SOCIO ECONOMIC MCQs

1.The President of India appoints the Chairman and Members of the National Human Rights Commission on whose recommendations?
(A)Prime Minister of India
(B)Speaker of Lok Sabha
(C)Home Minister
(D)Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha
(E)All of the Above
Ans. (E) All of the Above
2.In which year India ratified International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ?
(A)1966
(B)1968
(C)1976
(D)1978
(E)1979
Ans. (E) 1979
3.In which of the following cities is located the technology center of Unique Identification Authority of India?
(A)Delhi
(B)Hyderabad
(C)Ranchi
(D)Hyderabad
(E)Bangalore
Ans. (E) Bangalore

4.The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) links 37 constituent laboratories with diverse research portfolios as varied as drug discovery to oceanography. Recently we read in the newspapers that CSIR’s latest imitative is launching of an Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) Programme. What is the main purpose of Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) Programme?
(A)To make India a hub of drug research and development
(B)To bring the scientists of the world under one roof
(C)To bring down the costs of the new drugs and make them affordable to all
(D)To make India self reliant in Drug production
(E)All of above
Ans. (C) To bring down the costs of the new drugs and make them affordable to all

5.On the recommendation of which of the following committees the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has been releasing money of the Centers share of recapitalization assistance to the primary agriculture credit societies (PACS) in various states to introduce
cooperative reforms ?
(A)N R Narayanmurthy Committee
(B)Prof A. Vaidyanathan Committee
(C)K Madhav Das Committee
(D)R Gandhi Committee
(E)None of them
Ans. (B)Prof A. Vaidyanathan Committee

6.Express Remit is the brand name of a remittance facility by which of the following banks?
(A)State Bank of India
(B)Punjab National Bank
(C)Bank of Baroda
(D)ICICI Bank
(E)HDFC Bank
Ans. (A) State Bank of India

7.Which among the following is the most important source region of NRI remittances to India ?
(A)North America
(B)Europe
(C)Middle East
(D)Asia Pacific
(E)South America
Ans. (A) North America

8.As per the guidelines issued by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in February 2009, any company with more than what fraction of foreign equity should be considered as a foreign company?
(A)51%
(B)59%
(C)61%
(D)71%
(E)75%
Ans. (A) 51%

9.To achieve 100% financial Inclusion in India, Reserve Bank of India had had issued a circular in July 2009 permitting cash withdrawals of up to Rs 1,000 per day from PoS (Point of sale) terminals at merchant establishments. Recently which of the following bank has become first Bank of India to offer this facility?
(A)State Bank of India
(B)Punjab National Bank
(C)Bank of India
(D)Union Bank of India
(E)UCO Bank
Ans. (D) Union Bank of India

10.Which among the following sector of Indian Economy is maximum dependent on economic developments in advanced nations?
(A)Manufacturing Sector
(B)Agricultural Sector
(C)Mining Sector
(D)Textile Sector
(E)Services Sector
Ans. (E) Services Sector

11.Many a times we read in the newspapers that Government of India is promoting private investment in the country through PPP mode that is Public private partnership. What is the target of the private sector investment in the country by 2012 ?
(A)$ 150 Billion
(B)$ 200 Billion
(C)$ 300 Billion
(D)$ 400 Billion
(E)None of them
Ans. (B) $ 200 Billion

12.Which among the following country has been consistently on the top slot for last four years and this year too in the latest version of World Bank’s annual report “Doing Business 2010″?
(A)Sweden
(B)New Zea Land
(C)Singapore
(D)China
(E)South Korea
Ans. (C) Singapore

13.What is Doing Business 2010 rank of India?
(A)129
(B)131
(C)132
(D)133
(E)135
Ans. (D) 133, last year it was 132 and it has gone down by 1

14.As per the World Bank Report, which among the following in India is comparatively easy for outsiders planning to do business here?
(A)Dealing with Construction Permits
(B)Registering Property
(C)Getting Credit
(D)Enforcing Contracts
(E)Employing Workers
Ans. (C) Getting Credit

15.Which among the following cities ranks first in ease of doing business in India?
(A)Gurgaon
(B)Chandigarh
(C)Hyderabad
(D)Ludhiana
(E)Bangalore
Ans. (D) Ludhiana

16.For the first time in India, in which of the following Budgets “basic reforms in the international financial and trading system ” was stressed in India?
(A)1969
(B)1975
(C)1983
(D)1991
(E)1992
Ans. (C) 1983

17.The recently presented Economic Survey says ” India’s unpardonably large bureaucratic costs are like a valuable resource buried under the ground, waiting to be excavated and used” . The unpardonably large bureaucratic costs refer here to which of the following?
(A)Cost incurred in recruitment and training of bureaucrats
(B)Costs incurred in getting a project cleared in government offices as bribes
(C)Hidden Costs due to unwanted delay in projects approval
(D)Low efficiency of the bureaucracy of the country due to political instability
(E)All of the above
Ans. (C) Hidden Costs due to unwanted delay in projects approval

18.Bring out the incorrect statement regarding India’s textile sector:
(A)India’s textile and clothing sector currently employs 35 million people
(B)After agriculture it is second largest provider of employment
(C)Textile sector has a tendency to shrink as the GDP and Economy grows
(D)Textile sector is a major absorber of low-skilled labor
(E)All of above are correct statements
Ans. (C) statement C is incorrect. This natural tendency has been seen in agriculture sector and not in textile sector

19.Year 2009-10 was a time of inflationary concerns for our country witnessing unusual double digit inflation. In the history of Independent India, which among the following decades had shown 3 consecutive years of double-digit, food price inflation?
(A)1970s
(B)1980s
(C)1990s
(D)2000s
(E)1960s
Ans. (A) 1970s. 1972-73-74

20.Who among the following is the chairman of the Technology Advisory Group which has the mandate to fix the framework for large and transformational IT projects of the government?
(A)Kaushik Basu
(B)C Rangrajan
(C)Nandan Nilkeni
(D)Ashowk Chawla
(E)None of them
Ans. (C) Nandan Nilkeni
21.The following options A to E are news headlines related to Union Budget 2010 , taken from some financial newspapers. Among them bring out the one that deals with Transfer Payments ?
(A)Government projects Rs. 248664 crore for Interest payments
(B)Government projects Rs. 301331 as corporation tax in 2010-11
(C)Government will spend Rs. 60000 Crore on Defense in 2010-11
(D)The Subsidy has been Reduced from Rs. 131025 crore to 116224 crore in Union Budget 2010
(E)The government pitches for Rs. 40000 crore for Disinvestment
Ans. (D) The Subsidy has been Reduced from Rs. 131025 crore to 116224 crore in Union Budget 2010

22.In which of the following example the marginal productivity is close to zero?
(A)7 people working in a bank branch and 3 more join them after a massive recruitment drive of the bank
(B)7 people from a family working in a farm and 3 more join to them because they lost their jobs due to poor markets
(C)7 teachers teaching in a school and 3 more join them to teach 3 different subjects to a class of 100 students
(D)7 people are recruited by a company in unreserved category and 3 more recruited one of them was a physically disabled person
(E)None of them
Ans. (B) Option B is an example of Hidden Unemployment

23.As we all know that economic liberalization began in true sense in July 1991 in India. Which among the following was the first step of the government while taking the country towards Economic Liberalization?
(A)Substantial changes in industrial license policy were made
(B)The Rupee was made convertible
(C)Procedural formalities for Foreign direct Investment were removed
(D)The government significantly reduced the taxes
(E)The Government launched a highly focused Foreign Trade Policy
Ans. (A) Substantial changes in industrial license policy were made

24.Who among the following is not a member of National Development Council?
(A)The Prime Minister of India
(B)The President of India
(C)The members of Planning Commission
(D)The Chief Minister of states
(E)All of above are members
Ans. (B) The President of India

25.Bhoodan Yojna which was a measure of gifting land by the rich landlords to the poor laborers was initiated by whom among the following?
(A)Acharya Narendra Dev
(B)Acharya Vinoba Bhave
(C)Raj Naraina
(D)Medha patkar
(E)Swami Sundaranand
Ans. (B) Acharya Vinoba Bhave

26.As per 2001 census, which among the following states had lowest density of population per sq. kms?
(A)Mizoram
(B)Sikkim
(C)Nagaland
(D)Manipur
(E)Arunachal Pradesh
Ans. (E) Arunachal Pradesh

