Report to the People - UPA Government 2009 - 2010 (English)

Enabling Human Development

Enabling HumanDevelopment

“We are a nation of young people. The health, education and creative abilities of our children and

young people will determine the well-being and strength of our nation.”

— Dr. Manmohan Singh

Mid Day Meal


1

2 Enabling Human Development

2.1 Education

2.1.1 Right of children to free and compulsory

education

The Right of Children to Free and

Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 wasenacted in August 2009. Notifications have been

issued for the enforcement of the Constitution

(86th Amendment) Act and the RTE Act witheffect from 1st April 2010.

The RTE Act secures the right of

children to free and compulsory education in a

neighbourhood school till completion ofelementary education. It specifies the duties and

responsibilities of appropriate governments, local

authorities and parents in providing free andcompulsory education and sharing of financial

and other responsibilities. The Act also lays down

the norms and standards relating to pupil - teacherratios, buildings and infrastructure, school

working days and teacher working hours.

The Act provides for the development

of curriculum, which would ensure the all-rounddevelopment of the child, building on the child’s

knowledge, potential and talent and making the

child free of fear, trauma and anxiety through asystem of child-friendly and child-centred

learning. It also provides for protection and

monitoring of the child’s right to free andcompulsory education and redressal of grievances

by the National and State Commissions for the

Protection of Child Rights, which shall have thepowers of a civil court.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)

The process of aligning the Sarva

Shiksha Abhiyan strategies and norms with the

RTE mandate was initiated during the year. In2009-10, till 31st December 2009, 7400 new

primary schools and 11,847 upper primary

schools were opened, 35,427 teachers appointed,

9708 additional classrooms constructed, 26.62lakh teachers provided in-service training and 9.54

crore children provided textbooks. Enrolment

targets for the primary classes have been largelyachieved in most parts of the country. Attention

is now being given to regular attendance and

completion of the elementary cycle of eight yearsof formal schooling.

Mid-day meals in schools

Under the National Programme of

Mid-Day Meals in schools, the cooking cost hasbeen enhanced. Further, cooks-cum-helpers are

now being paid Rs 1000/- per month for their

part-time services. The cost of construction ofkitchen-cum-store has also been rationalized by

linking it to the States’ schedule of rates. During

2009-10, about 11 crore children were benefited

by the scheme.

2.1.2 Strengthening secondary education

The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha

Abhiyan was launched in March 2009 with theobjective of improving access to secondary

education, while enhancing quality. During 2009-

10, proposals from 31 States and UTs wereconsidered and clearance was given to setting up

2478 new schools and improving 6998 existing

schools.

The UPA government has decided to setup 6000 high quality model schools at the rate of

one school per block. During 2009-10, financial

assistance has been provided to set up 327 suchschools in 11 states.

A scheme for the establishment and

management of girls’ hostels for students of

secondary and higher secondary schools in theeducationally backward blocks has also been


2

Celebrating the Right to Education

launched. During 2009-10, approval has beengiven to set up 379 such hostels in 11 states.

2.1.3 Quality learning and reform of school

education

The examination system is being

reformed. From 2011, it has been decided to doaway with Class X board examinations in CBSE

schools, affiliated up to senior secondary level,

for such students who are not moving out of theCBSE system. Further, students of class IX and

X will be assessed on the basis of Continuous

and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) to beimplemented at the school level. CCE will be

applicable to class IX students from the session

2009-10. Students, however will continue to havethe choice of on-demand proficiency test, if they

wish to get themselves assessed, which will be

offered by CBSE from 2011 onwards. It hasbeen decided to replace the present system of

awarding marks by grades in all subjects in the

Class X Board examination conducted by CBSEin 2010. Such grading would be continued for

on-demand proficiency test of 2011 and beyond

and also for CCE.

2.1.4 Thrust for female literacy - Saakshar

Bharat

The National Literacy Mission has been

recast as Saakshar Bharat. At least seven crore

non-literates will be made literate to achieve 80%literacy. To reduce gender disparity in literacy

from 21% to 10%, six crore beneficiaries, out of

the total target of seven crore, will be women.To minimize social disparities, within the overall

target, 1.4 crore Scheduled Castes (1 crore women


3

Saakshar Bharat, Making India Literate

and 40 lakh men), 80 lakh Scheduled Tribes (60

lakh women and 20 lakh men) and 1.2 crore

beneficiaries belonging to the minorities (1 crore

women and 20 lakh men) will be covered.

365 districts in the country, with adult

female literacy rate of 50% or less, have been

identified for implementation of Saakshar Bharat.

During 2009-10, the programme has been rolled

out in 167 districts in 19 States to cover 3.83 crore

non-literates in over 80,000 gram panchayats

under basic literacy programme and to establish

about 81,000 adult education centres, one each

in a gram panchayat, under the continuing

education component.

Grants-in-aid of Rs.325.98 crore have

been released to 19 States as the first instalment

of the Central share.

2.1.5 Strengthening and reform of the higher

education system

Improvement of access, along with

equity and excellence, enhancing the relevance of

higher education through curriculum reforms,

vocationalisation, networking and information

technology and distance education, along with

reforms in the governance structure, are some

of the main policy objectives in higher education.

National Commission for Higher Education

& Research (NCHER)

A draft bill, the National Commission

for Higher Education and Research Bill, has been

placed in the public domain for wider

consultation and obtaining feedback from

stakeholders.

Accreditation

The National Authority for Regulation

and Accreditation of Higher Educational

Institutions Bill for mandatory accreditation of

all higher educational institutions has been

introduced in Parliament.

Prohibition of unfair practices in educational

institutions

A bill to prohibit and punish malpractices

and adoption of unfair practices in technical and

medical educational institutions and in the

university system, to protect the interest of

students and applicants seeking admission, has

been introduced in Parliament.

Educational tribunals

A bill to establish a two-tier structure of

Educational Tribunals at the State and National

levels to adjudicate on the entire gamut of disputes

arising in higher education has been introduced

in Parliament.


4

Foreign educational service providers

A bill for regulating the entry and

operation of foreign educational institutions in

India has been introduced in Parliament.

New Central universities

To increase access, improve quality andto remove regional imbalances in higher

education, sixteen Central universities were

established, including conversion of three Stateuniversities in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya

Pradesh and Uttarakhand into Central

universities, under the Central Universities Act,2009. All universities, except in Jammu and

Himachal Pradesh, have commenced functioning

in 2009-10 from temporary premises.

Colleges

A new scheme has been approved by theUPA government to provide central assistance for

setting up of a model degree college in each of

the identified 374 educationally backward districtswhere Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for higher

education is less than the national GER.

Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs)

The UPA government has approved the

setting up of six Indian Institutes of Management

at Rohtak, Raipur, Ranchi, Tiruchirapalli,Kashipur and Udaipur.

Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)

Two new IITs at Indore and Mandi

started functioning from the academic year

2009-10.

National Institutes of Technology (NITs)

With the aim of providing at least oneNIT in each of the larger States/UTs, the UPA

government decided to set up 10 new NITs.

These new NITs are to be located in Goa,Puducherry, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Mizoram,

Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal

Pradesh and Sikkim.

Polytechnics

a) Setting up of new polytechnics

A grant of Rs.2.00 crore each was provided asthe first instalment to set up 178 new

polytechnics. Besides, a grant of Rs.5.00 crore

was given as the second instalment to 19polytechnics.

b) Strengthening of existing polytechnics

In order to strengthen existing polytechnics, 235

polytechnics have been provided the first

instalment of Rs.10.00 lakh each during 2009-10.

c) Construction of women’s hostels inpolytechnics

343 polytechnics have been provided the first

instalment of Rs.20.00 lakh each during 2009-10 for the construction of women’s hostels.

d) Community development through

polytechnics

During 2009-10, 479 polytechnics were given

Rs.49.09 crore for running communitydevelopment programmes.

New Central University in Orissa


5

Computer Education under National Mission for ICT

Interest subsidy on educational loans

The UPA government has decided to

provide full interest subsidy to poor students,

whose parental income is limited to Rs.4.5 lakhper annum, on education loans taken by them to

pursue technical and professional courses.

National Mission for Information &

Communication Technology (ICT) in

education

Under the National Mission on

Education through ICT, upto March 2010 morethan 30,000 Virtual Private Network and internet

connections have been provided to more than

7500 colleges across the country.

OTHER INITIATIVES

Innovation Universities

A concept note on establishing 14Innovation Universities, aiming at world class

standards, has been placed in the public domain

for wider consultation.

National Knowledge Network

A National Knowledge Network will

interconnect all universities, libraries, laboratories,hospitals and agricultural institutions for sharing

data and computing resources across the country

over a high-speed information network havinggigabit capabilities. In the initial phase, a core

backbone has been established with 2.5 gbpscapacity and 66 institutions of higher learning

and advanced research have already been

connected to the network and six virtualclassrooms set up.

2.2 Health

2.2.1 National Rural Health Mission

The mission has strengthened public

health systems by increasing community


Mother and Child Care through NRHM

6

participation, adding to human resources in thesystem, improving health infrastructure,

improving public health management and

increasing public expenditure on health.

During 2009-10, more than 36,000village health & sanitation committees were set

up, over 1300 facility-based Rogi Kalyan Samitis

were formed, over 53,000 Accredited SocialHealth Activists (ASHAs) were selected and

trained, and more than 20,000 doctors and

paramedical personnel were added to the publichealth system. Over 4984 new health sub-centre

buildings, 254 Primary Health Centre (PHC)

buildings and 102 Community Health Centre(CHC) buildings were completed; 3246 sub-

centre buildings, 732 PHC buildings, 264 CHC

buildings and 28 district hospital buildings wereupgraded or renovated.

Under the Janini Suraksha Yojana, over

78 lakh deliveries were covered during 2009-10

(till December 2009), enabling women to cometo health institutions for safer delivery.

All disease control programmes showed

sustained improvement. There was reduction in

mortality due to malaria, kala-azar and dengue,as well as reduction in the incidence of filarial

infection. In respect of tuberculosis, a cure rate

of 87% has been maintained, while the casedetection rate has increased from 70% in 2007

to 72% in 2009.

2.2.2 Human resources in health

A scheme for augmenting nursing

personnel by setting up 269 new Auxiliary NurseMidwife (ANM) and General Nurse Midwife

(GNM) schools in backward and underserved

districts of the country, at a cost of aroundRs. 2000 crore, has been approved. This will create

additional capacity of 16,000 trained nurses

annually.


7

Red Ribbon Express on AIDS Awareness

The report of a task force, proposing

to set up a National Council for Human

Resources in Health, as an overarching regulatorybody, has been circulated among states and union

territories and it has also been placed on the

website, inviting comments and suggestions.

2.2.3 Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha

Yojana

Work orders have been issued for the

medical college complex for six AIIMS-likeinstitutions, taken up under the first phase.

2.2.4 Strengthening premier institutions

The first phase of upgradation of the

Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical

Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherryhas been completed, with the commissioning of

the super-specialty block, trauma centres, cancer

centre and nursing college. Post GraduateInstitute, Chandigarh has received an approval

of Rs. 370 crore for upgradation and expansion

of facilities.

2.2.5 AIDS control and care

The Red Ribbon Express, flagged offon its second phase on 1st December 2009, will

cover 152 railway stations across 22 states with

services for HIV counselling & testing and care& awareness generation in respect of sexually

transmitted infections. Counselling and testing

services have been considerably scaled up and these

were provided to more than 75 lakh general clients

and more than 55 lakh pregnant women through5135 Integrated Counselling & Testing Centres.

2.2.6 Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and

Homoeopathy (AYUSH)

A modified scheme for mainstreaming of

AYUSH has been sanctioned and is underimplementation with a total cost of Rs. 675 crore.

As part of this mainstreaming activity, 2368doctors and 2184 AYUSH paramedic staff were

appointed during 2009-10. AYUSH paramedic

staff and facilities have been provided in 300APHCs/PHCs, 490 CHCs and 18 district hospitals

and 209 AYUSH hospitals during the year.

It has been decided to upgrade nine

existing state institutions into national-levelinstitutions at a cost of Rs. 650 crores.

2.2.7 Dealing with the Influenza - A H1N1

pandemic

The pandemic was managed effectively.

