Notifications & Circulars

Press Information Bureau

27.12.2017

Civil

Launching of Pencil Portal to Eliminate Child Labour

MANU/PIBU/1543/2017

Government has developed an online portal PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) which was launched on 26.9.2017. The purpose of this portal is to provide a mechanism for both enforcement of the provisions of Child & Adolescent Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 and effective implementation of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme for rehabilitation of child & adolescent labour.

The main components of PENCIL portal are complaint corner, child & adolescent labour tracking system, NCLP and State Resource Centre which are connected with the Ministry of Labour & Employment. Further, the data obtained on the portal is to be shared with Ministry of Women & Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. At the State Government level the monitoring is to be done by State Resource Centre established at State Labour Department. At district level District Nodal Officers (DNOs) are nominated to take action on the complaints of their respective districts.

Tags : Pencil Portal Launch Eliminate Child Labour

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Press Information Bureau

27.12.2017

Civil

Shri Radha Mohan Singh launches Livestock Disease Forewarning -Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App)

MANU/PIBU/1546/2017

Union Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today launched Livestock Disease Forewarning -Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App), developed by ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (ICAR-NIVEDI), Bengaluru, in New Delhi. At the launch, Union Agriculture Minister informed that dreaded Rinderpest disease has been eradicated from India and stressed that similar efforts are needed to control and eradicate diseases like FMD, PPR, Brucellosis, CSF, BT, HS etc., which cause huge economic loss annually to the livestock rearers and livestock industry as a whole.

Union Agriculture Minister said that ICAR-NIVEDI has identified 13 priority diseases based on their past incidence patterns and has built a strong database of these diseases and has been providing monthly livestock disease alerts to the state and central animal husbandry departments.

Shri Singh said that to widen its reach, ICAR-NIVEDI developed the app and used Monthly Bulletin system to send out early warning. Shri Singh said the complex statistical algorithm also considers both climatic and non-climatic factors and categorizes districts into Very High Risk, High Risk, Moderate Risk, Low Risk, Very Low Risk and No Risk for a particular disease so that stakeholders can effectively plan and utilize the available resources.

Apart from early warning, the app will also provide information about clinical samples for the diagnosis in case of the epidemic so that immediate action in case of the epidemic. This app works on all kind of Android smartphones and takes up 2.5 MB space. He said that hopefully, this app will be beneficial for the consumers and stakeholders engaged in disease control programmes.

Tags : Mobile App Launch Livestock Disease

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Press Information Bureau

27.12.2017

Civil

Social security scheme for artisans

MANU/PIBU/1536/2017

Khadi artisans are self-employed artisans of the Khadi and Village Industry (V.I.) Institutions. To protect the interest of artisans, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has issued directions to all Khadi Institutions to ensure payment of wages directly into Aadhaar Seeded bank account of artisans. KVIC is releasing Market Development Assistance incentives to Khadi artisans and Khadi Institutions through a DBT Portal directly into their Aadhaar Bank Accounts.

Khadi Artisans are self-employed entrepreneurs and earn their wages based on the quantum of production of spinning and weaving etc. done by them. Though these artisans are skilled, their working norms are flexible and therefore their earnings vary. Therefore, these artisans are not comparable with skilled labourers of private sector. The earnings of the artisans is commensurate to the work done by them.

Government is implementing the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) (earlier known as Khadi Karigar 'Janashree Bima Yojana' which was merged with Aam Admi Bima Yojana w.e.f. 1.1.2013) through KVIC in association with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to provide insurance cover to Khadi artisans against normal and accidental death and disability. Under AABY, the Khadi Artisans belonging to the age group of 18 to 59 years are provided insurance cover for the following:

i) Death (natural) : Rs. 30,000.00

ii) Death (accidental) : Rs. 75,000.00

iii) Disability (permanent) : Rs. 75,000.00

iv) Disability (partial) : Rs. 37,500.00

v) Educational Benefits (Shiksha Sahayog Yojana) :

Two children of Khadi Artisan who are studying in standard IX to XII including Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are eligible for scholarship of Rs.300/- per quarter.

The premium amount of the scheme is Rs.100/- per annum which is shared as:

12.50% by Artisan

12.50% by KVIC

25% by Khadi Institution

50% by Central Government (National Social Security Fund)

Government of India has announced several schemes for the welfare of workers and artisans associated in decentralized sector namely Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY). The Ministry of MSME and KVIC has advised all khadi institutions to cover their artisans suitably under these schemes.

