Economic laws for India

There is scant evidence that low or even negative real rates of interest channel investments into needed sectors

As the country awaits the announcement of a new governor for the Reserve Bank of India and the new monetary policy committee, I thought it would be best to apprise them of India’s uniqueness that makes raising interest rates in India unnecessary. They have to decide only on the timing and the magnitude of interest rate reductions.

1. Monetary policy cannot do anything about inflation because food inflation is not under monetary policy control.

2. In general, India’s inflation problems are deemed to arise from supply constraints, so there is no need for the central bank to tighten policy at all.

3. India’s fiscal deficit does not matter because the Indian government borrows from Indians.

4. Indian banks do not have to worry about non-performing assets because they have more than 20% in government securities.

5. India should have lower interest rates all the time because it would boost investment and alleviate supply constraints.

6. Indian real estate prices can keep rising and will never come down because India has demand all the time. Considerations like affordability ratios do not apply to India and because property prices should always be going higher, do not raise interest rates.

7. In India, higher interest rates will mean wider fiscal deficit because the government’s interest rate burden would rise, because the government will never reduce its market borrowing. Therefore, do not raise interest rates.

8. India can have a combination of lower interest rates, high inflation and cheap currency because India is unique.

9. India can simultaneously have a combination of low interest rates, high inflation, high growth and stable current account balance without any problem because India is different.

10. Savings rates stagnation does not matter for India’s growth because India is India. Therefore, there is no need to raise interest rates.

11. India can simultaneously engage in loose monetary and fiscal policy and the Indian currency would remain unaffected. Foreign direct investment will keep pouring in because the world has no option but to invest in India. Therefore, no need to raise interest rates.

12. Notwithstanding anything said above, we also believe that India is a middle-income country and it is the world’s fastest growing large economy.

13. We are Indians and we are different and hence we can simultaneously believe in all of these without any fear of contradiction or consistency of logic.

Let us get serious now and tackle some of these fantastic claims. Every developing economy would have some supply constraint or the other. In fact, it could be several supply-side constraints. In fact, if anything, it makes the case for demand restraint more urgent and important than less. Therefore, it does not make monetary policy irrelevant but more relevant.

Second, the implicit argument is that higher interest rates that are aimed at restraining demand in the face of an economy operating under supply constraints is that such a policy restrained the economy from alleviating or removing the supply bottlenecks. Unfortunately, the evidence is scant that low or even negative real rates of interest channel investments into needed sectors.

That is why I added the 12th point. We cannot argue that our consumer price index is dominated by food as is typical of a poor country and yet claim that we are one of the world’s top economies on purchasing power parity basis. We have to choose one of the two.

On (3) above, a domestically funded fiscal deficit is not immune from external shocks because of the national income identity. (S-I) + (G-TR+TP) = X-M where TR = government transfer payment and TP = tax payments to the government and G is government spending. Private sector savings - investment balance and government budget balance = external balance. The above identity follows from the basic National Income Identity.

This is particularly relevant for India with a chronic current account deficit. We have both terms on the left in deficit. So, it cannot be open-ended merely because it is internally financed. Contrary to the assumption made by Dani Rodrik and Arvind Subramanian in their paper: Why India Can Grow at 7 Percent a Year or More: Projections and Reflections (2004) that our savings rate would rise towards 40% of gross domestic product, under the old base year of 2004-05, it had gone below 30% and under the new base year is stuck at around 33%. The historical time-series of the savings rate under the new base year is not out yet. Therefore, the higher the fiscal deficit, the wider the overall internal savings deficit and dependence on external savings with all the attendant vulnerabilities to the vagaries of external capital flows.

Even China did not play by its rule for the first 20 or 25 years of its economic reforms programme. Now that they have acquired heft, they are trying to write their own rules. In contrast, a country that is prone to stagflation and external imbalances with stagnant domestic savings does not have the credibility with the market to write and play by its own rules.

Hence, calling for fiscal and monetary loosening is downright suicidal. India is a long way off from being able to pull off such things without the economy suffering real consequences via the currency and bond yields.

