PM Announces all the recommendations

THE TIMES OF INDIA|POWERED BY INDIATIMES

11 Jan, 2007| Updated
at 0111hrs IST NEW DELHI:

With upcoming assembly polls crucial to its leadership of the ruling coalition, Congress is on track to unfurl an "India Shining" campaign for ‘aam aadmi'. The Manmohan
Singh regime may soon announce three decisions aimed at wooing the poor and the
old, sections that turn out in big numbers and can tip the scales

The consideration may see proposals for social security for unorganised sector, new rehabilitation policy and a law for maintenance of old persons getting through fast. Sources
said the proposals, in addition to the ‘tribal Bill' giving settlement rights
to tribals in forest areas, will push the Congress campaign in Uttar Pradesh,
Uttaranchal, Mizoram and Punjab. Upcoming polls are a high-stake game for
Congress as it looks to beat incumbency in three states and make a mark in UP.

While Cabinet notes for the former two are in circulation, old persons Bill — which would cater to an estimated 7.6 crore voters — will soon be cleared by a GoM for high-profile
launch being planned by social justice ministry. Government is taking a look at "social security net" to the 30 crore-strong unorganised sector comprising agricultural labourers and workers in informal places.

With the unorganised sector comprising mostly the poor and SCs/STs, sources see
it as a step with high political potential on the lines of job guarantee law
and tribal Bill. Sources said labour minister Oscar Fernandes, also an
organisation man, is keen on getting it through, even if it means imposing a
cess. Anticipating finance ministry's opposition, the Cabinet note has
apparently offered three alternatives — a package of health care, life and
disability cover and pension to be covered in five years (BPL in three and APL
in two) and ten years (BPL in three years and APL in 10 years) or a life
insurance for 30 crore persons.

The new-found concern for the poor and the weak does not stop at that. Rural Development (RD) ministry is to discuss with Planning Commission two proposals — to extend
old-age pension from destitutes to the entire BPL swathe at a burden of Rs
3,700 crore from present Rs 2,000 crore and to introduce a widow pension of Rs
600 in addition to Rs 10,000 given as family benefit on death in a BPL family.
An estimate puts the number of widows at 96 lakh. Laws on rehabilitation and
unorganised sector may not be in shape before the polls, but they are being
spoken about to convey the message.

PM announcing a rehabilitation law in three months at a Ficci meeting is seen as much to sothe frayed nerves over SEZ land acquisition in West Bengal as much to tell voters
what is in the pipeline. The rehabilitation law will seek to woo farmers and
tribals. The law, which will turn the compensation package for displacement
lucrative while ensuring resettlement before land is acquired, is being put in
place by rural development ministry. Parents and senior citizens (maintenance,
care and protection) Bill, aimed at ensuring care for 60-plus from their wards,
is set to be announced too. 2001 census has pegged their numbers at 7.6 crore,
with 80% in rural areas

2007 - SOCIAL SECURITY BILL,

Social Security Bill

THE UNORGANISED SECTOR WORKERS’ SOCIAL SECURITY BILL, 2007

A BILL to provide for the social security and welfare of unorganised sector workers and for other matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY Short title, extent and commencement. 1.

(1) This Act may be called the Unorganised Sector Workers’ Social Security Act, 2007.

(2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint

3.(1) The Central Government may formulate, from time to time, suitable welfare schemes for different sections of unorganised sector workers on matters relating to -

(a) life and disability cover;

(b) health and maternity benefits;

(c) old age protection; and

15 Mar 2008, - Housing

Times Of India- 15 Mar 2008,

Home loan subsidy for poor in offing 15 Mar 2008, 0016 hrs IST,TNN Print Save EMail Write to Editor NEW DELHI: The government is planning to provide an interest-rate subsidy on home loan for the economically weaker section and low-income group in urban areas. ''A proposal to provide interest subsidy on housing loans for the economically weaker sections and the low-income group in urban areas is under consideration of the government of India,'' minister of state for finance Pawan Kumar Bansal said.

Details of the scheme are being worked out, he added. As the interest rate on home loan rose from 7% in 2004 to 12% by March 2007, affordability of weaker sector to buy houses has gone down sharply. Because of the rise in interest rates, the equated monthly instalment (EMI) on a 20-year home loan went up by almost 50%. At the same time, as the real estate prices also rose sharply during the same period, houses become almost out of reach for the low-income group people.

The country could face a shortage of 2.65 crore houses by 2012. Government has been asking banks to lower lending rates to encourage spending and prevent growth from slowing down. FM P Chidambaram had suggested that banks should cut rates on home loans up to Rs 20 lakh. But because of inflationary pressure, RBI continued to follow the tight monetary policy, keeping the interest rate high.

