The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) October 25, 2009

The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY)- External website that opens in a new window was launched on 25 December 2000 as a fully funded Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The primary objective of the PMGSY is to provide connectivity to all the eligible unconnected habitations of more than 500 persons in the rural areas (250 persons in the hilly and desert areas) by good quality all-weather roads.

Under Bharat Nirman, goal has been set to provide connectivity to all the habitations with population of more than 1000 in the plain areas and habitations with a population of 500 or more in hilly and tribal areas in a time-bound manner by 2009. The systematic upgradation of the existing rural road networks is also an integral component of the scheme. Accordingly, an Action Plan has been prepared for connecting 66,802 habitations with 1,46,185 km of all-weather roads. This Action Plan also envisages upgradation/renewal of 1,94,130 km of the existing rural road network. Subsequently, based on ground verification by States, 62,985 habitations were found eligible to be connected under the programme, out of which 3421 habitations have been connected under other schemes. Thus, the revised target is to connect 59,564 habitations. It is estimated that an investment of about Rs.48,000 crore would be required for achieving the targets under Bharat Nirman. The implementation strategy focuses on quality, cost management and ‘on time’ delivery.

Up to July, 2008, project proposals amounting to Rs. 81,717 crore have been approved against which a sum of Rs. 38,499 crore has been released for 86,146 roads covering a length of 3,31,736 km. Against these, 52,218 road works having road length of 1,75629 km have been completed with a cumulative expenditure of Rs. 35,295 crore.

Source: National Portal Content Management Team,

Ujjawala Scheme October 25, 2009

Ujjawala Scheme

The trafficking of people, mostly of women and children is a burgeoning criminal activity that generates unbelievably large profits every year, third only to illegal drugs and weapons trade. Every year, thousands of women and children are reported missing from their homes in different parts of the globe. Such victims of trafficking are usually lifted from deprived regions and villages and exported to mainly urban areas within or across borders.

The ‘Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children’, defines trafficking in persons to mean the use of threats, force, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or other forms of coercion for the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation includes prostitution, other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

Trafficking of women and children is a major issue in India, with people being illegally transported across States as well as being brought in over borders from neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh. The main reason for trafficking people is commercial sexual exploitation, though people may also be trafficked for forced labour, marriage, begging, adoption and organ trade.

The Constitution of India- External website that opens in a new window, the fundamental law of the land, specifically forbids “traffic in human beings and other similar forms of forced labour” in Article 23. The welfare of women and children is of vital importance to the Indian Government, with the administration regularly formulating provisions and schemes for their benefit. One of the most promising schemes brought about is the ‘Ujjawala Scheme- External website that opens in a new window‘ designed to liberate victims of commercial sexual exploitation

Some Govt. Schemes October 25, 2009

Govt. Schemes Central Tibetan Schools Administration Society The Main object of Central Tibetan Schools Administration Society is to establish, manage and assists schools in India… National Knowledge Commission The National Knowledge Commission is a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, with the objective of transforming… Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is an effort to universalise elementary education by community-ownership of the school… Central Institute of Educational Technology Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) is a constituent unit of the NCERT. Its chief aim is to promote Educational… Department of Education A full fledged Ministry of Education was established on 29th August 1947 to look after India’s education needs and wants… Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya The Government of India has approved a new scheme called Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) for setting… Mid-Day Meal Scheme The Mid-Day Meal Scheme was launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Education) with effect from … Navodaya Vidyalaya System The Navodaya Vidyalaya System is a unique experiment unparalleled in the annals of school education in India and elsewhere… NCERT The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an apex resource organisation set up by the Government… National Literacy Mission National Literacy Mission (NLM) which aims at imparting functional literacy to 80 million illiterate persons in 15-35 age- group…

NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE SCHEME August 27, 2009

Salient features

Introduced in:1999-2000 replacing the Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme which was in operation since 1985

Implementing Authority:General Insurance Corporation on behalf of Ministry of Agriculture

Beneficiaries:All farmers including sharecroppers and tenants

Covered crops:All

Objective: To insure every farmers against loss of food crops,To help stabilize farm incomes, particularly in disaster years,To encourage the farmers to adopt progressive farming practices, high value in-puts and higher technology in agriculture.

