PMGSY upgraded to include left-out habitations

PMGSY upgraded to include left-out habitations

February 14th, 2013

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the following regarding Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY):
(i) Revision of the Core Network by including:

• 2,687 left-out unconnected habitations in Tribal (Schedule-V) areas and blocks adjoining the international border under the Border Area Development  Programme (BADP). New connectivity will also be provided to these habitations, at an estimated cost of Rs. 5,929 crore and  certain roads measuring about 2,000 km in these areas will be upgraded at an estimated cost of Rs.1,000crore.
• 1,410 left out unconnected habitations with population of 250 persons and above in the 10 Hill States and desert areas (as identified under the Desert Development Programme (DDP)) to provide new connectivity to these habitations, at an estimated cost of Rs. 8,551 crore.
• 9,112 left out unconnected habitations with population of 500 persons and above in plain areas to provide new connectivity to these habitations, at an estimated cost of Rs.13,850 crore.

(ii) Extension of the cluster approach from international border blocks to international border districts of the State of Arunachal Pradesh,  by clubbing the  population within a path distance of 10 km, and treating as a cluster for eligibility and to provide new connectivity to 126 habitations at an estimated cost of Rs.1,200 crore.
(iii) ‘In principle’ approval for covering unconnected habitations with population of 100 persons and above in the Left Wing Extremists affected blocks with a limited provision to complete missing links, to form closed loops from through routes of the core network at an estimated cost of Rs. 8,000 crore.
About PMGSY
The programme was launched in the year 2000 and with the objective of providing all-weather road connectivity to all unconnected habitations with population of 500 persons and above 250 persons and above in hilly states, desert areas (as identified under DDP), Tribal Schedule-V areas and 82 selected tribal and backward districts as identified under Integrated Action Plan  in rural areas of the country.
Current status:
The net number of total eligible unconnected habitations are 1,64,849. The total cost of sanctioned projects, including the projects for upgradation of roads under PMGSY is Rs.1,42,945 crore. A total of 3,66,789 km roads including upgradation have been constructed till December 31, 2012 and all-weather connectivity has been provided to 89,382 habitations.
Govt considers enhancing NABARD capital base to Rs 20,000 crore. The government is cogitating to expand the capital base of India’s apex farm development bank National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to Rs 20,000 crore from existing Rs 5,000 crore.
The increase in authorised capital will augment the operations and broaden the activities of NABARD. Following these changes NABARD would be able to undertake short term lending operations and introduce new credit products.

Indira Awaas Yojana – Fulfilling the Need for Rural Housing

Shelter is a basic need of a citizen which is critical for determining the quality of human life. A roof over the head endows a shelterless person, with an essential asset and improves his physical and mental well being. Hence, fulfilling the need for rural housing and tackling housing shortage particularly for the poorest is an important task to be undertaken as part of the poverty alleviation efforts of the Government. The Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) households in the rural areas for construction of dwelling units. It has been in operation since 1985-86. The funding of IAY is shared between the Centre and States in the ratio of 75:25. In the case of Union Territories, entire funds of IAY are provided by the Centre. In case of North East States, the funding ratio between the Centre and States is 90:10. The ceiling on construction assistance under IAY is Rs. 45,000 per unit in the plain areas and Rs. 48,500 in hilly/difficult areas/IAP districts. For upgradation of kutcha house, the financial assistance is Rs. 15,000 per unit. In addition to the unit assistance availed, a beneficiary can also borrow a top-up loan upto Rs. 20,000/- from any nationalized Bank at 4% interest per annum under Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) Scheme. The criteria for allocation of IAY funds to the States and UTs involve assigning 75% weightage to housing shortage and 25% to poverty ratio. The allocation amongst districts is based on 75% weightage to housing shortage and 25% weightage to SC/ST component. Further, 60% of the IAY allocation is meant for benefiting SC/ST families, 3% for physically handicapped and 15% for minorities. Also the IAY houses are expected to be invariably allotted in the name of women. In addition, 5% of the central allocation can be utilized for meeting exigencies arising out of natural calamities and other emergent situations like riot, arson, fire, rehabilitation etc. In order to introduce transparency in selection of beneficiaries, permanent IAY waitlists have to be prepared gram panchayat wise by the States/UTs. These lists contain the name of deserving BPL families who need IAY houses in order of their poverty status based on the BPL list 2002. Gram Sabha select the beneficiaries from the list of eligible BPL households/Permanent IAY waitlist wherever it has been prepared. Construction of an IAY house is the sole responsibility of the beneficiary. Engagement of contractors is prohibited and no specific type, design has been stipulated for an IAY house. However, sanitary latrine and smokless chullah are required to be constructed alongwith each IAY house. For construction of a sanitary latrine, the beneficiary can avail of financial assistance as admissible under the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC).

