The Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched an Integrated Scheme for School Education - Samagra Shiksha from 2018-19. Samagra Shiksha envisages ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels.
A total of Rs.30891.81 crore has been provided for Samagra Shiksha in BE 2018-19. Out of Rs.30891.81 crore, an amount of Rs.19808.36 crore (64%) has been released to the States and UTs as Central share (as on 31.12.2018). Preference will be given to educationally backward Blocks (EBBs), Special Focus Districts (SFDs), Border areas and the Aspirational Districts identified by NITI Aayog.
Allocation for uniforms has been enhanced from Rs.400 to 600 per child per annum and allocation for textbooks from Rs.150/250 to Rs.250/400 per child per annum. Energized textbooks have been introduced.
In order to complement the activities under Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat and inculcate the reading habits among students of all ages, strengthening of school libraries is being undertaken including provision of books by providing library grant for government schools, under the newly launched centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha from 2018-19.
For the first time the provision for separate annual library grant has been made covering schools from Primary to Senior Secondary. Reading corners have been created to inculcate habit of reading among children. Library Grant of Rs.5,000 to Rs.20,000 has been provisioned from Primary to Senior Secondary Schools.
In the year 2018-19, an outlay of Rs.47396.14 lakh is estimated under library grant for 702250 schools of different categories.
Realizing the need for holistic development of children, Samagra Shiksha has included the Sports and Physical Education component to each school under which sports grant is being provided for sports equipments for indoor & outdoor games.
Sports Education has been an integral part of the curriculum. Provision has been made for sports equipment for indoor and outdoor games. Every school will receive sports equipments at the cost of Rs.5000 for Primary Schools, Rs.10,000 for Upper Primary Schools and up to Rs.25,000 for Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools to inculcate and emphasize relevance of sports.
In the year 2018-19, an outlay of Rs.50690.37 lakh has been estimated under sports grant for 894307 schools of different categories.
Stipend of Rs.200 per month for CWSN girls will be provided from Classes I to XII.
Earlier it was only for Classes IX to XII. Allocation for Children with Special Needs (CwSN) has been increased from Rs.3000 to Rs.3500 per child per annum. In the year 2018-19, an outlay of Rs.102350.91 lakh has been estimated towards CWSN grants.
The scheme of Samagra Shiksha has provision for existing KGBVs at upper primary level and Girls Hostels at secondary level to be extended/ converged to provide residential and schooling facilities upto Class-XII. This would provide the facility of at-least one residential school for girls from Classes VI-XII in every educationally backward block which does not have residential schools under any other Scheme.
Vocational Education is a scheme under the umbrella of ‘Samagra Shiksha. The scheme seeks to integrate vocational education with general academic education with an aim to prepare educated, employable and competitive human resource for various sectors of the economy and the global market. The scheme covers Government schools and Government aided schools.
The scheme has a provision for providing exposure to vocational education to students of Classes VI to VIII. Till date 9623 schools have been approved under the scheme including 1501 schools approved this year (2018-19). Out of 9623 schools approved, the scheme has so far been implemented in 7470 schools with current reported enrolment of 8,33,041 students.
NSQF compliant vocational courses are taught to the students of class 9th to 12th. At the secondary level i.e. class 9th and 10th, vocational modules are offered to students as an additional subject. At Sr. Secondary level, i.e. class XI and XII, vocational courses are offered as a compulsory (elective) subject. Under the program, there is a provision for
arranging hands - on training for students in industrial set up and guest lectures from industry. The State Governments have been advised that vocational education is to be treated at par with other academic subjects and accorded a similar status.
The Learning Outcomesdocument for elementary level has been developed in two forms. The complete document includes Curricular Expectations, Pedagogical Processes and Learning Outcomes of classes I to VIII. This document is meant for teachers and teacher educators and school administration to ensure and enhance the quality of learning in schools and the compact version contains only the learning outcomes for each subject in each class. 24 States and UTs (UTs without legislature and Jammu and Kashmir have adopted central rules mutatis mutandis) have incorporated the learning outcomes in their State rules.
NCERT adopted a block named Ichhavar in Sihore district of MP with 190 primary and 100 upper primary schools to provide systematic inputs to enhance students’ learning outcomes. After a base line survey, the inputs in respect of all pedagogical processes including use of kits and other material and Art Integrated Learning are in progress for the last one year.
Further five more blocks in other regions (one each in South, East, North and two in North East) have been adopted by NCERT to implement the NCERT pedagogy and material for enhancement of learning outcomes. It has been planned to have longitudinal studies on the achievement of learning outcomes for both primary and upper primary classes.
NCERT conducted research studies in six blocks of the country to enhance achievement of learning outcomes. The research studies will help i) to assess the age and development appropriateness of learning outcomes identified for each class ii) to assess adequacy of strategies and materials developed by NCERT in achievement of learning outcomes.
These research studies in six blocks of the country have been undertaken to enhance achievement of learning outcomes. The research studies will help i) to assess the age and development appropriateness of learning outcomes identified for each class ii) to assess adequacy of strategies and materials developed by NCERT in achievement of learning outcomes.
It is also planned to prepare interventions in Aspirational Districts in collaboration with the respective SCERTs and district administration to address the issue of Learning Outcomes including other Key Performance Indicators.
Learning Outcomes for secondary stage are being developed by NCERT and will be shared after finalisation.
NAS assessed the learning levels of the students in Classes 3, 5, 8 and 10, initially the District report cards were released and later the State Learning Reports were made available on the website for Classes 3,5 and 8 in May, 2018 and for Class 10 the State Learning Reports were available in the month of November, 2018. The following two are the links to the State Learning Reports.
The Post NAS Interventions (2018-19) were initiated to reach out to all the Districts in the different States. The learning gaps identified were used to provide feedback to the districts. A framework of intervention to improve the quality of learning in the schools is being suggested. The designing and implementation of the interventions include in its ambit the school leaders, teachers and the whole network of officials at clusters, blocks, DIETs, SCERT and the Directorates of education in the different states/UTs.
