MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE & EMPOWERMENT (MOSJE) HAS FORMULATED A SCHEME “NATIONAL ACTION FOR MECHANIZED SANITATION ECOSYSTEM” (NAMASTE)

A NATIONAL LEVEL COMPETITION TITLED “SAFAIMITRA SURAKSHA CHALLENGE (SSC)” WAS LAUNCHED ON 19TH NOVEMBER 2020 Posted On: 14 MAR 2023 5:27PM by PIB Delhi

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (MoSJE) has formulated a scheme “National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem” (NAMASTE). The Scheme envisages enumeration of the Sewer/Septic Tank Workers (SSWs).

A National level competition titled “Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge (SSC)” was launched on 19th November 2020. The overall objective was to ensure zero human casualty from hazardous entry, going forward, by ensuring elimination of manual entry into sewers and septic tanks, and in such cases where manual entry is unavoidable, to do so outfitted with PPEs and safety kits, with adequate approval, training and supervision. The focus areas of the Challenge for all participating cities across all States/ UTs were the following:

(a) thrust on mechanized cleaning of sewers & septic tanks.

(b) availability of protective gears & equipment in case manual entry is unavoidable.

(c) creation of conducive eco-system through:

(i) Trained workforce,

(ii) 24x7 helpline, with large scale citizen outreach,

(iii) Empanelling of private operators.

Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM AJAY) is a merger of 03 Centrally Sponsored Schemes namely PradhanMantriAdarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY), Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCA to SCSP) and BabuJagjivan Ram Chhatrawas (BJRCY). The Adarsh Gram component {erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Scheme of ‘PradhanMantriAdarsh Gram Yojna’ (PMAGY)} under the merged scheme of PM-AJAY

A. Background: Scheduled Castes (SCs), who constitute 16.6% of our population as per 2011 Census, have historically suffered social and educational disabilities and economic deprivation arising therefrom. With a view to bring them in the mainstream by socially and to economically strengthen them, special provisions have been enshrined in the Constitution for advancement of their interests. These provisions range from measures to remove any kind of social disabilities imposed on them to ensure equality of opportunity in every sphere, to measures of positive discrimination to bring them on par with rest of the population.

Article 46 of Part IV ("Directive Principles of State Policy") of the Constitution enjoins upon the State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Article 38(2) in the same Part also enjoins upon the State to minimize inequities in income and to endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities, not only amongst individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in different areas or engaged in different vocations.

Since Independence, the Government had taken a number of initiatives for development of SCs, which had yielded positive outcomes, and had also resulted in narrowing the gap between the Scheduled Castes and rest of the population. However, the focus of most of the welfare Schemes of SCs had been mainly centred on individual beneficiaries, rather than on the integrated development of SC pockets.

B. Brief of the Scheme: With a view to enable an area based development approach, a new scheme PradhanMantriAdarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) was launched during 2009-10. The Scheme aims at integrated development of Scheduled Castes majority villages.

Objective of Schemes: The principal objective of the Scheme is integrated development of SC majority Villages:

(a) Primarily through convergent implementation of the relevant Central and State/UT Government Schemes; and

(b) By taking up identified activities, which do not get covered under the existing Central and State Government Schemes, through ‘Gap-filling’ funds provided as Central Assistance to the extent of Rs.20.00 lakh per village.

The implementation of the Scheme was started on Pilot basis in 2009-10 and a total of 1000 villages was selected from 05 States namely Tamil Nadu (225), Rajasthan (225), Bihar (225), Himachal Pradesh (225) and Assam (100) were selected for this phase. All these 1000 villages have so far been declared as ‘Adarsh Gram’ by the respective State Governments. During 2014-15, PMAGY was further extended (Phase-I) to cover another 1500 villages across 11 States namely Andhra Pradesh (7), Assam (75), Chhattisgarh (175), Jharkhand (100), Haryana (12), Karnataka (201), Madhya Pradesh (327), Odisha (175), Punjab (162), Telangana (6) and Uttar Pradesh (260). Out of 75 villages selected in Assam, 68 villages were found eligible and out of 12 villages selected in Haryana, only 09 villages found eligible for implementation of scheme. So far, a total of 1229 villages have been declared as "Adarsh Gram" by the respective State Governments.

