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OCTOBER 2019
INDEX
General Studies II
1. CPGRAMS reforms …………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2. CARICOM …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Rural Sanitation Strategy
4. National Water Policy……………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. School Education Quality Index (SEQI) ………………………………………………………………………
6. PRAKASH …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
7. India - Bangladesh Business forum …………………………………………………………………………..

General Studies III

1. Climate Action Summit-2019 ………………………………………………………………………………
2. Drone Innovators Network Summit-2019 ……………………………………………………………
3. Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Guidelines ……………………………………………………………
4. India Innovation Index 2019 ………………………………………………………………………………..

Short Liners
a. Government Schemes/Initiatives
b. India In/Out
c. Miscellaneous
One Liners
Yojana Compilation
Kurukshetra Compilation
Practice Questions

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 GENERAL STUDIES –II
1. CPGRAMS reforms
Introduction
Government has focussed on digitalisation in the functioning from the very beginning. The priority of the
Government is to provide transparent and citizen-centric governance to the people.Centralised Public
Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) reforms in Department of Posts have been
recently launched to move towards that direction.

Public Grievances in India

New version of CPGRAMS is expected to reducethe grievance disposal time and improved quality.
Government has taken some other initiatives also regarding this
 In ―Pragati‖ (Pro Active Governance and Timely Implementation) review meetings Prime Minister
himself reviews the status of public grievances.
 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) was enacted to prevent corruption in Government
departments and to prosecute and punish public servants involved in corrupt practices.
 DARPG holds regular regional conferences and also the national e-Governance conferences.

The mechanism has been institutionalised now with the number of grievances lodged increasing from 2
lakh earlier to about 16 lakhs now. This increase is due to the trust shown by people of the country in the
grievance redressal mechanism of the Government.
The decision of the Government to post young IAS officers as Assistant Secretaries in the Central
Ministries/departments for a period of 3 months has proved to be beneficial for the young recruits to
understand the functioning the Government in the very beginning of their careers.

About CPGRAMS
Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) is an online web-enabled
system over NICNET developed by NIC, in association with Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG) and
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
 CPGRAMS is the platform based on web technology which primarily aims to enable submission of
grievances by the aggrieved citizens from anywhere and anytime (24x7) basis to
Ministries/Departments/Organisations who scrutinize and take action for speedy and favorable
redress of these grievances.
 Tracking grievances is also facilitated on this portal through the system generated unique registration
number.

Issues which are not taken up for redress:

 Subjudice cases or any matter concerning judgment given by any court.
 Personal and family disputes.
 RTI matters.
 Anything that impacts upon territorial integrity of the country orfriendly relations with other countries.
 Suggestions.

How will it work?

The DARPG launched the CPGRAMS for receiving, redressing and monitoring of grievances from the
public.
 The CPGRAMS provides the facility to lodge a grievance online from any geographical location.
 It enables the citizen to track online the grievance being followed up with Departments concerned and
also enables DARPG to monitor the grievance.

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 The citizen can then access the system through www.pgportal.nic.in.
 The DARPG has issued several guidelines for redress of public grievances by Departments to ensure
the system is accessible, simple, quick, fair and responsive.
 These include designating a senior officer as Director of Grievances/Grievance officer in every office,
deal with a grievance in a fair objective and just manner fixing the time limit for disposal of work
relating to public grievances and staff grievances.
 The new upgraded version CPGRAMS 7.0 provides for grievances filed on CPGRAMS to be directly sent
to field level grievance officers by providing user IDs to all field level functionaries.

2. CARICOM
Why in News
India‘s historic and warm relations with the countries of the Caribbean witnessed a new momentum with
the meeting of PM Modi with 14 leaders of the CARICOM group of countries on the sidelines of the United
Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2019 in New York.
 It was the first-ever meeting of PM Modi with CARICOM leaders in a regional format and highlighted
the steadily intensifying and deepening relations between India and partner countries of the
Caribbean, not only in the bilateral, but also in the regional context.

About CARICOM
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is a grouping of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five
Associate Members.
 It is home to approximately sixteen million citizens, 60% of whom are under the age of 30, and from
the main ethnic groups of Indigenous Peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, Portuguese and
Javanese.
 The Community is multi-lingual; with English as the major language complemented by French and
Dutch and variations of these, as well as African and Asian expressions.

Stretching from The Bahamas in the north to Suriname and Guyana in South America, CARICOM
comprises states that are considered developing countries, and except for Belize, in Central America and
Guyana and Suriname in South America, all Members and Associate Members are island states.

While these states are all relatively small, both in terms of population and size, there is also great diversity
with regards to geography and population as well as the levels of economic and social development.
CARICOM came into being on 4 July 1973 with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas.The Treaty was
later revised in 2002 to allow for the eventual establishment of a single market and a single
economy.CARICOM rests on four main pillars: economic integration; foreign policy coordination;human
and social development; and security.

India and CARICOM

India has laid emphasis on partnering with CARICOM countries in capacity building, development
assistance and cooperation in disaster management and resilience.CARICOM countries are also invited to
join the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
 Hurricane Dorian had recently caused havoc in the region and the worst hit island of Bahamas to
which India has provided immediate financial assistance of USD 1 million.
 Government of India announced a USD 14 million grant for community development projects in the
CARICOM and another 150 million Line of Credit for solar, renewable energy and climate- change
related projects
 Government of India announced the setting up of the Regional Center for Excellence in Information
Technology in Georgetown, Guyana and the Regional Vocational Training Center in Belize by
upgrading the existing India-funded centers in these countries.
 Indian side also expressed support to specialized capacity building courses, training and deputation of
Indian experts based on the needs and requirements of the CARICOM countries.

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 It was decided to set up a Joint Task Force to expeditiously look into possible areas of cooperation and
identify the way forward.

3. Rural Sanitation Strategy

Why in News
Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI launched the 10 Year
Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029), which focus on sustaining the sanitation behaviour change that
has been achieved under the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), ensuring that no one is left
behind, and increasing access to solid and liquid waste management.
Background
Since the launch of the SBM-G in 2014, over 10 crore toilets have been built in rural areas; over 5.9 lakh
villages, 699 districts, and 35 States/UTs have declared themselves Open Defecation Free (ODF).
 This strategy has been prepared by DDWS, in consultation with State Governments and other
stakeholders, and it lays down a framework to guide local governments, policy makers, implementers
and other relevant stakeholders in their planning for ODF Plus, where everyone uses a toilet, and every
village has access to solid and liquid waste management.

About the Strategy

The 10 year strategy focuses on the need for States/UTs to continue their efforts to sustain the gains of
the mission through capacity strengthening, IEC (Information, education and communication), organic
waste management, plastic waste management, grey water management and black water management.
 The strategy also speaks about potential collaborations with development partners, civil society and
inter-government partnerships. It also highlights innovative models for sanitation financing.
 The framework, to be in place from 2019 to 2029, will ensure that people sustain their usage of toilets.
It will also focus on proper implementation of solid and liquid waste management (SLWM) — plastic
waste, organic waste, grey water, and faecal sludge — in rural areas.
 A report was released on the occasion and outlined the steps that the government intends to take
under the framework. They include the retrofitting of single pit toilets to twin pits or making provisions
to empty pits every five years, repair of defunct ones, and construction of soak pits for septic tanks
wherever not already present.
 A district-level training management unit (TMU) will be set up to provide oversight and support to
gram panchayats (GPs) so that they ensure the operation and maintenance of sanitation
infrastructure. The GPs are also supposed to conduct rapid assessment of water and sanitation gaps.
 While government funding is the primary source of financing in the sanitation sector, the strategy
mentioned in the framework also suggests alternative self-financing by gradual leveraging of
community resources in the form of tariffs for ODF plus activities.
 The framework also talks about state-specific strategies on menstrual hygiene management, including
menstrual waste management, which may be supported under the ODF plus strategy.

Way Forward
ODF Plus includes sustaining the usage of safe sanitation facilities by all, including by new households
and any households that may have been left behind, as well as effective disposal of solid and liquid waste.
The strategy is aligned to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation.

4. National Water Policy

National Water Policy is formulated by the Ministry of Water Resources of the Government of India to
govern the planning and development of water resources and their optimum utilization. The first National
Water Policy was adopted in September, 1987.
 It was reviewed and updated in 2002 and later in 2012.
 India accounts for 18% of the world population and about 4% of the world‘s water resources.

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 India has been successful in creating live water storage capacity of about 253 billion cubic meter(BCM)
so far. In a first, the ecological needs of river have also been taken into consideration.

Salient features
The major provisions under the policy are:
 It envisages establishing a standardized national information system with a network of data banks and
data bases.
 Resource planning and recycling for providing maximum availability.
 To give importance to the impact of projects on human settlements and environment.
 Guidelines for the safety of storage dams and other water-related structures.
 Regulate exploitation of groundwater.
 Setting water allocation priorities in the following order: Drinking water, Irrigation, Hydropower,
Navigation, Industrial and other uses.
 The water rates for surface water and ground water should be rationalized with due regard to the
interests of small and marginal farmers.

Focussed areas
 Water conservation along with water-harvesting and judicious and multiple use of water are key to
tackle the water challenges in India.
 Rejuvenation and revitalization of the traditional water bodies and resources through the age-old
conservation methods, thereis a need for dissemination of modern water technologies in an extensive
fashion.
 Water Trade: Water surplus states (like Chhattisgarh) can gain by sharing the resource with the
deficient ones.
 Demand side management of water should get priority over the supply side management. For that
there is the need for recycle and reuse of water.
 Integrated Water Management is a tool for poverty reduction and sustainable economic development.
India Water Week
India Water week was inaugurated by the President Shri Ram Nath Kovind on 24th September, 2019 with
a theme of ―Water cooperation: Coping with 21st Century Challenges‖.
 Japan and European Union were associated as partner countries for this mega event.
 Ministry of Jal Shakti has been organizing India Water Week since 2012 as an international event to
focus on water related issues.
 Five editions of India Water Week have been organized so far.

Conclusion
Water conservation along with water-harvesting and judicious and multiple use of water are key to tackle
the water challenges in India. National Water Policy of 2012 needs major updation in the light of new
challenges especially the ill-effects of climate change.Participatory Ground Water Management should be
promoted in a big way to maintain quality and sustainability. Experience sharing holds the key to devise
the new age policy to conserve water resources.

5. School Education Quality Index (SEQI)

Why in News?
The first edition of SEQI was released today by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog. School
Education Quality Index (SEQI) was developed by NITI Aayog to evaluate the performance of States and
Union Territories (UTs) in the school education sector. The index aims to bring an ‗outcomes‘ focus to
education policy by providing States and UTs with a platform to identify their strengths and weaknesses
and undertake requisite course corrections or policy interventions.

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Aim and Purpose
SEQI aims to drive policy reforms that will improve the quality of school education.
 It seeks to institutionalise a focus on enhancing education outcomes by driving improvements in
learning levels, access, equity, infrastructure and governance processes.
 It recognises that school education is a subject on the Concurrent List and that State-level leadership
is crucial for improving outcomes in a cost-effective manner.
 It will serve as a regular and transparent review of the status of school education quality across the
States and UTs.

Developed through a collaborative process including key stakeholders such as MHRD, the World Bank and
sector experts, the index consists of 30 critical indicators that assess the delivery of quality education.

Index categories and Domains

Pic Source: NITI Aayog web-site

SEQI also included an analysis of States and Union Territories for each indicator under study. For
instance, indicators such as average score in Class 3, 5 and 8 for Language and Mathematics, Transition
Rates from primary to upper-primary level, capturing equity in learning outcomes between general and
marginalised sections of society.

Summary of Results
1. Of the 20 Large States, 10 perform better on the Outcomes category, with the most noticeable
performance differences observed in the cases of Karnataka, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.
 Among the 20 Large States, 18 improved their overall performance between 2015-16 and 2016-17.
2. Of the eight Small States, seven perform better on the Outcomes category, with the most noticeable
performance differences observed in the cases of Manipur, Tripura and Goa.
 Five Small States have shown an improvement in their overall performance score between 2015-16
and 2016-17.
 States such as Meghalaya, Nagaland and Goa outpaced the others.
3. Sikkim is the only Small State that performs better on the Governance Processes Aiding Outcomes
category.
4. Of the seven UTs, four perform better on the Outcomes category, with the most noticeable performance
differences observed in Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
5. Delhi, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep perform better on the Governance Processes Aiding Outcomes
category.
6. States‘ and UTs‘ performance on Learning Outcomes is driven by their results on the National
Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017.
 Their performance on Access Outcomes is primarily driven by enrolment ratios at the secondary
level and transition rates from upper-primary to secondary level.

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Conclusion
Schooling should result in successful learning outcomes. A credible system of assessment in this regard is
crucial to design necessary remedial actions. To ensure the system is geared towards learning, SEQI
assigns almost half its weight to learning outcomes. This sends a strong signal across the nation to ensure
the focus remains centred on learning outcomes.

6. PRAKASH
Why in News
This portal was recently launched. It aims at bringing better coordination for coal supplies among all
stakeholders viz - Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Coal India, Railways and power utilities.
The Portal is designed to help in mapping and monitoring entire coal supply chain for power plants, viz –
 Coal Stock at supply end (mines),
 Coal quantities/ rakes planned,
 Coal quantity in transit and
 Coal availability at power generating station.

About The Portal

PRAKASH (Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony)is developed by NTPC and sources data
from different stakeholders such as Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Centre for Railway Information
System (CRIS) and coal companies.All reports are available in PDF/Excel format. However, to present
information in a user friendly method, the Portal gives graphical representation of reports with details
shown on the map of India.

Currently, the Portal will make available four reports:

1. Daily Power Plant Status
2. Periodic Power Plant Status
3. Plant Exception Report
4. Coal Dispatch Report

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Present situation
Present mechanism to review coal supply situation consists of an inter-ministerial group which has
officials from Ministries of Power, Coal, Railways, CEA, power utilities and coal companies.This group
holds weekly meetings to review coal supply situation as well as railway logistics.
 It was observed that this mechanism faced several issues such as scattered information, correctness of
data from different organizations, timely availability of data etc. This often led to difficulties in decision
making.
 To address such situations, Ministry of Power asked CEA for establishment of a transparent
mechanism to monitor the coal availability at loading site (CIL,SCCL), placement of rakes by Railways
(CRIS) and availability of coal at power stations (NTPC / DVC /State utilities) and also directed NTPC
to facilitate CEA for portal development.

Benefits of the Portal

 Coal company will be able to track stocks and the coal requirement at power stations for effective
production planning.
 Indian Railways will plan to place the rakes as per actual coal available at siding and stock available at
power stations.
 Power stations can plan future schedule by knowing rakes in pipe line and expected time to reach.
 Ministry of Power /Ministry of Coal/ CEA/ POSOCO can review overall availability of coal at thermal
power plants in different regions.

7. India - Bangladesh Business forum

Why in News
India - Bangladesh Business forum has recently been held in New Delhi. Indian industry needs to be part
of Bangladesh‘s growth story with greater investment in infrastructure, technology and energy where
Bangladesh has huge potential. This will help to create more balanced trade between the two countries.

India-Bangladesh Relation
Bangladesh is India‘s biggest trade partner in South Asia. Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh
has grown steadily over the last decade. India‘s exports to Bangladesh for the financial year 2018-19 stood
at USD 9.21 billion and imports from Bangladesh for the same period stood at USD 1.22 billion.

