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Central Government Polices, Schemes, Bills and acts:

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojna:

A crop insurance scheme aimed to ensure farmers’ welfare.

 The scheme will offer more insurance with less premium, and lead to rise of purchasing
capacity of farmers.
 The new scheme replaces the existing National Agricultural Insurance Scheme.
 Government liability on premium subsidy will be shared by central and state governments on
fifty-fifty basis.
 The budget for Crop Insurance will be substantially increased from 2823 crore rupees in 2015-
16 to 7750 crore rupees in 2018-19.
 Remote Sensing, smart phones and drones will be used for quick estimation of crop losses and
early settlement of claims.
 Currently, farmers have to pay premium ranging from 4 to 15 per cent to insure crops.

Example: the case of Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region, where the actual premium
for paddy is 22 per cent of the sum insured and farmers have to pay a premium as high as 5.75 per
cent.

a farmer will not have to pay more than 2.5 per cent of the sum insured as premium for kharif crops
(paddy, maize, millet, etc), 2 per cent for all rabi crops except wheat, 1.5 per cent for wheat and 2 per
cent for all pulses.
 The proposal also envisages a cap of 5 per cent on premium a farmer has to pay to get
horticulture crops (including fruits, vegetables and commercial crops) insured.
 The new scheme will also seek to address a long-standing demand of farmers and provide
farm-level assessment for localised calamities, including hailstorms, unseasonal rains,
landslides and inundation.
 The government is planning to use smartphones to capture crop cutting data to reduce the time
taken to finalise yield data .

 The new Crop Insurance Scheme is in line with One Nation – One Scheme theme.

LPG scheme in India (PAHAL )or DBTL scheme:

PaHaL or Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh, formerly the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG
subsidy, is a Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy in India.
 Under the scheme, LPG cylinders are sold at market rates and consumers receive a subsidy
from the Union Government directly into their bank accounts. It replaced the previous system
of selling subsidised LPG cylinders directly to consumers.
 It is the largest cash transfer programme in the world.
 The Guinness Book of World Records acknowledged the Pahal scheme as the world’s largest
cash transfer programme on 13 August 2015.
 The Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG subsidy was initially launched on 1 June 2013,
and eventually covered 291 districts.

However, consumers faced several issues particularly due to the mandatory requirement that an

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Aadhaar linked bank account was needed to avail the subsidy.

After reviewing issues faced by consumers with the scheme, the Government relaunched a modified
scheme named PaHal on 15 November 2014 in 54 districts. The scheme was extended nationwide on 1
January 2015.

By 1 March 2015, 75% of the total LPG consumer base of 15.3 crore was enrolled under the scheme.
As of 13 August 2015, 13.9 crore LPG consumers are enrolled under the scheme.
 The “Pahal” scheme has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records for
being the largest cash transfer program (households) with 12.57 crore households receiving
cash transfer as of 30th June, 2015.

Eligibility for the scheme:

 Consumers will need a bank account to join the scheme and receive LPG subsidy
 Consumers will also get one time permanent advance in their bank account prior to buying the
first market priced LPG cylinder
 Consumers will receive subsidy in their bank account as per their entitlement of subsidized
cylinders.
 All LPG consumers will get cylinders at market price and only those who join the scheme will
receive one time permanent advance & subsidy from the date of joining.

The Income Declaration Scheme 2016:

The Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 incorporated as Chapter IX of the Finance Act 2016 provides
an opportunity to all persons who have not declared income correctly in earlier years to come forward
and declare such undisclosed income(s).

 Under the Scheme, such income as declared by the eligible persons, would be taxed at the rate
of 30% plus a ‘Krishi Kalyan Cess’ of 25% on the taxes payable and a penalty at the rate of
25% of the taxes payable, thereby totaling to 45% of the income declared under the scheme.
 The scheme shall remain in force for a period of 4 months from 1st June, 2016 to 30th
September, 2016 for filing of declarations and payments towards taxes, surcharge & penalty
must be made latest by 30th November, 2016.
 The scheme shall apply to undisclosed income whether in the form of investment in assets or
otherwise, pertaining to Financial Year 2015-16 or earlier.
 Where the declaration is in the form of investment in assets, the Fair Market Value of such
asset as on 1st June 2016 shall be deemed to be the undisclosed income under the Scheme.
However, foreign assets or income to which the Black Money Act 2015 applies are not eligible
for declaration under this scheme.
 Assets specified in the declaration shall be exempt from Wealth tax.

 No Scrutiny and enquiry under the Income-tax Act or the Wealth tax Act shall be undertaken
in respect of such declarations.
 Immunity from prosecution under the Income-tax Act and Wealth Tax Act is also provided
along with immunity from the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 subject to transfer
of asset to actual owner within the period specified in the Rules.