Various medium term Post NAS interventions have been initiated, which includes, sharing of findings of NAS with DIETs, BRCCs, and other stakeholders; orientation of BRCCs, CRCCs and teachers on evolving learning strategies to enhance learning outcomes at different grade levels; orientation of school leaders in use of assessment data to improve teaching learning in the States and UTs; facilitating teachers in using alternative instructional strategies to bridge the learning gaps with the support of State functionaries (SCERTs/ SIEs) and seeking support from community to improve the learning levels.
Post NAS interventions have been initiated by NCERT in collaboration with the States of Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Tripura, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Goa.
Operation Digital Board (ODB) would provide Smart Classroom facility to all 101580 schools with secondary and senior secondary classes, over the next five years. All class rooms in these schools will have the facility, thereby enhancing digital penetration and aiding digital learning among students.
School based Assessment (Annual Achievement Survey) In order to objectively assess the learning outcomes, this Department has already initiated the process of conducting the National Achievement Survey (NAS), which is an external evaluation, at regular intervals. The process has been developed after detailed and nuanced interactions with all the stakeholders. The results of the NAS held in 2017-18 are already available in the public domain.
Further, based on the evidence gathered from the survey of 2.2 million students during the NAS conducted in 2017, and the subsequent targeted interventions by NCERT in a pilot survey for creating a framework to improve learning outcomes, it has been decided to conduct a School Based Assessment (SBA) in 2019, which would be a qualitative and non threatening evaluation process of the students by the respective schools.
These quantitative and qualitative evaluation techniques, in tandem with the external evaluation, are crucial to ensure that the desired learning outcomes are reached. Both these evaluations are therefore essential and form a logical continuum.
The Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) will be conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2021. PISA was launched by OECD in 1997, first administered in 2000 and now covers approximately 80 countries. The key features of PISA are as under:
i. PISA is a triennial international survey (every three years) which aims to evaluate the education system worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. ii. Students were assessed in reading, mathematics, science and collaborative problem-solving.
iii. Within the country (or specific geography to be covered), PISA covers a sample of 15-year-old students representing all forms of schooling i.e. public, private, private aided etc i.e. sample is derived from the entire population of 15-year-old school going children. iv. PISA, unlike content-based assessment, measures the extent to which students have acquired key competencies that are essential for full participation in modern societies.
v. Participation in PISA allows benchmarking performance against a wide range of countries. vi. PISA uses test items aligned with international benchmarks. Test items are adapted to the local context and language, pilot tested and validated before being used for the test.
India will participate in PISA 2021 through schools run by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and the UT of Chandigarh. It was decided after due consideration that the computer-based testing mode would not be suitable for Indian students at this point in time and as of now the mode of testing would be paper-based. The preparations for PISA 2021 have been initiated. An International Treaty will be signed between MHRD and OECD for this purpose. The World Bank will be providing technical support as well as financial assistance to the tune of USD 5.6 million for all activities related to PISA.
The NCERT has undertaken review of Syllabi and Textbooks developed by the NCERT as a follow up of the National Curriculum Framework-2005 in 2017-18. All the textbooks of NCERT developed as a follow-up of the NCF-2005 have been reviewed for updating. A portal for teachers’ suggestions on the NCERT textbooks was created. Suggestions received from teachers were analysed and incorporated if found appropriate in this review. Further, national initiatives such as Clean India, Digital India, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Demonetization, etc., have also been given space in the reviewed textbooks in integrated manner. Data was updated in the light of Census 2011. Reviewed textbooks have been implemented for the year 2018-19.
Seven joint committees drawing memberships from the NCERT, CBSE, NVS and KVS were constituted by the NCERT to discuss syllabus and textbooks at the secondary and senior secondary stages and the issues regarding assessment and examination. These committees were constituted as a follow up of the meeting held at the MHRD on 5th June 2017 and 5th July 2017 under the Chairpersonship of Secretary, School Education and Literacy, MHRD, in which two major recommendations were made- 1. CBSE will not publish any textbook henceforth. All the textbooks shall be published by the NCERT only and 2. Joint Committees to be constituted to discuss these issues further.
Joint committees held their meetings from September-November, 2017 and the minutes of the meetings were shared with all the participating organisations for further actions. As a follow-up of the meetings of these joint committees, NCERT has taken initiative to develop workbooks in English and Sanskrit for classes IX and X and also development and updating of syllabi and textbooks for Computer Science (XI-XII), Information and Communication Technology(IX-XII) and Informatics Practices(XI-XII) as well as Biotechnology(XI-XII).
In 2018-19, as per the advice of MHRD, the NCERT has again undertaken review of its textbooks under the initiative of Rationalisation of Curriculum. In this regard, MHRD invited suggestions from different stakeholders. Received suggestions were analysed by the NCERT’s faculty members along with experts from different institutions. Now, NCERT is in the process of finalizing its textbooks for 2019-20 including QR codes in each of the textbook titles.
NCERT launched a portal in August, 2017 to facilitate individuals, schools, States and UTs to directly purchase textbooks. NCERT printed 4.15 crore textbooks by June, 2014 for the session 2014-15, 4.17 crore textbooks by June, 2015 for the session 2015-16, 4.35 crore textbooks by June, 2016 for the session 2016-17, 4.63 crore textbooks by June, 2017 for the session 2017-18, and 5.91 crore textbooks by June, 2018 for the session 2018-19.
It is expected that NCERT will be able to print 6.03 crore textbooks by June, 2019 for the session 2019-20. Textbooks will be distributed through four Regional Production-cum-Distribution Centres already established at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Guwahati and Kolkata apart from Delhi. NCERT has also empanelled 895 vendors across the country for distribution of textbooks.
NCERT books are available free in digital version. 15 lakh students have downloaded the e-pathshala app. Visits in one year has crossed 30 million mark.
UDISE+ (UDISE plus) The Unified District Information on School Education (UDISE) collects data on all schools in the country. From 2018-19, it has been decided to update the UDISE and introduce new features. The UDISE+ (i.e., UDISE Plus) application will be online and will gradually move towards collecting real-time data. UDISE+ application, in addition to data collection, will have the following features: a) A Dashboard with data analytics and data visualization will be developed. It will include time series data to study the trend over years and monitor growth. Progress in Key Performance indicators will be tracked.
b) The system will be linked to GIS mapping and School Report Cards will be generated. c) To ensure data quality, a separate module for third party verification will be developed including a mobile app. The process of data collection will start in January, 2019.