Recent Initiatives
India and Bangladesh have trade agreement which is facilitative in nature.
 India and Bangladesh are members of various regional trade agreements including the Asia Pacific
Trade Agreement (APTA), SAARC Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) and the Agreement on South
Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) which govern the tariff regimes for trade.
 Under SAFTA, India has granted duty free quota free access to Bangladesh on all items except alcohol
and tobacco.
 Various bilateral institutional mechanisms including Commerce Secretary Level Meeting, Shipping
Secretary Level Talks, Joint Working Groups on Trade, Customs and Fisheries and Sub-groups on
Banking and LCS/ICP Infrastructure meet regularly.
 Four Border Haats, two each in Tripura (Srinagar and Kamalasagar) and Meghalaya (Kalaichar and
Balat), have been established for the benefit of communities living along the border areas of both
countries.
 Ten additional Border Haats on the India-Bangladesh border are under implementation.

Foreign Direct Investment

Cumulative Foreign Direct Investment from India to Bangladesh has more than doubled from USD 243.91
million in 2014 to USD 570.11 million in December 2018. Indian companies have invested in various
sectors including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, FMCG and automobiles sectors in Bangladesh.

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 Bangladesh is the biggest development partner of India today. India has extended 3 Lines of Credits
(LOCs) to Bangladesh in the last 8 years amounting to USD 8 billion.
 Government of India has also been providing grant assistance to Bangladesh for various infrastructure
projects such as the Agartala- Akhaura rail link, dredging of inland waterways, India Bangladesh
Friendship Pipeline, and High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) in the areas of
education, health, water, culture, urban development, disaster management and community welfare.
 Two Government to Business (G2B) MoUs were signed between Start up Bangladesh and Tech
Mahindra and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority and Adani Ports and SEZs.

Conclusion
India stands committed to every request that Bangladesh has in railways sector because the connectivity
that the expansion in railways will bring to both countries will boost trade and also give greater and
smoother access to the North East region of India.Bangladesh Prime Minister informed that three Special
Economic Zones have been set up in Bangladesh for Indian investors and hoped that this will broaden the
export base of Bangladesh.

GENERAL STUDIES III

1. Climate Action Summit-2019
Background
Global emissions are reaching record levels. The last four years were the four hottest on record, and winter
temperatures in the Arctic have risen by 3°C since 1990.Sea levels are rising, coral reefs are dying, and we
are starting to see the life-threatening impact of climate change on health, through air pollution,
heatwaves and risks to food security.
Climate change is disrupting national economies. But there is a growing recognition that affordable,
scalable solutions are available now that will enable us all to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies.
The latest analysis shows that if we act now, we can reduce carbon emissions within 12 years and hold
the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C and even, as asked by the latest science,
to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
We have the Paris Agreement – a visionary, viable, forward-looking policy framework that sets out exactly
what needs to be done to stop climate disruption and reverse its impact. But the agreement itself is
meaningless without ambitious action.
About 2019 Climate Action Summit
2019 UN Climate Action Summit was held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. The
target of the summit was to advance climate action for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the
mean global temperature from rising by more than 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels.
This global initiative will be supported by the World Economic Forum, the Energy Transitions
Commission, Mission Innovation, Stockholm Environment Institute, and the European Climate
Foundation among many others in an ambitious, public-private effort, to ensure heavy industries and
mobility companies can find a workable pathway to deliver on the Paris Agreement.

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Action Portfolio

Action portfolios

 Finance: mobilizing public and private sources of finance to drive decarbonization of all priority
sectors and advance resilience;
 Energy Transition: accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy, as well
as making significant gains in energy efficiency;
 Industry Transition: transforming industries such as Oil and Gas, Steel, Cement, Chemicals and
Information Technology;
 Nature-Based Solutions: Reducing emissions, increasing sink capacity and enhancing resilience
within and across forestry, agriculture, oceans and food systems, including through biodiversity
conservation, leveraging supply chains and technology;
 Cities and Local Action: Advancing mitigation and resilience at urban and local levels, with a focus
on new commitments on low-emission buildings, mass transport and urban infrastructure; and
resilience for the urban poor;
 Resilience and Adaptation: advancing global efforts to address and manage the impacts and risks of
climate change, particularly in those communities and nations most vulnerable.

o In addition, there are three additional key areas:

 Mitigation Strategy: to generate momentum for ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions
(NDCs) and long-term strategies to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
 Youth Engagement and Public Mobilization: To mobilize people worldwide to take action on
climate change and ensure that young people are integrated and represented across all aspects of
the Summit, including the six transformational areas.
 Social and Political Drivers: to advance commitments in areas that affect people‘s well-being, such
as reducing air pollution, generating decent jobs, and strengthening climate adaptation strategies
and protect workers and vulnerable groups.

Governmental commitments
 65 countries and the European Union pledged to cut Greenhouse gas emission to zero by the year
2050. The European Union promised to give a quarter of its budget to climate action in the next year.
 China created a partnership with a target of removing 12 billion tons from the annual global
Greenhouse gas emission by natural solutions.
 India promised to bring her renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by the 2022 and to 450
gigawatts after.
 Russia pledged officially to ratify the Paris Agreement. This means that there are 187 countries who
are members of the Agreement.
 The Small Island Developing States collectively decided to increase their climate targets by 2020,
achieve 100% of energy from renewable sources by 2030 and reach zero carbon economy by 2050, if
they will get help from international community.
 The Global Campaign for Nature begun to function. The target of the campaign is protect 30% of the
earth surface by the year 2030.

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 The Climate Ambition Alliance was created. The president of the alliance is the president of Chile -
Sebastián Piñera. The Alliance wants to unite the countries that want to increase their commitments
by the year 2020.
 The organization "High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy" was created. It include
countries covering a large part of the world coasts, fishing zones. It wants to protect the oceans and
create marine protected areas.
 80 countries entered to the International Solar Alliance.

Conclusion
The Summit is an attempt to bring together governments, the private sector, civil society, local authorities
and other international organizations to develop ambitious solutions in six areas:
 A global transition to renewable energy.
 Sustainable and resilient infrastructures and cities.
 Sustainable agriculture and management of forests and oceans.
 Resilience and adaptation to climate impacts.
 Alignment of public and private finances with a net zero economy.

2. Drone Innovators Network Summit-2019

Why in News
The Drone Innovators Network Summit 2019 was held on October 1, 2019 in New Delhi.The summit was
organised by the World Economic Forum under the aegis of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
 National & International Aviation Regulatory bodies, Drone Industry and senior Civil Aviation Ministry
officials participated in the Summit to share ideas of how to maximize the benefits of emerging drone
technology while protecting society from the risks.

Background
Aviation is undergoing a revolution and the pace of technological advancement is providing both
opportunities and challenges. India is favourably placed to be a leader in this sector and serve as a model
for balancing the opportunities that drones bring for social and economic development with the obligation
to maintain public safety and security. There has been constant effort to ensure that policy fundamentals
are contemporary, and that technology acts as an enabler and catalyst for growth. Expanding use of
unmanned Aircraft Systems (Drones) is one such example.

Recent Developments
About Drone Innovation Network
The Drone Innovators Network (DIN) was established to help overcome common challenges regulators are
facing in enabling drones and unmanned aviation, such as how to enable beyond visual line of sight
(BVLOS) flights at scale, autonomous operations and flights over densely populated areas.
 It began development at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland.
 The Drone Innovators Network held its inaugural summit in Zurich, bringing together regulators,
academics, labor leaders, and entrepreneurs from six continents.
 The Network plans to develop toolkits of best practices, based-upon and inclusive of community
member case studies, from the most forward leaning regulators to be used by network participants
and other interested governments.

Drone regulations
India is one the few countries to come out with drone regulations. India‘s Directorate General of Civil
Aviation issued Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), effective 1 December, 2018 for drones.As per the
regulations:
 Manufacturers of drone are required to comply with the requirements of No Permission, No Take-off
(NPNT) on the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).

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 CAR Version 1.0 only permits operations of drones during daytime Visual Line of Sight.

NPNT is a software programme that enables every Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) (except Nano)
to obtain a valid permission through the DigiSky platform before operating in India.OEMs/Manufacturers
are to comply with this requirement.

DigiSky platform
DigiSky is a portal for registration and flying of civil drones in India.The purpose of DigiSky is to create a
digital, paperless process, thus providing on-demand seamless permissions for UAS/RPAS, operators, and
pilots.
 The RPAS are embedded with encrypted firmware by the manufacturer to receive permissions through
‗DigiSky‘ each time before take-off.
 This platform will also eventually enable Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management (UTM) functions.
 ―No drone zones‖ are to be geo-fenced into the DigiSky platform and the NPNT code will activate the
―Return to Home‖ function in the drone and the same shall be recorded in the Digital Recorded Path.
In case the drone deviates from its path or enters a no drone area, it will automatically return to home.
 NPNT code will activate the ―Return to Home‖ function in the drone and the same shall be recorded in
the Digital Recorded Path.

2. Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Guidelines

Why in News
In a major decision to give a boost to Electric Vehicles in country, Government has approved amendments
in Electric Vehicle Charging Guidelines and Specifications.
 A phase-wise installation of an appropriate network of Charging Infrastructure throughout the country
has been envisaged in the Guidelines ensuring that at least one Charging Station should be available
in a grid of 3 Km X 3 Km in the cities and one Charging Station at every 25 Km on both sides of
highways/roads.

What has happened?

 It has been envisaged that in the first phase (i.e. 1-3 years) all Mega Cities with population of 4 million
plus as per census 2011, all existing expressways connected to these Mega Cities & important
Highways connected with each of these Mega Cities may be taken up for coverage, while in the second
phase (3-5 years) big cities like State Capitals, UT headquarters may be covered for distributed and
demonstrative effect.
 Important Highways connected with each of these Mega Cities may also be taken up for coverage.
 To address the concerns in inter-city travel and long range and/or heavy duty EVs it has been
provided that Fast Charging Station for long range and/or heavy duty EVs like buses/trucks etc., shall
be installed at every 100 Kms, shall be installed one on each side of the highways/road located
preferably within/alongside the Public Charging Station (PCS).
 Assuming that most of the charging of EVs would take place at homes or at offices where the decision
of using Fast or Slow chargers would rest on the consumers, it has been clarified in the guidelines that
private charging at residences/offices shall be permitted and DISCOMs may facilitate the same.
 It has been provided that the domestic charging shall be akin to domestic consumption of electricity
and shall be charged as such.
 As far as the Service Chargers at PCS are concerned, while it has been clarified that charging of EV is
a service and appropriate agency/commission shall fix the ceiling of Service Charges in such cases.
 Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under Ministry of Power has been nominated as
the Central Nodal Agency. Further a provision for State Nodal Agency for the respective states has been
provided for in the Guidelines.

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Public Charging Stations (PCS)
 Setting up of PCS shall be a de-licensed activity and any individual/entity is free to set up public
charging stations, which has also been reiterated in the guidelines, subject to the conditions as
specified in the Guidelines.
 the guidelines specifies the type of chargers of different standards (viz. CCS, CHAdeMO, Type-2 AC,
Bharat AC 001) thus ensuring that the PCS owners have the freedom to install the chargers as per the
market requirement.
 To keep the PCS technology agnostic, it has been provided that any other fast/slow/moderate charger
as per approved DST/BIS standards whenever notified can also be installed at the PCS.

3. India Innovation Index 2019

Why in News?
NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner released the India Innovation
Index (III) 2019.
 Karnataka is the most innovative major state in India.
 Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and
Andhra Pradesh form the remaining top ten major states respectively.
 The top ten major states are majorly concentrated in southern and western India.
 Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the north- eastern & hill states, and union territories/city
states/small states respectively.

About the Index:

The study examines the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories.
 The aim is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify
the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing the economic growth policies
for their regions.
 The states have been bifurcated into three categories: major states, north-east, and hill states, and
union territories/city states/small states.

The index attempts to create an extensive framework for the continual evaluation of the innovation
environment of 29 states and seven union territories in India and intends to perform the following three
functions-
1) ranking of states and UTs based on their index scores
2) recognizing opportunities and challenges
3) assisting in tailoring governmental policies to foster innovation.

The India Innovation Index 2019 is calculated as the average of the scores of its two dimensions - Enablers
and Performance.
 Enablers are the factors that underpin innovative capacities, grouped in five pillars: (1) Human
Capital, (2) Investment, (3) Knowledge Workers, (4) Business Environment, and (5) Safety and Legal
Environment.
 The Performance dimension captures benefits that a nation derives from the inputs, divided in two
pillars: (6) Knowledge Output and (7) Knowledge Diffusion.

The index presents the latest findings and highlights the regional catalysts and caveats for promoting
innovation readiness. The Report offers a comprehensive snapshot of the innovation ecosystem of 29
states and seven union territories.

Way Forward
The broad level learnings and some policy imperatives at the national level include increasing the spending
on research and development, improving the capability of top rung educational institutions in the country
to produce greater innovation outputs. There is also a need for greater coordination and collaboration

13
between the industry and educational institutions for enhancing innovation capability.A collaborative
platform consisting of all the stakeholders of innovation - innovators, researchers, and investors from the
industry should be developed. This will help in strengthening the industry-academia linkages and will ease
the process of technology transfer by providing a platform for innovators to showcase their inventions.

SHORT LINERS
GOVERNMENT SCHEMES/INITIATIVES

1. Industry 4.0
Ministry of Railways and Department of Science & Technology have joined hands in partnership with IIT
Kanpur for taking up a unique project on ‗Industry 4.0‘ by launching a Pilot Project for implementation at
Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli.
 ‗Industry 4.0‘ commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, is a name given to the current
trend of automation, interconnectivity and data exchange in manufacturing technologies to increase
productivity.
 Industry 4.0 is a complex Cyber-Physical Systems which synergizes production with digital
technologies, the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data & Analytics, Machine Learning and
Cloud Computing.
 Industry 4.0 would be based cyber/physical digital system and would involve various packages,
systems, applications and Hardware within Design/Planning, Networking and Production to be added
in a modular and incremental manner in MCF.

2. The Gandhian Challenge

About It
On the 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, AIM, NITI Aayog‘s Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and
UNICEF India, including Generation Unlimited, have launched ‗The Gandhian Challenge‘. This innovation
challenge provides a platform for every child across India to ideate innovative solutions for a sustainable
India of their dreams, using Gandhi‘s principles.

AIM is the Government of India‘s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and
entrepreneurship in the country. AIM‘s objective is to develop new programmes and policies for fostering
innovation in different sectors of the economy, provide platform and collaboration opportunities for
different stakeholders, create awareness and create an umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem
of the country.
 ARISE-To stimulate innovation and research in the MSME industry.

UNICEF, an integral part of the United Nations, works with governments, communities, civil society
organizations, the private sector, and other partners worldwide to advance children‘s rights, and is guided
by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
 Generation Unlimited is a new UNICEF-led global partnership that aims to ensure that every young
person age 10-24 is in some form of school, learning, training, self-employment, or age-appropriate
employment by 2030.
 It aims to co-create and scale up proven solutions related to secondary age-education, skills for
learning, employability and decent work, and empowerment, with a focus on girls.

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3. Paryatan Parv 2019
The idea of Paryatan Parv is to propagate the message of ‗DekhoApna Desh‘, with the objective to
encourage Indians to visit various tourist destinations of the country and also to spread the message of
‗Tourism for All‘.Paryatan Parv 2019 is dedicated to 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It has 3
Components:
 Dekho Apna Desh.
 Tourism for All.
 Tourism & Governance.

