Development Journal

Submitted by- Indrani Purkayastha (18MAJMC14)

1. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/jharkhand-govt-announces-farm-loan-waiver-
unemployment-dole/article30975676.ece

Summary- The newly formed Jharkhand government announced the annual budget for the fiscal year
2020-21. The budgetary allocations estimated at Rs. 86,370 crores were set for the year 2020-21.
Regarded as a pro-poor budget, the allocations made the budget focusses on welfare measures
including the very important farm loan waiver and fuel treatment for critical illnesses. The other note
worthy points were the inclusion of unemployment allowance and scholarship for students in
government schools.

The main beneficiaries of this announcement were the population involved in the agriculture and allied
sector. As more than 75% of the State's total population falls within this section. Hence the newly
formed state government tried to address this section in it's first annual budget plan.

Comment- Considering the fact that majority of the population of our country is involved in agriculture
and allied activities, a large portion of the budget that is allocated during the fiscal sessions of the
parliament or the state assemblies are directed towards this section. In the last decade or so, the plight
of the farmer's due to droughts or unseasonal heavy rains or other natural calamities have been the
reason for a number of headlines in the news, be it the unfortunate suicide incidents or the indefinite
hunger strikes in the national capital or in state like Tamil Nadu. So to address this section of population
is not just important to support the livelihood of the 1.3 billion population but is has also become a huge
centre of attraction to garner votes during the elections and to raise fingers at the ruling party by the
oppositions.

So either ways, the farmers play a huge role in the development of the country. Therefore, it is a basic
requirement for the majority of the budgetary allocations to be set for this section and off late the
central and the state governments are doing their best to address all the issues related to this section.

2. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/780-pune-based-institutes-yet-to-furnish-
scholarship-disbursement-details-to-ed-rti-reply/article30707383.ece

Summary- Analysis of the Right to Information application filed by a Pune-based student leader, has
brought to light that as many as 780 college's and educational institues are defaulters- furnishing
scholarship disbursement details to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). 1500 odd educational institutions
in the district were in the radar of the ED with respect to submission of details pertaining to the
disbursement of scholarship.

The institutions in question have not released the scholarship which account for a substantial amount
which were meant for the students from the reserved categories. According to reports, these
scholarships have not been received by the beneficiaries from 2010 to 2017. The case was under prove
in accords with the directions of the ED. The ED had directed the institutions to submit the details in
relation to the scholarships, setting 14th Nov, 2019 as the deadline. But as many as 780 institutions have
failed to meet the deadline and are under the radar now.

Comment- Since independence, the upliftment of the backward communities has been a prime goal of
the government irrespective of the party in power. Hence, a large amount of the country's economy had
been allocated in educating the youth from these communities. These benefits are received by the
students from these communities in the form of various scholarships. Due to corruption at various
levels, it has often been seen that the budget allocated to this section has not been received by the
subjects under considerations. Therefore, even after 73 years of Independence, the country is
somewhat lagging to include each and every section of it's population in development. It is therefore
very important that the backward community be uplifted so that they appear in the front line and work
with the masses to carry the country towards the greater goal of development.

3. http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/budget-2020-health-care-in-focus-with-69000-crore-
outlay/article30715283.ece

Summary- Focus on healthcare and the health sector is of utmost importance for a nation to grow and
develop. The same was made clear in the 2020-21 budget. A total sum of 69,000 crore has been
allocated to the health sector and it's related schemes such as PMJAY, The Ministry of Health & Family
Welfare, The Ministry of AYUSH as well as Department of Health Research.

Sitharaman asserted on the need to have more medical colleges, hospitals, doctors as well as medical
equipments. Special emphasis will be on the Tier- 2 and Tier-3 cities where people have less access to
healthcare facilities. Overall, the budget envisioned to expand the several healthcare related schemes in
all districts as well as promised to offer 2000 medicines and 300 surgicals by 2024. Setting up of more
private public partnership medical colleges has also been proposed in the budget. The shortage of
qualified doctors can be overcome by the setting of more medical colleges. Along with this, the
government has also decided on a nominal health cess of 5% on the import of medical equipment. All
the above mentioned measures will help boost the healthcare industry and as a result will ultimately
progress the development of a country.

