Ministry of Food Processing Industries issues guidelines for OPERATION GREENS Union Minister SmtHarsimratBadal calls for cleanliness to be given utmost importance across food processing sector
Union Minister Smt. HarsimratKaurBadal inaugurates PMKK Patiala SmtHarsimratBadal speaks with Chief Minister of Kerala; assures all assistance to the State from her Ministry International Conference on Recent Advances in Food Processing Technology (iCRAFPT) gets underway at IIFPT, Thanjavur NIFTEM has potential to become Harvard of food processing sector: Union Minister SmtHarsimratKaurBadal
Food Processing Ministry to collaborate with international labs for wider acceptability of NIFTEM approved products PradhanMantriKisan SAMPADA Yojanais expected to benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate 5,30,500 employments by the year 2019-20
Allocation for Ministry of Food Processing has been doubled in the Budget 2018-19 to Rs. 1400 Crores: Smt. HarsimratKaurBadal Posted On: 31 DEC 2018 5:20PM by PIB Delhi Ministry of Food Processing Industry under the leadership of Union Minister Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal is leading the food processing industry in India from the front. The efforts of the Ministry have led to a FDI in the food processing sector in India rising by 24 per cent in 2017-18. Highlights of the major achievements are as follows
Mega Food Parks: Ministry of Food Processing Industries is focusing on boosting the food processing industry so that agriculture sector grows exponentially and become a major contributor to doubling the farmer’s income and aid ‘Make in India’ initiative of the government. To give a major boost to the food processing sector by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with particular focus on perishables, Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing Mega Food Park Scheme in the country. Mega Food Parks create modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along the value chain from farm to market with strong forward and backward linkages through a cluster based approach. Common facilities and enabling infrastructure is created at Central Processing Centre and facilities for primary processing and storage is created near the farm in the form of Primary Processing Centers (PPCs) and Collection Centers (CCs). Under the Scheme, Government of India provides financial assistance uptoRs. 50.00 Crore per Mega Food Park project.
Five Mega Food Parks were inaugurated during this period taking the total number of Mega Food Parks in the country to 14.These include Himalayan Mega Food Park at Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand Greentech Mega Food Park at Roopangarh Village in Ajmer, Rajasthan Satara Mega Food Park in Satara District, Maharashtra Paithan Mega Food Park in Aurangabad District in Maharashtra Gujarat Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park
Creation/Expansion of Food Processing Preservation Capacities(CEFPPC)- 134 projects have been approved under the scheme till date
Intergrated Cold Chain – Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing the Scheme of Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure as one of the component of Pradhan Mantri Kisan SampadaYojana with the objective of arresting post-harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce and providing remunerative price to farmers for their produce. The integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure can be set up by individuals, groups of entrepreneurs, cooperative societies, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), NGOs, Central/State PSUs, etc. The scheme is primarily private sector driven and proposals under this scheme are invited through Expression of Interest (EOI). 81 projects have been approved by Inter Ministerial Approval Committee (IMAC).
Creation of Backward and Forward Linkage-70 projects have been approved under the scheme till date Agro processing Clusters-33 projects have been approved under the scheme till date
Towards cleanliness Efforts towards cleanliness were undertaken under SwachhtaPakhwada which was observed from 16th to 31st October. On the first day the Minister launched the campaign with the inauguration of a book “Waste to Wealth Technology” prepared by Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu. During the campaign industry bodies like ASSOCHAM, FICCI, DICCI, PHDCCI, AIFPA and CII organised Swachhta Awareness Programme and training camps for street vendors on food safety across New Delhi. The Minister conferred prizes to cleanest Mega Food Parks and Cold Chains.
Standing with Kerala in trying times The Ministry made big efforts to reach out to the flood affected people of Kerala during the devastating floods. The Minister promptly called a meeting of industry representatives and sought a cohesive effort towards relief for the state. The Minister spoke with Chief Minister of Kerala and promised all assistance from the Ministry. Following the call from the Minister, food processing companies made generous contributions to relief efforts. Extension of time for completion was accorded to two Megal Food Parks under implementation in the state.
Advances in Food Processing Technology International Conference on Recent Advances in Food Processing Technology (iCRAFPT) was organised at Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur in Tamilnadu. The conference saw encouraging participation from speakers, both national and international, and provided a strong platform for knowledge sharing and meaningful discussionn among the industry, academia, researchers and farmers which would potentially take the food sector growth to a newer heights. Over 09 overseas speakers, 77 Indian speakers, 18 food industry talks, 30 series lectures, 2 panel discussions, 8 student presentation, 605 poster presentation and 721 Abstract Publication took place in the conference which also saw release of new technologies and an expo of successful entrepreneurs groomed by IIFPT.
