharmacists/Non-Governmental Organizations/charitable organizations that are linked with the Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India (BPPI), the implementing agency through internet will get an incentive upto Rs.1.50 lakh.  This will be given @ 10% of monthly sales subject to a ceiling of Rs.10,000/- per month upto a limit of Rs.1.5 lakhs.  In North-Eastern States, Naxal affected areas and tribal areas , the rate of incentive will be 15% and subject  to a monthly ceiling of Rs.15,000/- and total limit of Rs.1.5 lakhs.  The margin available for the Retailers is upto  20% and for Distributors upto 10% has also been increased so as to ensure a reasonable level of profitability for them. 

Measures taken by the Government for preservation of Ethnic and Tribal medicinal practices

Measures taken by the Government for preservation of Ethnic and Tribal medicinal practices

A research council viz. Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) of AYUSH ministry has been implementing a Tribal Health Care Research Programme (THCRP) which aims at collecting information on folk medicines / traditional practices prevalent in different parts of the country besides extending health care services to tribal population. Presently, the programme is being implemented through 16 peripheral institutes / units of CCRAS located in different part of the country. CCRAS through its peripheral institutes / units (viz. Itanagar - Arunachal Pradesh, Bangalore-Karnataka, Jhansi-Uttar Pradesh and Tari khet – Uttarakhand) is also conducting Medico-ethno Botanical survey at different regions across the country for documenting and publishing the same from time to time. The data regarding tribal medicine and practices documented so far are under the process of validation.

In addition, National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) under its scheme has also supported some R&D projects on ethnobotanical records to Assam, Karnataka, Mizoram, Manipur, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh on medicinal usage of local flora by tribal people.

The NMPB through FRLHT, Bangalore has developed a database on Indian medicinal plants which contain information about the habitat and therapeutic uses of more than 7,000 medicinal plants species. This database is in public domain for access to the existing information.

In addition, research councils of this ministry viz. CCRAS, CCRUM and CCRS are also engaged in survey, documentation of medicinal flora of different area of the country and publish the data from time to time.

To prevent misappropriation of the country’s traditional medicinal knowledge, Ministry of AYUSH in collaboration with CSIR has established a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) which entails transcription of Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha codified texts into English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish. The database is shared with patent offices of other countries and forms part of their pre-grant searches.

In addition, the Government of India has established a National Institute “The North Eastern Institute of Folk Medicine (NEIFM) at Pasighat, East Siang District, Arunachal Pradesh under Ministry of AYUSH with the objective to survey, document and validates folk medicine practices, remedies and therapies prevalent in the region with a view to revitalize, promote and harness these local health traditions for the wellbeing of wider public especially living in North Eastern Region. The activities of the institute will also help in protecting the knowledge and resources of folk medicines in the North Eastern Region. 

uttarakhand Budget 2016-17 AT A GLANCE

uttarakhand Budget 2016-17 AT A GLANCE

1- Receipts  Total revenue receipts of 2016-17 is estimated to be Rs. 32275.87 crore.  Total receipts in financial year 2016-17 estimated to be Rs. 39912.00 crore. 2- Expenditure  Total expenditure in financial year 2016-17 estimated to be Rs.40422.20 crore.

  Total expenditure in financial year 2016-17 estimated to be Rs. 32250.39 crore in revenue account and Rs. 8171.81 crore capital account .
 Rs 11015.62 crore provision is made towards expenditures on salaries and allowances of the employees, considering the recommendation of the Seventh pay commission.
  Plan expenditure is estimated to be Rs. 15931.60 crore approximately.