The PGI is for the purpose of grading States and UTs on their performance across 70 indicators on school education.
The Index will grade States and UTS thus allowing for more than one State/UT to occupy the same grade, and therefore all 36 States and UTS to ultimately reach the highest level. The PGI has been conceptualised as a tool to encourage States and UTS to adopt certain practices like online recruitment and transfer of Teachers, electronic attendance of Students & Teachers etc.
The PGI has seventy (70) indicators divided into two categories viz Outcomes and Governance processes. The first category is divided into four domains viz. Learning outcomes, Access outcomes, Infrastructure and Facilities and Equity outcomes; the second category is about Governance processes which covers attendance, teacher adequacy, administrative adequacy, training, accountability and transparency.
The total weightage under PGI is thousand points. Each indicator has been given either twenty or ten points.
The data for the year 2017-18 has been received and compiled for all the State/UTs and final grading has been done after third party verification of data by UNICEF. The Index will be officially released shortly.
On 18th January 2017, the Hon’ble Minister for Human Resource Development launched the Shagun portal – www.seshagun.nic.in. It has two modules – (1) Repository of innovation and (2) Online monitoring.
Repository: This repository of good practices focuses on positive stories and developments that are driving performance improvements in school education. These innovative practices are documented in the form of case studies, videos, testimonials and images.
This digital platform is for public, media, stakeholders, influencers and global academia to witness the innovative ideas and success stories being registered in the field of elementary education. Innovations that have benefited State Governments, public schools, teachers and students are documented and disseminated through this repository. In the Shagun Repository, there are 277 videos on best practices, 266 case studies, 151 testimonials and 4537 photographs.
In the year 2018-19, the department decided to expand the repository by covering all the schemes of the department and activities of various autonomous bodies such as NCERT, NIEPA, CBSE, NCTE, NIOS, KVS, NVS and National Bal Bhawan (NBB).
Monitoring: The online monitoring module of Shagun measures state-level performance and progress against key educational indicators which enables DSEL and education departments of State and UTs to conduct real-time assessments.
The main functions are fund utilisation tracking, performance measurement on key educational indicators, online planning & goal setting, physical targets and outcomes monitoring.
The portal offers data analytics and generates graphics which represent the progress of States and UTs against key identified parameters such as exact number of out of school children mainstreamed, the increase or decrease in enrolment in government schools vis-à-vis private schools, expenditure on increasing the learning outcomes, and teachers’ salaries.
Shagunotsav In a major initiative, all Government schools throughout the country will be visited and checked during August-September, 2019. The Shagunotsav will focus primarily on infrastructure and facilities in all schools and this will be mapped online. The feedback will be used to verify the UDISE + data-base and certain indicators under the Performance Grading Index.
These Awards were instituted in 1958. From the mid-1960s, 5th September came to be the fixed date for the function on account of birthday of Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India. Over the years, the number of awards increased to 378 awards, but it was felt that the Awards were losing their stature.
The guidelines of the scheme were revised in the year 2018 along the pattern of the changes made in major national awards. The new scheme is transparent, fair, and rewards demonstrated excellence and performance.
The features of the new scheme are as under: Online self-nominations from teachers were invited on www.mhrd.gov.in. The Web portal was developed by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) and the entire software ran smoothly without any glitches or complaints. About 6000 applications were received from teachers from all over the country clearly indicating that the initiative was successful.
All regular teachers were eligible and no minimum years of service was required. This enabled meritorious young teachers to apply. The number of awards was rationalized to 45, thereby restoring the prestige of the awards.
No State, UT or Organization had a quota in the final selection. This encouraged them to compete for the awards. An independent Jury at the National level made the final selection. The Jury reviewed the list of 152 candidates forwarded by all States, UTs and Organisations. Each nominee made a presentation before the Jury, which made a final assessment and recommended 45 names for the Teachers Awards.
The Department of School Education & Literacy instituted Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar (SVP) in 2016-17 at District, State and National level as a next step to Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative. These awards are given to ensure long term sustainability and behaviour change towards cleanliness in schools. Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar is an initiative to recognize, inspire and celebrate excellence in water, sanitation and hygiene practices in schools. The schools voluntarily applied online through a website and mobile App for the awards.Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18 was open to Private schools besides Government and Government aided schools.
Methodology for the awards Selection of schools for the awards is made on the basis of scores obtained by them in five sub-categories, namely (i) Water, (ii) Toilet, (iii) Hand washing with Soap, (iv) Operations and Maintenance, (v) Behaviour Change and Capacity Building. The best schools selected for the National award are given a cash prize of Rs. 50,000/- as an additional school grant for sustaining and improving sanitation and hygiene conditions in the school, alongwith a Certificate of Recognition. The best States and top Districts which participated in the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar are also recognised.
Swachh Vidyalaya Praskhar 2017-18 SVP 2017-18 received overwhelming response from schools. 6,15,152 schools registered online for the Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar 2017-18, which is more than double the number of schools which participated in the previous year. States and UTs shortlisted 727 schools for consideration of the National level awards.
After cross validation and thorough screening top 52 schools were conferred the National Awards for SVP 2017-18. The top 4 States viz. Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh and the best 9 districts viz. Pondicherry, Srikakulam, Chandigarh, Hisar, Karaikal, Latur, Nellore, South Goa and Vadodara, were given the certificates of recognition during the function held on 18.9.2018.
Cultural activitiesincluding art, music, dance and theatre play a very critical role in a student’s life and school activities. The National Curriculum Framework emphasized the importance of such activities and how they helped to enhance learning.