4. Products at KVIC
A bamboo bottle of 700ml to 900 ml capacity made by a Tripura based organization, which is being seen
as the perfect replacement of plastic bottles as it is natural, cost effective, attractive and most eco-friendly
has been launched by Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Road Transport &
Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari.
 Low priced sanitary napkins developed by Ladlee, a new soap and kachchi ghani mustard oil were the
other products. The Kacchi Ghani mustered oil launched today is being supplied by a Prime Minister
Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) unit established recently near Jaipur.
 The cost effective sanitary napkins are manufactured in Chandigarh also by a PMEGP Unit.
 The decision to serve tea in kulhads on 400 railway stations, distribution of tool kits to leather artisans
are some other notable initiatives taken.
 In observance of 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi, KVIC, for the first time, is giving 40% discount on
Gandhi Topi and Gandhi Dhoti and 20% discount on all village industries products which will be
applicable from 2nd October for 40 days.

5. DIN system
Documentation Identification Number (DIN) system of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come into
existence and from now onwards every CBDT communication will have to have a documentation
identification number.
 All such communications with DIN would be verifiable on the e-filing portal and no communication
would be issued manually without DIN except only if it is in the specified exceptional circumstances.
 CBDT has specified that any communication issued manually under exceptional circumstances would
have to be uploaded and regularised on the system portal within 15 days of its issuance.
 Attaching a DIN to every notice or communication of CBDT would result in better services to taxpayers
without any possible harassment.

6. Digital Gandhi Gyan-Vigyan

It is a scientific context to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The exhibition has been
organised in collaboration with a technology start-up under incubation by IIT, namely, M/s Vizara
Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Delhi.

The exhibition has the following components:

 VR Experience: This is an Immersive Virtual Reality experience based on the life of Gandhi ji, with
special focus of his life at the Sabarmati Ashram.
 The visitor wears a VR Headset wired to a computer and experiences the feeling of walking around
in the Sabarmati Ashram and gets to view important periods and locations in it by moving
physically in the real world.
 Charkha with an AR App: This is a fabricated physical model of a Charkha which gets animated when
seen through an AR app on a hand-held device such as a smart-phone or tablet. Users get to know
about its history, mechanics and linkage to Gandhi ji from the AR App.

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7. Green Purple initiative logo
The initiative aims to qualify the chefs on food safety legal requirements and sustainable cooking methods,
in order to promote trans-fat free cooking.
 It will be a six months program that includes key areas of trans-fat free cooking, using less sodium,
and hygienic, seasonal, eco-friendly, less energy consuming cooking methods.
 The chefs shall thereafter ensure global standards of food safety and sustainable environment
practices.

Industrial trans-fats are made by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid, and to
increase the shelf life of foods.
 Trans-fats are largely present in partially hydrogenated vegetable fats/oils, vanaspati, margarine and
bakery shortenings, and can be found in baked and fried foods.
 Trans fats are the worst type of fats with known health risks.
 The food establishments which use trans-fat free oil and do not have industrial trans-fat more than
0.2g/100g of food, in compliance with the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims)
Regulations, 2018 can display ―Trans-fat free‖ logo at their outlets and on their food products.
 The use of the said logo is voluntary.

FSSAI‘s Hygiene Rating and Right Place to Eat Scheme which is an online, transparent scoring and rating
system, aims to empower consumers with informed food choices while eating out. India is committed to
eliminating it from the food supply and is progressing towards its objective of trans fat elimination by
2022; a year ahead of the global target by WHO.

8. Sindhi Language
Union Minister for Human Resource Development has chaired a Meeting of the Executive Board of the
National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language inside and outside the Country.
 HRD Minister desired that effective steps should be taken to utilize the financial grants given for the
promotional activities of Sindhi Language judiciously.
 Presently number of students enrolled for the Sindhi Language learning course stands at 9680 in
2019-20.
 The Minister also inaugurated the song ―KULGEET‖ of the National Council for promotion of Sindhi
Language and released three books in Sindhi Language of the Council. The Council also discussed the
spread of Sindhi Language through ―Community Radio‖.

9. Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme

To boost skill development at the district level, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
(MSDE) has signed a contract with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore for introducing a
two-year fellowship programme Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme.
 The MGNF programme has an in-built component of on-ground practical experience with the district
administration.
 It is launched on a pilot basis in 75 districts across Gujarat, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh and Uttarakhand, eligible fellows for the programme have to be in 21-30 years age-group,
have a graduation degree from a recognized university and be citizens of India.
 Proficiency in official language of state of fieldwork will be mandatory.

Fellows will receive a stipend of Rs. 50,000 in the first year and Rs. 60,000 in the second year. On
completion of their engagement, they will be awarded a Certificate in Public Policy and Management from
IIM Bangalore.

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10. Sankalp
SANKALP is a World Bank loan assisted project that aims to strengthen institutional mechanisms for skill
development and increase access to quality and market-relevant training for youth across the country.
Four key result areas have been identified under SANKALP viz:
(i) Institutional Strengthening
(ii) Quality Assurance
(iii) Inclusion
(iv) Expanding Skills through PPPs.
It was launched by the Government in January 2018.

11. WHO India Country Cooperation Strategy 2019–2023

The Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) provides a strategic roadmap for WHO to work with the
Government of India towards achieving its health sector goals, in improving the health of its population
and bringing in transformative changes in the health sector.
 Four areas identified for strategic cooperation of WHO with the country encompass :
1. To accelerate progress on UHC.
2. To promote health and wellness by addressing determinants of health.
3. Toprotect the population better against health emergencies.
4. To enhance India‘s global leadership in health.

India CCS is one of the first that fully aligns itself with the newly adopted WHO 13th General Programme
of Work and its 'triple billion' targets, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO South-East
Asia Region‘s eight Flagship Priorities.
 It captures the work of the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework for 2018–2022.
 The strategy document builds on other key strategic policy documents including India‘s National
Health Policy 2017

12. GEMINI Device

For seamless and effective dissemination of emergency information and communication on disaster
warnings, Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ) and Ocean States Forecasts (OSF) to fishermen, Government has
launched the Gagan Enabled Mariner‘s Instrument for Navigation and Information (GEMINI) device.
 The GEMINI device receives and transfers the data received from GAGAN satellite/s to a mobile
through Bluetooth communication. A mobile application developed by INCOIS decodes and displays
the information in nine regional languages.

While PFZ Advisories provide information on the probable locations on fish aggregation in the seas, OSF
provide the accurate state of the ocean.Ocean State Forecasts include the forecasts on winds, waves,
ocean currents, water temperature, etc. at every 6 hrs on daily basis for next 5 days helping fishermen in
maximizing their earnings, ensuring safety and in planning of fishing activities.
 Though the advisories and forecasts are disseminated through multiple communication modes, none
of them could provide such information, including the disaster warnings when the fishermen move
away from the coast beyond 10-12 km (typical ranges of mobile phones and VHF).
 This lacuna was severely felt during the Ockhi cyclone in 2017.
 To overcome this difficulty, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), an
autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) joined hands with Airports Authority of
India (AAI) to utilize the GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) satellite system to transmit
the PFZ, OSF and disaster warnings to fishermen with GAGAN system consisting of three
geosynchronous satellites (GSAT-8, GSAT-10 and GSAT-15).
 The satellite based communication is the only suitable solution for the dissemination of such
emergency information.
 Affordable satellite based communication system should be made part of the dissemination chain
to deal with cyclones, high waves and tsunamis.

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13. Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme-DHRUV
Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‗Nishank‘ launched a unique
initiative,the Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme-DHRUV, which will act as a turning point in
the lives of extra ordinarily talented students.
 This will act as a platform to explore the talent of outshining and meritorious students, and help them
achieve excellence in their specific areas of interest may it be science, performing arts, creative writing,
etc.
 In this way, these talented students will not only realize their full potential but also contribute to the
society in a big way.

Three student innovators and budding scientists namely Rifat Sharook, Yagna Sai and Vijay
Lakshminarayan who have built a Nano-satellite"Kalam-Sat-V2" which was launched by ISRO on 24th
January 2019, gave a presentation on their innovative project.
1. Food Safety Mitra (FSM)
The ‗Food Safety Mitra (FSM)‘ scheme will support small and medium scale food businesses to comply with
the food safety laws and facilitate licensing and registration, hygiene ratings and training.
 Apart from strengthening food safety, this scheme would also create new employment opportunities for
youth, particularly with food and nutrition background.
 The FSMs would undergo training and certification by FSSAI to do their work and get paid by food
businesses for their services.
FSSAI has partnered with the Domestic Workers Sector Skill Council (DWSSC) under the Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship to launch a training course for domestic workers and homemakers
across the country.

14. 20th Livestock Census

Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying under Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
has released the 20th Livestock Census report. The Census will prove beneficial not just for policy makers
but also for agriculturists, traders, entrepreneurs, dairying industry and masses in general.

Key Results
 The total Livestock population is 535.78 million in the country showing an increase of 4.6% over
Livestock Census-2012.
 The total Commercial Poultry in the country is 534.74 million in 2019, increased by 4.5% over
previous Census.

The Livestock Census has been conducted in the country periodically since 1919-20.
 The Livestock Census covers all domesticated animals and its headcounts.
 So far 19 such censuses have been conducted in participation with State Governments and UT
Administrations. The 20th Livestock Census was conducted in participation with all States and Union
Territories.
 The enumeration was done both in rural and urban areas.
 The major thrust given to 20th Livestock Census is the collection of data through tablets computers.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed mobile Application software and was used for data
collection as well as online transmission of data from the field to the NIC server.

15. LOTUS-HR
During the visit of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty, Queen Maxima of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands a joint launch of the second phase of the Local Treatment of Urban Sewage streams for
Healthy Reuse (LOTUS-HR) program at the Barapullah drainin Delhi, was done by the Union Minister for
Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare.

18
 The project was initiated in July 2017 and aims to demonstrate a novel holistic (waste) water
management approach that will produce clean water which can be reused for various purposes.
 The project is jointly supported by Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology,
Government of India and Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research /STW, Government of
Netherlands.

16. National Protocol to Enumerate Snow Leopard Population

In a major boost towards protecting and conserving Snow Leopards, Union Minister for Environment,
Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched the First National Protocol on Snow Leopard
Population Assessment in India, on the occasion of International Snow Leopard Day.
 It has been developed by scientific experts in association with the Snow Leopard States/UTs namely,
Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunanchal Pradesh.
 Snow Leopard is found in 12 countries. They are India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Russia,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

INDIA IN/OUT

1. India International Science Festival (IISF) 2019

The 5th edition of India International Science Festival (IISF) 2019 will be held at Kolkata from 5th to 8th
November, 2019. It is the largest science festival in the world.
 The theme for this year‘s festival is RISEN India – Research, Innovation, and Science Empowering the
Nation.
 India International Science Festival (IISF) 2019, an annual event organised jointly by science &
technology- related Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and Vijnana Bharati
(Vibha), 2019.
 Students Science Village programme is linked with Pradhan Mantri Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana,
where in every Member of Parliament has been asked to nominate five students each along with their
teacher from their constituency for the village.
 This year‘s IISF will also witness Vigyanika,the Science Literature Festival.
 The special role of Women Scientists and Entrepreneurs in shaping the scientific growth trajectory will
be another highlight of this Festival.

2. 16th Global SME Business Summit

Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises inaugurated the 16th Global SME Business
Summit 2019 in New Delhi. The Summit is organized every year by Ministry of MSME and Confederation
of Indian Industries (CII).
 The theme this year is ‗Making Indian MSMEs Globally Competitive‟.

MSME sector in India has tremendous potential to push growth and generate employment.
 Government‘s priority is for an integrated development of the rural and agro based enterprises along
with the urban based enterprises.
 Government‘s target is to increase MSME‘s present share of 29 percent of GDP to 50 percent in next
five years and raise its export contribution from 49 percent to 60 percent. To achieve these targets
logistics, power and capital cost will need to be reduced.
 200 SMEs are registered on the stock exchange.
 Ministry will soon launch a new E-Commerce website „Bharat Mart‟ to enable MSMEs to sell their
products in local as well as international markets.

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3. India Water Week – 2019
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the 6th India Water Week-2019. The theme of
the India Water Week-2019 is ‗Water Cooperation – Coping with 21st Century Challenges‘ and it is being
organised by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, the
Ministry of Jal Shakti.
 Jal Shakti Abhiyan, which is a collaborative effort of the Central and State Governments to accelerate
progress on water conservation activities in the most water stressed blocks and districts of India.
 „National Mission for Clean Ganga‟ entails numerous projects to ensure the continuous and
unpolluted flow of the Ganga.

 What needs to be done?

 We need to encourage agricultural and industrial practices that have the least water-footprint.
 The widespread use of boring machines has led to unregulated and excessive exploitation of
ground-water.We have to value our ground-water and be responsible.
 We need to store and capture our rainwater by utilizing our existing reservoirs, dams, other water
bodies and by adopting water harvesting measures in our homes and neighbourhoods.

4. National Launch of Private Security Agency Licensing

Portal
National Launch of Private Security Agency Licensing Portal has been launched. Private Security Agency
Sector is of vital importance for the safe and secure business environment and achieve the vision of $5
trillion economy by providing employment as well as guarding vital corporations and financial hubs in the
country.
 The online portal would be useful in ensuring transparency in licensing in this sector and would give a
boost to its credibility. With the online availability of credentials, it would become easier for an agency
registered in one state to expand its operations in another state.
 The portal will be available in all official Indian languages in next 90 days.
 Agencies should try to recruit people who have undergone at least NCC training. This would ensure
basic discipline in the employees.
 During the ‗26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack‘, it was private guards that first confronted the terrorists.

5. Bloomberg Global Business Forum

Bloomberg Global Business Forum is an annual event organized by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charity
founded by former New York City. The event is held during the annual meeting of the United Nations
General Assembly in each September in New York City. The first Bloomberg Global Business Forum (GBF)
took place in New York in 2017.
 Bloomberg National Brand Tracker 2018 survey that recently ranked India as the top performing Asian
economy in attracting global investment. In 7 out of 10 indicators of this report i.e. political stability,
currency stability, high quality products, anti-corruption, low cost of production, strategic location and
respect for IPRs, India has been ranked at the top position.

6. 9th India-China Financial Dialogue

A high level Chinese delegation led by Ms. Zou Jiayi, Vice Minister, Ministry of Finance, People‘s Republic
of China interacted with the Indian delegation led by Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of
Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India on wide-ranging issues of mutual interest.

About India-China Relationship and the Dialogue

India and China bilateral relationship has entered into a new era after the historic informal summit
between Prime Minister of India and China‘s President held in Wuhan in April 2018.The India-China
Financial Dialogue is a mechanism between the two countries with an aim to promote cooperation in the
financial sector.

20
During this dialogue,
 Both sides had in-depth exchange of views on macroeconomic situation & policy, cooperation in
multilateral framework
 Bilateral investment and financial cooperation.
 Both sides also committed to promote a favourable environment to enable continuous growth of
bilateral trade and investment, strengthen their efforts to promote more balanced and healthier
development of trade and economic cooperation and further enhance the closer development
partnership between two countries.

7. Exercise MALABAR 2019

23rd edition of the Trilateral Maritime Exercise MALABAR, is scheduled between the navies of India,
Japan and USA off the coast of Japan. MALABAR 2019 would endeavour to further strengthen India -
Japan - US Naval cooperation and enhance interoperability, based on shared values and principles.

8. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export

Development Authority (APEDA)
Under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, in cooperation with government of
Tripura organised an International Conference-cum-Buyer Seller Meet in Agartala to showcase the export
potential of agricultural products from North East Region (NER) and Tripura in particular.
 Twenty international buyers from 8 countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia, UAE, Bahrain,
Kuwait and Greece participated in it. More than 30 exporters and representatives of FPC/FPO from
Tripura, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh also participated.

