Chapter 6: Social Infrastructure and Employment: Big Tent

ü  The progress of the path-breaking Ayushman Bharat
programme, with nearly 22 crore

ü   beneficiaries,
is being further techenabled through digital health IDs ‘ABHA’ and telemedicine
through e-Sanjeevani

ü
SVAMITVA :

·
It is structural
reform. A Central Sector Scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj was nation-wide
launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on National Panchayati Raj Day, 24th
April 2021 after successful completion of pilot phase of scheme (2020-2021) in
9 states.

·
Scheme is a
reformative step towards establishment of clear ownership of property in rural
inhabited (Abadi) areas, by mapping of land parcels using drone technology and
providing ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners with issuance of legal
ownership cards (Property cards/Title deeds) to the property owners.

·
The Scheme is
implemented with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj,
State Revenue Department, State Panchayati Raj Department and Survey of
India.  The scheme covers multifarious
aspects viz. facilitating monetisation of properties and enabling bank loan;
reducing property related disputes; comprehensive village level planning, would
be the stepping-stone towards achieving Gram Swaraj in true sense and making
rural India Atmanirbhar.

ü  Transformation of Aspirational Districts’
(Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP))

·
Initiative in
January 2018

·
With a vision of
a New India by 2022 wherein the focus is to raise living standards of its
citizens and ensuring inclusive growth of all in the burgeoning economy.

·
The districts
are prodded and encouraged first to catch up with the best district of their
state, and subsequently aspire to become one of the best in the country, by
competing with and learning from others in the spirit of competitive and
cooperative federalism

·
The ranking is
based on the incremental progress made across 49 Key Performance Indicators
(KPI) under five broad socio-economic themes mentioned above

Weightage
has been accorded to these districts as below:      

·
Health &
Nutrition (30%)

·
Education (30%)

·
Agriculture
& Water Resources (20%)

·
Financial
Inclusion & Skill Development (10%)

·
Basic
Infrastructure (10%)

·
At present, two
programmes have been conceptualised along the lines of ADP design, one is
‘Mission Utkarsh’ and the other is ‘Aspirational Blocks Programme’ (ABP).

·
On 22 January
2022, ‘Mission Utkarsh’ was launched,
under which 15 Central Ministries, having an interface with the public, have
identified their low performing 10-15 districts. Following the ADP template,
the Ministries have launched actions to bring these districts at par with an
average district in the state in one year and close to the all-India average in
another.

ü
E-Shram portal
for creating a National database of unorganised workers, which is verified with
Aadhaar

It captures details of workers like name, occupation,
address, occupation type, educational qualification, and skill types etc., for
the optimum realisation of their employability and extend the benefits of the
social security schemes to them. It is the first-ever national database of
unorganised workers, including migrant workers, construction workers, gig and
platform workers, etc.Currently, e-Shram portal has been linked to NCS portal
and ASEEM portal for seamless facilitation of services.

• What is Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM)’
  portal: Developed and Managed By: National Skill Development Corporation
  (NSDC) in collaboration with Bengaluru-based company ‘Betterplace’. The
  objective is to provide a platform that matches supply of skilled
  workforce with the market demand, thereby facilitating better livelihood
  opportunities for youth and availability of ready skilled manpower to
  employers
• NCS PORTAL: It was launched in July 2015, as a one-stop solution providing an
  array of employment and career-related services.  A National ICT based portal is developed primarily
  to connect the opportunities with the aspirations of youth. This portal
  facilitates registration of job seekers, job providers, skill providers,
  career counsellors, etc. Implimented by Ministry of Labour and Employment.
  NCS portal has a job fair module to streamline the process of job fair
  activity on a single online platform by engaging all stakeholders i.e.
  model career centres, nodal officers, job seekers and employers.

ü
PM KISAN SAMMAN
NIDHI:

·
The Government
with a view to augment the income of the farm families is implementing a
Central Sector Scheme, namely,”Pradhan Mantri KIsan SAmman Nidhi
(PM-KISAN)”. 

·
The Scheme is in
effect from 01.12.2018.  The scheme was officially launched on 24th February,
2019.

ü  Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana:

·
It has been
launched to incentivize employers for creation of new employment along with
social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during COVID-19
pandemic.

·
This scheme
being implemented through the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO),
reduces the financial burden of the employers of various sectors/industries
including MSME and will encourages them to hire more workers.