Special feature:50% subsidy on premium for small and marginal farmers.This subsidy is shared equally by Central and state/UT governments.The scheme has an area based approach. For loanee farmers it is compulsory while for non-loanee farmers it will be optional

Premium rates:2.5-3.5% during kharif and 1.5-2% during ravi seasons

MEGA FOOD PARK SCHEME August 25, 2009

The Mega Food Park Scheme, initiated by the Centre, aims to encourage public-private partnership in creating rural infrastructure in food processing sector. The scheme, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in September 2008, envisages setting up 10 mega foods parks in India i.e. Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Dharmapuri (Tamil Nadu), Mandya (Karnataka), Pune-Satara region (Maharashtra), Jangipur (West Bengal), Guwahati (northeast), Rae Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Hardwar (Uttarakhand) and Ludhiana-Jalandhar region (Punjab).The scheme is under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.The government will divide the stipulated Rs 500 Cr among the ten food parks.

For instance, Unity Infraprojects Ltd, Mumbai, is developing the mega food park near Jalandhar at a cost of around Rs 360 crore. The facility will be established on around 100 acres and will consist of 30-35 food processing units.Western Agri Food Park established in Satara is Western India’s first food park and based on 75 acres of land.

Such food parks will help in

• Reducing post harvest losses
• Maintainance of the supply chain in sustainable manner
• Value Addition
• Additional income generation for the farmers
• shifting the farmers to more market driven and profitable farming activities.

CIVIL SERVICES BILL 2009 August 23, 2009

CIVIL SERVICES BILL 2009: THE SILENT CIVILIAN COUP

India’s first Prime Minister’s self-confessed biggest failure is now set to become complete surrender. In the 21st century, instead of putting in place a contemporary and responsive bureaucratic set up, India is on the verge of making its dysfunctional colonial babudom that Nehru wanted to dismantle but could not, even more unaccountable and powerful than it was during the Raj.

So dangerous is going to be the result of a proposal under consideration that it is surprising that there are no voices being raised against it. Perhaps that itself is an indication of the power and reach of India’s babus even today.

Let us get some basic things straight. This country is meant to governed by political leaders who are chosen by the people, the real sovereigns, to whom they are accountable. In effect, Chief Minister are CEOs of their states while the PM is the CEO of the whole nation. All organs of the government, including the IAS and IPS that are about to give a fatal punch to this fundamental concept, are no more than changeable instruments that exist solely to assist these CEOs to do their jobs efficiently and effectively.

As it is, thanks to the colonial bureaucracy that frustrated and defeated even a tall leader like Nehru, these CEOs have only a very small pool of talent from which they can select individuals who can faithfully execute their plans and projects. Unlike in modern countries like the US, a PM cannot, for example, appoint a Cabinet Secretary of his choice; he has to pick from less than half a dozen IAS officers who fall in that seniority bracket. The same constraint is faced by CMs in states. They all have to appoint generalist babus of the IAS cadre alone to head the secretarial support staff in all departments. Due to this constraint that will be unacceptable in any modern and responsive administration anywhere in the world, over time, the IAS cadre has become extremely powerful.

As things stand today, all that an individual has to do is get through one Civil Services exam. After that, he need not do anything at all. The system has been systematically sabotaged in such a manner that he will rise to a very high rank and retire a very rich man. Unless he does something criminally unacceptable and is caught and convicted, he is set for life. There is no pyramid; it has been turned into a vertical cylinder. And the very few who do not reach the rank of Additional Secretary are assured many other usurped and lucrative alternative options, including in the public sector.

In addition, having successfully sidelined the military and other professions and cadres from all top positions in the government, the babus – and that includes IPS officers who think they are IAS guys in uniform and not the cops that they are meant to be – are now all set to push even politicians aside. As it is, most politicians, having never worked a day in their lives in a result-oriented organisation, are led by the babus who make them take most decisions that the babus want. So much is the control execised by these babus that, often, decisions pushed through against their wishes are simply not implemented till the minister changes, after which in any case they do not need to be. All this and more will get exposed if the notings on files are made available under the RTI. That is why they are opposing that proposal so strongly.