3.-Main Budget Highlights :
  Budget provision has been made to make rural roads hills by linking villages with roads "Mera Gaon Meri Sadak Yojana".
 An umbrella scheme named "Hito Pahad Hito Gaon" to link general public with their roots has been launched.
 To address the unemployment problem and to check migration from the hills , new industries will be put up in NEPA, Khurpia, Parag, Sitarganj .
  Garib Gaon, Guru ji, Ganna Gur, Guy-Goshalla ,Gochar, Ganga, GadGadhera, Gujar-Basar, Gahat Galgal, Gethi and Gadua-Gadedi with all these the scope for development shall be explored.
 Minimum support price for traditional crops like Mandua, Ramdana, Ugal, Phaphar.
  Government shall support the production of Organic Jaggery.
  New scheme named Madhav Singh Bhandari krishi syebhagita Yojna is proposed to encourage cooperative farming and an expert group shall be formed to develop Border Hill agriculture.
 20 villages shall be selected to plant Medicinal Herbs .
  Power plants run through Bagas shall be encouraged, Effluent treatment Plants shall be established.
 2  A scheme for distribution of Sanitary Napkin to Adolescent girls is being launched .  Govt plans to establish international Zoo in Haldwani .
 Budget provision for Varnavrat mountain treatment.
 Almora residential university shall be established.  A new scheme named Gramin Khel kood avam swasthe samvberdhan Yojna shall be started to encourage village sports.
  Budget provision for Tertiary care programme and Pardhan Mantri Jan Aushdhi Yojna.
 Various places shall be develop as Yoga Circuits, in which Yoga will be taught. Also nearly 1000 people shall be made part-time Yoga trainers.
 Budget provision for one time grant for the establishment of Uttarakhand metro and building corporation.  Budget provision for Gorkha kalyan prishad.
 A new scheme for extremely backward classes named Baba Sahib Phule Yojna shall be started.  Raja Rahul Dev Scholarship programme to benefit students belonging to Rajbhar Cast.
  Raja Vijay Singh Paritoshikh Yojna to encourage meritorious girls students from backward classes.  Jagar University shall be established and Jagariya/Dagriya shall also be eligible for the benefits under the pension scheme.
 Local crafts and food stalls shall be developed on National Highways and popular tourist routes, 50 percent of the stalls and shops reserved for women.  Female aspirants preparing for Civil services and government jobs shall be incentivised.
 Budget provision for establishment of directorate of Para military forces.  Uttarakhand Rajya Alap-Sankhyak Huner parishad to be established to enhance the employability of minority community.  Mukhya Mantri Vishes Chatravrity Yojna to benefit Muslim girl students.  One special ward to be reserved for working class in all the medical collages and base hospitals of the state.  Budget provision for Uttarakhand Rajye Karamchari Kalyan Nigam.
 2000 people shall be trained to become crafts men and crafts women. 3  Uttarakhand cuisine and craftsmen ship to be protected and encouraged.  Budget provision for Start-Up and Stand-Up industrial development.  Mukhya Mantri Yuva Swalamban Yojna shall be launched.
  Women industrial Park shall be established in 200 acres in Sidcul land.
 Indra Dugdh Vikas Mandal shall be established.
 Jayanand Bharti Dastkaar Training programme shall be started.  Budget provision for subsidizing purchase of Silk.
  Food Park shall be established in Kasipur.
 Mukhya Mantri Vyavasaik Chalak Bima Yojana shall be started.
 Freedom Fighters from Uttarakhand shall be remembered. Various important places shall be named after freedom fighters and their statues shall be placed.
 Ten old age wellness parks shall be developed.  A policy for self employment of differently able people to come up soon.
  A scheme under the name of late Shri. Khushiram Arya to establish 50 new villages .  Special Assistance of 25 thousand, 20 thousand, 15 thousand to differently abled women.
 Maternity leave to all women employees of state irrespective of the fact that they are contract or outsource employee.
 Budget provision for support of Organic farm in Masala Mirchi and vermi compost.  Horticulture training centre to be established in Ravai Valley in Uttarkashi.
  Budget provision for Mission Apple Yojna.  Bus Stations and Bus Depots to be established in Gangolihat, Ghansali, Bageshwar, Sitarganj, Baajpur, Bhagwanpur, Laskher, Chabrera, Almora, Khatima, Kaleshwer, Champawat, Srinagar, Pithoragarh, Lohaghat,Tadikhet, Purola.
 A new scheme to be launched Dr. APJ Abdul kalam Gram Badlav Yojna .
 Mukhya Mantri Uttarakhand Rajye Van Jivo se Kheti ki Surksha Yojna to be launched in which wild animals shall be kept away from damaging crops.

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Upgraded Advanced Landing Grounds at Ziro and Along Inaugurated

Upgraded Advanced Landing Grounds at Ziro and Along Inaugurated

The operational capability of the Indian Air Force got a major fillip with the re-launching of two upgraded Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) at Ziro and Along in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday.

"The ALGs will further enhance our existing operational capabilities in Eastern Air Command." Air Marshal C Hari Kumar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command said during the inauguration at Ziro ALG.

"The capacity build-up will enable operations by some of our new inductions including the C-130J Super Hercules," he also said.

"Besides enhancing air maintenance capability of the IAF in the region, the new airfield will also facilitate civil air connectivity soon," the Air Marshal also added.

The Air Marshal also inaugurated the ALG at Along on Saturday.

It may be recalled that Vayudoot Airlines once operated from Ziro airfield in the mid-eighties. Subsequently, the IAF has always operated a flying detachment from the ALG at Ziro for air maintenance purposes.