27.In a condition of monopoly, the monopolist has a control over the price he charges for his product. In which of the following conditions he will be able to maximize his profits?
(A)Lowering the prices if the demand curve is elastic
(B)Lowering the price, if the demand curve is inelastic
(C)Raising the price, if the demand curve is elastic
(D)In all of above situation
(E)in none of the above situations
Ans. (A) Lowering the prices if the demand curve is elastic

28.A competitive firm maximizes its profit when _______?
(A)MR=AR
(B)MR=MC
(C)MC=AC
(D)MC=AR
(E)None of the above
Ans. (B) MR=MC
29.Rs. 10000 are realized after selling 100 units and Rs. 14000 are realized after selling 120 Units. In this example, Rs. 200 is ________?
(A)Price per unit
(B)marginal cost
(C)marginal profit
(D)marginal revenue
(E)maximum profit
Ans (D) Marginal Revenue
30.Who among the following is India’s current Minister of State (Expenditure & Financial Services)?
(A)S S Palanimanickam
(B)Namo Narain Meena
(C)Dinsha J. Patel
(D)Jitin Prasada
(E)None of them
Ans. (B) Namo Narian Meena
31.What is the current limit for collateral free loansto micro and small enterprises (MSEs) sector in India?
(A)Rs. 5 Lakh
(B)Rs. 10 Lakh
(C)Rs. 15 Lakh
(D)Rs. 8 Lakh
(E)None of them
Ans. (A) Rs. 5 Lakh
32.As we read in the newspapers that Reserve bank of India is introducing Base rate System which shall be the new reference rate for determining lending rates for banks. The Base Rate System would bring in more transparency to loan pricing for customers. On which date is being introduced in India?
(A)April 1, 2010
(B)June 1, 2010
(C)July 1, 2010
(D)January 1, 2011
(E)April 1, 2011
Ans. (C) July 1, 2010
33.Recently RBI has released on its website, the report of the Committee on Comprehensive Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies. Who among the following is the chairman of this committee?
(A)Dr. K.P. Krishnan
(B)Subir Gokarn
(C)Ashok Chawla
(D)Shri Vipin Malik
(E)Dr A.Vasudevan
Ans. (A) Dr. K. P. Krishnan
34.”On-line Electric Vehicle,”(OELV) is world ‘ s first commercial wireless electric vehicle. It was launched on March 9, 2010 in which of the following countries?
(A)Japan
(B)United States
(C)South Korea
(D)China
(E)India
Ans. (C) South Korea
35.With traded over 161 million contracts in 2009 , MCX has in February 2010 became word’s ______largest commodity Exchange?
(A)Second
(B)Third
(C)Fourth
(D)Fifth
(E)Sixth
Ans. (E) Sixth
36.Recently we read in the newspapers that attorney generals of seven states of United States are investigating over the charges over world’s largest seed producer that it has abused its market power to lock out competitors and raise prices. Which of the following companies is this world’s largest seed producer?
(A)Asgrow
(B)McKenzie Seeds
(C)Burpee Seeds
(D)Monsanto
(E)Unwins Seeds
Ans. (D) Monsanto

37.Recently Bt varieties Bollgard-I and Bollgard-II were amid news as the reports in various news papers say that Bollgard-I has been phased out in many countries and Bolgard-II are preferred. These verities are of ________?
(A)Bt Cotton
(B)Bt Brinjal
(C)Bt Tomato
(D)Bt Potato
(E)None of them
Ans. (A) Bt Cotton
38.Which among the following is the largest importer of Indian marine products as we read in the newspapers that it has decided to adopt the 20 per cent sampling method on Indian marine Products, especially shrimp, from April 2010 which shall lead to difficulty in exports?
(A)China
(B)Japan
(C)United States
(D)European Union
(E)Australia
Ans. (D) European Union
39.Which among the following organizations holds the largest stake in India’s top depository, National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL)?
(A)National Stock Exchange
(B)IDBI Bank
(C)Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI)
(D)Bombay Stock Exchange
(E)None of them
Ans. (B) IDBI Bank

40.What is Amfis related to in India?
(A)Banking
(B)Mutual Funds
(C)Marketing & Finance
(D)Power Industry
(E)Information Technology
Ans. (B)Mutual Funds Association of Mutual Funds of India (Amfis)

Various major schemes by Government for Energy Conservation

Major Schemes for Energy Conservation include following:

1. Bachat Lamp Yojana promotes energy efficient and high quality CFLs as replacement for incandescent bulbs in households by leveraging Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) benefits. So far 2.08 crores CFLs have been distributed at the rate of an incandescent bulb. The scheme has been registered as a Programme of Activities (PoA) with the CDM Executive Board on 29.4.2010 under UNFCCC. This will enable the other states to join the umbrella project (PoA) without registration with CDM Executive Board which is time consuming.
2. Standards & Labeling Scheme targets high energy end use equipments and appliances to lay down minimum energy performance standards. . Labeling of air-conditioners, refrigerators, tubular fluorescent lamps (TFLs) and distribution transformers were made mandatory on 7.1.2010. Six other appliances have been covered under the voluntary programme (Geysers, Motors, Pump sets, Colour TV, LPG Stoves, Ceiling Fans).
3. Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) / Existing Buildings - ECBC sets minimum energy performance standards for new commercial buildings having a connected load of 100 kW. These codes define norms of energy requirement per square meter of area and takes into consideration the climatic regions of the country where the building is located. State Governments have the flexibility to modify the ECBC based on local and regional requirements. Energy efficiency measures in existing buildings are also being carried out through retrofitting. 45 ECBC expert architects have been empanelled. Investment grade audits have been initiated in 35 Central Government buildings and in 400 buildings in the states. 89 Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) have been empanelled and accredited. The star rating programme for office buildings, BPOs and shopping malls have been launched. 136 buildings have been found eligible for awarding the BEE star label.
4. Agricultural and Municipal DSM targets replacement of inefficient pumpsets, street lighting, etc. The pilot activities under the scheme have been initiated in five states viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. The pilot scheme in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh will be initiated in the second phase.
5. Operationalising EC Act by Strengthening Institutional Capacity of State Designated Agencies (SDAs). The scheme seeks to build institutional capacity of the SDAs to enable them to perform their regulatory, enforcement and facilitative functions in the respective states. Action Plans for 31 States / UTs are under implementation. The study on potential savings in the states has been completed. The results of the study indicates that the total consumption assessed in all States is 501003 MU of electricity. There is a deficit of 73093 MU and the total energy saving potential is 75364.08 MU. This is about 15 % of the total consumption. If this can be tapped it will take care of the deficit.
6. Energy Efficiency Improvement in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) aims at stimulating energy efficiency measures in 25 high energy consuming small and medium enterprise clusters. Activities under the scheme have been initiated.

The Energy Conservation Act was enacted in 2001 with the professed goal of reducing energy intensity of Indian Economy. Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was set up as a nodal statutory body on 1st March, 2002 at the central level to facilitate the implementation of the EC Act. The Integrated Energy Policy (IEP) lays emphasis on energy conservation and efficiency, particularly through Demand Side Measures (DSM) and estimates 15% saving of energy is possible by such interventions. BEE is targeting: House hold lighting, Commercial Buildings, Standards & Labeling of appliances, Demand Side Management in Agriculture / Municipalities, SMEs and Large Industries, and Capacity Building of SDAs.

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is a scheme sponsored by both centre and state governments. The main aim in introduction of this scheme is for achieving 4% annual growth in the agriculture sector during the XI Plan period, by ensuring a holistic development of Agriculture and allied sectors.

The beneficiaries of this scheme include Individual, Family, Community, Women, Children. The scheme applies to all the States and Union Territories and is valid from 01-08-2007 to 06-08-2012.

The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) is to be implemented in the coming fiscal year (2011-12) with a budget of Rs. 7860 crore and nine sub-schemes. There is a quantum jump in funds from Rs. 6775 crore in 2010-11 and the scope of the scheme is expanded.

Sharing the progress of implementation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana with the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, Agriculture Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar informed that the mega programme for agricultural rejuvenation will continue to allow full authority and flexibility to the States even after its expansion.