See the trick and the dysfunctional aberration here? Babus wield the real power already; they compel politicians to take most decisions due to their written recommendations which, unless a minister is well-informed and strong, are accepted. But, the babus don’t want to be held accountable for them in any manner. The accountability has to rest with the political decision making authority alone.

There is no doubt that responsibility and accountability of the government has to rest with leaders chosen by people to lead them. If that be so, then, it logically follows that such leaders should have the freedom to choose and appoint the secretarial staff and professionals to help them do so. Unfortunately, over the years, politicians have not covered themselves with glory and some have actually gone berserk in misusing their powers.

The deterioration in the quality of political leadership is a matter of serious concern and measures need to be taken to correct it. But that should be done by politicians at the political end. However, what the unresponsive bureaucracy that is effectively not accountable to anyone, is trying now is insidious and dangerous. In the garb of “insulating” IAS and IPS officers from politicians, it is taking the country backwards in colonial time. Let no one be under any illusion that if the proposed Civil Services Bill 2009 is passed, bureaucrats, who are essentially no more than secretarial support staff to leaders, will become even more powerful than the leaders chosen by the people.

The world has not yet seen “collective dictatorship” of the kind that India is in the danger of being taken over by. If this bill goes through, India’s colonial bureaucrats, including those in khakis, will go almost totally beyond the pale of control of even the elected, and will become the nation’s real rulers without being answerable to its people in any manner whatsoever.

Look at some proposals included in the bill:

• A new Civil Public Service Authority (CPSA) will be established to “professionally manage” civil services (IAS and IPS) and serve the interests of babus and citizens. The CPSA will aid and advise the government in all matters concerning the organisation, control, operation and management of public services and servants. It will also frame public service codes to facilitate babus in discharging official duties with competence and accountability, care and diligence; responsibility, honesty, objectivity and impartiality; without discrimination and in accordance with the law.
• The rank of the Chairman of the CPSA will be equivalent to the CEC and he will be appointed by a committee comprising the PM, HM, Leader of the Opposition and a Supreme Court Judge. The Cabinet Secretary will be the convener of the CPSA.
• The Cabinet Secretary, Chief Secretaries and DGPs will selected out of a panel by the PM/CM, HM and the Leader of the opposition.
• The new rules also give enough importance to performance parameters of officers considered for top posts.
• All bureaucrats will have fixed tenure of three years and will have to be compensated for inconvenience and harassment if moved out earlier.
• If the government deviates from these norms, it will have to inform the Parliament about the reasons for doing so.
• These rules apply only to IAS and IPS officers only. Civil servants of other ‘inferior cadres’ will remain under the thumbs of these cadres as before.

Can you see what is being cleverly slid in?

• The taking away of powers of appointment from the PM/CM and involving the Leader of the Opposition in the process will simply erode executive authority and eventually ensure that the political leadership will be left with no choice but to pick the senior most officer declared eligible for the job by the CPSA. This means that even when people vote out a government because it has failed to deliver, the new government will be forced to work with the same permanent team of not-accountable-to-anyone babus who ran the failed administration that was rejected by the people. What is this going to lead to, as even an uneducated person can tell you? Even more sloth, unaccountability and colonial arrogance of the sort not seen for 62 years.
• As of now, the only real power that political leaders have over babus is that of transfer, particularly to lucrative appointments, because babus have already played havoc with organisational hierarchy to ensure promotions up to the near-top level, irrespective of performance (this talk of changing the system of evaluation is no more than a red herring to hijack control). If tenures are fixed at three years, the above-the-government CPSA is empowered to question it, the government has to give reason to the Parliament for moving someone out early and the concerned official has to be compensated for it, then it means that a political leader will invariably be stuck with the same failed officials (even politically inconvenient ones, rightly or wrongly) till their tenures are over. As a result, these already unaccountable officials will become the real masters wherever they are, without being answerable to any body and without any fear whatsoever of anyone other than their equally unaccountable cadre superiors.
• Presently, the Cabinet Secretary is the senior most bureaucrat who reports to the PM and who can be appointed and removed by India’s CEC at will. After the bill is passed, the Chairman of the CPSA will become the Supreme Leader of India’s bureaucrats, the babus‘ Ayatollah, as it were. He will not only be totally out of control of the government but will actually become a superior, independent authority that can question any decision of the political leadership in the states and the Centre in all matters concerning postings, promotions and issuance of orders in accordance with the law.

