Government

Schemes

SEPTEMBER 2022
HOUSING FOR ALL - PMAY, ETC.
Delay in govt.’s flagship
PMAY-G scheme to
invite penalty
Governance | GS2: Government Scheme/Policies
Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : PMAY- Urban and Rural
Mains level : Housing for All
Pulling up the States for the delay in
completion of the governments flagship rural
household scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) the Union Ministry
of Rural Development has come up with a set
of penalties that the State governments will
have to bear for any further delay.
About PMAY-G Scheme
• In pursuance of the goal - Housing for all by
2022, the rural housing scheme Indira Awas
Yojana was revamped to PMAY-G and
approved during March 2016.
• The main aim of the PMAY-G scheme is to
provide pucca house with some of the basic
amenities.
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION - RTE, EDUCATION POLICY, SEQI, RMSA, COMMITTEE
REPORTS, ETC.
Tamil Nadu’s new Breakfast
Scheme in Schools
Governance | GS2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections
Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : Meal schemes for students
Mains level : Not Much
Tamil Nadu CM has launched the Chief
Ministers Breakfast Scheme for students of
Class I to V in government schools.
2 GOV T SCHEMES
• T his scheme is meant for people who
do not own a house and people who live
in kutcha houses or houses which are
severely damaged.
• At present, the minimum size of the houses
to be built under the PMAY-G scheme has
been increased to 25 sq. mt. from 20 sq. mt.
• U nder PMAY, the cost of unit assistance
is to be shared between Central and State
Governments in the ratio 60:40 in plain areas
and 90:10 for North Eastern and hilly states.
Subsidies under PMAY - G scheme
There are various subsidies offered under
PMAY G. These include:
• L
 oans up to Rs. 70,000 from financial
institution
CMs Breakfast Scheme
• The scheme covers around 1.14 lakh students
in 1,545 schools which include 417 municipal
corporation schools, 163 municipality
schools and 728 taluk and village panchayat-
level schools.
• The inauguration of the scheme marks an
important milestone in the States history of
providing free meals to school students.
How has the idea evolved?
(a) Pre-independence
• In November 1920, the Madras Corporation
Council approved a proposal for providing
tiffin to the students of a Corporation School
at Thousand Lights at a cost not exceeding
one anna per student per day.
• Interest subsidy of 3%
• Subsidy for the maximum principal amount
is Rs. 2 lakh
Why in news?
• Opposition-ruled states such as West Bengal,
Chhattisgarh and Odisha are the leading four
States who are far behind their targets.
• The initial deadline for the scheme was
March 2022, which owing to the COVID-19
pandemic was extended by another two
years till March 2024.
What are the penalty provisions?
• If the sanction of the house is delayed for
more than one month from the date of issue
of the target, the State government will be
penalised.
• The penal fees are per week 10 per house
for the first month of delay and 20 per house
for each subsequent month of delay.
• Similarly, if the first instalment due to the
beneficiary is delayed for more than seven
days from the date of sanction, then the State
governments will have to pay 10 per house
per week of delay.
Also read:
https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/govt-extends-
pmay-urban-scheme/
• T heagaraya Chetty, the then President of the
Corporation and one of the stalwarts of the
Justice Party, said the boys studying at the
school were poor, which affected the strength
of the institution greatly.
• The scheme, which was extended to
four more schools and facilitated higher
enrollment of students.
(b) Post-independence
• The concept saw a Statewide application in
1956 when the then CM K. Kamaraj decided
to provide free noon meal to poor children in
all primary schools across the State.
• The Budget for 1956-57 contained a
provision for supplying mid-day meals
to schoolchildren for 200 days a year,
initially covering 65,000 students in 1,300
feeding centres.
• In July 1982, it was left to the then CM MG
Ramachandran to extend the programme to
children in the 2-5 age group in Anganwadis
and those in 5-9 age group in primary
schools in rural areas.
• Subsequently, the scheme now called
Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Nutritious
Meal Programme was extended to urban
areas as well.
• Since September 1984, students of standards
VI to X have been covered under the scheme.
Beneficiaries of the programme
• As of now, there are nearly 7 lakh
beneficiaries spread over 43,190 nutritious
meal centres.
• This includes around 3,500 students of
National Child Labour Project (NCLP)
special schools.
• B esides, as a consequence of the
collaborative implementation of the
Integrated Child Development Scheme
(ICDS) and the nutritious meal programme,
around 15.8 lakh children in the age group of
2+ to 5+ years receive nutritious meals.