More than one crore in-bound passengers werescreened at international airports, new

laboratories for testing H1N1 cases were

established, the drug Oseltamivir was suppliedto state governments free of cost and vaccines

were imported and supplied to state governments

for vaccinating health workers.

H1N1 Screening Centre at Delhi Airport


ICDS Anganwadi Centre

8

2.2.8 Amending the law on transplantation

of human organs

A bill to amend the Transplantation ofHuman Organs Act, 1994 has been introduced

to simplify procedures for organ harvesting,

declaration of brain death and “swap” donations.

2.2.9 Regulation of clinical establishments

The UPA government has introduced abill to create a regulatory framework for the largely

unregulated health sector and to prescribe

mandatory standards for clinical establishments.

2.2.10 Vaccine manufacturing units in the

public sector

The Central Research Institute, Kasauli,

Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor and BCG,

Guindy have been enabled to resume productionof vaccines.

2.3 Child Rights

2.3.1 Restructuring and universalisation of

the Integrated Child Development Scheme

An additional 792 projects and 2,91,000Anganwadi Centres (AWC) including mini

anganwadis and 20,000 anganwadis on demand

have been approved to ensure that there is anoperational anganwadi in every habitation of the

country. This will take the total number of

anganwadis to 14 lakhs. Nearly 725 lakh childrenbelow the age of 6 years and about 160 lakh

pregnant and lactating women have currently been

receiving benefits of supplementary nutrition.Nearly 350 lakh children are receiving pre-school

education at these centres. The number will

increase further after the additional anganwadicentres become functional.

The UPA government has doubled the


9

Reducing Infant Mortality - a priority under NRHM

nutritional and feeding norms. Children in the

age group 3-6 years will now be given a morning

snack and a hot cooked meal. The Take HomeRation (THR) for children below 3 years and

pregnant and lactating mothers is being

augmented. Extra THR is being given to severelymalnourished children.

2.3.2 National Commission for the Protection

of Child Rights

The National Commission for the

Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), set up as astatutory body to protect, promote and defend

child rights, has done extensive work during the

year in the area of children living in regions ofcivil unrest. It has formulated a scheme “Bal

Bandhu” for protection of child rights in such

areas which is being funded from the Prime

Minister’s National Relief Fund.

NCPCR has been made the nodal

authority for monitoring the implementation ofthe Right of Children to Free and Compulsory

Education Act, 2009.

2.3.3 Integrated Child Protection Scheme

The UPA government has launched acomprehensive centrally sponsored scheme, the

Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) from

2009-10. This will bring about an improvementin the well being of children in difficult

circumstances, as well as reduce their vulnerability

to situations and action that lead to abuse, neglect,exploitation, abandonment and separation of

children from parents.


10

Quality Learning and Education Reforms

Social Inclusion

Social Inclusion

“We are firmly committed and have a strong resolve to ensure that the benefits of the programmes

being run by the government reach the poorest of the poor in a transparent manner.”

— Smt. Sonia Gandhi

Prime Minister’s New 15-Point Programme for the Minorities

Social Inclusion

Meeting of Self-Help Group

11

3 Social Inclusion

3.1 Food Security

The UPA government is committed to

the enactment of the National Food Security Act.

Consultations have been held with states andunion territories and other stakeholders. A draft

National Food Security bill is under preparation

and it is proposed to be placed in the publicdomain for scrutiny and comments.

3.2 Empowering Women

3.2.1 Women’s Reservation Bill

Political empowerment of women is a

powerful and indispensable tool for eliminatinggender inequality and discrimination. With a view

to achieving the said purpose, a bill, namely, the

Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth

Amendment) Bill, 2008 providing for reservationfor women in as nearly as one-third of the total

seats of the Lok Sabha and of the State Legislative

Assemblies, including the Legislative Assemblyof the NCT of Delhi, for a period of 15 years

was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on

6th May 2008. The Rajya Sabha has passed thebill on 9th March 2010.

3.2.2 Reservation for women in urban local

bodies

A bill has been introduced in the Lok

Sabha to amend Article 243T of the Constitutionfor providing 50% reservation to women in urban

local bodies.

3.2.3 National Mission for Empowerment of

Women

The UPA government has set up the

National Mission for Empowerment of Women

on 8th March 2010, to secure inter-sectoralconvergence of all pro-women/women centric

programmes cutting across ministries/

departments, states and Panchayati RajInstitutions (PRIs). The activities of the mission

will be overseen by the National Mission

Authority, which is headed by the Prime Minister.

3.2.4 Restructuring of Rashtriya Mahila Kosh

The UPA government has decided toenhance the corpus of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh

to Rs. 500 crore from the existing Rs.100 crore.

3.2.5 Increasing representation of women in

the Central government

The UPA government is committed toprovide equal opportunities to women in

employment and to make its personnel policies

more ‘gender sensitive’. Instructions have beenissued to all ministries/departments that all

recruitment advertisements will contain a message

Social Inclusion

Improving Access to Education

12

that government strives to promote a workforce

which reflects gender balance and womencandidates are encouraged to apply. Women

candidates have been exempted from payment

of fees for competitive examinations conductedby the UPSC/SSC in direct recruitment/

departmental competitive examinations/direct

recruitment by interview. Instructions have alsobeen issued to all ministries/departments that all

recruitment boards for filling up more than 10

vacancies will mandatorily have a womanmember. ‘Child care leave’ for upto two years,

on full pay, has been introduced for women

employees to enable them to take care of theirchildren upto the age of 18 years.

3.2.6 Gender Equality in Personal Laws

With a view to bringing in gender equality

in personal laws, the Personal Laws (Amendment)

Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on

22nd April 2010 providing for amendment to the

Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and the HinduAdoption And Maintenance Act, 1956.

3.3 Empowerment and development of the

weaker sections

3.3.1 Improving access to -

(a) Education

a. Increase in outlays for scholarships

During 2009-10, central assistance of Rs.

1015.96 crore was released under the post-matric

scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste students,covering approximately 40 lakh students. During

2010-11, an outlay of Rs. 1,700 crore has been

allocated under the scheme to enable revision inthe income ceiling and rates of scholarship.

Social Inclusion

13

Under the post-matric scholarship

scheme for Scheduled Tribe students, Rs. 270.86

crore was released to assist 13,76,745 studentsduring 2009-10. During 2009-10, central

assistance of Rs. 172.97 crore was released as

post-matric scholarship to approximately 14 lakhstudents belonging to the Other Backward Classes.

During the same period, under the pre-matric

scholarship scheme, central assistance of Rs. 31.73crore was released to assist approximately 17 lakh

students belonging to the Other Backward Classes.

During 2010-11, an outlay of Rs. 50 crore has beenallocated under the scheme.

b. Top Class Education Scheme

During 2009-10, scholarships were

given to 541 Scheduled Caste students, whosecured admission in premier institutions. The

number of institutions covered under the

scheme has also been raised from 125 to177.Provision under the scheme has been increased

to Rs. 25 crore during 2010-11.

Likewise, scholarships amounting to Rs.

1.75 crore were given to 88 Scheduled Tribestudents under the scheme during 2009-10.

c. Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme

During 2009-10, Rs. 105 crore was

released to the University Grants Commission

for grant of 1333 new fellowships and renewalof ongoing scholarships for Scheduled Caste

students to pursue courses leading to M Phil.,

Ph.D. and equivalent degrees. Provision under thescheme has been increased to Rs.160 crore in

2010-11 as against Rs.80 crore in 2009-10 to

increase the number of scholarships to 2000.

Likewise, fellowships amounting to Rs.30crore were given to 2777 Scheduled Tribe

students under the scheme during 2009-10.

(b) Credit

During 2009-10, concessional loans

amounting to about Rs. 394 crore were disbursed

through the National Scheduled Castes Financeand Development Corporation (NSFDC), the

National Safai Karmcharis Finance and

Development Corporation (NSKFDC) and theNational Backward Classes Finance and

Development Corporation (NBCFDC) to two

lakh members of the Scheduled Castes, SafaiKaramcharis and Other Backward Classes.

During 2009-10, loans worth Rs. 83.76

crore were disbursed by the National ScheduledTribes Finance and Development Corporation

among 37,439 Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries.

3.3.2 Enhanced outlays for schemes

benefiting Scheduled Castes and Scheduled

Tribes

The Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram

Yojana (PMAGY) was announced in 2009-10.

The PMAGY, launched on a pilot basis, with anallocation of Rs.100 crore, seeks the integrated

development of 1000 villages where the

population of SCs is about 50%, in five States,viz. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu

and Assam. Each village would be able to avail

gap funding of Rs.10 lakh over and above theallocation under rural development and poverty

alleviation schemes. A provision of Rs. 400 crore

has been made under PMAGY during 2010-11.

3.3.3 Vesting land rights in Scheduled Tribes

and other traditional forest-dwellers

Following up closely on the historic

enactment conferring forest rights on the

Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forestdwellers, all measures have been taken to ensure

its proper implementation. As on March 2010,

Social Inclusion

Scholarships for Minority Communities

14

more than 7.82 lakh titles have been distributed.

A very large number of claims have been filed

due to the intense awareness campaign. Thedisposal of these claims is in full swing.

3.3.4 Welfare and development of primitive

tribes

Insurance cover under the Janashree

Bima Yojana has been provided to one earningmember of 4,31,900 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal

Group (PTG) families. During 2009-10, insurancecover was provided to 2,000 such families.

Under the long term conservation cum

development plan, an amount of Rs. 670 crore

has been earmarked in the XIth Plan, of whichan amount of Rs. 83.61 crore has been spent

during 2009-10.

3.3.5 Developing fields belonging to the

Scheduled Castes and Tribes under

MGNREGA

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Act has been amended

to allow for provision of irrigation facility,

horticulture plantation and land development

facilities to land owned by the weaker sections.

3.4 An Inclusive Agenda for the

Minorities

3.4.1 Targeting benefits of development

to the minorities

Prime Minister’s New 15-Point Programme

It has been ensured that 15% of targets

and outlays for schemes included in the PrimeMinister’s New 15-Point programme for the

Welfare of Minorities and considered amenable

to targeting, have been so earmarked.

Three schemes have been added to theprogramme in 2009-10 viz. (i) National Rural

Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP); (ii)

Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG); and(iii) Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme

for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT). 64

projects, at an estimated cost of over Rs. 8,600crore, have been sanctioned under the Urban

Infrastructure & Governance (UIG) component

of Jawarharlal Nehru National Urban RenewalMission (JNNURM) for implementation in 17

towns with a sizable minority

population. 101 projects, at anestimated cost of more than

Rs. 2500 crore, have been

sanctioned in 83 such townsunder the Urban Infrastructure

Development Scheme for Small

and Medium Towns(UIDSSMT) component.

In 2009-10, under the scheme

of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),

4457 primary and upperprimary schools have been

constructed, 3530 primary and

upper primary schools have been

Social Inclusion

15

opened, 20,588 additional class rooms have been

constructed, 27 Kasturba Gandhi Balika

Vidyalaya (KGBV) have been sanctioned and7765 teachers sanctioned in blocks and districts

having a substantial minority population.

502 public sector bank branches were

opened in 2009-10 (upto December 2009) indistricts with a substantial minority population.

Over Rs. 96,000 crore of bank credit was

provided to the minorities in 2009-10 (uptoSeptember 2009).

60 ITIs, located in Minority

Concentration Districts, are to be upgraded as partof the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme.

3.4.2 Improving access to-

Education

During 2009-10, 17.29 lakh scholarships

were given to children belonging to the minority

communities for their pre-matric education. Anamount of Rs. 202.94 crore was spent. 48% of

the pre-matric scholarships were awarded to girls.

Under the post-matric scholarship scheme, 3.88lakh scholarships were awarded at a cost of

Rs. 148.74 crore. Nearly 55% of those awarded

scholarships were girls. 35,982 merit-cum-meansscholarships were awarded at a cost of Rs. 97.51

crore, with nearly one third being girl students.

Under the Meritorious Scholarship Scheme ofthe Maulana Azad Education Foundation, for girl

students in classes XI and XII, 15,070 girls were

awarded scholarships at a cost of Rs. 18.08 crore.Under the Maulana Azad National Fellowship,

756 fellowships are shortly to be awarded. 30%

will be to women students.