 Non-payment of total taxes, surcharge & penalty in time or declaration by misrepresentation

or suppression of facts shall render the declaration void.

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 The circumstances in which the Scheme shall not apply or where a person is held to be
ineligible are specified in section 196 (Chapter IX) of the Finance Act, 2016.

Non declaration of undisclosed income under the Scheme, will render such undisclosed income liable
to tax in the previous year in which it is detected by the Income Tax Department. Other penal
consequences will also follow accordingly.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana:

According to WHO estimates, about 5 lakh deaths in India alone due to unclean cooking fuels. Most of
these premature deaths were due to non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a
significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children.

According to experts, having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour.

Scheme:
 Scheme provides free LPG connections to the poor women of the nation. Under the scheme of
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, about 8,000 crore rupees has been reserved for provide fifty
million LPG connections to the poor family unit.
 The scheme will be implemented by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
 This is the first time in the history of the country that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural
Gas would implement a welfare scheme benefitting crores of women belonging to the poorest
households.

Objectives of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana:

 Empowering women and protecting their health.
 Assisting in cutting short the issue of the air pollution due to use of fossil fuel.
 Reducing the serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuels.
 Reducing the number of deaths in India due to unclean cooking fuels, which is about 5 lakh
every year in India.
 Preventing young children from significant number of acute respiratory illnesses caused due to
indoor air pollution by burning the fossil fuels.

Merits:
 Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in
the country.
 It will reduce drudgery and the time spent on cooking.
 It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

LPG Facts:
 India currently has 16.64 crore active LPG consumers, mostly in Urban and Semi Urban areas.
 Consumers are currently entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2 kg each.
 A subsidised 14.2 kg cylinder is currently available at Rs. 419.13 per bottle in Delhi
 Market-priced LPG is available at Rs. 509.50 per 14.2 kg cylinder.
 India imports nearly 40 percent of its total requirement of 21 million tonne LPG. The import is
also expected to go up to nearly 50-55% with the new connections.

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Finance Bill :
Finance Bill is a secret bill introduced every year in Lok Sabha immediately after the presentation of
the Union Budget, to give effect to the financial proposals of the Government of India for the
immediately following financial year.

The Finance Bill is presented at the time of presentation of the Annual Financial Statement before
Parliament, in fulfillment of the requirement of Article 110 (1)(a) of the Constitution, detailing the
imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of taxes proposed in the Budget.
It is through the Finance Act that amendments are made to the various Acts like Income Tax Act 1961,
Customs Act 1962 etc.

What is Annual Financial Statement?

Annual Financial Statement is a document presented to the Parliament every year under Article 112
of the Constitution of India, showing estimated receipts and expenditures of the Government of India
for the coming year in relation to revised estimates for the previous year as also the actual amounts for
the year prior to it.

When the proposals are introduced to the Parliament it is called as a Finance Bill. Once it is passed by
the Parliament and assented to by the President, Finance Bill becomes the Finance Act for that year.

In election years there would usually be two Finance Bills – one by the outgoing Government
presented along with its interim budget or votes on account and another by the new Government
which is titled as Finance Bill-2 of that year.

Finance Bill Vs Appropriation Bill

While the Finance Bill generally seeks approval of the Parliament for raising resources through taxes,
cess etc., an Appropriation Bill seeks Parliament’s approval for the withdrawal from the
Consolidated Fund of India to meet the approved expenditures of the Government.

Both Finance Bill and Appropriation Bill are money bills.

Finance Bill Vs Money Bill

A Finance Bill is a Money Bill but not all money bills are Finance Bills. Under Article 110(1) of the
Constitution a money bill is defined as follows…

Finance Bill is generally limited to Article 110(1)(a) & (g) – the imposition, abolition, remission,
alteration or regulation of any tax and any matter incidental thereto.

Money bills may be seen in the Legislative Procedures of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Features of Money Bills (including a Finance Bill)

Essentially Money bill including a Finance Bill has the following features:
 It can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha
 The bill is placed in Rajya Sabha thereafter and Rajya Sabha can return the Bill with or

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without its recommendations.

 In any case, the Bill has to be returned within a period of 14 days from the date of its receipt by
Rajya Sabha. Otherwise it is deemed to have been passed by both Houses at the expiration of
the said period in the form in which it was passed by Lok Sabha.
 If the bill is returned to Lok Sabha without recommendation, a message to that effect is
reported by the Secretary-General to the Lok Sabha if in session, or published in the Bulletin
for the information of the members of the Parliament, if it is not in session. The Bill shall then
be presented to the President for his assent.
 If the bill is returned to the Lok Sabha with amendments it has to be laid on the Table of the
House and taken up for consideration.

