Farm package
The government will implement a revival package in 25 states, involving a financial assistance of nearly Rs 13,500 crore. It will ensure that farmers get short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakh at 7 per cent a year.
Agri debt waiver
The Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for farmers has been implemented. The total debt waiver and relief, so far, amounts to Rs 65,300 crore covering 36 million farmers.
Rural fund
The corpus of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) was increased from Rs 5,500 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 14,000 crore for 2008-09. A separate window for rural roads has been created under the fund.
A-I budget
Increased expenditure due to the aircraft purchase in 2009-10 has led the government to double the plan outlay for National Aviation Company of India Ltd, the PSU that owns Air India, in the Interim Budget presented in Parliament on Monday.
Empowering panchayats
The government plans to expand the existing Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Scheme by making suitable allocations. The idea is to make the panchayats efficient and transparent, and to encourage the states to devolve funds for the purpose.
Support to Project Arrow
Project Arrow, an initiative of the Department of Posts, launched to offer new technology-enabled services to the common man, has been successfully implemented in 500 post offices in the country. The project will be used as a delivery mechanism for social sector schemes such as pension and National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
New educational institutes
Higher education outlay increased 900 per cent in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan and 15 Central Universities will come up in the country. New Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), proposed for the Eleventh Plan period from the academic year 2009-10, will come up in Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. IITs have also come up in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Punjab and Gujarat. In 2009-10, two more IITs in Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh are expected to commence operations.
More From This Section
Upgrading the ITIs
Almost 500 ITIs have been upgraded into centres of excellence. The government also created the National Skill Development Corporation in July 2008 with an initial corpus of Rs 1,000 crore to stimulate and coordinate private sector participation in skill development.
Social sector scheme for minorities
To strengthen social and economic inclusion of minority communities, Ministry of Minority Affairs was set up. Sufficient funds were allocated to Prime Minister's 15-point programme for the welfare of the minorities.
Loans for safai karamcharis
The authorised capital of the National Safai Karamchari Finance and Development Corporation has been raised from Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore to enable it to provide loans at concessional rates to safai karamcharis. The rates of scholarships for their children have been doubled in 2008-09.
Self-help groups get a look-in
The authorised capital of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh will be enhanced to help women self-help groups. In December 2008, ‘Priyadarshini Project’ — a rural women’s empowerment and livelihood programme — was launched in UP. The project will be implemented as a pilot in the districts of Madhubani and Sitamarhi in Bihar and Shravasti, Bahraich, Rai Bareli and Sultanpur in UP.
Pension for women
Two new schemes — Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme — will be launched in the current year for widows between 40 years and 64 years and for those who are severely disabled.
ITI seats for young widows
In order to empower young widows in the age group of 18-40 years and to make them financially independent, the government proposes to give them priority admissions into ITIs — regional as well as national. The government will bear the cost of their training and provide a monthly stipend of Rs 500.
More for Commonwealth Games
Enhanced Plan allocations have been provided for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Ministry of Culture to ensure the availability of adequate resources for hosting the Commonwealth Games next year.
Push to elementary education
Allocation for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has been fixed at Rs 13,100 crore for 2009-10. The programme has made significant contribution towards providing access to elementary education. Nearly 98 per cent habitation has been covered by primary schools and the focus now is to improve the quality of elementary education. Between 2003-04 and 2008-09, the allocation for this programme has been increased by 571 per cent.
Rs 8,000 crore for mid-day meals
For the year 2009-10, Rs 8,000 crore has been allocated to government’s Mid-day Meals Scheme in schools. India’s national mid-day meals programme in schools is the world’s largest school-feeding programme. It has improved school participation.
Fillip to child development scheme
Allocation of Rs 6,705 crore has been made for the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in 2009-10. The Scheme was expanded twice in the last five years to cover the hitherto uncovered areas in India. As part of its commitment to reduce the malnutrition levels in the country, the UPA government has recently adopted the New WHO Child Growth Standards for monitoring growth of children under ICDS.
Improving urban infrastructure
Allocation to the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for the year 2009-10 has been fixed at Rs 11,842 crore. A major achievement of the United Progressive Alliance government is development and extension of Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) in major cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. Under the Jawaharlal National Urban Renewal Mission, 386 projects amounting to Rs 39,000 crore were sanctioned by the end of 2008.
Safe Drinking water for more
Allocation for Rajiv Gandhi Rural Drinking Water Mission -— which was envisaged to supply safe drinking water to uncovered habitations and slipped back habitations — has been set at Rs 7,400 crore in 2009-10.
More funds for rural infra
Bharat Nirman is a time-bound plan for building rural infrastructure. It has six components namely, rural roads, telephony, irrigation, drinking water supply, housing and electrification. Between 2005 and 2009, the allocation to this programme has been increased by 261 per cent. For the year 2009-10, the allocation for the programme has been increased to Rs 40,900 crore.