The RKVY will now have nine sub-schemes. Three of the sub-schemes were introduced in 2010-11 and will be continue this year too. The sub-schemes are as follows:

1. Extending Green Revolution to the Eastern Region of the Country. This sub-scheme gets an allocation of Rs. 400 crore and targets improvement in the rice based cropping systems of Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
2. Integrated Development of 60,000 Pulses Villages in Rainfed Areas. This sub-scheme aims at attaining self-sufficiency in production of pulses within the next three years. An amount of Rs.300 crores has been proposed to promote 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas for increasing crop productivity and strengthening market linkages.
3. Promotion of Oil Palm. It seeks to achieve a major breakthrough, special attention will be paid to oil palm as it is one of the most efficient oil crops. Accordingly, an amount of Rs. 300 crores has been provided to bring 60,000 hectares under oil palm plantation, by integrating the farmers with the markets.
4. Initiative on Vegetable Clusters. Growing demand for vegetables will be met by a robust increase in the productivity and market linkage. For this purpose, an efficient supply chain will be established, to make quality vegetables available at competitive prices. An amount of Rs.300 crores has been provided for this.
5. Nutri-cereals. To promote balanced nutrition, higher production of bajra, jowar, ragi and other millets will be promoted. Additionally, projects will be taken up to upgrade their processing technologies and create awareness regarding their health benefits. This initiative would provide market linked production support to ten lakh millet farmers in the arid and semi-arid regions of the country. The programme would be taken up in 1000 compact blocks covering about 25,000 villages. Outlay for this programme is Rs. 300 crores.
6. National Mission for Protein Supplements. This Mission is being launched with an allocation of Rs.300 crores to take up activities to promote animal based protein production through livestock development, dairy farming, piggery, goat rearing and fisheries in selected blocks.
7. Accelerated Fodder Development Programme. To accelerate the production of fodder through intensive promotion of technologies to ensure its availability throughout the year, Rs. 300 crores have been provided for Accelerated Fodder Development Programme. It will benefit farmers in 25,000 villages.
8. Rainfed Area Development Programme. This programme aims at improving productivity of crops in rainfed areas.
9. Saffron Mission. This programme aims at revival of saffron cultivation in Jammu & Kashmir. It gets an allocation of Rs. 105 crores during 2011-12.

Sanchar Shakti

Sanchar Shakti envisages bringing together the combined efforts and contributions of Department of Telecommunication (DoT), Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), mobile and Mobile Value Added Service Providers, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers and their partner NGOs to use ICT to empower rural women. NABARD and U.N Women have also been involved in the development of this scheme.

The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, while launching "Sanchar Shakti" said, real development cannot take root if it bypasses women, who represent the very pivot around which social change takes shape. As we make progress on gender mainstreaming, more and more women will become full partners in many activities of the nation and society. She said, rural women will become both users and enablers of ICT service with the launch of this scheme. Under the scheme Mobile Value Added Services are being designed to provide a variety of useful information to women about health, social issues, and government schemes, as also livelihood related inputs and training over their mobile phones, she added. It is intended that while the targeted group will benefit through improved skills and livelihoods, the overall rural community will get access to facilities such as locally available mobile repair and solar mobile charging centres.

Sanchar Scheme

The Sanchar Shakti scheme includes four categories of projects aimed at rural women’s SHGs:

1. Provision of subsidized mobile VAS subscription to SHGs with a service validity/warranty of at least one year
2. Setting up of SHG run mobile repair centers in rural areas
3. Setting up of SHG run modem repair centers in rural areas
4. Setting up of SHG run solar based mobile/CDMA FWT charging centers in rural areas

Under the mobile VAS project category, seven pilot projects will be initiated in the different parts of India. The projects are aimed at the facilitating women’s SHGs’ access to ICT enabled services and creation of employment opportunities in the area of ICT enabling services. About 15,000 SHG members are expected to benefit from these initial mobile VAS pilot projects. The details of Lead Executing Agency and location of the mobile VAS Pilot Projects are as follows:

1. Tata Tele Services Limited--Uttar Pradesh
2. Sasken Communication Technologies Limited--Tamil Nadu and Kerala
3. Reuters Market Light--Maharashtra
4. Reuters Market Light--Uttarakhand
5. Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Private Limited--Tamil Nadu
6. Videocon Telecommunications Limited--Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
7. Vodafone Essar South Limited--Andhra Pradesh

The mobile VAS projects would focus on providing the women SHG members with a bundle of informational inputs which are pertinent to their livelihood/entrepreneurial activities and lifestyles. This would comprise information related to markets and financial products, skill enhancement, health, social issues and Government schemes. The mode of delivery would include short messaging service (SMS) and interactive voice response systems (IVRS). The content and its delivery will be specially customized for the SHG members keeping in mind aspects of socio-cultural background, literacy, language and gender sensitivity. Training and facilitation and monitoring and evaluation would form an integral part of the projects which shall be completed by Jun-July 2012.

The current Scheme should also serve the purpose of increasing tele-density, as well as broad band connectivity in rural areas, enabling the rural populace to join the cyber community and in this way, bridge the digital divide. With the creation of ICT-skills sets, in rural areas, over a period of time, these areas can become centers for the consumption and production of various ICT goods and services, including hubs for processing outsourced work.

The learning from these Pilot Projects would play a crucial role in framing of future strategies for the empowerment of rural women through ICT. It is envisaged that the success of this scheme would encourage Government and private agencies to use ICT enabled services to reach out to rural women as target beneficiaries of empowerment initiatives and as a potential market segment respectively.

What is USOF?

• The Universal Service Obligation Fund of India came into being with retrospective effect from April 01, 2002 with the passing of the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act 2003, in December 2003.
• The Fund which is headed by the Administrator, USOF has a mandate of providing access to Telegraph (Telecommunications) Services to people in rural and remote areas at reasonable and affordable prices.
• The Fund has already rolled out a large number of schemes aimed at promoting public and individual access to telephony and broadband services in rural India. These include schemes for Village Public Telephones (VPTs), Rural Community Phones (RCPs), Rural Household phones (RDELs), Mobile Infrastructure and Services, Wire Line Broadband, Intra-district OFC Networks etc.
• In recognition of the requirements of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB), USOF has also undertaken gender specific initiatives; like preferential allocation of broadband connections to women’s SHGs has been incorporated in the USOF Wire Line Broadband Scheme.
• A special scheme for provisions of broadband enabled Rural Public Service Terminals to SHGs has been incorporated in the Fund’s activities. These terminals will enable SHGs to provide banking, financial services and other broadband enabled Value Added Services (VAS) to the rural population.

list of Various schemes for the welfare of physically and mentally handicapped persons

Various schemes and programmes that are being implemented by the Government for the welfare of physically and mentally handicapped persons in the country are given below:

1. Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS): Under the Scheme, funds for the welfare of persons with disabilities are provided to the non governmental organizations for projects like special schools for disabled, Vocational Training Centres, Half Way Homes, Community Based Rehabilitation Centres, Early Intervention Centres for Disabled and Rehabilitation of Leprosy Cured Persons etc.
2. Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP): Under the scheme, aids/appliances are distributed to the needy persons with disabilities.
3. National Institutions (NIs): The Ministry supports seven autonomous National Institutes which provide rehabilitation services and with the overall objective of providing rehabilitation services for different types of disabilities.
4. The National Handicapped Finance and development Corporation (NHFDC) provides concessional credit to persons with disabilities for setting up income generating activities for self employment.
5. Scheme for implementation of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (SIPDA): Under this scheme, assistance is provided to the State Governments, Institutions, Organizations under Central or State Governments for various activities relating to implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 particularly for creating barrier free environment supporting District Disability Rehabilitation Centres, Composite Regional Centres etc.
6. Scheme of incentives to Employees in the Private Sector for providing employment to persons with disabilities: Under this Scheme, launched in April, 2008, the government of India reimburse the employers' contribution for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees State Insurance (ESI) for initial three years in respect of persons with disabilities employed in the private sectors on or after 1.4.2008, with a monthly salary upto Rs. 25,000/-.

Government has been under taking Various programs to address the concern of Urban-Rural Disparity

To address the problem of urban-rural disparity in the country the Government of India has been implementing various programs such as Special Area Programs, Flagship Programs, Bharat Nirman Programs and Centrally Sponsored Schemes.

The Ministry of Rural Development implements schemes like

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the objective to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in every financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
• Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) to provide self employment to the members of the rural poor families in the country. SGSY has been restructured as National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) to implement it in a Mission mode in a phased manner for targeted and time bound delivery of results.
• Besides, the Ministry is also implementing others schemes viz, Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Drinking Water Supply (DWS), Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) and Watershed Development Programs with the objective of developing rural infrastructure and basic amenities for improving living conditions of the rural masses.

These schemes are primarily designed to provide employment to the rural poor in their villages besides creating rural infrastructure so that urban-rural disparity in the country could be reduced.

