The YK Gist-IASbaba

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Preface
This is our 5th edition of The YK GistYojana & Kurukshetra, released for the
month of May, 2016. Both the magazines are increasingly finding a place in the
questions of both UPSC Prelims and Mains and therefore, weve come up with
this initiative to equip you with knowledge thatll help you in your preparation
for the CSE.
Every Issue deals with a single topic comprehensively sharing views from a
wide spectrum ranging from academicians to policy makers to scholars. The
magazine is essential to building up of an in-depth understanding of various
socio-economic issues. From the examination point of view, however, not all
articles are important. Some go into scholarly depths and others discuss
agendas that are not relevant for your preparation. Added to this is the
difficulty of going through a large volume of information, facts and analysis to
finally extract the essence of that which may be useful for the examination.
We are not discouraging you from reading the magazine itself. So, do not take
this as a document which you take read, remember and reproduce in the
examination. Its only purpose is to equip you with the right understanding.
But, if you do not have enough time to go through the magazines, you can rely
on the content provided here for it sums up the most essential points from
all the articles.
You need not put hours and hours in reading and making its notes in pages. We
believe, a smart study, rather than hard study, can improve your preparation
levels.
Think, learn, practice and keep improving! That is the key to success

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Financial Inclusion of the Differently-Abled
The Government of India has enacted 3 legislations for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) to
provide equal opportunities, including their socio-economic inclusion in the society

Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992

PwDs Act, 1995
National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy,
Mental Retardation and Multiple Disability Act, 1995
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 (UNCRPD) ratified by India in
2008 emphasizes on full and effective participation of PwDs in Society on an equal basis
with others.
National Policy for PwDs 2006 recognizes PwDs as a valuable human resource and seeks to
create equal opportunities for a dignified life in society.
PwDs is a large pool of human resource whose potential to contribute towards the
economy of the country cannot be ignored.

Financial Inclusion

It is the availability of financial services and various financial products at affordable

cost to the disadvantaged segment of the society.

It includes

Banking products

Insurance

Pensions

Loans for various purposes

Key for any planning towards building an inclusive society disadvantaged segment
of the society is assured of financial and social security.

Helps in dissemination of the socio-welfare programmes by Government.

Helps in payment processes getting simplified and convenient at reduced cost,

enhancing transparency and negating duplicity of beneficiaries.

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PwD: The Financially Excluded
PwDs are most disadvantaged sections of the society, being poorest of the poor.
Disability is inter-linked with poverty as it is more likely to find occurrences of PwDs in
poverty.
Financial inclusion of PwDs is more important as well as challenging than other
disadvantaged sections due to associated difficulties

Low mobility

Physical barriers

Low level of education about financial products

Scattered population of PwDs Hindrance in forming exclusive Self Help

Group(SHGs)

Government of India has set-up National Handicapped Finance and Development

Corporation (NHFDC)
This company is registered under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (Section 8 of
Companies Act 2013) as a company not for profit
The schemes and programmes of the corporation can be classified as

Credit Based Concessional loans are extended to PwDs

Non-credit Based Grants are provided to PwDs

Credit Based:

Self-Employment Loans

Education Loans

Micro Finance

Non-Credit Based:

Skill Training of PwD

Scholarship Schemes

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Steps by Government of India which will be beneficial in the long run for Financial
Inclusion and overall welfare of PwDs

Inclusion of PwDs in Priority Sector Lending by Banks under 10 percent weaker

section target

Introduction of Swavlamban Health Scheme for PwDs - Rs 350 per year

Pre Metric & Post-metric Scholarship for PwDs

Scholarship for top class higher education to students with disabilities

Launch of Accessible India Campaign

Launch of National Action Plan for Skill Training of PwDs

Differently-Abled: Scaling Up Educational Rights and Opportunities

The growth rate of disabled population is more in urban areas and among urban
females.

India needs to go a long way to ensure educational rights of children with special
needs.

The number of persons with special needs in the age group of 0-29 years who needs
access to education is 1.23 crores as per 2011 census data, out of which 53.4 lakhs
are girls and women with special needs.

