1

Policies and
Schemes 2017

This Chapter ‘‘Policies and Schemes

2017” is taken from our Book:

ISBN : 9789387421226

POLICIES AND SCHEMES 2017
Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
Sanchar Kaushal Vikas Pratisthan
F The scheme aims to provide training to
rural youth to maintain mobile towers,
repair optical fibers and fix other
communication technologies across the
nation.
F The Minister of State for Communications
would impart training to 10,000 people
from 10 States/UTs in the first phase.
F States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha,
Punjab and Haryana will be benefitted in
the first phase.
F The Department of Telecommunications
(DoT) plans to establish more than 1,000
Sanchar Kaushal Vikas Pratisthan in
future.
Mission Fingerling
F The Union Ministry of Agriculture
launched Mission Fingerling, a program
to enable holistic development and
management of fisheries sector in India.
F Government has identified 20 states based
on their potential and other relevant
factors to strengthen the fish fingerling
production and fish seed infrastructure in
the country.
F The program will facilitate the
establishment of fingerling rearing pond
and hatcheries to ensure the production of
426 crores of fish fingerling, 25.50 crores
post larvae of shrimp and crab.
F The implementation of the program will
supplement the requirement of stocking
materials in the country up to a large
extent.
F The program focuses on creating an
environment that envisages integrated and
holistic development and management
of fisheries for the socio economic
development of the fishers and fish
farmers.
Power Tex Scheme
F The government launched Power Tex
India, a comprehensive scheme for power
loom sector development at over 45
locations in the country.
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F Power-Tex India van was also flagged off
for publicity of the Power Tex scheme.
F The objective of the first component of
in-situ upgradation is to provide financial
assistance to economically weaker low-
end power loom units, for upgrading
existing plain looms to semi-automatic/
shuttle-less looms by fixing certain
additional attachment/kits.
F The scheme also aims to improve quality
and productivity of the fabrics being
produced and enable them to face the
competition in domestic and international
markets.
F All power loom units having up to 8 looms
would be eligible under this component.
Visiting Advanced Joint Research
Faculty Scheme - VAJRA
F The Prime Minister announced the launch
of VAJRA by the Department of Science and
Technology to enable NRIs and overseas
scientific community to participate and
contribute to research and development in
India.
F The scheme aims at using the expertise
of international faculty/scientists/
technologists including Non-Resident
Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian Origin
(PIO)/Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) in
highly competitive areas of research and
development by offering them adjunct/
visiting faculty positions in Indian
institutions/universities for specific
period of time.
F VAJRA Faculty Scheme has been
conceptualized to bring an international
dimension to the R&D ecosystem of India
by leveraging overseas scientists’ expertise
to the Indian research framework.
F The Indian collaborator and the overseas
faculty will jointly frame a research plan
and the application duly endorsed by the
head of the institution will be submitted
online by the Indian collaborator.
Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana
F The Union Ministry of Social Justice
& Empowerment launched Rashtriya
Vayoshri Yojana in Nellore district of
Andhra Pradesh.