Collaboration with industry also got a fillip in the NIFTEM-Industry Forum organised at National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management in Sonepat in Haryana. The meeting aimed to identify challenges being faced by the Indian Food Industry, to bridge industrial and academic gap by industry oriented research projects, promote science & technology collaboration based on innovation by developing new technologies, new product development, refine exciting technological infrastructure which can be commercialized in future for the development of food processing sector. On the occasion, the Minister mooted the idea of a ‘Brand NIFTEM’ for processed food which would be healthier, fresher and cheaper. The Minister also highlighted that NIFTEM was a one of its kind institute and had the potential to become the Harvard of food processing technology and management sector.
Creation of facilities at NIFTEM: The year saw NIFTEM expanding its infrastructure and adding an Incubation centre and Food Testing Laboratory to its repertoire. The laboratory would not only serve as a Centre for certification of food products but would also undertake research and innovation for solving the problems of the food industry and the other stakeholders of the food sector. The Center would work in unison with the regulators and the policy makers for providing them all support for developing standard test protocols for various parameters of quality essential for domestic and international market and would serve as the National Reference facility in the years to come.
Modalities of Operation GREENS: Operation Greens was announced in the Budget speech of 2018-19 with an outlay of Rs 500 crores to stabilize the supply of Tomato, Onion and Potato(TOP) crops and to ensure availability of TOP crops throughout the country round the year without any price volatility. A major step was taken when the Ministry declared a two pronged strategy for operationalization of the scheme which comprises of
Short term Price Stabilisation Measures consisting of a provision of 50% of the subsidy on Transportation of Tomato Onion Potato(TOP) Crops from production to storage; Hiring of appropriate storage facilities for TOP Crops; and Long Term Integrated value chain development projects.
Capacity Building of FPOs & their consortium Quality production Post-harvest processing facilities Agri-Logistics Marketing / Consumption Points Creation and Management of e-platform for demand and supply management of TOP Crops.
The Ministry declared that organisations eligible for the grant would include State Agriculture and other Marketing Federations, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), cooperatives, companies, Self-help groups, food processors, logistic operators, service providers, supply chain operators, retail and wholesale chains and central and state governments and their entities/organizations.
Better connectivity for grievance redressal: The Ministry launched an in-house tollfree Interactive Voice Response service at 1-800-111175. People applying under various provisions of PradhanMantriKisan SAMPADA Yojana can call on this number and get their queries resolved by the concerned department.
MoFPI has made numerous forays even at the international level by way of participation in international events and hosting of international dignitaries and representatives of foreign companies at the Ministry; prominent among these being the inauguration of SIAL Paris by Union Minister in October. Bilateral meeting was also held with the French Agriculture minister for mutual cooperation. The Minister also met representatives from French company, Soufflet and CEO Cemafroid, international experts in cold chain, refrigeration & air conditioning and discussed possibilities for collaborations and support in developing cold chain equipment testing laboratories in India.
Apart from this, representatives and delegations from various nations called on the Minister to discuss opportunities of investment and participation in food processing sector.
Budget Provisions: Allocation for Ministry of Food Processing Industries was doubled in the Budget 2018-19 to Rs. 1400 Crores and Rs. 500 crore was allocated for ‘Operation Greens’ to address price volatility of perishable commodities like Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP). The Ministery also initiated a proposal for the setting up of a Specialized Agro Processing Financial Institutions to unlock finance for establishing food processing industries. These institutions would help overcome the deterrents faced while installing food processing projects that are capital intensive and have long gestation period, by ensuring timely, accessible and affordable credit to this sector.
Skill Development The Ministry launched a new sub-scheme i.e. Scheme for Human Resources and Institution – Skill Development (SHRISD) for assisting skilling infrastructure and Development of Course Curriculum with a budget outlay of Rs.27.50 Crore from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with following two components
1. Development of Course Curriculum / Training Module in English, Hindi and translation of the same in recognized regional languages based on the Qualification Packs (QPs) validated by National Skill Development Corporation( (NSDC) as National Occupational Standards.
Grants-In-Aid is provided to the eligible Institutions upto a maximum of Rs.5.00 lakh per QP for development of training module both in print and multimedia for each job role and, up to a maximum of Rs. 0.50 lakh per QP is provided for the translation of already developed training modules in recognized regional languages as per 8th schedule.