A fortnight of cultural activities for both students and teachers was conducted concluding on 21st December, 2018. Titled Rangotsav, it comprised activities at the school level, culminating in national level events including the following -
Kala Utsav is an initiative of DSE&L, MHRD to promote arts in education by nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students of government and government aided schools at the secondary stage (Class IX-XII) of education in the country. The event was organised at New Delhi from 12-14 December 2018. ‘Kala Utsav’ focuses on both performing and visual arts & crafts (dance, music, theatre, painting, sculpture and heritage crafts) at school, district and State level, to enhance awareness of India’s cultural heritage and its vibrant diversity amongst students, teachers, teacher educators, administrators and other stakeholders and aims to promote networking of artists and artisans with school education.
Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat - National Level Camp Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan organized Rashtriya Ekta Shivir- Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat form 31st October – 2nd November, 2018 in New Delhi.
A total number of 1600 students and 175 escort teachers of Kendriya Vidyalayas from all the 25 Regions participated in the National Level camp. Following competitions were conducted during KVS “Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat-2018”:
Group song, group dance (state & international), theatre, on spot painting, solo singing, solo classical dance and display of artefacts Debates (Hindi & English), quiz, Sanskrit shloka recitation, Hindi kavya paath, English elocution, creative writing, spell-bee
Prime Minister’s Interaction Programme with school and college students "Pariksha Pe Charcha" was held at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi on 16th February, 2018.
This program was a ‘Town Hall’ event which was unique in itself and was planned for the first time wherein Hon’ble Prime Minister was interacting Live with school and college students in the Stadium and through Web Interaction across the Country. Written questions were invited from the students across the country for the interaction programme on MyGov platform. About 18,000 written questions were received out of which 40 questions were first shortlisted. Thereafter, Doordarshan was requested to video shoot these shortlisted questions and a few students from IIT Mumbai, BHU, etc prepared their own video of the question and sent it to MHRD. The final questions were then decided keeping in view the topic for the interaction.
Students from all over the country from class VI to XII and those in higher educational institutions were requested to see/hear the broadcast on Doordarshan (DD National, DD News, DD India)/on radio channels (All India Radio Medium Wave, All India Radio FM Channel). 2500 students from various schools and colleges along with teachers and principals were invited to attend the live interaction at Talkatora Stadium. Accordingly, instructions and advisories were issued to all government and aided schools and government run higher education institutions to make necessary arrangements so that students can view the program. Necessary advisories were also issued to private schools and institutions.
The Pariksha Pe Charcha Programme was planned as a one hour interaction of Hon'ble PM, continued for nearly two hours. There were more than 2500 students from schools and colleges who were present in Talkatora Stadium of 16th February, 2018 for the interaction and more than 8.5 Crore students from across the country viewed or heard the programme on DD/TV Channels/ Radio Channels.
The programme was widely covered by print and electronic media. As per media reports, the interaction programme, became a raging hit on social media, and was the No. 1 trend conversation, which got more than 2.5 billion impression on twitter. It was widely viewed on Youtube, Facebook Live, through webcasting, etc.
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is an examination conducting body under administrative control of the Ministry of Human Resource Development and affiliates schools for conduct of the Class X and XII Examination. The Board has 10 Regional Offices and more than 21000 affiliated schools.
Affiliation The Board has developed and implemented online software for affiliation process from 2018-19 session. Now, the application for affiliation from the submission to the final grant has been integrated with electronic communication and is completely transparent. The stakeholder can now keep track of his application at every stage.
The Affiliation bye-laws have been completely revamped to ensure speed, transparency, hassle-free procedures and ease of doing business with CBSE. The Hon’ble Minister for HRD released the new CBSE Affiliation bye-laws at a press conference highlighting the main changes.
Examination Reforms Exemption/concessions being extended to Persons with Benchmark Disabilities as per the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 have been complied and also the schedule for making requests to avail facilities/exemptions circulated vide Circular dated 26.09.2018 and 05.11.2018. The Board has notified the policy for facilitation of Children with Special Needs (CWSN).
Revised guidelines have been formulated for fixing schools as examination centres. More choices have been provided in question papers. OASIS has been introduced as a single window solution for many examinations related activities.
The Board has successfully implemented the pilot project for delivering of encrypted question papers in the Compartment 2018 examinations for Class X & XII.
Board has recently issued a circular No. Acad 25/2018 dated 13.08.2018 to all affiliated schools, on adherence to the provision of National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005 with regard to curriculum load, no homework to students upto Class II as prescribed by NCERT and reduction in the weight of school bags.
§ National Testing Agency (NTA) has been established as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct all entrance examinations for higher education institutions in the country.
§ NTA has already successfully conducted its first online exam for SWAYAM in December first week for about 3800 learners.
§ UGC/ NET examination has also been successfully conducted by NTA on 18.12.2018. About 9.5 lakhs post graduate level students took this examination. The JEE examination in January 2019 will also be conducted by NTA for about 9.5 lakh students.
§ Improving Gender Balance: With a view to improving female enrolment in the B.Tech Programmes in IITs, a Committee under the chairmanship of Director, IIT-Mandi was constituted by the Joint Admission Board (JAB) to suggest suitable measures. The recommendations of the Committee were considered by the IIT Council in its 51st meeting held on 28.04.2017 and decided to increase female enrolment from the current 8% to 14% in 2018-19, 17% in 2019-20 and 20% in 2020-21 by creating supernumerary seats.
With a view to tap the talent pool of the country for carrying out research in digeneously in cutting edge science and technology, MHRD has launched a Scheme called ‘Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) for a period of seven years beginning 2018-19 with the approval of Cabinet. 135 students have been selected for PMRf DURING THE YEAR 2018.
With effect from 2019, B.Tech./M.Tech students from any recognised Indian institution will be offered direct admission in PhD programme in the IITs/IISc. Such students, who fulfill the eligibility criteria, and shortlisted through a selection process, as laid down in the PMRF Guidelines, will be offered a fellowship of Rs.70,000/- per month for the first two years, Rs.75,000/- per month for the 3rd year, and Rs.80,000/- per month in the 4th and 5th years.
Apart from this, a research grant of Rs.2.00 lakh will be provided to each of the Fellows for a period of 5 years to cover their foreign travel expenses for presenting research papers in international conferences and seminars. A maximum of 3000 Fellows would be selected in a three year period.
