PIB – 02 October 2021

SWACHH BHARAT MISSION – URBAN 2.0 & AMRUT 2.0

Focus: GS II- Welfare schemes

Why in News?

Prime Minister launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0. 

About Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0

• SBM-U 2.0 envisions to make all cities ‘Garbage Free’
• To ensure grey and black water management in all cities other than those covered under AMRUT
• To make all urban local bodies as ODF+ and those with a population of less than 1 lakh as ODF++, thereby achieving the vision of safe sanitation in urban areas.
• The Mission will focus on source segregation of solid waste, utilizing the principles of 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), scientific processing of all types of municipal solid waste and remediation of legacy dumpsites for effective solid waste management.
• The outlay of SBM-U 2.0 is around ₹1.41 lakh crore.

About AMRUT 2.0

• AMRUT 2.0 aims to provide 100% coverage of water supply to all households in around 4,700 urban local bodies by providing about 2.68 crore tap connections and 100% coverage of sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities by providing around 2.64 crore sewer/ septage connections, which will benefit more than 10.5 crore people in urban areas.
• AMRUT 2.0 will adopt the principles of circular economy and promote conservation and rejuvenation of surface and groundwater bodies.
• The Mission will promote data led governance in water management and Technology Sub-Mission to leverage latest global technologies and skills.
• ‘Pey Jal Survekshan’ will be conducted to promote progressive competition among cities.
• The outlay of AMRUT 2.0 is around ₹2.87 lakh crore.

Impact of SBM-U and AMRUT

• SBM-U and AMRUT have contributed significantly to improve urban landscape during the last seven years.
• The two flagship Missions have augmented the capacity to deliver basic services of water supply and sanitation to the citizens.
• Swachhta has become a Jan Andolan today.
• All urban local bodies have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) and 70% solid waste is being scientifically processed now.
• AMRUT has been ensuring water security by adding 1.1 crore household water tap connections and 85 lakh sewer connections, thus benefiting more than 4 crore people.

INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY BOARD OF INDIA

Focus: GS III- Indian Economy

Why in News?

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) celebrated its Fifth Annual Day .

What is Insolvency and Bankruptcy?

• Insolvency is a financial status: your debts are greater than the fair market value of your assets & you’re unable to pay your debts as they generally become due.
• Bankruptcy is a legal status: it’s a legal procedure whereupon an insolvent person files for protection from her creditors so that they cannot commence or continue legal proceedings (like a wage garnishment) against her to recover their debts.

About Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016

• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 provides a time-bound process for resolving insolvency in companies and among individuals.
• The Government implemented the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to consolidate all laws related to insolvency and bankruptcy and to tackle Non-Performing Assets (NPA), a problem that has been pulling the Indian economy down for years.

Objectives of IBC

• To consolidate and amend all existing insolvency laws in India.
• To simplify and expedite the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Proceedings in India.
• To protect the interest of creditors including stakeholders in a company.
• To revive the company in a time-bound manner.
• To promote entrepreneurship.
• To get the necessary relief to the creditors and consequently increase the credit supply in the economy.
• To work out a new and timely recovery procedure to be adopted by the banks, financial institutions or individuals.
• To set up an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.
• Maximization of the value of assets of corporate persons.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)

• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is the regulator for overseeing insolvency proceedings and entities like Insolvency Professional Agencies (IPA), Insolvency Professionals (IP) and Information Utilities (IU) in India.
  The IBBI is a Statutory Body under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).
• It covers Individuals, Companies, Limited Liability Partnerships and Partnership firms.
• It attempts to simplify the process of insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings.
• It handles the cases using two tribunals like NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) and Debt Recovery Tribunal.

Process of resolution of Insolvency

• If the adjudicating authority accepts the Insolvency resolution process initiated by any of the stakeholders of the firm: firm/debtors/creditors/employees., then – an Insolvency resolution professional (IP) is appointed.
• The power of the management and the board of the firm is transferred to the committee of creditors (CoC) and they act through the IP.
• The IP has to decide whether to revive the company (insolvency resolution) or liquidate it (liquidation).
• If they decide to revive, they have to find someone willing to buy the firm.
• The creditors also have to accept a significant reduction in debt. The reduction is known as a haircut.
• They invite open bids from the interested parties to buy the firm.
• They choose the party with the best resolution plan, that is acceptable to the majority of the creditors (75 % in CoC), to take over the management of the firm.