 Bharat Nirman Programme

Rural Housing is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman Programme. Under Bharat Nirman Programme Phase-I, 60 lakh houses were envisaged to be constructed through IndiraAwaas Yojana all over the country during the four years i.e. from 2005-06 to 2008-2009. Against this target, 71.76 lakh houses were constructed with an expenditure of Rs. 21720.39 crore. The target for the next five years period starting from the year 2009-10, has been doubled to 120 lakh houses. During the last three years of the Bharat Nirman Programme Period-Phase-II approximate 85 lakh houses have already been constructed. Since inception of the IAY scheme about 286.88lakh houses have been constructed with an expenditure of Rs. 85141.13 crore.

 Convergence of Various Centrally Sponsored Schemes with IAY

Under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) each IAY beneficiary can get a free electricity connection to his house, under Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) an IAY beneficiary who will construct a sanitary latrine can get TSC funds in addition to the unit assistance he has got under IAY, all willing IAY beneficiaries can get the benefits available under JanshreeBima and Aam Aadmi Bima policies, under DRI, an IAY beneficiary can borrow up to Rs. 20,000/- from any Nationalized Bank at 4% interest per annum to top up the unit assistance he has got under IAY.

Allotment of Homestead Plot

A scheme was launched on 24th August, 2009 as part of IAY, for providing homestead sites to those rural BPL households whose names are included in the permanent IAY waitlists but who have neither agricultural land nor a house site. Since inception of the scheme, funds amounting to Rs. 347.46 crore have been released to States namely Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra for purchase of land and Rs. 1367.31 crore have been released to Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh,Chhatisgarh, West Bengal, Rajastan, Maharashtra and Jharkand as incentive for additional houses for providing homestead sites.

Monitoring MechanismThe Indira Awaas Yojana is being continuously reviewed through Monthly and Annual Reports received from the States/UTs. Senior officers at the level of Deputy Secretaries and above in the Ministry are appointed as Area Officers for different States/UTs. These Area Officers visit the allotted States/UTs from time to time and inspect the actual implementation of the programme in the field. They also participate in the State Level Coordination Committee Meetings providing thereby, a source of effective link between the policy makers, i.e., the Government and the implementing agencies (States /UT Governments). The programme is also reviewed at the meeting with the State Secretaries of Rural Development and with the Project Directors of DRDAs in the workshops held every year. From April 2007 onwards, an online monitoring mechanism has been put in place to enable DRDAs to upload their monthly progress reports into the website of the Ministry. The web-based local language MIS Programme ‘AWAASsoft’ was launched, this software captures beneficiary-wise data and is accessible to all the stake holders, beneficiaries and citizens at large. During the last year 2011-12, Rs. 9991.20 crore (including Rs. 500.00 crore for Homestead Component) were allocated for Rural Housing for construction of 27.27 lakh houses underIndira Awaas Yojana, against the physical target of construction of 27.27 lakh houses, 24.66 lakh houses were constructed after utilization of Rs. 12814.88 crore and 26.95 lakh houses were under construction. In the current financial year 2012-13, the total budgetary outlay for Rural Housing is Rs. 11075.00 crore. Out of which Rs. 10513.20 crore has been earmarked under Indira Awaas Yojana(IAY) for construction of 30.09 lakh houses and Rs. 553.00 crore for Homestead Component. Rs. 4783.70 crore has already been released as first installment of funds. Against the physical target, 3.83 lakh houses have been constructed so far.

Various Scheme for Strengthening Secondary Education

Secondary Education is a crucial stage in the educational hierarchy as it prepares the students for higher education and also the world of work. With the liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy, the rapid changes witnessed in scientific and technological world and the general need to improve the quality of life and to reduce poverty, it is essential that school leavers acquire a higher level of knowledge and skills than what they are provided in the eight years of elementary education, particularly when the average earning of a secondary school certificate holder is significantly higher than that of a person who has studied only up to class VIII. The policy at present is to make secondary education of good quality available, accessible and affordable to all young persons in the age group of 14-18. At present, the following schemes targeted at secondary stage (i.e. class IX to XII) are being implemented in the form of Centrally Sponsored Schemes:

Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan

Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan was launched in 2009 with the objective to universalise access to secondary education and improve its quality. The scheme envisages inter alia, to enhance the enrolment at secondary stage by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of any habitation, with an aim to ensure GER of 100% by 2017, i.e., by the end of 12th Five Year Plan and achieving universal retention by 2020.

