PSU banks advised to boost pace of recovery and manage NPAs

What Government's Advice to PSU?
PSU banks advised to boost pace of recovery and manage NPAs The Government has advised public sector banks to take new initiatives to boost the pace of recovery and manage their non-performing assets (NPAs), Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena revealed.

Responding to a question in Lok Sabha on Friday, Meena said that public sector banks were facing an emergency situation due to a substantial increase in their NPAs.

NPA FLUCTUATION:
Bad loans of these lenders jumped to Rs 1.70 lakh crore as of September 2012, from Rs 94,000 crore in 2011.

Meena said that the all public sector lenders had been directed to constitute a board level committee for monitoring recovery of loans.

Speaking on the topic, he added, "The government has recently advised PSU banks to take new initiatives to increase the pace of recovery and manage NPAs."

India's ongoing macro-economic situation is being held responsible for the increase in public sector banks' NPAs.

On actions taken by the government to arrest soaring NPAs, the Minister of State for Finance said that nodal officers were being appointed for recovery of loans, special drives were being conducted for recovery of loss assets, the system of post-dated cheques was being replaced with electronic clearance system, and early warning systems were being put in place.

WHO Recommendation on Health Sector

As per sample registration system (SRS) report 2010, Under-five mortality rate is 59 per 1000 live births which translates into 1.5 million deaths of the children below age of 5 years and Neo-natal mortality rate stands at 33 per 1000 live births which translates into 0.87 million neonatal deaths in the country.

India does not rank lowest in public health care spending. As per World Health Statistics 2012 of WHO, India ranks 17th among 194 member states in ascending order of General Govt. Expenditure on health as a percentage of total expenditure on health. Public expenditure on Core Health (both plan and non-plan and taking the Centre and States together) was about 1.04 per cent of the GDP during 2011–12.

There is no specific WHO recommendation in this regard. However, draft 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) document envisages increasing total public funding, plan and Non-Plan on core health from 1.04% of GDP in 2011-12 to 1.87% of GDP by the end of the 12th Plan. 

Increase in Diabetic Patients

According to diseases burden study on Non Communicable disease by ICMR in 2006, the prevalence of Diabetes was 62.47 cases per thousand. Under National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) launched in 2010, screening of 1.29 crore persons has been done of which 9.67 lakh persons (7.48%) are suspected for diabetes. As per the programme, opportunistic screening of persons above the age of 30 years for diabetes & hypertension in various health care facilities viz. District Hospitals, Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Sub-Centres is being undertaken in 100 Districts in 21 States. Each district in the programme is being supported with Rs.50,000/- per month for essential drugs and consumables for Diabetes and Hypertension. Diabetic patients are treated in the Government healthcare delivery system through Community Health Centres and District Hospitals besides Government Medical Colleges and Tertiary Health Care Institutions. NPCDCS, in addition to early diagnosis of persons and their referral to higher facilities for appropriate management also promotes awareness generation for behaviour and life style changes. Drugs are also made available through other Central and State Government programmes/ schemes. Needy persons are also supported through Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) and Health Minister’s Discretionary Grant. Extension of the NPCDCS programme to cover all districts in the country in a phased manner is envisaged during the 12th Five Year Plan. Government of India is also giving support for strengthening /upgradation of Medical colleges/ District Hospital which includes services for non communicable diseases including diabetes. 

Data on Girl Child Sex Ratio

The Ministry has noted with concern the continuing decline in Child sex ratio as per Census 2011. Although the overall sex ratio has increased from 927 in 2001 to 940 in 2011, child sex ratio (0-6 years) has declined from 927 females per thousand males in 2001 to 914 females per 1000 males in 2011 as per Census 2011. The data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation also points to a decline in child sex ratio in the ( 0-6 yrs) group.

As per UNICEF’s Coverage Evaluation Survey-2009 (CES-2009), 39% of children between 12-24 months in the country are not fully vaccinated with all vaccines under Universal Immunization Programme.

Reasons for partial or no immunization include the following: (i) Did not feel need (ii) Not knowing about vaccine (iii) Not knowing where to go for immunization (iv) Time not convenient (v) Fear of side effects (vi) Do not have time (vii) Vaccine not available (viii) Place not convenient (ix) ANM absent (x) Long waiting time (xi) Place too far (xii) Service not available.