Concurrent Evaluation Studies have been conducted from time to time by the Ministry to assess the effectiveness and impact of rural development programs. The findings of these studies revealed that by and large the target groups of the programs have been satisfied with the implementation of these programs in rural areas.The Ministry of Rural Development has laid special emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of its programs being implemented in rural areas all over the country. The Ministry has put in place a system of monitoring implementation of the programs and utilization of funds through Periodical Progress Reports, Performance Review Committee, Area Officers’ Scheme, Vigilance and Monitoring Committee at the State/District Level, and National Level Monitors. Executive instructions have been issued by the Ministry for conducting social audit of the schemes.

Government to implement Various schemes to enrich the skills in Farmers

The Government is formulating various Schemes with training and capacity building of farmers as one of the components. One such attempt is the Scheme ATMA, started under ‘Support to State Extension Programme for Extension Reforms', which provides support for organizing trainings to farmers at National, State and District level. The scheme also provides for setting up of Farm Schools where progressive farmers with the help of subject matter experts provide trainings to other farmers at six critical stages of the crop cycle. At least, 50% beneficiaries under ATMA Scheme have to be small and marginal farmers.


What is ATMA?
Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) is a society of key stakeholders involved in agriculture activities for sustainable agricultural development in the district.
ATMA is mainly intended to:

• decentralize decision-making to the district level through the creation of Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA). 
• increase farmer input programme planning and recourse allocation, especially, at the block level, and to increase accountability to stakeholders. 
• increase programme coordination and integration, so that the programme thrusts such as Farming System Innovations (FSIs), Farmers Organization (FOs), Technology Gaps (TG) and Natural Resource Management (NRM) can be more effectively and efficiently implemented.

Besides this, skill development of farmers, including small and marginal farmers, under Schemes are as follows:

1. National Food Security Mission (NFSM): Trainings of farmers are organized through Farmer Field Schools (FFS).
2. National Project on Management of Soil Health and Fertility: Trainings on balanced use of fertilizers are being provided.
3. Watershed Development Programmes: Under National Watershed Development Project for Rain-fed Areas (NWDPRA), Soil Conservation in the Catchments of River Valley Project and Flood Prone Rivers (RVP & FPR) and Water-shed Development Project in Shifting Cultivation Areas (WDPSCA), trainings on agricultural production, in-situ moisture conservation, on farm water management, water use efficiency etc. are provided to the farmers.
4. Farm Mechanization Training and Testing Institutes (FMTTI): Training is imparted on operation, maintenance and repair of small tools/ equipments.
5. Integrated Development of Tree Borne Oilseeds Scheme: Farmers’ training is organized for quality seed collection, nursery raising, plantation and production of Tree Borne Oilseeds (TBOs).
6. Strengthening of Infrastructure Facilitates for Production and Distribution of Quality Seed: Training programmes are organized for farmers on fields to upgrade the quality of farmer-saved seeds in association with Seed Village Programme.
7. National Horticulture Mission (NHM) and Horticulture Mission for North Eastern Hills (HMNEs): Need based trainings are provided to small and marginal farmers.

MGNREGA completes 5 years

The nation today witnessed successful completion of five years of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Addressing a large gathering at Vigyan Bhawan on this occasion in New Delhi today, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh called upon the states to strengthen the Gram Sabhas for rural empowerment. He said the Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Panchayati Raj has jointly chalked out a plan to strengthen the Panchayats. Technical Units will be set up in Gram Panchayats and to improve the managerial efficiency every unit will have a Panchayat Development officer and one Junior Engineer. Focus would be on Left Wing Extremism(LWE) affected districts and the districts where more than Rs.100 crore have been spent under MGNREGA.

Recent steps taken by the Government to address the concerns of MGNREGA workers:

• Wages under MGNREGA have been hiked by 17-30% this year.
• The transparency and accountability in payment of wages would be ensured by the help of modern ICT enabled techniques like Biometric hand held devices.

The above initiatives are to improve the delivery mechanism of the Act so as to extend the employment benefits to the genuine persons.

Achievements under MGNREGA:

• So far under this programme a total of 880 crore person days work has been generated of which 52% beneficiaries are from SC/ST while 47% beneficiaries are women.
• Efforts are being made to chalk out Micro-Plans at rural level by involving the local people. These plans will decide the category and place of works to be done under MGNREGA besides involving rural masses in the implementation, monitoring and social auditing.

The UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi while expressing her happiness on the overall performance of MGNREGA said this is also the time to learn from the experience and to prepare for the challenges ahead. She termed the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA as a life line of the rural people which has not only been a source of empowerment for them but also a means of social security. She said half of the job holders are women and the increased wages under this Act has helped in checking the distress migration of labours. Lauding the creation of Green Jobs under MGNREGA, the UPA Chairperson said that water harvesting and ground water recharge works are not only a short term employment but capable of ensuring permanent employment opportunities. Expressing concerns over reported instances of misappropriations in wage payment she said remedial steps should be taken in this regard. Mrs. Gandhi laid emphasis on strengthening the social auditing and said the cooperation of SHGs and NGOs should be taken. to increase the land productivity.

In his inaugural address at the MGNREGA Sammelan -2011 ,the Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh said we will have to strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the days to come and the Panchayats should be made accountable to the Gram Sabhas in each and every respect. He said that MGNREGA has been the scheme of Aam admi and it has transformed the rural India. The Minister underlined the need to ensure transparency and accountability so that the benefit of the scheme reaches out to the needy and the poor in rural areas in time. Mr. Deshmukh lamented the shortcomings in the implementation and said it is high time we address the issue on priority while strengthening the Gram Sabhas.

Under MGNREGA in the financial year 2010-11, upto December, 4.10 crore households have been provided employment and 145 crore persondays have been generated. The average wage earned has risen from Rs 65 per person day in 2006 to Rs 100 by 2011. To further give fillip to income of the MGNREGA workers wage rates have been revised. The notification has linked MGNREGA wage rates to CPI-AL with a corresponding annual increase. The notified wage rates have led to enhancement of wage rates by 17-30%.

Another important attraction of the Sammelan today was demonstration of demonstration of Bio-Metric based ICT enabled MGNREGA process to ensure transparency and accountability in payment of wages to the right person in time was also done . During the Sammelan, “Report to People on Mahatma Gandhi NREGA” showcasing the performance under the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA over the past five years was also released along with the “Rozgar Sutra” highlighting the provisions, rights and entitlements under the act.In addition three booklets, namely “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA”, Guide Book for Gram Panchayats in Hindi and English and “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MGNREGA” for Laborours were also released.

Ten District Programme Coordinators one each from the States of Manipur, Sikkim, Karnataka, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil nadu and Twelve Gram Panchayats from seven states were awarded for their exemplary performance under the Scheme of Awards for Best Performing Gram Panchayats for the year 2009-10. These include Khairwahi (Dondi Block) and Machandur (Durg Block) from Durg District of Chhattisgarh; Kalauna (Dadwali Block) from Sirsa Disstrict of Haryana; Nedumkandam (Nedumkandam Block) from Idduki and Kottukal (Athiyannoor Block) from Thiruvanthapuram districts of Kerala; Pandurna (Mukhed Block) from Nanded district of Maharashtra; Pampura (Asind Block) from district Bhilwara and Badwas Choti (Kushalgarh Block) from Banswara district of Rajasthan; Chuba Phong (Namathang Block) from South Sikkim district of Sikkim and Dhamna (Mauranipur Block) and Dhamna Khurd (Chirgaon Block) from district Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.

Later in the day “Voices from the field” an interactive session was organized wherein the workers who have completed 100 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and the Sarpanchs from the rural areas shared their experiences along with District Project Co-ordinators. The District Programme Coordinators and their district teams, bank and post office functionaries and civil society organizations would be felicitated for their exemplary work.

Over 1200 participants from the country took part in the deliberations. These include among others the State Rural Development Ministers, the Deputy Chairperson and Members of Planning Commission, Members of Central Employment Guarantee Council, awardees of excellence in NREGA administration, awardees of Rozgar Jagrookta Puraskar Scheme, awardees of financial inclusion for Banks and Post Offices, representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions, District Program Co-ordinators and his team members, Senior State Government Officials from the Rural Development Ministry, Heads of Financial institutions including Post Offices, Banks and Insurance Companies. It is expected that the deliberations on the five years of completion of MGNREGA would go a long way towards the march of the nation towards inclusive growth and development .