F The scheme aims at providing physical
aids and assisted-living devices for senior
citizens belonging to Below Poverty Line
(BPL) category.
F It is the first-of-its-kind Central Sector
Scheme (CCS) in India, to be fully funded
by the union government.
F It is expected to benefit 5,20,000
senior citizens, and its expenditure
implementation will be met from the
Senior Citizens Welfare Fund.
Saubhagya Scheme
F Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar
Yojana ‘Saubhagya’ scheme to provide
electricity connections to over 4 crore
families in rural and urban areas by
December 2018.
F Under the scheme, the government
proposes to provide electricity to all
households by December 2018, ahead of
the earlier target of March, 2019.
F All villages would be electrified by
December this year ahead of the scheduled
deadline of May 1, 2018.
F The beneficiaries for free electricity
connections would be identified using
Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC)
2011 data.
UDAN Scheme
F Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
the Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN)
scheme.
F Around 45 unserved and under-served
airports are set to be connected under
UDAN scheme to make flying more
reasonable.
F The airports to be connected under UDAN
include Bhatinda, Bhavnagar, Durgapur,
Jaisalmer, Puducherry and Shimla.
F According to the scheme, 24 airports in
the western region, 17 airports in the
northern region, 11 in the southern region,
12 in east and 6 in north-eastern parts of
the country are proposed to be connected
under UDAN.
F Under this scheme, five operators will
operate flights services on 128 routes that
will connect 70 airports through 19-78
seater aircrafts.
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Revenue Insurance Scheme for
Plantation Crops
F The Commerce Ministry approved the pilot
Revenue Insurance Scheme for Plantation
Crops (RISPC) for protecting the growers
from the risks, such as yield loss, pest
attacks and income decline caused by fall
in prices.
F The Department of Commerce has
approved the pilot RISPC for protecting
growers of plantation crops from the twin
risks of yield loss due to adverse weather
parameters, pest attacks, etc. and income
loss caused by fall in international/
domestic prices.
F As per the institutional and financial
framework for the growth of these
corridors approved by the government,
land acquisition/pooling/procurement
and making it available for projects is the
responsibility of the concerned state.
Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital
Saksharta Abhiyan
F The Union Cabinet has approved Pradhan
Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan
(PMGDISHA) to make 6 crore rural
households digitally literate.
F Under the scheme, 25 lakh candidates will
be trained in the FY 2016-17; 275 lakh in
the FY 2017-18; and 300 lakh in the FY
2018-19.
F To ensure equitable geographical reach,
each of the 250,000 Gram Panchayats
would be expected to register an average
of 200-300 candidates.
F Digitally literate persons would be able
to operate computers/digital access
devices like tablets, smart phones, etc.,
send and receive emails, browse internet,
access government services, search
for information, undertaking cashless
transactions, etc.
Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana
F Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
launched the Pravasi Kaushal Vikas
Yojana (PKVY) to provide training and
certify Indians who are seeking overseas
employment in selected sectors in line
with international standards.

F The scheme will be implemented by the
National Skill Development Corporation
(NSDC) through its training partners and
in consultation with the Union Ministry
of External Affairs and the Union Skill
Development Ministry.
F This scheme will assist in boosting the
self-confidence of the Indian youth who
are willing to work out of the country of
their choice for vocation.
Street Lighting National Program
F Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal
launched the “world’s largest” LED street
light replacement project completed
by South Delhi Municipal Corporation
(SDMC) in south Delhi wherein two lakh
conventional street lights have been
replaced with energy efficient LEDs.
F The initiative under the Street Lighting
National Program being implemented by
the Energy Efficiency Services Limited
of Ministry of Power, will save 6.10 crore
units of electricity per year thus reducing
the electricity bill by 54 per cent.
F The project will include the installation of
75,000 more LED lights in the SDMC area
with special focus on the installation of
LED lights in parks, dark spots and high
mast lights.
F The program is currently running in
Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh,
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa,
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
COMMIT Program
F The Union Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances & Pension has launched a new
training program, Comprehensive Online
Modified Modules on Induction Training
(COMMIT), for state government officials.
F The program has been developed by
Department of Personnel and Training
(DoPT) in collaboration with United
Nations Development Program (UNDP).
F Initially, on pilot basis the program will
be launched in 6 states, including Assam,
Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,
Telangana and West Bengal during the
current financial year 2017-18.
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F The program has been designed in such a
way that it allows translating the content
in local/regional languages and will be
implemented through State Administrative
Training Institutes (ATIs).
National Biopharma Mission
F The Union Ministry of Science & Technology
has launched National Biopharma
Mission, a first ever industry academia
mission to accelerate biopharmaceutical
development in India.
F Under this mission, the ministry also
launched Innovate in India (I3) program to
promote entrepreneurship and indigenous
manufacturing in the sector.
F I3 is a flagship program of the Government
of India in collaboration with World Bank.
F I3 is committed to make India a hub
for design and development of novel,
affordable and effective biopharmaceutical
products and solutions.
F The program will boost the growth
of domestic biopharma industry by
accelerating the translation of research
concepts into viable products and
supporting clinical validation.
Know India Program
F External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
has inaugurated Know India Program
(KIP) for NRI and PIO youth with an aim
to provide them with an exposure to the
country of their origin.
F The program is an initiative of the Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA) for the Persons
of Indian Origin (PIO) between the age
group of 18 to 30 years.
F The ministry has announced that it is
taking measures to open more passport
seva kendras, so that a person need not
travel more than 50 kilometres to get his/
her passport.
F Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK)
is an initiative undertaken jointly by the
MEA and the Department of Post.
F The KIP offers a platform for the young
PIOs to visit India, share their views,
expectations and experiences and forge
closer bonds with India of present times.

