PIB – 03 August 2021

NETAJI SUBASH CHANDRA BOSE

Focus: GS I- Modern History

Why in News?

Government has declared 23rd January as Parakram Diwas to commemorate 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. 

About Subash Chandra Bose Ji

• Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) Ji was born in Cuttack, in the province of Bengal to an affluent family. He was educated in Calcutta acquiring a degree in philosophy.
• He was a fierce nationalist, whose defiant patriotism made him one of the greatest freedom fighters in Indian history.
• He was selected for the Indian Civil Services (ICS) but refused to take up service since he did not want to serve the British government.
• Subhash Chandra Bose was twice elected President of the Indian National Congress, (1938-Haripur and 1939-Tripuri) the country’s most important political force for freedom from the Raj or British rule.
• He resigned from the Congress Presidentship in 1939 and organised the All India Forward Bloc a faction within the Congress in Bengal.
• In 1943 Bose lost hope that Germany could be of any help in gaining India’s independence. He then turned to Asia where he finally came at the helm of the Indian National Army (INA).
• INA found support among expatriate Indians and under its aegis Bose formed the Azad Hind government which came to produce its own currency, postage stamps, court and civil code. It was recognised by Axis states.
• Bose motivated the troops with his fiery speeches. His famous quote is, “Give me blood, and I shall give you freedom!”
• Bose authored the book ‘The Indian Struggle’ which covers the Indian independence movement from 1920 to 1942, the book was banned by the British government.
• He coined the term ‘Jai Hind’.
• He advocated complete Swaraj and was in favour of the use of force to gain it.
• He had differences with Gandhi and he wasn’t keen on non-violence as a tool for independence.
• His charisma and powerful personality inspired many people into the freedom struggle and continues to inspire Indians.
• Bose died of third-degree burns which he suffered in a plane crash in Taiwan on 18 August 1945.

JAL SHAKTI ABHIYAN: CATCH THE RAIN

Focus: GS II- Government Policies and Interventions

Why in News?

Ministry of Jal Shakti has taken up a nationwide campaign “Jal Shakti Abhiyan – Catch the Rain” (JSA:CTR) with the theme “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls”  for creating appropriate rainwater harvesting structures  in urban and rural areas of all the districts in the country, with people’s active participation, during the pre-monsoon and monsoon periods.

About Jal shakti Abhiyan: Catch the rain campaign

Nodal: Ministry of Jal shakti

Theme: “Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls”

Aim: “JSA II: Catch the Rain” Awareness Generation Campaign aims to  to focus on water conservation and rainwater harvesting with involvement of the youngsters in the revolutionary campaign.

•  The Catch the Rain Campaign will be implemented from March 22 to November 30 during the pre-monsoon and the monsoon period in the country  in both rural and urban areas.
•  The campaign will be launched as a Jan Andolan for taking the idea of water conservation and preservation at the grassroot level through the people’s participation.
•  The campaign aims at nudging all the stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures suitable to the subsoil strata and the climatic conditions and for ensuring proper storage of rainwater.

“JSA II: Catch the Rain” Awareness Generation Campaign is organised by

• National Water Mission(NWM)
• Ministry of Jal Shakti
• Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)
• Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports .

Jal Shakti Abhiyan:

• The Jal Shakti Abhiyan is a campaign for water conservation and water security in the country.
• It is a collaborative effort of various ministries of the Government of India and state governments, being coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) that comes under the Jal Shakti Ministry.
• The focus of the campaign is on water stressed districts and blocks. The teams of officers from the central government will visit and work with district administration in 1592 water stressed blocks in 256 districts, to ensure five important water conservation interventions.

The five important water conservation interventions are :

• Water conservation and rainwater harvesting,
• Renovation of traditional and other water bodies/tanks,
• Reuse of water and recharging of structures,
• Watershed development and
• Intensive afforestation.

The water conservation interventions will also be supplemented with special interventions including the development of block and district water conservation plans, promotion of efficient water use for irrigation and better choice of crops through Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

PRADHAN MANTRI JAN VIKAS KARYAKRAM (PMJVK)

Focus: GS II- Schemes

Why in News?

The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakaram (PMJVK), in the identified Minority Concentration Areas (MCAs) of the country, with the objective to develop socio economic assets and basic amenities in the MCAs. 