·
Under ABRY, the
Government of India is bearing both the employees’ share (12% of wages) and
employers’ share (12% of wages) of contribution payable or only the employees’
share, depending on employment strength of the EPFO registered establishments.
The scheme has commenced from 1st October 2020  

ü
PM POSHAN Scheme

·
 Centrally Sponsored Scheme

·
 providing
one hot cooked meal in Government and Government – aided Schools from 2021-22
to 2025-26

·
The Scheme is
being implemented by the Ministry of Education.

·
Under the
Scheme, there is provision of hot cooked meal to children of pre-schools or Bal
Vatika (before class I) in primary schools also in addition to the 11 children
of classes I to VIII. The Scheme is implemented across the country covering all
the eligible children without any discrimination of gender and social class.

·
The main
objectives of the PM POSHAN Scheme (earlier known as Mid-Day Meal Scheme) are
to address two of the pressing problems for majority of children in India, viz.
hunger and education by improving the nutritional status of eligible children
in Government and Government-aided schools as well as encouraging poor
children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly
and help them concentrate on classroom activities.

ü
PM SHRI (pm
Schools for rising india)

·
Scheme of PM
SHRI  schools (PM ScHools for Rising
India) is to be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the period of
five years from year 2022-23 to 2026-27.

·
PM SHRI will
provide high-quality education in an equitable, inclusive and joyful school
environment that takes care of the diverse background, multilingual needs, and
different academic abilities of children and makes them active participants in
their own learning process as per the vision of NEP 2020.

ü  Prashant App: RASHAST, a Disability Screening mobile app, has been launched,
covering 21 disabilities, including the benchmark disabilities as per the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. PRASHAST App will help in
screening disability conditions at the school level and will generate the
schoolwise report, for further sharing with the authorities for initiating the
certification process, as per guidelines of Samagra Shiksha.

ü  National credit framework (NCRF) The NCrF is an umbrella framework for skilling,
re-skilling, up-skilling, accreditation and evaluation, seamlessly integrating
the credits earned through school education, higher education, and vocational
and skill education by encompassing the National Higher Education Qualification
Framework (NHEQF), National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and National
School Education Qualification Framework (NSEQF). NCrFwill also enable students
who have dropped out of the mainstream education to re-enter the education ecosystem.

ü  Strengthening teaching-learning and results for States
(STARS):

·
STARS Project is
being implemented as a CSS in six states namely Himachal Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha and Kerala over a period of 5 years

·
Approved in 2020

·
After signing of
the Loan Agreement, the STARS Project became effective on 23rd February 2021
for a period of five years i.e. up to FY: 2024-25

·
Funded by World
Bank

·
The objective of
the Scheme is to improve the quality and governance of school education in the
selected states.

ü
Vidyanjali (A
School Volunteer initiative):

·
With the aim of
strengthening schools and improving the quality of school education through
community, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and private sector involvement
across the country, the Government has initiated Vidyanjali (a school volunteer
management program)

·
An initiative
taken by the Ministry of Education

ü  Samagra Shiksha Scheme: A CSS of Samagra Shiksha of the Department of School Education and
Literacy is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending
from pre-school to class XII. The Samagra Shiksha Scheme has been aligned with
the recommendations of the NEP 2020 and extended from FY22 to FY26

ü
Skill india
mission

·
Launchedin 2015

·
The Skill Indian
Mission focuses on skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling through short term and
long term training programmes. Under the Mission, the government, through more
than 20 Central Ministries/Departments, is implementing various skill
development schemes across the country.

·
 These include Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojna (DDUGKY), Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI),
Deen Dayal Antyodaya YojanaNational Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM). MSDE
is implementing Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY),
Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS)
and Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS)

ü
PMKVY

·
It was first
launched in 2015.

·
 Presently, the third phase of PMKVY, i.e.,
PMKVY 3.0 is being implemented across the country since January 2021

·
PMKVY has two
training components, viz., Short Term Training (STT) and Recognition of Prior
Learning (RPL). Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra set up at District level, are
envisaged as state of the art, visible and aspirational model training Centres

ü
Jan Shikshan
Sansthan Scheme

·
 Provides for a lump sum annual grant is
released to Jan Shikshan Sansthans (NGOs) for skill training to non-literate,
neo-literates, persons with a rudimentary level of education and school
dropouts up to class XII in the age group of 15-45 years.

