Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana

1. Launched in Union Budget 2016-17, it is a pension scheme contribution in a bid to create more formal sector jobs
2. The scheme will be applicable for the new employees, earning Rs.15,000 a month, who have worked for 240 days during a year in an establishment
3. About 3.5 lakh establishments, which hire more than 20 workers, will be covered under the scheme
4. Govt will pay 8.33% of wages to Employees Pension Scheme (EPS) on behalf of employers for workers during first three years of employment
5. For this, an allocation of Rs.1,000 crore had been made in the Budget
6. Reimbursement: The payment of the EPS contribution will be in the form of reimbursements to employers
7. Regulatory fear: It will increase regulation in the labour market which firms would not prefer as there will be increased scrutiny of their books

Rashtriya Mahila Kosh | Ministry of Women and Child Development

RMK extends microfinance to the poorest and asset less women entrepreneurs through Intermediatroy Organisations (IMOs) for income generating activities @ 6% simple interest who in turn extend the loan to SHGs beneficiaries’ upto 14% simple rate of interest.

The existing mechanism for effective implementation of various schemes of RMK is as under:

i. On receipt of any loan application from the NGOs, a preliminary appraisal is made. If any additional documents/ information is required from the applicant side, a query letter is raised. After receipt of full set of documents, the loan is then appraised.

ii. At this stage, a decision is taken as to either refer it for pre-sanction study by the RMK officials or to decline the proposal.

iii. For those proposals which meet all the eligible criteria framed by RMK and after receipt of all required documents / information, a pre-sanction study is conducted by RMK officials.

iv. During such pre-sanction study, the RMK Officers visit the organization, check all the books and registers such as Cash Book, General Ledger, Vouchers etc. They also visit the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) promoted by the organization, interact with SHG members. Based on the feedback / information collected during the field visit, the officers prepare the Pre-sanction study report.

v. After this report, an appraisal note is prepared by the concerned Deputy Director for placing the same before the Competent Authority.

vi. The Competent Authority, after considering all the relevant facts of the case as contained in the Appraisal note, sanctions or defers the proposal for submission of further details or declines it. The applicant NGOs is conveyed the decision of the Competent Authority.

vii. After sanction of the loan by the Committee, RMK conveys the sanction to the NGOs containing all terms & conditions of the sanction.

viii. On receipt of necessary documents viz. disbursement certificate, utilization certificate, etc., the post-sanction monitoring study is conducted by the RMK officers (other than the one who had under taken the pre-sanction visit) to verify the end use of the funds, adherence to the terms & conditions of the sanction letter and quality of utilization of funds.

ix. During the Post Sanction Visit, RMK officials verify the related records, entries in books etc.

x. The women SHGs benefited out of the 1st installment of loan are also visited at random by RMK officials to verify the assets created out of RMK loan. In case of misutilization / misappropriation, RMK can also recall the loan.

xi. If the borrowers default, necessary legal action under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrumental Act, filling of Civil Suit and other recovery proceeding through appointment of Arbitrator are taken. Simultaneously the defaulting NGOs are blacklisted whereby they are debarred from availing any sort of grants or aid by any Central / State Government agency.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in reply to a starred question in the Lok Sabha today

National Mission for a Green India (GIM)

Introduction

The National Mission for Green India (GIM) is one of the eight Missions outlined under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). It aims at protecting; restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures. It envisages a holistic view of greening and focuses on multiple ecosystem services, especially, biodiversity, water, biomass, preserving mangroves, wetlands, critical habitats etc. along with carbon sequestration as a co-benefit. This mission has adopted an integrated cross-sectoral approach as it will be implemented on both public as well as private lands with a key role of the local communities in planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring.

Mission Goals

• To increase forest/tree cover to the extent of 5 million hectares (mha) and improve quality of forest/tree cover on another 5 mha of forest/non-forest lands;
• To improve/enhance eco-system services like carbon sequestration and storage (in forests and other ecosystems), hydrological services and biodiversity; along with provisioning services like fuel, fodder, and timber and non-timber forest produces (NTFPs); and
• To increase forest based livelihood income of about 3 million households.

Convergence          

Green India Mission hinges upon convergence with related Missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change, other complementary National Mission Programmes and schemes for better coordination in developing forests and their fringe areas in a holistic and sustainable manner. The coherent approach involving contribution from converging partners intends to saturate the landscapes with essential need-based interventions at a faster pace. Also the convergence aims at optimizing efficient use of resources and avoidance of contrast activities which can disturb the balance in the ecosystem due to lack of coordination between different schemes.

As a first step towards translation of these efforts into action, Green India mission has issued the Convergence Guidelines of GIM with MNREGS. Efforts are on to finalize convergence guidelines with other complimentary schemes to set out the approach for coordination at field level.

Convergence guidelines of GIM with CAMPA have been framed to ensure a synergized approach which is required to address the challenges being faced in environment, forest and wildlife sector thereby contributing to ecological security in the context of climate change.

DEENDAYAL UPADHYAY SWANIYOJAN YOJANA

In News
 Deendayal Upadhyay Swaniyojan Yojana (DUSY) will soon be launched by Ministry of Rural Development to promote rural entrepreneurship under Start Up India campaign.
Salient features
 The main objective of Swaniyojan Yojana is to provide incentives such as financial assistance to the rural poor looking for self-employment options.
 The scheme will be integrated with MUDRA Bank Loan Yojana, innovative credit linkages and self-help groups.
 it will be funded by the existing National Rural Livelihood Mission
 It will provide the basic skill set required for self-employment in fields like driving, plumbing, agriculture, dairy farming, grafting and horticulture among others.
 The Ministry will also coordinate with other government departments such as textile, animal husbandry, and food processing to help rural poor setup their own business in these fields.
Way Ahead
DUSY is a rural avatar of Start Up India, It will not only provide an opportunity for gainful employment to rural youths, but it can also solve various problems associated with rural economy such as disguised unemployment in agriculture, reducing poverty, mitigate migration etc.