This is implemented under the initiative of “Revitalising Infrastructure & Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022
HEFA will provide Rs 1,00,000 crore in next 4 years Till now about Rs.12700 crore of loan has already been sanctioned. HEFA is also being used by Ministry of Health for funding of construction of four AIIMS. Loanhave already been sanctioned to AIIMS Gorakhpur and AIIMS Bhatinda (Punjab).
§ Scheme for Promotion of Research Collaboration (SPARC) – In order to facilitate research and academic collaboration with top academic institutions in the world, it has been decided that Government will fund such collaboration between Indian institutions which are in top 100 of either subject specific NIRF ranking or aggregate NIRF ranking on one hand and with foreign institutions figuring in top 500 QS world ranking.
About 800 proposals have already been received (last date 7.12.2018). Some of the foreign educational institutions who have already applied for joint collaboration are MIT, Harvard, London School of Economics, National Technological University Singapore, National University of Singapore, University of Cambridge etc.
This scheme has been initiated for accelerating inter-disciplinary and transformative research in the field of science by allowing educational institutions in the hinterland to collaborate with established research centres in science.
Coordinated by IISc Bangalore, STARS aims at making available high end research funding in the field of science to researchers in small edcuational institutions. Rs.487 crore is earmarked for this.
§ Innovation Cell and Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) – Innovation cell is MHRD’s initiative and has been established at AICTE premises with a purpose to systematically foster the culture of Innovation in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the country.
For the real outcome there has to be some assessment of what is being done to promote innovation. Therefore, Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) has also been launched. It will encourage healthy competiveness among Higher Educational Institutions.
§ Swachh Bharat Summer Internship The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, in association with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, has come up with the innovative ‘Swachh Bharat Summer Internship (SBSI) 2018’aimed at engaging the college youth with Swachhata work in villages in the Summer vacation. 2 lakh students enrolled Students spend 100 hours in a village where he or she will work with people of the village to make it clean
§ Revamp in technical education – To develop analytical understanding and to acquire a holistic perception of the subjects being taught, the technical examination system has been revamped with less emphasis on rote learning. Internship has been made mandatory for Diploma and Degree engineering students so that they have exposure to industry practise for the pass out.
Every institution adopts 5 villages Use of knowledge for social, economic growth Technical institutions design technical solutions for local issues
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) 2.0-a flagship program of MHRD, 688 institutions are selected on a Challenge Mode (426 technical and 262 non- technical) which are reputed Higher Educational Institutes (both public and private) of the country, which have adopted total no. of 3555 villages for their development through UBA
§ A unique IT Initiative under which students are encouraged to apply knowledge to the real life situations and to find innovative solutions to the day to day problems
§ Smart India Hackathon 2018 (SIH 2018) was launched on 16th October 2017. It includes 2 sub-editions – Software as well as Hardware: Software Edition- 36-hour software product development competition, similar in concept to SIH 2017.
In the new Hardware Edition of the Hackathon, the teams work for 5 consecutive days and build their hardware solutions for the proposed problem statements. The Grand Finale of Software Edition SIH 2018 was held on 30th & 31st March, 2018. The SIH 2019 is going to invite real life problems from industry as well. Advertisement for applications for SIH 2019 has already been placed in newspaper on 04.12.2018.
SIH 2019 aims at developing software and hardware solutions to industrial problems. To sustain these initiatives, good and innovative solutions will be handed over to the incubation cell of the institute where angel investors can financially support commercially viable innovations.
§ 3rd successful year of competing excellence & ranking § Has become a benchmark of quality and creates competitive spirit among the institutes
§ Shri Prakash Javadekar, released the NIRF India Rankings 2018 in various categories on the basis of performance of Higher Educational Institutions in April 2018.
§ A total of 2809 institutions have participated in 9 categories. Collectively they have submitted 3954 distinct profiles, some in multiple disciplines/categories. This includes 301 Universities, 906 Engineering Institutions, 487 Management Institutions, 286 Pharmacy Institutions, 71 Law Institutions, 101 Medical Institutions, 59 Architecture Institutions and 1087 General Degree Colleges.69 top institutions in 9 categories were given awards.This year also saw the beginning of limited ranking of institutions in new areas like Medicine, Law and Architecture.
Government of India launched the Study in India program on 18th April, 2018 in New Delhi. Students from 30 countries across South Asia, Africa, CIS and Middle East can apply for different courses from 160 select Indian institutions (both public & private) which are high on NAAC and NIRF ranking
It will improve the global ranking of Indian Institutions Study in India program has taken off well and nearly 2000 students have got admission in selected 100 top Indian Institutions for the first season.
RESEARCH &QUALITY HIGHER EDUCATION AICTE has released a sum of Rs. 11.77 Crore under Research Promotional Scheme in the current Financial Year. The scheme aims at promoting research in engineering sciences and innovations in established and newer technologies; and to generate Master’s and Doctoral degree candidates to augment the quality of faculty and research. Under Modernisation and Removal of Obsolescence (MODROBS), AICTE has granted a sum of Rs. 16 Crore in the present financial year to the institutes for removing obsolescence in laboratories, workshops, etc.
5 New Research Parks at IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad and IISc Bangalore @ Rs.75 crore each approved.
National Digital Library (NDL) With the Government’s commitment towards “Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat” the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar launched the new digital initiative of HRD Ministry ‘National Digital Library of India’ on the occasion of National Reading Day i.e. 19th June, 2018.
This National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is a project of the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the aegis of National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT
1.9 Crore e-books and documents are available. Content is available in English, Hindi and about 200 other languages. There are 160 Content contributor. There are 30 lakh users 9 thousand educational institutions from where users registered
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar launched the web portal of the Scheme “Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS)” in New Delhi on 25th October, 2018.
Under the Scheme, 1500 research projects will be awarded for 2 years to support the social science research in the higher educational institutions and to enable research to guide policy making.
In August 2018, Government sanctioned the scheme “Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS)” at a total cost of Rs.414 Cr for implementation up to 31.3.2021 and Indian Council of Social Science and Research (ICSSR) will be the project implementing agency.