·
 The priority groups are women, SC, ST, and
other backward sections of society

ü  National apprenticeship promotion Scheme provides
financial support to industrial establishments undertaking apprenticeship
programmes under the Apprentices Act, 1961

ü  Skill acquisition and Knowledge awareness for
livelihood promotion (SanKalp) is a
World Bank loan-assisted programme launched in 2018 to decentralise skilling
initiatives and align skill development programmes with local demand and
aspirations of the youth.

ü
Reproductive,
Maternal, New-born, Child, Adolescent Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N):

·
Following the
Government of India’s “Call to Action (CAT) Summit” in February, 2013, the
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare launched Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn
Child plus Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) to influence the key interventions for
reducing maternal and child morbidity and mortality. 

·
The RMNCH+A
strategy is built upon the continuum of care concept and is holistic in design,
encompassing all interventions aimed at reproductive, maternal, newborn, child,
and adolescent health under a broad umbrella, and focusing on the strategic
lifecycle approach.

·
The RMNCH+A
strategy promotes links between various interventions across thematic areas to
enhance coverage throughout the lifecycle to improve child survival in India.
The “plus” within the strategy focuses on:

§  Inclusion of adolescence as a distinct life stage
within the overall strategy.

§  Linking maternal and child health to reproductive
health and other components like family planning, adolescent health, HIV,
gender, and preconception and prenatal diagnostic techniques.

§  Linking home and community-based services to
facility-based services.

§  Ensuring linkages, referrals, and counter-referrals
between and among various levels of health care system to create a continuous
care pathway, and to bring an additive /synergistic effect in terms of overall
outcomes and impact.

ü
Immunization
Programme

·
Universal
Immunisation Programme (UIP), immunisation is being provided free of cost
against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases: Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio,
Measles, Rubella, a severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis, Rotavirus diarrhoea,
Hepatitis B, etc.

·
To reinforce
universal immunisation, Mission Indradhanush (MI) was launched in December 2014
with the aim to rapidly increase full immunisation coverage of children to 90
per cent and sustain it thereafter.

·
The drive
focuses on unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children. Intensified MI was
then launched in October 2017 in identified 190 districts/urban areas.

ü  National Deworming Day (NDD), launched in 2015 in 11 states and expanded to the
whole country in 2016, is a fixed-day approach to treating intestinal worm
infections in children aged 1-19 years with Albendazole tablets. The programme
is held every year on 10 February and 10 August through schools and Anganwadis,
followed by mop-up days to cover those left out due to absenteeism or sickness.
Besides Government and Government-aided schools and Anganwadis, special efforts
are made to reach out-of-school children, and private schools have also
enthusiastically joined the programme.

ü  Pradhan mantri Vaya Vandana yojana (PMVVY): PMVVY is offered by the Life Insurance Corporation
of India and supported by the Government of India, to provide senior citizens
of age 60 years or more an assured minimum pension for a term of 10 years,
linked to the price at which they purchase the pension policy.

ü  Pradhan mantri Jeevan Jyoti bima yojana (PMJJY): The Scheme is available to people in the age group of
18 to 50 years and provides risk coverage of `2 lakh in case of death of the
insured, due to any reason, at an annual premium of `436/

ü  Pradhan mantri Suraksha bima yojana (PMSBY): The Scheme is available to people in the age group 18
to 70 years providing a risk coverage of `2 lakh in case of accidental death or
total permanent disability and `1 lakh for partial permanent disability due to
accident at a premium of `20 per annum

ü  Pradhan mantri Shram yogi maan-dhan yojana (PMSYMDY): Launched in March 2019, the PM-SYMDY is a voluntary
and contributory pension scheme for providing a monthly minimum assured pension
of `3,000 upon attaining the age of 60 years. The workers in the age group of
18 to 40 years having a monthly income of `15,000 or less and not a member of
EPFO/ ESIC/ NPS (Govt. funded) can join the scheme.

ü  PM Street Vendor’s atmanirbhar nidhi Scheme (PM
SVANIDHI): This is a Central Sector Scheme launched on 1 June
2020, to empower street vendors by extending working capital loans of up to
`10,000 with a one-year tenure and free onboarding of beneficiaries on digital
payment platforms. Beneficiaries are also eligible for the second tranche of
loan up to `20,000 with 18 months tenure after timely repayment of the first
tranche. The scheme is available for beneficiaries belonging to only those
states/ UTs which have notified the Rules and Scheme under the Street Vendors
(Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.