National Mission on Education Through Information and Communication Technology(NME-ICT)

The National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been envisaged as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme to leverage the potential of ICT, in teaching and learning process for the benefit of all the learners in Higher Education Institutions in any time any where mode. This is expected to be a major intervention in enhancing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher Education by 5
percentage points during the 11th Five Year Plan period.

Main Objectives

• The objectives of the National Mission on Education through ICT shall include:  
• building connectivity and knowledge network among and within institutions of higher learning in the country with a view of achieving critical mass of researchers in any given field; 
• spreading digital literacy for teacher empowerment;  
• development of knowledge modules having the right content to take care of the aspirations of academic community and to address to the personalized needs of the learners; 
• standardization and quality assurance of e-contents to make them world class;  
• research in the field of pedagogy for development of efficient learning modules for disparate groups of learners; 
• making available of e-knowledge contents, free of cost to Indians;
• experimentation and field trial in the area of  performance optimization of low cost access devices for use of ICT in education;  
• providing support for the creation of Virtual Technological University;  
• identification and nurturing of talent;
• certification of competencies of the human resources acquired either through formal or non-formal means and the evolution of a legal framework for it; and 
• developing and maintaining the database with the profiles of our human resources. 

Components
The Mission has two major components:

1. providing connectivity, along with provision for access devices, to institutions and learners; 
2. content generation.

It aims to extend computer infrastructure and connectivity to over 18000 colleges in the country including each of the departments of nearly 400 universities/deemed universities and institutions of national importance
as a part of its motto to provide connectivity upto last mile.  Therefore, the Mission, in addition to utilize the connectivity network of BSNL/MTNL and other providers, shall explore the possibility to provide connectivity utilizing Very Small Apperture Terminal (VSAT), Very Personal Network (VPN) and
EduSat channels.

It seeks to bridge the digital divide, i.e., the gap in the skills to use computing devices for the purpose of teaching and learning among urban and rural teachers/learners in Higher Education domain and empower those, who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy so that they can make best use of ICT for teaching and learning.
The Mission would create high quality e-content for the target groups.

National Programme of Technology enhanced Learning (NPTEL) Phase II and III will be part of the content generation activity.

The peer group assisted content development would utilise the wikipaedia type of collaborative platform under the supervision of a content advisory committee responsible for vetting the content. Interactivity and problem solving approach would be addressed through “Talk to a Teacher” component, where the availability of teachers to take the questions of learners shall be ensured appropriately.

Mission also envisage, on line, for promoting research with the objective to develop new and innovative ICT tools for further facilitation of teaching and learning process. It plans to focus on appropriate pedagogy for
e-learning, providing facility of performing experiments through virtual laboratories, on-line testing and certification, utilization of available Education Satellite (EduSAT) and Direct to Home (DTH) platforms, training and empowerment of teachers to effectively use the new method of teaching learning etc.

Central Government would bear 75% of the connectivity charges for 5 years even for institutions not belonging to it.

Renowned institutions would anchor various activities in their areas of excellence. The Mission would seek to enhance the standards of education, in Government as well as in private colleges. Enlistment of support and
cooperation of States/Union Territories, Institutions and individual experts would be an integral part of the Mission.

One of the mandate of the Mission is to generate a data base of the human resources in different fields/disciplines and also to predict the availability and demand of the human resources in different disciplines.  It shall also develop certain testing modules to test and certify the skills of the human resources acquired through various formal and non-formal means. The Mission also seeks to give further impetus to NPTEL (being implemented by IITs and IISc.  It would also promote open source culture and provide platform for sharing of  ideas, techniques and pooling of knowledge resources.

While about 100 premier institutions are being provided 1 Gbps connectivity under National Knowledge Network initially and the number is slated to go up in future, under this Mission, without any duplication, 20000 other institutions  of higher learning and nearly 10000 University Departments will be provided connectivity as per their requirement, beginning with a minimum of 5 Mbps for each one of them, through satellites and terrestrial means.  Vocational education would be strengthened through ICT and class room teaching would be supplemented under the Mission.  Under the Mission, quality enhancement of teaching through digital empowerment of teachers would bridge the digital divide and there would be on-line availability of experts and teachers to remove doubts of students.


Budget Allocation
An amount of Rs.4612 crore has been allocated by the Planning Commission during the 11th Five Year Plan for the National Mission on Education through ICT. There is a budget provision of Rs.502 crore during
the current financial  year 2008-09.

Administrative structure and functioning 
The Mission  have a three tier committee system to monitor and guide its functioning.  The National Apex Committee of the Mission is chaired by Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development, and decides on all policy issues and prescribes guidelines for the functioning of the two sets of Committees namely ‘Empowered Committee of Experts (also known as ‘Project Approval Board’) and ‘Core Committees of Domain Experts’. It has  a ‘Mission Director’, who heads the Mission Secretariat and also acts as the
Secretary to the National Apex Committee and Project Approval Board.

The proposals submitted to the Mission by various agencies/individuals/institutions undertake activities which come under the domain of the Mission are scrutinized by the concerned Core Committee of Domain Experts. This Committee makes its recommendations to Project Approval Board for consideration and decision on sanctioning the projects.
The monitoring of the overall progress of the approved project activities is to be done through various peer reviews and concurrent evaluation.

SABLA : RAJIV GANDHI SCHEME FOR EMPOWERMENT OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS (RGSEAG )

The Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, in the year 2000, came up with a scheme called Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY), which was implemented using the infrastructure of the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS). The objective of this scheme was to improve the nutrition and health status of girls in the agegroup of 11 to 18 years, to equip them to improve and upgrade their homebased and vocational skills, and to promote their overall development, including awareness about their health, personal hygiene, nutrition and family welfare and management. Thereafter, the Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG) was initiated as a pilot project in the year 2002-03 in 51 identified districts across the country to address the problem of under nutrition among AGs(Adolescent Girls). 

Under this programme, 6 kg of free food grain per beneficiary per month was given to undernourished AGs. Though both these schemes have influenced the lives of AGs to an extent, but have not shown the desired impact. Moreover, the extent of financial assistance and coverage under them has been limited and they both had similar interventions and catered to more or less similar target groups. Therefore, a new comprehensive scheme, called Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls or SABLA, merging the erstwhile KSY and NPAG schemes has been formulated to address the multi dimensional problems of AGs. SABLA will be implemented initially in 200 districts selected across the country, using the platform of ICDS. In these districts, RGSEAG will replace KSY and NPAG. In rest of the districts, KSY would continue as before.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS SCHEME:

The objectives of the scheme are to:

• enable self development and empowerment of AGs(Adolescent Girls);
• improve their nutrition and health status;
• spread awareness among them about health, hygiene, nutrition, Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH), and family and child care;
• upgrade their home based skills, life skills and vocational skills;
• mainstream out of school AGs into formal/non formal education; and
• inform and guide them about existing public services, such as PHC, CHC, Post Office, Bank, Police Station, etc.

FOR WHOM THIS SCHEME IS FOR?

The scheme aims at covering AGs in the age group of 11 to 18 years under all ICDS projects in selected 200 districts across India on pilot. Keeping in view the need of different ages and in order to give age‐appropriate attention for certain components of ARSH and family matters, the target group may be subdivided into two categories, viz., 11-14 and 15-18 years. Interventions on health and personal hygiene, etc. would have to be planned accordingly.

The scheme focuses on all out-of-school AGs, who would assemble at the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) as per timetable and frequency to be decided by the State Governments /UTs concerned. The others, i.e., school-going girls, would meet at the AWC at least twice a month, and more frequently (once a week) during

vacations/holidays. Here they will receive life skills education, nutrition and health education, awareness about socio-legal issues, etc. This will provide an opportunity for mixed group interaction between school-going and out-of-school girls, motivating the latter to also join school and help the school going to receive the life skills.

MODALITIES OF THE SCHEME

Formation of Kishori Samooh

‘Kishori Samooh’ (KS) will be a group of average 15 to 25 AGs from the village/area of the AWC and will be formed at the AWC level. In case there are less than 15 AGs, Kishori Samooh can still be formed. Kishori Samooh will not be formed if there are less than 7 AGs in the area of the AWC in which case, the benefits of the Scheme may be given to these AGs without nominating sakhi and saheli. The AGs will select three leaders of their choice for a year from within the KS. In this selection, they may be guided by the AWW and, wherever possible, a school teacher from the village. Selection may be based on age, education level, maturity, willingness of the girl and her acceptability within the group. 

