-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 1
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 2
Preface
This is our 5th edition of Yojana Gist released for the month of
AUGUST, 2015 on Inclusive
Growth and related issues. Yet the message delivered in the last
edition remains the same.
Yojana Magazine (released by Ministry of I&B) is
increasingly finding a place in the questions
of both UPSC Prelims and Mains. Every Issue of Yojana deals with
a single topic
comprehensively sharing views from a wide spectrum ranging from
academicians to policy
makers to scholars. The magazine is essential to build an
in-depth understanding of various
socio-economic issues.
From the exam point of view, however, not all articles are
important. Some go into scholarly
depths and others discuss agendas that are not relevant for your
preparation. Added to this
is the difficulty of going through a large volume of
information, facts and analysis to finally
extract their essence that may be useful for the exam.
We are not discouraging from reading the magazine itself. So, do
not take this as a
document which you take read, remember and reproduce in the
examination. Its only
purpose is to equip you with the right understanding. But, if
you do not have enough time to
go through each and every Yojana magazine, you can rely on the
content provided here for
it sums up the most essential points from all the articles in
Yojana.
You need not put hours and hours in reading Yojana and making
its notes in pages. We
believe, a smart study, rather than hard study, of Yojana can
improve your preparation
levels. Hence, instead of giving you a gist of articles, we are
providing a Q&A format from
both Prelims and Mains that can make you understand How to read
Yojana?
Think, learn, practice and keep improving! That is the key to
success.
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 3
INTRODUCTION
Pranab Mukherjee while addressing both Houses of Parliament
described Inclusive growth
covering the poorest of poor as the Governments top priority.
India, having successfully
emerged from an under-developed nation to one of the largest
economies, needs to
translate into an overall improvement in the lives of poor and
the marginalised sections of
the society.
Eleventh Five Year Plan had envisaged the concept of Inclusive
Growth with the intention
to achieve a growth process guaranteeing improvement in the
quality of life and the
equality of opportunity to all. Twelfth plan stressed on it
empathetically with an orientation
towards reducing poverty, improving health and education
facilities, and livelihood
opportunities.
Most social protection policies employed by countries are
concerned with equity, which is
reasonable access to equality of opportunity, which should
permit people to use the
instruments that are at their disposal to progress by some set
parameter. Government of
India, keeping this in mind, has launched various schemes like
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojana, MUDRA Bank, SETU, Skill India Mission and schemes like
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha
Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyothi Bima Yojana and Atal
Pension Yojana. MNREGA
has already established itself as a winner by improving the
standard of living, checking
migration and increasing employment opportunities for the rural
poor significantly.
But to realise the potential of these schemes, a nation-wide
integration is important and the
recent revolution of digitization, truly holds the key to
effective and efficient utilization of
technology to bring the excluded groups back into the
mainstream; securing to its citizens,
the equality of status and opportunity in real sense.
Poverty reduction
Agriculture development
Proper Delivery System
Social Sector Development
Quality of employment
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 4
Mains Related Questions
1) Examine the role of modern digitization technologies in
solving socio-economic
problems and bringing inclusive growth in India.
India has the largest number of poor people in the world and
faces several socio-economic
and environmental challenges. Although, various plans and
schemes have been underway
since the independence of our country, the advent of
globalization has increasingly led to
various other challenges, needed to be dealt with. Technological
Revolution, once
implemented, will help India take strides in the improvement of
facilitation of services to
both urban and rural areas of India, leading to its deep
penetration and good governance on
the basis of communication. This evolutionary new wave of change
can be witnessed in the
following:
Digital India:
Broadband highways are as important as National Highways to
offer better services (Digital
Payments + Verifiable Digital Identity), equip one with better
education, foster innovation
and generate more jobs.
In Agriculture:
Hybrid and GM crops, precision farming by using sensors,
GIS-based soil, weather, water data, and market information
Minimization of post-harvest losses by improvement in the
storage and distribution system can reduce leakages and make the
sector realize additional value
Helps in assessing crop damage through all-weather stations,
satellite/drone imagery and mobile based transfers
Manufacturing Ecosystem:
With an ever-increase in the number of employable youth, a
smooth transition is important to make our manufacturing ecosystem
globally competitive. Impetus to electronic manufacturing to
realise Zero Import vision by establishing proper linkages in terms
of right technology, raw materials and manpower will transform
India into a manufacturing hub. GST will help scale up the entire
process.
