Leverage India’s demography, demand and democracy, President tells members of Indian

business delegation accompanying him to Sweden and Belarus

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received yesterday (May 28, 2015) in Rashtrapati Bhavan
around 50 members of the Indian business delegation accompanying him to Sweden and Belarus along
with representatives of FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM.

The representatives who included Shri B.P. Rao, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of BHEL, briefed the
President about their activities in India and plans for the visit to Sweden and Belarus.

Speaking on the occasion, the President recalled his interaction with the Indian business community in
different capacities for over half a century. He said he was delighted to see in the delegation new faces,
new ideas and new vision. He was impressed by their plans to seek investments as well as explore new
opportunities. He is happy the Indian delegation is filled with confidence and optimism.

The President said there is great potential for business as well as academic cooperation between India
and the two countries he was visiting. There is also scope to learn from Sweden its practices in
sustainable development as well as innovation. He called upon the business community to draw lessons
from the experience they gain during the visit and to apply them in the Indian situation.

Expressing confidence that the interaction of the business delegation with their counterparts will
contribute to building of closer relations between people of the two countries, President Mukherjee said
tremendous opportunities await India in the world. He called upon the business delegation to leverage
India’s demography, demand and democracy to build new relations with the business leaders of these
countries.

National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP), 2015 –

Collection of Aadhaar number from the applicants - Regarding
The Election Commission, with the main objective of preparing an error free, purified and authenticated
Electoral Roll, has launched National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme
(NERPAP), 2015 from 3rd March, 2015.

2. Under this programme, beside some other activities, linking and authentication of EPIC data of
electors with Aadhaar data is also being done and for that purpose, the electors have been given facility
to feed their Aadhaar number and EPIC No. at National Voters Service Portal (NVSP) or furnish the said
detail through the mode of SMS/email/call center/submission of copy of both documents to Electoral
Registration Officers (EROs)/ Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Apart from the above, BLOs are also collecting
the data from electors during door to door survey on voluntary basis only.

3. The Commission, to avoid confusion among electors and the electoral machinery, has issued
necessary instructions to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of the States/UTs secifying that furnishing of
Aadhaar number by electors is not mandatory and it is only optional, as directed by the Hon’ble
Supreme Court. It has been made amply clear that no electoral service will be denied to any elector on
ground of non-furnishing of Aadhaar number. Non furnishing of Aadhaar number will not be a ground
for rejection or objection of application for new enrolment or for deletion of name of an existing elector
from Electoral Roll. The CEOs have been further clarified that collection of Aadhaar number is only for
the purpose of authentication of details of elector and confidentiality and security of data so collected
must be ensured during the process of feeding and seeding of the same in the Electoral Roll database.

Comprehensive changes on the anvil to protect interests of consumers

The government has realized the plight of Indian consumers and the Department of
Consumer Affairs as the nodal organization for the protection of consumer rights has initiated a
major step to rewrite the Consumer Protection Act so as to remove various lacunae in the Act
that has been noticed over the last 28 years of its enforcement. This was observed by Shri Arun
Jaitley while addressing the “National conference on effective functioning of Consumer Fora"
organized by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas
Paswan here today. He said that comprehensive amendments are therefore on the anvil to the
consumer protection law that will introduce far reaching changes.

Presiding over the conference, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, the Union Minister for Consumer
Affairs, Food and Public Distribution reiterated the commitment of the government to Consumer
Protection. He pointed out that government alone, regardless of the sector it deals with or the
domain it regulates, cannot adequately address several of these challenges. There is a need, he
emphasised, for all stakeholders – the Central Government, State Governments to work together.
He noted that for the law to be fully effective and serve the purpose for which it was enacted,
simple, inexpensive and speedy justice ought to become the very reason for the existence of
these courts. And that has to be accomplished through stringent monitoring of the working of the
courts. It is also necessary to create an infrastructure that would help consumers understand the
law and file complaints smoothly. Only then will we see a different picture of consumer justice
and empowerment in India