In short, what India’s colonial bureaucrats are attempting now is a silent but deadly civilian coup. IAS and IPS, the anachronistic and dysfunctional cadres that belong to the 19th century, have already grown overwhelmingly powerful in the last sixty two years by infiltrating into and usurping control of all the powerful wings of the government and quasi government organs and bodies. This regression has led to a situation where they are now not willing to submit even to the ultimate people-empowered authority of the political leadership.

The Civil Services Bill 2009 is, in sum, nothing but a cleverly concealed attempt designed to take away most of the few remaining powers that politicians exercise over India’s bureaucrats belonging to the IAS and IPS, and make them the de facto rulers of this country, accountable to no one at all. If the bill goes through, India’s democracy will effectively be dead in a few years.

MORAL OF THE STORY
You and I may keep voting politicians in and out of power. That will not effect the government at all. No matter who is in power and who is out, the real writ that will prevail will be of India’s civil servants; that autonomous tail will wag all political dogs voted to power by the people of this country.

PowerMin cuts target for 11th Plan period August 19, 2009

The power ministry does not believe the capacity addition of 78,700 mega watts (MW) remains a feasible target for the 11th Plan period, without placing particular emphasis on the final 8,000 MW to achieve the goal. As a result of project delays on more than 80 power projects, a shortage of manpower and lack of fuel, power minister Sushilkumar Shinde unofficially revised the target to 70,000 MW during today’s conference for Accelerated Development of Indian Power Sector for 12th Plan and Beyond.

Although the minister said “

we are now on target for the future

”, stretching beyond 2012, his statement does not erase the shortfalls of existing plans. Thus, raising questions about whether missing current goals will make the Centre’s future targets — such as more than 100,000 MW capacity addition during future five-year-plans — as unachievable as the current objectives. Even if the ministry reaches the 70,000-MW mark, which the Planning Commission deputy chairperson calls a “hopeful” target, “then it’s clear that in 12th Plan, we’ll have to make 100,000 MW,” said Montek Singh Ahluwalia. “These are rough estimates,” he said. “To revise the targets, it would require Planning Commission to say we’ve scaled down our targets.”

With seven months remaining in the 10th Plan period, the power ministry is reporting that only about half of the plan’s capacity addition target of 41,100 MW has been reached. The potential for the Centre, state and private projects to meet this target is bleak. Power players have added just 21,180 MW to the nation’s total generation capacity, which stands at around 151,000 MW, resulting in a shortfall of approximately 20,000 MW. The Centre leads in achievements during the 10th Plan with 13,005 MW added, followed by the states which have managed to add 6,244.64 MW and the private sector with 1,930.6 MW.

“The sector is likely to achieve about two-thirds of the target,” reads a special report issued by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. “The shortfall is due to overly optimistic targets set by the government.” During the first 100 days of the newly formed UPA government, the ministry had set a target of 5,653 MW. According to Central Electricity Authority data, 1,681 MW has been achieved since June 1. The government will reach its hundredth day in power on August 31.

In its plans to bump power capacity, the ministry holds a drastic 37,700 MW difference between the 10th and 11th Plans. Despite specific initiatives to meet or reach the 11th Plan target, India’s power shortages are likely to remain fairly high in the 11th Plan as the potential for supply-demand balance stretches into the 12th Plan. During the capacity overhaul from the 10th Plan to the 12th Plan, a transition will take place on the matter of sharing the burden of expansion.

