Indian Polity Quiz: Public Policy | 19 June, 2021

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has the following objectives:

• Provide 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to rural unskilled labour
• Increase economic security
• Decrease migration of labour from rural to urban areas

• Social Audit of MGNREGA works is mandatory.
• At least one-third beneficiaries shall be women.
• Right to get unemployment allowance in case employment is not provided within fifteen days of submitting the application or from the date when work is sought. Unemployment allowance is borne by the state governments.
• A 60:40 wage and material ratio has to be maintained. No contractors and machinery are allowed.

Source: Governance in India by Laxmikanth

Prime Minister had given a clarion call of “Housing for All by 2022”, for which a flagship programme of PMAY-G was launched on 20th November, 2016. So far 1.14 crore houses have already been built across the country under the programme.

• Identification of beneficiaries done using information from Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) subject to 13-point exclusion criteria.
• The list will be presented to Gram Sabha to identify beneficiaries who have been assisted before or who have become ineligible due to other reasons.
• Inspection and uploading of geo referenced photographs will be done though a mobile app.
• Each beneficiary is given 100% grant of Rs.1.20 lakh (in plain areas) and Rs. 1.30 lakh (in Hilly States/North Eastern States/Difficult areas/UT of J&K and Ladakh/IAP/LWE districts) with a sharing ratio of 60:40 between Centre and State.

• Beneficiaries can also avail loan upto Rs. 7000 from financial institutions.
• Funds for all these houses constructed under PMAY-G are given by way of 4 installments directly into the bank account of the beneficiary after verification of various stages of construction through Geotagged photographs.
• The beneficiaries are provided support of unskilled labour wages for 90/95 person days under MGNREGS and assistance of Rs. 12,000 for construction of toilets through Swachh Bharat Mission- Gramin, or any other dedicated source of funding.

Source: Governance in India by Laxmikanth

PMKVY is a Skill Certification Scheme that aims to encourage the youth population of the country to take up training which is Industry- Relevant and builds them in Skill Development.

• The scheme was launched with an intention to provide secure livelihoods for the individuals participating in the training.
• PMKVY will also certify the previous learning experiences or skills of the individuals under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

Source: https://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/skill-development/best-practices-on-skill-development/recognition-of-prior-learning.

Public health and sanitation, Regulation of mines and mineral development comes under State list. Electricity is in Concurrent list.

Source: Laxmikanth

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched Ayushman Sahakar, a scheme to assist cooperatives in creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country.

It is a scheme of National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) for financial assistance to cooperatives on holistic healthcare infrastructure, education and services.

Source: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.

List of 18 items covered under the Twelfth Schedule of the Indian Constitution are as follows;

• Regulation of land use and construction of land buildings.
• Urban planning including the town planning.
• Planning for economic and social development

• Urban poverty alleviation
• Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes
• Fire services
• Public health sanitation, conservancy and solid waste management
• Slum improvement and up-gradation

• Safeguarding the interests of the weaker sections of society, including the physically handicapped and mentally unsound
• Urban forestry, protection of environment and promotion of ecological aspects
• Construction of roads and bridges
• Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as parks, gardens and playgrounds
• Promotion of cultural, educational and aesthetic aspects

• Burials and burials grounds, cremation and cremation grounds and electric crematoriums
• Cattle ponds, prevention of cruelty to animals
• Regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries
• Public amenities including street lighting, parking spaces, bus stops and public conveniences
• Vital statistics including registration of births and deaths

Source: Laxmikanth

HEFA has been set up on 31st May 2017 by the Central Government as a non-profit, Non-Banking Financing Company (NBFC).

• HEFA was established to mobilize extra-budgetary resources for building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions under Central Government.
• The Government has approved the authorized equity capital expansion of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) to Rs. 10,000 crores, with Government equity of Rs. 6000 crores.
• An amount corresponding to 10% of the Government equity would be contributed by the partner institution, Canara Bank.
• All Centrally Funded Educational Institutions in Higher Education, School Education and Medical Education sectors are eligible to avail of loans through HEFA.

Source: https://hefa.co.in/about-us/

Eleventh Schedule It contains the following 29 functional items placed within the purview of panchayats:

• Agriculture, including agricultural extension
• Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation and soil conservation
• Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development

• Animal husbandry, dairying and poultry
• Fisheries
• Social forestry and farm forestry
• Minor forest produce
• Small-scale industries, including food processing industries

• Khadi, village and cottage industries
• Rural housing
• Drinking water
• Fuel and fodder
• Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways and other means of communication

• Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity.

Source: Laxmikanth

The Government has informed that around 4.39 lakh candidates have been trained during 2018-19 and 2019-20 under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalaya Yojana (DDU-GKY).

• It was launched in 2014 by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) as a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
• Scheme aim is to transform rural poor youth into an economically independent and globally relevant workforce.

Source: The Hindu

The section 124-A deals with the offence of sedition, a term that covers speech or writing, or any form of visible representation, which brings the government into hatred or contempt, or excites disaffection towards the government, or attempts to do so.  

• It is punishable with three years in prison or a life term. “Disaffection”, it says, includes disloyalty and feelings of enmity.  
• However, it also says expressing disapproval of government measures or actions, with a view to getting them changed by lawful means, without promoting hatred or disaffection or contempt towards the government will not come under this section. 
• Sedition was introduced in the penal code in 1870; a decade after the Indian Penal Code came into force. It was a colonial law directed against strong criticism of the British administration.  

• Its most famous victims included Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi called it “the prince among the political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen”. 
• Two high courts had found it unconstitutional after Independence, as it violated the freedom of speech and expression. The Constitution was amended to include ‘public order’ as one of the ‘reasonable restrictions’ on which free speech could be abridged by law.  
• Thereafter, the Supreme Court, in Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar (1962) upheld its validity. At the same time, it limited its application to acts that involve “intention or tendency to create disorder” or incitement to violence.  
• Thus, even strongly worded remarks, as long as they do not excite disloyalty and enmity, or incite violence, are not offences under this section. 

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/its-time-to-define-limits-of-sedition-says-sc/