Project Jal Sanchay
F Project Jal Sanchay, a water conservation
model which is successfully adopted in
Nalanda district of Bihar, has been chosen
for the national award for excellence
in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee (MGNREG)
program by the Ministry of Rural
Development.
F Nalanda being an agriculture-oriented
district remained affected by drought-like
conditions that hampered the farming
activities in the district.
F Under the project, check dams and
traditional Aahar-Pyne irrigation systems
were created. In addition, traditional
water bodies were desilted and renovated.
Trade Infrastructure for Export
Scheme
F Then Commerce and Industry Minister
Nirmala Sitharamanhas launched the
Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme
(TIES).
F The Scheme is focused on addressing the
needs of the exporters.
F The focus will not just be on creating
infrastructure but also to make sure it is
professionally run and sustained.
F There will be an Empowered Committee
to periodically review the progress of
the approved projects in the Scheme
and will take necessary steps to ensure
achievement of the objectives of the
scheme.
F The proposals of the implementing
agencies for funding will be considered
by an inter-ministerial Empowered
Committee specially constituted for this
scheme to be chaired by the Commerce
Secretary.
UJALA Scheme
F Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL),
under Ministry of Power, Government
of India, has launched Unnat Jyoti by
Affordable Lighting for All (UJALA) scheme
in the state of Melaka, Malaysia.
F The scheme has seen successful
implementation in the UK.
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F Under the scheme, each household in
Melaka will get 10 high quality 9-watt LED
bulbs at a cost of only RM 10 (10 Malaysian
Ringgit), which is a special price and is
almost half of what is being offered in the
market.
F The EESL plans to distribute about 1
million 9W LED bulbs, replacing 18W CFLs
in Melaka.
Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat
Program
F Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat Program,
an initiative of Kendriya Vidyalaya
Sangathan, has recently been launched in
Kochi.
F The program provides a comprehensive
and inclusive report card for children
covering all age groups and children of
different abilities.
F It makes students, teachers and parents
aware about the importance of good health
and fitness, encouraging 60 minutes of
play each day.
Varshadhare Project
F Government of Karnataka has launched
the much touted cloud seeding project
named Varshadhare.
F Cloud seeding aims at catalysing the
process of precipitation, so that rainfall
could be increased by 15-20% in drought
affected areas of the state.
F Experts have analysed that precipitation
in clouds has been affected recently due
to increase in particulate matter in the
atmosphere and among other factors.
F Among the problems for successful
precipitation in rain bearing clouds are
that water droplets formed in the clouds
are much smaller than the particulate
matter.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada
Yojana
F The Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs has launched the Scheme for Agro-
Marine Processing and Development of
Agro-Processing Clusters (SAMPADA) as
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana
(PMKSY) for the period of 2016-20.

F It benefits 20 lakh farmers and will
generate 5,30,500 direct/indirect
employment in the country by the year
2019-20.
F PMKSY is an umbrella scheme
incorporating ongoing schemes of
the ministry like Mega Food Parks,
Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition
Infrastructure, Food Safety and Quality
Assurance Infrastructure, etc.
F It will boost the growth of food processing
sector in the country and will result in the
creation of modern infrastructure with
efficient supply chain management from
farm gate to retail outlet.
‘She Means Business’ Program
F Odisha government has launched ‘She
Means Business’ program of Facebook for
women entrepreneurs.
F Under this scheme, around 25,000 women
entrepreneurs and self help group (SHG)
members will be given training on digital
marketing skills within a year.
F Women entrepreneurs will get hands-on
training on digital marketing free of cost
and they need not create their websites to
promote their business.
F Facebook will also make a database
of entrepreneurs in the state and will
monitor their growth, turnover and profit
after one year.
Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan
Gram Sankul Pariyojana
F The government has launched Pt. Deen
Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul
Pariyojana that endeavours to formulate
and implement appropriate science &
technology interventions for sustainable
development through cluster approach in
Uttarakhand.
F Under the scheme, it is aimed at
adopting a few clusters of villages in
Uttarakhand and transforming them to
become self sustainable in a time bound
manner through the tools of science and
technology.
F The local communities are not compelled
to migrate from their native places in
search of jobs and livelihoods.
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F Post harvest processing of kiwi,
strawberry, cherry, tulsi, ginger and badi
elaichi has been made through solar drying
technology, and extraction of apricot oil
will be made using cold press technology.
F Practice of agriculture, agro-based cottage
industries and animal husbandry in an
eco-friendly manner will be emphasized
during the implementation of the project.
Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat
F The central government has launched a
country-wide LPG Panchayat to distribute
LPG connections in the rural areas where
conventional fuel is used for domestic
purposes.
F The government aims to reach the
doorsteps of poor and under-privileged
women to educate them about the safety
and efficiency, health benefits, positive
impact on environment, economic
development and empowerment on usage
of LPG connections.
F The idea of this platform is to trigger a
discussion through sharing of personal
experiences on the benefits of use of clean
fuel compared to traditional fuels like cow
dung.
F The agenda would also include safe
practices, quality of service provided
by distributors and availability of refill
cylinders.
“Jan Sampark” Program
F The Central Adoption Resource Authority
(CARA) of the Ministry of Women & Child
Development has started a monthly “Jan
Sampark” program to enable the public
to have interaction with its officials and
staff for seeking information related to
adoption as well as flagging their concerns.
F The first of its kind program was held in
New Delhi.
JIGYASA Program
F Jigyasa, a student-scientist connect
program, has been launched by the
government in New Delhi.
F The program has been inspired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a new
India and “Scientific Social Responsibility
(SSR)” of scientific community and
institutions.