The challenge ahead is how to ensure educational access to the unreached

children/persons with special diverse needs.

Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) refers specifically to

education and creates an obligation for governments to do two things

Provide education to children, youth with disabilities on an equal basis with

other children

Provide that education within an inclusive system

There is a need for conceptual clarity on inclusive education, which must be reflected in the
vision, mission, policies, action plans, legal provisions and resource allocations.

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Data Base on Disability

Employment rates of persons with disability vary with geographical location (urban
or rural), gender, education and type of disability.

According to 2011 census of India, 68% of India lives in rural areas. The number of
disabled is proportionately higher in rural areas, highlighted by general poverty
considerations and poor access to health services.

The rural disabled are significantly disconnected from skills and markets- Literary
levels are low.

Disability data for planning services leading to effective inclusion is need of the hour.

This demands innovative approaches as survey methodology cannot provide

comprehensive information about individuals with special needs.

We need information on disability, socio-economic-educational-employment

profiles, and diverse needs of each person (rehabilitation needs, employment, skill
development, education etc.) to plan services leading to effective inclusion at the
community level without disintegrating children with special needs away from their
families.

National Education Policy: A Potential Game Changer

Inclusion of the disadvantaged sections of our society into mainstream education

and development is a process, which needs identification and systematic removal of
socio-economic-cultural-political-administrative and other barriers on the road to
inclusion.

NEP 2015 has included disability concerns in all components of the education
system-be it in education admission, admission policies, teacher training, curriculum
development, teaching strategies, learning materials, evaluation system, virtual
learning platforms etc.

NEP-2015 has adopted an educational view to inclusive education in place of

disability view.

NEP-2015 supports to move away from labelling and isolation of children with
disabilities in segregated environments.

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It aligns the inclusive vision and goals with specific, observable, measurable and
achievable steps towards ensuring that every child has the right to education in an
enabling and caring environment which does not discriminate the child based on
disability and gender.

NEP-2015 has tremendous potential to be a major game changer when it gets

implemented at the grass root level.

Special Industry Initiative for J&K UDAAN Extended

Time period of the Scheme Special Industry Initiative for J&K (SII J&K) Udaan is
now extended till 2019-20.

Udaan provides exposure to the youth of J&K to the best of corporate India and
corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the State.

Udaan is a national integration scheme with the goal to mainstream J&K youth with
rest of the country. The scheme not only provides skill enhancement and job
opportunity but also leads to counter radicalization and weaning away youth of
J&K from militancy.

So far, 67 leading corporates have partnered with National Skill Development

Corporation (NSDC) under UDAAN with a commitment to train youth from the State
covering Organized Retail, Banking, Financial Services, IT, ITES, Infrastructure,
Hospitality etc.

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Transnational Skill Standards

With the aim to support two major initiatives of the Government i.e. Make in India
and Skill India and to align to skill standards which are recognized globally,
Transnational Skill Standards in India have been introduced.

UK standards were chosen to benchmark Indian Skills standards since all the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recognize UK skill certification.
Read More Click Here

Grand Innovation Challenge

The Grand Innovation Challenge is being launched by NITI Aayog, on the MyGov
portal, to involve citizens at the very first stage in innovating for Indias
development.

The focus is on the social sector, and Indias most vulnerable sections, to involve
citizens in crowd-sourcing ideas to address challenges facing Indias development.

In Phase I of the Grand Innovation Challenge, NITI Aayog will seek the views of the
citizens on the key challenges facing India, across areas significant for the countrys
development. The idea is to find out from the people what are the critical issues
which need to be addressed to develop the social sector and the challenges which
need to be tackled on a priority basis.

In Phase II, a shortlist of the urgent challenges as suggested by citizens would be

prepared and innovative solutions would be sought from the people to address them
using appropriate technology. These solutions should be specifically designed for
India, be made in India, and adopted by Government of India to radically develop

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India. Citizens are expected to pick one of 14 given, crucial, sectors that need to be
addressed on priority to ensure that most vulnerable, and maximum number of
citizens, are best impacted.