About  Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram:

Nodal:  Ministry of Minority Affairs

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• The erstwhile Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) has been restructured and renamed as Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram for effective implementation since 2018.
• The objective is to develop socio-economic infrastructure and basic amenities in the said areas.
• PMJVK is a Scheme designed to address the development deficits of the identified Minority Concentration Areas.

Beneficiaries of PMJVK: 

• As far as PMJVK is concerned, the communities notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 would be taken as Minority Communities. 
• At present 6 (six) communities namely Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains have been notified as Minority Communities.

Parameters for indication

The backwardness parameters for minority concentration areas :

• Religion-specific socio-economic indicators at the district level
• Literacy rate
• Female literacy rate
• Work participation rate
• Female work participation rate

The following is the monitoring mechanism under PMJVK:

• Monitoring through Block Level Committee, District Level Committee and State Level Committee.
• Monitoring through Empowered Committee in the Ministry which reviews the progress of construction and commissioning of projects.
• Monitoring through visits by officers from the Ministry to project sites.
• Monitoring through conferences at the national, regional, state or district levels.
• The IT Cells created at State level with Ministry’s funds form an integrated part of the monitoring mechanism.
• Monitoring through conferences at the national, regional, state or district levels and visits of officials to the project sites.

Significance

• PMJVK will continue to support the States/UTs in creating infrastructure to improve the quality of life of people.
• Absolutely critical infrastructure linkages like connecting roads, basic health infrastructure, ICDS centres, skill development are important for inclusion.
• Improving income generating activities and catalyzing the growth process would also be eligible for inclusion in the plan.

PM-CARES FOR CHILDREN SCHEME

Focus: Government Policies and Interventions

Why in News?

PM CARES For Children- Empowerment of COVID Affected Children launched for support & empowerment of Covid affected children.

About PM CARES For Children scheme:

1. Fixed Deposit in the name of the child:

• PM CARES will contribute through a specially designed scheme to create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child when he or she reaches 18 years of age. This corpus:
• Will be used to give a monthly financial support/ stipend from 18 years of age, for the next five years to take care of his or her personal requirements during the period of higher education and
• On reaching the age of 23 years, he or she will get the corpus amount as one lump-sum for personal and professional use.

2. School Education: For children under 10 years

• The child will be given admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.
• If the child is admitted in a private school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from the PM CARES.
• PM-CARES will also pay for expenditure on uniform, text books and notebooks.

3. School Education: for children between 11-18 years:

• The child will be given admission in any Central Government residential school such as Sainik School, Navodaya Vidyalaya etc.
• In case the child is to be continued under the care of Guardian/ grandparents/ extended family, then he or she will be given admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.
• If the child is admitted in a private school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from the PM CARES.
• PM CARES will also pay for expenditure on uniform, text books and notebooks.

4. Support for Higher Education:

• The child will be assisted in obtaining education loan for Professional courses / Higher Education in India as per the existing Education Loan norms. The interest on this loan will be paid by the PM CARES.
• As an alternative, scholarship equivalent to the tuition fees / course fees for undergraduate/ vocational courses as per Government norms will be provided to such children under Central or State Government Schemes. For children who are not eligible under the existing scholarship schemes, PM CARES will provide an equivalent scholarship.

5. Health Insurance

• All children will be enrolled as a beneficiary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakhs.
• The premium amount for these children till the age of 18 years will be paid by PM CARES.

About PM CARES – FUND

• The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The fund will be used for combating, and containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future. 
• Although the documentation for the constitution of the fund has not been made public, the Government of India has stated that the Prime Minister of India is the chairman of the fund, and that trustees include the Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance in the Government of India.
• The PM CARES Fund has faced criticism for the lack of transparency and accountability in relation to its establishment, functioning, and accounts.
• The total amount of funds donated and the names of donors have not been publicly disclosed, and the fund is privately audited.
• The Government of India has initially claimed that the fund is a private fund, and denied that the PM CARES Fund is a public fund for the purposes of transparency laws such as the Right to Information Act 2005, even though the Fund uses government infrastructure and the national emblem of the Government of India.
• In December 2020, the Government of India reversed its stance and admitted that the PM CARES Fund was a public fund, but still refused to disclose information regarding it under the Right to Information Act 2005.
• There are currently several ongoing cases at the Supreme Court of India and several High Courts in relation to the Fund.