But, this has affected both home buyers and the developers, who are now facing slowdown in the sector. Because of boom in the sector, the home loan disbursements have gone up substantially in the last three years. The total amount of housing loan outstanding went up from Rs 1,33,908 crore as on March 31, 2005 to Rs 1,85,181 crore on March 31, 2006 and further to Rs 2,30,689 by the end of fiscal 2007. Print Save EMail Write to Editor Get personalised news stories on mobile. SMS TOI to 58888 Loading

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home_loan_subsidy_for_poor_in_offing/articleshow/2867305.cms

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17th march 2008 - Employment schemes

Press Trust of India 17th march 2008

Govt formulates programme to solve unemployment problem New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI)

The government has formulated a programme to resolve the problem of unemployment by promoting labour based industries in the 11th five year plan, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

Minister for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes said "In order to make growth more inclusive, it is vital that more people gain access to more productive assets with which they can themselves generate decent incomes and also that GDP growth generates sufficient demand for wage labour so that those who cannot be self employed are employed at decent wages". "

Targeting faster growth in GDP and doubling of agriculture growth will help in this process. Besides, additional employment opportunities would be generated in the services and manufacturing sectors. Measures would need to be taken to boost labour intensive service sectors such as food processing, leather products, footwear and textiles and service sectors such as tourism and construction," he said.

To a separate question, Fernandes said "West Bengal government has launched the State Assisted Scheme of Provident Fund for unorganised workers for both employed and self employed workers in the unorganised sector". "The state Assisted Scheme of provident fund for unorganised workers is specific to the state of West Bengal. Therefore, each state has to take a view whether they would want to adopt the scheme or not," he said. PTI

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March 22: 2008 SME/MBE

Small industries hold key to industrial progress:

Montek singh Ahluwalia Mumbai, March 22:

Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of India Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said small and medium enterprises (SME) hold the key to the country's industrial progress. 'They are likely to play a pivotal role in immediate future, as they can carve out unit growth model for the country,' Ahluwalia said Friday at the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC) Ramkrishna Bajaj Award 2007.

In the key note address, the Planning Commission deputy chairman emphasizing the role of SME, said, 'In the drastically changing economic scenario, SMEs are the future. It is erroneous to see the financial volume as a benchmark for assessing success of any company or enterprise.' Praising the IMC for recognising the mettle of SME, he said: ' It is strange that an award for SME was instituted three years ago. And it is only now for the first time that there is a recipient.

The very acknowledgement of this sector shows that the there is a dawning of realisation of the structural changes that have taken place.' He said that it was time to change one's corporate perspective, emphasising, 'not to get swayed by financial highs'. 'SMEs have emerged as a vibrant tier of the economy as it has already taken over as the key contributor to the GDP of the country. Precisely for this reason, we are looking into the existing policies and the necessary changes required in so as to make the SME role more proactive in order to achieve greater economic goals,' he said. Bureau Report

Sunday March 23 2008 - Healthcare

Medical parks will be built across the country:

Ramadoss Sunday March 23 2008 04:00 IST PTI MUMBAI:

Medical parks will soon be built across the country for makers of diagnostic equipment to set up plants thereby reducing manufacturing costs and making it easily available, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Saturday. "Diagnostic equipment will be manufactured at these parks all across the country," Ramadoss said on the sidelines of a CII conference on diabetes and obesity here. "The first one we are doing at Chennai where equipment manufacturers can set up base so that 75 to 80 per cent of things made should be used in India," Ramadoss said This will help reduce the cost of diagnostic equipment most of which is presently made abroad, he said.

The manufacturers of these products had also given a commitment to ensure prices stayed low, the Minister said. Speaking on the increasing cost of healthcare, Ramadoss said the country already had among the lowest cost of pharmaceuticals and medical treatment in the world but would like to see it reduced further.

Health insurance which will be addressed in a very big way and is expected to take care of the problems associated with individual health spending," he said

The Health Ministry will also be introducing the National Urban Health Mission in the next four to five months at a cost of Rs 22 crore which would provide health insurance for the urban poor particularly for slum dwellers. 

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2007 - The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007

Focus Areas 1.28 The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007

seeks to use the perspective of Regional Planning as brought out in the 74th Amendment Act in terms of preparation of District Plans by District Planning Committees (DPCs) and Metropolitan Plans by Metropolitan Planning Committees (MPCs) as a vital determinant of systematic urban planning.

The policy seeks to promote a symbiotic development of rural and urban areas. In this regard, the policy seeks to ensure refinement of Town and Country Planning Acts (wherever required) and their effective implementation. 1.29 The core focus of this Policy is provision of “Affordable Housing For All” with special emphasis on vulnerable sections of society such as Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, Minorities and the urban poor. 1.30

This Policy takes note of the substantive gap between demand and supply both for housing and basic services. This Policy seeks to assist the poorest of poor who cannot afford to pay the entire price of a house by providing them access to reasonably good housing on rental and ownership basis with suitable subsidization.

The Policy seeks to enhance the supply of houses especially for the disadvantaged, duly supplemented by basic services. 1.31 This Policy seeks to develop innovative financial instruments like development of Mortgage Backed Securitization Market (RMBS) and Secondary Mortgage Market. It also seeks to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in areas like integrated development of housing and new township development. 1.32

This Policy draws from innovations in the area of housing and infrastructure in India and elsewhere. It also gives a menu of actionable points which inter-alia includes Public-Private-Partnerships, conservation of natural resources and formulation of regulations & bye-laws that are environmentfriendly, investment-friendly and revenue-generating.