These girls will be called ‘Sakhi’ (one girl) and ‘Saheli’(two girls), which in English mean ‘friend’. As far as possible, the Sakhi and Sahelis may be selected from among the out of school girls. One of these girls will be Sakhi, i.e., peer monitor. Each of the three selected girl will have a term of four months as Sakhi, on rotation basis, while the remaining two will function as Sahelis assisting Sakhi. Thus, each Kishori Samooh will be headed by Sakhi, assisted by two Sahelis. Sakhi and Sahelis will serve the group for a period of one year, after which a fresh selection would be made. Names of Sakhi and Sahelis may be displayed on the wall of AWC and, if possible, on the school wall.

The concept of Sakhi and Saheli is meant to serve several purposes: development of leadership abilities, team spirit, motivation to be the next Sakhi and Saheli, understanding democracy at a very fundamental level, and providing information and guidance to peers.

The identified girls, i.e., Sakhi and Sahelis, will be imparted training as per prescribed module at the project or sector level to serve as peer monitors for KS. Sakhi and Sahelis are to participate in regular activities of AWC, like providing pre school education and supplementary nutrition, growth monitoring, etc. They may also accompany the AWW for home visits, which will serve as training ground for future.

State Governments /UTs may decide to give a certificate to Sakhi and Sahelis upon completion of their term of work. This will motivate the AGs to take on a leadership role.

Kishori Diwas

Kishori Diwas will be a special health day, celebrated once in three months on a fixed day, as decided by the State Governments /UTs. On this day, the AWWs with the help of health functionaries, including Medical Officer, Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), will mobilize AGs and their families, especially mothers, to assemble at the AWC. For better coordination, the State Governments /UTs may choose to combine Kishori Diwas with the corresponding month’s Village Health and Nutrition Day (VHND). However, care should be taken that .the overall aim of the Kishori Diwas is not lost and that it is not overshadowed by the VHND.

State Governments / UTs must ensure coordination and convergence with respective Health Departments so that Health personnel specially the Medical Officers are present on Kishori Diwas. On Kishori Diwas, AGs and their families will be able to interact freely with ICDS and health personnel to obtain basic services and information.

The ICDS and health functionaries will be responsible for educating AGs and their families about the preventive and promotive aspects of nutrition and healthcare, for encouraging them to adopt healthy behaviour as well as seeking healthcare from proper healthcare facilities. Village Health and Sanitation Committees (VHSCs), comprising ASHA, AWW, ANM and PRI representatives, should be involved in organizing the event. Adequate publicity of Kishori Diwas should be ensured to maximise participation.

On Kishori Diwas, the following services are to be provided:

1. General health check up, including recording of height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) for all AGs, by the Medical Officer / ANM
2. Filling up of Kishori Cards for every AG, marking major milestones
3. Referral to specialized healthcare facilities, as required specially for conditions like malnutrition (BMI < 18.5), menstrual problems, frequent headaches, prolonged acne, worm infestation, etc.
4. Organising of special health camps
5. Providing nutrition and health education
6. Demonstration of preparing nutritious recipes(FNB may be involved for these)
7. Holding counselling / behaviour change communication (BCC) sessions with AGs and their families for promoting good practices
8. Imparting information, education and communication (IEC) to community, parents, siblings etc.
9. Mobile Health Units (where existing) may be utilised.

Kishori Card

A card for each AG to be called “Kishori Card”, will be maintained at the AWC. This will contain information regarding the weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI) , Iron Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, referrals and services received under Sabla. The card will also contain important milestones in the girl’s life like joining school, leaving school, marriage, etc. which will be marked as and when they are achieved. AWW will help the girls in maintenance of Kishori Cards. Sakhi and Sahelis will assist the AGs in filling up the Kishori Cards, after which the AWW will countersign it.

Timetable for Implementation

Activities may be planned for AGs for two hours per day for three days in a week at the AWC, or at any other place where alternative arrangements may be made. AGs must be provided non nutrition services for a minimum of 5-6 hours per week.

The timings and days would be decided by the State Government /UT concerned, keeping the following in view:

(a) The timings for providing services under ICDS Scheme, so that its implementation is not adversely impacted. Time coordination may be done between the ICDS and Sabla Scheme in such a manner that the timings for activities for AGs may not overlap with or impinge upon ICDS timings.

(b) Availability of AWW/AWH and resource persons on these days

(c) Convenience of AGs for coming to the sessions

(d) Suitability of the location where the sessions are to be held, if other than AWC

For conducting sessions on different issues, a day-wise timetable must be drawn for AWCs by the CDPO in consultation with Supervisor and AWW. The venue, days and themes for sessions as fixed must be made known to the AGs so that they are made aware about it. The interventions may be divided into two groups of 11‐14 and 15‐18, with age‐specific inputs. These sessions will be conducted by resource persons, who could be drawn from among NGOs, CBOs, SHGs, field trainers, local artisans, etc. The sessions would be facilitated by the CDPO and the Supervisor and aided by AWW/ASHA/ANM. Field units of Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) may also be involved. Sakhi and Saheli would assist in organization of groups for these sessions.

Mixed group interactions for school-going and out-of-school AGs would be held twice a month when schools are working, and more frequently during school vacations (once a week, i.e 4 times a month). Timings and days for these interactions may be decided by the State Governments /UTs concerned taking into consideration various factors relating to the availability of school-going AGs, like school timings, examinations, etc.

Stories, games, group discussions, etc. could be carried out as activities during the sessions. School teachers may be called to address AGs on these days to inspire and motivate out-of-school girls so that they willingly enrol in school. This, along with the activities and interactions with school-going AGs, would provide plentiful motivation to the out-of-school AGs to join mainstream education, like their peers. It would help school-going AGs understand about public services, life skills, etc.

Location

ICDS infrastructure will be used for implementation of SABLA. AWC will be the focal point for delivery of services under the scheme. Where infrastructure and facilities like appropriate space, toilet, drinking water, etc at the AWC are not adequate, the scheme may be implemented using alternate arrangements like at the school building, panchayat building, community building, etc., with space earmarked for the purpose. In case of non-availability or non-suitability of the AWC, a mapping exercise to identify a suitable location for holding sessions for AGs may be carried out by the ICDS Supervisor.

For this, the DPO / CDPO may take support from panchayat members. The infrastructure and facilities must include adequate space for conducting activities of the group, functional toilets, drinking water, etc.

Services under the Scheme

There are two major components under the Scheme - Nutrition Component and Non Nutrition Component as under:

i) Nutrition Component:

11‐14 years AGs : Out of school girls

14 ‐18 years AGs : All girls

ii) Non Nutrition Component

For Out of school AGs :

a)11‐18 years

‐ Nutrition provision,

‐ IFA supplementation,

‐ Health check‐up and Referral services,

‐ Nutrition & Health Education (NHE),

‐ Counseling/Guidance on family welfare, ARSH, child care practices,

‐ Life Skill Education and accessing public services

b)16‐18Years

‐ Vocational training under National Skill Development Program (NSDP)

For school going AGs of 11‐18 years, the services at ii) a) will be provided twice a

month in school days and four times a month in vacations.

SWABHIMAAN

In a big nation like India providing banking facilities across length and breadth of the country, especially in rural areas, has always been a great challenge for the successive governments since Independence. Though Nationalisation gave a big boost to expansion of banks in rural areas with Public Sector Banks becoming important instruments for advancement of rural banking and changing lives of rural populace. However, financial inclusion remains one of the biggest challenges before our nation even today as only about 38% of bank branches are in rural areas and only 40% (approx.) of the country’s population have bank accounts.

To address this problem, a nationwide programme on financial inclusion, “Swabhimaan” was launched in February, 2011 by the Government, with its focus on bringing the deprived sections of the society in banking network to ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach everyone at all levels.

“Swabhimaan” is a path-breaking initiative by the Government and the Indian Banks’ Association to cover economic distance between rural and urban India. This campaign is a big step towards socio-economic equality by bringing the underprivileged segments of Indian population into the formal banking fold for the first time. The vision for this programme is social application of modern technology. 

