29.07.21

Haryanahas cancelled 2.91 lakh ration cards of ineligible beneficiaries in the region in the last three years. Its neighbourPunjabhas annulled 2.87 lakh such ration cards while the hill state ofHimachal Pradeshfound 59,435ration cardholders not entitled to enjoy the benefits of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) from 2018 to 2020.

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Minister of state in the ministry of rural development and consumer affairs, food and public distribution Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti shared this information during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament on Tuesday. She said that under the National Act (NFSA), Aadhaar seeding of ration cards ensures uniqueness of beneficiaries in the Public Distribution System, avoiding duplicate or bogus ration cards. So far, more than 92% ration cards, at least one member of household, have been Aadhaar seeded at the national level. A total of 30 states and Union territories have completed the Aadhaar seeding of ration cards under NFSA, said the minister.

The TPDS is operated under the joint responsibilities of the central and the state/UT governments in which the operational responsibilities, such as identification of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act, issuance of ration cards to them, allocation of foodgrains to all fair price shops, distribution to beneficiaries, licensing and monitoring of fair price shops, grievance redressal of beneficiaries lies with the concerned state or UT government.

Under the direct loan scheme run by the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation, the income limit for borrowing has been raised from Rs one lakh to Rs three lakhs.

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The has extended the powers to sanction loans up to Rs one lakh to the district managers of the corporation at the district level for the expeditious disposal of debt cases for the convenience of people.

the main objective of the Corporation is to provide low interest rate loans to the Scheduled Castes and persons with disabilities for self-EMPLOYMENT occupations such as Dairy farms, grocery shops, clothing shops, shuttering work, lumbering, higher Education loans, so that their economic status can be raised and they can be lifted out from the POVERTY-line”>Poverty Line.

The Minister further said that the Corporation has provided financial assistance of Rs 2,293.73 lakh to 2,116 beneficiaries even during the difficult times of COVID-19 during the current financial year 2021-2022. The Corporation had set a target of disbursing Rs 40 crore to 1,400 borrowers, under which loan-subsidy of Rs 624.81 lakh has been disbursed to 562 beneficiaries so far.

Punjab Government during its tenure of almost four years has extended loans of Rs 8,066.23 lakh to 8,590 eligible and needy SC youth. In addition, the State Government has given huge relief to the debtors by waiving the debts of 14,260 beneficiaries amounting to Rs 4,540.80 lakh.

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) should procure apple from Himachal through the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) and at rates on par with Kashmir, said Harish Chauhan, president, Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Growers Association of Himachal Pradesh.

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Raising the demand, Chauhan also brought out the anomaly in the prices offered to the growers of the two states through MIS. Even though the scheme is same, Kashmiri apple growers get Rs 24for their Grade C variety,while their counterparts in Himachal get only Rs 9.50. The difference is huge. he said.

Not just Grade C, NAFED also buys Grade A and Grade B apple in Kashmir. In Himachal, the MIS is applicable only to Grade C apple. Chauhan said last year, NAFED offered Rs 60 per kg, Rs 44 and Rs 24 for Grade A, B and C, respectively, to Kashmiri growers.

The Haridwar Roorkee Development Authority (HRDA) has recently undertaken an initiative to not only improve the environment but also boost public health.

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HRDA Secretary Lalit Narayan Mishra said an Oxygen strip has been developed on a 2.5 kilometre stretch from Sinh Dwar to Jatwada on which about 250 treeshave been planted.

These include trees of medicinal and environmental importance like Peepal, banyan, Amla and Neem among others. These trees will not only provide fresh air to the people but also improve the Environment in the city.

All the saplings have been protected with tree guards. Mishra said authority aims to connect progressive youths and volunteers to this initiative. Peepal trees have been given more space on this stretch as this tree lives longer and provides fresh oxygen.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, said the state government had taken an initiative to link education to society in real terms down to the grassroots level and this was a new beginning to strengthen the foundation of the social system of the country.

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The decision to make universities adopt villages for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) patients, both adults and children, would further create a healthy and educated India. He said the government was committed to the treatment of the weaker sections, especially those who were suffering from major diseases.

