Miscellanous Quiz: Schemes |1 Apr, 2021

formation and promotion of Farmer Producers Organization (FPOs) is a Central Sector Scheme under Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW).

· Its objective is to establish 10,000 FPOs in five years period from 2019-20 to 2023-24 to ensure economies of scale for farmers.

· It is implemented by- Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC), National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

· Also, States can nominate their Implementing Agency in consultation with DAC&FW.

Source: PIB

It is an old age pension scheme to provide social security net to around 3 crore Small and Marginal old age farmers as they have minimal or no savings to provide for old age and to support them in the event of consequent loss of livelihood.

· Small and Marginal Farmer (SMF) of age of 18- 40 years – a farmer who owns cultivable land up to 2 hectares as per land records of the concerned State/UT.

· Exclusions: SMFs covered under any other statuary social security schemes such as National Pension Scheme (NPS), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation scheme, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-SYM) etc.

Source: PIB

It is a Centrally Sponsored Umbrella Scheme that has been implemented since 2016-17. It comprises of 11 schemes / missions:

· Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)- to promote holistic growth of horticulture sector.

· National Food Security Mission (NFSM) including National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP)- to increase production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals, oilseeds and commercial crops through area expansion, restoring soil fertility and improving productivity.

· National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)- to promote sustainable agriculture practices focusing on integrated farming, appropriate soil health management and synergizing resource conservation technology.

· Sub-Mission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE)- to strengthen ongoing programmes of states/local bodies to achieve food security, empowering farmers, strengthen programme planning, ICT usage etc.

· Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP)- to increase production of certified / quality seed, increase seed replacement rate (SRR) and upgrade the quality of farm saved seeds.

· Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)- to increase the reach of farm mechanization, promote ‘Custom Hiring Centres’ to offset the adverse economies of scale arising due to small landholding and high cost.

· Sub-Mission on Plant Protection and Plan Quarantine- to minimize loss to quality and yield of agricultural crops, shield agricultural bio-security, facilitate exports and promote good agricultural practices.

· Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics- to undertake the agriculture census, study of the cost of cultivation of principal crops, to undertake research studies on agro-economic problems etc.

· Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation (ISAC)- to provide financial assistance for improving the economic conditions of cooperatives, remove regional imbalances.

· Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM)- to develop and provide agricultural marketing infrastructure, promote innovative and latest technologies and integrate markets through a common online market platform.

· National e-Governance Plan (NeGP-A) – to improve access of farmers to information &services, making available timely and relevant information to the farmers for increasing their agriculture productivity.

Source: The Hindu

It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme which was started from 2014-15 comprising of following sub-schemes and areas of operation –

· National Horticulture Mission: to promote holistic growth of horticulture sector through an area based regionally differentiated strategies

· Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States: It is a technology mission which focuses on production of quality planting material, organic farming, efficient water management etc.

· Promote, develop and disseminate technologies and generate employment opportunities.

· National Horticulture Board is implementing various schemes under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) in all States and UTs.

· Coconut Development Board is implementing various schemes under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) in all Coconut growing states in the country.

· Central Institute for Horticulture, Nagaland for providing technical back stopping through capacity building and training of farmers and Field functionaries in the North Eastern Region.

It aims to promote holistic development of Horticulture sector (including bamboo & coconut).

Source: PIB

It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme which was launched in 2007.

· From the years 2018-19 and 2019-20, NMOOP and Seed Village Programme are now a part of NFSM.

· NFSM will have eight components viz. (i) NFSM- Rice; (ii) NFSM-Wheat; (iii) NFSM-Pulses; (iv) NFSM-Coarse Cereals (Maize, Barley), (v) NFSM-Sub Mission on Nutri Cereals; (vi) NFSM-Commercial Crops; (vii) NFSM-Oilseeds and Oilpalm; and (viii) NFSM-Seed Village Programme

Source: PIB

Its aim is to promote domestic organic market growth and also to enable S&M farmers to have easy access to organic certification, a decentralized organic farming certification system called PGS-India is being implemented by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.

· It is outside the framework of third-party system of certification (which is a pre-requisite to enter export market of organic produce) and it is a group-certification system including farmers, traders and consumers (hence the name) and it is supported by PKVY scheme.

· PGS ensures that their production takes place in accordance with laid-down quality standards. It is not applicable for off-farm activities like transport, storage etc.

· The certification is in the form of a documented logo or a statement

Source: PIB

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Atal Bhujal scheme to strengthen the institutional framework for participatory groundwater management and bringing about behavioral changes at the community level for sustainable groundwater resource management in seven States.

· The scheme will be implemented in about 8,350-gram panchayats in 78 districts of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

· Of the total outlay of ₹6,000 crore to be provided from 2020-21 to 2024-25, 50% will be in the form of World Bank loan to be repaid by the Central government.

· The remaining part will be made available via Central assistance from regular budgetary support.

· The entire World Bank’s loan component and the Central assistance will be passed on to the States as grants.

· The Prime Minister said the scheme, or the guidelines related to the Jal Jeevan Mission, were big steps in proving the resolve to deliver water to every household in the country by 2024.

· He said the Jal Jeevan Mission would work towards delivering piped water supply to every house and Atal Bhujal scheme would pay special attention to those areas where groundwater was very low.

Source: The Hindu

One of the major requisites for the pensioners post their retirement from service, is to provide life certificates to the authorized pension disbursing agencies like Banks, Post offices etc., following which their pension is credited to their account.

· In order to get this life certificate, the individual drawing the pension is required to either personally present oneself before the Pension Disbursing Agency or have the Life Certificate issued by authority where they have served earlier and have it delivered to the disbursing agency.

· Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners Scheme of the Government of India known as Jeevan Pramaan seeks to address this very problem by digitizing the whole process of securing the life certificate.

· It aims to streamline the process of getting this certificate and making it hassle free and much easier for the pensioners.

· With this initiative the pensioner’s requirement to physically present him/her in front of the disbursing agency or the certification authority will become a thing of the past benefiting the pensioners in a huge way and cutting down on unnecessary logistical hurdles.

Source: ForumIAS factly

The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244a of the Indian Constitution.

· Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).

· ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.

· The governors of these states are empowered to reorganize boundaries of the tribal areas. In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area, increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one.

· They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without a separate legislation.

Source: Laxmikanth

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) is a Pension Scheme announced by the Government of India exclusively for the senior citizens aged 60 years and above which was available from 4th May, 2017 to 31st March, 2020.

· The scheme is now extended up to 31st March, 2023 for a further period of three years beyond 31st March, 2020.

· Pension is payable at the end of each period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per the frequency of monthly/ quarterly/ half-yearly/ yearly as chosen by the pensioner at the time of purchase.

· The scheme is exempted from GST.

· Loan up to 75% of Purchase Price shall be allowed after 3 policy years (to meet the liquidity needs).

· Loan interest shall be recovered from the pension installments and loan to be recovered from claim proceeds.

· On death of the pensioner during the policy term of 10 years, the Purchase Price shall be paid to the beneficiary.

Source: The Hindu