The Government of India has declared year 2012-13 as the year of intensification of Routine Immunization. Various steps have been taken under Immunization programme to increase coverage and these include need based Central funding and commodity assistance to States, support for logistics such as Alternate Vaccine Delivery (AVD), capacity building of service providers at all levels, strengthening reporting and management of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI), Strengthen supportive supervision at all levels, involvement of ASHAs for social mobilization of children, carrying out immunization weeks in North Eastern States, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Intensified IEC/Behaviour change Communication, increasing community participation and strengthening the follow up of children through mother and child tracking system etc. 

Scheme for Providing free Sanitarypads in Rural areas

Use of sanitary napkins during monthly periods is poor in rural areas.  Links are clear between poor menstrual hygiene and urinary & reproductive tract infections.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched the Scheme for Promotion of Menstrual Hygiene among adolescent girls in the age-group of 10 to 19 years in rural areas in 2010. The key objectives of the scheme are to increase awareness among adolescent girls on Menstrual Hygiene, to increase access to and use of quality sanitary napkins to adolescent girls in rural areas and to ensure safe disposal of sanitary napkins in an environmentally friendly manner.

In the first phase, the scheme has been initiated as a pilot to cover 25% of the country’s adolescent girl population (aged 10 to 19 years), i.e., 1.5 crore girls in 152 districts across 20 States, with centralised supply by the Government of India in 107 districts and through Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the remaining 45 districts. Implementation has currently started in 107 districts, covered under central supply. Under the scheme, sanitary napkins are sold to adolescents girls at the rate of Rs. 6 per pack of six napkins, i.e. Re. 1/- per sanitary napkin by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) every month under NRHM’s brand, ‘Freedays’. 

Drop in Child Sex Ratio

As per Census 2011, the child sex ratio (0-6 years) has declined from 927 females per thousand males in 2001 to 914 females per 1000 males in 2011.

The State/UT Government have the key responsibility to effectively implement the PC & PNDT Act. Government of India on its part, is committed to strengthen effective implementation of the PC & PNDT Act to address the declining child sex ratio in the country and has been providing technical, financial and IEC support to the States. Further Government has been regularly monitoring the progress of implementation of the Act.

As an outcome of increased efforts by the Government, Quarterly Progress Reports are now reflecting an improved compliance of the provisions of the Act by States/ UTs. So far, a total of 556 cases have been registered against violation of the PC & PNDT Act in last two years as against only 739 cases between 1995 and 2010. There are 111 convictions secured so far and medical license of 33 convicted doctors have been suspended by respective State Medical Councils.

The measures include the following:

1. Regular meetings of Central Supervisory Board and other statutory bodies under the PC & PNDT Act

2. Scaling up of inspections of ultrasound facilities by the by National and State Inspection Committees and action against violations of the Act

3. Comprehensive awareness generation activities through print and electronic media, community mobilization by Non Governmental Organizations, involvement of religious leaders, women achievers etc in the campaign against discrimination of the girl child.

4. The Government is rendering financial support to the States and UTs for Information, Education and Communication campaigns and for strengthening structure for the implementation of the Act under the National Rural Health Mission.

5. Sex Ratio to ascertain the causes, plan appropriate Behaviour Change Communication campaigns and effectively implementation provision of the PC & PNDT Act.

Government of India accords high priority to the issue of missing children on account of sex determination and will continue to implement a multi-pronged strategy to curb female foeticide in the country. The steps include awareness generation and legislative measures as well as programmes for socio-economic empowerment of women. The Government will continue to take necessary steps for effective implementation of the PC & PNDT Act with the co-operation of the states. 

Rise in Part-Time Work

The World Bank in its World Development Report 2013 has pointed out that part time and temporary wage employment are now major features of industrialised and developing countries and that in India, the number of temporary workers that employment agencies recruit grew more than 10 percent in 2009 and 18 percent in 2010. Part time work is also on rise in India with the share of informal workers in total employment in organized firms grew from 32 per cent in 2000 to 52 per cent in 2005 to 68 per cent in 2010. The propensity of firms to hire contract workers has increased over time for all firms employing 10 or more workers.

The World Development Report 2013 has also pointed out that when workers move from low-to-high-productivity jobs, output increases and the economy becomes more efficient. Stringent regulations that obstruct such labour reallocation do not sit on the efficiency plateau and affect economic efficiency. Government has taken several steps to provide decent opportunities of livelihood to all those who seek employment. A provision under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 has been made to provide at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled work. Government is taking all necessary steps to enhance the employability and employment in the country by promoting growth of labour intensive sectors such as Construction, Real Estate and Housing, Transport, Tourism, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Information Technology Enabled Services and a range of other new services. Besides, Government is also providing self employment opportunities in the rural areas through National Rural Livelihood Mission.

