PIB – 06 August 2021

PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN ANNA YOJANA

Focus: GS II- Government policies and Interventions

Why in News?

PM interacted with beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in Uttar Pradesh.

About Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana:

• It aims at ensuring sufficient food for the poor and needy during the coronavirus crisis.
• It is considered as world’s largest food security scheme,
• It was announced as part of the first relief package during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Part of the scheme, the food needs to be provided to all the beneficiaries under public distribution system (TPDS) for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and priority household (PHH) ration cardholders.
• As per updates, the eligible beneficiaries will receive 5kg of foodgrains and 1 kg Gram per month.

Eligibility 

• Families belonging to the Below Poverty Line – Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) categories will be eligible for the scheme.
• PHH are to be identified by State Governments/Union Territory Administrations as per criteria evolved by them. AAY families are to be identified by States/UTs as per the criteria prescribed by the Central Government:
• Households headed by widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more with no assured means of subsistence or societal support.
• Widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more or single women or single men with no family or societal support or assured means of subsistence.
• All primitive tribal households.
• Landless agriculture labourers, marginal farmers, rural artisans/craftsmen such as potters, tanners, weavers, blacksmiths, carpenters, slum dwellers, and persons earning their livelihood on daily basis in the informal sector like porters, coolies, rickshaw pullers, hand cart pullers, fruit and flower sellers, snake charmers, rag pickers, cobblers, destitutes  and other similar categories in both rural and urban areas.
• All eligible Below Poverty Line families of HIV positive persons.

ATAL TINKERING LAB

Focus: GS III- Science and Technology

Why in News?

Atal Innovation Mission (“AIM”) is Government of India’s endeavour launched to create an innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in India by establishing new incubation centres, scaling up established incubation centres and setting up Atal Tinkering Labs in schools. 

About Atal Tinkering lab

• Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) is one of the major initiatives of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog to foster curiosity and innovative mindset in young students across India to encourage research and innovation in schools across the country.
• The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• AIM is mandated to create an umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country and revolutionizing the innovation eco-system touching upon the entire innovation life cycle through various programs.
• Vision: ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India.
• Objective: to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc.
• The Eligibility is of Schools (minimum Grade VI – X) managed by Government, local body or private trusts/society can set up ATL.

Significance of Atal Tinkering Lab

• Atal Tinkering Labs have evolved as epicenters for imparting these ‘skills of the future’ through practical applications based on self-learning.
• Bridging a crucial social divide, Atal Tinkering Labs provide equal opportunity to all children across the spectrum by working at the grassroot level, introducing children to the world of innovation and tinkering.

Atal Innovation Mission

AIM is Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

Major Initiatives:

• Atal Tinkering Labs: Creating problem solving mindset across schools in India.
• Atal Incubation Centers: Fostering world class startups and adding a new dimension to the incubator model.
• Atal New India Challenges: Fostering product innovations and aligning them to the needs of various sectors/ministries.
• Mentor India Campaign: A national mentor network in collaboration with the public sector, corporates and institutions, to support all the initiatives of the mission.
• Atal Community Innovation Centre: To stimulate community centric innovation and ideas in the unserved /underserved regions of the country including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
• Atal Research and Innovation for Small Enterprises (ARISE): To stimulate innovation and research in the MSME industry.

PRADHAN MANTRI KRISHI SINCHAYEE YOJANA

Focus:  GS II- Welfare Schemes

About Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY):-

Nodal: Ministry of Jal Shakti.

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched in 2015-16 with an aim to enhance physical access of water on farm, expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc.
• PMKSY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with implementation share of Centre- States in 75:25 per cent and in the case of the north-eastern region and hilly states it will be 90:10.
• It has been formulated by amalgamating 4 different schemes namely Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation; Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources; and On-Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) of Department  of Agriculture and Cooperation.
• PMKSY is to be implemented in an area development approach, adopting decentralized state-level planning and execution. 

About Per Drop More Crop

• The Per Drop More Crop of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana focuses on water use efficiency through the sprinkler and drip irrigation.
• It also aims at reducing fertilizer use, labour expenses and input costs.