The runway surface at Ziro saw a steady deterioration over a period of time due to lack of maintenance and other issues. Encroachment due to absence of a security wall further added to the declining status of the airfield. There was, however, always a need to connect the beautiful valley of Ziro with rest of the country by air, for tourism as well as other purposes.

The IAF took over the Ziro airfield from AAI in August 2010.

Consequent to the CCS approval in June 2009, the IAF embarked on an ambitious reconstruction plan to upgrade the existing eight ALGs, including infrastructure development at certain airbases in EAC's area of responsibility.

The ALGs for upgradation include Tuting, Mechuka, Along, Tawang, Ziro, Pasighat, Walong and Vijaynagar in Arunachal Pradesh. The outlay plan for the upgradation of ALGs alone is nearly Rs. 1,000 Crore.

The ALG at Along prior to the upgradation was partly paved, partly grassy, and duly reinforced with perforated steel plates. Besides IAF, which operates all year round, Pawan Hans also operates helicopters from here during non-monsoon periods.

With the inauguration of the ALGs at Ziro and Along, altogether three ALGs have since got upgraded with paved runway surfaces and other facilities such as aprons for ground manouevring, Air Traffic Control tower with associated infrastructure including perimeter road and a security wall.

The new runway surfaces and other infrastructures are being built to the exacting standards for any other modern airfield in the country. Runway length and width, wherever feasible, has been extended and will enable ATR class of fixed wing operations in most of the ALGs.

Earlier, the ALG at Walong was inaugurated in October last year.

The construction works under Chief Construction Engineer (North-East Project), closely monitored by HQ EAC began in 2013, and an Apex Steering Committee (ASC) under the chairmanship of Vice Chief of Air Staff monitors the progress of all the North-Eastern Projects.

Three more ALGs -- Mechuka, Pasighat, Tuting – are scheduled to be inaugurated in the next three months. The ALG project at Tawang, which was taken up only in 2014, is ongoing and is expected to be ready by September this year. 

Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award

Second Day of Festival of Innovations to Start with Presentation Of Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award

The Second day of Festival of Innovations will witness presentation of Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) awards-2016 as well as Roundtable discussions on Inclusive Innovation tomorrow (March 13, 2016) at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi will also deliver a keynote address in a session on social innovations for large scale change.

The GYTI Awards were instituted by Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions [SRISTI], theinstitutional backbone for Honey Bee Networkto encourage a) technologies on the edge b) those with social impact and c) MLM (More from Less for Many) i.e. frugal solutions.A total of 2363 nominations from 276 Institutions & Universities, from 26 States & 2 Union Territories were reviewed out of which 19 innovations for award and another 24 for appreciation have been selected.

The roundtable discussions tomorrow will focus on topics such as Inclusive Innovation, Incubation & Acceleration Models for Innovative Start-ups; Innovation and Skill Development; Incentives for Innovation in Public Policy & Programmes and Social Innovations for large scale change. 

Rapporteurs’ Summarization in the Global Roundtable on Inclusive Innovations

Rapporteurs’ Summarization in the Global Roundtable on Inclusive Innovations

I extend a very warm welcome to the delegates for the Festival of Innovation, 2016 and the Global Roundtable on Inclusive Innovations. I am delighted to see that the Roundtable has once again attracted an impressive galaxy of scholars, practitioners and thinkers from around the world and India. 

2.         We are all gathered here today at a very important phase in India’s socio-economic development. The Indian economy today needs to generate 115 million non-farm jobs over the next decade, to gainfully employ its workforce and reap its ‘demographic dividend’. Given this context, encouraging and promoting self-employment as a career option for young people will be of paramount importance.

3.         A culture of innovation and entrepreneurship needs to be institutionalized as part of our socio-economic eco-system. Innovation and entrepreneurship needs to be inclusive and focus on a variety of enterprises, such as young technology firms, upcoming manufacturing businesses and rural innovator companies. We, as a nation, need a model that draws in the 350-400 million people who currently reside outside mainstream society. The launch of the Start-up India programme by the Government indicates our commitment towards harnessing the brilliance and creativity of our young minds for the larger benefit of society and the nation. I am confident that the recommendations made by the participants of the Roundtable will further help us in concretizing our plan of action.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

4.         Policy makers in India are confronted with the challenge of boosting economic growth while at the same time making it socially inclusive. Addressing high levels of poverty remains critical. Innovation is a driver of income growth, which under certain conditions benefits everybody in society, but which under different conditions might reinforce social exclusion. We, therefore, need to focus on “inclusive innovation” projects which are initiatives that directly serve the welfare of lower-income and excluded groups. Inclusive innovations often modify existing technologies, products or services to better meet the needs of those groups. Inclusive innovation will only be successful if it reaches a much larger segment of the poor and excluded population than it currently does. Scaling up of these processes would require initiatives that are built around: a) financially sustainable business models; and                         b) participation by lower-income and excluded groups.