Approach Paper to the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) suggests focus on faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth for creating adequate livelihood opportunities. Such job opportunities could come from faster expansion in agro-processing, supply chains, steady modernization in farming, maintenance of equipment & other elements of rural infrastructure and the services sector.  

Nationalised Bank for EPF Deposit

Provident Fund contribution of private sector labourers covered under the Employees` Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 is deposited in the State Bank of India.

As per the provision of Para 52(1) of the Employees` Provident Funds Scheme, 1952, all monies belonging to the Fund shall be deposited in the Reserve Bank of India or the State Bank of India or such other Scheduled Banks as may be approved by the Central Government from time to time. No other Scheduled Bank has been approved by the Central Government for this purpose. 

Rural /Urban Unemployment gap

Reliable estimates of employment and unemployment are obtained through quinquennial labour force surveys conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Last quinquennial labour force survey was conducted during 2009-10. As per the most recent survey, estimated unemployment rate on usual status basis in rural areas was 1.6 percent for rural areas as compared to 3.4 percent for urban areas in the country during 2009-10. Unemployment rate is found to be higher in urban areas than in rural areas in the country.

In order to tackle the problem of rural and urban unemployment, Government of India has been making constant efforts to provide gainful employment through normal growth process and implementing various employment generation programmes, such as, SwaranaJayantiShahariRozgarYojana (SJSRY); Prime Minister`s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP); National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) besides entrepreneurial development programmes run by the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises. 

Poland to host next round of UN climate talks

Poland will host the next round of UN climate talks in 2013.

The decision to hold the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) in Warsaw, capital of Poland, in 2013 was adopted by negotiators from over 190 countries here in the capital of Qatar, Doha, at the 18th session of the COP.

Poland was chosen on the basis of geographical rotation as next year marks the turn of East European countries to host the annual UN event.

Poland, which relies on carbon-intensive coal for nearly all its power needs, has already voiced concern that greater action on climate will harm its economy.

At the latest UN climate conference in Doha, negotiators extended the Kyoto Protocol, the only internationally binding treaty on cutting emissions of greenhouse gases, to the end of 2020.

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

5 banks launch Aadhaar-linked bank account

Five banks, including SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank,  launched Saral Money bank account product which allows customers to open an account using Aadhaar card as address as well as identity proof.

The RBI has recently directed banks to accept Aadhaar letter as the proof of both identity and address if the address provided by the account holder is the same as that on the Aadhaar card.

“Through a product like Aadhaar-enabled KYC (Know Your Customer), we are bringing down the cost of account and that makes a product lot more attractive. And it will definitely further the cause of financial inclusion,” Axis Bank Managing Director and CEO Shikha Sharma said during the launch of Saral Money’, which is jointly launched by Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI and Indian Overseas Bank.

Customers would be able to open a Saral Money banking account by providing Aadhaar letter as the proof of identity and address at any of these banks and the BC (business correspondent) outlets.

“Both for address proof and identity, Aadhaar can be used. To me of course, all of us would change our process and will not require a separate address proof (for opening an account). We needed it because of the regulatory requirement,” Sharma said.

The Visa payment settlement-based Saral Money account would enable the customer to make purchases, send money or receive government disbursements at the existing ATMs, point of sale terminals and proposed micro ATMs.

The service targets currently enrolled 210 million Aadhaar holders. The UIDAI plans to bring 600 million people under Aadhaar fold by 2015.

The first phase of the Saral Money rollout will include Delhi and National Capital Region and others parts of the country would be covered by the end of next year.

“This initiative will not only help the financially undeserved to access formal banking processes, but will also serve as a forerunner for the inclusive applications which we hope to see emerge on the Aadhaar foundational platform,” UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani said.

Visa Group Country Manager of India and South Asia Uttam Nayak said this payment solution specifically targets India’s financially excluded regions and will support cash transfer of subsidies, scholarships and other government disbursements.