Education and Skill Development:
The huge learning crisis and the problem of unemployment can be
revitalised by:
New forms of adaptive and peer learning (Online Learning) +
Access to mentors
Provision of useful data in real time
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 5
3 pillars:
Creation of instructional tools for individualized student
learning: E-content: Digitization of information + Animations +
Videos Gamification of learningMaking learning Fun and Interactive
Address the diversity of language and culture
Development of tech-integrated programmes for competency-linked
teacher training: Connect with peersExchange of knowledge Revisit
and enhance knowledge with Mentors Creation of digital content
Getting trained at producing instructional videos + online coaching
+ peer
support
Data Collection and analysis for strong governance Usage of
Management Information Systems to
Record + Maintain + Track + Analyse student & teachers
performances data
Delivery of Health-care Services:
Existing facilities can be augmented with the help of technology
to deliver optimal health
outcomes
Delivering expert consultations over digital networks
Low-cost portable diagnostic devices
Improving quality & safety
Low-cost healthcare and minimization of transportation costs
(rural to urban)
Eg: NetraG An optic device that can be plugged into a smart
phone and is helpful in
measuring the refractive error of an eye
E-governance
Bringing government and citizens closer by removing layers of
red-tape, inaccessibility and intermediaries
Enhancing Competitiveness
Creation of a Pro-Business Environment
Cut down delays, corruption and inefficiency
Thus, it is imperative for India to build physical
infrastructure to align its vision with the
much awaited socio-economic progress while creating an
innovative and an enabling
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 6
environment for growth to thrive. This revolution is sure to
help India achieve its goals of
rapid economic growth, greater social inclusion, and better
governance by 2025.
2) Economic Development requires India to address the
divergences existing between growth and social development. Trace
the recent steps taken by India in this aspect.
Economic growth refers to the increase in an economys output
over time but economic development aims at achieving a growth in
achieving equal opportunities for all. Regional imbalances with no
improvement in the livelihoods of a large section of people, has
led to a jobless growth. There is thus, a need to address the
divergences that exists between growth and social development.
For Financial Inclusion:
Access to appropriate financial products to all, with a focus on
the vulnerable section at an
affordable cost, in a transparent and fair manner
The steps taken are:
PMJDY:
Included 16.7 crore people in the growth and distribution
process
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 7
Need to inculcate a behaviour of Saving
Improvement in the redistributive process
JAM Trinity Comprehensive Financial inclusive Plan
Link it with PMJDY + Information Technology + Aadhaar
Network
Help bring the bottommost members in the formal Financial
System
Efficient + Leakage-free transfer of benefits Reached the
beneficiary
MNREGA: the stellar example for rural development
Provision of employment opportunities and livelihood safety to
break the image of India attaining Job-less growth
Measures taken to make it a robust scheme can be utilized in
other schemes: IT: Identification + Implementation + Distribution
of Wage Payments through e-
FMS (Electronic Fund Management System) Participation of local
people as major stakeholder via Social Audit System Payments have
directly influenced the number of rural bank accounts holder Womens
socio-economic standing has improved enormously
Adhaar based transfers + PMJDY + Indian Post System Network will
further improve the efficiency and livelihood of the rural poor,
making them a part of growing India
Food Security
An economy is said to have food security when all people at all
times have access to safe
and nutritious food and drinking water to lead a healthy
life
The present UNICEF Report says that at least 1 million children
under the age of 5 die due to malnutrition; forcing us to look out
for the SCs, STs, OBCs and the rural poor as they share the highest
burden of acute malnutrition.
India also ranks 55 in the Global Hunger Index based on number
of underweight children under 5 under-5 Child Mortality Rate and
the proportion of undernourished in the population
India has passed National Food Security Act, 2013 to address the
grave situation aiming to provide subsidized food to almost
two-thirds of the entire population
It has been integrated with schemes like PDS + Mid-Day Meal
Scheme + Integrated Child Development Services, to bring
nutritional food security to both children and women.
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 8
However, the NFSA Act is yet to be implemented and both central
and state government
should remove the hurdles quickly to make our population heathy
and increase our human
capital.