NMITLI Scheme August 18, 2009

New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) Scheme

As a part of New Millennium initiative, the Government mounted a farsighted R&D Programme named ‘New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI)’ in Public-Private Partnership mode in 2000-01. The programme was announced as part of the Union Budget in the year 2000. The responsibility of conceptualizing, evolving and implementing the programme has been assigned to the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).

The trigger for NMITLI programme was:

• From incremental innovation to disruptive innovation;
• Tolerance for risk taking and failure;
• Best minds in India to take up the grand challenge for collaborative excellence; and
• Technology leadership.

The NMITLI focus is to:

• identify niche areas where India can gain leadership in about 10-15 years;
• develop projects involving best brains of the country through a rigorous process;
• build knowledge network of partners from public funded institutions and private industries;
• develop new methods of working together for collaborative excellence;
• focus on proof-of-concept; and
• provide a pipeline of cutting edge Indian innovation for conventional technology financing bodies as against the ‘usual safe bets.

Today, the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) is the largest public-private-partnership effort within the R&D domain in the country. It looks beyond today’s technology and thus seeks to build, capture and retain for India a leadership position by synergising the best competencies of publicly funded R&D institutions, academia and private industry. The Government finances and plays a catalytic role. It is based on the premise of consciously and deliberately identifying, selecting and supporting potential winners. NMITLI has carved out a unique niche in the innovation space and enjoys an excellent reputation.

NMITLI has so far evolved 57 largely networked projects in diverse areas viz. Agriculture & Plant Biotechnology, General Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, Materials, Information and Communication Technology and Energy. These projects involve 80 industry partners & 270 R&D groups from different institutions. Approximately 1700 researchers are engaged in these projects. These 57 projects cumulatively have had an outlay of approximately Rs. 500 crore.

NMITLI Achievements:

The programme has generated about 100 international patents and 150 publications in peer reviewed journals. The important achievements are:

• Paradigm shift in leather processing-From chemical to biochemical route
• Pilot plants for separating cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin from bagasse
• Pilot plants for producing lactic acid from sugarcane juice
• Bio-informatics software viz. Bio-Suite, GenoCluster, Bio-SuiteC and Darshee
• Developed three variants of SofComp (Simple office Computer) devices including Mobilis
• Anti-psoriasis formulation in Phase-III Clinical Trial
• Lysostaphin in Phase-II Clinical Trial
• Anti-tuberculosis molecule in Phase-II Clinical Trial
• poly herbal formulations for diabetes, arthritis and hepatic disorder
• Micro-PCR based immuno-diagnostics for detecting eye infections
• Development of new plant varieties of Mentha piperita
• Development of Triple-Play broadband technology

Key components of CCEA Note:

Enthused by the success of the programme and on the recommendations of several committees, Government has approved the expansion of NMITLI programme to experiment newer models of innovation development. The key components of the proposal are:

Funding along with industry (50:50 Initiative)

There are many Indian companies who are doing financially very well but do not have the necessary expertise and intellectual resources to develop focused network projects for development of technologies/products in their line of activities. Their efforts need complementation from suitable R&D institutions and guidance from recognized peers to develop and commercialize newer technologies/products. Therefore, NMITLI will leverage its experiential base to encourage and assist such companies for developing network projects for those companies in product/technology development through a specific scheme called ‘NMITLI 50:50 initiative’.

Co-financing with Venture Capital funds

Many venture capitals are limited in scope and risk taking, due to lack of domain knowledge within the organization. Venture Capitals are therefore interested in joining hands with NMITLI, which has strong domain knowledge base, to jointly finance projects. Such projects would be identified and evolved following the procedures established by NMITLI. The funding would be joint with pre-determined ratio, but not more than 50% contribution from NMITLI. These projects are envisaged to be monitored by a joint team of experts as per the NMITLI monitoring mechanism. The proposed funding would follow the venture funding norms. The successes and failures resulting from the projects will be shared on equitable basis.