POLAVARAM IRRIGATION PROJECT

Focus: GS III- Infrastructure

Why in News?

Polavaram Irrigation Project (PIP) is being implemented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP).

About : Polavaram Irrigation Project (PIP)

• This project is located in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh
• It will also interlink several rivers in the state.
• It has been accorded national project status by the Centre.
• Its implementation is monitored by the Central Water Commission.
• The project involves relocation of about 50,000 families especially in Khammam, East Godavari and West Godavari districts in Andhra Pradesh, besides 2,000 families in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Aim of the Project

• Purpose of this multi-purpose project is to facilitate irrigation and it will also help in the supply of drinking water to Visakhapatnam and water for industrial purposes.
• It also endeavours hydropower to regions of East Godavari, Vishakhapatnam, Krishna and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh.
• It seeks to address the challenges of flooding and droughts witnessed in the respective basins.
• The project also aims to help the Rayalaseema region (comprising Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapah and Kurnool districts out of the total 13 districts) get more water.

Godavari river:

• The Godavari river is the largest river of Peninsular India. It is known as the Dakshin Ganga or Vridha Ganga (old Ganga) because of its age, size and length. It is navigable in the delta region.
• Source of origin of the Godavari river: It rises from a place called Trimbak located in the Western Ghats in Nashik district in the state of Maharashtra.

PANI MAAH CAMPAIGN

Focus: GS II- Government Policies and Interventions

Why in News?

The Union Territory of Ladakh launched a month-long campaign- ‘Pani Maah’ (Water Month) to increase the pace of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the UT and to inform and engage village communities on the importance of clean water.

About Pani Maah campaign:

• Objective: To increase the pace of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission in the UT and to inform and engage village communities on the importance of clean water.
• ‘Pani Maah’ will run at the Block and Panchayat level in two phases.
  • In the first phase of ‘Pani Maah’, the focus will be on Swachhta Sarvekshan and Sanitation drives by Village Water and Sanitation Committee (VWSC)/ Pani Samiti members. During this phase water sample will be collected from all identified sources and service delivery points for testing. The first phase will also include awareness and sensitisation campaigns.
  • Phase two of ‘Pani Maah’ will focus on organizing the Pani Sabhas/ Gram Sabhas/ Block level meetings and door to door visits for effective communication on water quality and service delivery under JJM. During this phase, Jal Jeevan Mission implementation, water quality test reports and analysis will be discussed with the villagers in an open forum. A village/ block-wise schedule has also been prepared for water sample collection and the Gram Sabhas to ensure maximum participation of villagers in the campaign. 
• The Union Territory of Ladakh has also announced an award of Rs. 5 lakh per village for the first 5 ‘Har Ghar Jal’ villages of each district in UT and Rs. 25 lakh to the first ‘Har Ghar Jal’ block in each district.
• Outstanding PRI members, BDOs, AEEs and other concerned stakeholders will be honoured on Republic Day 2022 for their contribution towards making villages, blocks and districts, ‘Har Ghar Jal’.

About Jal Jeevan Mission:

Nodal: Ministry of Jal Shakti

• Jal Jeevan Mission, a central government initiative under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, aims to ensure access of piped water for every household in India.
• National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) was restructured and subsumed into Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) – to provide Functional Household Tap Water (FHTC) to every rural household with service level at the rate of 55 lpcd i.e., Har Ghar Nal Se Jal (HGNSJ) by 2024.

Implications 

• Supply of water to all households is a basic necessity
• Reduction in water borne diseases which was due to due to consumption of substandard water

Challenges

• Critical situation of Decrease in ground water table.
• Water demand and supply is a miss match
• Contamination of local ground level sources of water like, ponds lakes and wells.
• Sustaining the provision of water to all households is a challenge, not just starting it.