2. Establishing Training Centre (TC) / Expansion of Existing Training Centre to impart skill/ training on various job roles in food processing as per the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF).
Grants-In-Aid is provided at the rate of 50% of cost of plant & machineries required for a National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) validated training module subject to maximum of Rs. 15 lakh per training module and limited to maximum two training modules per Training centre(TC).
Key facts relevant for Prelims: Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev published the first periodic such table in 1969. The table organizes all chemical elements by the number of protons in a given atom and other properties. There are seven rows, called periods, and 18 columns, called groups, in the table.
Elements in the same group share similar properties. Those in the same period have the same number of atomic orbitals. Most elements on the table are metals divided into six broad categories – alkali metals, alkaline earths, basic metals, transition metals, lanthanides and actinides. They are located on the left, separated from the non-metals on the right by a zig-zag line.
Lanthanides and actinides, often called “inner transition metals”, are commonly hived off as a separate section under the main table as including all 30 – including Uranium – would make the table too wide. The table is a useful tool for people to derive relationships between the different properties of the elements. It can also help predict the properties of new elements that have yet to be discovered or created.
Who maintains periodic table? The International Union of Pure Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is responsible for maintaining the periodic table.
IUPAC is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations that represents chemists in individual countries. It is a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU). Headquarters of IUPAC is in Zürich, Switzerland. Established in 1919 as the successor of the International Congress of Applied Chemistry for the advancement of chemistry. Its members, the National Adhering Organizations, can be national chemistry societies, national academies of sciences, or other bodies representing chemists.
The IUPAC’s Inter-divisional Committee on Nomenclature and Symbols (IUPAC nomenclature) is the recognized world authority in developing standards for the naming of the chemical elements and compounds.
1001 Inventions: UNESCO has also launched its educational initiative, 1001 Inventions: Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry. Consisting of educational material and science experiments to help young people improve their understanding of chemistry and its numerous uses, the initiative will be brought to schools around the world during 2019.
The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
What is Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)? It is a composite index that draws from 12 surveys to rank nations around the globe. It has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of corruption and is used by analysts and investors.
The index is also based on expert opinions of public sector corruption and takes note of range of factors like whether governmental leaders are held to account or go unpunished for corruption, the perceived prevalence of bribery, and whether public institutions respond to citizens’ needs.
The Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index make the following observations: Denmark is the world least corrupt country scoring 88 out of 100 points. Denmark is followed by New Zealand and Finland. Somalia has been ranked last with a score of 10 behind South Sudan and Syria. More than two-thirds of evaluated countries scored below 50 points, while the average score remained at last year’s level of only 43 points.
For the first time the United States dropped out of the top 20 and it was ranked at 22nd rank. Along with Brazil, US was placed in the watch list by Transparency International.
Corruption and the crisis of democracy: Cross analysis with global democracy data reveals a link between corruption and the health of democracies. Full democracies score an average of 75 on the CPI; flawed democracies score an average of 49; hybrid regimes – which show elements of autocratic tendencies – score 35; autocratic regimes perform worst, with an average score of just 30 on the CPI.
More generally, countries with high levels of corruption can be dangerous places for political opponents. Practically all of the countries where political killings are ordered or condoned by the government are rated as highly corrupt on the CPI.
Performance of India: India’s ranking increased from 81st in 2017 to 78 in 2018. India had slid from 79th rank in 2016.
Since India gears up for general elections, there was a little significant movement in its CPI score, which moved from 40 in 2017 to 41 in 2018. In spite of spectacular public mobilisation in 2011, where citizens demanded the government to take action against corruption and advocated for the passage of the comprehensive Jan Lokpal bill, the efforts ultimately fizzled and fell flat, with little to no movement on the ground to build the specialist anti-corruption infrastructure required.
To make real progress against corruption and strengthen democracy around the world, Transparency International calls on all governments to: Strengthen the institutions responsible for maintaining checks and balances over political power, and ensure their ability to operate without intimidation. Close the implementation gap between anti-corruption legislation, practice and enforcement.
Support civil society organisations which enhance political engagement and public oversight over government spending, particularly at the local level. Support a free and independent media, and ensure the safety of journalists and their ability to work without intimidation or harassment.
It examines how the role of rail in global transport might be elevated as a means to reduce the energy use and environmental impacts associated with transport.