Model School Scheme

The Model School scheme was launched in November 2008 in pursuance to the announcement of the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech of 2007.The Model School Scheme aims to provide quality education to talented rural children through setting up 6000 model schools as benchmark of excellence at block level at the rate of one school per block. The scheme is under implementation since 2009-10. 3,500 schools are to be set up in as many educationally backward blocks (EBBs) through States/UTs.

 Girls’ Hostel SchemeThe Centrally Sponsored Scheme for “Construction and Running of Girls’ Hostels for Students of Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools” was launched in 2008-09 and is being implemented from 2009-10. The Scheme envisages construction of a hostel with the capacity of 100 girls in each of about 3,500 Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) in the country. The main objective of the Scheme is to improve access to and retain the girl child in Secondary and Higher Secondary classes (IX-XII) so that the girl students are not denied the opportunity to continue their study due to distance to school, parents’ financial affordability and other connected societal factors.

ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in Schools

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Schools Scheme was launched in December, 2004 to provide opportunities to secondary stage students to mainly build their capacity on ICT skills and make them learn through computer aided learning process. The Scheme is a major catalyst to bridge the digital divide amongst students of various socio economic and other geographical barriers. Based on the experience gained so far, the Scheme was revised, in July 2010.The scheme currently covers both Government and Government aided Secondary and HigherSecondary Schools.

Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary StageThe Scheme of Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) was launched in 2009-10 replacing the earlier scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC). It provides assistance for the inclusive education of the disabled children in classes IX-XII. The aim of the Scheme is to enable all students with disabilities, after completing eight years of elementary schooling, to pursue further four years of secondary schooling (classes IX to XII) in an inclusive and enabling environment. Central assistance for all items covered in the scheme is on 100 per cent basis. The State Governments are only required to make provisions for a scholarship of Rs. 600 per disabled child per annum. The School Education Department of the State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations is the implementing agency. They may involve NGOs having experience, in the field of education of the disabled, in the implementation of the scheme. 4,00,241 disabled children have been approved for coverage since inception of the scheme.

Vocationalisation of Secondary EducationThe Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Vocationalisation of Secondary Education provides for diversification of educational opportunities so as to enhance individual employability, reduce the mismatch between demand and supply of skilled manpower and provides an alternative for those pursuing higher education.The scheme was initially launched in 1988. To make improvement in this scheme, the revised scheme was approved on 15 September, 2011. The revisions were suggested to address the issues of low esteem of vocational education in the country, weak synergy with industry in planning and execution, lack of vertical and horizontal mobility, redundant courses and curricula as well as paucity of trained vocational education teachers. It is also envisages that strengthening of vocational education at the secondary stage would contribute to the national target of 500 million skilled manpower by 2022. The Scheme provides for financial assistance to the States to set up administrative structure, area vocational surveys, preparation of curriculum, text book, work book curriculum guides, training manual, teacher training programme, strengthening technical support system for research and development, training and evaluation etc. It also provides financial assistance to NGOs and voluntary organizations towards implementation of specific innovative projects for conducting short-term courses.

 National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF)The HRD Ministry is seized with the problems of low rates of enrolment and school drop outs at Secondary and Higher Secondary levels and thereafter in Higher Education. The Ministry is in the process of developing the NVEQF. The Framework would bring about uniformity in standards of vocational courses being offered, by registration of vocational qualification and accreditation of programmes and institutions. NVEQF levels will be introduced in Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools, Polytechnics, Universities & Colleges for seamless pathways and progression. The draft NVEQF has been formulated in consultation with State Governments as well as a Group of State Education Ministers.

National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education The Centrally sponsored scheme “National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education (NSIGSE)” was launched in May 2008 with the objective to establish an enabling environment to reduce the drop-outs and to promote the enrolment of girl child belonging mainly to SC/ST communities in secondary schools. According to the scheme, a sum of Rs.3,000/- is deposited in the name of eligible unmarried girls as fixed deposit, who are entitled to withdraw it along with interest thereon on reaching 18 years of age and passing 10th standard examination. The scheme covers – all girls belonging to SC/ST communities who pass class VIII and all girls who pass VIII examination from Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (irrespective of whether they belong to SC/ST) and enrol in class IX in Government, Government-aided and local body schools. Canara bank is the implementing agency for the scheme. It has developed a web based portal recently to implement the scheme. The portal will facilitate on line submission of data of the beneficiaries and on line disbursement of incentive amount on maturity into their accounts directly after certification by the State Nodal Officer on line that the beneficiary is 18 years old and passed class X examination. In addition to the above the Central Sector schemes of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Sangathan (NVS), Central Tibetan Schools Administration (CTSA), Indo-Mangolian Schools are being implemented.