Post-reform India produced too many (unemployable) engineers, too few doctors The doctor-engineer ratio has been worsening among young Indians

Post-reform India produced too many (unemployable) engineers, too few doctors

Economic reforms have been blamed by some critics for widening the gap between the rich and the poor in India. They have also created another divide: between doctors and engineers. According to the 2011 census, India has 35 doctors for every 100 engineers in the 60-plus age-group. The doctor- engineer ratio keeps declining among younger people and falls to 15.7 for the 20-24 year age-group. It is commonly believed that more women opt for medicine while men go for engineering. The data confirms this as the doctor-engineer ratio is higher for women across all age-groups. However, the fall in this ratio from the oldest to youngest age-cohorts has been much sharper among women.

To be sure, the ratio was skewed in favour of engineers in the 2001 census as well. However, this gap increased further between the 2001 and 2011 census. In 2001, there were 29.7 doctors per 100 engineers, which fell to 20.7 in 2011. The data also suggests that women became more open to careers in engineering after the 1950s. There were more women doctors than engineers in the 60-plus age-group in the 2001 census. This trend reversed itself in the 2011 census. But as mentioned above, the fall in this ratio from the oldest to youngest age-cohorts is also sharpest among women -- perhaps a function of a rapid strides the IT services business has made in India. Women account for almost a third of the employees in Indian IT services companies

Does this mean the post-reform generation has shunned the medical profession for engineering? Mint has reportedthat there are currently 28000 seats in government medical colleges in India. According to the AICTE website, the sanctioned intake for under graduate course in government engineering and technology colleges for 2015-16 was 67,571. So, it is more difficult to get into a government medical college than an engineering college. To be sure, one can always get into a private college where capitation fees can be paid to get admission. Even through this route, medical college capitation fees are much higher than for engineering colleges, making it difficult to get admission in the latter.

What explains the deterioration in the doctor-engineer ratio? Growth in medical college seats has been a fraction of the growth in the number of engineering college seats. In 1985, 57,888 seats were on offer in engineering colleges in India. By 2016-17, the number had increased almost 27 times to 1,553,711. The 1985 numbers are from a 1989 paper published in the Indian Journal of History of Science, while the 2016-17 numbers are taken from the All India Council for Technical Education’s website. Contrast this with the number of seats in medical colleges. They have risen less than three times from 19,745 in 1985 to 52,205 by 2016, shows data available on the Medical Council of India (MCI) website. To put it differently, India added more than 48,000 seats per year to its engineering colleges in these 31 years. For medical colleges, the increase was just above 1,000 per year. In fact, the medical college seats available in India have only increased by 14 times since independence.

India’s scarcity of doctors is a big problem. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends one doctor per thousand people in a country. The latest figures for India are below this benchmark, and much behind that for countries such as China and Brazil. The rapid growth in the number of engineering graduates suggests that India should be ahead of its peers in cutting edge research in technology. Even that does not seem to be true. World Bank data suggests that India’s progress in increasing the number of researchers (in R&D) has been insignificant compared to that made by China and Brazil.

These findings seem to be in keeping with many surveys which describe the bulk of Indian engineers as unemployable. The Hindustan Times reported in January 2016 that more than 80% of Indian engineers remained unemployable. These figures also underline the challenge of maintaining even a minimum standard of education with increasing privatisation. The Medical Council of India (MCI) has been accused of being miserly in granting affiliation to medical colleges; yet, it is scary even to contemplate what the situation may have been in the event of a rapid increase in the number of medical schools, were it to produce results similar to that in engineering. To be sure, a check on increasing private medical colleges has not helped us create a commendable medical education set-up. A Reuters report published last year exposed fraudulent practices in India’s private medical colleges. AWashington Post story published by NDTV showed that more than half of India’s medical schools had not produced a peer-reviewed research paper in a decade.

The government think tank NITI Aayog recently released adraft bill to overhaul the state of medical education in the country. The bill calls for radical reforms including scrapping of the MCI, allowing for-profit medical colleges after doing away with capitation and other hidden fees, and tapping the pool of qualified doctors to meet a shortage of faculty . While there is bound to be a debate on the effectiveness of such regulation in ensuring quality private medical education, there can be little argument over the fact that all such strategies should ultimately keep in mind the inability of a majority of poor people to pay for healthcare.

IIT Madras develops optical system to detect and monitor algal bloom

Chlorophyll is used as a proxy for measuring the phyto- plankton biomass.

An integrated optical system capable of detecting and monitoring algal (or phytoplankton) blooms both spatially and temporally in coastal and open ocean waters has been developed by a team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras. Very soon, the Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) will begin using the optical system for detecting and monitoring algal blooms in ocean waters surrounding India. INCOIS is currently in the process of making the system operational.