Key findings from The Future of Rail: Rail is among the most energy efficient modes of transport for freight and passengers – while the rail sector carries 8% of the world’s passengers and 7% of global freight transport, it represents only 2% of total transport energy demand.
Today, three-quarters of passenger rail transport activity takes place on electric trains, which is an increase from 60% in 2000 – the rail sector is the only mode of transport that is widely electrified today. This reliance on electricity means that the rail sector is the most energy diverse mode of transport.
The regions with the highest share of electric train activity are Europe, Japan and Russia, while North and South America still rely heavily on diesel. Passenger rail is significantly more electrified than freight in almost all regions, and regions with higher reliance on urban rail and high-speed rail are those with the largest share of passenger-kilometres served by electricity. Most conventional rail networks today are located in North America, Europe, China, Russia, India, and Japan. These regions make up about 90% of global passenger movements on conventional rail with India leading at 39%, followed by China at 27%.
In contrast, significant investments have been made in high-speed rail and metros. High-speed rail provides an important alternative to aviation while urban rail provides a solution to cities impacted by congestion and air pollution. Growth has been most notable in China, which has overtaken all other countries in terms of network length of both types within a single decade.
Focus on India: India’s railway system has played a fundamental role in the country’s development, transporting people and goods throughout its vast territory, integrating markets and connecting communities. Rail passenger traffic in India has increased by almost 200% since 2000 and freight traffic by 150%, yet latent demand for mobility in India remains huge. In fact, rail activity in India is set to grow more than any other country.
Today, the conventional rail system in India comprises a total route length of almost 68000 km. Metro systems exist in 10 Indian cities. A further 600 km of metro lines are planned for the next few years.
For now, India does not have any high-speed rail. However, in 2015 India and Japan signed an agreement to develop a high-speed rail line connecting the cities of Ahmedabad and Mumbai, to come into operation in 2023. Seven other high-speed lines are currently under consideration. Once completed, they would connect the four cities that constitute the Golden Quadrilateral (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai) plus other intermediate cities.
About IEA: Established in 1974 as per framework of the OECD. MISSION – The IEA works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 30 member countries and beyond. Our mission is guided by four main areas of focus: energy security, economic development, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide
Headquarters (Secretariat): Paris, France A candidate country must be a member country of the OECD. But all OECD members are not IEA members (Ex:Chile, Iceland, Israel, Latvia and Slovenia).
To become member a candidate country must demonstrate that it has: crude oil and/or product reserves equivalent to 90 days of the previous year’s net imports, to which the government has immediate access (even if it does not own them directly) and could be used to address disruptions to global oil supply
a demand restraint programme to reduce national oil consumption by up to 10% legislation and organisation to operate the Co-ordinated Emergency Response Measures (CERM) on a national basis legislation and measures to ensure that all oil companies under its jurisdiction report information upon request; measures in place to ensure the capability of contributing its share of an IEA collective action.
IEA mandate: To focus on the “3Es” of effectual energy policy: Energy security Economic development Environmental protection
Reports: Global Energy & CO2 Status Report 2017. World Energy Outlook. World Energy Statistics 2017. World Energy Balances 2017. Energy Technology Perspectives.
The centre has been opened by the Italian government in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
About the Centre: The centre would facilitate coordination among the G7 and African countries on common initiatives in Africa to achieve the goals set by the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.
The Centre would contribute towards addressing the needs of Africa by providing a platform for G7 countries to steer their cooperation to contrast environmental degradation and promote sustainable economic growth in the region.
The centre will provide a fast-track, demand-driven mechanism for African countries to access grant resources that support policies, initiatives, and best practices on climate change, food security, access to water, clean energy, and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.
The centre would be hosted by UNDP which would utilise its extensive country office network and programmatic hubs, and global expertise and knowledge, to enable the African countries to access the resources available through it.
Highlights of the study: As per the study, though the theater of action for El Niño is the tropical Pacific Ocean, its global reach costs the global community tens of billion dollars each time. El Niño may impact weather phenomenon across the world. For Eg: The eagerly-awaited winter rain and snow storms over California did not occur over California during the latest extreme El Niño.
The study notes that strong El Niño’s and thus extreme weather events associated with such strong El Niño’s will increase in the coming decades. This should serve as a warning to the countries on all continents that suffer from these extreme weather events.
However, available data is not sufficient to say with confidence how the tropical Pacific has responded to global warming till now. It is unclear if the impact of global warming on El Niño can easily be extracted considering its intrinsic tendencies and the fact that it depends on so many factors that are not easily predictable.