At the end of the phase, NITI Aayog will identify and acknowledge 10 most pressing
challenges from among those suggested by the citizens of India. The best 10 entries
will receive certificates of acknowledgement from NITI Aayog. Shortlisted candidates
will be invited to NITI Aayog as special guests for a discussion on the Atal Innovation
Mission, along with key policy makers of the Government of India. The best solutions
will be nurtured and brought to form by a network of world-class innovation hubs.
NITI Aayog will provide academic, technological and economic support to upscale
top class solutions by best innovators.

Incheon Strategy

Governments of the ESCAP region gathered in Incheon, Republic of Korea,from 29

October to 2 November 2012 to chart the course of the new Asian and Pacific
Decade of Persons with Disabilities for the period 2013 to 2022.

The Governments at the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting adopted the

Ministerial Declaration on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities,
20132022, and the Incheon Strategy to Make the Right Real for Persons with
Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific.

The Incheon Strategy provides the Asian and Pacific region, and the world, with the
first set of regionally agreed disability-inclusive development goals.

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The Incheon Strategy will enable the Asian and Pacific region to track progress
towards improving the quality of life, and the fulfilment of the rights, of the regions
650 million persons with disabilities, most of whom live in poverty.

10 Goals to Make The Right Real

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RENEWABLE ENERGY: PRESENT SCENARIO &
SOLAR ENERGY PERSPECTIVES
Indias renewable power generation portfolio stand at 35.8 GW out of 272.5 GW, but India
has the potential of about 895GW from commercially exploitable sources. Although the
share of RE is rising over years, India still has large untapped RE potential.
Initiatives for solar energy
The government of India has recently declared its intended nationally determined
contributions towards realising the ultimate objectives of UNFCC. The plan is for reduction
in the emission intensity of its GDP (by 33) to 35% from 2005 level, by 2030 and to create
additional carbon sinks of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest
and tree cover by 2030.
Indias emission reduction targets are in line with national solar mission target of 100GW
solar energy by 2022. Government is speedily moving towards achieving this target by
creating a supportive and conductive environment in terms of technology, policy and
financial aspects.

Challenges in promoting solar energy

Under National Solar Mission government has set an ambitious target of 100GW
solar energy by 2022. Rural India is going to play an important role in this because of
the easy availability of open space and land to install solar panels. Yet challenges
remain, lack of trained manpower is one. Skill India will have major role here in
training youth.

Second challenges are seasonal and daily variations in availability of sunlight.

During rains or fog, sunlight is far less, drastically reducing solar power generation.
This variation in production is also the main hurdle in connecting the solar energy to
grid. We will need a huge solar storage capacity to ensure reliable supply of solar
power.

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Apart from these natural limitations there is the issue of availability of appropriate
technology. Though India is producing solar PV cells and modules of its own but
world class standards are yet to be achieved. Recently announced International Solar
Alliance may help in this regard as one of the objectives of this alliance is to develop
new technologies through collaborative efforts.

Initial installations of solar energy equipment are also a concern as initial cost of
solar installation is relatively high. Government is trying to solve this issue by
providing various types of subsidies but still new cheaper technologies would have to
be evolved through R&D to make solar energy attractive and sustainable.

SCHEMES TO PROMOTE SOLAR ENERGY

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was launched on the 11th January,
2010 by the Prime Minister.

The Mission has set the ambitious target of deploying 20,000 MW of grid connected
solar power by 2022 aimed at reducing the cost of solar power generation in the
country through

Long term policy;

Large scale deployment goals;

Aggressive R&D; and

Domestic production of critical raw materials, components and products, as a

result to achieve grid tariff parity by 2022

Mission will create an enabling policy framework to achieve this objective and make
India a global leader in solar energy.

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Renewable purchase Obligation and Renewable Energy Certificate

The Electricity Act and National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) provide a
roadmap for increasing the renewable energy in total generation. Renewable
Purchase Obligation (RPO) is the obligation mandated by Central/State Regulatory
Commission and is applicable to Distribution Licensee: power distribution companies
(DISCOMs); Open Access Consumer: those procuring power from power exchanges
(IEX/PXIL), from traders, through bilateral agreements, etc. The Regulatory
Commission in each State mandates a certain percentage of electricity generated
through the above process to be from renewable sources.

Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) - a tradable certificate of proof that 1 MWh of

electricity has been injected (or deemed to have been injected). The REC mechanism
seeks to address the mismatch between availability of renewable energy sources and
the requirements of obligated entities to meet their RPO. Distribution companies,
open access consumers and captive consumers have the option of purchasing
renewable power or RECs to meet their obligations.

Solar City
The Solar City aims at minimum 10% reduction in projected demand of conventional energy
at the end of five years, through a combination of enhancing supply from renewable energy
sources in the city and energy efficiency measures. The basic aim is to motivate the local
Government for adopting renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures.

International Solar Alliance

It is an initiative by the government of India to accelerate the deployment of solar

energy for universal energy access and energy security for the future.

It was launched at the COP 21 to the UNFCC. The collective aims is to undertake
initiatives to reduce the cost of technology and finance instruments to mobilize 1000
billion worth of investments by 2030 to promote affordable energy.

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Integrated power development scheme
Aims to extend financial assistance against capital expenditure to all state power dept and
private distribution companies to ensure 24/7 power supply to all.

BIOGAS: A CLEAN ENERGY ALTERNATIVE

Why should we shift to Bio Gas?

Deteriorating air quality due to pollution

Huge import bill for petroleum is a constant drag on our forex reserves

As a result renewable energy is an excellent solution for this problem. Bio gas is produced
from anaerobic digestion of any organic material.

Constituents of Bio gas

Methane
Carbon di oxide
Water vapour
Hydrogen sulphide

Bio Gas can be utilised for cooking, lighting, power generation and automotive fuel. For
automotive fuel application, raw biogas needs to be upgraded to natural gas quality. This
means carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, ammonia particles and water have to be
removed so that product gas has a methane content of more than 90 % by volume. This
upgraded gas is generally referred to as Bio-methane. This upgraded gas is bottled at
pressure of 200 bar, referred to bio CNG.
Bio gas production from various available biomass resources is a viable option for our
country as it is environment friendly, clean, cheap and versatile.

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CURRENT SCENARIO OF BIOMASS ENERGY

India has a biomass power potential of 17538 MW and a potential of another 5000
MW from bagasse based cogeneration in sugar mills.

Biomass power constitutes 12.66% of the total installed renewable based power
generation capacity

India has a cumulative installation of off grid/decentralised bio mass energy systems
of over 500 MWs
Government of India is taking various steps to increase the Bio Gas facilities

SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY OF BIOMASS THROUH SOCIAL FORESTRY

To promote efficient use of the biomass energy source
Promotion of Social Forestry in the country through Acts such as Indian forest Act 1927, the
Forest Conservation Act 1980, The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers
Act 2006 emphasise on the role of forest conservation and rights of the forest dwelling
communities, national afforestation programme, joint forest management and the Green
India Mission focussing on enhancing the green cover and the quality of forests in India by
involving the communities, panchayats and civil society in the process.
At household level, government is providing chullahs for efficient usage of biomass. At
present, the government is implementing Unnat chulha Abhiyan during 12th five year plan
period. This scheme has an overall target of 24 lakh family type cook stoves and over 3 lakh
community cook stoves.

POWER GENERATION THROUGH BIOMASS GASIFICATION

MNRE promotes setting up of biomass gasification based power generation plants by a
range of stake holders including self-help groups, civil society institutions, panchayats,
cooperatives and the private sector.

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BIOMASS BRIQUETTING
The government also promotes the usage of biomass pellets or biomass briquettes for
industrial and households purposes. Briquettes allows for efficient use of fuel for thermal
processes.

NATIONAL BIOGAS AND MANURE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME

It is a central sector scheme.

It provides for setting up of family type biogas plants mainly for rural and semi -rural
households

BIOGAS BASED DISTRIBUTED

Ministry of new renewable energy has also started a scheme biogas based
distributed from 2005-06 with a view to promote biogas based power generation,
especially in the small capacity range.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India is contemplating

National Biogas Mission for setting up of 1 crore biogas plant by 2022.