Phytoplankton are the base of the aquatic food web, providing food and shelter for different organisms including fish. Along with other parameters, phytoplankton biomass (algal blooms) tends to behave as potential zones of fish aggregation. So identifying such algal blooms in real time using satellite data will greatly benefit the fishing community to zero in on fertile fishing locations.

The optical system provides an array of optical parameters and spatial information regarding algal bloom density (chlorophyll) and their causative algal species that are commonly seen in coastal and oceanic waters around India, particularly in the Arabian Sea. Results of the study were published recently in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans.

“A few field-based techniques are available for studying algal blooms. But those techniques are limited in time and space besides being labour intensive, time-consuming and expensive, and hence they cannot be used for monitoring large water bodies. ISRO’s Oceansat-2 satellite launched in 2009 can cover larger areas and provide global ocean colour observations,” says Prof. Palanisamy Shanmugam, the senior author of the paper from the Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras.

The optical-detection system developed by Prof. Shanmugam and his team uses the ocean colour satellite data, in situ measurements and underwater light field data collected from the field to provide algal species-specific information required for their monitoring and assessment.

Unlike the blooms that are found on the surface of water bodies, observing and monitoring subsurface blooms is particularly challenging. Conventional techniques fail when it comes to monitoring subsurface algal blooms. Though the optical-detection system was tested only to detect blooms from near surface waters, Prof. Shanmugam is confident that the optical system is capable of detecting and classifying blooms present under water. “We have not tested to what depth the optical system can be used. We are planning to carry out this study soon,” he says. “We have tested and validated the results of this optical system with in situ measurements of the three algal blooms collected from the ocean waters. The average accuracy of our optical system which was developed in 2015 is over 85 per cent,” he says. The uncertainty in accurately identifying the blooms was primarily due to lack of distinctive water colour, and absence of unique spectral features (in the backscattering coefficients caused by cases of less photosynthetic organisms), fluorescence and chlorophyll signatures associated with the bloom species.

The water colour is determined by particulate matter and dissolved substances in water, while fluorescence is to do with the light energy that gets absorbed by algae and reemitted as fluorescence at a longer wavelength than the absorbed light.

Chlorophyll is used as a proxy for measuring the phytoplankton biomass. The increase in biomass of phytoplankton due to their increased growth or physical aggregation leads to algal blooms. Typically one dominant or a few phytoplankton species are involved in bloom formation.

Some algal blooms including “red tides” and “blue-green blooms” are a serious concern because they can pose significant threats to water quality and risks to human and animal health.

All the major algal blooms are predominantly found to be associated with the cooler water masses off the western coast in the northern Arabian Sea. These blooms then spread into the central Arabian Sea along with a whirling motion of waters and currents. The blooms reach its peak spatial distribution between November and February and minimum in June to September. Strong upwelling along the Arabian Sea coast triggers initiation and growth of algal blooms, while enhanced cooling, vertical mixing, favourable winds, and atmospheric deposition of the mineral aerosols from surrounding deserts further aid its growth. The Bay of Bengal is relatively free of algal blooms except off the Ganges–Brahmaputra Estuarine Frontal system and estuarine and coastal regions where nutrients are abundant supply.

Biofortification: Micronutrient-built-in grains

Mahatma Gandhi was always advocating us to eat hand pound rice and hand ground wheat rather than eating polished rice. Yet we continue using machine-polished cereals because they can be stored longer. But machine-polishing removes the bran (surrounding the seed) containing the pericarp and the ‘aleurone layer’ which have small amounts of essential nutrients such as some vitamins, iron, zinc and other inorganic components. So, Gandhiji was right! Machine-polished grains are thus poorer in such “micronutrients.”

This leads to what is today termed as “hidden hunger.” You may a eat stomach full of food everyday and yet miss out on these micro-nutrients essential for the growth and health of the body. UN agencies estimate that hidden hunger affects one in every three children across the world, leading to deficiency in physical growth and development of the brain. Children missing out on vitamin A suffer from vision problems. Missing out on iron leads to blood disorders while deficiency in zinc retards growth, causes diarrhoea, hair loss, lack of appetite and other health issues.

A programme in India, started way back in the 1970s by Dr Ramalingaswami of ICMR, administering large amounts (megadose) of vitamin A every six months to children, has been found serving in helping them come out of “night blindness.” This is because a derivative of vitamin A is essential in the retina of the eye in harvesting light and converting it into electrical signals which aid the process of vision.