Comment- The government's decision to focus more on healthcare sector is a much appreciated move
as it tends to focus on the setting up of medical colleges to overcome the shortage of qualified doctors.
Considering the current scenario of the country amidst the COVID-19 breakout, healthcare seems to be
the most important sector for obvious reasons. The national is on a standstill but it is the healthcare
workers who are at the forefront. At present, the development quotient of a country depends on it's
R&D in relation to science and healthcare facilities that a nation possesses. In that consideration, India's
present scenario is not at par with other developed countries such as Europe & USA. For eg. The number
of persons/ doctor ratio is comparatively very low in India. It is also because the poor people are
unaware of the various health related schemes and therefore are not fully benefited from the scheme.
Thoughtful steps have to be taken in order to make them aware as well as encourage them to utilize the
schemes meant for their betterment. If appropriate measures are taken to improve the health
infrastructure, it will pay rich dividend in the near future for the whole nation in terms of growth and
development.

4. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/major-push-for-infrastructure/article31004694.ece

Summary- In it's maiden budget session, the newly formed coalition Maharashtra government has made
special mentions with regards to the State's infrastructure projects. Although, no mentions of the
Mumbai- Ahmedabad bullet train project were made, but a number of other noteworthy projects and
sanctions were made. An economic corridor of international standards has been proposed to be
developed in the Satara district under the Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic corridor, the projects estimated
cost is Rs. 4000 crore. Other high allocations of budget were made to complete the Konkan- Marine
Highway and to construct a 170 km long ring road to divert traffic to Pune from adjoining cities.
Additionally, an amount as high as Rs. 1657 crore was mentioned for the State's Metro Projects.

Comment- A giant stride towards development would be in setting up of world class infrastructure. Over
the last decade or so, it has been seen that the centre and the state are collectively taking up this task
and have made huge progress thus far. A large number of issues yet remain unaddressed, especially
connecting the remote villages of the country with the cities by highways. Several towns or villages near
the national borders are yet to receive proper transportation facilities. It is important both for the
national security and also for the local popular. The pace at which the budgets are being allocated
towards infrastructure building and also addressing the few drawbacks as mentioned above,
undoubtedly India would stand toe to toe with the superpower like USA & China in a few years time.

5. http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/kejriwal-flags-off-100-low-floor-cng-buses-in-the-
capital/article31004971.ece

Summary- Another development news from the country's capital, where 100 first of it's kind buses have
been flagged off by the CM. These buses are equipped with all the modern technologies and state-of-
the-art features like fire detection systems, remote monitoring systems, GPS trackers etc.

Keeping safety as the priority, as many as 12 panic buttons have been installed in each of the 37-seater
buses. With a promise to turn the Delhi transport sector into a model for the rest of the country, the CM
added that they will deploy 9000 buses on the roads by 2021. Also, the tender for new electronic buses
had been passed which will hit the roads by the end of March 2020.

Comment- For cities like Delhi, with the magnitude of population, the mode of transport of the natives
have always been a challenge for the incumbent government. Our count capital, has one of the best
Transport facilities throughout the country. This is courtesy of the huge development the city has
witnessed in terms of the construction of highways to the introduction of the metro rail. They tend to
connect the whole of the city. Yet there remains a challenge and it may be attributed to the huge
population that the city hosts. Almost all household is largely dependent on the public transport and
hence there is a need for more means in terms of new and modern vehicles and also keeping in
consideration the safety of the boarders. Not only this, the Transport department also has to manage
the tough challenge of maintaining the traffic and hence the road infrastructure plays a big role. Hence
all these factors including the newly launched CNG buses and other such projects will contributed
further in the growth of the country capital and hence set a benchmark for the entire nation.