In his welcome address, Shri Keshav Desiraju, Secretary, Department of Consumer

Affairs, noted that consumers are a vulnerable lot for exploitation, more so in a developing
country with the prevalence of mass poverty and illiteracy. The challenges that we confront
would require policy coherence and coordinated program implementation, harmonization of the
legislative framework and the regulatory apparatus. Over the years government has taken, many
steps to strengthen the consumer movement in the country and to protect their interests. A legal
system and a strong dispute redressal mechanism have been put in place with procedural
simplicity and speedy and inexpensive redressal of consumer grievances.
 Justice D.K.Jain, the President of the National Consumer Disputes Resolution
Commission (NCDRC) noted that India enjoys a unique position in the consumer advocacy
movement with a dedicated three tier QuasiJudicial Consumer Dispute Redress Mechanism
established at the District, State and National levels under the law. He emphasized the need for
governments at the Centre and the States and the consumer courts to work closely together to
provide effective and timely grievance redress to consumers.

The Conference on “Effective Functioning of Consumer Fora” which was attended by

President and Members of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC),
Ministers and Secretaries in charge of Consumer Affairs in States and Presidents of State
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions, deliberated upon the problems being faced in the
smooth functioning of Consumer Fora and suggested measures to improve their functioning.

In the Conference, it was noted that:

 There should be uniform recruitment procedure and respectable remuneration for

Presidents and Members of the Consumer Fora.

 It was impressed upon the State Governments to strengthen the infrastructure of

the Consumer Fora for their smooth functioning and to expedite furnishing the
pending Utilization Certificates of the grants provided by the Central Government
and to seek further grants with detailed proposals.

 All the Consumer Fora need to use complete workflow of the Online Case
Monitoring System (OCMS) application under the CONFONET Scheme. The
State Governments should cooperate in implementation of the scheme and making
it fully operational.

 Efforts should be made by all concerned to reduce the delay in disposal of

consumer complaints. The State Governments were asked to initiate timely action
for filling up of the vacancies of President and Member in the Consumer Fora.
Endeavour should be made by the Consumer Fora to adhere to the time limits
prescribed in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

 To meet the training needs of the Members of the Consumer Fora without
having any legal background, it was emphasised that the training programme
 being administered by IIPA may be fully availed of. In addition, such Members
may also be encouraged to undergo the one year distance mode course developed
by National Law School University India.

Anant Geete Inaugurates DHI-FICCI Workshop on “Technology Development for Capital

Goods: Constraints & the way Forward”
Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Shri Anant Geete, Union Minister for Heavy
Industries & Public Enterprises has urged the industry to come forward and make use of the Capital
Goods Scheme notified by Department of Heavy Industries (DHI), Government of India to bridge the
technology gaps in the sector. Shri Geete was inaugurating a DHI-FICCI Workshop on “Technology
Development for Capital Goods: Constraints & the Way Forward” in Ahmedabad today urged the
industry to come forward and make use of the Capital Goods Scheme notified by Department of Heavy
Industries (DHI), Government of India to bridge the technology gaps in the sector.

Shri Geete said this scheme launched under the Make in India initiative of Government of India provides
support to the industry to acquire technology, set-up technology development centres in collaboration
with Institutes, and create common infrastructure for the capital goods industry and is is valued at Rs
1000 crore and Government of India is contributing around Rs six hundred odd crore for the Scheme for
the next four years.

This is the first scheme launched by an economic Ministry of Government of India facilitating
collaboration between industry and academia and as a fulfillment of the objective of Make in India.

In capital goods sector, the technology gap is widening when compared to other countries. Dependence
on high-end technology capital goods is increasing in the country and upgradation of technology levels,
continuous R & D efforts and self sufficiency of the nation in this sector requires desired levels of
investment and support by the Government. Under these circumstances, this scheme of the DHI will
help the industry in acquiring technologies from abroad or to develop such technologies within the
country with the support of an institute, the minister added.