BEYOND ENERGY ACCESS

The biomass energy sector provides ample opportunities for job creation In India. At present
35000 people are engaged in employment through biomass on grid systems in 2009. One
report from Ministry of Human Resource Development has projected that the sector has the
potential to create 60000 to 1 lakh jobs by 2020.

WAY FORWARD AND CONCLUSION

Using a mix of energy sources has become necessary to meet the growing energy demand of
the country; in this context, biomass energy has a big role to play in the coming years. At
present there is a dire need to formulate polices for facilitating policies R&D in the area of
biomass energy.

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SMALL HYDRO POWER: LIGHTING REMOTE VILLAGES
ADVANTAGES OF SMALL HYDRO PROJECTS
The small hydro projects normally do not encounter the problems associated with large
hydro projects such as

Small hydro projects are normally along the run off river; no dam is constructed

Do not encounter the issues associated with large scale hydro projects of
deforestation, resettlement, and rehabilitation

Have the potential to meet power requirements of remote and isolated areas

Have long useful life and the generation cost is almost inflation free

Are beneficial to environment as they substitute thermal power there by reducing

carbon emissions

These projects have the potential to turn around economic activities in local areas,
villages and remote areas.

Constraints in settling up Small hydro power projects

The difficult locations where SHP projects are normally setup

Short working season in hilly areas

Involvement of forest and private land in settling up of SHP projects

The risk due to natural calamities in setting up SHP projects are high

Sometimes the developers face resistance from local residents

The SHP projects are governed by the state policies and the potential sites are
allowed by the state governments to private developers- often there is a delay in
land allocations

Delay in clearances including land acquisition, forest clearance, irrigation clearance

etc.

Inadequate evacuation facilities for power generated from SHP

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SOME OF THE SCHEMES TO PROMOTE SMALL HYDRO POWER
Small hydro power programme: Both public and private sector are encouraged to develop
small hydro projects under small hydro power programme
WATER MILL PROGRAMME: The scheme aims to create new designs of water mills with the
efficiency of 2 to 3 times that of traditional water mills.
NATIONAL MISSION ON SMALL HYDRO

The mission is a joint collaboration between central and state governments to enrich
remote rural areas in power generation.

To address issues responsible for decline of SHP sector in the country

To regenerate interest of private sector to make investment in this renewable

energy sector.

WIND ENERGY: A PROMISING SECTOR FOR RURAL INDIA

SCENARIO OF WIND ENERGY IN INDIA

It contributes up to 70 percent of India's total renewable energy production

Indias wind energy potential is 1, 02,788MW but installed capacity is 26,743 MWGap
needs to be filled.

Problems facing Wind Energy Sector

POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT (PPA) it is a contract between electricity

generator and the power purchaser. The PPA is often regarded as the central
document in the development of independent power plants, and is the key in
obtaining financing for the projects. The delay on the part of state governments and
utilities to sign power purchase agreements has put developers in a blind spot about
the future of their projects and this is affecting the growth of the sector.
Wind mills should be located where strong dependable winds are available most of
the time.
Winds do not blow strongly enough to produce power all the time. Energy from
windmills is considered intermittent. Therefore electricity from wind farms must
have back up supply from another source

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Difficult and expensive to repair wind turbines and its blades which are subjected to
damage from high winds and lightening.
Electricity produced by wind power sometimes fluctuates causing difficult in linking
its power to a utility system.

Schemes by the Government

National Wind Resource Assessment: Under this programme state nodal agencies had
installed and monitored around 800 dedicated wind monitoring stations of height ranging
from 20m to 120m throughout the country.
Renewable Purchase Obligation and Renewable Energy Certificate
Same as the above description in Solar
Way Forward
There is no reason that can hold back India in reaching the ambitious renewable energy
targets of current FYPs. Change in accelerated depreciation in wind sector can affect only to
limited extent and REC market will continue to bear fruits for investors.
Wind industry has achieved a lot, but the next milestone can only be achieved if the stake of
rural sector goes beyond selling mere land. But this cannot be a one way initiative, the
government including the local panchayats and the local set up should also come up with an
open-minded and positive approach, and embrace the opportunity.

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