RGUMY – Providing Handholding Support to First Generation Entrepreneurs

-In order to bridge the gap between the aspirations of the potential entrepreneurs and the ground realties, there is a need to support and nurture the potential first generation as well as existing entrepreneurs by giving them handholding support, particularly during the initial stages of setting up and managing their enterprises.

-To achieve this objective, Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana (RGUMY) has been launched.

-Selected lead agencies i.e. ‘Udyami Mitras’ aim to help these entities in the establishment and management of the new enterprise, in dealing with various procedural and legal hurdles and in completion of various formalities required for setting up and running of the enterprise.

-The Yojana also helps in providing information, support, guidance and assistance to first generation entrepreneurs as well as other existing entrepreneurs through an ‘Udyami Helpline’ (a Call Centre for MSMEs), to guide them regarding various promotional schemes of the Government, procedural formalities required for setting up and running of the enterprise and help them in accessing Bank credit etc.

-Under RGUMY, financial assistance would be provided to the selected lead agencies i.e. Udyami Mitras for rendering assistance and handholding support to the potential first generation entrepreneurs.

Financial Literacy & National Strategy for Financial Education

Financial Literacy & National Strategy for Financial Education

What is Financial Literacy?

Financial Literacy is a combination of financial awareness, knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviour necessary to make sound financial decisions and ultimately achieve individual financial well being. People achieve financial literacy through a process of financial education.

National Strategy for Financial Education

The National Strategy seeks to create a financially aware and empowered India. It aims at undertaking a massive Financial Education campaign to help people manage money more effectively to achieve financial well being by accessing appropriate financial products and services through regulated entities.

Financial Inclusion & Financial Education

Government of India has recognized the importance of spreading financial literacy to intensify efforts to channelize domestic savings to investments. However, increasing range and complexity of products has made it very difficult for an ordinary person to take an informed decision. Financial literacy develops confidence, knowledge and skills to manage financial products and services enabling them to have more control of their present and future circumstances. Financial literacy will also help in protecting society and individuals against exploitative financial schemes and  exorbitant interest rate charged by moneylenders. It is expected that financial education can lead to multiplier effects in the economy. A well educated household would resort to regular savings, which in turn would lead to investment in right channels and income generation. Thus, the financial well being of individuals, will in turn increase the welfare of the society.

International Experience and the Lessons for India

Globally, Countries like Czech Republic, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and UK have already implemented National Strategy for Financial Education, while many other countries are in the process of formulation and implementation. In India, we need a tiered approach under National strategy in view of our diversity.  The draft National Strategy has been prepared with the objectives  of i) Creating awareness and educating consumers on access to financial services, various types of products and their features, ii)changing attitudes to translate knowledge into behavior and  iii) Making consumers understand their rights and responsibilities as clients of  financial services. Given the fast pace of changes in the financial world, it has been envisaged to have a five year timeframe for implementing the strategy, using Strategic Action Plans.    

Synergizing the Efforts of Regulators in Spreading Financial Literacy

In India, various financial regulators including Reserve Bank of India, Securities Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority etc have already embarked upon massive financial literacy programmes adopting multi-pronged approach. - Reserve Bank of India has undertaken a project titled ‘Project Financial Literacy’ to disseminate information regarding the central bank and general banking concepts to various target groups, including school and college students, women, rural and urban poor, defense personnel and senior citizens. - Securities Exchange Board of India has empanelled Resource Persons throughout India who organize workshops to target segments on various aspects viz. savings, investment, financial planning, banking, insurance, retirement planning etc. More than 3500 workshops have been already conducted in various states covering nearly 3 lakh participants. - Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority has been disseminating simple messages about the rights and duties of policyholders, channels available for dispute redressal etc through radio, TV and print media in English, Hindi and 11 other Indian languages. - The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has been engaged in spreading social security messages to the public.  PFRDA has developed FAQ on pension related topics on its website, and has been associated with various non government organizations in India in taking the pension services to the disadvantaged community. - Similarly, commercial banks, Stock Exchanges, Broking Houses and Mutual Funds have the initiatives in the field of financial education that spawns conducting of seminars, issuance of do’s and don’ts, and newspaper campaigns. It will be necessary to collate and classify the vast amount of material developed by these institutions that can serve as the knowledge base for financial education in India. Institutional arrangements envisage creation of the National Institute of Financial Education (NIFE), with representatives of various regulators as members.  The main role of NIFE shall be to create financial education material for respective financial sectors. NIFE shall also create and maintain a website exclusively for financial education. The entire policy is sought to be implemented through existing institutional mechanism.  The Technical Group of Sub-Committee of Financial Stability & Development Council on Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy shall be made responsible for periodic monitoring and implementation of the strategy.