The broad objectives of the scheme are: To identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on the governance and society.
To focus research on (11) broad thematic areas such as : State and Democracy, Urban transformation, Media, Culture and Society, Employment, Skills and Rural transformation, Governance, Innovation and Public Policy, Growth, Macro-trade and Economic Policy, Agriculture and Rural Development, Health and Environment, Science and Education, Social Media and Technology, Politics, Law and Economics. The Sub-Theme areas will be decided on the basis of Expert Groups’ advice before notifying the scheme and calling for applications. To ensure selection of projects through a transparent, competitive process on online mode.
To provide opportunity for social science researchers in any institution in the country, including all Universities (Central and State), private institutions with 12(B) status conferred by UGC. ICSSR funded/recognised research institutes will also be eligible to submit research proposals on the given themes and sub-themes.
The Ministry of HRD has embarked on a major and new initiative called 'Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds' (SWAYAM), which will provide one integrated platform and portal for online courses, using information and communication technology (ICT) and covering all higher education subjects and skill sector courses.
Till date, more than 72 Lakhs learners have been enrolled in more than 16000+ MOOCs courses that have been run through SWAYAM.2 lakh persons have completed the courses.
MOOCs is also now being used to train teachers through Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT). 42000 teachers have already registered for their annual refresher course. NIOS is one of the National Coordinator of SWAYAM. NIOS is offering 14 secondary level courses and all courses of Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed).
Scholarships As per the record maintained by AICTE, a sum of Rs. 292.50 Crore (approx.) has been released to 11,862 GATE qualified M. Tech. students. In addition, Rs. 2.61 Lakh have been released under National Doctoral Fellowship Scheme. Overall, a sum of Rs. 1076 Crore have been released to GATE qualified M. Tech. Students in the last three year
Ministry of Human Resource Development, launched two new initiatives; Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) and Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT) on 13.11.2018 for Higher Education Faculty
Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) is a three weeks Flagship leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and one week foreign training) for second level academic functionaries in public funded higher education institutions. The main objective is to prepare second tier academic heads who are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future.
Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT), a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM. For implementing ARPIT, 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase, which are tasked to prepare online training material with focus on latest developments in the discipline, new & emerging trends, pedagogical improvements and methodologies for transacting revised curriculum.
All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) was initiated in 2011 in which data for the year 2010-11 were collected. The survey was utmost necessary as none of the sources of data on Higher education gave a complete picture of higher education in the country. Also, there were many important parameters on which data were required for policy making but either no data was available or incomplete data was available.
AISHE 2017-18, Survey covers all institutions of Higher Education in the country, registered with AISHE code in AISHE portal www.aishe.gov.in.
Institutions are categorized in 3 broad Categories; University, College and Stand-Alone Institutions. There are 903 Universities, 39050 Colleges and 10011 Stand Alone Institutionslisted on AISHE web portaland out of them 882 Universities, 38061 Colleges and 9090 Stand Alone Institutions have responded during the survey.
In AISHE-2018 report total enrolment in higher education has been estimated to be 36.6 million with 19.2 million boys and 17.4 million girls. Girls constitute 47.6% of the total enrolment. Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher education in India is 25.8%, which is calculated for 18-23 years of age group. GER for male population is 26.3% and for females, it is 25.4%.For Scheduled Castes, it is 21.8% and for Scheduled Tribes, it is 15.9% as compared to the national GER of 25.8%.
Final report for the AISHE 2010-11 to 2017-18 are available on MHRD website. Survey for the year 2017-18 has been completed and AISHE 2018-19 Survey has been launched and last date to upload data is 28th February 2019
§ An exercise called ‘Swachhta Rankings” of Higher Educational Institutions were held on 1st October 2018. Best 51 higher educational institutions have been selected for Swachhata Ranking Awards in 8 different categories.
§ This year Online submission of details sought from HEIs, 6029 institutions applied, 205 institutions shortlisted based on cut-off. AICTE & UGC inspected all 205 institutions. Best 51 institutions selected in 8 categories:
Universities ( Residential & Non-Residential) § Colleges (Residential & Non-Residential) § Technical Institutions (Universities – Residential) § Technical Colleges (Residential & Non-Residential) § Government Universities
Government has approved setting up of 9 Research Parks one each at IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, and IISc Bangalore. IIT Madras Research Park, which is fully functional with 43 R&D clients, 4 Incubators, 55 Startups, and 5 Centres of Excellence was established at a total cost of Rs. 447.66 crore, which includes grants-in-aid of Rs.137 crore from the Government. The Research parks at IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay are under construction at a cost of Rs.100 crore each, out of which a sum of Rs.100 crore has been released to IIT Kharagpur and Rs.33 crore to IIT Bombay.
IIT Gandhinagar Research Park currently under construction has been approved at a cost of Rs.90 crore with full funding from the Department of Science & Technology, which has released a sum of Rs.40 crore as on date.
Remaining Five new Research Parks at IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, and IISc Bangalore at a total cost of Rs.75.00 crore each have been approved by the Government.
§ IMPRINT initiative was launched by the President, Prime Minister and the Human Resource Development Minister in November, 2015 to channelize the research in premier institutions into areas that can have largest social and economic good for the country.
§ Under this initiative, research projects under 10 selected domains are jointly funded by MHRD and other participating Ministries/Departments. These domains are: health care, energy, sustainable habitat, nano technology hardware, water resources and river systems, advanced materials, information and communication technology, manufacturing, security and defence, and environmental science and climate change.
§ 142 research projects with an outlay of Rs. 323.16 crore for 3 years with joint funding from MHRD and participating Ministries in the ratio of 50:50 have been approved and currently under execution under IMPRINT-I.
§ IMPRINT-II has now been launched as a corpus jointly set up by M/o HRD and Deptt. Science & Technology as well as contribution from various other ministries. The scheme is opened to all CFTIs and CUs as principal investigator (PIs) while other institutions including private institutions can participate as joint PI. The average cost of each proposal will be about Rs. 2 crore with a duration of 3 years. An outlay of Rs. 335 cr each from MHRD and DST share has been approved. Thus, the dedicated corpus is Rs. 670 cr for Imprint II.