This campaign ensures to provide the following services to the Rural India:

• Promises to bring basic banking services to 73,000 unbanked villages with a population of 2,000 and above by March, 2012 and at least 5 crore new accounts will be opened.
• The movement will facilitate opening of banks accounts, provide need-based credit, remittance facilities and help to promote financial literacy in rural India. 
• The programme will increase the demand for credit among the millions of small and marginal farmers and rural artisans who will benefit by having access to banking facilities.
• This financial inclusion campaign aims at providing branchless banking services through the use of technology.
• Banks will provide basic services like deposits, withdrawals and remittances using the services of Business Correspondents (BCs) also known as Bank Saathi.
• The initiative also enables Government subsidies and social security benefits to now be directly credited to the accounts of the beneficiaries so that they could draw the money from the Business Correspondents (BCs) in their village itself.
• The Government hopes to reach the benefits of micro insurance and micro pension products to the masses through this banking linkage.
• This programme now makes it possible for the large number of migrant workers in urban areas to remit money to their relatives in distant villages quickly and safely.
• The facilities provided through banking outlets will enhance social security by facilitating the availability of allied services in course of time like micro insurance, access to mutual funds, pensions, etc.
• Banking facilities like Savings Bank, recurring Deposits, Fixed deposits, Remittances, Overdraft facility, Kisan Credit Card (KCCs), General Credit Cards (GCC) and collection of cheques will be provided.
• The Banks are also working together with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for enrolment, opening bank accounts and also to facilitate transfer of government subsidies and other payments.

Bank Saathis / Business Correspondents:

The success of this programme will depend on the proper utilization of the Business Correspondents (BCs) or Bank Saathis, who are persons engaged by Banks to create a closer relationship between the formal financial system and the people living in the rural hinterland, far away from brick and mortar bank branches. The BCs will help in making available banking facilities to the interior areas through various handheld mobile devices and other technologies that reduce cost and have the ability to record banking transactions and to communicate the record of such transactions to the Bank using the internet facilities / GPRS.

Monitoring of the program:

“Swabhimaan” campaign is expected to benefit millions of small and marginal farmers and rural artisans by providing them easy access to credit at lower rates and save them from clutches and exploitation by moneylenders. The progress of this programe will be monitored through the State Level Bankers Committee mechanism. District Magistrates/Collectors are being sensitized in this regard to ensure proper monitoring of the programme through coordinated efforts of all stake-holders. The State Governments have been advised to route all Government benefits and social security payments through the banking system so that the benefits reach the beneficiaries timely and efficiently and leakages are reduced substantially.

FSLRC was constituted for legislative reforms in Financial Sector

The Government of India issued a resolution notifying the constitution of Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) in pursuance to the announcement made by the Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech of 2010-11 to rewrite and harmonise financial sector legislations, rules and regulations. This become necessarily required for rewriting and streamlining the financial sector Laws, Rules and Regulations to bring them in harmony with the requirements of India’s fast growing financial sector.

The Chairman of the Commission is Justice (Retd.) B. N. Srikrishna, Shri C K G Nair is Secretary and the members include Justice (Retd.) Debi Prasad Pal, Dr. P.J. Nayak, Smt. K.J. Udeshi, ShriYezdiH.Malegam, Prof. JayantVarm, Prof. M. GovindaRao, Shri C. Achutan,  and Shri Dhirendra Swarup Member Convenor Joint Secretary, Capital Markets Nominee Member to the Commission.

The Commission’s headquarter would be in Delhi. The Commission will submit its report to the Union Finance Minister within 24 months. The first meeting of the Commission is scheduled to be held on 5th April 2011.

There are over 60 Acts and multiple Rules/Regulations in the sector and many of them date back decades when the financial landscape was very different from what is obtaining today. Large number of amendments made in in these Acts over time has increased the ambiguity and complexity of the system. The Commission would simplify and rewrite financial sector legislations, including subordinate legislations, to achieve harmony and synergy among them.This will remove ambiguity, regulatory gaps and overlaps among the various legislations making them more coherent and dynamic and help cater to the requirements of a large and fast growing economy in tune with the changing financial landscape in an inter-connected financial world. In the long-term, it would help usher in the next generation of reforms, contribute to efficient financial intermediation enhancing the growth potential of the nation.

The Terms of Reference of the Commission include the following:

1. Examining the architecture of the legislative and regulatory system governing the Financial sector in India,
2. Examine if legislation should mandate statement of principles of legislative intent behind every piece of subordinate legislation in order to make the purposive intent of the legislation clear and transparent to users of the law and to the Courts.
3. Examine if public feedback for draft subordinate legislation should be made mandatory, with exception for emergency measures.
4. Examine prescription of parameters for invocation of emergency powers where regulatory action may be taken on ex parte basis.
5. Examine the interplay of exchange controls under FEMA and FDI Policy with other regulatory regimes within the financial sector.
6. Examine the most appropriate means of oversight over regulators and their autonomy from government.
7. Examine the need for re-statement of the law and immediate repeal of any out-dated legislation on the basis of judicial decisions and policy shifts in the last two decades of the financial sector post-liberalisation.
8. Examination of issues of data privacy and protection of consumer of financial services in the Indian market.
9. Examination of legislation relating to the role of information technology in the delivery of financial services in India, and their effectiveness.
10. Examination of all recommendations already made by various expert committees set up by the government and by regulators and to implement measures that can be easily accepted.
11. Examine the role of state governments and legislatures in ensuring a smooth inter-state financial services infrastructure in India.
12. Examination of any other related issues.

Services Sector Advantage India

As the world stand on the cusp of financial recovery it is an opportunity to build upon and maximise our potential as an important economic power. The recent changes in the global economic landscape shows the epicentre of growth has finally moved to our time zone. We have sustained the growth of 8-9% even in the hard time and embarking on the reform process keeping focus on the more open and equitable market. The story of India’s success is driven by growth in ‘services sector’ and powered by controlled monetary and fiscal policies of the Government. Today, India stands out for the size and dynamism of its services sector. The contribution of the services sector to the India economy has been very impressive; today services sector accounts for  around 60% of our GDP, growing by 10% annually, contributing to about a 35% of the total employment, accounting for the high share of the Foreign Direct Investment ( FDI ) inflows and in value terms over one-fourth  of India’s total exports.

India is perceived as service economy. The high growth rate achieved by the Indian economy over the last decade has much to owe to the growth of services sector in the country. The services sector contributes around 25% of India’s total trade, around 40% to exports, and 20% of our imports. It accounts for more than 50% of FDI into the country. Internationally, India has registered the highest growth rate of service exports in recent years, averaging 26% during 2000-07 as against the world average of 14% and much larger than most other countries (23% for China, 14% for EU and 8% for US). The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study says that 40 million new services jobs, $200 billion will be generated by 2020 in India.

We as a country have leveraged on foreign investment and expertise, to advance in international services markets – from tourism and construction to software development and health care. Services liberalization has thus become a key element of our development strategies. There is strong evidence in many services which says developed services sector leads to lower prices, better quality and wider choice for consumers. Such benefits, in turn, work their way through the economic system and help to improve supply conditions for many other products. The strength of India at the global competitiveness at services has guided developed countries to keep services out of ambit of WTO negotiations.

In light of the above mentioned strengths we have positioned ourselves as a ‘demandeur’ in Services negotiations at the WTO as well as in the bilateral FTA negotiations. The objective behind these negotiations is to secure maximum and effective market access for our services exports. Based on our comparative advantage our critical requests in the services areas have focussed on getting meaningful commitments in Cross Border Supply (Mode 1) and Movement of Natural Persons (Mode 4). One of the areas of crucial interest to India is development of disciplines in Domestic Regulations involving qualifications and licensing requirements and procedures, without which Mode 4 access gets severely impeded.  The lack of a legal framework for international services trade is anomalous and dangerous—anomalous because the potential benefits of services liberalization are at least as great as in the goods sector, and dangerous because there was no legal basis on which to resolve conflicting national interests.

There is a concept that why services are not the part of GATS? As we are aware that services are intangible therefore, tariff can’t be imposed on them, and so they are not part of any trade negations. Countries regulate services by domestic regulations by non trade-specific legislation.  Services are the way in which a country takes a commitment keeping in mind their unique advantage and skill potential, so internal legislations governs the trade in services. In sovereign sense these legislations touches the health and safety regulations, investment regulations and immigrations restrictions– because trade in services has a human dimensions and a capital dimensions attached to it.

Today, compelled by pressures of a rapidly ageing population and the compulsions to remain competitive in a highly globalised world, developed countries are increasingly relying on the services of skilled professionals from developing countries like India. India’s rising share in the global export of commercial services and workers’ remittance is a testimony to this fact. According to one estimate, at any point of time, around five million Indians work abroad. Thus, with a demographic advantage and the large pool of skilled and low cost English speaking workforce, India can well provide the solution to the world's skills shortage problem. 