India has been trying to address the issues of divergence
between growth and social
development. However, regional imbalances in implementation of
the schemes, lack of
technological integration has been playing foul with our
development agendas. There is a
need to identify the factors that are causing a stall, reduce
the inter-region imbalances as
well as the leakages and the State Government to play a
pro-active role in the development
of India.
3) Small firms form the seedbed of new initiatives and India
needs to align its
development agenda with the growth stimuli known as MSMEs. In
the light of the above
statement, revisit the critical areas of concern and suggest a
way ahead for more intensive
economic prosperity in the country.
The social role of MSMEs since Independence has been that of a
carrier of fruits of growth,
to the corners of the country. However, keeping in mind Indias
growth paradigm and the
unfinished strategy of integration of policies related to MSMSs,
there are various factors
that needs revisiting in order to create a synergy between
Indias strategy for alignment of
MSMEs with its development agenda.
Start-up: India needs to harness the motivational skills of its
young workforce rather than
just making them capable of earning wages. There is a need to
take care of both Program
Modelling and Delivery of Programs and thus, should develop a
proper approach to
understanding, measurement and planning for entrepreneurship
development.
Skill Development: The skill-gap needs to be holistically
understood and Skill India hopes
to harness modular and motivational skills together. This
mismatch greatly affects the
capacity build-up,as labour market interventions needs to be
demand-driven and should be
in coordination with enhanced income opportunities. Speed,
standard and sustainability
should be the mantra.
Knowledge Creation & Transmission: The knowledge system for
MSMEs should be
integrated to nourish the whole value chain and make innovation
its mantra for
sustainability.
Manufacturing thrust: National Manufacturing Competitiveness
Programme (NMCP) and
the National Manufacturing policy have been given impetus, with
a concentrated focus on
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 9
MSMSs to make India a Manufacturing hub. Defence, Electronics
and Textiles production
are the sectors that need more concerted efforts.
Harnessing the potential of Socially Marginalised Groups: In
India, the configurations of
caste and language gets reflected in enterprise clustering and
recruitment strategy and
managing this multi-culturism would require MSMEs to equip
itself with social engineering
skills and a working public policy
Eg: SHGs, USTAAD are attempting to bring these groups in the
forefront of the
development process.
In India, despite its long history of MSMS Development policy,
our efforts towards
integrating its development with inclusiveness at its core, has
been marred with the failure
of the benefits in reaching the targeted beneficiaries. As
India, transforms into a knowledge
economy, more meticulous efforts are needed to identify the
loopholes and channelize
them into a meaningful solution.
4. What do you mean by Social Enterprise? What role can it play
in bringing inclusive growth to India?
Social Enterprises are defined as enterprises that operate like
a business, produce goods and services for the market, managing the
operations but redirecting the surpluses in pursuit of social and
environmental goals. They can be operated by a non-profit
organization or by a for-profit company, having its primary
objective as social purpose at the top and commercial purpose at
the bottom.
Social enterprises have two goals at its core:
To achieve social, cultural, community; economic or
environmental outcomes
Generate revenue to support its goals
India has seen a remarkable GDP growth over the last two decades
but its 1.2 billion populations is still grappling with poverty. We
are in need of a response that builds up a social economy; and
social enterprises can play an important role in fulfilling
government policy objectives by:
Increasing productivity and competitiveness
Contributing to socially-inclusive wealth creation
Enabling individuals and communities to renew local
neighbourhoods
Demonstrating new ways to deliver public services
Developing an inclusive society and active citizenship
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 10
India has produced several social enterprise models but the
country still lacks in a social enterprise policy at a national
level. Once brought into the mainstream, it can play an
instrumental role in translating the concept of inclusion into an
action-oriented phenomenon, from idea to innovation, smoothly.
But there exists a difference in having an access and actually,
accessing.
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 11
There is a need for the Government to rethink those measures
already taken and those, about to be taken, to expand their scope
in making financial instruments more inclusive. Orientation
programmes for bank staff and financial literacy programme for the
public should be taken up.
To start off, a multidimensional index can be computed to
include:
number of bank accounts per household
number of bank branches per 1,000 kilometres
Financial habit indicators (No. of accounts actually used)
Performance of the BCs as well as improving their
profitability
Credit for image- Financial Express
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 12
5. Enumerate thesocio-economic impact of the expansion of
financial access in India.