9. Exercise KAZIND – 2019

Joint Military Exercise KAZIND-2019 between India and Kazakhstan will be conducted at Pithoragarh
from 02 to 15 October 2019.Exercise KAZIND-2019 is the fourth edition of an annual event which is
conducted alternatively in Kazakhstan and India. During the exercise, aspects of emerging trends of global
terrorism and hybrid warfare have also been included.

10. Exercise Maitree – 2019

Exercise MAITREE-2019, the joint military training exercise between Indian Army (IA) & Royal Thailand
Army (RTA) at Foreign Training Node, Umroi (Meghalaya).

11. Exercise Nomadic Elephant-XIV

It is a joint military exercise between Indian and Mongolian Army. It will be held at Bakloh, Himachal
Pradesh. It is aimed at training troops in counter insurgency &counter terrorism operations under United
Nations mandate.

12. Ex Ekuverin
Tenth edition of the Joint Military Exercise Ekuverin between the Indian Army and the Maldives National
Defence Force will be organised from 07 to 20 October 2019 at Aundh Military Station in Pune,
Maharashtra.
 The Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Forces have been conducting Exercise Ekuverin
meaning ‗Friends‘ in the Dhivehi language since 2009.
 The focus of the exercise will be on sharing of best practices and acquainting each other with the
operating procedures being followed while undertaking counter insurgency and counter-terrorism
operations.

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13. India Carpet Expo
Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) is organizing the 38thIndia Carpet Expo (15thin Varanasiin
Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Ground with an aim to promote the cultural heritage and weaving
skills of Indian hand-made carpets and other floor coverings for the visiting overseas carpet buyers.
 India carpet expo is aplatform for international carpet buyers, buying houses, buying agents,
architects and Indian carpet manufacturers andexporters to meet and establish business relationship.
 The Expo is organized twice a year in Varanasi and Delhi.
 India Carpet Expo is one of the largest handmade carpet fairs in Asia.

The major carpet producing centres in India are in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,
Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, North East Region of India, Andhra
Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
 India is exporting its handmade carpets to more than 70 countries in the world, mainly to the USA,
Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, France, Italy and Brazil. Recently, exports
have also started to China.
 Indian Handmade Carpet Industry is highly labour intensive and provides employment to over 20 lakh
workers and artisans especially women directly or indirectly in the rural areas.

14. SARAS Aajeevika Mela

Union Minister of State for Rural Development has inaugurated SARAS Aajeevika Mela at India Gate
Lawns. It is a testimony of Nari-Shakti, as lakhs of poor women through rural women Self Help Groups
are transforming their lives and transforming rural India.
 SARAS AajeevikaMela is an initiative by the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods
Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India, with an objective to
bring the rural women Self Help Groups (SHGs) formed with support of DAY-NRLM, under one
platform to show-case their skills, sell their productsand help them build linkages with bulk buyers.
 The Mela is organised by the marketing arm of the Ministry, Council for Advancement of People‘s
Action and Rural Technology (CAPART).
 They will show-case varied range of products like handicrafts, handlooms, natural food products and a
food court with regional cuisines.
 Till date about 88,000 crore rupees of loans were availed by SHGs and their NPA is mere 2 percent.

Products
Sarees
1. Kalamkari from Andhra Pradesh.
2. Kosasarees from Chhattisgarh
3. IIkal sarees from Karnataka.
4. Chanderisarees and Bagh print sarees from Madhya Pradesh.
5. Paithaniand silk sarees from Maharashtra.
6. Tasarand Banda sarees from Odisha.
7. Kanchipuram sarees from Tamil Nadu.
8. Pochampalli sarees from Telangana.
9. Pashmina sarees from Uttrakhand.

Handicraft, jewellery and home décor

1. Hyacinth handbags and yoga mats from Assam.
2. Sikki crafts from Bihar.
3. Channapatna toys from Karnataka.
4. Lamasa art products from Maharashtra.
5. Sabai grass products, Patachitra on palm leave from Odisha.
6. Dokra craft, Sitalpatti from West Bengal.

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15. DHARMA GUARDIAN – 2019
Joint Military Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN-2019 between India and Japan will be conducted at counter
Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte.It is an annual training event which is being conducted
in India since 2018.

16. EX EASTERN BRIDGE-V

Indian Air Force is participating in a Bilateral Joint exercise with Royal Air Force Oman (RAFO), named EX
EASTERN BRIDGE-V, at Air Force Base Masirah.
 The last exercise, EX EASTERN BRIDGE-IV was held in 2017 at Jamnagar. For the first time, MiG-29
fighter aircraft will be participating in an International Exercise outside India.

MISCELLANEOUS

1. TB India Report (2019)

In 2018, the Revised National Tuberculosis Programme (RNTBP) was able to achieve notification by 21.5
lakh persons, which is an increase of 16% as compared to 2017 and the highest so far noted. The
estimated TB incidence in India stands at 27 lakh.
 Health Ministry also launched an all-oral regimen kit for multi-drug resistant TB patients, which does
not include injections, and announced a partnership with the World Bank, which is providing $400
million credit for accelerating TB response in 9 States through private sector engagement and other
critical interventions.
 In April 2018, the government launched the Nikshay Poshan Yojana, a direct benefit transfer scheme,
to provide nutritional support to TB patients. Under the scheme, TB patients receive Rs. 500 per
month for the entire duration of treatment. Since the inception of the scheme, a total amount of Rs.
427 crore had been paid to over 26 lakh beneficiaries through direct transfers to their bank accounts.
 Among States with a large population(More than 50 Lakh), Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were
awarded as best performers, while Tripura and Sikkim were recognised for their efforts among
medium-population states in Tackling TB.
 India is on track to achieve the target of a TB-eradication by 2025, much ahead of the global target of
2030.

2. RAHMOS
BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile featuring Indian propulsion system, airframe, power supply and
other major indigenous components, was successfully test fired at Chandipur in Odisha.
 The missile was successfully test-fired for its full range of 290-km during the launch jointly conducted
by DRDO and BrahMos Aerospace.
 Jointly developed by India and Russia, the versatile BRAHMOS has been operationalised in the Indian
Armed Forces with all the three services.

3. Consumer App
In order to fast-track consumer grievance redressal process and provide an effective forum for consumers
to give their valuable suggestions to the Department on consumer related issues, Union Minister of
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution launched the ‗Consumer App‘.
 The app aims to provide a one stop solution for consumer grievance redressal at the palm of every
consumer across the nation via mobile phones.
 The registered consumer will be informed about their complaint via SMS/E-mail with a unique
number which can be tracked by the consumer.
 There will be time bound resolution of all grievances and those that are simple in nature will be
resolved within 20 days while those that elicit a feedback from companies or further enquiries will be
resolved within 2 months/60 days. After 60 days the grievance is not resolved, the consumer will be
advised to proceed to consumer fora.

23
 The consumer will be informed before closure of a complaint and if the consumer is not satisfied then
the complaint will be referred further to the concerned department.

The knowledge base available in the app is very useful feature that will help consumers get information
pertaining to 42 Sectors including Consumer Durables, Electronic Products, e-commerce, Banking,
Insurance, etc.

4. eDantseva website
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the eDantseva website and mobile application, the
first ever national digital platform on oral health information and knowledge dissemination. e-DantSeva is
the first ever national digital platform that provides oral health information both in the form of a website
and mobile application.
 e-DantSeva contains information about the National Oral Health Program, detailed list of all the dental
facility and colleges, Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material and a unique feature
called the ‗Symptom Checker‘, which provides information on symptoms of dental/oral health
problems, ways to prevent these, the treatment modes, and also directs the user to find their nearest
available dental facility (public and private sectors both).
 The website also provides GPRS route/images/satellite images of the facility for easier access to the
general population.

ONE LINERS
1. Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr. Jitendra Singh
inaugurated the Cane and Bamboo Technology Park-cum-Office Premises of Cane and Bamboo
Technology Centre (CBTC) at Burnihat, Assam. More than 50% of India‘s bamboos are found in NER.

2. CHC Farm Machinery App: Through this app farmers can select and order the required machinery at
the rates feasible for them from the Custom Hiring Centers located in the radius of 50 Kms.
 It is a Multi-lingual Mobile App.

3. Krishi Kisan App will provide farmers the information of best demonstration of high-yielding crops
and seeds in their nearby area.
 Any farmer with high quality of crops can utilise this platform to demonstrate best practices of
cultivation to other farmers so that this will help other farmers also to adopt these methods.
 The App will also help in geo-tagging and geo-fencing of crop and give weather forecast message to
farmers.

4. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in partnership with Indian industries has unveiled
the first Indigenous High Temperature Fuel Cell System under India‘s flagship program named “New
Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI)”.
 The 5.0 kW fuel cell system generates power in a green manner using methanol / bio-methane,
with heat and water as bi-products for further use; amounting to greater than 70% efficiency,
which otherwise may not be possible by other energy sources.
 The Fuel Cells developed are based on High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM)
Technology.
 The development is most suitable for distributed stationary power applications like; for small
offices, commercial units, data centres etc. where highly reliable power is essential with
simultaneous requirement for air-conditioning.
 This system will also meet the requirement of efficient, clean and reliable backup power generator
for telecom towers, remote locations and strategic applications.
 This development would replace Diesel Generating (DG) sets and help reduce India‘s dependence
on crude oil.

24
5. Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence and Central University of
Jammu (CUJ) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of
Kalam Centre for Science and Technology (KCST) at the university.

6. To commemorate 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and to promote the Gandhian idea of
sustainable living, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in association with IIT Bombay, is
organizing the Global Student Solar Assembly on 2nd October 2019.
 This Workshop aims at sensitizing young minds about energy sustainability and environmental
care.
 Two Guinness world records will be attempted during this workshop
(a) Sustainability lessons to the largest number of participants at a single place
(b) Largest number of solar lamps lit together.

7. Arogya Manthan is a two-day event organized by the National Health Authority, to mark the
completion of one year of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY. A new mobile application of Ayushman Bharat
will be launched.

8. Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh launched the website of 11th edition of DefEXpo, to be held in
Lucknow from 05 - 08 February, 2020.

9. Indian Army and Bank of Baroda entered in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This MoU
lays down the basis on which banking services would be provided by Bank of Baroda to serving and
retired personnel of the Indian Army.
 The MoU include Free Personal Accident Insurance (Death & Permanent Total Disability) cover, Free
Air Accident Insurance (AAI) cover of Rs 15 lakhs to Rs 50 lakhs and overdraft facility upto three
times of monthly net salary.
 The features are also applicable for pensioners of Indian army upto the age of 70 yrs.
 Bank of Baroda is the 2nd largest Public Sector bank.

10. The President of India graced and addressed the India TodaySafaigiri Summit and presented the
most effective Swachchta Ambassador award to Shri Sachin Tendulkar in New Delhi on the occasion of
150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

11. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the “Trans Fat Free” logo of Food Safety &
Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), at the 8th International Chefs‘ Conference (ICC VII) in New Delhi.
This marked an important milestone in the movement against Trans-Fats and also provided a
momentum to accelerate the ‗Eat Right India‘ movement of FSSAI.
 Trans fats are the worst type of fats with known health risks.
 India is committed to eliminating it from the food supply and is progressing towards its objective of
transfat elimination by 2022; a year ahead of the global target by WHO.

12. Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman will inaugurate National e-
Assessment Centre ( NeAC) in New Delhi.
 Under the new system, tax payers have received notices on their registered emails as well as on
registered accounts on the web portal www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in with real time alert by way
of SMS on their registered mobile number, specifying the issues for which their cases have been
selected for scrutiny.
 This is a momentous step towards the larger objectives of better taxpayer service, reduction of
taxpayer grievances in line with Prime Minister‘s vision of ‗Digital India‘ and promotion of ease of
doing business.
 A live demonstration of the Charkha has been arranged a by Pitta Ramulu, National Award
winning weaver from India.

25
13. Bharat Stage Six (BS VI): It is a revolutionary step in the transformation of fuels. There has been 80%
reduction in Particulate Matter emissions and 30% reduction in Nitrogen Oxides emissions in BS IV
heavy duty diesel vehicles compared with BS III norms. Nearly ₹60,000 Cr were spent on switching
over to BS VI fuels.

14. Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is observing the “World Mental Health Day” on 10th
October, 2019.

15. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with six partners
namely People‘s Republic of China (ACFTA), Republic of Korea (AKFTA), Japan (AJCEP), India (AIFTA)
and Australia and New Zealand (AANZFTA).
 RCEP negotiations were launched by leaders from 10 ASEAN member states (Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam) and 6 ASEAN FTA partners (Australia, People‘s Republic of China, India, Japan, Republic
of Korea and New Zealand).
 The objective of launching RCEP negotiation is to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high quality
and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among the ASEAN member states and
ASEAN‘s FTA partners.
 The RCEP negotiations commenced in early 2013.

16. Asian Development Bank and the Government of India yesterday signed a $190 million loan to
upgrade 754 kilometres of state highways and major district roads (MDRs) to two-lane or intermediate-
lane standards that will benefit about 26 million people in 14 districts of Rajasthan.
 The project will encourage participation of private sector through Hybrid Annuity Mode and
engineering procurement construction (EPC) contracts.

17. G20 Okayama Health Ministers‟ Meeting is held on October 19-20, 2019, under the Presidency of
Japan in Okayama City, Japan.
 The deliberations of the G 20 Health Ministers focused on four major global health issues, namely
(i) Achievement of Universal Health Coverage
(ii) Response to population ageing
(iii) Management of health risks and health security management including Anti-Microbial
Resistance (AMR) and
(iv) its containment.

18. Indian Railways launches 9 ‗Sewa Service‟ Trains todaytoconnect smaller towns around major cities.
These trains will provide connectivity to the far-flung areas where stoppages of premiere trains was not
possible.

19. 48th edition of the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF)is held at the India Expo Centre & Mart
at Greater Noida.
 EPCH is a nodal agency for promoting exports of handicrafts from the country to various
destinations of the world and projecting India‘s image abroad as a reliable supplier of high quality
handicrafts goods and services.
 EPCH has set up Handicrafts Carpet Sector Skill Council which has set up the initiative VRIKSH,
the Indian Timber Legality Assessment and Verification Scheme, to establish the chain of custody
and legality of the wood which has further been mapped with the UN Sustainable Development
Goals.

20. Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) has conducted the second edition of Defence of Andaman &
Nicobar Islands 2019 (DANX-19), a large scale joint services exercise by of the Indian Army, Navy, Air
Force and Coast Guard.

26
21. Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer have been conferred the 2019 Sveriges
Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. They have made notable
contributions in the field of poverty alleviation.

22. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched the website and mobile
application [Learn to Protect, Secure and Maximize Your Innovation] on Intellectual Property Rights
(IPRs).
 The modules of this e-learning platform [L2Pro India IP e-learning Platform and the L2Pro India
Mobile App] will aid and enable youth, innovators, entrepreneurs and small and medium industries
(SMEs) in understanding IPRs for their ownership and protection, integrate IP into business models
and obtain value for their R&D efforts.
 L2Pro has been successfully implemented in Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and France.
 The learning app has been customized for India in order to ensure that innovation which is
fundamental to startups are protected, managed and commercialised.

27
 YOJANA COMPILATION
OCTOBER 2019
Index
1. Non- Violence ……………………………………………………………………………………
2. Dignity of Labour: Towards an egalitarian Society ………………………………
3. Peace ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. Production by Masses- Not Mass Production ………………………………………

28
1. NON-VIOLENCE
Introduction
According to Galtung, violence is of three kinds; direct, structural and cultural. Legals terms narrow down
the complexity of violence and define it as punishable acts, thus simplify the phenomenon of violence.
Violence is not only an act or event but also a sign of deeper socio-political and economic alienation that a
community or group faces or perceives. Therefore, it cannot be analyzed, tackled or solved separately
taking it only as discrete event.