In this context, it is imperative that models be held to very stringent standards on their performance of El Niño behaviour during historic periods, especially the 20th century, as a test of their reliability for future projections.
This would also be necessary for projecting other events such as droughts and floods. For example, droughts over India are closely tied with El Niño and any projections of how droughts will respond to global warming will depend on how models perform in their historic depiction of El Niños as well as monsoons and how reliably they can project El Niño response to global warming in addition to how the models perform in reproducing floods to and droughts of 20th century.
Need of the hour: Develop strong and accurate models to study El Niño and effects of global warming on it. This would also be necessary for projecting other events such as droughts and floods.
What is ENSO? ENSO is nothing but El Nino Southern Oscillation. As the name suggests, it is an irregular periodic variation of wind and sea surface temperature that occurs over the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. ENSO affects the tropics (the regions surrounding the equator) and the subtropics (the regions adjacent to or bordering the tropics). The warming phase of ENSO is called El Nino, while the cooling phase is known as La Nina.
What is El Nino? El Nino is a climatic cycle characterised by high air pressure in the Western Pacific and low air pressure in the eastern. In normal conditions, strong trade winds travel from east to west across the tropical Pacific, pushing the warm surface waters towards the western Pacific. The surface temperature could witness an increase of 8 degrees Celsius in Asian waters. At the same time, cooler waters rise up towards the surface in the eastern Pacific on the coasts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. This process called upwelling aids in the development of a rich ecosystem.
What causes El Nino? El Nino sets in when there is anomaly in the pattern. The westward-blowing trade winds weaken along the Equator and due to changes in air pressure, the surface water moves eastwards to the coast of northern South America. The central and eastern Pacific regions warm up for over six months and result in an El Nino condition. The temperature of the water could rise up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Warmer surface waters increase precipitation and bring above-normal rainfall in South America, and droughts to Indonesia and Australia.
What are El Nino’s effects? El Nino affects global weather. It favours eastern Pacific hurricanes and tropical storms. Record and unusual rainfall in Peru, Chile and Ecuador are linked to the climate pattern.
El Nino reduces upwelling of cold water, decreasing the uplift of nutrients from the bottom of the ocean. This affects marine life and sea birds. The fishing industry is also affected. Drought caused by El Nino can be widespread, affecting southern Africa, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Countries dependent on agriculture are affected.
Australia and Southeast Asia get hotter. A recent WHO report on the health consequences of El Nino forecasts a rise in vector-borne diseases, including those spread by mosquitoes, in Central and South America. Cycles of malaria in India are also linked to El Nino.
Why in News? Punit Goenka is the new chairman of BARC.
About BARC: It is a collaborative Industry Company founded in 2010 by stakeholder bodies that represent Broadcasters, Advertisers, and Advertising and Media Agencies.
BARC India was set up as per guidelines of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. Promoters of BARC India are Indian Broadcasting Foundation, Indian Society of Advertisers and Advertising Agencies Association of India.
BARC India has evolved a transparent, accurate, and inclusive TV audience measurement system on the foundation of robust and future-ready technology backbone. Together with the audience measurement system, BARC India provides a suite of Insight products designed for Broadcasters, Advertisers and Agencies. The data generated and the insights provided by BARC India aids in making efficient decision making by the stakeholders.
The Government of India through a resolution dated 1st June, 2005 set up the National Statistical Commission (NSC).
The setting up of the NSC followed the decision of the Cabinet to accept the recommendations of the Rangarajan Commission, which reviewed the Indian Statistical System in 2001. The NSC was constituted with effect from 12th July 2006 with a mandate to evolve policies, priorities and standards in statistical matters.
The Commission consists of a part-time Chairperson, four part-time Members, an ex-officio Member and a secretary. The Chief Statistician of India who is the Head of the National Statistical Office is the Secretary of the Commission and the Chief Executive Officer of the NITI Aayog is the ex-officio Member of the commission.
The commission has also been entrusted with the functions of the Governing Council of the National Sample Survey Office which include overseeing the conduct of National Sample Surveys (NSS) on various socioeconomic subjects through the NSSO and the State Directorate of Economics and Statistics.
Context: The central banks of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia have launched a common digital currency called ‘Aber’, which will be used in financial settlements between the two countries through Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers technologies.
The use of the currency will be restricted to a limited number of banks in each state. In case that no technical obstacles are encountered, economic and legal requirements for future uses will be considered.