The correlation between inclusive growth and reduction in
poverty and corresponding social equality is widely recognised.
Financial inclusion can thus be seen as a tool of advancing
equitable growth for all the economic participants in the
society.
PMJDY:
Creation of a social security net along with Pradhan Mantri
Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan
Mantri Jeevan Jyothi Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana
These have the ability to alter the manner in which benefits can
be transferred to the
marginalised section, bringing them into mainstream finance.
However, lack of access points
and transaction limits make it unattractive and their removal
will usher in more frequent
usage and ease of access. Post office payments and usage of Fair
price Shops (eg: Anywhere
Rations by AP government)as multipurpose shops are beneficial
alternatives that can be
leveraged along with DBT, MUDRA Bank and Gold Monetization
Schemes to collect and park
the pool of savings for better investment purposes.
Scope of JAM:
Building up of an inclusive information society Improvement in
governance Can help build a network around which a larger network
can be established to link
users to small businesses, majorly bringing them into a
level-playing ground
Banking Correspondents System in underbanked areas:
Convenience and lowered transaction costs Improved Banking
Relationships visible in the form of higher loan recovery rates
Disappearance of Informal service providers Financial Literacy
Opportunity to harness savings; channelizing them in areas like
housing, education
and health
These socio-economic developments can help India unleash her
creative potential and convert ideas and innovation into a
manufactured product in the economy, strengthened by
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 13
inclusive growth yielding higher employment and output for the
economy. This will form a sound foundation for the Make in India to
become a reality.
6) Recent formulated schemes are major steps taken by government
of India to create a sound and a sustainable social security net in
the country. Comment
Schemes like Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri
Jeevan Jyothi Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana, serve as a
successful model towards creation of a sustainable social security
net for millions in the country.
a. They are universally accessible covering the majority of
population unable to access the products privately and the premium
has been kept low to attract even the poorest of the poor
b. It develops a sense of responsibility enhancing awareness and
gives a push to financial inclusion.
c. Bank becomes the mediator, creating great convenience and a
sense of safety in the minds of the account holder.
d. Business Correspondents Model enhances the capacity and the
footprint of the banks in rural areas thereby, contributing to
minimum transaction costs for the banks.
e. Mobilization of savings can be further integrated into the
economy to increase further productive investment.
However, these schemes pose some serious challenges that should
be taken care of by the
policy makers:
a. Lack of awareness and understanding is the major hurdle in
rural areas where there is no system to deliver the desired
information, makes the role of the Gram Panchayat extremely
important.
b. Zero Balance Account has a high maintenance cost which is
difficult to maintain and the issue of recovery being difficult
c. As the number of accounts is increasing, banks are finding it
difficult to increase their workforce and at the same time, deliver
services efficiently.
d. Most of these rural accounts are No-Frill accounts and thus,
banks are unwilling to spend inordinate amounts of time and
resources to create and nurture a new market.
e. Connectivity issues make banks suffer more because their
investment doesnt generate good output in rural areas.
Even with some of the shortcomings, these schemes have provided
an option to the poor,
creating a web of good governance with the poor being a major
stakeholder. Lack of
awareness, poor connectivity and low penetration of banks in
rural areas needs to be dealt
with swiftly to forge India towards an inclusive socially
developed nation.
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 14
7. Can agriculture be employed as a basic means to uplift the
socio-economic indicators of
our country?
In an agrarian economy, a development plan needs to keep
agriculture as its centre point.
India has witnessed a major downslide on the productivity and
crop-diversification front,
making more than two-thirds of population remain laggard on all
aspects of socio-economic
measurements. The sole motto of agriculture has been to increase
the acreage and
productivity but there is a need today, to make agriculture, a
tool to bring about inclusive
growth and social change.