NATIONAL PENSION SYSTEM DIWAS

Focus: GS II- Government Policies and Interventions

Why in News?

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), along with all its registered intermediaries across the country, observed National Pension System Diwas (NPS Diwas).

• This campaign was dedicated towards ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ clelebrations and to encourage citizens to join NPS for achieving financial freedom upon retirement through pension as a regular income.

About National Pension System

• National Pension System is a defined contributory pension introduced by Government of India.
• Any employee from public, private and even the unorganised sectors can opt for this. Personnel from the armed forces are exempted. The scheme is open to all across industries and locations.

The other eligibility criteria for opening an NPS account:

1. Must be an Indian citizen.
2. Must be between the ages of 18 and 65.
3. Must be KYC compliant.
4. Must not have a pre-existing NPS account.

NPS Benefits

• NPS offers returns higher than traditional instruments like the PPF (Public Provident Fund).
• It offers many investment options to subscribers who also have a say in where their funds are invested.
• The NPS reduces the retirement liabilities of the government.
• If the subscriber has been investing for at least three years, he/she can withdraw up to 25% for certain purposes before retirement (age 60). This withdrawal can be done up to 3 times with a gap of at least 5 years between each withdrawal. These restrictions are only for tier I and not tier II accounts.
• The entire amount cannot be withdrawn by the account-holder on retirement [Changes to be introduced]. As of April 2021, 60% can be withdrawn which has now been made tax-free. The rest 40% has to be kept aside so that the subscriber can receive a regular pension from an insurance firm.

 The story so far about NPS

• Started as the New Pension Scheme for government employees in 2004 under a new regulator called the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), the National Pension System (NPS) has been open for individuals from all walks of life to participate and build a retirement nest-egg.
• Given the dominance of informal employment in India, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, which is contingent on a formal employer-employee relationship, only covers a fraction of the workforce.
• The NPS has been gradually growing in size and now manages ₹5.78 lakh crore of savings and 4.24 crore accounts in multiple savings schemes.
• Of these, over 3.02 crore accounts are part of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a government-backed scheme for workers in the unorganised sector that assures a fixed pension payout after retirement.
• The rest constitute voluntary savings from private sector employees and self-employed individuals, for whom some significant changes are on the anvil.

About PFRDA

• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the Statutory Body established by the PFRDA Act, 2014.
• PFRDA was established to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies.

DAY-NRLM

Focus: GS II- Welfare schemes

Why in News?

DAY-NRLM dedicates 50,000 Women SHG members as Business Correspondents to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

• These Business Correspondents will provide doorstep services in every Gram Panchayat (GP).
• The initiative has been named as the “One GP one B C Sakhi” mission.
• It is proposed to deploy at least one B C Sakhi in the rural areas by the end of 2023-24. 

About Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission:

• It is a centrally sponsored programme, launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in June 2011.
• To eliminate rural poverty through the promotion of multiple livelihoods and improved access to financial services for the rural poor households across the country.
• To reach out to all rural poor households and impact their livelihoods.

The objective of the Mission is to promote sustainable livelihoods for the poor such that they come out of poverty. The institutions of the poor are intended to facilitate

• access to formal credit;
• support for diversification and strengthening of livelihoods;
• and access to entitlements and public services.

 Functioning:

• It involves working with community institutions through community professionals in the spirit of self-help which is a unique proposition of DAY-NRLM.
• It impacts the livelihoods through universal social mobilization by inter alia organising one-woman member from each rural poor household into Self Help Groups (SHGs), their training and capacity building, facilitating their micro-livelihoods plans, and enabling them to implement their livelihoods plans through accessing financial resources from their own institutions and the banks.

 Implementation:

• It is implemented in a Mission mode by special purpose vehicles (autonomous state societies) with dedicated implementation support units at the national, state, district and block levels, using professional human resources in order to provide continuous and long-term handholding support to each rural poor family.