EMERGENCY CREDIT LINE GUARANTEE SCHEME

Focus: GS III-Indian Economy

About Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)

• Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) was announced as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package in 2020
• Objective: to help businesses including MSMEs to meet their operational liabilities and resume businesses in view of the distress caused by the COVID-19 crisis, by providing Member Lending Institutions (MLIs).
• It provides 100% guarantee coverage  against any losses suffered by them due to non-repayment of the ECLGS funding by borrowers by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs. 3 lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested MUDRA borrowers.
• The credit will be provided in the form of a Guaranteed Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility.
• Tenor of the loan under Scheme shall be four years with a moratorium period of one year on the principal amount.
• No Guarantee Fee shall be charged by NCGTC from the Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) under the Scheme.
• Interest rates under the Scheme shall be capped at 9.25% for banks and FIs, and at 14% for NBFCs.

Aims and objectives of ECLGS

• The Scheme aims at mitigating the economic distress faced by MSMEs by providing them additional funding in the form of a fully guaranteed emergency credit line.
• The main objective is to provide an incentive to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs), i.e., Banks, Financial Institutions (FIs) and NBFCs to increase access to, and enable the availability of additional funding facility to MSME borrowers.

The eligibility criteria for availing credit under ECLGS are:

• For ECLGS 1.0; MSME units, Business Enterprises, Mudra Borrower and individual loans for business purpose having loan outstanding upto Rs.50 crore and days past due upto 60 days as on 29.02.2020.
• For ECLGS 2.0; Borrower belonging to 26 stressed sectors identified by Kamath Committee & Healthcare sector having loan outstanding above Rs.50 crore and upto Rs.500 crore and days past due upto 60 days as on 29.02.2020.
• For ECLGS 3.0; Borrower belonging to Hospitality, Travel & Tourism, Leisure & Sporting and Civil Aviation sector having days past due upto 60 days as on 29.02.2020.
• For ECLGS 4.0; Existing Hospitals/Nursing Homes/Clinics/Medical Colleges/units engaged in manufacturing of liquid oxygen, oxygen cylinders etc. having credit facility with a lending institution with days past due upto 90 days as on March 31, 2021.

Benefits of the ECLGS

• The scheme aims to mitigate the distress caused by COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown, which has severely impacted manufacturing and other activities in the MSME sector.
• The scheme is expected to provide credit to the sector at a low cost, thereby enabling MSMEs to meet their operational liabilities and restart their businesses.
• By supporting MSMEs to continue functioning during the current unprecedented situation, the Scheme is also expected to have a positive impact on the economy and support its revival.

POSHAN ABHIYAN

Focus: GS II- Government Policies and Interventions

Why in News?

POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on 8thMarch, 2018, with an objective to reduce malnutrition from the country in a phased manner and achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner.

About Poshan Abhiyaan

Nodal: Ministry of women and Child development

• The term ‘POSHAN’ in the name of the programme stands for ‘Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition’.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan launched in 2018 aims at improving the nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers.
• According to ‘Mission 25 by 2020’, the National Nutrition Mission aims to achieve a reduction in stunting from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan focuses on convergence among partner Ministries leveraging technology and Jan Andolan among other things, to address issue of malnutrition comprehensively.
• Near-real time reporting by field functionaries and improved MIS is aimed at smooth implementation of scheme and better service delivery.
• It also targets stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and low birth rate.
• It will monitor and review implementation of all such schemes and utilize existing structural arrangements of line ministries wherever available.
• Its large component involves gradual scaling-up of interventions supported by on-going World Bank assisted Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) to all districts in the country by 2022.
• Its vision is to ensure attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022.
• Implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan is based on the four-point strategy/pillars of the mission:
• Inter-sectoral convergence for better service delivery
• Use of technology (ICT) for real time growth monitoring and tracking of women and children
• Intensified health and nutrition services for the first 1000 days

Issues of Poshan Abhiyaan

• Information and communications technology-enabled real time monitoring (ICT-RTM) has been rolled out in POSHAN Abhiyaan districts.
• This could be ineffective due to the limited capacities of Anganwadi workers (AWs) to handle smartphones owing to their lack of technological literacy.
• Technical issues like slow servers and data deletion problems, resulting in irregular and improper recording of growth data of children.
• AWs are the fulcrum of POSHAN Abhiyaan and render vital services to mothers and children in villages.
• Nearly 40% of AWs had to use their personal money to run the AWCs, 35% of them complained of delayed payments.
• This makes AWs demotivated and demoralized.