Setting up of NMITLI innovation centres in selected areas for long term sustained efforts

Some areas need long term sustained support with requisite human resource as well as infrastructure, assembled at one place to cross the threshold of intellectual barrier in order to generate globally competitive technologies and products, IPR, and high quality publications. It is envisaged to set up ‘NMITLI Innovation Centres’ in PPP mode for sustained efforts in some selected areas for example, Photovoltaics, Fuel Cells, White LEDs, Industrial Enzymes, Medical Implants, Vaccine development, Seed Development etc.

Support to post NMITLI projects

Despite the excellent R&D and developments, the technologies and products developed in the laboratory do need market seeding, pilot plant studies to refine the development. The companies need CSIR’s hand holding to develop and package the technologies/products further. The concept of ‘Post-NMITLI’ will fulfill the objective of providing financial and technical assistance for pre-commercialization related activities such as scale up, pilot plants, field trials, market seeding of products, market surveys, etc.

Acquisition of early stage relevant knowledge / IP for portfolio building

External ideas / leads / IP acquisition are assuming greater significance in the chain of innovation and mind to market. The availability of a large number of unencumbered IP (being developed in several laboratories globally) is providing a fillip to this approach. Several countries across the globe are striving to take advantage of the diversity of creativity available in different parts of world and integrate with its own developments to bring out new products / processes for global competitiveness. Since NMITLI aims to provide the Technological Leadership to the Indian industry, it becomes imperative for NMITLI to adopt such practices to achieve its objectives. Such acquisitions shall be in chosen areas with a view to creating a portfolio where NMITLI projects are in operation.

Crossing the geographical boundaries

It is increasingly being felt that to achieve leadership in niche technology areas, relying totally on internal expertise and capabilities may not be adequate. To achieve the objective of global leadership, it would be helpful to broaden the programme by bringing in international expertise. The international expertise may be in the form of expert advise of international experts at various stages of project development and implementation, involving international companies for product/technology development and commercialization at global scale, and engaging research institutions and/or CROs across the globe where Indian expertise need outside complementation.

Joint development and support of projects with other departments of science and technology as well as economic ministries

Many government departments are engaged in research and development activities in areas of relevance to them. These activities often have considerable degree of overlap with other scientific departments. However, these departments’s expertise is limited to undertake multi-disciplinary projects in cutting edge areas requiring wide-spectrum of intellectual and infrastructural inputs. Such multi-disciplinary areas need expertise, inputs and concerted efforts from all concerned government departments to generate IPR, technologies and products besides high quality publications. Therefore, part of the NMITLI funds will be utilized to generate inter-departmental projects in the XI FY Plan. The proposed scheme apart from generating intellectual capital, technologies and products in cutting edge areas would act as a catalyst to bring better co-ordination among various departments of government in the R&D sphere.

Relaxing the condition of more than 50% shareholding by Indians/Non-resident Indians

Many oversees companies through their R&D efforts using local resources, produce goods for local as well as overseas consumption and are thus contributing to the growth of Indian economy. They also employ Indian workforce. In some areas, such companies are better equipped to upscale the technology/products and sell it under their brand name. Further, they can become a vehicle for taking Indian technologies and products into global market easily thereby contributing more to Indian economy. The provision permits relaxation of the condition of more than 50% shareholding by Indians/Non-resident Indians to become an industrial partner in NMITLI projects.

Flexibility to convert loan into equity

Launching a new product or setting a knowledge based new venture requires investment on many fronts particularly for capital-intensive infrastructure, manpower, technology costs, working capital etc. Governments all over the world, particularly in developed countries endeavor to support entrepreneurs in different ways to ease the burden of initial investment. The industrial partner under NMITLI has to invest for commercialization of technology/products and at the same time has to return the loan to CSIR albeit in installments. This burden of loan repayment can be further reduced by converting loan into equity. Therefore, with this provision and on the request of industrial partner, loan given to it may be converted into equity.