SWABHIMAAN : A Campaign to provide easy credit access for small & marginal farmers and rural artisans

SWABHIMAAN : A Campaign to provide easy credit access for small & marginal farmers and rural artisans


In a big nation like India providing banking facilities across length and breadth of the country, especially in rural areas, has always been a great challenge for the successive governments since Independence. Though Nationalisation gave a big boost to expansion of banks in rural areas with Public Sector Banks becoming important instruments for advancement of rural banking and changing lives of rural populace. However, financial inclusion remains one of the biggest challenges before our nation even today as only about 38% of bank branches are in rural areas and only 40% (approx.) of the country’s population have bank accounts.

To address this problem, a nationwide programme on financial inclusion, “Swabhimaan” was launched in February, 2011 by the Government, with its focus on bringing the deprived sections of the society in banking network to ensure that the benefits of economic growth reach everyone at all levels.

“Swabhimaan” is a path-breaking initiative by the Government and the Indian Banks’ Association to cover economic distance between rural and urban India. This campaign is a big step towards socio-economic equality by bringing the underprivileged segments of Indian population into the formal banking fold for the first time. The vision for this programme is social application of modern technology.

This campaign ensures to provide the following services to the Rural India:

• Promises to bring basic banking services to 73,000 unbanked villages with a population of 2,000 and above by March, 2012 and at least 5 crore new accounts will be opened.

• The movement will facilitate opening of banks accounts, provide need-based credit, remittance facilities and help to promote financial literacy in rural India.

• The programme will increase the demand for credit among the millions of small and marginal farmers and rural artisans who will benefit by having access to banking facilities.

• This financial inclusion campaign aims at providing branchless banking services through the use of technology.

• Banks will provide basic services like deposits, withdrawals and remittances using the services of Business Correspondents (BCs) also known as Bank Saathi.

• The initiative also enables Government subsidies and social security benefits to now be directly credited to the accounts of the beneficiaries so that they could draw the money from the Business Correspondents (BCs) in their village itself.

• The Government hopes to reach the benefits of micro insurance and micro pension products to the masses through this banking linkage.

• This programme now makes it possible for the large number of migrant workers in urban areas to remit money to their relatives in distant villages quickly and safely.

• The facilities provided through banking outlets will enhance social security by facilitating the availability of allied services in course of time like micro insurance, access to mutual funds, pensions, etc.

• Banking facilities like Savings Bank, recurring Deposits, Fixed deposits, Remittances, Overdraft facility, Kisan Credit Card (KCCs), General Credit Cards (GCC) and collection of cheques will be provided.

• The Banks are also working together with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for enrolment, opening bank accounts and also to facilitate transfer of government subsidies and other payments.

Who are Bank Saathis / Business Correspondents?

The success of this programme will depend on the proper utilization of the Business Correspondents (BCs) or Bank Saathis, who are persons engaged by Banks to create a closer relationship between the formal financial system and the people living in the rural hinterland, far away from brick and mortar bank branches. The BCs will help in making available banking facilities to the interior areas through various handheld mobile devices and other technologies that reduce cost and have the ability to record banking transactions and to communicate the record of such transactions to the Bank using the internet facilities / GPRS.


Monitoring of the program?

“Swabhimaan” campaign is expected to benefit millions of small and marginal farmers and rural artisans by providing them easy access to credit at lower rates and save them from clutches and exploitation by moneylenders. The progress of this programe will be monitored through the State Level Bankers Committee mechanism. District Magistrates/Collectors are being sensitized in this regard to ensure proper monitoring of the programme through coordinated efforts of all stake-holders. The State Governments have been advised to route all Government benefits and social security payments through the banking system so that the benefits reach the beneficiaries timely and efficiently and leakages are reduced substantially.