The HSFC, the hub of ISRO’s future manned missions, was inaugurated at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.
HSFC shall be responsible for the implementation of Gaganyaan project — which involves mission planning, development of engineering systems for crew survival in space, crew selection and training and also pursue activities for sustained human space flight missions.
The urine from the ruminant is a source of nitrous oxide emissions (N2O), a gas that is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Most times, when cow urine is used in degraded pastures, N2O emissions are tripled.
The cattle and livestock are a significant source of methane, a greenhouse gas, and therefore a contributor to global warming, is well-known. However, the role of cow urine is less understood.
How vulnerable is India? Dung and urine are commonly mixed together for manure in Indian fields. Since, India also hosts the world’s largest livestock population, as well as significant tracts of degraded land, the findings may have a bearing on nitrogen emissions from Indian fields.
A 2012 satellite study by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that about 30% of India’s geographical area (or about 96.4 million hectares) is degraded. Degraded pastures not only affect food security and the livelihood of farmers today, but affect the livelihood of future farmers because they emit more gases that cause global warming.
Degraded grasslands emitted more N2O than healthy pastures because the vegetation in the latter took up some of the reactive nitrogen compounds and only the leftovers were emitted.
Context: The editorial discusses about the need for minimum basic income, its feasibility, success models and the need.
What are income transfers? They are unconditional income supplements to compensate for policy failures and ease the economic anxieties of the less advantaged.
Why provide income support? The benefits of reforms since 1991 are not equally shared. The disproportionate share of gains from the reforms have gone to middle-class and rich Indians. Agriculture and other segments of the economy that engage poor and rural Indians are often left out. This unevenness in development calls for a superior economic growth model. Until that happens, redistributive policy interventions such as income transfers can improve equity.
The advantage of a minimum income guarantee is that it will also cover the urban poor. While job guarantee programmes, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, lock up beneficiaries in low-productivity work, income supplements allow them to continue to look for better employment options.
Success models: Telangana and Odisha are already experimenting in a limited way with income support schemes, focused on the farm sector. Rythu Bandhu: In Telangana, the government is providing farmers income support payment at the rate of ₹10,000/ha (₹4,000/acre). However, this model benefits the biggest landowners the most, including those who lease out their land. Tenants, sharecroppers and landless labourers, the most vulnerable, are out of its coverage. Its success depends on reliable land records.
Odisha’s recently notified KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Assistance) irons out these creases. It proposes to transfer ₹5,000 in cash per season (₹10,000 per year for double-cropped land) to the State’s 30 lakh marginal farmers, leaving out the two lakh large farmers. It promises cash grants of ₹12,500 each to the State’s 10 lakh landless households. The hope is that they will use this money to rear goats or poultry and farm mushrooms or honey. Fisherfolk are covered too, and will receive the investment support for buying fishing nets and allied equipment.
Significance: Rythu Bandhu and KALIA are superior policy interventions. Plus, they do not suffer from the moral hazard and limited reach of farm loan waivers. Waivers penalise farmers who repay loans on time and benefit only borrowers from banks.
Will it work?- Results of pilot project: A pilot project conducted between 2010 and 2013, covering 6,000 beneficiaries in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, yielded encouraging results. It confirmed that at high levels of impoverishment, even the smallest income supplement can improve nutrient intake, school enrolment and attendance of female students, and reduce incidence of indebtedness.
This evidence challenges the commonly held views that welfare payments are an affront to the dignity of the beneficiaries and that they are used for questionable purposes, such as for buying alcohol.
How to raise funds for this? The government cannot risk widening the fiscal deficit. Increasing the fiscal deficit hurts the poor, for it sparks off inflation and cannot be the way to fund income transfers.
For this, the Centre and the States may utilize funds collected through various taxes, royalty payments and dividends from producers and consumers of petroleum products.
They can also consider streamlining distortionary and demerit subsidies, such as on urea (₹70,000 crore annually). It can open up significant fiscal space. Healthcare, education, water conservation, environment and other merit subsidies need to be preserved and improved and should not be reduced to fund income transfers.
If the wealth tax that the government had abolished in 2015 is reintroduced as a fair and easy-to-collect levy on the super-rich, selling politically to the middle class an income support scheme for the poor will be easier.
Is income support sufficient? Providing income support should be a short- term measure. In the long run, there is need to address rural distress, which is largely a consequence of policy failures such as ineffective procurement and perverse trade and pricing policies that have in times of bumper harvests led to gluts, depressed market prices, and aggravated farmer losses.