Advantages of NMITLI Expansion:

As others are emulating, NMITLI is endeavoring to position higher in the innovation development. The proposal will therefore:

• enable CSIR to experiment newer models of innovation development in Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode, which could later become models for others to emulate;
• encourage to develop products / processes based on innovation and thereby help Indian industry emerge as a technology leader in the identified domain;
• encourage venture capital funds to venture into more risky R&D areas;
• act as a catalyst to bring better co-ordination among various departments of government in the R&D sphere and avoid unnecessary duplication, apart from generating intellectual capital, technologies and products in cutting edge areas; and
• enhance national competitiveness.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : February 27, 2009

National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) Scheme’. August 17, 2009

National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) Scheme’.

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Title of the Scheme 1. The Scheme shall be called ‘National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) Scheme’. Calamities covered under the Scheme 3.Natural calamities of cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood and hailstorm, considered to be of severe nature requiring expenditure by the State Government in excess of the balances available in its own Calamity Relief Fund by the National Centre for Calamity Management (NCCM) will qualify for relief assistance under the Scheme. Constitution of National Calamity Contingency Fund 4. A ‘National Calamity Contingency Fund (hereinafter referred to as ‘the National Fund’) will be constituted by the Govt. of India for the purpose of dealing with the above mentioned calamities of severe nature. The National Fund would be classified in the Public Account of the Govt. of India under the major head 8235- ‘General and other Reserve Funds’ in the sub-section ‘Reserve Funds not bearing interest’. Contribution to the National Fund 5.1 The initial corpus of the National Fund shall be Rs.500crore to be provided by the Government of India. 5.2 Transfers to National Fund will be made under the minor head- 797- Transfer to the ‘Reserve Funds and Deposit Account’ –Transfer to National Calamity Contingency Fund under the major head ’2245- Relief on account of natural calamities-80-General. 5.3 An amount of Rs.500crore being initial corpus shall be transferred to the National Fund under a new minor head ‘National Calamity Contingency Fund’ under major head 8235-General and other Reserve Funds by per contra debit to major head ’2245′. 5.4 The debits to the major head ’2245′ for transfer of initial corpus as well as subsequent accretions by levy of surcharge shall be covered by budget provision to be made in the Grant “Transfers to State and UT Governments”(under Non-Plan). National Centre for Calamity Management 6.1 A National Centre for Calamity Management (NCCM) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the National Centre’) shall be constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Centre will monitor the occurrences of natural calamities relating to cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood and hailstorm on a regular basis and assess their impact on area and population. The Centre will also assess whether the State will be in a position to provide relief in a specific case of calamity of severe nature from the CRF and its own resources. It shall then make a recommendation to the Central Government (Ministry of Home Affairs in respect of natural calamities of cyclone, earthquake, fire, flood, hailstorm and Ministry of Agriculture in respect of drought.) on its own on the following: (i) whether the calamity is of a severe nature and, therefore, eligible for assistance from the Central Government and other State Governments; ii) How much of the expenditure on immediate relief and rehabilitation should be met from the National Fund and how much from the State’s Calamity Relief Fund. 6.2 The Ministry of Home Affairs shall oversee that the money drawn from the National Fund is applied by the State Governments for the purpose for which the National Fund has been set up.. 6.3 All administrative and miscellaneous expenses of the National Centre shall be borne by the Ministry of Home Affairs under its normal budgetary provisions. Release of assistance from the National Fund 7.1 The recommendations of the NCCM for release of assistance to States shall be considered by High Level Committee on Calamity Relief to be constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The said Committee shall decide the manner and extent of assistance required to be provided to the States. Pending the constitution of the High Level Committee and NCCM, an interim committee consisting of Deputy Prime Minister/Home Minister, Agriculture Minister, Finance Minister and Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission shall assume the role of the High Level Committee in deciding the manner and extent of assistance required to be provided to the States. The High Level Committee will be serviced by the Disaster Management Division of Ministry of Home Affairs. The assistance from NCCF will be only for immediate relief and rehabilitation. Any reconstruction of assets or restoration of damage should be financed through re-allocation of Plan funds. 