Impact on school education
• R
 ise in enrolment: After the improved
version of the mid-day meal scheme in 1982,
the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) at primary
FOOD PROCUREMENT AND DISTRIBUTION - PDS & NFSA, SHANTA KUMAR COMMITTEE, FCI
RESTRUCTURING, BUFFER STOCK, ETC.
Centre extends Free Ration
Scheme PMGKAY for 3 months
Governance | GS2: Government Scheme/Policies
Note4Students | From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : PMGKAY
Mains level : Schemes related to food security
The Union government has extended the
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana
(PMGKAY) for another three months from
October 1.
What is PMGKAY?
• P MGKAY is a food security welfare scheme
announced by the GoI in March 2020, during
the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The program is operated by the Department
of Food and Public Distribution under the
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution.
• The scale of this welfare scheme makes it the
largest food security program in the world.
Targets of the scheme
• To feed the poorest citizens of India
by providing grain through the Public
Distribution System to all the priority
households (ration card holders and
those identified by the Antyodaya Anna
Yojana scheme).
• P MGKAY provides 5 kg of rice or wheat
(according to regional dietary preferences)
per person/month and 1 kg of dal to each
family holding a ration card.
At what rate are food grains provided
under the NFSA?
• N
 FSA beneficiaries are entitled to receive
foodgrains at highly subsidised rates.
level (standards I to V) went up by 10%
during July-September, 1982 as compared to
the corresponding period in 1981.
• G irls enrolment: The rise in boys enrollment
was 12% and in the case of girls, 7%,
according to a publication brought out by the
Tamil Nadu government on the occasion of
the launch of the Scheme.
• I ncrease in attendance: Likewise, attendance
during July-September 1982 rose by 33%
over the previous years figure.
Focus areas programme
• A
 naemia is a major health problem in Tamil
Nadu, especially among women and children,
says the 2019-21 National Family Health
Survey (NFHS)-5s report.
• U
 nder the food law, rice is provided at Rs
3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2 per kg, and coarse
grains at Re 1 per kg.
Why was such a scheme needed?
• The devastation by pandemic has increased
manifold in the second wave resulting into
localized restrictions and lockdowns from
the States.
• This resulted in massive jobs losses in urban
areas since the largest employers being
construction and hospitality sectors have
been completely shut down.
• The virus penetrated deeper in the
countryside in rural areas halting almost
every sources of livelihood.
• These areas are such where 60% of the
income was earned from non-pharm
activities. This resulted in livelihood losses of
large section of population.
Success of the scheme
• It was the first step by the government when
pandemic affected India.
• The scheme reached its targeted population
feeding almost 80Cr people.
• It has proven to be more of a safety net
to migrant people who had job and
livelihood losses.
• This has also ensured nutrition security to
children of the migrant workers.
• From 50% during the period of the 2015-
16 NFHS-4, the prevalence of anaemia in
children now went up to 57%.
• This and many other health issues can be
addressed through the combined efforts of
the departments of School Education, Public
Health and Social Welfare and Women
Empowerment.
• Besides, a continuous and rigorous review
of the progress of the scheme and nutritious
meal programme should be carried out in a
sustained manner.
Failures
• The scheme has been affected by widespread
corruption, leakages and failure to distribute
grain to the intended recipients.
• Several of the states above have claimed that
the ineffective distribution has been caused
by the beneficiaries, especially migrant
workers, not being available to receive
their rations.
• Out of the 79.25 crore beneficiaries under the
National Food Security Act (NFSA), only 55
crore have so far received their 5 kg.
• However, almost 90% of beneficiaries have
received their regular subsidized grain for the
month, raising questions over why the free
grain has reached fewer beneficiaries.
• Many people were denied their share due to
inability to access ration cards.
• Livelihood losses led to decline in aggregate
demand and resulted into lowest ever
consumption expenditure by the people
owing to scarcity of cash.
• This in turn led to selling of the free grains
obtained in the local markets for cash.
Way forward
• There should be an all-encompassing
database for migrant workers and their
family. This should accurately capture the
data on migration.
• The One Nation One Ration Card should be
implemented in true spirit by all the states.
• Along with food security, there should be a
sustainable income support through schemes
like MGNREGS accompanied by free
vaccines in nearest future.
• The leakages in PDS should be minimized
through modernize PDS.
• To avoid leakages, there should be food-
token system.
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