5.         Entrepreneurs play an important role in the economic development of a country. Successful entrepreneurs innovate, bring new products and concepts to the market, improve market efficiency, build wealth, create jobs, and enhance economic growth. While we celebrate the success of several new ventures in e-commerce, information technology and mobile telephony, these will not suffice to deliver our aggregate growth expectations. India will have to encourage creation of new SMEs focused on manufacturing, while spurring grassroots innovation and growth. Putting entrepreneurship at the forefront of the economic agenda is, thus, the need of the hour.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

6.         Over the years technology has become disruptive and innovation has played a major role in technological breakthroughs through product, service and process related innovations. In that context, I had in January this year, the privilege of hosting Indian-American entrepreneurs from the Silicon Valley. In the presentations that they made before me, the one underlying message that emerged was the need for formulation of a comprehensive policy framework which will encourage investment in innovation, give impetus to research and create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship. A strong case was presented for creating business dynamism which will allow new firms to scale or fail and make it easy for unproductive firms to exit. The need to focus on a strong digital innovation agenda and a broad and inclusive skills strategy was also felt.

7.         I am  happy to state that Government today is actively working towards implementing this very agenda through a range of policy measures such as the Skill India programme, the Make in India programme, the Digital India programme, the ‘Start-up India, Stand-up India’ programme and Atal Innovation Mission. I am confident that these policy interventions will give a new vibrancy to the Indian entrepreneurial landscape.

8.         I would, on this occasion, also like to highlight the low levels of investment by Indian firms and businesses in R&D. Our current investment levels in R&D are but a fraction of what world class companies spend. Even here, the major contributor of R&D expenditure is the Government. Without a substantive stepping up of these expenditures, we cannot expect to be at the higher end of the value chain. I take this opportunity to call upon the private sector and institutes of higher learning to devote a larger part of their resources for R&D to enable innovation and job creation across the economy.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

9.         The educational system and, in particular, students play a very critical role in the innovation eco-system of a country.  Many of the advanced nations have capitalized on their educational network to assume leadership positions in the area of innovation, start-ups and research.  India with an educational network of over 700 universities and 35,000 colleges is optimally placed to capitalize on its intellectual seed capital. In the conference of vice chancellors of central universities in 2013, I had called upon them to consider setting up innovation clubs that would act as a platform for exchange of ideas between the students and faculty, and grassroots innovators. I have reiterated this call in the conferences of heads of other central institutes of higher learning held subsequently. In the last three years, innovation clubs, incubators and hubs have been set up in around 85 central higher educational institutions. In the Visitor’s Conference held in November last year and the Governor’s Conference in February this year, I have requested the Vice Chancellors of Central Universities and Directors of NITs, IITs and IISERs as also Governors, who are the Chancellors of State Universities, to work on innovation as a theme in their respective educational institutions and facilitate transformation of ideas into innovative products and services.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

10.       Societies, as they evolve, always face challenges which they have to overcome using innovative and ‘out-of-the-box’ approaches. As I conclude, I would like to leave with you some thoughts on the challenges that we face today in creating a viable entrepreneurial eco-system. You may, perhaps, like to deliberate on these:

·    The challenge of engaging young minds constructively and   ensuring that growth is job-led and not jobless.  

·          The challenge of using Science and Technology to improve productivity and entrepreneurship leading to sustainable development.

·         The challenge of inter-linking academia with industry and other stakeholders.

·         The challenge of providing incubation, acceleration and public policy support for inclusive innovation. 

·         The challenge of reaching out to, and co-opting, in the developmental process those segments of society which have been traditionally excluded because of social, economic and spatial disadvantages. 

·         The challenge of creating new financial instruments for the entrepreneurial class, instruments which aid and enhance their risk taking capabilities.   

·         The challenge of evolving new institutional arrangements for harnessing the power of collaborative design and creation of solutions to cater to unmet social needs.  

·         The challenge  of harnessing the traditional knowledge systems of our country as well as other developing countries where such knowledge still exists to create global public goods as well as IP protected products and services.  

Ladies and Gentlemen:

11.       I wish you all the best for your interactions at the Roundtable. I am sure that these will result in recommendations which are both focused and goal oriented. I also take this opportunity to wish you a pleasant stay in Delhi and invite you to visit the famed Mughal Gardens which are currently in bloom.

Thank you.