Credit

The National Minority FinanceDevelopment Corporation (NMDFC) has

disbursed Rs. 197.75 crore for assisting 1,04,594

minority beneficiaries during 2009-10 out of

which an amount of Rs. 54.53 crore has been

disbursed under the micro-finance scheme to68,451 beneficiaries.

3.4.3. Waqf development

A bill to amend the Waqf Act, 1995 wasintroduced in Parliament. It provides for timelycompletion of surveys of waqf properties,reduction of the scope of alienation of waqfproperties, providing penal provisions to preventencroachment of waqf properties, representationof women in the waqf boards, greateraccountability and efficiency in the administrationof the waqf properties by the waqf boards, etc.The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on 7th May2010.

In February 2010, under a new centrallysponsored scheme, grants-in-aid of Rs. 8.06 crorehas been disbursed to 11 State Waqf Boards, theCentral Waqf Council and the NationalInformatics Centre Services Inc. (NICSI) for thecomputerization of waqf properties.

3.4.4 Multi-sectoral district plans forMinority Concentration Districts

Out of 90 identified MCDs, the districtplans of 80 MCDs (15 fully and 65 partly) havebeen approved at a total estimated cost ofRs. 2343.75 crore.

3.5 Disability to Empowerment

Website for the Visually Challenged

Social Inclusion

Beneficiaries of Old Age Pension Scheme

16

3.5.1 New focus and increased outlays

The (Central) Persons with Disabilities(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and

Full Participation) Rules, 1996 has been

amended with effect from 30th December 2009,to enable simplif ication of cer tif ication

procedures in central government hospitals.

The outlay for the disability sector in

2010-11 has been increased by about 73% to

Rs. 450 crore from Rs. 260 crore in 2009-10.

3.5.2 Credit disbursal through the National

Handicapped Finance & Development

Corporation

During 2009-10, the National

Handicapped Finance & Development

Corporation disbursed Rs. 30.8 crore covering

6093 beneficiaries.

3.6 Caring for the Senior Citizen

3.6.1 Indira Gandhi National Old Age

Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS)

Under the IGNOAPS, central assistance

of Rs. 200 per month is provided to a beneficiarybelonging to a BPL household in the age group

of 65 years or above. In addition, state

governments also make a contribution. Coverageunder the scheme has reached upto 163 lakhs.

During 2009-10, about 33,000 senior

citizens were benefited through old age homes,day care centres and mobile medical units run by

non-government organizations, assisted by the

central government under the Scheme ofIntegrated Programme for Older Persons.

3.6.2 Benefits announced in the budget

Outlay for various schemes for senior

Social Inclusion

17

citizens has been increased nearly three-fold to

Rs.140 crore for the year 2010-11 as against Rs.37

crore in 2009-10.

3.7 Welfare of Ex-servicemen & Serving

Defence Service Personnel

3.7.1 Welfare of ex-servicemen

It is a constant endeavour of the UPAgovernment to provide suitable employment forex-servicemen as also to impart necessary trainingto prepare them to take on new assignments/jobs. This has enabled more than 50,000ex-servicemen to obtain employment during2009-10.

The health coverage for the ex-servicemen has been widened by empanellingmore civil hospitals and diagnostic centres.Disabled ex-servicemen are now entitled to getprosthetic aid from an additional 149 CentralGovernment Health Scheme empanelled centresapart from the Artificial Limb Centre, Pune. Themembership of Ex-Servicemen ContributoryHealth Scheme (ECHS) has crossed 30 lakhs.

Twenty one Rajya Sainik Boards (out of32) and 184 Zila Sainik Boards (out of 358), whichdid not have information technology facilities,have been provided funds to procure computerswith internet facilities.

3.7.2 Welfare of defence service personnel

and pensioners

A committee was set up to give specificrecommendations for the welfare of defenceservice personnel and pensioners. Therecommendations were accepted by the UPAgovernment and this is likely to benefit about 12lakh personnel.

3.7.3 Welfare of defence service personnel

The UPA government has established anArmed Forces Tribunal to provide an appellate

forum to the aggrieved armed forces personnel.

The Tribunal was formally inaugurated by the

President on 8th August, 2009. The principalbench at New Delhi and regional benches at

Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kochi, Chennai and

Kolkata have started functioning. The Tribunalwill provide for speedy dispensation of justice to

the aggrieved armed forces personnel.

To boost the morale of troops, who are

posted in far flung border areas and face difficulttopographic and climatic conditions, chartering

of civil flights has been sanctioned for their fastermovement during leave. This facility has also been

provided to service personnel who are posted in

Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

3.7.4 Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme

With a view to mitigate the hardship oftheir families, Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme

was started under the aegis of the National

Defence Fund. Under the scheme, scholarshipsare provided every year to wards of retired

personnel and martyrs of armed and para-military

forces. In 2009-10, scholarships have been grantedto 4,525 students amounting to Rs.7.40 crore.

3.8 Welfare of Workers

3.8.1 Welfare of workers in the unorganised

sector

It has been decided to set up a National

Social Security Fund for workers in theunorganized sector like weavers, toddy tappers,

rickshaw pullers and bidi workers with an initial

allocation of Rs. 1000 crore.

3.8.2 Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana

99.03 lakh cards were issued during 2009-10 for providing health insurance cover under the

scheme. By now, 26 states / union territories have

initiated the process to implement the scheme.

Social Inclusion

18

Weaving Dreams of Self-Reliance

3.8.3 Welfare of workers in the organised

sector

Government has also taken important

steps for the benefit of workers in the organisedsector. Workmen Compensation Act, 1923 has

been amended to enhance the benefits to the

workers. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 has beenamended to raise the limit of maximum gratuity

payable from Rs.3.5 lakhs to Rs.10 lakhs.

Comprehensive amendments have been made inthe Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 to

improve the quality of delivery of health care

and other benefits being provided to the insuredpersons in the organized sector and also to enable

the ESI infrastructure to be used to provide health

care to workers in the unorganised sector.Plantations Labour Act, 1951 has been amended

for providing safety and occupational health care

to plantations workers.

3.9 Financial Inclusion

Financial inclusion is an important

priority. During 2009-10, various measures have

been announced to increase the reach of banking

services to the excluded population of thecountry. The Reserve Bank of India has

permitted all scheduled commercial banks,

excluding regional rural banks, to open branchesin tier-III to tier-VI centres (with a population

upto 49,999 as per 2001 census), without having

to take permission from the Reserve Bank ofIndia. Further, 5.63 crore “No Frill Accounts”

have been opened by banks upto 31st December,

2009. The business correspondent model hasbeen reviewed and certain additional entities such

as individual kirana/medical/fair price shop

owners/public call office operators, agents ofsmall savings/insurance companies, owners of

petrol pumps, retired teachers and authorisedfunctionaries of well run self- help groups, linked

to banks, have been allowed to be engaged as

business correspondents. This is expected to scaleup substantially the financial inclusion efforts of

banks.

Rural Renewal

Rural Renewal

“In the history of independent India, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee

Act has an exalted position in the formulation and implementation of social security policy. In many

ways, MGNREGA represents an unparalleled example of our commitment to the poor and weaker

sections of our society.”


Rural telephony

Rural Renewal

19

4.1 Bharat Nirman

The UPA government remains

committed to ensuring inclusive growth byimproving rural infrastructure in a comprehensive

manner through the second phase (2009-10 to

2014-15) of Bharat Nirman. Efforts are beingcontinued to provide electricity, safe drinking

water, all weather roads, telephones and

broadband connectivity to all eligible villages/habitations and substantially augment rural

housing stock and irrigation potential.

4.1.1 Rural housing

71.8 lakh houses were constructed during

the first phase against a target of 60 lakhs. Anambitious target of constructing 120 lakh houses

has been set for the second phase; against this,

more than 31 lakh houses have already beenconstructed/upgraded at a cost of around

Rs. 11,000 crore.

4.1.2 Rural roads

Over 35,000 habitations have been

connected with all weather roads and over1,90,000 kms existing rural roads have been

upgraded/renewed since Bharat Nirman was

launched. In 2009-10, 3344 habitations were

connected and around 35,500 kms of road length

upgraded/renewed.

4.1.3 Rural water supply

During the first phase, the emphasis was

on providing safe drinking water to over 3.5 lakhhabitations. With this work more or less complete,

the priority has now shifted to cover water quality

affected habitations. 28,672 habitations affectedwith chemical contamination have been provided

safe drinking water.

4.1.4 Irrigation

During the first phase, 73.1 lakh hectaresof additional irrigation potential was created.

Additional irrigation potential of 7.11 lakh

hectares has been created thereafter.

4.1.5 Power

In 2009-10, under the Rajiv GandhiGrameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), against

a target of 17,500 un-electrified villages, 18,374

Roads - Transforming Rural Life

Impact of Rural Electrification

4 Rural Renewal

Rural Renewal

20

Rural Employment under MGNREGA

villages have been electrified. Against a target of

47 lakh BPL household connections, 47.18 lakh

BPL households have been given free electricityconnections.

4.1.6 Rural telecommunication

Under Bharat Nirman, villages not

having access to public telephones were to be

provided with Village Public Telephones (VPTs).5,69,385 villages, out of a total of 5,93,601 villages

in the country, have been provided with VPTs, ason 31st March 2010. Out of 2,50,000 targeted

village panchayats, about a third have been

connected through broadband.

4.2 Rural Employment

4.2.1 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Scheme

Since its inception in 2006, the scheme

has provided nearly 600 crore person-days of

work at a total expenditure of around Rs. 70,000

crore. During 2009-10, about 4.90 crorehouseholds have been provided employment

through 40.98 lakh works with 251 crore person-

days of employment being generated at a totalexpenditure of Rs. 33,087 crore. The average

wage rate per day has increased from Rs. 65 in

2006-07 to Rs. 90 in 2009-10.

Several amendments have been made in

the schedules of the Mahatma Gandhi NationalRural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

to facilitate its implementation. These include

amendments to ensure transparency regardingcustody of job cards and details to be contained

in them, disbursement of wages through banks

and post offices, maintenance of records, pro-active disclosure of information and processes and

procedures to be followed during social audits.

An Empowered Committee has been setup, at the national level, to evolve clear criteria

for fund release on the basis of state labour

budgets. States have been permitted to use 6%of the budget available as administrative expenses

for personnel, information technology,

monitoring, training, publicity, social audit andgrievance redressal.

Utmost importance has been accorded

to organizing social audits by gram panchayats.Social audit has been conducted in 76% of the

gram panchayats. It has been decided to appoint

persons of eminence and proven integrity asombudsmen in every district to ensure grievance

redressal and disposal of complaints under

MGNREGA. A toll free National Helpline1800110707 has been established to enable the

submission of complaints and queries to the

Ministry for the protection of workersentitlements and rights under the Act.

Wages are being paid to the beneficiaries

Rural Renewal

21

under MGNREGA through post office and

savings bank accounts. As of February 2010,

more than 9 crore savings bank and post officeaccounts have been opened across the country

for distribution of wages under the scheme.

4.3 Agriculture - Towards Food Security and

Welfare of Farmers

4.3.1 Managing the drought of 2009

The nation faced a severe drought in

2009. The UPA government approved assistance

amounting to Rs. 4806 crore from the NationalCalamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) to help

mitigate the effects of the drought. Various

measures were taken to deal with the situation,including introduction of a diesel subsidy scheme,

for supplementary irrigation to save standing

crops, additional allocation of power from thecentral pool, issuing of appropriate agricultural

advisories, ensuring availability of inputs,

providing additional subsidy for certified seedsto enable the states to take up contingent

cropping in unsown/germination failed areas and

permitting use of funds under centrallysponsored schemes for creation of agriculture

infrastructure to achieve higher production. The

impact of drought on crop production wasmitigated by the resilience shown by our farmers

supported by the timely measures taken by the

central and state governments.

4.3.2 Investing in land - National Watershed

Development Programme

The Desert Development Programme

(DDP), the Drought Prone Areas Programme

(DPAP) and the Integrated WastelandsDevelopment Programme (IWDP) have been

integrated into a comprehensive Integrated

Watershed Management Programme (IWMP).Central assistance of Rs. 501.46 crore has been

provided to 1326 projects covering a total area

of 6.23 million hectares in 22 states. With a view

to preventing soil erosion and land degradation

and maintaining balance in different types of landuse, a central scheme i.e. National Watershed

Development Project for Rainfed Areas is being

implemented. Upto January 2010, an area of 17.92million hectares has been covered.