This dominant position in services has also helped us to generate a huge services trade surplus. This surplus from services trade has over the last decade or so helped to offset a major part of the deficit accruing from the merchandise side, and thereby helped in checking the current account deficit. 

However, to get a complete picture we also need to analyse India’s position in global exports of services. In the year 2008 India’s share in global exports of services was 2.7 percentage points and we ranked 9^th in the list of leading services exporters in the world. Thus, there is not only a need to consolidate and maintain our position but there is also a need to try and  capitalize on our inherent strengths in Services and move up in the share of world exports of commercial services.

India resource and size and its demographic profile, sets a strong stage for advantage in service sector which indeed is crucially linked to development. Times are changing fast and the world is looking forward to us to play an active role of a financial life boat in this globally turning economic paradigm.  A strong skilled work force and people to people partnership can take India to the position which has been due since long time.

Committee set up to strengthen ways to curb black money

The Government has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the chief of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to examine ways for strengthening laws to curb generation of black money and prevent its transfer abroad, besides recovering such illegal assets. 
 

The committee will consult various stakeholders and submit its report within six months, a statement from the Finance Ministry said on May28.

It will be headed by chairman of central board of direct taxes, CBDT.

"The Government has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Chairman, CBDT, to examine ways to strengthen laws to curb the generation of black money in the country, its illegal transfer abroad and its recovery," it said.

The committee will examine the existing legal and administrative framework to deal with generation of black money through illegal means.

Among the likely measures are to declare wealth generated illegally as national asset, enact or amend laws to allow confiscation and recovery of such assets and providing for exemplary punishment against its perpetrators.

Besides the CBDT Chairman, other members of the committee would include CBDT Member, Legislation and Computerisation (L&C), Director of the Enforcement Directorate, Director General of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Director General (Currency), CBDT Joint Secretary (FT&TR) and Financial Intelligence Unit - India (FIU-IND) Joint Secretary.

CBDT's Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT)(Investigation) would be the committee's Member Secretary

Govt panel recommends hike in grant for India Awas Yojna

A govt-appointed committee has recommended a hike in allocation of grants for construction of rural houses for Below Poverty Line category from Rs 45,000 to Rs 75,000 per dwelling unit.

The Banker's Committee on Rural Housing submitted its report to Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on recommending the hike in grant for the Indira Awas Yojana for the people living Below Poverty Line.

The committee also proposed a loan of Rs 50,000 to BPL families in form of affordable credit at four per cent under Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) scheme of the Centre.

One of the key recommendations of the committee is to extend the repayment period for the loans to 15 years.

It has viewed that since the loan is given for housing, the EMI may be limited to Rs 300-350 so that it is within the repayment capacity of the borrower.

Deshmukh said the recommendations of the expert committee would be examined by the ministry towards its commitment of providing affordable housing for the rural people across the country.

So far the benefits available under Indira Awas Yojana are grant of Rs 45,000 each for construction of new houses in plain areas and Rs 48,500 in hilly and difficult areas, while it is Rs 15,000 for upgradation of old houses.

The eight-member panel headed by R Sridhar, CMD of Central Bank Of India also recommended a group based lending approach for rural housing for giving better results and need for policy changes with regard to linking of repayment of rural housing loans to crop cycle.

The Bankers' Committee also suggested that a multi dimensional strategy with necessary risk safeguards is required to be adopted which will focus on effective collaboration and partnership with financial institutions and other successful channels including NGOs for evolving projects as 'community-managed and driven'.

The panel proposed setting up a dedicated "Rural Habitat Development Fund" for the planned development of rural housing and housing finance landscape.

It also recommended setting up a "Rural Risk Fund" with contributions from all stakeholders to encourage insurance-linked products with housing so as to reduce the cost of housing finance to various stakeholders.

The committee has also made certain recommendations for providing loans with subsidy and without subsidy to Above Poverty Line (APL) households, saying the loan amount without subsidy should be decided by the lending institution based on the credit worthiness of the borrower.

SELF HELP GROUPS

A small group (15 to 20 members), voluntarily formed and related by affinity for specific purpose, it is a group whose members use savings, credit and social involvement as instruments of empowerment.

he dictionary meaning of federation is "Association of autonomous bodies uniting for a common perceived benefits". "an association of autonomous bodies united for common perceived benefits" (FWWB, 1998).
A federation is an association of primary organizations.  Primary organizations may federate to realize economies of scale or to gain strength as an interest group. Federations of cooperatives have a long history. (Nair 2002).
A Cluster Level Federation is a network of several SHGs and a structure or body evolved by SHGs themselves consisting of representatives from all member SHGs, with a motive of supporting member-SHGs attain the goals of economic and social empowerment of women members and their capacity building.  (TNCDW, 1999)
In other words, it is an another forum for SHGs to step up development of women members taking advantage of collective effort of members SHGs, enabling a holistic and need based economic and social development. A SHG Federation is a democratic body formed with certain number of SHGs functioning in a specific geographical area with the objective of uniting such SHGs for common cause and for achieving these causes which an individual SHG would not be able to do. In short, the SHG Federation has to be necessarily of SHGs, by SHGs and for SHGs.

Objectives of Self Help Groups:
Experiences and literature shows that federations are set up with one or more of the following objectives:

• To get access to policy making bodies through political empowerment and social mobility
• To facilitate linkages between SHGs and banks/govt. agencies/local institutions
• To have better access to development information and marketing linkages
• To resolve any conflicts that may arise within member SHGs
• To assist in strengthening the performance of member SHGs
• To help in achieving sustainability of SHG
• To strengthen (through training, information dissemination, on-site support, etc) the capacity of member-SHGs in one or more of a variety of fields (bookkeeping, accounting, marketing, financial management, advocacy, bank-linkage, accessing government schemes, to name some)
• To provide credit, especially multiple credit lines
• To provide savings facilities, especially voluntary savings
• To undertake marketing of the produce of the members of the SHGs
• To provide life/loan insurance services
• To provide staff support to member-SHGs
• To write and/or audit the accounts of member-SHGs
• To review/regulate/supervise the functioning of member-SHGs
• To promote new SHGs
• To create the political/social space that women need to live their lives as fully as they desire to
• To be the window to the outside world, in replacement of the promoter organisation
• To undertake all that the external facilitator was undertaking, after its departure.

Microfinance

Microfinance:
Microfinance means providing very poor families with very small loans (microcredit) to help them engage in productive activities or grow their tiny businesses. Over time, microfinance has come to include a broader range of services (credit, savings, insurance, etc.) as we have come to realize that the poor and the very poor who lack access to traditional formal financial institutions require a variety of financial products.
Microcredit came to prominence in the 1980s, although early experiments date back 30 years in Bangladesh, Brazil and a few other countries. The important difference of microcredit was that it avoided the pitfalls of an earlier generation of targeted development lending, by insisting on repayment, by charging interest rates that could cover the costs of credit delivery, and by focusing on client groups whose alternative source of credit was the informal sector. Emphasis shifted from rapid disbursement of subsidized loans to prop up targeted sectors towards the building up of local, sustainable institutions to serve the poor. Microcredit has largely been a private (non-profit) sector initiative that avoided becoming overtly political, and as a consequence, has outperformed virtually all other forms of development lending.
Traditionally, microfinance was focused on providing a very standardized credit product. The poor, just like anyone else, need a diverse range of financial instruments to be able to build assets, stabilize consumption and protect themselves against risks. Thus, we see a broadening of the concept of microfinance--our current challenge is to find efficient and reliable ways of providing a richer menu of microfinance products.

 Micro Credit:

Micro Credit is defined as provision of thrift, credit and other financial services and products of very small amount to the poor in rural, semi-urban and urban areas for enabling them to raise their income levels and improve living standards. Micro Credit Institutions are those which provide these facilities.
Banks have been given freedom to formulate their own lending norms keeping in view ground realities. They have been asked to devise appropriate loan and savings products and the related terms and conditions including size of the loan, unit cost, unit size, maturity period, grace period, margins, etc. Such credit covers not only consumption and production loans for various farm and non-farm activities of the poor but also include their other credit needs such as housing and shelter improvements .

Difference between microfinance and microcredit:

Microfinance refers to loans, savings, insurance, transfer services and other financial products targeted at low-income clients. Microcredit refers to a small loan to a client made by a bank or other institution. Microcredit can be offered, often without collateral, to an individual or through group lending.