However, Lok Sabha is not bound to accept these amendments. Lok Sabha, under Article 109 of the
Constitution, has the option to accept or reject all or any of the recommendations made by Rajya
Sabha. In any case, Lok Sabha has to inform Rajya Sabha about the status of their recommendations,
as to whether they have been accepted or not. It is not that Lok Sabha does not accept any of the
recommendations of Rajya Sabha. For instance, in the Income Tax Bill, 1961, Rajya Sabha did
recommend a number of amendments of substantial character, all of which were agreed to by Lok
Sabha.

If Lok Sabha accepts any amendments as recommended by the Rajya Sabha, the Bill shall be deemed
to have been passed

The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015:

The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 amends the Industries
(Development and Regulation) Act, 1951.

What was there in 1951 bill?

The 1951 Act provides for development and regulation of certain industries including metallurgical,
telecommunications, transportation, fermentation (which includes production of alcohol) among
others.

New bill amends :

The Bill amends the schedule to exclude production of alcohol for potable purposes from the ambit of
the Act.

Supreme court case:

 The Supreme Court of India in its judgment on January 20, 1997, demarcated the regulation of
production of alcohol between centre and states (Bihar Distillery and another vs. Union of
India and others).
 The court ruled that centre should regulate the production of alcohol for industrial use and
states should regulate the production of alcohol for potable purpose (domestic consumption).

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA):

“Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act” (or, MGNREGA), is an Indian
labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’.

It aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage

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employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled
manual work.

Objective:
 “enhancing livelihood security in rural areas 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”.
 create durable assets (such as roads, canals, ponds, wells)
 helps in protecting the environment, empowering rural women, reducing rural-urban
migration and fostering social equity, among others.
 Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages
are to be paid. If work is not provided within 15 days of applying, applicants are entitled to an
unemployment allowance. Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement
 MGNREGA is to be implemented mainly by gram panchayats (GPs).

Criticism:
 A major criticism is that it is making agriculture less profitable
 Corruption: It has been alleged that individuals have received benefits and work payments for
work that they have not done, or have done only on paper, or are not poor.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana:

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana is a Government of India scheme designed to provide
continuous power supply to rural India.

 The scheme will replace the existing Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY).
 It focuses on feeder separation (rural households & agricultural) and strengthening of sub-
transmission & distribution infrastructure including metering at all levels in rural areas.
 This will help in providing round the clock power to rural households and adequate power to
agricultural consumers

Objectives:
 To provide electrification to all villages
 Feeder separation to ensure sufficient power to farmers and regular supply to other consumers
 Improvement of Sub-transmission and distribution network to improve the quality and
reliability of the supply
 Metering to reduce the losses

Benefits:
 All villages and households shall be electrified
 Improvement in Health, Education, Banking (ATM) services
 Improvement in accessibility to radio, telephone, television, internet and mobile etc.
 Betterment in social security due to availability of electricity
 Accessibility of electricity to schools, panchayats, hospitals and police stations etc.

Appropriation Bill:
According to Article 114 of the Indian constitution, no money can be withdrawn from the
Consolidated Fund of India to meet specified expenditure except under an appropriation made by

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Law.
 Every year, after budgetary estimates are approved, an Appropriation Bill is passed by the
Parliament and then it is presented to the President.
 If during the course of the financial year, the funds so appropriated are found to be
insufficient, the Constitution provides for seeking approval from the Parliament for
supplementary grants.
 After the assent by the President to the bill, it becomes an Act.

The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India reports to the Union and State
Legislatures any discrepancies that occur between the amounts appropriated for a particular head of
expenditure and what was actually spent at the end of the financial year.

These reports provide an indication of unrealistic budget estimates made by various departments.
Any expenditure in excess of what was approved requires regularization by the Parliament.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015:
The Bill amends the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
 It regulates the mining sector in India and specifies the requirement for obtaining and granting
mining leases for mining operations.
 It includes bauxite, iron ore, limestone and manganese ore and are defined as notified minerals.
 Under the Act, a person could acquire one mining lease for a maximum area of 10 sq km.( The
Bill amends this provision to allow the central government to increase the area limits for
mining, instead of providing additional leases.)
 Mining lease was granted for a maximum of 30 years and a minimum of 20 years and could be
renewed for a period not exceeding 20 years.
 For all minerals other than coal, lignite and atomic minerals, mining leases shall be granted for
a period of 50 years.
 The Bill states that state governments shall grant mining leases.
 The Bill states that the holder of a mining lease or prospecting license-cum-mining lease may
transfer the lease to any eligible person, with the approval of the state government, and as
specified by the central government.
 The Bill provides for the creation of a District Mineral Foundation (DMF) and a National
Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET).