4.3.3 Focus on inputs

(a) Seeds

The farmer’s participatory system of

seed production was given an impetus under the

Seed Village Scheme by organizing more than65,000 seed villages facilitated by an allocation

which was two times higher than the allocation

in the last four years put together.

(b) Fertilisers

Fertilizer is a key input for increasingagricultural production and productivity. The

demand for major fertilizers has been the highest

ever during the year 2009-10. The UPAgovernment has been able to manage the demand

in spite of the fact that the domestic production

of urea has been stagnant and reliance has had tobe placed on imports for meeting the requirement.

Nutrient based subsidy policy for all

fertilizers, other than urea, has been introduced

Sprinkler Irrigation

Rural Renewal

22

from 1st April 2010 to correct the imbalance in

nutrient application, encourage production of soil

specific fertilizers containing micro-nutrients andencourage efficient production of fertilizers.

(c) Credit

Rs. 2,66,433 crore (upto January 2010)

has been disbursed as credit in 2009-10. Farmers

are receiving crop loans upto a principal amountof Rs. 3 lakh at 7% rate of interest. The UPA

government is providing an additional 1% interestsubvention as incentive to those farmers who

repay short term crop loans as per schedule. To

ensure democratic, autonomous and professionalfunctioning of cooperatives, the government has

initiated a proposal for amendment to the

Constitution. The Constitution (111thamendment) bill, 2009 has been introduced in the

Lok Sabha.

4.3.4 National Food Security Mission

Substantial increases have been

recorded in production and productivity of riceand wheat. The System of Rice Intensification

aiming at conservation of inputs such as seed,

water, fertilizers and hybrid rice cultivation hasbeen promoted through large scale

demonstrations. An amount of Rs. 1019.16

crore was released during 2009-10.

4.3.5 Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

Funds of the order of Rs.3761.43 crorewere released to States/UTs during 2009-10.

Outlays for 2010-11 have been substantially

increased to Rs. 6722 crore. The scheme has actedas a catalyst for more investment in the agriculture

and allied sectors in the states.

4.3.6 Extension reforms

Support to state extension reform

programmes is currently operational in 591 ruraldistricts of 29 states and two union territories.

Over 41.60 lakh farmers, including 8.49 lakh

women farmers, have benefited under the scheme

during 2009-10. As many as 14,252 farmer interestgroups have been mobilised during 2009-10.

4.3.7 National Horticulture Mission

An amount of Rs. 800 crore was released

during 2009-10. Due to interventions under theNational Horticulture Mission, production of

fruits, vegetables and spices has increased by

25.6%, 22% and 11.9% respectively during 2009-10 over 2005-06. Per capita availability of fruits

and vegetables has increased to 164gm/person/

day and 322 gm/person/day respectively, during2009-10 as compared to 138 gm/person/day and

279 gm/person/day, respectively, during 2005-06.

4.3.8 Food processing industries

The first Mega Food Park has been set

up at Haridwar in Uttarakhand under the flagshipscheme of Mega Food Parks. Mega Food Parks

at Sirni in Andhra Pradesh, Ranchi in Jharkhand,

Nalbari in Assam, Dharampuri in Tamil Nadu,Jangipur in West Bengal are at different stages of

implementation with a total project cost of over

Rs. 650 crore.

4.3.9 Animal husbandry

The UPA government has extended the

Better Technology for Food Security

Rural Renewal

23

Livestock Insurance Scheme from 100 selected

districts to 300 selected districts in December, 2009.

A new centrally sponsored scheme

Poultry Development has been launched in 2009-10 at a total outlay of Rs.150 crore for the 11th

Five Year Plan. A component of the scheme Rural

Backyard Poultry Development is meant for thebelow poverty line section of people to enable

them to derive supplementary income and

nutritional support.

4.4 Panchayati Raj

4.4.1 Backward Regions Grant Fund

The Backward Regions Grant Fund

programme is being implemented through

panchayats in 250 identified districts. Theprogramme aims at removing regional imbalances

by bridging critical gaps in development and

encouraging decentralized planning. More thanRs.3600 crore were released to the identified

districts in 2009-10. A major achievement was

preparation of decentralized plans by the local

bodies in 246 districts. It has met felt local needs.

4.4.2 e-Governance for Panchayati Raj

Institutions

An ambitious plan for providing

computing facilities, along with connectivity toall the 2.36 lakh panchayats has been prepared

entailing a cost of around Rs. 6000 crore over

three years. Detailed project reports for eachState/UT were prepared in 2009-10 for ensuring

smooth roll out of the e-Panchayat programmethat would ensure delivery of a wide range of

IT enabled services. While common service

centres will be one of the front-ends for citizen-centric services, e-Panchayat will facilitate back-

end processing in panchayat offices.

4.4.3 Reservation for women in panchayats

For ensuring 50% reservation for women

at all levels in the three tiers of panchayats, a billwas introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend

Article 243D of the Constitution. Presently, out

of around 28.18 lakh elected representatives ofpanchayats, only 37% are

women.

4.4.4 Year of the Gram

Sabha

50 years ofpanchayti raj was

commemorated on 2nd

October 2009. Given thecriticality of gram sabhas

in self-governance and

ensuring transparent &accountable functioning

of gram panchayats, the

period 2nd October 2009to 2nd October 2010 is

being observed as ‘Year of

the Gram Sabha”.Focus on Modern Agro Technology

Rural Renewal

24

Transparency in Rural Employment

Transforming Cities

“In the next 20 years, our urban population might well double. This is both a challenge and a

unique opportunity and will require concerted action across all tiers of our federal system of governance

if we are to meet this challenge head on and effectively.”


TransformingCities

Modern Infrastructure Facilities

Transforming Cities

Flyover Constructed under JNNURM

25

5 Transforming Cities

5.1 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban

Renewal Mission (JNNURM)

As on 31st March 2010, 524 projects have

been sanctioned under the Urban Infrastructure

Governance (UIG) component of JNNURM at

an approved cost of over Rs.58,000 crore

including Additional Central Assistance (ACA)

of more than Rs. 27,000 crore; around Rs. 12,300

crore have been released for implementation of

projects and procurement of buses. Under the

Urban Infrastructure Development of Small &

Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) component of

JNNURM, 763 projects have been sanctioned at

an approved cost of about Rs. 12,900 crore with

additional central assistance of over Rs. 10400

crore; more than Rs. 6100 crore have been

released to various states. 61 projects under UIG

and 102 projects under UIDSSMT have been

completed by 31st March 2010.

The UPA government has launched a

pilot scheme for development of urban

infrastructure in satellite towns, around the seven

mega cities, with an outlay of Rs. 500 crore.

Implementation of the first phase of the

North Eastern Region Urban Development

Programme (NERUDP) with an outlay of Rs.

1371 crore commenced in 2009-10.

5.2 Mass Transport - Metro Projects and

Buses

45.83 km of metro line was added in

Delhi and the National Capital Region; NOIDA

was connected to the Delhi Metro network. New

metro projects were taken up in Chennai for

45.046 kms at a total cost of Rs.14600 crore and

in Mumbai for 11.07 kms at a cost of about

Rs. 2356 crore.

Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in

Ahmedabad, a JNNURM initiative of the Central

Transforming Cities

New MCD Building in Delhi

26

government, was commissioned for 18 kms. It

has won the national best Mass Transit Project

award and the international best Sustainable

Urban Transport Project award.

15,260 modern intelligent transport

enabled buses were sanctioned for 61 cities under

JNNURM for augmenting and modernizing city

transportation, out of which about 6500 buses

have been put into operation.

5.3 Housing for the urban poor

Of the projects sanctioned under the

JNNURM so far, an investment of around

Rs. 36,000 crore is devoted to the programmes

for basic services to urban poor and the

development of slums. Construction of around

1.5 million houses for the poor and slum dwellers

has been approved.

A new scheme called the Rajiv Awas

Yojana has been announced for slum dwellers and

the urban poor, aimed at ushering in a slum-free

India by providing access to affordable housing

for the urban poor.

5.4 Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

initiatives

Forty seven PPP projects have been

approved under the India Infrastructure Project

Development Fund and 68 projects with PPP

components have been approved under the UIG

component of JNNURM.

Economic Resurgence

EconomicResurgence

“I am happy to say that India has been able to face the global economic downturn better than most other

countries in the world….This performance in highly adverse circumstances indicates the resilience of our

economy. It also vindicates to a large extent, the corrective action taken by our government to manage the

downturn.”


Cold Rolling Mill Complex at Salem Steel Plant under Construction

Economic Resurgence

27

International Container Transhipment Terminal Near Completion at Kochi Port

6 Economic Resurgence

6.1 Macroeconomic Overview

Economic growth

The Indian economy grew at an average

annual rate of 9.5 per cent during 2005-06 to2007-08. Following the global financial crisis, the

growth of the Indian economy slowed down to

a level of 6.7 per cent during 2008-09. The year,2009-10, showed clear signs of recovery with the

rate of growth being estimated at 7.2 per cent.

This has occurred, despite a decline of 0.2 percent in agricultural output on account of sub-

normal monsoons. The recovery has been

marked by renewed momentum in themanufacturing sector, which grew by 8.9 per cent

in 2009-10, compared to 3.2 per cent in 2008-09.

Stimulus measures

The recovery of the Indian economy

owes largely to the stimulus measures initiated

by the Government of India and the Reserve

Bank of India (RBI). The fiscal stimulus was

continued in the Union budget 2009-10.

Investment climate

(i) A major exercise was undertaken toconsolidate existing regulations on Foreign Direct

Investment (FDI). Now all information on FDI

policy is available at one place, leading to greaterclarity and understanding among foreign investors

and sectoral regulators.

(ii) Invest India, a joint venture companybetween the Department of Industrial Policy &

Promotion and FICCI, is being set up as a not-

for-profit, single window facilitator forprospective overseas investors and to act as a

structured mechanism to attract investment.

(iii) Despite the reduction in global FDI

inflows, the FDI equity inflows in the currentfinancial year upto February 2010 was around US

Economic Resurgence

28

$ 24.68 billion, which was comparable to the

FDI equity inflows of the previous year despite

the general fall of global FDI inflows.

Price situation

The year 2009 started with low headlineWPI inflation of 1.3 per cent in April, 2009 and

decelerated to the negative zone during June to

August, 2009. Subsequent gradual increase inWPI inflation could be attributed to expectations

of supply-side constraints of food items,especially due to the unfavorable south-west

monsoon.

The UPA government has taken a

number of short term and medium termmeasures to improve domestic availability of

essential commodities and moderate inflation.

There are enough food grains to intervene in themarket to keep the prices at reasonable level. A

strategic reserve of five million tonnes of wheat

and rice has also been created. Allocation to Stategovernments under the Open Market Sales

Scheme (domestic) for release of 20.00 lakh

tonnes of wheat has been made to checkinflationary trends in the food economy from

October 2009 to March 2010. The Central Issue

Price (CIP) for rice and wheat has beenmaintained to protect the poor. Further, in order

to check the inflationary trend in prices of rice,

a quantity of 10 lakh tonnes of rice was allocatedduring October 2009 to March 2010 to State

governments for distribution to retail consumers.

The Reserve Bank of India has taken

measures for demand management in order tocontrol inflationary expectations.

Other measures taken to contain prices

of essential commodities include a selective ban

on exports and futures trading in food grains,zero import duty on select food items, removal

of restrictions on licensing, stock limits and

movement of food articles under the Essential

Commodities Act of 1955, permitting imports

of pulses and sugar by public sector undertakings,distribution of imported pulses and edible oils

through the public distribution system. Apart

from improving availability through a more liberalimport policy, the UPA government increased the

levy percentage of sugar from 10% to 20%.

A Standing Core Group of Chief

Ministers and some Central Ministers has beenconstituted on 15th March, 2010 to consider

issues related to prices of essential commodities.The first meeting of the Core Group took place,

under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister

on 8th April 2010.