Shri Geete said “While there are some players who have technological competencies, especially in
design capability, application innovation and process innovation, the technological capabilities of large
number of players, especially in the SME sector, are limited. India has become one of the largest
importers of capital goods in the world importing around US $ 20 billion of CG imports per year. This has
adversely affected the indigenous capital goods industry”.

Shri Geete also said that his Government was working with countries like Germany, USA etc to liberalise
the exports of dual use technologies that would benefit the capital goods sector. Transfer of technology
from other developed countries has not been significant despite liberalization of policies for technology
transfer and foreign direct investments. Constraints imposed by developed countries on dual use items
exports have restricted the technology development in our country.
A unique component of the Scheme is Technology Acquisition Fund where Government is giving support
upto 25% of the cost of technology subject to the limit of Rs. 10 crore.

The scheme would particularly be helpful for the industry in Gujarat as lot of capital goods industry and
components producers are present in the State in sectors like textiles machinery, plastic machinery,
machine tools, process plant and engineering. The engineering clusters of Gujarat can take advantage of
this scheme to achieve next levels of the technology.

On this occasion, Shri M.S. Unnikrishnan, Co-chairman, FICCI Capital Goods Committee & Managing
Director & CEO, Thermax Limited said “This scheme of the DHI was indeed the need of the hour for
capital goods sector. The scheme has rightly focused on the technology development besides other
aspects”.

Union Home Minister Highlights Steps to Make the Country Safe & Secure Says it has
Been an Year of Consolidation

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh has said it has been an year of consolidation
as the Government has taken a series of proactive steps to make the country safe and secure.
He was addressing a Press Conference here today to mark the one year of NDA Government
under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

The Home Minister underlined the need to uphold the Constitutional provisions to ensure
the sanctity of Centre-State relations. On the issue of Black Money, he reminded that one of
the first steps taken by the Government after assuming office was to constitute an SIT and
subsequent legal measures have been put in place to curb this menace. Shri Singh said that
efforts are on to tackle the threat of terrorism and the Government is in constant touch with
various agencies to ward off such threats. Effective Border Management has been put in
place to counter the threat of cross-border terrorism, he added. On the issue of relief to
farmers affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorm, the Home Minister said the quantum of
compensation under the NDRF and SDRF has been more than doubled and now the farmers
with crop loss between 33% and 49% have been made eligible to seek the financial
assistance.

Following are the highlights of the work done by the Ministry in the last one year:

Security Scenario

 Overall security scenario in the country continues to remain peaceful barring

incidents of a blast in Burdwan (West Bengal) and minor IED blast in
Bengaluru.

 Security situation in North Eastern States is being monitored regularly at various

levels, with sustained CI operations against militant outfits.
 LWE violence is down by 22% in 2014 over previous year. However recent
attacks in Chhattisgarh are a cause of concern.

 Security Forces neutralized 132 terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir, during 2014 and
the current year.

Jammu & Kashmir

 Peaceful conduct of Assembly Elections in J&K, - from November 25 to

December 20, 2014 - high voter turnout of 66%.

 ‘UDAAN’ scheme launched aiming to provide employment to the unemployed

youth of Jammu & Kashmir. Trained 3,361 candidates, 3,133 candidates
offered jobs, about 2,500 are working in various companies in the country.

 Cash relief to the Kashmiri migrants in Jammu and Delhi/ NCR enhanced
w.e.f. 1st May 2015 from Rs.1,650/- per head per month to Rs.2,500/- per head
per month, subject to a maximum of Rs.10,000 per family enhanced from
Rs.6,600 per family.

Foreigners Division

 e-Tourist Visa scheme launched on 27th November 2014 covers 74 countries and
9 Indian airports; 1,35,000 people so far benefited.

 Merger of PIO & OCI schemes by enactment of Citizenship (Amendment) Act

2015.

Disaster Management

 During 2014-15, loss to life & property minimized due to prompt response to
major disasters like cyclone HUDHUD in AP and Odisha, floods and landslides
in J&K. 7 lakh people rescued.