C. Implementation of Scheme since 2018-19: In light of the benefits accruing to the residents of the villages through successful implementation of this Scheme, it was decided in 2018-19 to extend the Scheme further as a continuous scheme by taking up certain number of villages every year for development. For this, it was decided to consider inclusion of all those districts which have villages having total population ≥500 and with more than 50% persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes. The villages in descending order of SC population are proposed to be selected from each such district for implementation of the Scheme. Revision of Scheme Guidelines:

To ensure all round development of the selected villages, so that they can indeed become ‘Adarsh Grams’, the existing Scheme guidelines were revised to capture the Gaps in critical socio-economic ‘Monitorable Indicators’ as part of various sectors/domains. These domains are: i) Drinking water and Sanitation ii) Education iii) Health and Nutrition iv) Social Security v) Rural Roads and Housing vi) Electricity and Clean Fuel vii) Agricultural Practices etc. viii) Financial Inclusion ix) Digitization x) Livelihood and Skill Development. A total of 50 socio-economic monitorable indicators have been identified for saturation in selected villages under these 10 domains. New Approach for implementation:

The identification of Needs or Gaps with regard to the identified ‘Monitorable Indicators’ are to be done on a comprehensive Need Assessment exercise and accordingly the ‘Village Development Plans’ (VDPs) are generated showing the critical gaps and proposed source of funding to fulfil the gaps. The Scheme relies heavily on convergence with other initiatives of the Central and State/UT Governments for ensuring that the minimum infrastructure and critical services are made available to all the persons in the village, especially those belonging to the Scheduled Castes. PMAGY provides the platform for convergent implementation of other Schemes with the aim to achieve saturation in the various domains. Whereas it is expected that the major portion of the funds requirement for implementation would be met from other Central or State/UT Schemes, the ‘Gap-filling’ funds are provided under the Scheme, for those areas which cannot be covered otherwise.

Funding under the Scheme: For every new village selected, the Scheme provides for a total of Rs. 21 lakh of which Rs.20.00 lakh is for the ‘Gap-filling’ component and Rs.1.00 lakh is meant for ‘administrative expenses’ to be utilized at the Centre, State, District and Village level in the ratio of 1:1:1:2.

Further, for continuous development of the villages already covered under the earlier phases, there is a component of ‘additional round of funding’ of Rs. 10 lakh per village. Out of this, Rs.9.50 lakh per village would be utilized for ‘Gap-filling’ component and Rs.0.50 lakh per village are to be utilized amongst the Centre, State, District and Village in a ratio of 1:1:1:2 for Administrative and other expenses.

Initially, the State Government/UT Administration will release the entire admissible funds under ‘Administrative Expenses’ to the District Administrations for carrying out capacity building, administrative expenses, awareness generation and initiating non cost based activities. Thereafter the entire admissible funds under the ‘Gap-filling’ component i.e. Rs.20.00 lakh per village will be released by the State Government to the District Administration once the VDP of the selected villages is approved by their DLCC so that the planned works can be executed without any delay.

D. Project Monitoring: The Scheme provides for setting up of Committees at various levels for guidance, monitoring and implementation of the scheme at their respective level. These Committees, especially the Convergence Committees at the Village, District and State levels, are crucial to the implementation as they would assess the requirements as well as plan and execute the works/services that are needed to be undertaken under various Schemes for the wholesome development of the villages.

The Government of India has also developed a well-defined structure for Planning, Implementation and Monitoring of the Scheme execution. A website with the facility of collection of Household level data, assessment of village needs, prioritising the works, preparing the Village Development Plan and periodic monitoring of the Scheme has been made operational. The web link of the site is https://pmagy.gov.in .

About Scheme

Merger of 3 Centrally Sponsored schemes as component schemes:

Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCA to SCSP)

Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY)

Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana (BJRCY)

Rationale for merger: Holistic development based on needs identified

Expansion of IT framework already in place for PMAGY

Schemes have common objectives & implementing agencies

More target-oriented projects suited to local requirements

Better targeting of the beneficiaries

Convergence of Need Assessment and coverage data

Optimal utilization of resources

Comprehensive monitoring mechanism

Faster processing and releases

Objectives of the Scheme: Reduce poverty of the SC communities by generation of additional employment opportunities through skill development, income generating schemes and other initiatives.

To improve socio-economic developmental indicators by ensuring adequate infrastructure and requisite services in the SC dominated villages.

To increase literacy and encourage enrolment of SCs in schools and higher educational institutions by providing adequate residential facilities in quality institutions, as well as residential schools where required; in the aspirational districts/SC majority blocks and elsewhere in India.

Present position: Scheme of PM-AJAY is approved from competent authority.

State needs to submit their Annual Action Plan (AAP) in online mode through the web-portal https://pmajay.dosje.gov.in.

Login credentials for State and District Level Officers has been sent to email of Principal Secretary of the States.