F The program is expected to inculcate the
culture of inquisitiveness and scientific
temper on the minds of children and
school teachers.
F The program would be implemented by
the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) in collaboration with
Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).
SECURE Himalaya Project
F The central government launched SECURE
Himalaya, a six-year project to ensure
conservation of locally and globally
significant biodiversity, land and forest
resources in high Himalayan ecosystem
spread over four states, Himachal Pradesh,
Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and
Sikkim.
F It was launched by the Union Ministry of
Environment, Forests and Climate Change
(MoEFCC) in association with the United
Nations Development Program (UNDP).
F The SECURE project aims at securing
livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use
and restoration of high range Himalayan
ecosystems.
F The project is meant for specific
landscapes including Changthang (Jammu
and Kashmir), Lahaul – Pangi and Kinnaur
(Himachal Pradesh), Gangotri – Govind
and Darma – Byans Valley in Pithoragarh
(Uttarakhand) and Kanchenjunga – Upper
Teesta Valley (Sikkim).
F The main focus areas of the project is the
protection of snow leopard and other
endangered species and their habitats and
also securing livelihoods of people in the
regions and enhancing enforcement to
reduce wildlife crime.
Mathru Poorna Scheme
F The government of Karnataka has
launched Mathru Poorna Scheme to meet
nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating
women in the rural areas of Karnataka.
F Under the scheme, pregnant and lactating
poor women in rural areas will get one
nutritious meal daily for 25 days in a
month.
F The scheme will be implemented through
anganwadis in the state.
F Under the scheme, nutritious food will
be provided for 15 months, from start of
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pregnancy up to six months after delivery.
F Along with meal, Iron Folic Acid (IFA)
tablets will be administered and
gestational weight monitoring will be
ensured for pregnant women.
Intensified Mission Indradhanush
(IMI)
F Through the Intensified Mission
Indradhanush, the government aims to
focus on each and every child under two
years of age and all those pregnant women
under the routine immunisation program.
F The program will focus on improving
immunization coverage in select districts
and cities to ensure full immunization to
more than 90% by December 2018.
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2017-
18
F The Union Government in collaboration
with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
launched Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017-18 –
Series-III.
F The bonds will be sold through banks,
Stock Holding Corporation of India
Limited, designated post offices and
recognised stock exchanges namely the
NSE and BSE.
F These bonds were launched under
umbrella sovereign gold bond scheme
in November 2015 with an objective to
reduce demand for physical gold and
shift part of domestic savings, used for
purchase of gold, into financial savings.
F It also aims to ease pressure on the
country’s trade balance as India’s imports
are dominated by crude oil and gold by
converting gold into a productive asset.
F The bonds are denominated in units of
one gram of gold and multiples thereof.
Minimum investment in bonds is one
gram.
SANKALP & STRIVE Schemes
F The Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA) approved two World
Bank supported schemes Skills
Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness
for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and
Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value
Enhancement (STRIVE) to boost Skill India
Mission.