GANDHI‟S RESPONSETO DIRECT VIOLENCE

ADVAITA: Direct or personal violence, organized or sporadic, that we observe in contemporary society
and politics, emerges when one considers other as absolute ‗other‘. Gandhi challenges such contemporary
view and perceives ‗otherness‘ as a relation notion in which sacrifice of the self gets supremacy to
sacrificing others.

Violence does have 2 impacts:

 Violence does not accept the ‗essential dignity‘ and worth of the individual.
 Violence recognizes no boundaries and finally becomes self justificatory in itself.

Gandhi does not see any separation between the self and other. Following Advaita, his non-violence
affirms that there are no others, there is only the self, or versions thereof. Thus, violence against others is
actually violence against oneself to challenge contemporary direct violence. His non-violence implies self-
purification of individual and he maintains that the power of non-violence is in exact proportion to the
ability of the nonviolent person. Gandhi‘s non-violence is not only a matter of philosophy or intellectual
inquiry but a call for dynamic action at the individual level as well.To contemporary violence inflected
society, his message is very clear apply non-violence in all possible fields of human relations.

GANDHI‟S RESPONSE TO STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE

At structural level the problem of violence occurs due to concentration of power, large scale
industrialization, and exploitation of one group by another. The contemporary problem of social-political
injustice or the economic inequality is one example of such.
Satyagraha: Gandhi invites people to take up moral leadership at different levels to create a society free
from exploitation and marginalization or structural violence. Gandhi proposes a nonviolent mode of
protest what he termed as Satyagraha. Satyagraha takes various forms according to a different situation,
such as civil disobedience and non-cooperation. However, he noted that these methods can be adopted
only by those who are self-less, fearless and self-controlled.
Gandhi regarded the State and Government derive their existence and power from the individuals. He
reminded the people that the State and Government cannot exist for a moment without their cooperation.
He recommended that the edge of the political consciousness of people should always be kept sharp and
moral disciplined must be maintained.

GANDHI‟S RESPONSE TO CULTURAL VIOLENCE

Violence is the result of the dominance of the socio-political or economic structure of the society on a
particular social group community it cannot be analyzed, tackled or solved separately taking it only as a
major violent event. Contemporary discourse on violence takes our normal view as something final, fixed
and unquestionable.
To develop a nonviolent worldview, Gandhi emphasised on a new kind of socialization through Swadeshi
and a new type of education through Nyay Talim in the society.

The violence against nature, known as the environmental crisis, is serious contemporary challenges before
us. The present environmental crisis is not a problem but only a symptom of a deeply mistaken normative
view of the relation between humans and nature. Gandhi submitted that we should feel a more living bond

29
between ourselves and the rest of the animate world and suggested that humans and nature must be in
harmony rather than human being exploiting the nature for their pleasure.
He strongly advocates the ‗green thought‘ in our day to day life as well as an economy and developmental
model based on natural order to save ourselves from the catastrophe.

2. Dignity of Labour: Towards an egalitarian Society

Mahatma Gandhi was a man of many parts.
 In the political field, he applied the age-old principles of truth and non-violence and their derivative
Satyagraha to built up a mass movement which ultimately resulted in the freedom of India on 15
August, 1947.
 In the economic field, the challenged the very foundational values of the western model of development
viz.
(a) it is the self-interest that moves man and his society
(b) it is the ever spiraling desires and aspirations of man which lead to progress of the human society.

He made a fine distinction between human ‗need‘ and ‗want‘ and underlined the centrality of basic needs
in any given social order.
 In the religious-cultural field, the stood for Sarva Dharma Samabhava (equal respect for all religious)
and rejected the western concept of secularism, i.e., a distinct separation of religion and politics. He
provided three major instruments of social change viz. Eleven Vows (Ekadasha Vrate). Constructive
Programme and Satyagraha, instead of singular role of the State power.
Background
During his the Phoenix Settlement (1904) that made Tolstoy Farm (1910), some of his liberal ideas like
sharer shram (bread labour),Sarva Dharma Samabhava (equal respect for all religions) and sparash
bhavana (elimination of untouchability) started being practiced in more vigorous way.

After coming to India in 1915 he came face to face with prevailing India religious-cultural tradition. He
became fully conscious that because of Brahmine tradition, based on chaturavarna system, a sharp
distinction has come to stay between mental and menial work.
 Upper caste Hindus, particularly Brahmins, were not ordained to engage much in physical/mental
work. They were supposed to pursue only mental work.
 It is only the lower castes particularly the shudras who were to engage in mental work.

All this was not acceptable to Gandhi.

Thus, when he set up Satyagraha/Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad during 1915, he introduced Eleven
Vows (Ekadash Vrata) which every inmate of the ashram would have to follow and imbibe in his life and
living.
These eleven vows were : truth, non-violence, non-stealing, brahmacharya, non-possession, control of
palate, fearlessness, elimination of untouchability , bread labour, swadesh and equal respect for all
religions. Out of these eleven vows, two of them viz. sparsh bhavana (elimination of untouchability) and
sharer shram (bread labour) were primarily concerned with the principle of dignity of labour.

Bread Labour
The simple principle of bread labour is that one must work to live. Russian leader, T.M.Bondarek who
first propounded this principle. Later, Tolstoy popularized it.

Gandhi was aware that the dignity of labour was missing from our socio-cultural value system. He wanted
to establish it as one of the core social values of the Indian society. Hence, he made it a part of the
Ekadasha Vrata. Not only that, performance of bread labour became an integral part of Gandhi‘s daily
routine both at Sabarmati and Sevagram ashram. Charkha and Kargha became the symbol of synthesis
between mental and physical work.

30
Gandhi also associated this principle of bread labour with jajna concept of the Bhagavad Gita. It is said
there that anyone who partakes food without performing some sacrifice (Jajna) is nothing short of being a
thief.
It has 2 impacts:
 Certain amount of physical labour is needed for maintaining good health by any individual.
 The scourge of the superiority of the mental work over the physical labour could be easily abolished by
following this principle of bread labour.
 The rich would come to consider themselves as the trustees of their property by following the principle
of bread labour and as such the existing conflict between capital and labour could be easily taken care
of.
 Self-scavenging as bread labour, would automatically eliminate the scourge of untouchability and lead
to the state of social equality of all men.

Sparsh Bhavana (Elimination of Untouchability)

Gandhi was totally against untouchability. Untouchability was based on the fake belief that the upper
caste Hindus would get polluted by coming into any kind of physical contact with the people born in
certain caste and families. Some of them were taken to be unapproachable as even their sight was
considered to have a polluting effect.

Sparsh Bhavana became one of the major vrata of his Eleven Vows. He had set up Harijan Sevak Sangha
and published a journal called Harijan to banish the untouchability.

His arguments in favour of his contention were,

 It is a sin to look at same people as untouchables based on their births in a particular family.
 It was never an integral part of Hinduism.
 As everyone comes from the same source (God), hence all are equal.
 It is nothing short of the practice of love and ahimsa.
 The elimination of untouchability amounts to removal of barriers between man and man. Hence, it is a
major step towards equalitarian society. He found scavenging as the most essential act in human
society. But being confined to a section of people, it has become the symbol of indignity of labour.
Hence he pleaded for self-scavenging.

Conclusion
Gandhian ideas of Sparsh Bhavana and sharir shram appear very relevant to the present situation. India
has covered a lot of ground in these areas. A lot has been done and achieved. But it is equally true to say
that a lot remains to be done. The battle is won, but the war is still on and it must continue to usher India
into a new era of equality between man and man as dreamt by Bapu and other freedom fighters.

3. PEACE
Gandhi explained ―that Law which governs all life is God‖, and he called that Law as Truth, the sovereign
and eternal principle. For him, Truth is God, the End and the very purpose of life. He understood Truth as
the Sanskrit term satya connoted. It stems from the word ‗sat‘, which means ‗that which exists‘. All that
exists is real or true, hence part of the ‗Satya‘.

As a pragmatic idealist, Gandhi explained life as the closest manifestation of Truth or God. Hence, the only
way to find the all-encompassing Truth or God is ―to see Him in his creation and be one with it. This can
be done by service to all. I am part and parcel of the whole‖, he confessed, and ―I cannot find Him apart
from the rest of humanity‖.

PEACE: AN EXPERIENCE OF LIFE.

For Gandhi, peace is an experience of life. In our day-to-day life, it is recognized through attributes such
as satisfaction, joy, happiness, comfort, relief (attributes of impact of human action), sharing, co-
operation, love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance (attitudinal attributes), understanding, realization and

31
consciousness (cognitive attributes). All these, together as well as independently, refer to the experience of
peace. From Gandhi‘s exposition of Truth, we understand that the all-encompassing Truth or its manifest
form ‗Life‘ in particular, is an unqualified and comprehensive reference for peace.

PEACE: A PURSUIT OF LIFE

As life is the reference to peace, peace is subject to (a subjective experience of) life. We realize life through
its innumerable acts. While every act of us has its own individual objective each act is aimed at serving the
underlying universally common purpose called ‗living‘. In that manner, anything that protects, promotes,
preserves or sustains life gives us an experience of peace. Instances such as inadequate food or living
space, lack of identity or dignity curb life prospects are negations of peace. Similarly, poverty,
unemployment, their precursors like illiteracy and lack of skills are forms of peacelessness. Gandhi‘s
constructive interventions such as Khadi, village industries are, that way, pro-life acts of peace making.
Peace and Society
Society is the sum of individuals bound by collectively held goals, guided by shared values, cultural means
and methods, all attuned to the same thing called life. The primary objective of the society is to ensure life
requirements to its members.The smooth conduct of these systems and structures towards successful
execution of their purpose can be termed as peace.

Gandhi‘s idea of decentralized socio-political order or appropriate technological intervention for economic
justice (swadeshi economy) is essentially meant to create systems and structures that are comfortably
sized for individual members to use them adequately.

Thus, life requires certain sustaining components to construct the experience of peace. Knowledge of the
system and skills to deal with it and consciousness of not overdoing at the expense of others are some of
the components that together ensure peace of life. Gandhi‘s concept of Sarvadaya welfare of all, deals with
peace in this connotation.
Conclusion
Violence destroys peace and that‘s why Non Violence is the way of achieving the ultimate purpose ‗truth‘.
It is also an experience of peace. That is why Gandhi termed that ‗non-violence‘ and ‗truth‘ are convertible
terms. A life of non-violence is a life of peace; not in the metaphysical sense, but in a very mundane,
pragmatic sense.

4. PRODUCTION BY MASSES, NOT MASS PRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
India and most of the developing world is faced with economic, social, political, and environmental issues.
The problems are often interrelated and cannot be resolved in isolation. The fundamental issue is the
ownership over natural resources. The countries that are technology advanced have always been taking a
domineering position since the time of industrialization. Climate change is a reality now and geopolitics is
unfolding in a way that would lead to further unsustainability , Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
notwithstanding.

GANDHI AND SWADESHI

Gandhian concept of Swadeshi was result of long-observed and well-thought out process. Hind Swaraj,
considered as his treaties on political economy, came out in 1909 and it carried his valid critique of
modern civilization. His Hindustan Darshan exposed him the exploitation of the British. Swadeshi got its
first mention in 1905 and last 1947.

Swadeshi meant local for basic needs and self-reliance.Swadeshi opposed large scale production.
Agriculture was primary occupation and source of income, and village industries played a supportive role.
It is more important to make available adequate food, vegetables and milk-ghee for the poor. The
fundamental point is to have development from below and from self – sustaining local production systems
using, if necessary, appropriate technologies.

32
 Lassier-Fair
Neither capitalism nor socialism could achieve the objectives of social justice, economic equity and national integration simultaneously.
Gandhi dreamt of a society based on new democratic nature and equitable system with decentralization as the engine.

SWADESHI IN PRESENT TIMES

As economics has become the main system, the solution should also start with economics. Swadeshi being
a mind-set, becomes a non-economic postulate. Incidentally same applies to technology too.

The market dominated economies try to maximize material prosperity. Globalization for the world means
adopting the GDP growth paradigm as practiced and favoured by the advanced economics. It is termed as
an economic phenomenon that would increase economic interaction or integration among countries by
more economic transactions through international trade, investment and capital flows.
In this process, technology plays an important role for solving the complexities that arise in economic
transactions. It simply ignores environment and ecological ethics in production and consumption.
Voluntary poverty of Gandhi meant that the ‗haves‘ of the society should restrict their consumption
moderated by ascetic and paternalistic values.

For Gandhi village-level self- sufficiency was providing maximum opportunity for production at local level.
His self-reliance would produce the necessities of life by one‘s own labour or produce goods that could be
exchanged for necessities.

As Schumacher believed there should be production by masses rather than mass production. Mass
production is inherently violent, ecologically damaging, self- defeating in terms of non-renewable resources
and stultifying for human person.

For Gandhi local requirements provided the key. Limited of wants would provide signal to producer and
the system of production would guide the consumer. Prosumer is the word used by Alvin Toffler when he
talks about the Third Wave. A prosumer is both producer and consumer.
Conclusion

For Gandhi, the ideal of economic constitution of India ―can be universally realized only if the means of
production of elementary necessities of life remains under the control of masses‖. For him trade should
not be free but fair. Gandhi, to measures the fairness, considered not only efficiency criterion; but he took
in to consideration the criterion of equity of which has much to do with ethics. Gandhi discovered and
articulated the principles for an alternative and human economy where the doctrine of Swadeshi was at
the center. Keeping individual at the centre, he believed in one‘s moral development; reflected in human
dignity.

33
 KURUKSHETRA COMPILATION
OCTOBER 2019
Index

1. Doubling farmer‘s income…………………………………………………………………………

2. Roadmap for Agricultural Reforms……………………………………………………………
3. Initiatives in Agricultural Sector…………………………………………………………………
4. Farming Techniques in Indian Scenario ……………………………………………………
5. Empowering Women Farmers……………………………………………………………………
6. Change in Public Services for the Poorer Section……………………………………...
7. Enhancing Agriculture Production……………………………………………………………..
8. e- NAM ……………………………………………………………………………………………………...
9. PPP in Agriculture………………………………………………………………………………………
10. Micro-Irrigation Techniques……………………………………………………………………….
11. Non-Farm Activities……………………………………………………………………………………

34
1. DOUBLING FARMERS‟ INCOME
Introduction
The Government has been reorienting the agriculture sector by focusing on income-centeredness which
goes beyond achieving merely the targeted production. The income approach focuses on achieving high
productivity, reducing cost of cultivation and remunerative price on the produce, with a view to earn
higher profits from farming.

Schemes and Initiatives

Recently, a High Powered Committee of Chief Minister of 7 states- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana,
Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, MPhas been formed for ‗Transformation of Indian Agriculture‘
has been constituted. At present the Government is implementing various schemes and adopting policy
measures synchronize with higher gains for the farmers.

Serial Main Purpose Schemes/Initiatives

No
1 Higher Production National Food Security Mission (NFSM) – For cereals, pulses, oilseeds,
Through nutrient-rich cereals, commercial crops.
Productivity Gains Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) for high
growth rate of horticulture crops.
National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) launched in 2014-
15 for increasing production of oilseeds and Oil Palm.

2 Reduction in Cost
of Cultivation
Soil Health Card (SHC) to ensure judicious and optimal use of fertilizer
application thus saving the input cost for farmers.
 This scheme has duel benefit. One, yields are higher due to efficient
use of ingredients and secondly, the use of fertilizer can also be
restricted through this process.

