(One year of Modi government)
By Anjali Ojha,
New Delhi : The year-old Narendra Modi-led government says its schemes won’t leave any sector untouched as it flicks aside a Congress charge that it was repackaging the UPA dispensation’s programmes.
With banking schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana, mass movement programmes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, and social movements like Beti Bachao, the government says no sector has been left untouched in its commitment for inclusive development.
“We have a very strong commitment to ensuring social security, national security and economic security,” Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told IANS.
“No sector will be left untouched, whether it is environment, financial inclusion, or social equality,” he said.
Naqvi strongly refuted the charge that the government was repackaging the schemes of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
“UPA schemes cannot be repackaged because their schemes were only for corruption and scams,” he said.
“Congress must see ground realities and avoid such statements. The problems are old, and they did not solve them…,” he added.
Here is a list of major schemes launched by the NDA government in last one year.
* Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana – Defined as a national mission for financial inclusion, under the scheme accounts can be opened in any bank branch or through business correspondent outlet even with zero balance.
So far over 12.54 crore accounts have been opened according to the website of the scheme. The deposits in the accounts are to the tune of Rs.10,499.62 crore.
* Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan- Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet campaign, launched on Gandhi Jayanti last year, caught the imagination of the nation with not just government, but even private organisations, individuals and groups launching cleanliness drives.
The mission seeks to achieve the goal of Clean India in next five years so that the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi can be celebrated to mark the accomplishment of this duty. It exhorts people to devote 100 hours every year towards the cause of cleanliness.
* Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana – Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2014, under this programme, MPs are supposed to adopt and develop villages.
According to the website of the scheme, so far 491 of 543 Lok Sabha members, and 186 of 246 Rajya Sabha members have adopted villages under the scheme.
* Sardar Patel Urban Housing Mission: The Rajiv Awas Yojana was re-christened as Sardar Patel Urban Housing Mission, targets at constructing six crore ‘pucca’ houses for poor by 2022. During his budget speech this year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley set aside Rs.22.407 crore for current fiscal under the programme.
* Namami Ganga Yojana: Modi’s pet programme for cleaning and rejuvenation of river Ganga has a budget outlay of Rs.20,000 crore for the coming five years. According to water ministry officials, the central government will soon float tenders for setting up sewerage infrastructure for 68 urban local bodies situated along the banks of the river. Water resources ministry has identified a total of 118 urban local bodies where sewage treatment plant is necessary.
* Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram – single unified Web Portal for Online Registration of units, Reporting of inspections, submissions of Annual Returns and Redressal of Grievances.
Under the scheme, labours will be provided a Unique labour identification number, and there will be a local interconnect network, to facilitate their online registration.
* Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana: PMJJBY, on the other hand, will offer a renewable one year life cover of Rs.2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years, covering death due to any reason, for a premium of Rs.330 per annum per subscriber. PMSBY, meanwhile, offers a renewable one-year accidental death-cum – disability cover of Rs.2 lakh for partial/permanent disability to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years for a premium of Rs.12 per annum per subscriber.
* Atal Pension Yojana (APY): The APY focuses on all citizens in the unorganised sector, who join the National Pension System (NPS) administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. Under the scheme, a contributor would get a fixed pension of Rs.1,000-5,000 a month, from the age of 60 years until they die.
* Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana: Government’s Rs.1,000-crore irrigation scheme aims at bringing irrigation water to every village by converging ongoing schemes being implemented by various ministries.
* One Rank One Pension scheme – Modi government made fresh promises on the long pending OROP, a long-standing demand of the over 20 lakh ex-servicemen in the country. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has recently said the scheme is likely to be cleared in a “couple of days”.
* Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: Twin programmes of “Beti bachao, beti padhao” and “Sukanya Samriddhi account” in a bid to encourage birth and education of girls and tackle the abysmally low child sex ratio.
* Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushalya Yojana: With a corpus of Rs.1,500 crore and is aimed at enhancing the employability of rural youth through skill developments.
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