6.1.2 Reforms

Direct Tax Code

To consolidate and carry forward thereforms in direct taxes, a draft Direct Taxes Code,

along with a discussion paper, were released for

public comment. It aims to improve theefficiency and equity of the tax system and

promote voluntary compliance.

Goods & Services Tax

On Goods and Services Tax (GST), the

focus has been on generating a wide consensuson its design. The Empowered Committee of

State Finance Ministers has placed the discussion

paper on GST in the public domain. There isactive engagement with the Empowered

Committee to finalize the structure of GST as

well as the modalities of its expeditiousimplementation.

People’s ownership of public sector

enterprises

The disinvestment policy envisages

development of ‘People’s Ownership’ of public

Economic Resurgence

29

sector enterprises to share in their wealth and

prosperity while retaining majority ownership and

control with government. It has been decided tolist the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs),

which have been making profits in the last three

years, on the Indian stock exchanges throughpublic offerings out of government’s

shareholding or issue of fresh shares or a

combination of both. Disinvestment in CPSEsthrough public offers has helped to unlock the

value of these companies.

In 2009-10, five public issues werecompleted and the funds raised by the

government amounted to Rs. 23,552.97 crore.

The disinvestment proceeds are being used forfunding the capital expenditure under the social

sector schemes of the government like the

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme, the Indira Awas Yojana, the

Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana, the

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban RenewalMission, Accelerated Irrigation Benefits

Programme and Accelerated Power Development

and Reform Programme.

6.2 Industrial Performance

6.2.1 Public Sector Enterprises

With a view to empower mega CPSEsto expand their operations and emerge as global

giants, the UPA government approved the

introduction of “Maharatna” category for CPSEs.Under this scheme, boards of Maharatna CPSEs

will exercise additional powers in areas of

investment in joint ventures/subsidiaries andcreation of posts.

The UPA government also approved the

continuation of Guidelines on Corporate

Governance for CPSEs on a mandatory basis.The continued implementation of these

guidelines will facilitate protection of the interest

of shareholders and other stakeholders and also

ensure transparency in the operations of CPSEs.

Comprehensive guidelines on Corporate

Social Responsibility (CSR) for CPSEs have beenissued. These guidelines require CPSEs to move

from an ad-hoc to a project based approach

towards CSR aimed at serving the larger interestsof the society. Profit making CPSEs are now

required to allocate a specified percentage of their

net profit towards a non-lapsable CSR budget.

6.2.2 Manufacturing sector

The impact of the global economic crisis

in 2008-09 resulted in overall industrial growth

declining severely. 2009-10 saw a reversal of thistrend, in all segments of industry.

Growth in manufacturing, which had

dipped to (-) 0.6 per cent in October 2008, in the

wake of the crisis, started recovering from June2009. The manufacturing sector has been the

key driver in this revival of industrial growth. It

recorded a cumulative growth of 9.9 per cent in(April-January) 2009-10 as compared to 3.4

percent in (April-January) 2008-09. The recovery

in the manufacturing sector has been driven bydomestic demand, backed by well-calibrated

adjustments in monetary and fiscal policies,

including the fiscal stimulus.

National Manufacturing CompetitivenessCouncil (NMCC), an apex forum for

recommending appropriate policy initiatives in the

manufacturing sector, is formulating a detailedstrategy, in consultation with the relevant ministries,

to accelerate the growth of the manufacturing

sector and enhance its global competitiveness.

6.2.3 Corporate governance reforms

The first ever India Corporate Week2009 was organised by the government which

brought together trade and industry chambers,

Economic Resurgence

30

professionals, business entities and other

stakeholders in 124 events throughout the

country.

Voluntary guidelines on corporate socialresponsibility were released to promote socially

and environmentally responsible business

practices in the Indian corporate sector.

Over 300 investor awareness camps wereorganized with the help of professional bodies,

NGOs and multi-media, multi-lingualadvertisement campaigns were undertaken to

reach out to the common investors to help them

understand their rights and responsibilities.

The Companies Bill, 2009 which seeksto replace the existing Companies Act, has been

introduced in Parliament. The bill incorporates

a number of investor protection measures and itwill encourage responsible corporate behaviour

through innovative provisions of law.

6.2.4 Heavy Industries

The aggregate turnover of 32 CPSEs,

under the Department of Heavy Industries,increased by 14.02% (over the previous year) to

Rs. 38,628 crore. Aggregate profit before tax

increased by 21.62% to Rs. 4247 crore. Exportsof goods and services increased by 64% to

Rs. 13,522 crore.

A revival package was implemented in

respect of Instrumentation Ltd, Kota and theHindustan Photo Films, Ooty, Tamil Nadu. A

total of Rs. 137.11 crore was released as support

for salary/wages and statutory dues to 10 sickand loss making CPSEs.

6.2.5 Micro, Small and Medium

Enterprises

The government has accepted the

recommendations of the high-level Task Force

on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

(MSMEs), including those in the area of credit,

marketing, labour, rehabilitation and exit policy,infrastructure, technology, skill development,

taxation and development of MSMEs in the

North-East and Jammu & Kashmir. A Councilon MSMEs, under the chairmanship of the Prime

Minister, has been constituted to lay down the

broad policy guidelines and review thedevelopment of the MSME sector. For ensuring

timely/speedy implementation of the

recommendations of the Task Force and follow-up on the decisions of the Prime Minister’s

Council on MSMEs, a Steering Group, under the

chairmanship of Principal Secretary to the PrimeMinister, has been constituted.

A loan agreement for $ 150 million has

been signed between the Government of Indiaand the Asian Development Bank for

implementing the comprehensive Khadi Reform

Programme. Under this programme, thegovernment proposes to revitalize the Khadi and

Village Industries (KVI) sector.

6.2.6 Sectoral performance

Telecommunications

During the year 2009-2010, the number

of telephone connections is estimated to havegone up by over 44%, which included an increase

of about 60% in rural telephone connections.

Teledensity is estimated to have increased by 42%,including a 58% increase in rural teledensity.

Number of wireless connections is estimated to

have gone up by nearly 49%, while broadbandconnections are estimated to have increased from

62.2 lakh to 88 lakh over the year.

Auction of 3G and Broadband Wireless

Access (BWA) spectrum commenced asscheduled. On completion of auction and

Economic Resurgence

A Worker at New Diamond Mine at Panna, MP

31

allotment of spectrum, next generation telephony

will become a reality, enabling high-speed data

transfer, leading to a paradigm shift from mobileconnections to mobile applications.

The functioning of BSNL has been

reviewed by a high-level committee, whose

recommendations are under consideration.

Information Technology

The Information Technology-InformationTechnology Enabled Services - (IT-ITES) industry

revenue (both exports and domestic) is expected to

have grown in 2009-10 by over 6 percent. Domesticbusiness process outsourcing revenue is estimated

to have increased by 22 per cent.

To stimulate the growth of information

technology and information technology enabledservices, and electronics hardware manufacturing

sectors, a task force was set up in August 2009

and it has submitted its report in December 2009.

In order to create a conducive

environment for the high technology, capital-

intensive semiconductor industry and other high

tech electronic items, a Special Incentives Package

Scheme (SIPS) was in operation till 31st March

2010. During 2009-10, in response to an in

principle communication sent to thirteen solar

photovoltaic industry applicants, six applicants

reported financial closure for an amount exceeding

Rs 1000 crore. The total investment proposed

by these six applicants, over a period of 10 years,

is around Rs. 41,000 crore.

Chemicals & petrochemicals

The Petroleum Chemicals &

Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIR)

policy ensures a holistic approach to the

development of global scale industrial clusters in

the petroleum, chemical and petrochemical sectors

with world class infrastructure. Proposals

Economic Resurgence

32

for setting up PCPIRs in Andhra Pradesh

(Vishakapatnam-Kakinada Rajahmundry region),

West Bengal (Haldia) and Gujarat (Bharuch) havebeen approved. The industrial investment in these

regions is expected to be around

Rs. 5,00,000 crore and the employment generationis expected to be to the tune of 30 lakh persons.

Memoranda of Agreement have been executed

with the State governments of Andhra Pradesh,West Bengal and Gujarat.

Mining

A complete and holistic reform in the

mining sector is being attempted through a newlegislation governing the development and

regulation of mines and minerals. The reform

process will place sustainability and local areadevelopment at the centre stage of the reform

process. It will bring about transparency, ensure

equity, provide a mechanism for addressing issuesof delay and discretion, along with incentives to

encourage induction of high technology for

exploration and for scientific mining practices.

A new royalty regime has beenintroduced and notified for major minerals, by

adopting an ad-valorem principle, wherever

feasible. The new rates have been finalized inconsultation with the major mineral producing

states. With the revision, the annual royalty

revenues of States are likely to go up from aboutRs. 2400 crore to Rs. 4500 crore per annum.

Stringent action is being taken to prevent

illegal mining. Increasing use is being made of

modern technologies like satellite imagery and thegeo-referencing of boundaries using Global

Positioning Systems (GPS). Various measures,

including the regulation of the transport ofminerals, by rail, road and ports, compulsory

registration of end-users and constant monitoring

of endemic areas are being firmly implemented.

A special task force constituted in the Indian

Bureau of Mines has inspected 106 mines and

suspended mining operations in 60 cases.

Steel

India emerged as the third largest steelproducer in the world during the calendar year

2009; capacity for crude steel production grew

from 66.36 million tonnes in 2008-09 to 72.76million tonnes in 2009-10.

Public sector steel companies recorded

a combined profit after tax of around Rs. 7800crore during the first nine months of 2009-10.

Various innovative R&D proposals and

research projects were approved at a cost of

around Rs. 46 crore for enhancing theproductivity, efficiency and competitiveness of

the steel industry.

Textiles

Total fibre production increased by

8.78% and fabric by 9.32% compared to 2008-09. Production of raw silk increased from 18,370

MT in 2008-09 to 19,575 MT in 2009-10.

Employment in the silk sector also increased from63 lakhs in 2008-09 to 65.8 lakh in 2009-10.

An ambitious Skill Development Mission

to train 31 lakh workers over a period of five

years has been announced with a proposed outlayof Rs. 2200 crore. Rs. 2885 crore were disbursed

in 2009-10 as subsidy under the Technology

Upgradation Fund Scheme; out of this Rs. 2546crore were credited to the bank accounts of

12,514 beneficiaries in a record time of 72 hours.

Under the Scheme for Integrated Textile

Parks (SITP), of the 40 parks sanctioned,infrastructure development has been completed

in five parks in 2009-10 and production has

commenced in 17 parks.

Economic Resurgence

33

Handloom Craftsmanship on Display

Seventeen mills have been modernized

by the National Textiles Corporation, of which

seven mills were inaugurated during 2009-10.

During 2009-10, two Cotton Sales

Depots at Coimbatore and Rajapalayam in Tamil

Nadu and the National Institute of FashionTechnology (NIFT) Centre at Kangra in

Himachal Pradesh were inaugurated.

Handlooms and handicrafts

To develop powerlooms, handlooms

and handicrafts in public private partnershipmode, development of five new mega clusters

was initiated during 2009-10, in Bhilwara,

Mirzapur-Bhadohi, Srinagar, Virudh Nagar andMurshidabad. For self-sustainability and

empowerment of handloom weavers and

handicraft artisans and also to ensure holisticgrowth and development of these segments, 52

new clusters in the handloom sector and 122

new clusters in handicraft sector were taken upin 2009-10.

Under the Handloom Weavers

Comprehensive Welfare Scheme 16.11 lakh

weavers and ancillary workers were providedhealth insurance coverage and 4.50 lakh weavers

and ancillary workers were provided life insurancecoverage. Under the Rajiv Gandhi Shilpi Swasthya

Bima Yojana, 8.02 lakh artisans were provided

with health insurance coverage.

25,000 Artisan Credit Cards have beenissued to artisans under the Credit Guarantee

Scheme.

It has been decided to train 1,00,155

artisans for upgrading their skills under theAmbedkar Hastshilp Vikas Yojana, the Human

Resource Development and the Design &

Technology Upgradation Schemes.

Jute

The minimum support price for raw jutehas been increased from Rs. 1250 per quintal in

jute year 2008-09 to Rs. 1375 in jute year 2009-10.

Economic Resurgence

34

The revival package of the National Jute

Manufactures Corporation (NJMC) has been

approved, which envisages operationalization ofthe Kinnison and Khardah jute mills in West

Bengal and the Rai Bahadur Hadrat Roy Motilal

Jute Mill in Bihar.