Neem Coated Urea (NCU)is being promoted to regular use of urea,

enhance availability of nitrogen to the crop and reduce cost of superfluous
fertilizer application.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) micro

irrigationcomponent (1.2 million ha/year target ) with the motto of ‗Har
Khet Ko Paani‘ for providing end-to-end solutions in irrigation supply
chain, comprising water sources, distribution network and farm level
applications.
 The scheme has an outlay of Rs.50,000 crore and is to be
implemented across the country in a five year span from 2015-16 to
2019-20.
 The major objectives of PMKSY are to increase cultivable area under
irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency by reducing wastage of
water, enhance and encourage the use of precision irrigation and
promote various water conservation practices to conserve water.

3 Providing Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) scheme to provide
Assistance To assistance to small and marginal farmer families with an amount of
Small and Marginal Rs.6000/- per year.
Farmers  The scheme initially covered only small and marginal farmer families
with land holding up to 2 hectares as beneficiaries, subject to certain
exclusion criteria for higher income status but now the Union

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 Government has extended the scheme to all farmer families
irrespective of land hold
 ing size, subject to applicable exclusion.
 State Government and UT Administration identify the farmer families
who are eligible for support as per scheme guidelines.
 The fund will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the
beneficiaries. Till date, PM KISAN has over 6.37 crore beneficiaries
and Rs.20,520 crore have been transferred as direct benefit to farmer
families.
 Farmers who do not own land are not eligible for applying through
this scheme.
 It is a Central Sector scheme launched on 01.12.2018 with full
funding from Government of India

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM KMY) has been launched
which provides for a payment of a minimum pension of Rs.3000/- per
month to eligible small and marginal farmers on attaining the age of 60
years.
 It is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme, with entry age of
18 to 40 years.
 The monthly contribution by farmers ranges between Rs.55 to 200
depending on their age.
 Central Government will contribute an equal amount in this
contributory pension scheme.

4 Ensure National Agriculture Market Scheme(e-NAM) is an innovative market

Remuneration process ensure real-time better price discovery, bringing in transparency
Returns and competition to enable farmers to get improved remuneration for their
produce, moving towards ‗One Nation One Market‘.
 e-NAM has been launched in 2016.
 This platform provides wider market access to the farmers and also
ensures better price for the produce.

Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have been on-boarded on e-NAM

portal and they have started uploading their produce for trading from
their premise.

Model Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing Promotion &

Facilitation Act,2017 has been released on 24th April,2017 for its
adoption by States/UTs, to promote alternative competitive marketing
channels for better pricing for farmers and to encourage private
investment in developing efficient marketing infrastructure and value
chain.
 The provisions under the Act include setting up of private markets,
special commodity markets and declaring warehouses/soils/cold
storages or such structures as market sub yards.
GrAM: Existing,22000 rural haats to be developed and upgraded into
Gramin Agricultural Markets(GrAMs).The GrAMs, electronically linked to
e-NAM portal and exempted from regulations of Agriculture Produce
Marketing Committees (APMCs) will provide farmers, the facility to make
direct sale to consumers and bulk purchasers,
Warehousing and post-harvest loans at concessional rate of interest
so as to discourage distress sale by farmers and to encourage them to

36
 store their produce in warehouses against negotiable receipts.
Minimum Support Price (MSP) to notified by the Government for certain
crops periodically .Giving a major boost for the farmers‘ income, the
Government has recently approved the increase in the MSP for all Kharif
crops for 2019-20 season.
Procurement of oilseeds, pulses and cotton are undertaken by central
agencies at MSP under Price Support Scheme (PSS) at the request of the
State Government concerned.
Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for procurement of agriculture &
horticulture products, which are perishable in nature and are not covered
under PSS.

5 Risk Management Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) & Restructured Weather
and Sustainable Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWCIS) provides insurance cover at all
Practices stages of the crop cycle including post-harvest risks in specified instance
and available to the farmers at very low rates of premium.
 In this scheme, farmers have to pay an annual premium of 2 percent
for Kharif crop, 1.5 percent for Rabi and oilseed crops and 5 percent
for commercial / horticulture crops.
 The rest of the premium amount is being borne equally by Central and
respective State/UT Governments.
 The scheme was launched in2016 with the aim to protect farmers from
any financial loss due to natural calamities.
Interest Subvention : Government provides total interest subvention up
to 5 percent (inclusive of 3 percent prompt repayment incentive) on short-
term crop loans up to 3.00lakh. Thus, loan is available to farmers at a
reduced rate of 4 percent per annum on prompt repayment .
Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana(PKVY) is being implemented with a
view to promote organic farming in the country.
 This will improve soil health and organic matter content and increased
net income of the farmer so as to realize premium prices.
Mission Organic Farming in North-East-MoVCD(NE) for realizing the
potential of organic farming in the North Eastern Region of the country.

6 Allied Activities ‗Har Medh Par Ped‟ launched during 2016-17 to encourage tree
plantation on farm land along with crops/ cropping system.
Implementation of the Scheme has been started in the states.
 Liberalized transit regulations for transport of timber have been
notified.
 Agro forestry will not only help in increasing soil organic carbon but
also in creating additional source of income to farmers.
National Bamboo Mission has been announced in Union Budget 2018-19
for value chain based holistic development of this sector as a supplement
to farm income.

Bee-Keeping has been promoted under Mission for Integrated

Development of Horticulture (MIDH) to increase the productivity of crops
through pollination, and increase the honey production as an additional
income to the farmers.

For dairy development, there are three important schemes: National

Diary Plan-1 : National Dairy Development Programme (NDDP) and
Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme.

37
 Foreseeing high potential in fisheries sector, a Blue Revolution with
multi-dimensional activities mainly focusing on fisheries production, both
inland and marine is being implemented.

Rashtriya Gokul Mission launched in December, 2014 for gene pool of

indigenous cattle and buffaloes.

National Livestock Mission launched in 2014-15 to ensure intensive

development of livestock especially small livestock (sheep/goat, poultry,
etc.) along with adequate availability of quality feed and fodder.

Conclusion
A farmers‘ income is a basket of earning from agriculture (including horticulture), allied activities like
dairy , livestock, poultry, fishery etc. and ancillary activities like beekeeping etc. Apart from these farm
incomes, he also earns from other activities like wage labour, off-farm activities etc. It is hoped, that the
answer to agrarian challenges and realization of the aim of farmers‘ welfare lies in higher and steady
incomes.

2. ROADMAP FOR AGRICULTURAL REFORMS

Introduction
Food security, Population Growth and Climate Change are going to be vital issues for Indian Agriculture in
future. To face the challenge: :
1. The agricultural planning needs to ensure income security and inclusiveness.
2. The participatory ground water management and drought-proofing with investments in a framework of
extensive supportive irrigation with conjunctive use of ground water and surface water bodies is
needed.
3. Multi-sector and connectivity-based growth to ensure food and nutrition security.

Sector-wise Issues and Way forward

1. Research & Technology
The productivity of agricultural commodities in India is lower than any global benchmark. The
predominant issues are:
a. Less use of quality seeds and feeds, and improved technologies.
b. The water stress in over half agricultural areas restricts multiple cropping leading to inefficient
utilization of land resource.
c. Much of the technology developed in public sector labs does not flow to farmers due to weak extension
and inadequate delivery mechanism.
d. Agriculture research and development (R&D) has to innovate for precision agriculture, varieties with
higher nutritive , climate smart technologies, cyber-agro-physical system for generating artificial
intelligence based farm and market advisories.
e. The frontier areas like gene edition, genomics, artificial intelligence, nano-technology need special
attention.

2. Water Governance
India is a water stressed country approaching towards scarcity. As close to 84% of fresh water is used in
agriculture, both demand and supply side management through reforms are crucial.

Central Groundwater Board, through their study proved that water resources are ‗overexploited‘ and
either ‗critical‘ or ‗semi-critical‘. Majority of them fall in north-west. The large gap between Irrigation

38
potential created and utilized has been a matter of concern. (Out of 112.53 million ha created irrigation
potential only 89.26 million ha is utilized.)

Initiatives
The Government, through PMKSY provided overarching governance for convergence amongst the
programmes of agriculture, water resources, land resources and other departments dealing with water.
 A major reforms in the micro-irrigation scheme is necessitated to transform it from individual farmer
subsidy driven programme to area based public-private business model covering installation, repair
and maintenance of the micro-irrigation system.
 States should encourage to push such models through the corpus of Rs.5000 crore established in
NABARD for micro-irrigation.

3. Fertilizer Sector
Zero-Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) and the alternate sources of nutrition like microbial consortia, bio
stimulant, bio compost, plant growth promoters, etc. and their specifications can appropriately be
included in Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985 and Insecticides Act, 1968 to promote their trade and
commercialization and compensate part of the chemical fertilizers through these alternate sources.
 Consensus on phasing out the fertilizer subsidy is yet to be evolved, the rationalization of the regime is
necessary.
 The strategy to introduce NBS for all major nutrients should be evolved at the earliest.
 DBT in fertilizers has been a great success.

Soil Health Card scheme is having 100 percent penetration to every farm household.
 The next level reform in SHC should include making soil health card the integrated soil health care
system by including the data of crops, cropping systems with calibrated fertilizer requirement for
farmer‘s holding size.
 The fertilizer distribution ( in kind) or fertilizer subsidy ( in cash) may be linked with this integrated
soil health care date system.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been launched in January, 2016 subsuming the
multiple insurance schemes. However, the timely and precise estimates and pay outs are the real
challenge being faced by the scheme. So far the States identify and accept the Crop Cutting Experiments
(CCE) date. Hence, conducting adequate number of CCEs though significant is yet the most challenging
for the success of PMFBY.
 States have to reform to accept and include technologies like remote sensing, drones, smart phones
etc. as an effective and accepted tool for conducting the field level assessments of area insured and the
losses.

4. Agricultural Credit
Interest Subvention: The Sarangi Committee (2016) recommendations on interest subvention are
implemented by the Government.
 The interest subvention on the short term crop loan up to 3 lakh and Kisan Credit Card scheme have
been made broad –based to include term credit and consumption needs, besides some risk cover
against accidental death.
 The credit targets and availability has been rising but the equitable distribution of credit amongst
farmers and regions is the concern as the private money lenders flourish in many states on the cost of
small and marginal farmers.
 The institutional credit is also available to tenants or lessee cultivators.
 The States should reform their land leasing laws based on the Model Act of Agricultural Land Leasing,
2016 prepared by NITI Aayog will help mainstreaming the tenants under the fold of institutional
agricultural credit as provisioned by the Government in 2018-19 Budget
 The alternate system of banking in the form of banking correspondence should be strengthened in
regions with low density of rural bank.

39
Diversification: The value of farm output can be increased substantially by diversifying from field crops to
fruits and vegetables. Farmers should be given full right to sell their produce. A well-functioning system of
contract farming will provide a guaranteed price as well as necessary technical support to the farmer.

The input dealers, FPOs, agro-processors, exporters, financial service providers, insurance agencies etc.
should integrate to work with the farmers as entrepreneurs. Reforms in contract farming, tariff and tax
regimes, credit is pivotal for achieving commercialization in agriculture.
The policies that facilitate the development of food processing industry will go a long way towards creating
demand for high value commodities.

5. Managing Post Harvest

 Agriculture Export Policy must be strengthened with technological backstopping and critical reforms
for attracting more investment in development of process able crop varieties and products.
 The initiatives of e-NAM and Gramin Agricultural Markets will have far reaching consequences.
 The Government can also evolve two competing agri-market systems—one through APMCs, and second
through integrated value chain models.
 The FPOs/ Joint Liability groups can be promoted to channelize the small growers into the value
chain.

6. Minimizing Price Shocks

Issues and Initiatives
The MSP implementation has induced changes in production pattern favouring for water guzzling crops in
less precipitation areas causing stress on groundwater, led to regional bias in cropping pattern and
incomes of farmers. The Government, in the Budget 2018 19, announced for introducing MSP 1.5 times of
production cost. NITI Aayog and Ministry of Agriculture in consultation with the states suggested Price
Deficiency Payment System, and Private Stockiest Procurement System as the alternate mechanism.

The states should enact their APMC laws based on the Model Agricultural and Livestock Marketing
(APLM) act, 2017,to facilitate out –of-mandi transactions, exemption of market fee on perishables,
electronic marketing etc.

The Government in May, 2018 launched the Model Act on Contract Farming to empower the farmers to
decide their price and negotiate with the sponsor. States should enact appropriate Contract Farming Act
based on the Model Act.

7. Making Farming Competitive

Since liberalization, the private sector helped insignificant investments in some sectors that have created
quality jobs and provided additional income to farmers.
 The poultry sector is one such example which grew into a well-organised industry.
 The commercial vegetable production is gradually picking up.
 The recent spur in poly houses and hi-tech horticulture and expansion of fisheries in some states is
the product of small and medium investments in sustainable supply chains that link primary
producers with viable markets.

The revolution in ICT has enabled farmers and producers to learn and adopt better practices and access
market information. The ‗state of the art‘ food testing labs, accredited by NABL as a policy, could be
established at all major seaports for brands in overseas market. The frequent changes in trade policy as
export ban, import liberalization, etc. inflicts lot of damage on farm sector through depressed domestic
prices.

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8. FPO‘s
Budget 2019-20 provided push to set up more FPOs. Earlier, in 2014-15, a corpus of Rs.200 crore was
established in NABARD to create 2000 FPOs. NABARD established 2174 FPOs under the corpus. These
FPOs are all in the nascent stage.
 Further scaling up of membership, equity mobilizations, capacity building and initial business of input
supplies etc. should be supported with appropriate reforms.
 The modernization of income tax laws allowing exemption to FPOs income, approving direct marketing
by FPOs to buyers and single state-wide license for trading of the inputs are some reforms needed
immediately.
 The current legal structure of FPOs does not provide for external equity infusion or commercial
borrowing. This may be solved through a provision for collateral free loans to FPOs upto Rs.25 lakh
from the financial institutions.
 The rate of interest to FPOs may be rationalized to the rate of individual farmers for crop loans.
 The FPOs registered under Companies Act may also be made eligible for loans from the cooperative
banks, etc.
 The agriculture commodity-specific exemptions are provided to the cooperatives for sales tax. Treating
FPOs registered as FPCs at par with the cooperatives for all sales tax exemption and other state
specific tax exemptions could help them immensely.
 FPOs may also be allotted breeder seed for multiplication into quality seeds as being made to NSC,
State Seed Corporations and Farmers Cooperatives (IFFCO) and KRIBHCO).

Conclusion
The prime function of the Government agencies is to create an ecosystem for the larger acceptance for the
reforms. This requires three things—information, intelligence and interaction. Right information gathered
through the intelligent systems should be placed before stakeholders to make an informed decision rather
than based on anecdotes. A paradigm shift is required to look agriculture differently to that what we have
been looking so far.

2. Initiatives in Agricultural Sector

Introduction
The primary objective for agriculture sector is to ensure food security in a sustained manner. Agriculture
is also an important contributor to employment with nearly 50 percent of the population employed in it.

Agriculture sector supports the industry by providing raw materials and necessary inputs for its
production and consumes fertilizers, pesticides produced by the industries for its own production. So,
there exists an interdependence between agriculture and industry which is essential for the socio-
economic development of the country.

Share of agriculture sector in total exports of the country is 11.76 percent for the year 2018-19 as per
DGCIS data. The exports of agricultural products provide enhanced marketing opportunities for the
agricultural producers and also in turn increase their income.

Keeping in view, the importance of agriculture in socio-economic fabric of India, the Government has given
special emphasis and attention to this sector.