§ Under IMPRINT-II, 122 projects totaling Rs. 112 cr has been approved. Further, under IMPRINT-II, specific challenges are being called from different ministries. Solution of these will be funded by IMPRINT-II.
§ The scheme was launched to promote industry-specific need-based research so as to keep up the competitiveness of the Indian industry in the global market. All the IITs have been encouraged to work with the industry to identify areas where innovation is required and come up with solutions that could be brought up to the commercialization level.
§ Under the UAY, it is proposed to invest Rs. 250 crores every year on identified projects proposed by IITs, provided the Industry contributes 25% of the project cost. For the year 2016-17, (92) projects for Rs. 285.15 crore have been approved for implementation.
§ IIT Madras is the National Coordinator of the scheme. (160) proposals have been received of which industry has agreed to contribute Rs. 156 Cr, making this one of the biggest ever industry-academia partnership. These research projects are expected to result in registration of patents.
§ Global Initiative for Academics Network (GIAN): Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) in Higher Education was launched on 30th November, 2015. The programme seeks to invite distinguished academicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, experts from premier institutions from across the world, to teach in the higher educational institutions in India
§ UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017 have been notified to create a distinct category of Deemed to be Universities, called Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities, which would be regulated differently from other Deemed to be Universities so as to evolve into Institutions of world class in reasonable time period. Also, in order to assist Indian Higher Education Institutions to get a rank within the top 100 in globally renowned rankings, accordingly The Government has shortlisted Six Institutions of Eminence (IoEs) including 3 from Public Sector and 3 from Private Sector. An Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) in its report recommended selection of 6 institutions (3 from public sector and 3 from private sector) as Institutions of Eminence. The details of these Institutions are as under:
§ Public Sector: (i) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka; (ii) Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Maharashtra; and (iii) Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. § Private Sector: (i) Jio Institute (Reliance Foundation), Pune under Green Field Category; (ii) Birla Institute of Technology & Sciences, Pilani, Rajasthan; and (iii) Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka.
§ Government Institutions will get financial assistance of 1000 crores over a period of five years in addition to the grant already being received. The institutions selected from the private sector will have complete autonomy to promote innovation and creativity expected to result in producing competent graduates for the development of the country.
Measures announced: The annual turnover limit under which companies would be exempt from GST has been raised to ₹40 lakh for most States and ₹20 lakh for the North Eastern and hill states, from the earlier limit of ₹20 lakh and ₹10 lakh, respectively.
The limit for eligibility for the Composition Scheme is raised to an annual turnover of ₹1.5 crore from April 1, 2019. So far, only manufacturers and traders were eligible for this scheme. The Scheme now has been extended to small service providers with an annual turnover of up to ₹50 lakh, at a tax rate of 6%.
Kerala can levy a cess of up to 1% for up to two years on intra-State supplies to help finance the disaster relief efforts following the recent floods in the state.
Implications and outcomes of these measures: A very large part of GST revenue comes from the formal sector and large companies. These measures have been taken to help the small and medium companies. The revenue impact due to these will be minimal. Allowing disaster cess of 1% to be introduced in the State of Kerala on local supplies may be an administrative issue for both businesses and government and this may set a precedence for other States to demand additional levy. Increasing the GST threshold limit would allow about 10 lakh traders to be exempt from the compliance burden of GST, and increasing the Composition Scheme limit would benefit about 20 lakh small businesses that fall between the annual turnover brackets of ₹1 crore and ₹1.5 crore.
Facts for Prelims: The Composition Scheme currently allows companies with an annual turnover of up to ₹1 crore to opt for it, and file returns on a quarterly basis at a nominal rate of 1%
Why do we need a GST Council? The GST council is the key decision-making body that will take all important decisions regarding the GST. The GST Council dictates tax rate, tax exemption, the due date of forms, tax laws, and tax deadlines, keeping in mind special rates and provisions for some states. The predominant responsibility of the GST Council is to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for goods and services across the nation.
How is the GST Council structured? The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is governed by the GST Council. Article 279 (1) of the amended Indian Constitution states that the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of the Article 279A.
According to the article, GST Council will be a joint forum for the Centre and the States. It consists of the following members: The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson As a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.
GST Council recommendations: Article 279A (4) specifies that the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on the important issues related to GST, such as, the goods and services will be subject or exempted from the Goods and Services Tax.
Background: The Henley Passport Index (HPI) is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom for their citizens. It started in 2006 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index (HVRI) and was modified and renamed in January 2018.
Definition: The HPI consists of a ranking of passports according to how many other territories can be reached ‘visa-free’ (defined below). All distinct destination countries and territories in the IATA database are considered.
Rankings of various countries: India jumped two positions from 81st in 2018 to 79th this year. Japan retained its top spot as the world’s most travel-friendly passport due to the document’s access to 190 countries. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal ranked further low at 104, 102 and 94 respectively. South Korea edged up the ranking from October’s index to join Singapore, offering access to 189 jurisdictions. China jumped almost 20 places in just two years, from 85th in 2017 to 69th this year.
European countries also performed favourably, with European Union member states along with Norway and the US filling in the places behind the top three nations although the UK continues to drop down the rankings, along with the US.
The EIU Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of world democracy for 165 independent states and two territories.
The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Based on their scores on 60 indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: full democracy; flawed democracy; hybrid regime; and authoritarian regime.
Performance of India: India is ranked at 41 – a notch above last year. It is still classified as a ‘flawed democracy’ according to the index. India achieved a score of 7.23 on the index to maintain its position – the same it did last year. This is the lowest ever score attributed to India in the index ever since its publication. India ranks below the US (ranked 25th in the index) and other so called ‘flawed democracies’ like Italy, France, Botswana and South Africa.
Flawed democracy: The report defines a flawed democracy as nations that “have free and fair elections and, even if there are problems (such as infringements on media freedom), basic civil liberties are respected. However, there are significant weaknesses in other aspects of democracy, including problems in governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation.”