ü  Pradhan mantri mudra yojana (PMMY) was launched in April 2015 to grant loans of up to
`10 lakh for income-generating manufacturing, trading, and service sectors,
including activities allied to agriculture such as poultry, dairy, beekeeping,
etc. Under PMMY, both term loan and working capital requirements can be met.
Loans are extended through Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) viz; Banks,
Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).

ü  Deendayal antyodaya yojana-national rural livelihood
mission (DAY-NRLM)

Aims to enable economically weak households to access gainful
self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities resulting in
sustainable and diversified livelihood options for them.

·
Mission seeks to
achieve its objective through investing in four core components viz., (a)
social mobilisation and promotion and strengthening of self-managed and
financially sustainable community institutions of the rural poor women; (b)
financial inclusion; (c) sustainable livelihoods; and (d) social inclusion,
social development, and access to entitlements through convergence

·
cornerstone of
the Mission is its ‘community-driven’ approach

·
D een dayal
upadhyaya grameen Kaushalya yojana (DDU-GKY) is a placement-linked skill development programme for rural poor youth
under the NRLM.

ü
MGNAREGA:

·
The Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) aims at enhancing
the livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by
providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year
to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

·
In case
employment is not provided within 15 days from the date of registration of the
demand for work or the date from which work has been demanded in case of
advance applications, whichever is later, the worker is entitled to a daily
unemployment allowance.

ü  Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana –Gramin (PMAY-G) was launched in November 2016 with the aim of
providing around 3 crore pucca houses with basic amenities to all eligible
houseless households living in kutcha and dilapidated houses in rural areas by
2024. Through convergence with other Government Schemes, the PMAY-G also
addresses basic needs such as the construction of the toilet, piped drinking
water, electricity connection, LPG gas connection, and 90/95 person-days of
unskilled labour from MGNREGS. PMAY-G selects beneficiaries using housing
deprivation parameters in the SECC, 2011 date which is to be verified by the
Gram Sabhas. Under the scheme, landless beneficiaries are accorded the highest
priority in the allotment of houses

ü  JAL JEEVAN MISSION: 15 August 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was announced, to be
implemented in partnership with States, to provide tap water connection to
every rural household and public institutions in villages like schools,
Anganwadi centres, ashram shalas (tribal residential schools), health centres,
Gram Panchayat building, etc., by 2024.

ü  Mission Amrit Sarovar: Mission Amrit Sarovar was launched on National Panchayati Raj Day on 24
April 2022 with the objective to conserve water for the future. The Mission is
aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the
country during this Amrit Varsh, 75th Years of Independence

ü  JALDOOT app was launched on 27 September 2022 for measuring the water level in a
Gram Panchayat through 2-3 selected open wells twice a year (pre-monsoon and
postmonsoon

ü  Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (SBM(G)) was launched on 2 October 2014 to ensure
cleanliness in India and make it Open Defecation Free (ODF). Having achieved
the ODF status in all villages in the country as of 2 October 2019, Phase-II of
SBM (G) is now being implemented during FY21 to FY25, with the focus to sustain
the ODF status of villages and covering all the villages with Solid and Liquid
Waste Management, i.e., to convert the villages from ODF to ODF Plus.

ü  Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana 2.0,

·
The ‘Pradhan
Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ (PMUY) was launched in May 2016 as a flagship scheme to
make clean cooking fuel such as LPG available to rural and deprived households
which were otherwise using traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, coal, cow-dung
cakes, etc. The usage of traditional cooking fuels had detrimental impacts on
the health of rural women as well as on the environment.

·
Under the Union
Budget for FY22, provision for the release of an additional one crore LPG
connections under the PMUY scheme, i.e., Ujjwala 2.0, has been made. This
scheme will offer deposit-free LPG connection, first refill and hot plate free
of cost to beneficiaries, and a simplified enrolment procedure. In this phase,
a special facility has been given to migrant families.

ü  Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) : The objective of PMGSY is to provide single
all-weather road connectivity to all eligible unconnected habitations of the
designated population size (500+ in plain areas, 250+ in North-Eastern and
Himalayan States) in rural areas of the country. The programme also has an
upgradation component for those districts, where all the eligible habitations
of the designated population size have been provided all-weather road
connectivity. However, upgradation is just one of the components of the
programme

ü  Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana : The government launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj
Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – Saubhagya in October 2017 with the objective to achieve
universal household electrification by providing electricity connections to all
willing un-electrified households in rural areas and all willing poor
households in urban areas in the country by March 2019. The Scheme involved the
organisation of camps in villages/clusters villages for on-spot registration
and the release of connections. The connections were given free for
economically poor households and for others `500 was charged after the release
of the connection in 10 instalments. The Saubhagya scheme has been successfully
completed and closed on 31 March 2022.