Present Scenario
India‗s economic growth in FY 2019 is estimated at 6.8 percent. Agriculture accounts for nearly 18 percent
of GDP, and employs almost half of country‘s total workforce. Highest proportion of workforce is employed
in agriculture in India when compared with major economic of the world.

Facts:
a. India is largest producer of Pulses(One 4th of Global Pulse Production) and Jute.

41
b. India is largest producer of Milk(165 MT in 2017-18).
c. India is the second-largest fruit and vegetable producer, according for 10.9 percent and 8.6 percent of
the world fruit and vegetable production, respectively.
d. India is also the second- largest producer of rice, wheat, groundnuts, cotton and sugarcane.
e. In 2017-18, total food grain production in India was estimated at 275 million tons (MT).

Challenges
Decreasing size of agricultural land holdings not only increases input cost but also irrigation becomes
difficult in a small fragmentation of land.
 Access to agricultural credit is directly dependent on land holding titles. Due to this reason, small and
marginal farmers, who account for more than half of the total land holdings, and who do not hold
formal land titles, are unable to access institutionalized credit and are left in the sphere of uncertainty.
Due poor transport infrastructure, poor storage facilities it becomes extremely difficult to store and
subsequently transport agricultural produce from remote areas, owing to lack of cold storage and
transportation facilities. This results in gross wastage of the produce.
 Since, the storage facility is inadequate farmers are compelled to sell off their produce immediately
after harvest , at the prevailing market prices which are low, resulting in loss of remunerative income
for the farmer.
Lack of use of modern technology, lack of proper irrigation facilities and inadequate access to
irrigation which result in over dependence on monsoons, loss of soil fertility, inadequate access to
agricultural credit and lack of marketing support hamper the agricultural productivity in India.

Government Initiatives
Budgetary Allocation
Government of India has increased the allocation to agriculture sector by 78 percent in the Budget for FY
20. The budgetary allocation stands at Rs.1.39lakh crore for agriculture, of which Rs.75,000 crore will be
spent on Government of India‘s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
 For Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the Government has increased its allocation to
Rs.14,000 crore.
 For the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana(PMKSY), the government has raised the budgetary
allocation to Rs.3500 crore.
 NITI Aayog‘s 7 year National Development Agenda and 3 Year Action Agenda along with Union
Budget has set the goals and objectives for the agriculture sector.

Major schemes introduced by the Government to protect the farmers and at the same time encourage
them for better crop productivity are discussed below.
NATIONALMISSION FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (NMSA)
It was launched in 2014-15 with the primary objective of holistic improvement of agriculture by making
more productive, stainable, remunerative climate resilient through the process of implementation of
location specific integrated/composite farming systems; soil and moisture conservation measures;
comprehensive soil health management; efficient water management practices and mainstreaming rain-fed
technologies.

Rainfed Area Development Programme is an important component under National Mission for
Sustainable Agriculture and focuses on Integrated Farming System for enhancing productivity and
minimizing risks associated with climatic variability by integrating crops with activities like horticulture,
livestock, fishery, vermin-organic composing etc.
 This is particularly beneficial from socio-economic point of view, as it allows farmers to maximize their
returns for sustained livelihood and also reduce the impacts associated with natural calamities such
as drought, flood etc.

42
Way Forward
For the holistic development of farmers and agriculture, the Government has significantly set a target of
doubling farmer‘s income in real terms by 2022. To achieve this target, Agriculture sector has to achieve
its objective of maximizing efficiency and also ensuring equity in a sustainable manner.As incomes of
farmers will increase, it will ensure not only better standard of living and upliftment of their socio-
economic conditions but also contribute in a positive way at the macro-level.

3. Farming Techniques in Indian Scenario

During the last 40 years, India‘s food grain production has increased more than twice from 123.2 MT in
the ending of Fifth Five Year Plan of 1979 to 284.8 MT in 2017-18. Future increases in the production of
cereals and non-cereals agricultural commodities will have to be essentially achieved through increase in
productivity, as the possibilities of expansion of area and livestock population are minimal.
Farming Techniques to achieve this:

1. Conservation Agriculture
Conservation Agriculture is defined as a sustainable agriculture production system comprising a set of
farming practices adapted to the requirements of crops and local conditions of each region, whose farming
and soil management techniques protect the soil from erosion and degradation, improve its quality and
biodiversity, and contribute to the preservation of the natural resources. It reduces cost of production and
maintains soil health.

 It has three major pillaring principles, viz.,

i) Minimum soil disturbance: There can be no—tillage (NT) or reduced tillage (RT) restrictive to
primary tillage only.
ii) Maintenance of permanent soil covers.
iii) Cropping system diversity, crop rotations.

In Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, where burning of crop residues cause serious atmospheric pollution
problem, CA based machineries like ‗Happy Seeder‟ may be seen as a solution.

Also Government of India has made provision of Rs.1140 crore in the Budget 2019-20 for eco-friendly
management of crop residues especially rice and wheat residue in Northern plans.

2. Integrated Farming System

The Integrated Farming System is a location –specific technique which is resilient and adaptive to climate
variability. On-station and on—farm research in different regions of the country has resulted in
identification of many sustainable and profitable IFS models for rainfed areas.
 Integration of livestock rearing with crop production is the basic idea behind this technique.
 Runoff harvesting is a major component in this region in the watershed-based farming system. In
areas where the rainfall is more than 1100mm IFS module integrating paddy with fisheries is ideal.
 IFS has tremendous potential to develop farms to their optimum levels by integrating different
enterprises in a farming system mode to make agriculture a profitable venture for farmers under
different agro-climate and ecological situations.

4. Empowering Women Farmers

Introduction
Women‘s role in agriculture is vital in the production, processing, and distribution sector. Domestically,
women play an important role in the management and rearing of livestock and other activities liken fodder
collection, post-harvest activities and farm cleaning activities.

43
According to Census 2011, the total number of female workers engaged in agricultural activities in India
stood at 65% with 30.3% of the total cultivators and 42.6% of total agricultural labourers being women.

The Agricultural Census conducted every 5 years by the department of agriculture, cooperation and
farmers welfare (DAC&FW), ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare, established that female
operational holdings in agriculture have increased.

Women participation in the organized agricultural sector is increasing and therefore, support and thrust
on the part of the government becomes quite necessary to empower them and provide them with further
opportunities to encourage their larger involvement.

Initiatives/Steps Taken
National Gender Research centre in Agriculture (NGRCA) was setup in the DAC&FW in 2005-06. The
―women farmer friendly handbook‖ enumerates the special provisions that empower women in
multifarious ways, some of them include-
 Support for Women Food Security Groups(FSGs) : Women farmer groups are recognized under
ATMA cafeteria as compulsory activity at Rs. 0.10 lakh per group/year for attaining food security at
the domestic and household level, by setting up kitchen garden, promoting off-farm activities with
cattle (activities that otherwise evade the GDP computation).
 Procurement of Agricultural Machinery & Equipment (subsidy patterns) : Women farmers can avail
benefits for purchasing an essential agricultural equipment, say, tractor , women get additional
benefits , subsidies and cost reduction , for instance , 35% of the subsidy to the total cost , as
compared with 25% of cost for men.
 Representation of Women Farmers: It is imperative for women farmers to be included in the decision
making bodies-the state, District, Block Farmers Advisory committees, ATMA governing committees
etc.
 Promoting Women Group Women‟s groups: Cooperatives, self Help Groups to be incorporated by the
states for the distribution of certified seeds (under the aegis of the national mission oilseeds & oil palm
(NMOOP)).
 Integrated scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM): Women are endowed with subsidies for
storage infrastructure that includes a 33.33% subsidy (on capital cost) for women as compared to 25%
for men.
 Agricultural Insurance is safeguarding coverage of women farmers along with a budget allocation and
utilization in accordance with the population proportion.

ICAR
Agriculture and farmers welfare ministry established Indian council of Agricultural Research, ICAR, a
central institute for women in agriculture in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha the year 1996.
 The condition of women in the unorganized farming sector is also being improved through improved
agricultural tools to women so as to reduce the toll they have to put into farm operational activities.
 It is also working to mobilize the self-help groups with a view to increase the income generation of
female participants in agriculture and animal husbandry.
 The institute develops software and interfaces to facilitate mass media communication and carries out
outreach programmes for educating and empowering rural women.
 A gender knowledge portal, displaying all the relevant data and information related to women farmers
has also been created.
 With the aim to fortify agricultural research and enhance agricultural productivity to bolster farm
income, ICAR has initiated the All India Co-ordinated Research project (AICRP)
 Its Krishi Vigyan Kendras(KVKs) have successfully trained about 3.1lakh women agriculturist and
besides this, one female scientist in every kendras has been made mandatory in 688 KVKs across the
country.

44
 Under the National Food Security Mission (NMSM) that provides training based on cropping system to
farmers including the SC, ST and women farmers to generate awareness on augmented technology for
increasing crop production and yield.

To ensure that women in the agricultural sphere are kept abreast with the latest technological and farm
developments, the central government is making special provisions for women under various schemes and
policies such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vilkas Yojona self employment schemes, organic farming etc.

15th October of every year was marked as the women farmer‘s day by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare in the year 2016.

Conclusion
According to the Economic Survey of 2017-18, ― with growing rural to urban migration by men, there is
―feminization‘ for agriculture sector, with increasing number of women in multiples roles as cultivators,
entrepreneurs, and labourers.‖The survey rightly suggests for adopting ―gender specific interventions‖ in
agriculture to ―increase productivity‖ and enhancing ―agricultural value chain‖. Women in the agriculture
sector have come a long way and an increased participation with whole-hearted practical implementation
of the training skills received is the way forward for them.

5. Public Services for Poorer Section

Introduction
In a vast country like India, the deliverance of necessary public services to the most deprived families,
based on equality and justice depends on
 Evidence-based selection of beneficiaries.
 Policy measures based on deep research.
 Reducing human intervention by the availability and maximum utilization of information technology
resources.
 Evolving an effective coordination among various agencies working under the federal structure.

Keeping in views the infrastructural deficiencies, vast geographical areas and very few habitations in the
interiors and far flung areas nearly inaccessible, this becomes a matter of great urgency. It is impossible
for the non-governmental agencies to even conceptualize,plan and deliver such a vast level of desired
services.

Prerequisites of Service Delivery

Poverty is the basic problem which acts as a constraint towards the path of inclusive growth. . It was
necessary to authentically identify the families living in scarcity for connecting them with public welfare
schemes being run for the proper sections.
 To determine the condition of scarcity, a pan-Indian flawless survey should be conducted and
implemented. Subsequently, a review of the survey should be done by the local government.
 The blueprints of programmes should be prepared on the basis of past experience and the best
national and international practices so as to ensure programmes as per requirement.
 To ensure adequate financial resources for the well prepared programmes.
 Coordinating among different levels of administration.

Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC-2011)

Finalization of Socio-Economic & Caste based Census (SECC) 2011 data analysis in July 2015. This
database does not have any link with religion, caste and class. It is based on the scarcity parameters
showing different aspects of poverty, which could be verified easily.
 SECC data was used for determining the state labour budgets under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee scheme (MGNREGA) and also for inclusion of all households with scarcity in

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 creation of Self-Help Group (SHGs) under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood
Mission(DAY-NRLM).
 Selection of beneficiaries for LPG connection scheme Ujjwala, free electricity connection –Saubhagya,
housing through Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana –Gramin (PMAY-G) and medical assistance in hospitals
through the Ayushman Bharat was done on the basis of scarcity-related parameters of the SECC.

Schemes /Initiatives
Personal Benefit Schemes have been introduced as assistance to the poor to enable them to work for 90-
95days for constructing their own houses.

BIMARU states have created an example of outstanding work done under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas
Yojana-Gramin. This is the only scheme in India where BIMARU states have taken the initiative to lead
the change.

Emphasizing on Natural Resource Management (NRM) as well as on agriculture and allied activities,
creation of community assets has been continued. Under the rural housing scheme, 15 million houses
have been built during the last 5 years and phase-wise geo-tagged pictures have also been uploaded in the
public domain on www.pmavg.nic.in.

Due to much emphasis laid on bank linkages, loans‘ amounting to more than rupees two lakh crore has
been sanctioned to 3crore women under the NRLM during the last five years. This has resulted in larger
level of diversification in livelihood.
 Women have got opportunities to engage in public transport, become banking correspondent or own
a custom hiring centre.

Gram Panchayats can now carry on other infrastructural developments as per requirement along with
works relating to rural roads and drains as a result of huge funds having been transferred to them under
the 14th Central Finance Commission.

Gram Swaraj Abhhiyan was a unique effort of the government for overall coverage of each and every
person through the seven major public welfare schemes. Ujjawala for LPG connection, Saubhagya for
electricity, Ujala for free LED bulbs, Mission Indradhanush for vaccination, Jan Dhan for bank accounts
and insurance for contingencies as well as life insurance were provided to each and every household at
their door steps, within a stipulated time through an effective monitoring process.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), 130 to 135 km length of roads was constructed
every day during the last 1000 days and it became possible due to effective monitoring and continuous
dialogues with the State Governments.
 It has been established through the rural road scheme, how public scheme like PMGSY can provide
public service within the stipulated tome and at an optimal cost.
 In order to decrease the carbon footprint and to provide a lasting base for development, more then
30,000km. of roads were constructed through green technology, using waste plastic material.
 Government has sanctioned integrating 1,25,000km. of thorough and main rural roads to connect
them with higher secondary schools, hospitals and slums with an estimated cost of Rs.80,250 crore.

Way Forward
In social sector, programmes pertaining to education, health and nutrition for poorer people, among many
other public services, need community-led and community-owned public service delivery system which is
result oriented. The ultimate goal of such system should be centered on welfare and improvement in the
living conditions of the poor. We must continue the process of creating a reliable public service system as
it is essential to bring in change and improvement in the living conditions of the deprived.

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6. Enhancing Agricultural Production
Introduction
Agricultural production needs to be accelerated primarily due to steady growth in population and
changing patter of socio-economic status of people. At 7 percent growth rate in national GDP, the demand
for food grains will grow by nearly 50 percent while rise in demand for fruits, vegetables and animal
products will be in the range of 100 to 300 percent.

On the other hand, the country is facing agrarian crisis due to low and highly fluctuating farm income
with so many risk factors. An Inter-Ministerial committee has identified seven sources of income growth,
namely
1. Improvement in crop productivity.
2. Improvement in livestock productivity.
3. Resource use efficiency or savings in the cost of production.
4. Increase in the crop intensity.
5. Diversification towards high value crops.
6. Improvement in price received by farmers.
7. Shift from farm to non-farm occupations.

Initiatives Taken
A. Efficient Resource Management
Soil Health Card: In 2014-15, the Government launched an ambitious Soil Health Card scheme under
which the soil of every operational land holding is being tested for major nutrients and micronutrients.
Neem Coated Urea: As per government decision, the entire quality of the domestic and imported urea is
now available in neem-coated form only.
During 2014-15, the government launched Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojona(PMKSY) to ensure
assured irrigation to every field, that is ‗har khet ko pani‟, and also to realize the vision of‘ more crop per
drop‘.
Micro-irrigation is being promoted in a big way through a dedicated corpus fund of Rs. 5000crore. Drip
irrigation and sprinkler are the most popular ones due to their sustainability for a range of cereal and
horticulture crops.
 Besides water use efficiency, micro-irrigation increases productively in the range 40%-50% and also
adds value to crop quality thereby raising its market value.

B. New Crops
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research developed over 1,000 new varieties during 2014-19 that
include varieties of cereals, oilseeds, pulses and horticultural crops. In view of the impeding danger of
climate change, new varieties are being developed with special features, such as drought/flood tolerance,
etc.