F SANKALP is a Rs. 4455 crore centrally
sponsored scheme including Rs 3300
crore loan support from World Bank
whereas STRIVE is Rs. 2200 crore central
sector scheme with half funding through
the World bank loan assistance.
F The schemes will incentivize ITIs to
improve overall performance including
apprenticeship by involving small scale
enterprises, business association and
industry clusters.
F The schemes will develop robust
mechanism for delivering quality skill
development training by strengthening
institutions- National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC), State Skill
Development Missions (SSDMs), Sector
Skill Councils, ITIs and National Skill
Development Mission 2015.
Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana
F The Union Ministry of Communications
has launched Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana, a
pan India scholarship program for school
children to increase the reach of philately.
F SPARSH stands for Scholarship for
Promotion of Aptitude & Research in
Stamps as a Hobby.
F Under the program, annual scholarships
will be awarded to children of standard
VI to IX having good academic record and
also pursuing philately as hobby through
competitive selection process in all postal
circles.
F Government will award 920 scholarships
to students pursuing philately as hobby.
SAATHI Program
F The Ministry of Power along with the
Ministry of Textiles has launched its new
initiative called SAATHI - Sustainable and
Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile
Technologies - to help small industries.
F The powerloom sector in India is
predominantly an unorganized sector and
has a large number of micro and small
units which produces 57 percent of the
total cloth in the country.
F Upgradation of powerlooms as part
of Power Tex India will lead to higher
productivity, better quality and more than
50 percent additional value realization.
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F Under the program, Energy Efficiency
Services Limited (EESL) would procure
energy efficient powerlooms, motors and
repair kits in bulk and provide them to the
small and medium powerloom units at no
upfront cost.
BharatMala Project
F The centre had announced BharatMala
Pariyojana to encourage the economy as
private investment remains moribund.
F The BharatMala Pariyojana will generate
14.2 crore man-days of jobs.
F The BharatMala project will include
economic corridors, inter-corridor
and feeder route, national corridors
efficiency improvement, border roads and
international connectivity, coastal roads
and port connectivity and Greenfield
expressways.
National Rural Drinking Water
Program
F The Union Cabinet has approved
continuation and restructuring of National
Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP).
F The program will cover all the rural
population across the country.
F NRDWP will be continued co-terminus
with 14th Finance Commission cycle till
March 2020.
F The program will enable the country to
reach the goal of increasing coverage of
sustainable piped water supply.
F The program will focus on piped water
supply, increase level of service delivery,
thrust on coverage of water quality
affected habitations, coverage of Open
Defecation Free (ODF) declared villages,
‎Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts,
‎Border out Posts (BOP) with piped water
supply and ‎ institutional set up for proper
O&M of water supply assets, etc.
Shaheed Gram Vikas Yojana
F The government of Jharkhand has
launched Shaheed Gram Vikas Yojana
aimed at developing villages of freedom
fighters in the state.
F It was launched from Ulihatu village, birth
place of freedom fighter Birsa Munda.
F Under the scheme, villages of many tribal
freedom fighters will be developed and

their habitants will be provided basic
amenities.
F These villages had remained inaccessible
for long time after Independence because
of Left-wing extremism.
Sankalp Se Siddhi
F Sankalp Se Siddhi program is a new
initiative launched by Narendra Modi for a
New India movement from 2017 to 2022.
F The program aims to bring in many
changes in the country for the betterment
of country’s economy, citizens, society,
governance, security and other verticals.
F Under the Sankalp Se Siddhi program,
the new India movement would organize
events to make the Indian citizens aware of
many social issues such as discrimination,
communalism, non-hygiene, etc.
F The main objectives of the Sankalp
Se Siddhi Program are poverty-free
India, clean India, terrorism-free India,
communalism-free India and corruption-
free India.
Shadi Shagun Scheme
F Modi government is planning to launch
a new scheme called “Shadi Shagun” for
Muslim girls.
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F The scheme will provide financial
assistance of Rs. 51,000 as a wedding gift to
girls belonging to the Muslim community
who completes their graduation.
F The aim of the scheme is to encourage
Muslim girls for the pursuit of higher
education.
F The benefit of the Shadi Shagun scheme
will only be provided to those who
complete their graduation.
Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana
(PMVVY)
F The shortfall owing to the difference
between the interest guaranteed and the
actual interest earned and the expenses
relating to administration shall be
subsidised by the government of India and
reimbursed to the LIC.
F The scheme will provide an assured return
of 8 per cent per annum payable monthly
(equivalent to 8.30 per cent per annum)
for 10 years.
F PMVVY can be purchased offline as well as
online through LIC which has been given
the sole privilege to operate this scheme.
F On death of the pensioner during the
policy term of 10 years, the purchase price
shall be paid to the beneficiary.