PIB – 12 August 2021

GOVERNMENT e-MARKETPLACE

Focus: GS II- Government policies and Interventions

Why in News?

The 5th edition of the National Public Procurement Conclave (NPPC) was organized by Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry [CII].

Highlights

• Theme: “Technology enabled Government Procurement – Towards Efficiency, Transparency, and Inclusiveness”.
• The Conclave also had a range of panel discussions ranging from promotion of MSMEs in public procurement to how fintech can enable access to credit for sellers and service providers doing business with the Government. 
• This year’s Conclave provided an excellent opportunity for Government buyers, sellers, industry, and academia to interact with each other, and served as an online platform for sellers to showcase their products and services through the CII’s HIVE Digital Platform. 
• As a fitting closure and to commemorate the undying support of GeM’s stakeholders, the top performing buyers and sellers were awarded for leading the procurement efforts through GeM in financial year 2020-21.

About Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

Nodal: Ministry of Commerce and Industry

• It is an Online Market platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by the government ministries, departments, public sector undertakings (PSU) etc.
• It has been envisaged as National Procurement Portal of India.
• It has been developed by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) with technical support of National e-governance Division (Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology).
• It is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.
• The following are the objectives of the  online platform:
  • Easier availability of various goods and services for the government buyers.
  • Create transparency in public procurement.
  • Cost saving on government expenditure.
  • Achieve and promote cashless transactions.

BODOLAND TERRITORIAL REGION

Focus: GS III- Linkages Between Development & Spread Of Extremism

Why in News?

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah attended a rally organized in Kokrajhar, Assam to celebrate the first anniversary of the historic Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) agreement

About Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) Agreement

• Bodoland Territorial Region, is an autonomous region in Assam, Northeast India.
• It made up of four districts on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river, by the foothills of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh.
• It is administered by an elected body known as the Bodoland Territorial Council which came into existence under the terms of a peace agreement signed in February 2003 and its autonomy was further extended by an agreement signed in January 2020.
• Bodos are the single largest tribal community in Assam, making up over 5-6 per cent of the state’s population.
• They have controlled large parts of Assam in the past.
• The four districts in Assam Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang  that constitute the Bodo Territorial Area District (BTAD), are home to several ethnic groups.

About the Dispute

• The Bodos have had a long history of separatist demands, marked by armed struggle.
• In 1966-67, the demand for a separate state called Bodoland was raised under the banner of the Plains Tribals Council of Assam (PTCA), a political outfit.
• In 1987, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) renewed the demand. “Divide Assam fifty-fifty”, was a call given by the ABSU’s then leader, Upendra Nath Brahma.
• The unrest was a fallout of the Assam Movement (1979-85), whose culmination the Assam Accord addressed the demands of protection and safeguards for the “Assamese people”, leading the Bodos to launch a movement to protect their own identity.
• In December 2014, separatists killed more than 30 people in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur.
• In the 2012 Bodo-Muslim riots, hundreds were killed and almost 5 lakh were displaced.

About National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB)

• The National Democratic Front of Boroland was an armed separatist outfit which seeks to obtain a sovereign Boroland for the Bodo people.
• It is designated as a terrorist organisation by the Government of India.
• NDFB traces its origin to Bodo Security Force, a militant group formed in 1986.
• Alongside political movements, armed groups have also sought to create a separate Bodo state.
• In October 1986, the prominent group Bodo Security Force (BdSF) was formed by Ranjan Daimary.
• The BdSF subsequently renamed itself as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), an organisation that is known to be involved in attacks, killings, and extortions.
• In the 1990s, Indian security forces launched extensive operations against the group, causing the latter to flee to bordering Bhutan.
• In Bhutan, the group faced stiff counter-insurgency operations by the Indian Army and the Royal Bhutan Army in the early 2000s.

MODEL TENANCY ACT

Focus: GS II- Government policies and interventions

Why in News?

With the approval of Union Cabinet, Model Tenancy Act (MTA) has been circulated to all States / Union Territories (UTs) on 7th June, 2021 for adoption by way of enacting fresh legislation or amending existing rental laws suitably for future tenancies. 

About Model Tenancy Act

• Model Tenancy Act, 2019, a tenancy law in India, was designed to rebuild tenancy market seeking to replace archaic rental laws of India and to solve housing availability deficit.
• Model Tenancy Act aims to promote rental housing by balancing and protecting the interests of both the tenants and landlords by regulating renting of premises in an efficient and transparent manner through an adjudicating mechanism for speedy dispute resolution.
• The Act seeks to penalize recalcitrant tenants for refusing to move out of their rental properties after the agreed-upon rental period expires. The landlord will be able to claim double of the monthly rent for two months and four times of the monthly rent after that as compensation.
• The Act stipulates that a landlord cannot refuse to provide essential utilities and access to common facilities. This has been a fairly common grouse of tenants in the past.
• The landlord will also not be able to increase the rent without giving at least three months’ notice to the tenant, and cannot increase rent in the middle of a rental term.
• In order to bring transparency, fix accountability and promote fairness in the rental housing segment, the policy proposes setting up of a rent authority.
• The Act will help in achieving the target of “Housing for All by 2022”.
• To ensure speedy dispute resolution it is provisioned that Rent Court and Rent Tribunal both shall endeavour to dispose the cases within sixty days and in case of delay in disposal, reasons for delay are mandated to be recorded in writing.
• To ensure speedy dispute resolution it is provisioned that Rent Court and Rent Tribunal both shall endeavour to dispose the cases within sixty days and in case of delay in disposal, reasons for delay are mandated to be recorded in writing.
• For disputes related to essential services, it is provided that the Rent Authority, after examining the matter, may pass an interim order directing restoration of supply of essential services immediately. Further, Rent Authority shall conduct an enquiry within one month of filing of application by the tenant in this regard.
• Under the provisions of MTA, the information and documents submitted by landlord and tenant for intimation of tenancy will be in sole custody of Rent Authority.