C. Crop Diversity
The aim of crop diversification is to increase crop portfolio so that farmers are not dependent on a single
crop to generate their income.
 It manages price risk appropriately because all products will not suffer low market prices at the same
time.
 Scope also exists to raise farmers‘ income by diversifying towards other allied enterprises like forestry
beekeeping, mushroom cultivation, sericulture, etc., Similarly, increasing crop intensity is another
area with potential to increase farmers‘ income.
„KUSUM‟ has been launched this year to support establishment of solar power plants on barren lands or
agricultural lands.
Government has aligned its business-oriented schemes, such as SFURTI and ASPIRE, with agricultural
activities to boost business prospects in agriculture sector.

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Livestock:Government has launched mission ‗Blue Revolution‘ to make fisheries sector more remunerative
and attractive for fish farmers. Plans are ready to launch a dynamic Pradhan Mantri Matasya Sampada
Yojana to establish a robust fisheries management framework.
Way Forward

Regular and timely supply of quality seeds to farmers at affordable price, Mechanization and energy
management in agriculture are still not up to the mark. Modern machinery, such as laser land levelers,
precision seeders and painters, and practices like precision farming, zero tillage, ridge plantation etc. also
have potential to raise production and income of farmers substantially.

6. e-NAM
e-NAM or Electronic National Agricultural Market is a pan-India trading portal for farm produce which
aims to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities by integrating Agriculture device to
create a national network of mandis which can be accessed online. It was launched in 2016.
 It seeks to influence the physical infrastructure of the mandis through an online trading portal.
 It also enables buyers situated in state or even outside the state to participate in trading.
 Presently e-NAM trading is available in six languages with availability of portal in 8 languages.
 It improves the supply chain of commodities and reduces wastages which can be seen in some states
trade towards the remunerative prices for farmers by plugging the trade malpractices in mandis.

The main aim of e-NAM is to improve the marketing aspect of the agriculture sector with one license for
the entire state and with single point levy. While the farmer is the primary stakeholder, e-NAM also
provides traders, commission agents and exporters better business opportunities through a unified and
extensive marketplace.

Major Benefits
 No middlemen involved in buying-selling of agri-products, hence better deal for farmers.
 Less transaction cost
 Single license valid across all connected mandis.
 Single point levy of all products.
 Quality testing procedure introduced for buyers and sellers.

Recent Issues and Way Forward

Niti Aayog‟s review on e-NAM has found that
 Many mandis are ill-equipped to access the quality of produce. Without quality assaying quality
assurance could not be provided to the potential buyers.
 It has also been reported that at some mandis auctions were occurring in the traditional way and date
was entered into the e-NAM portal after the complete transaction.
Therefore, a need to improve the assaying bodies for quality assurance to the buyers and also timely
interaction is needed for changing tradition way of auction to e-auction on e-NAM.

7. PPP in Agricultural Sector

A public-private partnership (PPP,3P or P3) is a long-term cooperative arrangement between two or more
public and private sectors. Historically, such a mix of public and private endeavor is used by the
government. However, a greater use of various PPP arrangements by the governments across the globe has
been observed since late 20th century and early 21st century.

There is no consensus definition of PPP. They can be realized both as a governance mechanism and a
language game. The PPP concept is closely associated with concepts like privatization and the contracting
out of government services.

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Genesis
The PPP Cell was set up in 2006 in the Department of Economic Affairs (DFA), Ministry of Finance,
Government of India, acts as the Secretariat for public PPP Appraisal Committee (PPPAC), Empowered
Committee (EC) and Empowered Institution (EI) for the projects proposed for financial support through
Viability Gap Fund (VGF).
 According to the World Bank, India is one of the leading countries in terms of readiness for PPPs.
 As per the 2015 Infrascope Report of the Economist Intelligence Unit, India ranks first in the world in
operational maturity for PPP project.
 Maharashtra is the pioneering state in adopting P3 model in case of major infrastructure development
projects. During 2000s, other states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu also
adopted this model.

PPP in Agriculture and Issues

Annual average growth rate of Indian agriculture has been around 2.7 percent during the past years,
making it the slowest growing sector. Agriculture sector is in urgent need for innovations brought via
partnership between private and public sector. PPPs can transform the sector at multiple levels bringing
together the collective power of all the stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem.

Maharashtra, the first state to take this innovative path, rolled out its Maharashtra Public Private
Partnership for Integrated Agricultural Development (PPPIAD) project to develop integrated value chains
for selected crops through PPP and co-investment.

However, successful partnerships between public and private sectors are challenged by issues like high
transaction costs of operationalizing and coordinating the partnerships, different objectives of each sector,
negative perceptions and mutual mistrust as well as uncertainty about actual benefit and outcome from
PPP.
Hence, developing partnerships needs policy support and enabling environment.

Scope of PPP
RESEARCH
The World Bank funded NAIP project of ICAR established market-oriented collaborative alliance
comprising public and private partners resulting in value chain covering marigold, cotton, agro-forestry,
cobia, improvement in Trichogramma production, etc.
Some of the frontline areas of biotechnology research and development where PPP is visible are vaccines
using recombinant technology, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) testing kits for disease
detection, gene silencing, stem cell and gene therapy.

EXTENSION
Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) facilitated commodity-based groups to partner with
private agencies in production and marketing of basmati rice and medicinal plants in Bihar, maize in
Andhra Pradesh and mango in Maharashtra.

MARKET AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The Model APMC Act of Government of India encourages direct marketing to enable the farmers get the
best price for their produce and create partnerships with banks, finance and logistics companies for lowest
cost financing and marketing.

ICRISAT‟s Hybrid Parents Research Consortia brings together 34 small and medium-size domestic firms
for the purpose of commercializing sorghum, millet, and pigeon pea hybrids, thus contributing to the
commercial viability of both domestic seeds firms and the wider seed market in India.

Government, through Food Corporation of India (FCI), adopted a phased implementation plan to build
modern steel grain soils with a capacity of 10 million metric tons by 2020 through PPPs.

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IMPACT
The impact of PPP depends on involvement of institutions in collaborating and combining all available
public and private skills.
 Knowledge management strategies in the context of PPP could result in increased production and
better service delivery.
 PPPs have facilitated the development of high-end technologies, which have improved efficiency in
management and institutional intellectual property management skills and information database on
available technologies in the public sector.
 PPPs help the agricultural sector to deal with weather shocks, and enable farmers to de-risk
themselves through insurance, etc.
 Developmental departments develop partnership to create a better social linkage through SHGs.
Farmers‘ Clubs, farmers‘ cooperative societies, etc. Agricultural Technology Management Agencies
(ATMA) facilitated creation of large number of FIGs indifferent states in India.
 Food processing industry, one of the sunrise sectors within the agricultural domain, supported by
investments by the government and the private sector, can provide farm extension services, enhance
price realization.
 Government of India is developing pilot PPP projects to streamline post-harvest supply chains of
major perishable agriculture and horticulture commodities through a ―hub and spoke‖ mode.

CHALLENGES
The reports and reviews indicate the positive influence of PPP sector on Indian economy. The enabling
environment has been created by the central and the state governments to harness the private sector
investments indulging in such partnerships. However, there are some instances and cases where the PPPs
have not been an outright success.
 It is difficult to standardize a PPP format because of the parameters used in structuring of PPP cannot
be the same every time.
 PPP approach has been less in case of disadvantageous areas and non-commercial crops.
 Lack of transparency.
 As a PPP project has to mainly pass through four main phases‘ viz. Project preparation, project
procurement, project development and operations. The time taken for creation of PPP arrangement and
number of formalities required to follow happen to be another issue in implementation of PPP
approach.
 Undue political favours in many cases are gained by the private party from their public sector
counterpart.

CONCLUSION
The Government of India has been emphasizing to create a facilitating environment for investments in
infrastructure building following PPP approach. It redefines the role of public sector as a facilitator and
enabler and private sector as financier, builder and also the operator of the service or the facility.
Innovative technologies, operational efficiency, managerial effectiveness and access to additional finances
can be ensured through successful implementation of PPP.

8. MICRO- IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

Introduction
The Government classifies agricultural areas as ‗rainfed areas‘ and ‗irrigated areas‘. Areas where irrigation
is less than or equal to 30 percent of the net sown area are called ‗rainfed‘ and more than 30 percent of
the net sown are known as irrigated areas.
According to NITI Aayog, Government of India statistics, irrigation consumes 84 percent of water and it is
estimated that 52 percent of cropped areas are without irrigation.

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Present Situation
India‘s irrigated agriculture has two parts:
1. Surface (canal) irrigation development due to high public investment by the States
2. Over dependency on groundwater resources due to private tube well development.
The Share of ground water sources for irrigation has been increased but the share of canal in net irrigated
area has been decreased from 39.8 percent to 23.6 percent. Ground water sources are over-exploited in
many regions and are chronically water stressed in same regions.

Micro Irrigation
Sprinkler Irrigation and drip irrigation helps in water saving and they also reduce fertilizer usage, labour
expenses and other inputs and input costs. It enhances crop productivity and improves soil health.
The saved water can be used for extended coverage of area under irrigation for a longer duration. All these
advantages will ultimately lead to environmental sustainable.

Impact
Global agriculture System has conducted an impact study in the year 2014 on NMMI and the adoption of
MI and the following benefits were reported.
1. Increase in irrigated area from the same source of water
2. Increase in Crop productivity
3. Reduction in irrigation cost
4. Reduction in energy consumption
5. Reduction in the use of chemical fertilizers due to Uniform application of fertilizer.
6. Overall Farmers income was increased.
7. Reduction in weed growth and cost of cultivation.

Conclusion
Water scarcity in various parts of the country has created awareness about Micro Irrigation systems and
its implementation results in significant economic and social benefits in the country. Farmers are
convinced to adopt the technology due to enhanced production & productivity of different crops, reduction
in inputs cost and flexibility to introduce new crops. The saved water can be used to increase the area
under irrigation or for the reclamation of degraded/waste land. All the positive outcomes contribute to
food security in the country. Hence, Micro Irrigation Technology should be popularized with adequate
credit facilities and support from the Government.

9. Non-Farm Activities
Introduction
The contribution of primary sector to the country‘s GDP has steadily decelerated from 53.71 percent in
1950-51 to 17.25 percent in 2018-19. However, the declining share of this sector does not undermine its
significance in employment generation, foreign exchange earnings and providing good security to the
increasing population of the country.

Indian agriculture is characterized with the presence of excess manpower in the form of large scale under-
employment, disguised unemployment as well as high seasonal unemployment.
Data
The sector wise trends in the growth of Real Gross Value Added (GVA) reveal that during the last decade,
primary sector witnessed a lower growth rate as compared to secondary and tertiary sectors.

The NSSO survey on Household Consumption Expenditure for the year 2011-12 also brings into light
that more than one fifth (22.4 percent) of rural households with agriculture as their principal occupation
were having income below poverty line.

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Farmers‘ income in relation to non-farm workers, also stood very low. In 2011-12 income per farmer was
just 32 percent of the income of non-agriculture worker.

Allied Activities
Animal Husbandry: Animal husbandry being an integral part of farming in India is at the top. It is not
only a supplementary source of income, but also provides livelihood to agricultural households during the
phases of seasonal unemployment.
Horticulture: The diverse agro climatic conditions in India make it possible to grow almost all types of
horticultural products like fresh fruits, vegetables, root & tuber crops, flowers, aromatic and medicinal
crops, spices and plantation crops.
Food Processing: Processing of agricultural produce enables to fetch fair and remunerative price to the
producers through value addition in their agricultural produce. Presently, processing of fruits and
vegetables is only 2 percent in India in comparison to 80 percent in USA, 78 percent in Philippines, 70
percent in France & Brazil, 40 percent in China.
It has a very high employment potential with significantly low investment.
Rural Entrepreneurship: Rural areas provide abundant raw material from agricultural, horticultural and
animal produce to start entrepreneurship in the field of food processing. Some other activities which can
fetch employment to the surplus manpower of agriculture sector are; blacksmith, carpentery, pottery,
tailoring, repairing of agriculture machinery & tools, shoe making, bamboo products, lac production and
work on handlooms etc.
Skill Development: Nearly 62 percent of total population of India is in working age group(15 to 59 years)
and more than 54 percent of the total population is below 25 years of age. On the basis of its demographic
dividend, India is poised to become the fourth largest economy in the world after USA, China and Japan.
However, there is huge gap in terms of skill training in India.
Government Initiatives/Schemes
To improve rural infrastructure by connecting rural habitations with main roads, Bharatmala Project has
also been launched.Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana was launched in 2015. It envisaged 100
percent village electrification by March 2019.

Subsequently, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijali Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) scheme was launched in 2017
to provide energy accessthroughout the country.

Skill Training of Rural Youth (STRY) has been launched. It offers modular skill training opportunities to
rural youths (above 18 years of age) in farm and non-farm sector in accordance with the requirement of
local agro-based industries.

Kaushal Vardhan Kendras (KVKs) at Panchayat level for mobilizing and imparting skills pertaining to
local employment /livelihood opportunities to school drop-outs, adolescent girls, housewives and rural
youth.

A skill training and placement programme of the Government named as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana (DDI-GKY) was launched on 25 September, 2014.
 It occupies a unique position among the skill training programmes due to its focus on the rural poor
youth in the age group 15-35 years who due to their poverty driven constraints could not get formal
education and marketable skills.
 Under this programme it is mandatory to give minimum 160 hours of training in soft skills, functional
English and computer literacy etc. to transform rural poor youth into an economically independent
and globally relevant workforce.

Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) was launched by the Ministry of
Women and Child Development. The program aims at imparting skill training in several sectors such as
agriculture, horticulture, food processing, handlooms, traditional crafts like embroidery,hospitality,
computer and IT services.

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In 2017, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Shiksha Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) was launched to impart digital
literacy in rural areas with the aim to empower at least one person per rural household with crucial digital
literacy skills.
 Under this, rural people between the age group of 14 to 60 years are being trained without any fees to
operate computers, tablets, smart phones, etc and access government e-services, undertake digital
payment, compose e-mails through the use of internet.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) yojana has been launched to augment the income of
families of small and marginal farmers.
Conclusion
To attract unemployed educated youth into agribusiness and entrepreneurship special innovative spirit
among the rural youth is also required. An appropriate policy coupled with a strong strategy to promote
and strengthen the rural non-farm sector deserves to be at the top priority of Government and policy
makers.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Q1. What is CARICOM? Briefly analyse India’s opportunity to have a fruitful bilateral relation with the CARICOM
countries.
[Relevance:General Studies Paper II, Regional and Global Groupings affecting India’s interests.]

53
Q2.What do you understand by Water Governance? How can we implement Water Governance in order to
ensure Food and Water Security in India.
[Relevance : General Studies Paper III - Conservation ]

54
Q3. What are the most important factors which influences the quality of Public Service delivery in India. Briefly
describe different steps taken by the Government in recent times so as to overcome the bottlenecks.
[Relevance : General Studies Paper II – Issues relating to development and management of Social Services.]

55
Q4.Post-Harvest is an important phase in Agriculture. Analyse different problems faced by the farming
community in India during the post-harvest season and also describe different steps taken by the
Government to mitigate these problems.
[ Relevance: General Studies III – Issues and related constraints in storage, transport and marketing of produce.]

56
Q5. ‚What India needs presently is Production by Masses, Not Mass Production‛- Critically Analyse.
Relevance: May come as Essay or a question in either GSII or GSIII

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58
Q6. Briefly explain Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of ‘Advaita’. How is it still relevant amidst the menace of different
facets of violence in modern society ?
[ Relevance: General Studies IV – Moral Thinkers and Philosophers from India and World. ]

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