There are two id's for each level (State/District). One for creation of projects and another for its approval.

De-centralised planning will be used for creation of projects.

Background: Over a period of time the Government has adopted a multi-pronged approach for the socio-economic development of the Scheduled Castes. The initiatives are aimed at social empowerment through educational development; economic empowerment through income and employment enhancing avenues and integrated development of SC majority villages; protection through effective implementation of protective legislations and eradication of occupations such as manual scavenging; and holistic development through earmarking of funds in proportion to the population of these groups.

For the development of Scheduled Caste persons (SCs) who form the major chunk of the country's population living below the poverty line, the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment introduced the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of "Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP)" in 1980, in order to ensure that the States/UTsprepare the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and this Scheme provided the necessary catalyst in the form of financial support from the Central Government. Under the Scheme grant is being given to the State Governments/UTs Administrations as an additive to their Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP).

Objectives of the existing Scheme: The main objective of the scheme is to increase the income of the target population by way of various income generating schemes, skill development and infrastructure development.

To reduce the poverty among the target population and bring them above the poverty lines.

Scheme Components:

Income Generating Schemes

Boost Entrepreneurship among SCs

Subsidy of Rs 10000/- per beneficiary or 50% of loan

Skill Development Programmes

Enhance Capacity Building through training

Skill Training in line with National Framework

Infrastructure Development

Development Programmes in SC majority villages

Fills critical gaps in overall development

Monitoring and Evaluation

Up to 3 % of the total SCA released to the States/UTs can be utilized by the States/UTs for supervision, monitoring and evaluation of economic development schemes implemented with the support of SCA funds.

In order to assist the State Scheduled Caste Corporation for various Administrative expenses, the States/UTs may incur up to 1% of the total SCA released to the States/UTs as part of the permissible expenditure for supervision, monitoring and evaluation.

Eligibility Criteria

The Scheduled Castes persons living below the poverty lines are eligible for getting benefits under the various Income Generating Schemes and Skill Development Programmes.

In case of Infrastructure Development, the villages having 50% or more SC population are eligible for grants under the Scheme.

As regards definition of poverty line and selection of SC families living below poverty line is concerned, the guidelines issued by the erstwhile Planning Commission and the procedure laid down by the Ministry of Rural Development for selecting the beneficiaries through the Panchayati Raj institutions may be adopted.

Scheme Coverage: Scheme implemented in 28 States/UTs

Not Covered States/UTs: States: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya & Mizoram UTs: A & N Islands, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Ladakh& Lakshadweep.

Constraints faced: The implementation Guidelines incorporating proper implementation framework for activities which can be undertaken under the Schemes were issued during 2018-19.

From 2019-20 the submission of Annual Action Plan by the States was made mandatory.

The proposal for enhancement of the Subsidy from Rs. 10000 to Rs 50000 under the income generation component could not be implemented due to pending approval of Cabinet pending since 2018-19. The meager subsidy of Rs. 10000 per beneficiary under the Income Generation Activities which form major component of the Scheme is not able to incentivize the process and lacking in adoption of the Scheme at the beneficiary level.

Allocation under Infrastructure component was enhanced from 10% to 30% during 2018-19 so the works under this component are still to come up to the point of expectations.

It has also been observed, that due to non-release of funds by the State Treasuries to the implementation Departments has resulted in the poor implementation during Pandemic situation prevailing in the Country.

Sometimes poor budgetary planning at the State level is also resulting in the non-release of the funds by the State Treasury to the implementation Departments like in Karnataka.

Action Initiated for improvements:

During 2020-21, out of 28 States implementing the Scheme, 27 submitted their Annual Action Plans. The Monitoring of the Scheme implementation has been enhanced and regular follow-up/consultation through VC/WhatsApp is being done with States/UTs.

Letters to Chief Ministers already sent to Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Maharashtra which are poor performing at the moment.

For proper planning and implementation of the Scheme our NIC Team has developeda Web-based System https://pmajay.dosje.gov.inwhich have facility for need based decentralized planning, proposal preparation, its appraisal, submission, evaluation, approval and implementation along with financial tracking. Beneficiaries wish to avail benefits under the Skill Development and Income Generation Components would also be brought under the proposed portal. We are planning to launch the portal for next financial year.

Proposal for merger of the Scheme with the Schemes with similar objectives and similar nature of interventions namely, Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) and Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana (BJRCY) is under consideration. The proposal also have provision for enhancing the income limit of the beneficiaries under Income Generation and Skill Development component along with enhancement of the subsidy to Rs. 50000 from 10000.