 Immediate relief and assistance provided through NDRF to Nepal after the recent
earthquake.
 Policy initiatives under Disaster Management

 SDRF & NDRF Compensation more than doubled to next of kin of deceased
persons from Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs. 4 lakh. Farmers, with crop loss between 33%
and 49%, made eligible for assistance.

 Local disasters like lightning, heat wave etc., now covered for relief under SDRF.

 Battalions under NDRF increased from 10 to 12.

 Allocation in SDRF almost doubled from Rs.33,583 crore during 2010-15 to Rs.
61,219 cr during 2015-20.

Border Management

 Border Infrastructure: 50 Km of roads, 103 Km of fencing, 218 Km of flood

lighting and 39 BOPs completed (on Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Pakistan
border).

 14 km LED Pilot Project for floodlighting in Punjab Sector has been completed.

 Integrated Check Post (ICP) building completed at Raxaul on India-Nepal border.

Cargo Terminal of ICP Agartala inaugurated.

 Rs. 800 Crore released to the Bordering States for development of the socio-
economic infrastructure in the bordering villages under BADP.

 Trial Bus service runs between Guwahati and Dhaka undertaken.

 Bus service between Delhi and Kathmandu commenced.

Sikh Riots

 Additional compensation for Next of Kin of 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims; Justice
Mathur Committee to re-investigate deserving riot cases.
 Police Reforms

 58% police stations across the country have started using CCTNS to register
FIRs.

Police Welfare

 3,531 Houses and 92 barracks constructed for CAPF personnel.

 Grant of Rs.37 crore provided to the CAPFs and Assam Rifles for payment of ex-
gratia compensation to the Next of Kin of deceased.

 Delhi Police launched a web-based App. for ‘Police Clearance Certificate’ (PCC)
and the mobile app 'Himmat' on January 1, 2015.

Women/children Safety

 Approved recruitment of 2,772 Mahila personnel in 21 companies of SSB.

 Approved 33%reservation for women in direct recruitment in Non-Gazetted posts

from Constable to Sub-Inspector in the CAPFs & police forces of all the UTs
including Delhi Police.

 Project to set up an “Emergency Response System” for Women in Distress funded

under the Nirbhaya Fund fast tracked.

 Detailed advisories issued to tackle crimes against women including acid attack
on women.

 States/UTs advised to launch a dedicated campaign for rescuing missing children.

More than 3,000 children rescued during this operation.

CYBER CRIMES
  An Expert Group constituted to prepare a Road Map to effectively tackle Cyber
Crimes.

 Another Expert Committee set up to suggest changes in Information Technology

Act, Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code & Evidence Act etc. to deal
with cybercrimes more effectively.

National Population Register

 Biometric capture of more than 28.44 crore persons, completed under NPR, by
the office of Registrar General of India so far. Total biometric enrolment
including the enrolment done by Unique Identification Authorit y
of India now 85 crore.

UT Matters

 Introduction of weekly chartered flight services from Port Blair to Car Nicobar.
Another chartered flight introduced between Chennai and Port Blair.

 Contract for acquisition of two ships signed at a cost of US $ 29.26 million will
enhance the frequency of service of ships which in turn will improve the
passenger movement and cargo traffic and will give boost to tourism to
Lakshadweep.

During the Press Conference, the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh was
accompanied by the Ministers of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju and Shri Haribhai
Parathibhai Chaudhary. The Union Home Secretary Shri LC Goyal, Secretary (Border
Management) Shri Anoop Kumar Srivastava and Secretary (Official Language) Shri SK
Srivastava were also present. Director General, Press Information Bureau Shri Frank
Noronha conducted the Press Conference.

Framework for Revival and Rehabilitation of MSMEs

The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises has notified a Framework for Revival and
Rehabilitation of MSMEs, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 9 of the Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006.