Government is also implementing the '"Coir Workers" Group Personal Accident Insurance Scheme which is aimed at providing insurance coverage against accidental death, permanent total disability and permanent partial disability to the coir workers in all coir producing States in India. The maximum amount of compensation payable is Rs.50,000/- in the case of death/permanent total disability and Rs.25,000/- in the case of permanent partial disability. The premium for the entire coir workers is paid by Coir Board to the Insurance Company as a lump sum amount towards the renewal of the policy every year. The coir workers aged 18 years and above engaged in the industry (no upper age limit) are covered under the scheme. The scheme was converged to the Core scheme Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) during July, 2016.

Tags : Social security Scheme Artisans

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Press Information Bureau

27.12.2017

Civil

Skill Development of Youth of Minority Communities

MANU/PIBU/1537/2017

"The Ministry had launched following special schemes for skill development of youth belonging to minority communities:

1. "Seekho aur Kamao (Learn & Earn)": This is a placement linked skill development scheme for minorities aiming to upgrade the skills of minority youth in various modern/traditional skills depending upon their qualification, present economic trends and market potential, which can earn them suitable employment or make them suitably skilled to go for self-employment. The scheme ensures placements of minimum 75% trainees, out of which at least 50% placement is in organized sector. The scheme is implemented through selected Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) all over the country including Kerala. In last 3 years, 1700 number of minority youths from the State of Kerala have been trained by PIAs.

2. Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/ Crafts for Development (USTTAD): Scheme has been launched on 14th May, 2015 to preserve the rich heritage of traditional arts/crafts of minorities. The scheme aims at capacity building and updating the traditional skills of master craftsmen/artisans; documentation of identified traditional arts/crafts of minorities; set standards for traditional skills; training of minority youths in various identified traditional arts/crafts through master craftsmen; and develop national and international market linkages. The PIA has to organize training programmme which shall be supported with following activities to ensure that the desired outcomes are achieved for preservation of traditional art/craft, establishment of market linkages and generating interest among young generation for taking up traditional arts/crafts as a profession. Till date no minority youths from the State of Kerala have been trained under the scheme.

III. Nai Manzil: Scheme has been launched on 8th August, 2015 with an aims to benefit the minority youth who do not have a formal school leaving certificate i.e. those in the category of school dropouts or educated in the community education institutions like Madarsas, in order to provide them formal education and skills, and enable them to seek better employment in the organized sector and thus to equip them for better lives. Till date no minority youths from the State of Kerala have been trained under the scheme".

Tags : Youth Skill Development Minority Communities

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Press Information Bureau

27.12.2017

Electricity

10 Cities selected for pilot project of Multi-Modal Electric Public Transport under FAME India

MANU/PIBU/1538/2017

The Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Anant Geete has announced today that the Government is providing Rs 437 crore subsidy to 11 cities under FAME India, for launching electric buses, taxis and three-wheelers. The cities include Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Indore and Kolkata, plus two cities - Jammu and Guwahati under special category. The nine big cities in the list will be given subsidy for 40 buses each while Jammu and Guwahati will get for 15 buses each. Subsidy for taxis will be given to Ahmedabad ( 20 taxis), Bangalore (100 taxis), Indore ( 50 taxis) and Kolkata (200 taxis) - based on their demand. Bangalore will get subsidy for 500 three wheelers, Indore for 200 and Ahmedabad for 20. This comes to a total of 390 buses, 370 taxis and 720 three wheelers.

This announcement has been made during the second half of December, when the Department of Heavy Industry is observing "Swachhata Pakhawada" under Clean India Mission. The selected cities are required to finalize the tendering process and issue supply order before 28th February 2018. Through this EOI, Department of Heavy Industry is expected to spend about Rs. 437 Crore under FAME India scheme (Phase I), which includes about Rs. 40 crores as incentives for installation of charging infrastructure.

While many Departments and Ministries are working for promotion of electric vehicles, the Department of Heavy Industry is the Department which is administering the scheme "Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India", popularly known as FAME India scheme since 01st April 2015. The present effort is a significant boost to electric mobility with the aim to roll out a number of electric buses, electric three-wheelers and electric shared cabs for multi-modal public transport.

An Expression of Interest (EOI) inviting proposals from million plus cities and special category states for multimodal transport was issued by the Department of Heavy Industry on 31st October 2017. Under this EOI, additional incentive was also proposed to augment charging infrastructure for public transport. Last date for receipt of the proposal was 30th November 2017.