1.33 This Policy seeks to emphasize appropriate fiscal concessions for housing and infrastructure.

1.34 This Policy seeks to accelerate construction activities for giving a boost to employment for vulnerable sections of society. The Need for Policy National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy 2007 12

1.35 This Policy aims to promote development of cost-effective, quality approved building materials and technologies with a view to bringing down the cost of EWS/LIG houses.

1.36 This Policy aims to complement poverty alleviation and employment generation programmes for achieving the overall objective of “Affordable Housing For All” with sustainable development.

1.37 This Policy dwells upon the roles of various stakeholders and specific action required pertaining to Land, Finance, Legal and Regulatory Reforms as well as Technology Support and Transfer.

1.38 This Policy seeks to accelerate the development of small and medium towns which can serve as a generators of economic momentum with the objective of reducing the rate of migration to large cities.

1.39 The Policy lays special emphasis on the development of North-Eastern States on account of the fragile ecology of the North-Eastern Region as well as the need to accelerate the pace of its socio-economic progress. In this manner, the Policy seeks to improve accessibility to the North-Eastern Region.

9th May 2007 MBE/SME

MBE/SSA's- Minortity and Small Business units

The President under Notification dated 9th May 2007 has amended the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961. Pursuant to this amendment, Ministry of Agro and Rural Industries (Krishi Evam Gramin Udyog Mantralaya) and Ministry of Small Scale Industries (Laghu Udyog Mantralaya) have been merged into a single Ministry, namely, “MINISTRY OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SUKSHMA LAGHU AUR MADHYAM UDYAM MANTRALAYA)” Worldwide, the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) have been accepted as the engine of economic growth and for promoting equitable development. The MSEs constitute over 90% of total enterprises in most of the economies and are credited with generating the highest rates of employment growth and account for a major share of industrial production and exports. In India too, the MSEs play a pivotal role in the overall industrial economy of the country. It is estimated that in terms of value, the sector accounts for about 39% of the manufacturing output and around 33% of the total export of the country. Further, in recent years the MSE sector has consistently registered higher growth rate compared to the overall industrial sector. The major advantage of the sector is its employment potential at low capital cost. As per available statistics, this sector employs an estimated 31 million persons spread over 12.8 million enterprises and the labour intensity in the MSE sector is estimated to be almost 4 times higher than the large enterprises.

For more info click: MBE/SSA Certified companies
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2008 Roads

Roads

State wise Targets New Initiatives Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna Bharat Nirman - Rural Roads

To upgrade rural infrastructure, the Government of India has conceived a time-bound business plan under Bharat Nirman. It is a flagship programme for the country. A commitment of over Rs. 1,74,000 crores has been made to Bharat Nirman with the objective of unleashing the growth potential of our villages. As part of the programme, Government of India intends that by end of financial year 2008 – 2009, every village of over 1000 population, or over 500 in hilly and tribal areas, has an all-weather road. To achieve the targets of Bharat Nirman, 1,46,185 kms. of road length is proposed to be constructed by 2009. This will benefit 66,802 unconnected eligible habitations in the country. To ensure full farm to market connectivity, it is also proposed to upgrade 1,94,132 kms. of the existing Associated Through Routes. A sum of approximately Rs. 48,000 crore is proposed to be invested to achieve this.

for more info pls click; Road Standards

info on  Quality compliance of Roads: Quality compliance
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2009 - Defence equipment

India says to buy 70 pct defence equipment locally

Thu, Aug 20 06:05 PM

India plans to get 70 percent of its defence requirement from local manufacturers, its junior defence minister said on Thursday, opening up a potential $45 billion defence market for

local firms over the next five years.

Indian authorities want to increase the role of India's private sector -- currently at around 20 percent of the defence industry market -- because foreign countries are not always keen to share advanced technologies, defence officials say.

"India has evident capacities in information technology and engineering design in the private sector... It now needs to deploy these same capabilities in the armed forces as well," Pallam Raju, Minister for State for Defence, said in New Delhi.

The country is one of the world's biggest arms importers, and the government wants to upgrade its largely Soviet-era arsenal to counter potential threats from Pakistan and China.

"There are significant opportunities for private industry to partner in the homeland security," Raju said.

India wants to build 100 warships over the next 10 years and develop battle tanks, artillery and low-cost shipbuilding capabilities.

The comments show the government's intention to boost defence and provide more opportunities to Indian companies such as Tata, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ashok Leyland and Larsen and Toubro, analysts said.

"The determination of the government to take forward what they announced in parliament is gaining shape and now they are putting together some numbers," Uday Bhaskar of the National Maritime Foundation, a defence think-tank, said.
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2009 - Aadhar

Nilekani's Ice-Breaker

Wed, Aug 19 05:30 PM

Enlarge Photo Nilekani's Ice-Breaker

Rohin Dharmakumar, Forbes.com

Now that the government has decided to assign a unique identity to each citizen in a bid to target social security services as well as assure internal security, the 1.16-billion population is waiting with bated breath. Issuing identities to all of them is a laudable, but a very long-term exercise. The day when the last Indian has been given the record will surely arrive, but we need a more modest goal post to start the project with.
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