Population size and Sex Ratio in 30 most Populated Countries

Country or area	Year	Population (in thousands)			Sex ratio
		Total	Women	Men	Women/100 men
China	2011	1 347 565	647 934	699 631	93
India	2011	1 241 492	600 477	641 015	94
United States of America	2011	313 085	158 524	154 562	103
Indonesia	2011	242 326	121 507	120 819	101
Brazil	2011	196 655	99 910	96 745	103
Pakistan	2011	176 745	86 937	89 808	97
Nigeria	2011	162 471	80 199	82 271	97
Bangladesh	2011	150 494	74 338	76 155	98
Russian Federation	2011	142 836	76 773	66 063	116
Japan	2011	126 497	64 888	61 609	105
Mexico	2011	114 793	58 181	56 612	103
Philippines	2011	94 852	47 285	47 567	99
Viet Nam	2011	88 792	44 886	43 906	102
Ethiopia	2011	84 734	42 562	42 172	101
Egypt	2011	82 537	41 095	41 442	99
Germany	2011	82 163	41 870	40 293	104
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	2011	74 799	36 866	37 933	97
Turkey	2011	73 640	36 916	36 724	101
Thailand	2011	69 519	35 361	34 157	104
Democratic Republic of the Congo	2011	67 758	34 057	33 701	101
France	2011	63 126	32 401	30 725	105
United Kingdom	2011	62 417	31 683	30 734	103
Italy	2011	60 789	31 024	29 764	104
South Africa	2011	50 460	25 458	25 002	102
Republic of Korea	2011	48 391	24 270	24 121	101
Myanmar	2011	48 337	24 517	23 819	103
Colombia	2011	46 927	23 847	23 080	103
Spain	2011	46 455	23 507	22 947	102
United Republic of Tanzania	2011	46 218	23 125	23 094	100
Ukraine	2011	45 190	24 403	20 787	117
SOURCE: UNSD (Upto December 2011)

Female Employees in Central Government

Year	No. of Employees		Percentage of Female employees
	Female	Total
	(Figures in Lakh)
1	2	3	4
1971	0.67	26.99	2.51
1975	0.84	29.70	2.83
1980	1.17	33.21	3.53
1981	1.24	34.07	3.64
1982	1.32	34.78	3.80
1983	1.37	35.42	3.86
1984	1.42	36.14	3.93
1988	2.39	36.99	6.46
1989	2.47	37.48	6.60
1990	2.83	37.74	7.51
1991	2.89	38.13	7.58
1995	2.96	39.82	7.43
2001	2.92	38.76	7.53
2002	NA	NA	NA
2003	2.51	31.33	8.01
2004	3.06	31.64	9.68
2005	2.44	29.39	8.30
2006	3.20	31.16	10.28
2007	2.41	28.00	8.61
2008	3.14	31.12	10.09
2009	3.11	30.99	10.04
Source: Census of Central Government Employees, Directorate General of Employment and Training, Ministry of Labour.                  NA: Not Available.

Labour Force Participation Rate for Persons of Age 15 Years and Above in States/UTs: 2011-12

State/Union Territory	Rural		Urban
	Female	Male	Female	Male
1	2	3	4	5
Andhra Pradesh	61.8	80.8	25.5	73.1
Arunachal Pradesh	44.9	75.3	24.9	63.5
Assam	29.7	83.0	25.5	75.7
Bihar	23.5	79.1	14.5	75.3
Chhatisgarh	60.4	83.9	26.7	75.8
Delhi	13.3	70.0	16.2	75.2
Goa	33.7	75.9	20.8	68.3
Gujarat	37.9	83.5	10.1	76.3
Haryana	15.9	70.8	11.7	69.2
Himachal Pradesh	66.1	82.2	32.8	72.6
Jammu & Kashmir	18.2	70.9	14.1	76.2
Jharkhand	42.1	83.8	22.1	77.2
Karnataka	41.8	80.1	26.0	76.8
Kerala	27.8	72.4	29.3	71.2
Madhya Pradesh	39.4	82.7	16.4	73.9
Maharashtra	46.6	79.1	24.8	72.8
Manipur	60.9	76.3	44.9	56.9
Meghalaya	61.2	82.5	44.3	68.8
Mizoram	69.2	69.8	39.4	67.6
Nagaland	56.1	72.8	34.1	63.1
Orissa	27.1	79.3	13.1	76.5
Punjab	9.4	73.8	10.5	70.0
Rajasthan	36.3	75.8	10.3	67.1
Sikkim	58.7	79.0	48.9	76.0
Tamil Nadu	50.7	80.2	28.4	77.4
Tripura	45.2	85.5	37.5	80.9
Uttarakhand	25.9	71.9	14.8	72.2
Uttar Pradesh	13.9	78.0	7.6	72.6
West Bengal	26.7	82.8	17.8	71.9
A & N Islands	31.8	79.6	36.1	77.0
Chandigarh	16.7	79.4	10.8	75.7
D & N Haveli	22.8	86.3	25.3	84.2
Daman & Diu	22.1	82.6	16.5	67.8
Lakshadweep	9.7	69.6	14.8	72.6
Puducherry	31.3	71.6	28.1	83.6
All India	33.9	79.4	19.1	73.7
Source: Report on Employment and Unemployment Survey 2011-12, Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Notes: 1. Figures  relate to usual status principal and subsidiary workers.