In response to this EOI, Department of Heavy Industry received 47 proposals from 44 cities across 21 states having requirement of 3144 E-buses, 2430 E-Four Wheeler Taxies and 21545, E-Three Wheeler Autos with the total financial support of 4054.6 crores sought from Government of India. After evaluation of these proposals considering parameters like population, vehicle density, vehicular pollution, Swachhata Abhiyan ranking, coverage under Smart City programme, the available financial outlay under Phase 1 of FAME India scheme etc, the above cities were selected for funding under the present Expression of Interest as the pilot project for Multi-Modal Electric Public Transport under FAME India scheme of the Government.

Tags : Pilot project Cities Selection

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Press Information Bureau

27.12.2017

Civil

Identification of Workers in Unorganised Sector

MANU/PIBU/1544/2017

The Unorganized Workers' Social Security Act, 2008, defines an unorganized worker and provides for a self-declaration by such worker confirming that he or she is an unorganized worker.

There is no centralized national database of unorganized workers in India. Accordingly, it has been decided to create a national platform for unorganized workers. A proposal to issue a Unique ID i.e. Unorganized Workers Identification Number (UWIN) and allotment of a Aadhaar seeded Identification number to them without issuing any smart card, has been approved by the Central Government with an estimated cost of Rs. 402.7 Crore to be implemented in two years during 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Tags : Identification Workers Unorganised Sector

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Press Information Bureau

26.12.2017

Civil

New $ 318 million loan Agreement Signed with World Bank to Support Climate Resilient Agriculture - over 500,000 Farmers to Benefit in Tamil Nadu

MANU/PIBU/1534/2017

The Government of India, the Government of Tamil Nadu and the World Bank today signed a $318 million loan agreement for the Tamil Nadu Irrigated Agriculture Modernization Project to promote climate resilient agriculture technologies, improve water management practices, and increase market opportunities for small and marginal farmers. About 500,000 farmers, of which a majority are small and marginal, are expected to benefit from improved and modernized tank irrigation systems. The project will rehabilitate and modernize about 4,800 irrigation tanks and 477 check dams, spread across 66 sub-basins, in delivering bulk water to irrigation systems.

Tamil Nadu, being a water-stressed state, continues to experience water shortages which are expected to further exacerbate in the future. Rehabilitating and modernizing irrigation tanks will improve the reliability and availability of irrigation water for farming communities, making them less prone to climatic hazards. More than 160,000 ha of currently partially irrigated lands will come into full irrigation under this project," said Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

The agreement for the project was signed by Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India; S. K. Prabhakar, Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, on behalf of the Government of Tamil Nadu and John Blomquist, Program Leader and Acting Country Director, World Bank, India on behalf of the World Bank.

"This project will help Tamil Nadu scale up its efforts to unlock the full potential of its agriculture sector. It will support farmers improve the efficiency of water used in farming, diversify into high value crops, and produce crops that are resilient to the increasing threats of climate change. Such efforts will be a win-win for all, leading to better use of scarce water resources and raising household incomes of farmers," said John Blomquist, Program Leader and Acting Country Director, World Bank, India.

Though significant progress has been made during the past decade in crop diversification, still there is scope for achieving a higher level. Paddy is the dominant crop occupying 34 percent of total cropped areas, whereas fruits and vegetables are grown on 11 percent and pulses and oilseeds on 14 percent of total cropped areas. By helping farmers' access modern technologies, linking them to markets, and providing post harvest management support, the project will enable farmers to shift from a mono crop paddy system to mixed cropping including high-value crops (fruits, vegetables, and spices), pulses, oilseeds, and millets.

To enhance the ability of crops to withstand expected adverse impacts of climate change, the project will support smallholder producers adopt new conservation technologies such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Sustainable Sugar Initiative (SSI). They reduce average water usage by 35 percent and increase yields by 22 percent per ha. The project is expected to increase the yield of rice, maize, and pulses by 18-20 percent.

The project will also coordinate with other World Bank-supported projects in Tamil Nadu and at the national level, including the Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation Project, National Hydrology Project, and National Groundwater Improvement Project to ensure synergy and enhance long-term project impact. The $318 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 5-year grace period, and a maturity of 19 years.

Tags : Loan Agreement Signing of World Bank

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