7.2 The releases to the State Governments shall be made as per the decision of the High Level Committee on Calamity Relief . 7.3 Suitable budget provision for release of assistance to States from National Calamity Contingency Fund shall be made under the head ‘2245 – Relief on account of Natural Calamities-80- General –Assistance to States from National Calamity Contingency Fund ( a new minor head to be opened for this purpose)’ with an equivalent amount shown as recovered from the Fund , maintained in the Public Account, below the head ‘2245-Relief on account of Natural Calamities-80-General-Transfer from Reserve Funds and Deposit Accounts- National Calamity Contingency Fund’ there under. 7.4 On receipt of assistance from the National Fund, the State Government shall treat them as receipts along with the receipts of Central/State shares of Calamity Relief Fund under the major head “1601″ – Grants-in- aid from Central Govt. -01 Non-Plan Grants- Grants from National Calamity Contingency Fund (new minor head). In order to enable transfer of the amount received as assistance from NCCF, the State Government would make suitable budget provision on the expenditure side of their budget under the relevant minor heads under the major head “2245- Relief on Account of Natural Calamities”. The State’s CRF account should distinctly show the receipt of assistance from NCCF apart from the remaining four sources of receipts into the fund; namely (i) Centre’s share of Calamity Relief Fund (ii) State’s share of Calamity Relief Fund (iii) Return on investments and (iv) redemption of investments. 7.5 The Pay and Accounts Office, Ministry of Finance(DEA) on the basis of the sanction orders issued by the Ministry of Finance shall release payments to the State Governments. The detailed account of the Fund shall be maintained by the Controller General of Accounts through the Chief Controller of Accounts, Ministry of Finance. Functions of the State Level Committee. 8. The State Level Committee constituted by the State Govt. to administer the Calamity Relief Fund shall be responsible to ensure that expenditure incurred out of the funds received under the NCCF is as per the items and norms of expenditure as decided for in respect of the Calamity Relief Fund. Special Surcharge on the Central Taxes 9. Any assistance provided by the Centre to the States from the National Fund shall be financed by levy of a special surcharge on the Central taxes for a limited period. Collection from such surcharge shall be initially credited to the Consolidated Fund and thereafter transferred to the National Fund. Any drawal from the Fund for providing assistance to States shall be accompanied by imposition of the special surcharge so that it is immediately recouped. Monitoring 10. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall monitor the scheme of NCCF. Unspent balances in the National Fund 11. The unspent balance in the National Fund at the end of the financial year 2004-05 will be available to the Central Government for being used as a resource for the next Plan. Accounts & Audit 12. The accounts of the National Fund shall be maintained by the Chief Controller of Accounts, Ministry of Finance. The Controller General of Accounts (CGA) may prescribe detailed accounting procedure for the purpose as required. The Ministry of Finance will, however, maintain subsidiary accounts in such manner and detail as may be considered necessary by the Central Government (Controller General of Accounts) in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The accounts of the National Fund shall be audited annually by Comptroller & Auditor General. Savings 13. The Central Government may issue instructions relating to the provisions of the scheme as may be considered necessary from time to time to enable smooth functioning of the scheme. The Central Government may also alter/ modify the scheme if considered necessary subsequently. In case of any difficulty in the operation of any provision of this scheme, the Central Government, if satisfied, may relax the provisions.

copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved National Institute of Disaster Management WHY M I TALKING ABOUT THIS????? BECAUSE OF THIS,IT THIS ARTICLE HAS A MENTION OF IT, READ IT http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/18/stories/2009081850020100.htm

POINTS ON NREGA August 16, 2009

Doering has to say:

“Among the things that went wrong, was the establishment of state-run “national workshops” to enforce the “right to work”. These never really served their purpose, nor were they probably intended to do so. Rather they allowed the socialists to organize support “on the streets” to threaten all dissenting voices with violence.”

Try and think about it in the Indian context.

NREGA

• National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is an Indian job guarantee scheme
• enacted by legislation on August 25, 2005.
• legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members
• The act was brought about by the UPA coalition government under the pressure from left parties.
• promise of this project was one of the major factors that gained UPA victory in the Indian general election, 2004.
• Dr. Jean Drèze, a Belgian born economist, at the Delhi School of Economics, has been a major influence on this project.
• The scheme started from February 2, 2006 in 200 districts