Scheme for National Rollout of e-District Mission Mode Project approved under NeGP

Scheme for National Rollout of e-District Mission Mode Project approved under NeGP


The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure approved the following proposals :

1. Scheme of National Rollout of e-District Mission Mode Project at a cost of Rs 1663.08 crore to be implemented in all 640 districts (including the 41 districts where e-District Pilot Projects have already been initiated) of the country for a period of 4 years.

2. Approval for an outlay of Rs 1663.08 crore spread over years 2011-2012 to 2014-2015 with an expenditure of Rs 541.22 crore in the Eleventh Five Year Plan and of Rs 1121.86 crore in the 12th Five Year Plan.

3. Approval of constitution of an Empowered Committee for coordinating the implementation of the Project.



What is National e Governance Plan?

The National e Governance Plan (NeGP) was introduced in May 2006, with a vision to -- Make all Government Services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realize the basic needs of the common man.

In pursuance of this vision under NeGP, 27 Central, State and Integrated Mission Mode projects (MMPs) along with 8 support components were identified and approved. States can identify upto 5 additional state-specific projects, which are particularly relevant for the economic development of the State. NeGP also envisages creation of the core IT infrastructure in the form of State Wide Area Networks (SWANs), State Data Centres (SDCs) State Service Delivery Gateways (SSDGs) and one lakh Front Ends namely Common Services Centres (CSCs), in rural areas across the country to deliver public services electronically.

e-District is one of the 27 MMPs under NeGP, with the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India as the nodal Department, to be implemented by State Government or their designated agencies. The MMP aims at electronic delivery of identified high volume citizen centric services, at such district and sub-district level, which are not part of any other MMP.

Estimated total project cost for the nation-wide rollout of e-District MMP is Rs 1663.08 crore, out of which Government of India's share is estimated to be Rs 1233.08 crore and States' share Rs 430 crore.


Advantages of e-District:

• Citizens will be able to access Government to Citizen (G2C) services close to their houses through Common Service Centers (CSCs) in an integrated manner.

• Service delivery of G2C services will be responsive, transparent and accountable at Districts and Sub-District offices.

• Citizens will have to travel less distance, make less trips to Government offices and also will have to wait for much less time to get these services delivered to them.

• Citizen can track the progress of the application/request online.

• Offices and Sub-Offices of district administration will get modernized and Government processes automated which will ultimately empower the citizens.

Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme was proposed by Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Allevation

Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme was proposed by Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Allevation


To address the issue of credit enablement of EWS and LIG households, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) proposes to create a Credit Risk Guarantee Fund Scheme (CGFS) under Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY).


The Proposed fund has the following features:

1. Under the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme (CGFS) the Government of India will provide credit guarantee support to collateral-free / third-party-guarantee-free housing loans up to Rs. 5 lakh extended by lending institutions for Low Income Housing.

2. The CGFS will cover the housing loans to EWS/ LIG borrowers for the purposes of repairs, home improvement, construction, acquisition, and purchase of new or second hand dwelling units, involving an amount not exceeding Rs. 5 lakh per loan.

3. The guarantee cover available under the scheme is proposed to be to the extent of 90% of the sanctioned housing loan amount for a loan amount of upto Rs.2 lakh. And 85% for loan amounts above Rs.2 lakh and upto Rs. 5 lakh.

4. To administer and oversee the operations of the Scheme, provision has been made for establishment of a Credit Risk Guarantee Fund Trust for low income housing (CGFT).

5. Rs.1000 crores has been earmarked as an initial Corpus for CGFS.

[Yearbook] National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP)

Top of Form

National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP)

Who?

• Ministry of Rural Development → Department of Rural Development.

When?

• 1995

Why?

• Directive principles of State Policy (DPSP) 
• Article 41 of the Constitution of India directs the State to provide public assistance to its citizens in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement etc. 

Where?

• Both rural areas as well as urban areas

Who and What?

See the table

Name	Who (BPL person+)	What?
Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS)	Senior citizen (60-79 years)	Rs. 200 pm
	Senior citizen >80 years	Rs. 500 pm
Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS)	Widow 40-59 years	Rs. 200pm
Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS)	18-59 years	Rs. 200pm
National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)	Death of primary breadwinner in 18-64 age	Rs. 10000/-
Annapurna	Senior citizen uncovered in above schemes.	10 kg  grains pm

IGN=Indira Gandhi
pm= Per month.

How?

1. Gram Panchayat / Municipalities shortlist the beneficiaries.
2. Beneficiaries get money via  their accounts in Banks or in Post Office Savings or through Postal Money Order