Important observations made: Performance of financial markets, monetary policy in key economies including India, and the dollar movement will determine gold demand in 2019. Since gold is considered a safe haven, during choppy markets, the demand for gold improves, normally. Emerging markets, led by India and China–the biggest consuming markets–make up 70% of consumer demand for the metal.
About World Gold Council: The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, and their aim is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold.
The World Gold Council is an association whose members comprise the world’s leading gold mining companies. It helps to support its members to mine in a responsible way and developed the Conflict Free Gold Standard. Headquartered in the UK, they have offices in India, China, Singapore, Japan and the United States.
The programme will not be notified under the Environment Protection Act or any other Act to create a firm mandate with a strong legal back up for cities and regions to implement NCAP in a time bound manner for effective reduction.
Key features of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP): Achieve a national-level target of 20-30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by between 2017 and 2024. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) will execute this nation-wide programme in consonance with the section 162 (b) of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1986. The programme has been launched with an initial budget of ₹300 crore for the first two years.
The plan includes 102 non-attainment cities, across 23 states and Union territories, which were identified by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on the basis of their ambient air quality data between 2011 and 2015. Non-attainment cities are those which have been consistently showing poorer air quality than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These include Delhi, Varanasi, Bhopal, Kolkata, Noida, Muzaffarpur, and Mumbai.
As part of the programme, the Centre also plans to scale up the air quality monitoring network across India. At least 4,000 monitors are needed across the country, instead of the existing 101 real-time air quality (AQ) monitors, according to an analysis.
The plan proposes a three-tier system, including real-time physical data collection, data archiving, and an action trigger system in all 102 cities, besides extensive plantation plans, research on clean-technologies, landscaping of major arterial roads, and stringent industrial standards.
It also proposes state-level plans of e-mobility in the two-wheeler sector, rapid augmentation of charging infrastructure, stringent implementation of BS-VI norms, boosting public transportation system, and adoption of third-party audits for polluting industries.
Various committees: The national plan has proposed setting up an apex committee under environment minister, a steering committee under-secretary (environment) and a monitoring committee under a joint secretary. There would be project monitoring committees at the state-level with scientists and trained personnel.
Benefits of the programme: NCAP has certainly helped kick start the much-awaited good practice of setting air pollution reduction targets. The biggest advantage of such targets is that it helps decide the level of stringency of local and regional action needed for the plans to be effective enough to meet the reduction targets.
Need of the hour: The MoEF&CC, as a nodal central and apex agency, will have to flex its authority to ensure all NCAP indicators are integrated with multi-sector and inter-ministerial programmes to align with the air quality target and objectives.
NCAP should not become only a top-down prescriptive approach. In fact, within the federal structure, NCAP, while ensuring compliance, will also have to create enough room for tighter action that can be even stronger than the common minimum national programme as defined by NCAP.
State governments and city authorities should be encouraged and enabled to take those extra steps to meet local targets. City-wise air quality targets will clearly show where much deeper cuts will be needed for hotspot and stronger regional action.
NCAP will also have to join all critical dots with clarity. For instance, in case of vehicular pollution, the main body of the plan has ignored mobility, transportation and urban planning strategies, though fortunately, the indicative broadsheet of action at the end has listed public transport, transit-oriented development policies, and non-motorised transport. But these will have to be detailed out with clear pathways and milestones and integrated well with the NCAP strategies.
NCAP will also have to be more nuanced and adopt appropriate approaches for small and big cities according to their dominant pollution profile while several strategies may remain uniform.
Context: Bureau of Energy Efficiency and CPWD sign MoU on promoting energy efficiency in buildings
According to the MoU, BEE and CPWD will cooperate on promoting designs and construction of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) compliant new buildings, star rating of CPWD managed buildings across the country with no registration or renewal fee, awareness on energy efficiency in building sector and support for capacity building of CPWD officials in ECBC.
ECO Niwas Samhita 2018 an Energy Conservation Building Code for residential buildings, to push for energy efficiency in residential sector was launched on December 14, 2018. It aims to promote design and construction of homes including apartments and townships to give benefits of energy efficiency to the occupants. Ministry of Power launched the ECO Niwas Samhita 2018.
Aim of ECO Niwas Samhita 2018: To benefit the occupants and the environment by promoting energy efficiency in design and construction of homes, apartments and townships.
Processing of application for star rating of buildings Preliminary scrutiny of application Data verification of CPWD maintained buildings Installation of smart meters Award of certificate & label Support for Energy Efficiency in Buildings Support for construction of ECBC complaint buildings Efficient coordination with CPWD Capacity building of CPWD officials
Role of CPWD – Completely filled application for star rating Support and facilitation to data verification and monitoring Construction of ECBC Complaint buildings Support for Energy Efficiency in Buildings Efficient coordination with BEE It is anticipated that this initiative will result in energy saving of more than 260 million units in the first stage with operational savings of about Rs. 100 crore.
Star Rating for Commercial Buildings: It is based on the actual performance of a building in terms of its specific energy usage in kwh/sqm/year. It rates office buildings on a 1-5 Star scale, with 5 star labelled buildings being the most efficient. It is on a voluntary basis and label provided under it is applicable for a period of 5 years from the date of issue.
It provides public recognition to energy efficient buildings, and creates a “demand side” pull. Various categories of buildings like Day Use Office Buildings, BPOs, Shopping Malls and Hospitals in the five climatic zones have been identified under the scheme.
Background: About Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) – Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is a statutory body, set up by the Government of India on 1st March 2002 under the provision of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
The mission is to assist in developing policies and strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles with the primary objective of reducing energy intensity of the Indian economy within the overall framework of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. This will be achieved with active participation of all stakeholders, resulting into accelerated and sustained adoption of energy efficiency in all sectors.
About Central Public Works Department (CPWD) – CPWD came into existence in July, 1854 when Lord Dalhousie established a central agency for execution of public works and set up Ajmer Provincial Division. It is headed by DG who is also the Principal Technical Advisor to the Government of India. It has PAN India presence and has ability to undertake construction of complex projects.
It has been involved construction of stadiums and other infrastructure requirements for Asian Games 1982 and Commonwealth Games 2010. CPWD is now engaged in construction of Afghan Parliament Building (beyond national boundaries).