Cabinet clears drug research fund

The government has cleared a Rs 2,297 crore package to set up a pharmaceutical research and development support fund, sanctioned two Indian Institutes of Information Technology - Design and Manufacturing, and cleared a large number of schemes to please farmers and the poor.

These included the launch of dedicated farmers' channels on Doordarshan, Ignou and All India Radio for spreading information on agricultural-related technology.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the pharma fund would have an initial corpus of Rs 150 crore.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) also approved the setting up of a drug development promotion board. The fund will provide assistance for research by industries on a 50:50 cost sharing basis, besides helping research projects in national institutions.

Union Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh said the CCEA had sanctioned the launch of the farmers' channels on DD and Ignou from January 21 and on AIR next month.

He also announced the establishment of toll-free Kisan call centres to entertain queries from farmers regarding agricultural issues at eight centres, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. Farmers can get information round-the-clock at these centres.

The CCEA also cleared the setting up of two Indian Institutes of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

Swaraj said the two institutes would promote the competitive advantage of Indian products and manufacturing in the global market by providing dual degree programmes in engineering and design.

The CCEA also cleared a reimbursement scheme, to recover the 10 per cent rebate given by handloom agencies to promote the sale of handloom cloth from the last financial year. The reimbursement will cost the Centre Rs 100 crore up to March 2005.

The Cabinet, which also met today, approved a national policy to provide resettlement and rehabilitation benefits to poor families, including tribals, displaced by large-scale projects.

The policy would be applicable to projects affecting at least 500 families in plain areas and 250 families or more in hilly areas, Swaraj told reporters. Tribal families would draw a 25 per cent higher benefit.

The government also gave the go ahead for continuing a post-matric scholarship scheme for the scheduled caste students, which would cost it Rs 1,553 crore over the Tenth Plan period.

It also merged a book-bank scheme within the same and hiked the income limit for availing of the benefits under the scheme.

The CCEA also approved the proposal for the expansion of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme to 56 uncovered districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh at a cost of Rs 139 crore.

It also sanctioned a Rs 100 crore project to establish additional 8,669 sub-centres across the country, to improve the quality of health services.

Acquisition of New Technology Services and Demonstration Vessel at a cost of Rs 155 crore for deep sea mining was also cleared yesterday.