Dr Maharaj Kishan Bhan, earlier at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and was the Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India in New Delhi has come out with a salt mixture containing some of the micronutrients including zinc and iron, to be given to children suffering from diarrhoea and dehydration. The results are strikingly positive; with micronutrient supplementation, particularly zinc, in young children with acute diarrhoea was found to be very useful indeed.

Why is zinc so important to the body? This is because over 300 enzymes in our body use zinc as an essential component in their action. Zinc is essential in supporting our immune system, in synthesising (and degrading) DNA, in wound healing and several other activities. And the amount of zinc we need is not very much. In a human body of, say, 70 kg, there is but 2 to 3 grams of zinc. But if the level falls down to below normal, growth is retarded, diarrhoea sets in, eye and skin lesions appear, and appetite is lost. Thus, addition of zinc in the daily diet becomes essential.

While downing tablets containing vitamins and some of these minerals is fine, this is no solution to billions of children, largely in the developing world. But what if, rather than supplementing these micro-nutrients separately, they become part and parcel of the rice, wheat and other cereals we eat daily? Are there rice or wheat plants which are inherently rich in some of these micronutrients? Can they be grown, cross-bred or hybridised with other conventional rice or wheat plants? This has been the dream of agricultural scientists across the country, and the group led by Dr Vemuri Ravindra Babu of the Institute of Rice Research (of the Indian council of Agricultural Research or ICAR) at Hyderabad has succeeded in doing so, after a pursuit that has lasted for over 12 years. A particular variety, termed DRR Dhan 45 (also termed IET 23832) is a zinc- rich rice plant developed by this group. It contains as much as 22.18 parts per million of zinc (the highest so far in released rice varieties) It is also moderately resistant to pests that kill rice plant by causing the leaf blast disease.

Arriving at DRR Dhan 45, the high zinc rice was not an easy task. Starting in 2004, it has involved screening several thousands of rice varieties from various parts of India, checking the zinc content in each, choosing as many as 168 of them which looked promising, analyzing the iron and zinc content in them, rigorously screening them and cross-breeding and combining the high yield plant with the high zinc one, and finally getting the variety IET 23832 or DRR Dhan 45. It has truly been a long haul and this effort of “biofortification” (meaning that the fortification or enrichment is inherent, rather than externally added, as in the Bhan method) succeeded. It is also important to note that the zinc and other mineral content are not lost upon polishing. The rice can thus be kept for long and used, and it tastes just as good as the conventional variety.

Also note that this is not a GM (genetically modified) crop, so it bypasses any unnecessary controversy. An added benefit is that DRR Dhan 45 has a low glycemic index (51 against 75 in conventional rice), so that it is good for diabetic patients. Dr Babu tells me that it also takes a little longer to digest and thus you feel sated! Their current coordination effort is to develop similar zinc and other nutrient rich varieties of wheat, maize and millets under the ICAR Biofortification. Let us wish them the very best in their endeavors!

V K Krishna Menon; A Votary of Poorna Swaraj

V K Krishna Menon; A Votary of Poorna Swaraj

The Indian struggle for Independence has continually thrown up, over the course of nearly two-centuries starting from 1847, several exciting heroes, unflinching in their cause, fighting with the weapons of ideology, people’s participation and selfless fervour. They are an inspiration not only to their countrymen, but are globally celebrated figures.

One towering story and personality in this struggle is that of V K Krishna Menon, who waged the battle for Indian Independence from within the heart of the British Empire, by mobilising the support of the British political and middle class, and its students for India’s freedom struggle. His lobbying with the British Labour Party is believed to have been a major influence in finally winning India’s Independence.

The academically brilliant, young native of Kozhikode, first courted trouble for the cause of independence, when as a student at the Madras Presidency College he hoisted the red and green Home Rule flag on the college dome. He was let off with a warning; but for Krishna Menon, it was more of an initiation.

He graduated in 1917 and joined the Madras Law College a year later as his lawyer father wanted, but more importantly, this was when he had joined Dr Annie Beasant’s Theosophical Society. Dr Beasant started the Home Rule Movement in India similar to the Home Rule Movement in Ireland, and joined the Indian National Congress (INC), adding political heft to the Theosophical Society.