The Jute Diversified Product ExportPromotional Council has been set up to boost

export of jute diversified products.

6.2.7 Commerce

The Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 was

announced with the objective of arresting decline

in exports caused by the global financial crisis.

Policy measures implemented include fiscal

incentives, enhanced marked access and

diversification of export markets, technological

upgradation and procedural rationalization to

reduce transaction cost and to create new

employment opportunities. Additional support

was provided for the following employment

intensive sectors - (i) agriculture and village

industries (ii) handlooms (iii) handicrafts (iv)gems

and jewellery (v) leather and footwear (vi) marine

products. The policy measures resulted in arresting

the decline in exports and enabled export growth

to turn positive since November 2009.

Export Promotion Initiatives

(i) To expand market access for exporters

in non-traditional and high growth economies,

enhanced financial support under Market Access

Initiatives Scheme was provided.

(ii) To help exporters cope with higher

risk owing to the global recession, Export Credit

Guarantee Corporation India Ltd (ECGC)

provided higher risk insurance cover and also

settled claims amounting to Rs.642 crore in 2009-

10 compared to Rs.450 crore in 2008-09.

(iii) Under the stimulus package, ECGC was

provided Rs.350 crore to provide additional

support to export sector in view of the globalfinancial crisis.

Free Trade Agreements

To deepen economic engagement withEast Asia and provide new market opportunitiesfor our exporters, India signed two landmarkFree Trade Agreements in 2009.

(i) Trade in Goods Agreement under theIndia-ASEAN Comprehensive EconomicCooperation Agreement

(ii) India-South Korea ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership Agreement

Delhi Ministerial meeting to revive WTO

negotiations

India took the initiative to break theimpasse in the Doha Round negotiations byvolunteering to host an informal Ministerialmeeting of about 30 WTO member countries.The Delhi Ministerial meeting on 3-4 September2009, was the first occasion since July 2008 thatMinisters representing practically all shades ofopinion and interests in the WTO came togetherand unanimously affirmed the need to revive thetalks.

Infrastructure

(i) Creation of export related infrastructurewas supported through. Assistance to States forDeveloping Export Infrastructure and AlliedActivities (ASIDE) scheme

(ii) Bamboo Park at Bodhjunga Nagar,Tripura has been approved.

(iii) Development of Land CustomSystem (LCS) at Dalu and Ghasupara, Mehgalayahas been approved.

(iv) Trade Facilitation Centre at Salambad

and Chakan-da-bah, J&K has been approved.

Economic Resurgence

35

Modern Open Cast Coal Mine

6.2.8 Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor

DMIC aims to leverage the

infrastructure being created under the Dedicated

Freight Corridor project to create a strongeconomic base with globally competitive

environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure to

activate local commerce, enhance investments andattain sustainable development in the identified

area in six states.

Delhi-Mumbai Industrial CorridorDevelopment Corporation (DMICDC) has

signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs)

with all the six DMIC states for preparation ofperspective and development plan. Perspective

plan for overall DMIC Region has been

completed and pre-feasibility studies of individualprojects are under way. Loan Agreement for US

$ 75 million between India Infrastructure Finance

Company Limited (IIFCL) and Japan Bank forInternational Cooperation (JBIC) has been

signed. DMICDC has also signed an MoU with

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) for“Development of Smart Communities and

Eco-friendly Townships”.

6.3 Energy

6.3.1 Coal

Coal production during 2009-10 was

531.69 million tonnes (MT) as against 492.94 MT

during 2008-09, a growth of 7.86%.

The Master Plan dealing with fire,

subsidence, rehabilitation and diversion of surfaceinfrastructure in Jharia and Raniganj coalfields,

within the leasehold of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd.

and Eastern Coalfield Ltd. respectively, wasapproved in August, 2009 at an estimated

investment of Rs. 9773.84 crore.

Guidelines for mine closure have beenissued in August, 2009 to facilitate rehabilitation

of the mined out areas in a systematic and an

environment friendly manner.

Guidelines for carrying out commercialexploitation of underground coal gasification

have been issued in July 2009. Five lignite blocks

and two coal blocks have been identified for offerto potential entrepreneurs.

The Mines and Mineral (Development

& Regulation) Act, 1957 is being amended to

allow for competitive bidding for the allocationof coal blocks and to make the selection process

more transparent and objective.

The acquisition of coal properties abroad

has been encouraged for providing energy security.Coal India Limited (CIL) has floated a global

expression of interest to select strategic partners.

It has been awarded two blocks containing aboutone billion tonne of coal reserves in Mozambique

for exploration and development.

6.3.2 Power

During the year 2009-10, a capacity of

9585 MW has been commissioned.

Under the Restructured Accelerated PowerDevelopment & Reforms Programme (APDRP),

projects worth Rs. 6242.26 crore were sanctioned

and Rs. 1331.46 crore disbursed to the state powerutilities in the financial year 2009-10.

Economic Resurgence

36

ONGC Offshore Platform at Mumbai High

Government revisited some of the

provisions of the present Mega Power Policy andbrought them in line with the National Electricity

Policy, 2005 and Tariff Policy, 2006.

Improving the efficiency of coal fired

units has been the main focus of the low carbongrowth strategy for the power sector. Induction

of efficient super-critical units has been given

priority. Presently, 40 supercritical units of 660/800 MW are under construction.

Efforts have also been made to attract

international manufacturers for taking upmanufacturing in India for supercritical boilers

and turbine generators. In order to facilitate initial

orders to indigenous manufacturers ofsupercritical equipment, government has

approved a proposal to invite bids for boilers and

turbine generators for eleven units of fivesupercritical projects with mandatory condition

of setting up phased manufacturing facilities in

the country.

6.3.3 Petroleum and natural gas

Great emphasis has been placed on

enhancing energy security through rapidexploration of domestic oil and gas reserves,

combined with acquisition abroad and

enhancement of refining capacity.

During the current year, the domesticproduction of natural gas has seen an 80%

increase. Additional gas has been allocated to

various priority sectors like power, fertilizer, steel,LPG, city gas, refineries, etc. The domestic crude

oil production during 2009-10 has increased by

7% over last year. Crude oil production fromBarmer in Rajasthan has commenced.

ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) is

producing oil and gas in seven countries viz.,

Sudan, Vietnam, Venezuela, Russia, Syria, Braziland Columbia.

The country is not only self-sufficient in

Economic Resurgence

37

Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant

refining capacity for its domestic consumption

but is also exporting petroleum products.

During 2009-10, international oil prices

have been volatile and the Indian basket of crudeoil has ranged between $ 47 and $ 81 per barrel.

However, the UPA government has successfully

insulated the consumer from the high volatilityof international oil prices.

The Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak

Yojana (RGGLVY) for small size LPGdistribution agencies has been launched. To begin

with, eight states, where the reach of LPG is very

low, namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar

Pradesh and West Bengal, have been taken up.

In order to handle increased LNG

import, additional infrastructure is being createdin the country. The capacity of Petronet LNG

Limited’s (PLL) Dahej LNG terminal has been

expanded from 5 MMTPA to 10 MMTPA in July,

2009. Dabhol LNG terminal, with 5 MMTPA

capacity, is expected to be commissioned shortly.

6.3.4 Nuclear Energy

With the commissioning of the

Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Units 5 & 6during the year, the total installed capacity of

nuclear power has reached 4560 MWe with 19

reactors being operational. Four more reactorsare under advanced stages of construction and

on completion will take the installed capacity to7280 MWe by 2011.

6.3.5 New and Renewable Sources

The government notified a new

generation based incentive scheme for wind

power developers in November 2009 whichwould bring independent power producers and

foreign direct investment in the wind power sector

and facilitate advancement of technology, betteroperating procedures and create a competitive

edge for efficient technologies.

Economic Resurgence

Modern Airport at Calicut

38

6.4 Transport Infrastructure

6.4.1 Roads: Picking up speed

The government has set a target of

developing 7000 km of National Highways per

year, which translates into 20 km per day. Toachieve this ambitious target, there has been a

major thrust towards award of projects. During

2009-10, 38 projects for 3360 km were awarded.Evaluation of bids is under process for 21

projects for 1568 km and bids have been invited

for another 20 projects for 1991 km.

In terms of completion of highwayprojects, 13,731 km of national highways have

been completed under the National Highway

Development Project (NHDP) at an investmentof Rs. 92,801 crore in 2009-10, 2693 km of

national highways were completed against an

average of 1507 km over the last three years. Thepace of development of national highways has

picked up, touching 12 km a day in February 2010.

The government has taken proactive

steps to streamline the process for award of

projects and further improve the standard biddingdocuments like the Request For Qualification

(RFQ), Request For Proposals (RFP) and Model

Concession Agreement (MCA). A multi-prongedstrategy has been worked out to address the

problems in land acquisition, including creation

of 117 special land acquisition units. Several stepshave been taken towards restructuring of NHAI

including, inter-alia, its decentralisation with the

creation of 10 regional offices.

Feasibility studies for four newexpressways namely Vadodara-Mumbai,

Bangalore-Chennai, Kolkata-Dhanbad and Delhi-

Meerut are at an advanced stage.

Under the special project for developingroads in left wing extremism affected areas, during

2009-10 sanction for 2287 km, costing Rs. 2551

crore, has been issued and works for 147 km havebeen awarded.

Economic Resurgence

39

An ambitious plan has been prepared of

converting all single/intermediate-lane National

Highways to at least two-lane standard has beenprepared. A total of nearly 12,200 km of such

highways, that are not the part of NHDP, are

being taken up under various schemes for thispurpose.

6.4.2 Civil Aviation

World Class Infrastructure

Rs 2650 crore has been invested by the

Airports Authority of India for strengtheninginfrastructure in 2009-10.

The modernization of 35 non-metro

airports, viz Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Guwahati,

Jaipur, Udaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow,Goa, Madurai, Mangalore, Agatti, Aurangabad,

Khajuraho, Surat, Vadodara, Bhopal, Indore,

Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam, Trichy, Bhuvaneshwar,Coimbatore, Patna, Port Blair, Varanasi, Agartala,

Dehradun, Imphal, Ranchi, Raipur, Agra,

Chandigarh, Dimapur, Jammu and Pune isunderway by the Airports Authority of India.

The development work of airports at Agra,

Agartala, Amritsar, Dehradun, Jaipur, Mangalore,Nagpur and Vishakhapatnam has completed in

2009-10 and these airports have been put in

operation.

Airports at Delhi and Mumbai

Indira Gandhi International airport atDelhi, designed to cater to 100 million passengers

per annum by 2036, is soon going to be fully

operational, well in time for the CommonwealthGames 2010.

The target date for completion of

development of Chatrapati Shivaji International

Airport is 31st December 2012 at an estimatedcost of Rs 9802 crore. The major development

works completed during the first half of

2009-10 are South West pier, integrated processor

terminal, baggage handling system in the new

domestic terminal and six passenger boardingbridges in the new domestic terminal. The new

Terminal 1C has been formally opened on

17th April 2010.

Helping Sustain Air India

The National Aviation Company ofIndia Ltd (NACIL) is being restructured. A

decision has been taken to infuse a sum ofRs. 2000 crore as equity in NACIL, out of which

Rs. 800 crore has already been released. In order

to streamline the operations of NACIL aprofessional Chief Operating Officer is being

appointed for the first time.

Adherence to International Standards in Air

Safety

Seven amendments were carried out inthe Air Craft Rules, 1937 and the Aircraft

(Carriage of Dangerous Goods) Rules 2003 to

keep abreast with the international standards andthe latest developments in the civil aviation sector.

Amendments of Air Services Agreements

(ASAs) with foreign countries

Bilateral air services consultations were

held in 2009 with a number of countries viz.Qatar, France, Netherlands. Nepal, Portugal,

Kenya, Azerbaijan, Bhutan and Czech Republic

and the respective Air Services Agreements havebeen amended and finalized as per International

Civil Aviation Organization templates.

6.4.3 Ports

During the year 2009-10, 13 port sector

PPP projects, with private sector investment ofRs. 2653 crore and capacity of 65.65 MTPA were

awarded.