ü  Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana : This scheme was launched in November 2014 with the
objective to improve the quality and reliability of power supply in rural
areas. It envisaged the creation of basic electricity infrastructure in
villages/habitations, strengthening & augmentation of existing
infrastructure, and metering of existing feeders/distribution
transformers/consumers to improve the quality and reliability of power supply
in rural areas. Further, last-mile connectivity and free electricity
connections were also provided to BPL households only identified by the States
as per their list.

ü  of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) :

·
A CSS of
Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) was approved by the Union Cabinet in April
2018 for implementation from FY19 to FY22 with the primary aim of strengthening
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for achieving SDG’s with the main thrust on
convergence with Mission Antyodaya and emphasis on strengthening PRI’s in the
117 Aspirational Districts. The scheme extends to all states and UTs including
non-Part IX of the Constitution of India areas where Panchayats do not exist

·
The major focus
of the scheme of RGSA was Capacity Building and Training (CB&T) to empower
PRIs and to prepare convergent Plans at the respective level of Panchayats.
Under the Scheme, not only around 31 lakh elected representatives (ERs) have
been capacitated through various modes of training but also functionaries and
other stakeholders of Panchayats including SHG members have been provided
training for better SHG-PRIs convergence at the grassroots level to create an
ecosystem to prepare inclusive village poverty reduction plan

·
scheme has been
revamped and approved in April 2022 for implementation over
the period FY23 to FY26. The focus of the scheme of Revamped RGSA is on re-imagining
PRIs as vibrant centres of local self-governance with a special focus on the
Localisation of SDGs (LSDGs) at the grassroots level adopting thematic approach
through concerted and collaborative efforts of Central Ministries and State
line departments and other stakeholders with ‘Whole of Government and Whole of
Society’ approach. The Scheme has been formulated with the aim to strengthen
the capacities of institutions for rural local governance to become more
responsive towards local development needs, prepare participatory plans
leveraging technology, and efficiently utilise available resources for
realising sustainable solutions to local problems linked to SDGs adopting the
nine thematic approaches of LSDGs.

MAINS Points

ü  Demonstrating the on-track progress to attain
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of halving poverty by 2030, more than 41
crore people exited poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21 in India according to
the UN Mutilidimensional Poverty Index.

ü  Transforming welfare through technology, Aadhaar and
JAM trinity have revolutionalised the universe of state-citizen interaction,
enabling targeted delivery of Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) through 318
Central schemes and over 720 State DBT schemes, seamless portability of ration
card across States through ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ and national database
of unorganised workers ‘eShram portal

ü  Rural Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR)
from 19.7 per cent in 2018-19 to 27.7 per cent in 2020-21 is a positive development

ü  The 1.2 crore SHGs, comprising of 88 per cent all
women SHGs, cater to 14.2 crore households

ü  Ensuring the provision of quality health facilities to
citizens, the share of government health expenditure in total health
expenditure has increased from 28.6 per cent in FY14 to 40.6 per cent in FY19,
with a concomitant decline in out-of-pocket expenditure as a percentage of
total health expenditure from 64.2 per cent in FY14 to 48.2 per cent in FY19

ü  SHG must practice the ‘Panchasutra’ of
regular meetings, regular savings, regular inter-loaning, timely repayment and
up-to-date books of accounts to avail of loans from banks.

ü  Learning gives creativity, creativity leads to
thinking, thinking leads to knowledge, and knowledge makes you great !

ü  Since the inception of DBT, cumulative transfers of
over `26.5 lakh crore in respect of Central schemes have been made through the
DBT route.

ü  To make DBT schemes more accessible and transparent,
major DBT schemes are being end-to-end digitized (EED) with provision for
online and mobile-based access.

ü  DBT was launched in 2013 to re-engineer the
then-existing delivery processes using modern Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) to transfer benefits directly into the preferably
Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts of accurately targeted beneficiaries. In the span
of the past decade, DBT has expanded from a mere 24 schemes (as part of a pilot
programme) in 43 districts in 2013 to over 300 Central schemes and greater than
2000 State schemes across India by December 2022.