Influenced by her, he openly flouted the Law College rules by donning the dhoti and kurta, which would continue to be his mode of dress in India till the end of his days. The college authorities threatened him with dismissal, but he refused to yield.

While a fiery speaker even as a college student, Krishna Menon’s talents as an orator was honed by Dr Beasant. It was one of the many distinguishing skills of his political career. Dr Beasant felt an English educational experience would further develop his skills and send him to England in 1924. Here, he got a teacher’s degree, and joined the Commonwealth Rule for India League, founded by Dr Beasant in 1916.

The Commonwealth Rule for India League held meetings, issued newsletters and lobbied various bodies, editors, eminent personalities and Members of Parliament, spreading the demands of Indian nationalism. 

For the next two decades, Krishna Menon campaigned tirelessly alongside key British political figures such as philosopher Bertrand Russell, and Harold Laski, who was his London School of Economics tutor and later Labour Party chairman, as well as other Indians in Britain. Financing most of the activities himself, he held meetings, organised events, addressed groups, produced articles and pamphlets, and lobbied relentlessly.

Meanwhile, he got first class degrees in Political Science under Professor Harold J. Laski, who considered Menon his most brilliant student, from the London School of Economics and a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the University College.

Beasant’s Commonwealth of India League closed down to gave way to India League, with the 'complete Independence' demand by the Indian National Congress (INC). While the older members were not willing to think beyond Dominion Status, Menon wholeheartedly supported famous 'Pooma Swaraj' resolution taken at the Lahore Session (1930) of the Congress presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Menon also enjoyed a close working relationship and friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru, helping to put forward the INC’s position in Britain and coordinating Nehru's visit to England in 1935 and to Europe in 1938, which grew the future Prime Minister’s status as an leader of international stature, explaining India’s stand to the world.

The newly formed India League, with Krishna Menon as its honorary secretary, called for self-governance and an Indian constitution drawn up by the Indian people. It brought to the attention of the British people atrocities such as lathi charges, imprisonments without trial, the deportations and confiscation of property. Though not formally affiliated to the INC, the India League became the limb of the Congress in England and Krishna Menon its unofficial representative.

Menon arranged skits, shadow plays and film shows on India. Indian dancers and singers were invited to perform. There were readings of Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru. Birthdays of leaders like Gandhiji, Nehru and Tagore were celebrated.

One of its highlights was perhaps the National Independence Demonstration in Trafalgar Square on January 3, 1938, to encourage solidarity for the Indian situation. People belonging to different nations joined the demonstration. Other organisations representing the peoples of China, Africa and Abyssinia had also participated in the first of its kind demonstration.

The INC sent Krishna Menon as its representative to the World Peace Conference at Geneva and also to the International Peace Conference at Brussels next year in 1935, to convey India’s demand for sovereignty.

Eventually, the Labour Party's stand on India's participation in the war resulted in Menon having to withdraw from the party, even sacrificing a safe parliamentary seat in Dundee in 1939. But nothing deflated Menon and he continued to seize every opportunity to lobby towards the Indian cause, even trying to influence the Allied Powers to pressurise Britain to make a favourable decision on India.

With the induction of Harold Laski as the chairman of the Labour Party, Krishna Menon could influence it to a greater degree and a couple of years after the Clement Attlee Labour government came to power in 1945, India gained her independence.

Liberating a new India through skill development

Over the last 70 years of India’s independence, the definition of freedom has constantly evolved for our country. From making ourselves free from the “British Raj” to a more economic liberated India, we have continuously made a headway in the journey of progress and growth. The country has worked in the areas of privatisation, self-sustainability and globalisation throughout these years. And in the last two years of governance, India’s role on an international level has dramatically transformed into a global economic power vying for a seat at its highest table.

This accelerated economic growth has increased the demand for skilled workers that has highlighted the shortage of skilled workforce in the country. With a challenge of this scale, also what comes to us now, is the opportunity to create a new free India where acquiring professional skills will give you the liberty and freedom to choose a life and respect that one has always aspired for.

The time has come where India has to now fight and bring about the silent revolution through its focus on skill development. While the demographic effect will increase or lower gross domestic product (GDP) by barely one percentage point in 2035, GDP levels can increase by about 3 percentage points in 2035 if India improves significantly on skill training. Skill development is fundamental for improving productivity. And productivity leads to improved living standards and growth. When we talk about improving living standards it reflects on maximizing opportunities for pro-poor employment growth, enabling environment for sustainable enterprise development, an open social dialogue where there is respect for all and planned investments in basic education, health and physical infrastructure.