Substantial progress has been made in

Economic Resurgence

40

Container Terminal at Chennai Port

the construction of the international container

transhipment terminal at Cochin port.

The second container terminal at

Chennai port, with a capacity of 9.6 MTPA, hasbeen operationalised.

Inland Waterways Transport (IWT)

terminals at Bolghatty and Wellington Island arebeing constructed in collaboration with Kochi

Port Trust to provide IWT connectivity to

Vallarpadam container transhipment terminal andto facilitate container movement from existing

IWT terminal on NW-3 in Kerala.

6.4.4 Railways

Indian Railways is now set to march

ahead with a fresh vision and renewed vigour. Ina recently prepared Vision document, Indian

Railways plans to attain high growth of 10% per

annum along with rapid expansion and

modernization of network and services,

augmentation of capacity and delivery of low costand high quality service to the citizens. It also

reiterates its resolve to strengthen national

integration, foster inclusive and environmentallysustainable growth and generate large scale

employment for the people.

Despite the global economic meltdown,

a growth of 6.56% in freight loading has beenachieved in the year 2009-10. The lead has increased

from 646 km in 2009 to 658 km in 2009-10.

14 new train services by the name‘Duronto’, with AC and non-AC sleeper coaches,

have been introduced for non-stop point to point

services between selected cities throughout thecountry. Also, in order to improve the travelling

conditions of women, ladies specials named

Economic Resurgence

41

Duronto Express Providing Non Stop Point to Point Service

“Matribhoomi trains” have been introduced in

big cities. To provide succour to the poorest of

the poor a new scheme called ‘Izzat’, whichprovides for a uniformly priced monthly season

ticket for Rs. 25 for travel upto 100 km for the

members of the unorganized sector, has beenintroduced.

378 stations have been identified as

Adarsh stations, where railways shall upgrade

passenger amenities like drinking water, toilets,catering services, waiting rooms, signages and

other basic amenities.

The welfare of the people being the topmost priority, there has been no increase in

passenger fares during the year.

Six sites have been chosen for setting up

perishable cargo centres which will have facilities

for cold storage and agri-retail outlets. The first

such facility is coming up at Singur. Railways have

also introduced a train exclusively for thetransportation of milk and milk products which runs

in a closed circuit between Palanpur and Kanpur.

Work is progressing on the construction

of two dedicated freight corridors.

Work for setting up of a new coachmanufacturing factory at Rae-Bareilly in Uttar

Pradesh is in full swing. Another new factoryfor manufacturing Mainline Electric Multiple Unit

(MEMU) and Diesel - Electric Multiple Unit

(DEMU) coaches at Kanchrapara in West Bengalhas been sanctioned. A diesel locomotive factory

and an electric locomotive factory are being set

up through joint venture, with selected technologypartners, at Marhoura and Madehpura

respectively.

Economic Resurgence

42

Four laning of NH-45

Sustaining the Environment

“In a farsighted move, one that will benefit both present and future generations,

Parliament is also currently debating legislation that will give our citizens the right to a

safe and healthy environment.”


Sustaining theEnvironment


Solar Home Lighting System in Gurez, J&K


7 Sustaining the Environment

7.1 National Action Plan on Climate Change

The UPA government has released the

National Action Plan on Climate Change. Eight

National Missions form the core of this plan.The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was

launched by the Prime Minister on 11th January

2010. The mission has set an ambitious target ofcreating a capacity of 20,000 MW grid solar

power, 2000 MW off-grid solar applications and20 million square metre of solar thermal

collectors by the year 2022. One of the objectives

is to reduce cost of solar power so that gridparity can be reached by the end of the mission

period. Research & development activities will

also be given a major boost under the mission.

The first phase activities are expected to spurdevelopment of indigenous solar manufacturing

and technology.

The Prime Minister’s Council on Climate

Change has approved “in principle” the NationalMission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency

(NMEEE). To operationalise the NMEEE, the

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL), a jointventure company, has been set up with equity

investment of Rs. 190 crore by four participatingcentral public sector units. It will take the lead in

implementing energy efficiency projects.

43

Increasing Forest Cover


The Council has also approved “in

principle” the draft mission documents of the

National Mission for Sustaining theHimalayan Ecosystem and the National

Mission on Strategic Knowledge on Climate

Change. State governments have also beenurged to prepare State-level Action Plans for

Climate Change, consistent with the strategy

outlined in the National Action Plan onClimate Change.

7.2 Compensatory Afforestation

More than Rs. 9900 crore, lying unutilized

in a centralized account for the development ofthe forestry sector, has become available for use.

Instructions have been issued for the formation

of State-level Compensatory Afforestation FundManagement & Planning Authorities for enabling

release of 10% of the amount available in the

centralized account to state governments everyyear, for the next five years. Funds have been

released to most of the states.

7.3 Green Tribunal

The National Green Tribunal Bill, 2009

has been passed. It provides for establishing aNational Green Tribunal for effective and

expeditious disposal of cases relating to

environmental protection, conservation of forestsand other natural resources, enforcement of legal

rights relating to the environment and giving relief

and compensation for damages to persons and

property.

7.4 Mission Clean Ganga

The UPA government remainscommitted to cleaning the river Ganga. In the

first meeting of the newly constituted National

Ganga River Basin Authority, it has beendecided that under “Mission Clean Ganga” it

would be ensured that by the year 2020 nountreated municipal sewage and industrial

effluents flow into the Ganga. The investments

required will be shared suitably between theCentre and the State governments concerned.

A Standing Committee of the Authority has

been set up, under the chairpersonship of theUnion Finance Minister, to review and assess

the implementation of the Authority’s work

programme. An Empowered SteeringCommittee has also been constituted for

appraisal/sanction of projects in a fast-track

mode. Projects for approximately Rs. 1390crore have been approved so far.

Discussions have been initiated for long-

term support from the World Bank and a project

preparation facility from the World Bank has beenapproved.

44

New Horizons

“What is needed is to liberate Indian science from the shackles and deadweight of

bureaucratism and in-house favouritism. Only then we can unleash the vast latent talent

and creative energies of our scientists and engineers too.”

Dr. Manmohan Singh

New Horizons

—

New Horizons

PSLV-C14 - Launched on September 23, 2009

— —

New Horizons

8 New Horizons

8.1 Science and Technology

8.1.1 Strengthening Science & Technology

and Innovation Infrastructure

A dedicated centre for ClimateChange Research has been set up in Pune toaddress various scientific issues relating toclimate change and ultimately to developclimate services for sectors like health,agriculture and water.

Work on setting up the thirdpermanent Antarctic station has been initiated.

To provide internationallycompetitive and contemporary infrastructurefor research, product development in cuttingedge areas of research in life sciences andbiotechnology, the following five newinstitutions have been made operational:

a) Translational Health Science andTechnology Institute, Faridabad

b) Regional Centre for Biotechnology incollaboration with UNESCO, Faridabad

c) National Institute of BiomedicalGenomics, Kolkata

d ) Institute for Stem Cell Biology andRegenerative Medicine, Bangalore

e) National Agri-Food BiotechnologyInstitute and Bioprocessing Unit atMohali, Punjab

For the first time, three new bio-clustersnamely (i) Bangalore Bio-cluster; (ii) The HealthBiotech Science Cluster at Faridabad; (iii) Agri-Food Biotech Cluster at Mohali, Punjab, with afocus on training and fundamental, applied &product oriented research, connected to bio-industry, have been designed and implementationstarted.

India became a partner in theInternational Cancer Genome Consortium to

generate comprehensive, high-resolution analysesof genomic changes for eight forms of cancer.

For the first time researchers have beenpermitted an equity stake in scientific enterprisesand spin-offs while still being employed in theirorganizations. This policy would enable Indianscientists to enjoy the commercial benefits of theirinventions and patents.

8.1.2 Benefits of science to the people

In partnership with agriculturaluniversities, the bi-weekly district-level agro-meteorological advisory services have beenextended to provide information on rainfall,maximum and minimum temperature, cloudcover, humidity etc. to farmers in 500meteorological districts.

A unique system of an integratedfisheries advisory, based on identification ofPotential Fishing Zones (PFZ), along withocean state forecast, using remote sensingtechnology, has been made operational. PFZadvisories, prepared in local languages, aredisseminated thrice a week through electronicdisplay boards, information kiosks, radio, TV,print media, emails and web sites.

20 proposals were cleared and 11projects supported during 2009-10 under thenew Biotechnology Industry PartnershipProgramme.

CSIR, with Cadila Pharmaceuticals,has developed for the first time a novel therapyobtained from Ayurveda named as“RISORINE” for the treatment oftuberculosis.

CSIR scientists have successfullysequenced and assembled the whole genomeof an Indian.

A Traditional Knowledge Digital Library(TKDL) has been created by CSIR in partnershipwith AYUSH. The TKDL contains information

45

New Horizons

relating to about two lakh medicinal formulationsin Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha in fiveinternational languages. Access agreements wereconcluded in 2009 with European Patent Office(34 Member States) and US Patent & Trade MarkOffice (USPTO).

CSIR has developed an eco-friendly dualpowered rickshaw, named ‘Soleckshaw’. It isdriven partly by pedal and partly by electric powersupplied by a battery that is charged from solarenergy. The technology has been transferred tomany industries for commercial production.

Under Open Source Drug DiscoveryProgramme, CSIR announced on 11th April2010, the first-ever detailed mapping ofMycobacterium tuberculosis, involving hundreds ofyoung students across the country – an innovativeexercise that would help in producing moreeffective drugs to combat the germs that causeTB, killing 1.7 million people annually.

8.1.3 Restructuring research funding

As a major step in R&D funding, Scienceand Engineering Research Board has been created.

The Welcome Trust - DBT India Alliancehas been set up in Hyderabad to awardfellowships to Indian biomedical researchscientists of international repute. So far, 30scientists have been selected under this schemefrom abroad.

8.2 Space Programme

The Indian space programme scaled newheights during the year with detection of tracesof water, ice and hydroxyl molecules on the lunarsurface through India’s unmanned mission to theMoon - Chandrayaan-1.

Successful launch of RISAT-2 andANUSAT by PSLV C12 on 20th April 2009and launch of Oceansat-2 satellite along withsix nano satellites for international customers byPSLV C14 on 23rd Sept 2009 were the major

missions accomplished in the last one year.ANUSAT, which was built by Anna University,Chennai is the first experimental communicationsatellite built by an Indian university under theover all guidance of ISRO. The large solid stagemotor S-200, which successfully underwent statictests at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC),Sriharikota on 24th January 2010 is the third largestsolid booster in the world. (S-200 is used inGeosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII - GSLV-Mk III). Successful flight testing ofnew generation high performance soundingrocket (ATV-D01), conducted on 3rd March 2010from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC),SHAR, has provided a test bed for demonstrationof Air- Breathing propulsion technology.

8.3 Information and Broadcasting

Policy guidelines were issued forHeadend-in-the-Sky (HITS) operators forspeeding up the process of digitalization ofcable services.

Doordarshan started DTH serviceswith a bouquet of 10 channels for theAndaman and Nicobar Islands.

It has been decided to establish aMuseum of Indian Cinema at Mumbai, at acost of around Rs. 116 crore, to showcase therich legacy and history of Indian cinema.

A new scheme has been launched tofacilitate public private partnerships forencouraging production of documentary films.

8.4 Tourism

A scheme of Visa on Arrival has beenintroduced for tourists coming from fivecountries, namely, Singapore, Finland, NewZealand, Luxembourg and Japan.

To reinforce efforts for human resourcedevelopment in the hospitality sector three newinstitutes of hotel management have beensanctioned at Jorhat, Goa and Indore. New

46

New Horizons

hospitality and tourism related courses have beenapproved in 17 institutes. 5660 young personswere given training in food & beverage servicesand food production under the 'Hunar Se RozgarTak' scheme. Skills of 5338 existing serviceproviders were tested and certified to make themmore employable in the market.

8.5 Culture

In a major intervention to furthersafeguard India’s priceless monuments andarchaeological sites, the Central government hasrecently amended the Ancient Monuments andArchaeological Sites and Remains Act, whichprohibits construction, including public projects,within the 100 metre ‘prohibited area’. It has alsobeen stipulated that Heritage Bye-laws shall beprepared for each of these protected monumentsso as to regulate building activities in the next 200metre ‘regulated area’ that lies beyond the 100metre ‘prohibited area’. A National MonumentsAuthority is being set up as the apex body tooversee the implementation of the Act.

