TAMILNADU

Donations from abroad for NGOs inTamil Naduhave dropped by 90%, pushing the state to fourth in the country in attracting funding under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA). This has adversely impacted activities of many groups largely dependent on such contributions, say activists.

TN has the most number of NGOs and associations registered under the FCRA in the country and 3,262 of the 6,485 NGOs eligible to receive funds are currently active.

Data furnished by theUnion Home ministryin theRajya Sabha, a fortnight ago shows NGOs and associations in TN received more than Rs 2,000 crore for 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19, second only to Delhi. This fell to Rs 219 crore in 2019-20. Data for 2019-20 was based on Annual Returns (ARs) filed on 16-03-2021, but an extension has been given till June this year.

The proliferation of higher Education institutions in the state has made Nadu a hub forstartupincubation centres, but this vast Network has not translated in the number of startups that have emerged from the state. Recognizing a need for capacity building and hand-holding for the state’s incubators to achieve desired results, the state finance budget proposed support systems for the incubators.

While details of the scheme including funds allocated, ceiling limits of financial assistance and are yet to be determined, StartupTN CEO Sivarajah Ramanathan said that this would help in improving the focus of the incubation centres to specialise in high impact areas. “We will also work with any private educational institutions or any other entity that wishes to set up centres of excellence in the mentioned verticals,” he said.

Residents ofMintand surrounding areas in Chennai will soon get another spot to spend their evenings and early morning hours.

A park in the area, which is under construction, will be open to the public by April this year.

Under theSingara Chennai2.0 scheme, the park is being constructed under the Mint flyover at a cost of Rs 5 crore.

The park will have a walkers path, area for senior citizens, open air gym and facilities, sculptures and art work, tensile fabric structures, toilets and parking.

A total of 1,000 saplings have been planted in the park by local residents in memory of their loved ones. These will be maintained by theGreater Chennai Corporation.

Chief ministerShivraj Singh Chouhantook part in a virtual review meeting of states presided over by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi regarding new variant Omicron and its management.
The Union Health secretary informed the meeting thatMadhya Pradeshis doing good work regarding vaccination of children, which began on January 3. In Madhya Pradesh, 72.2% of the eligible adolescents have been given the vaccine.

Precautionary dose has been given to more than 1.8 lakh people. It was informed that for vaccination in Madhya Pradesh, 11 special campaigns have been conducted using the model of public participation. So far, 96% people eligible for the first dose and 92% for the second dose have been vaccinated in Madhya Pradesh, which is higher than the national Average. Similarly, MP is the leading state in India with maximum number of vaccination in the age group of 15-17 years and in vaccination of pregnant mothers.

The state has also done good work in the expenditure of central funds for Corona control. Arrangements for common beds, Oxygen beds, HDU and ICU beds, oxygen Plants, medicines have been ensured in hospitals, especially for the prevention of Covid in the state. Rs 437 crore 17 lakh was released by the government of India as central share.

In this the states share Rs 291 crore 44 lakh has been released by the MP government. From the total share of the Centre and the State, the State has spent Rs 398 crore 33 lakh against the available amount of Rs 728 crore 61 lakh crore. MP is included in the first five states in the progress of expenditure at the national level.

The Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Mission has also been started this year. Under the mission , 50-bed critical blocks are being made in district integrated public health labs, district hospitals and medical colleges. For the year 2021-22, the Government of India has approved Rs 126.25 crore under the mission.

The Nadu cabinet on Wednesday approved eight new industrial Investment proposals worth 15,610 crore. To be spread across districts, these projects are expected to generate 8,776 jobs, industries minister Thangam Thennarasu said.

The investment proposals are for multiple sectors including electric vehicles, wireless technology, textiles and Oxygen manufacturing. These projects would come up in Krishnagiri, Theni, Pudukkottai and in districts around Chennai. Refusing to name the companies whose investment proposals were cleared on Wednesday, citing “commercial-sensitive reasons”, Thangam Thennarasu said the names will be revealed when they sign memoranda of understanding with the government.

Power supply to as many as 83,111 connections was disconnected due to the rains and inundation to avoid accidents such as electrocution. By 6 pm on Sunday they had restored the connection to 77,015 that is 92.7 per cent of the lines that were disconnected over the last three days. The disruption was primarily because of transformers being turned off or damaged by the rains.

On the other hand 17 transformers including eight 105 KVA transformers in Kuzhithurai division, five 63 KVA transformers and three 25 KVA transformers in Kuzhithurai and in Thuckalay divisions and a 250 KVA transformer in Nagercoil division were damaged by the rains. Structural damages were caused to three transformers of which two have been replaced.

The pre-baseline NaduHousehold Panel Survey (TNHPS) for 2018-2019 was released by the minister for finance P T R Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and received by chief secretary V Irai Anbu in Chennai.

The Tamil Nadu Household Panel Survey (TNHPS) examines a set of sample households in Tamil Nadu at specific intervals to analyse the change in socio-economic status of individuals, families and communities and how they are influenced, especially by government intervention. The details of the survey have not yet been released.

Understanding the transformation of the beneficiaries through government intervention is crucial for making “evidence-based policy” more effective.

Registration of guest workers is the only way to ensure that each and every one of them is counted, thereby getting government benefits. As on date, only around 5.2 lakh guest workers have been mapped. This accounts for less than 15% of the workforce from other states. A senior official in the department said it would be a difficult task to map the guest workers as they were a floating Population.

Officials in thelabour departmentadmitted that a large section of guest workers in the unorganised sector were missing from the government Database. They were also facing challenges in mapping them in the department’s drive through online portal registration. This once again proved the law enforcing agencies failure to implement the Inter-State Workmen (Regulation of EMPLOYMENT & Conditions of Services) Act 1979 and other labour laws that were brought in to protect the rights of workers and extend them social security. These acts mandate registration of guest workers, protect their rights and ensure safe Migration, Health and safety at the workplace, and provision of creche at the worksite.