Vocational education and training (VET) initiatives, both in the public and private space, have become more focused and outcome-driven, aligned to the needs of industry and linked to jobs and employability. Capacity building and quality standards have started receiving greater attention. Industry has also been given a bigger role in shaping the skills story through its involvement not just with curriculum development and setting of standards but also in the assessment and certification processes. Moreover, measures have been taken to increase financial accessibility to skill-training initiatives.

The current target of skill development program in India in itself is quite an ambitious number. In 2015-16, we trained 1.04 crore youth in the country which was 37 per cent more than what was achieved in the previous year. The comprehensive reforms in the Apprentice Act can be a game changer in itself and as it can be one most successful skill development scheme. Also the overhaul in the ITI ecosystem which was not capitalised on till now, will extend opportunities for all in multiple trades where human resource is required in the country. But the real analysis or breakup of this number lies in the exercise where we do a district-level mapping — if you take a district, what are the kind of skills required? You will find there are so many jobs we are yet to include in our skill program. Similarly, take a newer areas such as water energy, waste management etc. As the economy grow, you will see new kinds of jobs evolving. So there is enough demand and there are means to meet the demand – the only thing we need is to ensure the supply is aligned to the demand. The problem is not as simple as it seems – it has its own complexities and dynamics and it is imperative that we make collective effort to address these incremental human resource requirements right at the local level.

On the other hand there are variety of reasons for the youth’s inability to fill jobs that are made available to them, ranging from geographical mobility to low wages which may not help them meet their ends. Overall, it’s a huge task.

But we as citizens of a nation which is building a huge brand for itself in the global market with our initiatives like Make in India and Digital India, we have to be cognizant of the fact that there is no other way than to skill, re-skill and up-skill ourselves and keep ourselves abreast with the latest around the globe. Weather is a skill set that increases productivity of a farmer with the help of technological means or by following the latest in mechatronics and robotics and being the hub for innovation in the world.

A young mind has to not only dream of success but has to work for it. The youth of our country has to work towards this intellectual freedom and skills can be his tool to success then. All that we have to think after this is:

I can

I will.

Government Committed to Comprehensive Development and Empowerment of Minorities

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi-led NDA Government is committed to the inclusive growth of minorities following the principle of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”, and has continuously increased the Plan Budget of the Ministry of Minority Affairs. In 2016-17, Rs. 3800 Crore have been earmarked which is a significant increase of more than Rs. 168 Crore over the 2015-16 expenditure level. In the last year 2015-16, the Modi Government has spent 20% higher than was spent in 2013-14 in the last year of the earlier Government, which is a substantial hike.

Ministry of Minority Affairs has made intensive efforts to promote education and employment among minority communities and taken important initiatives in last two years. A new scheme “Nai Manzil” has been launched in 2015 as an integrated education and livelihood initiative. This scheme has been approved with Rs. 650 Crore and it will benefit about 1 lakh minority youth. This is for the first time in the history of minority welfare programmes when World Bank has agreed to support such programme with 50% funding. Rs. 155 Crore has been earmarked for 2016-17 for implementation of programme. This scheme is also significant as it combines the formal education as well as skill development for school dropouts which will significantly enhance their career growth.

In conformity with priority of the Government for “Skill India” and “Make in India”, the skill development initiative for minorities “Seekho aur Kamao", has been strengthened and expanded and the outlay in 2015-16 has been increased by almost 11 times (over the level of 2013-14 of Rs. 17 Crore) by the Modi Government and Rs. 191.96 Crore has been sanctioned for training of about 1.23 lakh minority youths. Altogether in 2014-15 and 2015-16, 1.43 lakh minority youth have been trained. In 2016-17, the budget has been further increased to Rs. 210 Crore for training of 1.25 lakh minority youth.

Ministry implements an exclusive scheme “Nai Roshni” for Leadership Development of Minority Women with an aim to empower and instill confidence in women by providing knowledge for interacting with Government systems, banks and intermediaries at all levels. In last two years of the NDA Government (2014-15 and 2015-16), Minority Affairs Ministry has trained more than 1.30 lakh women with Rs.28.98 Crore in 24 States. Recently, the implementation of the scheme has been independently evaluated by the NITI Aayog and they observed that the programme has been appreciated by most of the segments of the population of the society and it has assisted in creating confidence among minority women and developing leadership spirit in them.