In India, the existing mechanism for addressing revival, rehabilitation and exit of small
enterprises is very weak. The most recent Doing Business (DB) Report, a joint project of the
World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, ranks India 137 out of the 189
economies for resolving insolvencies. It notes that resolving insolvency takes 4.3 years on
average and costs 9.0% of the debtor’s estate, with the most likely outcome being that the
company will be sold as piecemeal sale.

Pending a detailed revision of the legal framework for resolving insolvency/bankruptcy, there is
a felt need for special dispensation for revival and exit of MSMEs. The MSMEs facing
insolvency/bankruptcy need to be provided legal opportunities to revive their units. This could
be through a scheme for re-organization and rehabilitation, which balances the interests of the
creditors and debtors.

Salient Features

The main features of the framework which complements to the features of the existing RBI
notification of 2012 and 2014 are as below:

Identification of incipient stress: Before a loan account of a MSME turns into a Non
Performing Asset (NPA), banks/creditors are required to identify incipient stress in the account.
Any Micro, Small or Medium enterprise may also voluntarily initiate proceedings under this
Order if enterprise reasonably apprehends failure of its business or its inability or likely inability
to pay debts and before the accumulated losses of the enterprise equals to half or more of its
entire net worth.

Committees for Distressed Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises: All banks shall constitute
one or more Committees at such locations as may be considered necessary by the board of
directors of such bank to provide reasonable access to all eligible Micro, Small and Medium
enterprises which have availed credit facilities from such bank. The Committee shall comprise of
representatives of the Bank, independent expert and representative of the State Government.

Corrective Action Plan (CAP) by the Committee: The Committee may explore various
options to resolve the stress in the account. The intention is to arrive at an early and feasible
solution to preserve the economic value of the underlying assets as well as the lenders’ loans and
also to allow the enterprise to continue with its business. During the period of operation of
Corrective Action Plan (CAP), the enterprise shall be allowed to avail both secured and
unsecured credit for its business operations.

Options under Corrective Action Plan (CAP): The options under Corrective Action Plan
(CAP) by the Committee may include: (i) Rectification - regularize the account so that the
account does not slip into the non-performing asset (NPA) category, (ii) restructuring the account
if it is prima facie viable and the borrower is not a willful defaulter, and (iii) recovery - Once the
first two options at (i) and (ii) above are seen as not feasible, due recovery process may be
resorted to.

Restructuring Process: If the Committee decides restructuring of the account as CAP, it will
have the option of either referring the account to Enterprise Debt Restructuring (EDR) Cell after
a decision to restructure is taken or restructure the same independent of the EDR mechanism. If
the Committee decides to restructure an account independent of the EDR mechanism, the
Committee should carry out the detailed Techno-Economic Viability (TEV) study, and if found
viable, finalise the restructuring package within 30 days from the date of signing off the final
CAP.

Prudential Norms on Asset Classification and Provisioning: While a restructuring proposal is

under consideration by the Committee/EDR, the usual asset classification norm would continue
to apply. The process of re-classification of an asset should not stop merely because restructuring
proposal is under consideration by the Committee/EDR. However, as an incentive for quick
implementation of a restructuring package, the special asset classification benefit on
restructuring of accounts as per extant instructions would be available for accounts undertaken
for restructuring under these guidelines.

Willful Defaulters and Non-Cooperative Borrowers: Banks are required to strictly adhere to
the guidelines issued by RBI from time to time regarding treatment of Willful Defaulters.

Review: In case the Committee decides that recovery action is to be initiated against an
enterprise, such enterprise may request for a review of the decision by the Committee within a
period of fifteen working days from the date of receipt of the decision of the Committee.
Application filed under this section shall be decided by the Committee within a period of thirty
days from the date of filing and if as a consequence of such review, the Committee decides to
pursue a fresh corrective action plan for revival of the enterprise shall apply accordingly.

It is expected that above Framework help the lenders and debtors in revival and rehabilitation of
enterprises and shall unlock the potential of MSMEs.