Praising Anganwadis, Yogi Adityanath said the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was successfully controlled and the credit to this went to Anganwadis and the medical warriors of the state. He said the government had given priority to vaccination of all Health workers and this was one of the reasons that the impact of the second wave was controlled.

In a bid to empower rural women, Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Wednesday with HDFC Bank to provide credit linkage to Sakhi Mandals in the State.

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Sakhi Mandals in the State will be benefited by coming forward of private sectors lenders for credit linkage to Sakhi Mandals, said Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nancy Sahay, Chief while the signing of MoU with HDFC Bank.

JSLPS under the Department of Rural Development is constantly trying to connect rural Women in the State with credit linkage. HDFC Bank is the first private bank to join the initiative of providing credit linkage to Sakhi Mandals in the State. The representatives of the bank talked about more help under the CSR item for the livelihood of Sakhi Mandals in the State in the coming days.

Under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana, , about 2.6 lakh Sakhi Mandals have been formed. Out of these, an amount of Rs 2000 crores has been made available to about 1.5 lakh Sakhi Mandals as credit linkage. This amount has been linked by the Government banks.

Plea to open tourist info centres at Buddhist sites

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Tourist Guide Association of Bihar has urged the to open tourist information centres at important sites of Bihar under Buddhist circuit. The association has also demanded introduction of bus Services between Bodh Gaya and tourist destinations like Rajgir, Nalanda, Dhungeshwari, Vanavar and Gurpa.

The tourist information centre in Bodh Gaya is at a distance of about 1km from the Mahabodhi temple. It should be located around the Mahavihara near the office of Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee so that tourists can easily get information about other nearby sites and modes of Communication. The centre should provide information about flights, trains, buses and Foreign Exchange.

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore is going to carry out a study of beat policing in Indore to improve the current system. An escalation in the cases of beat police brutality and callousness towards civilians have been reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The six-month study, to understand and analyse existing practices and recommend a framework for the improvement of the system and suggestion for technology intervention for improvement in beat policing, would be led by Professor Himanshu Rai, director of the IIM.The project is part of a larger memorandum of understanding signed between the IIM and Madhya Pradesh Police to strengthen the professionalism of the parties and to contribute to the development of a better security environment and orderliness at public places through a mutual academic-practitioner collaboration system.

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According to the National Police Commission, 2020-2021, although a Sound beat system is the primary building block for successful policing, in many States in India it exists only on paper. The emerging challenges the police face and the introduction of community policing programmes in several areas have led to a realisation among police forces of the need to have a proper beat system to strengthen both professional policing as well as community policing.

The study will focus on multiple issues, including allocation of Resources, usefulness and impact of the beat system, operational issues and practical implications as well as analyse the existing organization structure, assignment of personnel to beats (territory and timings), understand how the beat personnel maintains records and patrolling/routing of beat personnel and coordination with the command centre, among others.

Gujarat awaits Rs 10,000 crore in GST compensation

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Reflecting a major shortfall in tax collection,Gujaratstill awaitsGST compensationof Rs 10,186 crore from the Centre for the period from April 2020 to May 2021.

The data issued by the Union finance ministry suggests that in 2020-21, GSTcompensationto the tune of Rs 6,583 crore remains pending for clearance from the Centre. Moreover, Rs 3,603 crore is due for clearance for the April-May 2021 period.
A constitutional amendment made states clocking less than 14% year-on-year Growth in their GST collection eligible for compensation for the loss of revenue, over a five-year period from 2017-2022. This was done because several state levies were subsumed under the common national tax.

Higher the compensation amount due, deeper is the tax collection shortfall. Gujarat clocked a total GST collection of Rs 34,561.34 crore in 2020-21, down by 3.75% against the 2019-20 collection of Rs 35,908.64 crore. The tax collection went down due to the pandemic-induced lockdown and a slow recovery in demand.

Gujarat has the fourth highest amount of compensation pending from the Centre after Maharashtra (Rs 23,133 crore); Karnataka (Rs 12,702 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 11,157 crore). Being a manufacturing-oriented state, Gujarat is at a loss when it comes to GST collection as compared to the circumstances in the previous tax regime.