The Government is aware of the problem being faced by the traditional craftsmen/ artisans. Due to poverty and non-updation in the skills to match global trends, many craftsmen/artisans are leaving their skills in search of other occupations. The Government cannot afford this huge loss of heritage of the country. Therefore, Ministry of Minority Affairs launched another new scheme “USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/ Crafts for Development)”.

The scheme aims at setting standards of traditional skills, design development, capacity building and updating the traditional skills of master craftsmen and artisans, documentation and preservation. It also aims to engage the trained master craftsmen/artisans in training of minority youths in various specific traditional arts/crafts. Ministry has engaged National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), National Institute of Design (NID) and Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) to work in various craft clusters for design intervention; product range development; packaging; exhibitions, tying up with e-marketing portals to enhance sales; and brand building. Ministry has also signed MoUs with e-commerce portal to establish linkages with National and International market.

Ministry established Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS), a special purpose vehicle, in 2014-15 to address skill development needs of minority communities and its linkage with concessional credit to provide sustainable livelihood through self-employment and entrepreneurship. MANAS has made special efforts on skill training of students of Madarsas and other traditional educational institutions. So far, MANAS has collaborated with 39 traditional educational institutions of various minority communities including 31 Madarsas. The efforts for Madarsas have particularly been made to provide door step skill development facility for Muslim girls in minority concentration areas. If no such Madarsa for Muslim girls are available, MANAS arranges the training facility in the neighbourhood. Since inception, MANAS has covered about 65,000 minority youths for skill training.

For disbursal of scholarship in the students’ bank accounts, Ministry has completely shifted to Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) on National Scholarship Portal (NSP) in 2015-16. The step has minimized the tiers involved in fund flow and thus reduced the delays in payment. Moreover, DBT mode and linking bank accounts with "Aadhaar" has helped the Ministry in accurate targeting of beneficiaries and curbing pilferage and duplications.

Under Free Coaching Scheme, the financial assistance is provided to prepare the minority students for competitive examinations for medical, engineering, Government jobs, etc. In the last two years of the Modi Government, the fund flow has been doubled from Rs. 23.00 Crore to Rs. 45.00 Crore and coverage of minority candidates has also increased from 9997 to 16,427 candidates.

Ministry, in its endeavour to preserve rich cultural heritage of minorities under “Hamari Dharohar” scheme, curated “The Everlasting Flame International Programme”, a programme which was one of its kind,  involving 3 travelling exhibitions on Parsi Culture namely ‘The Everlasting Flame’, ‘Painted Encounters, Parsi Traders and the Community & No Parsi is an Island’, and ‘Threads of Continuity’ during March-May, 2016 at the National Museum (NM), National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) respectively. For the first time, the articles for Exhibitions have been brought from British Museum, London; Hermitage, Russia; Iran, Uzbekistan etc. to showcase Parsi culture.   

Ministry is also taking steps for protection and management of Waqf properties. Therefore, Ministry has taken initiative for GIS mapping of Waqf properties with the help of IIT Kanpur, Roorkee, Mumbai and National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC). It will enable Waqf Boards to detect and prevent encroachments on precious land resource.

National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) provides concessional loans for self-employment to minorities. Since 2012-13, Equity Infusion to NMDFC was disturbed because the then Government had not increased the Authorized Share Capital. During the period of earlier Government in 2013-14, no Central Government Equity could be contributed. For the first time in history of NMDFC, the Modi Government on 10.02.2015, has doubled the Authorized Share Capital of NMDFC in one go i.e. from Rs. 1500 crore to Rs. 3000 crore. Since then, Ministry has already contributed Rs.290 Crore as equity to the NMDFC. This has enabled NMDFC to leverage more loans to minorities.

Transparency in Governance being high on the agenda of the Modi Government, Ministry has launched online portals of Seekho aur Kamao, MANAS, Nai Roshni (a women empowerment programme), and Nai Udaan (a scheme to support candidates who clear Preliminary examination of UPSC, etc. for preparation of Mains). Vital information have been kept in public domain on these portals. 

Ministry of Minority Affairs will leave no stone unturned for realizing the objectives of each programme and outcomes on the ground. Ministry is also focusing on the simplified mechanism to achieve the goals. The people friendly procedures are being adopted to ensure Good Governance and effective and timely delivery of services and benefits to the minority groups targeted by our welfare schemes.