CONTENTS
- PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN ANNA YOJANA
- CABINET APPROVES STRATEGIC DISINVESTMENT IN IDBI BANK
PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN ANNA YOJANA
Focus: GS II- Government policies and Interventions
Why in news?
Cabinet approves allocation of additional foodgrain to NFSA Beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (Phase III) for another period of two months – May and June, 2021.
About Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana:
- It is considered as world’s largest food security scheme, aims at ensuring sufficient food for the poor and needy during the coronavirus crisis.
- 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.
CABINET APPROVES STRATEGIC DISINVESTMENT IN IDBI BANK
Focus: GS III- Indian Economy
Why in news?
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister has given its in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment along with transfer of management control in IDBI Bank Ltd.
- The extent of respective shareholding to be divested by GoI and LIC shall be decided at the time of structuring of transaction in consultation with RBI.
- Government of India (GoI) and LIC together own more than 94% of equity of IDBI Bank (GoI 45.48%, LIC 49.24%).
- LIC is currently the promoter of IDBI Bank with Management Control and GoI is the co-promoter.
Disinvestment
- Disinvestment means sale or liquidation of assets by the government, usually Central and state public sector enterprises, projects, or other fixed assets.
- The government undertakes disinvestment to reduce the fiscal burden on the exchequer, or to raise money for meeting specific needs, such as to bridge the revenue shortfall from other regular sources.
- Strategic Disinvestment refers to the sale of a public sector holding/undertaking to a non-government entity and in most cases, to the private sector. It is done so by the government in order to relieve itself the burden of maintaining a non-performing public enterprise.
- Unlike the simple disinvestment, strategic sale implies a kind of privatization.
- The disinvestment commission defines strategic sale as the sale of a substantial portion of the Government shareholding of a central public sector enterprises (CPSE) of upto 50%, or such higher percentage as the competent authority may determine, along with transfer of management control.
- Strategic disinvestment in India has been guided by the basic economic principle that the government should not be in the business to engage itself in manufacturing/producing goods and services in sectors where competitive markets have come of age.
- The economic potential of such entities may be better discovered in the hands of the strategic investors due to various factors, e.g. infusion of capital, technology up-gradation and efficient management practices etc
Main objectives of Strategic Disinvestment in India
- Meeting budgetary requirements
- Reduce fiscal burden
- Raise funds to finance growth and development projects
- Improve market competitiveness and discipline
- Transfer of commercial risks