National Agriculture Market (NAM):
Integration of wholesale markets across India on an online
platform One license for the entire state and a single point levy
Electronic auctions for price discovery Market size for farmers
would increase enhancing better prices, better supply chain,
wastage reduction Elimination of middlemen enhancing more scope
for financial inclusion
Soil Health Scheme
Importance to soil-health established by mobile soil testing
laboratories across the country
From sample collection to its analysis, training of farmers,
staff and chemists Optimum usage of ICT to help the farmers
understand the soil quality, the
deficiencies and the proper crops to be grown with the knowledge
of the amount of fertilizers to be put, minimising risk and
reducing cost
Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
Achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field
level Expand cultivable area under assured irrigation Improve
on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water Enhance the
adoption of precision-irrigation and Water saving technologies like
Drip Irrigation Enhance recharge of aquifers Introduction of
sustainable conservation practices
Exploring the feasibility of reusing treated municipal based
water
Attract greater private investment in precision irrigation
system Involvement of major stakeholders for proper water-budgeting
to be done
Price Stabilization Fund
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 15
To check volatility of prices and increasing the shelf life of
vegetables, government has established this fund
Perishable commodities will be procured directly from farmers or
their organizations at the mandi levels and be made available at
reasonable prices
Helps getting buyers directly on the doorsteps of farmers
Agriculture Credit & Farm Insurance
Making credit available on easy terms Enabling farmers to
recover the basic inputs in times of uncertainties (Weather-
based insurance scheme) Creation of a strong social security
system in Rural India
DD Kisan: To inform and educate about the recent initiatives as
well as warn them about
weather conditions
Warehousing
Proper handling and storage will reduce the wastage of
food-items Enhance effective targeting under NFSA Safety of
perishable items by increasing their shelf life
Focus on power sector reforms, promotion of renewable sources of
energy and waste
management are some of the priority sectors that needs to be
addressed. But the
government has definitely diagnosed a major problem lurking in
agriculture sector and
therefore, has initiated the process of employing agriculture to
bring a sustainable ground
to uplift the socio-economic indicators of our country.
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 16
Do You Know?
E-mandi:
The concept of E-mandi has successfully integrated the
agri-markets of the country, making
it a one market phenomenon. This web-enabled platform will
enable farmers and traders
to purchase as well as sell their agricultural commodities at a
favourable price, in a
transparent manner. This will improve the supply-chain
mechanism, reduce wastages as
well as bring down the barriers providing a level field to
all.
Karnataka has successfully been operating this model and has set
an example for the other
states to follow. State governments have been given the
responsibility to increase
awareness regarding the methods and the software to roll out
this plan efficiently.
Prelims Questions:
1. Identify:
1) It is the largest river island in the world which has been
shrinking in size due to erosion
2) It is located in Brahmaputra River and is abode of the
Assamese neo-Vaisnavite culture.
a) Moirang b) Majuli c) Ziro d) Mokokchung
2. Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan aims to inculcate a spirit of
inquiry, creativity and a love
for Science and Mathematics, enabling North East youth to come
closer to mainstream
India. This unique concept has been developed by
a) Ministry of Youth Affairs b) National Skill Development
Corporation c) National Service Scheme d) Ministry of Human
Resource Development
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 17
3. The actual usage of NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potash)
in India is in the ratio
a) 8:3:1 b) 4:2:1 c) 7:3:9 d) 6:5:2
Explanation:
4:2:1 is the recommended usage of NPK.
4. Consider the following statements regarding the Targeted
Public Distribution System started in 1997:
1) The number of eligible beneficiaries in each state is fixed
by the State Government.
2) The identification of actual beneficiaries under BPL and AAY
is carried out by the Central Government.
Choose the correct statement:
a) Only 1 b) Only 2 c) Both d) None
Explanation:
1) The number of eligible beneficiaries in each state is fixed
by the Central Government based on the state-specific poverty
line.
2) The identification of actual beneficiaries under BPL and AAY
is carried out by the State Government.
5. Which of the following is one of the vision statements issued
by the Nachiket Mor Committee?
a) Bank account for every resident by 2018 b) Bank account for
every BPL by 2018 c) Bank account for every citizen by 2016 d) Bank
account for every resident by 2016
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 18
6. Consider the following:
a) Self Help Groups (SHGs)
b) Panchayats
c) Khadi and Village Industries units
d) Village Knowledge Centres,
e) Post Offices
Who can become a Business Correspondent for Banks?
I. Only e II. Both b and e
III. Both d and e IV. All of the above
Thank You
IASbaba
-
IASBABA.COM
Iasbaba.com Page 19
