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YOJANA MARCH 2016
Page Index
Agriculture
Irrigation sector:
Only 45% of the cropped area is irrigated leading to excess
dependence on rains. PM Krishi sinchayi yojana aims to bring
28 lakh hectares under irrigation and the proposal to
re-invigorate 89 defunct projects under Accelerated
irrigation benefits program to bring an additional 81 lakh
hectares under irrigation.
Credit and Insurance:
The share of agriculture credit to agriculture GDP has
increased but the share of long term credit has declined to
39%. A revamped insurance program PM Fasal Bima Yojana was
launched that provides relief from crop failure by paying a
low premium of 2%for foodgrains and oilseeds and 5% for
horticultural crops and cotton. DBT scheme for fertilizer
subsidy to bank accounts has also been proposed.
Procurement, distribution and marketing:
Aim of this is to encourage states to have online
procurement and use a transparent manner. A buffer stock of
pulses shall be built under this. The Fair price shops shall
be automated under this scheme and target is 3 lakh FPS out
of current 5 lakh FPS. National Agriculture market shall be
set up under Agriculture Technology infrastructure fund but
this needs support of states too as they will have to amend
their APMC acts.
Post harvest losses lead to 22% of all fruits getting
spoiled and this is a major wastage. The decision to allow
100% FDI in marketing and distribution of food products
produced in India is a step in the right direction but so
far hasn't seen any entrants.
Infrastructure
Water, Rail and Road transport are the focus of the
government in that order. This has been done to minimize
environmental damage due to this. The high amount allocated
to road sector development is a sign of this. Agencies like
National Highways Authority of India and National Rural
roads development agency are geared up to utilize this
allocation effectively. But the Inland waterways Authority
of India isn't ready for this and its allocation has been
reduced. Ambitious Sagarmala project of
Water transportation is an example of this as the
institutional capability is lacking for proper execution.
Problem plaguing this sector are:
- Public private partnership model for waterways and
railways isn't attracting interest.
- Land acquisition and environmental clearances are a
problem.
- Effective and speedy dispute resolution is a problem and
the Public Utilities (Resolution for dispute) Bill is
pending.
- Infrastructure projects have a long gestation period and
high finance requirements which banks can't fulfill.
- Lack of research and development in infrastructure
management project structuring, risk assessment and
management, social cost benefit analysis, financial
viability assessment, bid documents preparation, tendering
and bidding processes, concession agreements, financial
engineering, regulatory issues, and mergers and
acquisitions.
- Rail development Authority is needed to separate policy
making and execution.
Nayak Committee Recommendations of Review Governance of
Boards of Banks in India
- Remove the Banking Nationalization Acts and other Acts
that mandate government holdings to be above 51%.
- All banks should be under the Companies Act. A Bank
Investment Company should be made as a holding company for
banks and the government shareholding should be
transferred to it.
- Government should stop issuing regulatory instructions
to PSU Banks and force them to take decisions based on
development consideration.
- Reduce government stake to below 51%.
- Facilitate entry of young professionals into bank
management.
- Bank Boards Bureau to appoint whole time directors.
Factoids
- Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat - Link
states and districts through an annual program that
connects people.
- John Keynes in his book "General Theory of
Employment, Interest and Money" advocated
deficit financing [expenditure more than income] and lower
interest rates for recessionary times to stimulate growth.
- Maastricht treaty was signed in
Netherlands in 1992 by European nations to form European
Union and have a common currency - Euro.
- Fiscal Responsibility and Budget management Act,
2003 was passed to reduce fiscal deficit to 3%
of GDP and revenue deficit to 0% by 2008. Government was
mandated to present the below policies along with the
budget.
i) Medium term fiscal
policy statement
ii) Fiscal policy strategy statement
and
iii) Macroeconomic framework
statement.
- Gyan Sangam: Annual retreat of bank
chiefs, RBI top brass and Finance ministry chiefs.
- Price stabilization fund: Dept of
commerce set it in 2003. The government and the grower
have to contribute to it. But withdrawal is permitted to
grower only during distress years. The Buffer stock of
pulses would be created by procuring pulses at MSP.
- Clean Environment cess - Levied on
coal, lignite, peat.
- Mahila e-Haat: Online marketing
platform for women entrepreneurs to display their
products.
- India adopted ‘Gender-Responsive Budgeting’
(GRB) in 2005. GRB is a method of planning,
programming and budgeting that helps advance gender
equality and women is rights. It also serves as an
indicator
- Budget theme - Transform India
- Ujjwala - Provide LPG connections to
BPL women.
- PAHAL - DBT scheme for transferring
LPG subsidy.
- Setu Bharatam - Remove all railway
crossings on national highways by building over bridges or
under passes.