Advantages of this bill:

Easier for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of steel and cement companies reeling in the aftermath of
the collapse in global commodity prices.
 The companies acquiring the cement units will now have raw material security as they can
access limestone mines belonging to the acquisition targets.
 Eliminates uncertainty that held up mergers and acquisitions of resource-based companies
earlier, and permits distressed metal and cement producers to sell their production units along
with the mines.
“The Comptroller and Auditor General of India said in a 2012 report that coal mine allocations had
caused the exchequer a notional loss of Rs.1.86 trillion”

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015:

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Bill establishes the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of India, and
a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of each state.

These Funds will receive payments for:

(i) compensatory afforestation,
(ii) net present value of forest (NPV)
(iii) other project specific payments.
The National Fund will receive 10% of these funds, and the State Funds will receive the remaining
90%.

Funds will be primarily spent on afforestation to compensate for loss of forest cover, regeneration of
forest ecosystem, wildlife protection and infrastructure development.
“A 2013 CAG report noted that state forest departments lack the planning and implementation
capacity to carry out compensatory afforestation and forest conservation. With the share of funds
transferred to states increasing from 10% to 90%, effective utilisation of these funds will depend on
the capacity of state forest departments”

National Intellectual Property Rights Policy:

The Union Cabinet recently approved the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy

Vision Statement: An India where creativity and innovation are stimulated by Intellectual Property
for the benefit of all; an India where intellectual property promotes advancement in science and
technology, arts and culture, traditional knowledge and biodiversity resources; an India where
knowledge is the main driver of development, and knowledge owned is transformed into knowledge
shared.

Mission Statement:
Stimulate a dynamic, vibrant and balanced intellectual property rights system in India to:
o foster creativity and innovation and thereby, promote entrepreneurship and enhance socio-
economic and cultural development, and
o focus on enhancing access to healthcare, food security and environmental protection, among
other sectors of vital social, economic and technological importance.

Objectives:
The Policy lays down the following seven objectives:

IPR Awareness:
 Outreach and Promotion – To create public awareness about the economic, social and cultural
benefits of IPRs among all sections of society.
 Generation of IPRs – To stimulate the generation of IPRs.
 Legal and Legislative Framework – To have strong and effective IPR laws, which balance the
interests of rights owners with larger public interest.
 Administration and Management – To modernize and strengthen service-oriented IPR
administration.
 Commercialization of IPRs – Get value for IPRs through commercialization.
 Enforcement and Adjudication – To strengthen the enforcement and adjudicatory
mechanisms for combating IPR infringements.

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 Human Capital Development –To strengthen and expand human resources, institutions and
capacities for teaching, training, research and skill building in IPRs.

These objectives are sought to be achieved through detailed action points. The action by different
Ministries/ Departments shall be monitored by DIPP which shall be the nodal department to
coordinate, guide and oversee implementation and future development of IPRs in India.

Adoption of United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics:

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave its approval for adoption
of United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics recently.

The adoption of the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics will bring
professional independence, impartiality, accountability and transparency in methods of collection,
compilation and dissemination of official statistics, besides adopting international standards.

The ten Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, as endorsed by the UN General Assembly, are
set out below:
 Principle 1: Official statistics provide an indispensable element in the information system of a
democratic society, serving the Government, the economy and the public with data about the
economic, demographic, social and environmental situation. To this end, official statistics that
meet the test of practical utility are to be compiled and made available on an impartial basis by
official statistical agencies to honor citizens’ entitlement to public information.
 Principle 2: To retain trust in official statistics, the statistical agencies need to decide according
to strictly professional considerations, including scientific principles and professional ethics, on
the methods and procedures for the collection, processing, storage and presentation of
statistical data.
 Principle 3: To facilitate a correct interpretation of the data, the statistical agencies are to
present information according to scientific standards on the sources, methods and procedures
of the statistics.
 Principle 4: The statistical agencies are entitled to comment on erroneous interpretation and
misuse of statistics.
 Principle 5: Data for statistical purposes may be drawn from all types of sources, be they
statistical surveys or administrative records. Statistical agencies are to choose the source with
regard to quality, timeliness, costs and the burden on Respondents.
 Principle 6: Individual data collected by statistical agencies for statistical compilation, whether
they refer to natural or legal persons, are to be strictly confidential and used exclusively for
statistical purposes.
 Principle 7: The laws, regulations and measures under which the statistical systems operate are
to be made public.
 Principle 8: Coordination among statistical agencies within countries is essential to achieve
consistency and efficiency in the statistical system.
 Principle 9: The use by statistical agencies in each country of international concepts,
classifications and methods promotes the consistency and efficiency of statistical systems at all
official levels.
 Principle 10: Bilateral and multilateral cooperation in statistics contributes to the
improvement of systems of official statistics in all countries.

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