6. http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/budget-2020-100-more-airports-to-be-developed-by-
2025/article30711418.ece

Summary- Another huge announcement that was made in the Budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 was for
the aviation sector. 100 more airports to be development in the next 5 years under the Central
Governments Flagship scheme UDAN. Allocation of Rs. 1.7 lakh crores was made for the transport
infrastructure development.

In addition to the UDAN scheme, the other sections that will be covered under this allocation include the
introduction of 150 new trains under the PPP model and the redevelopment of four stations with the
helping hands of the private sector. The Finance Minister also assured that in order to curb the power
requirements, large solar power plants would be set up along side the rail tracks.

Comment- The dependence of the masses on the aviation sector for transport has gone up drastically
not just on the metropolitan cities but also in the Tier 2,3 cities and other towns. Keeping this in focus,
the Finance Ministry has taken quick measures to make sure that the whole of the country is well
connected by air routes.

Also, the partnership between the public and the private sector to address the development issues in
terms of aviation and railways have been very successful and the country demands more such projects
in the near future. This would ensure that India makes huge stride towards development taking cue
from the power houses like the USA where these partnerships have been running very successfully.

7. http://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/budget-2020-allocation-up-for-highways-
ministry/article30714931.ece

Summary- In the recently concluded budget session of the Parliament, the Ministry of Road Transport &
Highways made a gain of 10% on it's budgetary allocation. A large share of it though would be met
through monetisation of national highways by the NHAI. In the words of Finance Minister, the highways
will witness an accelerated development which will include 2500 km of access control highways, 9000
km of economic corridors etc.

The Minister stated that the Delhi- Mumbai Expressway and two other projects would be completed by
2023. The Finance Ministry also proposed a huge allocation of 1.7 lakh crores for the development of
Transport infrastructure which also includes the announcement that was made on developing 100 new
airports under the UDAN scheme.

Comment- The public-private-partnership in the highway infrastructure projects set up has been
promising and is a step towards development in the investment sector. The monetisation of highways
operating on the Toll Operate Transfer (TOT) has been fruitful for the entire nation as we have seen a
strict implementation of rules and regulations for the vehicles plying along the national highways. There
has been a two way success as it has allowed the proper maintenance of the roads and also reduced the
amount of government revenue that is invested for such projects. It is indeed a big step towards
development and definitely will be a success in other sections if mechanised by a similar pattern.

8. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/drones-will-help-kerala-
paddy-farmers/article30977356.ece

Summary- In today's age of science and technology, it is pretty evident that drones have become a
critical tool for farmers as well as the agriculture sector. In order to help improve Kerala's paddy
production, head of the Ernakulam Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) has encouraged the use of drone
technology. Employing new techniques for farming becomes extremely important at a time when
farmers have to overcome the problems of labor shortage as well as rising costs.

Recently several experiments have been carried out to access the various ways in which drone
technology can help fuel the concept of sustainability in agriculture. A drone was used for fertilizer
application in Ernakulam's rice belt Karumalloor over an area of eight acre paddy field by a farmer and
automobile mechanic. Positive results achieved using drone technology would encourage more farmers
to ditch the conventional means and adapt to new hassle-free technologies. With the invention of
newer, more effective technologies, drones have the potential to launch the agriculture industry into a
future of sustainability.

Comment- Though mostly taken for granted, we depend on the farming industry for the food we eat,
and therefore for our very survival. One area that is gaining a lot of attention in this regard is the use of
drones for farming. The use of drones has been something of a revolution for many in the farming
industry, and it is rapidly changing the way farmers operate nationwide. Drones help farmers improve
yields. Drone technology is also said to bring environmental benefits to farming as well as farmers. With
the use of drone technology, over- application of chemicals quickly becomes a thing of the past, and
crop yields improve, giving further environmental and economic benefits. Finally we can say that the use
of drone technology has enabled the farmers to keep a track of the large areas of farmlands all at once
in addition to the convenience of spraying pesticides and fertilizers for the betterment in crop
production.