Workforce Participation Rate

Year	Rural		Urban
	Female	Male	Female	Male
1	2	3	4	5
1972-73	31.8	54.5	13.4	50.1
1977-78	33.1	55.2	15.6	50.8
1983	34.0	54.7	15.1	51.2
1987-88	32.3	53.9	15.2	50.6
1993-94	32.8	55.3	15.5	52.1
1994-95a	31.7	56.0	13.6	51.9
1995-96a	29.5	55.1	12.4	52.5
1996-97a	29.1	55.0	13.1	52.1
1998a	26.3	53.9	11.4	50.9
1999-2000	29.9	53.1	13.9	51.8
2000-2001a	28.7	54.4	14.0	53.1
2001-2002a	31.4	54.6	13.9	55.3
2002a	28.1	54.6	14.0	53.4
2004-05	32.7	54.6	16.6	54.9
2005-06a	31.0	54.9	14.3	54.0
2007-08a	28.9	54.8	13.8	55.4
2009-10	26.1	54.7	13.8	54.3
Source: National Sample Survey Office.
Note :  Figures for all the years are based on usual status approach and includes principal status and subsidiary status workers of all ages.
a: Based on thin Sample.

Infant Mortality Rate

Year	Female	Male	Total
1	2	3	4
1989	90	92	91
1990	81	78	80
1991a	80	81	80
1992a	80	79	79
1993a	75	73	74
1994a	73	75	74
1995a	76	73	74
1996a	73	71	72
1997a	73	70	71
1998	73	70	72
1999	71	70	70
2000	69	67	68
2001	68	64	66
2002	65	62	63
2003	64	57	60
2004	58	58	58
2005	61	56	58
2006	59	56	57
2007	56	55	55
2008	55	52	53
2009	52	49	50
2010	49	46	47
Source: Sample Registration System (various years),Office of the Registrar General, India.
a: Excludes Jammu and Kashmir.

Sex Preference

State	Percentage of women who prefer more sons than daughters	Percentage of men who prefer more sons than daughters	Difference
1	2	3	4
Andhra Pradesh	9.3	12.0	2.7
Arunachal Pradesh	28.3	30.3	2.0
Assam	24.1	17.9	-6.2
Bihar1	39.2	38.5	-0.7
Chhatisgarh	32.8	24.8	-8.0
Delhi	11.7	11.7	0.0
Goa	8.7	11.4	2.7
Gujarat	22.7	20.0	-2.7
Haryana	22.0	18.4	-3.6
Himachal Pradesh	11.8	9.2	-2.6
Jammu & Kashmir	23.4	23.9	0.5
Jharkhand	28.1	24.6	-3.5
Karnataka	11.6	12.7	1.1
Kerala	11.0	11.8	0.8
Madhya Pradesh1	30.8	27.9	-2.9
Maharashtra	14.1	14.3	0.2
Manipur	28.5	34.7	6.2
Meghalaya	11.9	21.5	9.6
Mizoram	29.0	43.5	14.5
Nagaland	21.4	28.4	7.0
Orissa	24.2	20.3	-3.9
Punjab	17.7	13.4	-4.3
Rajasthan	34.3	24.0	-10.3
Sikkim	15.5	17.1	1.6
Tamil Nadu	5.7	7.9	2.2
Uttarakhand	20.7	13.6	-7.1
Uttar Pradesh1	33.5	27.8	-5.7
West Bengal	16.5	16.6	0.1
India	22.4	20.0	-2.4
Source: National Family Health Survey- III, 2005-06.
1: Data pertains to undivided State.