Strict provisions have been introducedto ensure that the ever-increasing threats to

monuments of national importance are arrestedand its proper enforcement would ensure thatIndia’s valuable cultural heritage is betterpreserved and protected.

A conscious policy decision was takento professionalise cultural institutions.

In the last year, the Indira GandhiNational Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) hasorganized eight major cultural events, namely, theBraj Bhumi festival, Nature Bazar, SurabhiTheatre festival, Inter-cultural Dialogue betweenNorth East India and South East Asia,International Federation of Library AssociationConference, Vasant Bazar, Gharana festival andWomen on Record: A Musical event. It isestimated that approximately seven to eight lakhpeople witnessed these events.

Rs. 20 crore has been sanctioned for theupgradation of Sardar Patel’s memorials atAhmedabad and Karamsad.

Preparations have started tocommemorate the 150th birth anniversaries ofRabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda,both nationally and internationally.

A project to set upa memorial for ShaheedBhagat Singh, at his nativeplace at Khatkar Kalan, hasbeen sanctioned at a cost ofRs. 16.80 crore. Rs. 46.38crore have been released tothe Government of Punjabfor development ofTalwandi Sabo andAnandpur Saheb as part ofthe concluding phase of theter-centenary of Guru-ta-Gaddi of the Guru GranthSaheb.

47

Folk Dancers in New Delhi during Inter Cultural Dialogue between

North-East India and South East Asia

New Horizons

8.6 Commonwealth Games

The country is hosting the prestigiousXIXth Commonwealth Games in October, 2010.The Games present an excellent opportunity toherald India’s emergence as a significant sportingnation and showcase its organizational capacityto host such a major international event.Preparations for the event are at an advancedstage. The UPA government has approved ascheme for the Preparation of Indian Teams forthe Commonwealth Games, 2010, with a budgetof Rs. 678 crore, which is being implemented.The government has approved a budget ofapproximately Rs. 11,494 crore for the successfulconduct of the Games through various ministries.

Apart from highlighting the importantrole of sports, promoting closer ties betweenthe people of the Commonwealth countries andpromoting tourism, this mega multi-disciplinarysports event will provide the nation with state-

48

of-art, international standardsports infrastructure. It will alsoresult in the upgradation of cityinfrastructure on anunprecedented scale.

More than 25,000volunteers drawn from theNational Service Scheme (NSS),National Cadet Corps (NCC),universities and colleges in Delhiand the NCR would act as guidesto sports persons, spectators andtourists.

8.7 Involving the youth in nation building:

National Youth Corps Scheme

A National Youth Corps (NYC) hasbeen set up with a group of disciplined anddedicated youth for nation building. 20,000volunteers would be enrolled under NYC, ofwhich 8000 will be in Jammu & Kashmir and12,000 in other states.

8.8 India Post on the move - connecting and

empowering rural India

A National Rural Micro-Insurance drive hasbeen launched on 7th December 2009, withfocus on retailing of micro-insurance policieswith affordable premia. Policies ofdenomination of Rs. 10,000/- to Rs. 25,000/-,with premia starting at about Re. 1/- per day,are being sold in rural areas to cover people inthe unorganized sector and the MahatmaGandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme beneficiaries. Till March2010, more than five million micro-insurancepolices were procured.

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium - Getting Ready forthe Commonwealth Games

Managing Disasters

“In December 2004, we faced the Tsunami disaster. We did not lose our resolve and endeavoured to ensure that

life returns to normal. At every step, our government was with the people in this effort and always remains so.”


Managing Disasters

Managing Disasters

Rescue Operation for Flood Victims

Managing Disasters

9 Managing Disasters

9.1 National disaster policy and disaster-

specific guidelines

The National Policy on Disaster

Management has been approved on 22nd

October 2009. The National Disaster

Management Authority (NDMA) has issued

guidelines on management of landslides and

snow avalanches, management of chemical

terrorism and disasters, psycho-social support

and mental health services in disasters.

9.2 National Disaster Response Force

During the year 2009-10, the National

Disaster Response Force was actively engaged

in rescue and relief operations in the various

states affected by cyclone, cyclonic storm, floods,

landslides etc. The swift and highly skilled flood

rescue operations of the force saved over 21,000

human lives.

9.3 Relief for floods

During the Southwest monsoon and the

post-monsoon seasons of 2009-10, twenty States

and one Union Territory reported damage due

to cyclonic storms, heavy rains, floods, landslides,

cloudburst, etc., to varying degrees. The UPA

government extended prompt and timely logistic

support to the affected States. In 2009-10 financial

assistance amounting to Rs. 3791.86 crore was

provided to States, as the central share of the

assistance from the Calamity Relief Fund for

dealing with various natural calamities. Besides,

49

Cyclone Shelter, Tamil Nadu

Managing Disasters

50

financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 3261.52

crore was provided to different States from the

National Calamity Contingency Fund for the

management of immediate relief operations in

areas affected by calamities of a severe nature

during 2009-10.

9.4 Construction of cyclone shelters in West

Bengal, Kerala & Lakshadweep

After observing the devastation caused

by the Aila cyclone in West Bengal and on the

recommendations of State governments and

Central ministries, the Prime Minister approved

construction of a chain of 200 cyclone shelters,

in the coastal districts of North 24-Parganas,

South 24-Parganas and Purba Medinipur in West

Bengal, with assistance of Rs. 100 crore from the

Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. Besides,

Rs. 8.23 crore for a pilot project of construction

of six cyclone shelters - two in Kozhikode, one

in Kannur districts of Kerala and three in

Lakshadweep were also approved considering

the vulnerability of the entire coastline to

erosion and cyclones.

Addressing Special Development Needs

“To an extent, the lack of physical infrastructure and poor connectivity have contributed

to relative backwardness in some parts. This is now being addressed more seriously

and systematically.”


AddressingSpecial Development

Needs


Train Services in J&K


10 Addressing Special Development Needs:

The Northeast, Jammu & Kashmir and

Bundelkhand

10.1 The Northeast

10.1.1 Securing peace

A regional coordination mechanism,

covering all the Northeastern states, for

gathering, analyzing and disseminating

intelligence has been set up at Shillong and

has been operationalized with effect from 23rd

February 2010. A number of militant groups

have laid down their arms and are prepared to

discuss their demands with the government.

A Government of India Representative has

been appointed to hold talks with some of the

militant groups from Assam and Meghalaya.

10.1.2 Infrastructure development in the

Northeast Region

Roads - including the Trans-Arunachal

Highway

The UPA government has been paying

special attention to the development of national

highways in the North-East region and 10 per cent

of the total allocation is earmarked for that region.

So far, about 596 km length has been completed

during 2009-10.

Development of roads & highways in

Arunachal Pradesh involves about 2319 km of

roads. Bids have already been received for four

projects with a total length of 776 km. to be

awarded shortly. The Trans-Arunachal Highway

forms an important part of this initiative.

Railways

The capital cities of the North Eastern

states are getting progressively connected by rail.

Guwahati and Agartala are already connected.

51

New Airport at Dibrugarh


Projects for connecting the capitals of Manipur,

Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have

been taken up. The mega rail-cum-road bridge

at Bogibeel, over river Brahmputra, which has

been taken up will provide an important link

between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

Conversion of the metre gauge routes i.e.

Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam, Badarpur-Kumarghat

and Rangia-Murkongselek to broad gauge is being

done on priority.

Air connectivity- infrastructure and services

Three greenfield airports have been

approved, of which one at Pakyong in Sikkim,

is already under construction involving a cost

of Rs 264 crore.

The development of Tezu airport, at

a cost of Rs. 79.00 crore, has been approved

during 2009-10. The project is being

implemented by the Airports Authority of

India. The airport will be ready for operations

by March 2012.

The viability gap funding to M/s.

Alliance Air for providing air services in the

North Eastern Region has been approved for

the years 2010 and 2011 at a cost of Rs. 94.14

crore.

Waterways

A project of the Government of

Mizoram for inland water transport

development of Tlawng river has been

sanctioned.

Power

The implementation of the Prime

Minister’s package for lighting up all the

villages on the international border in

Arunachal Pradesh was started in 2009. A total

of 1058 villages are to be covered under this

project out of which 512 villages have already

been covered by solar photovoltaic systems.

546 villages are to be covered by a total of 153

hydel projects, of which 80 villages have

already been covered and work on the

remaining is in progress.

Under RGGVY, 16 projects have been

sanctioned for Rs. 537.69 crore for

electrification of 2129 villages, intensive

electrification of 1756 electrified villages and

40810 connections to BPL households. As on

31st March 2010, 215 villages have been

electrified, 134 electrified villages have been

intensively electrified and 967 electricity

connections have been released to BPL

households.

10.1.3 Addressing Special Needs

During the year, 97 infrastructure

projects, at an estimated cost of Rs. 834.99 crore,

were sanctioned under the Non-Lapsable Central

Pool of Resources (NLCPR). Some of the

major projects include construction of the

Arunachal secretariat building, upgradation of

facilities in 15 degree colleges, construction of

the building for College of Agriculture in Tripura,

improvement of Barpathar-Bokajan-Deithon-

Chowkihola road (31km) in Karbi Anglong

district in Assam, construction of double circuit

line from Rongkhon to Ampati in Meghalaya and

water supply schemes at 22 locations in the region.

36 projects were completed at a cost of Rs.

249.59 crore during the year.

During 2009-10, the total allocation by the

Central Ministries/Departments for the North

Eastern Region rose to Rs. 15,351 crore from Rs.

14,753 crore provided during 2008-09.

52


The North Eastern Development

Finance Corporation has sanctioned new loans

amounting to Rs. 332.41 crore. The total

amount disbursed was Rs. 207.76 crore. The

new projects will generate direct employment

for more than 1600 people.

10.1.4 Assam Gas Cracker Project

The Assam Gas Cracker Project is

expected to generate substantial downstream

investment and employment in the region.

The construction activities at project site are in

the levels of terrorist violence and the number

of casualties among members of security forces,

civilians and terrorists. Successful anti-infiltration

measures have helped in restricting the infiltration

of militants from across the line of control, even

though such infiltration has continued. The peace

process had been aided by the successful conduct

of Assembly and Parliamentary elections -

despite efforts by separatist groups to disrupt

them - and by the formation of another popularly

elected democratic government in the state.

10.2.2 Reconstruction plan and other

initiatives to address energy needs and

developing infrastructure

The Prime Minister announced the

construction of 11 hydel projects in Jammu

& Kashmir, under the Prime Minister’s

Reconstruction Programme, during his visit

to the State on 17th - 18th November 2004.

Out of these, three projects namely, Uri-I (480

MW), Salal-I & II (690 MW) and Dulhasti (390

MW) have already been completed and

commissioned. Four projects namely, Sewa-

II Hydroelectric Power (HEP) (120 MW),

Nimoo Bazgo HEP (45 MW), Chutak HEP

(44 MW) and Uri-II (240 MW) are likely to be

completed within 2010. The investment

sanction in respect of Kishanganga hydro-

electric project (330 MW) has already been

issued and the project is likely to be

commissioned in the year 2016. In respect of

the Bursar hydro-electric project (1020 MW),

the site for constructing the power house has

been finalised and the detailed project report

is under preparation. For implementation of

the Pakal Dul hydro-electric project (1000

MW), a joint venture between NHPC,

JKSPDC and PTC is being formed for which

the necessary memorandum of understanding

has been already signed. The 450 MW Baglihar

53

full swing and Rs.744 crore has been spent till

31st March 2010. The project is scheduled for

completion in April 2012.

10.1.5 Youth Mobilisation

As a part of capacity building and

national integration for the North Eastern

States, the first North East Youth Festival was

organized at Kohima. About 1300 young persons

from all over the country participated in the three

day festival.

10.2 Jammu & Kashmir

10.2.1 Securing peace

There has been a substantial decrease in

Assam Gas Cracker Project under Construction


hydro-electric project, a State government project,

has since been completed and commissioned.

Both the instalments of power reform

grants have been released to the State

government.

RGGVY schemes for the remaining

five districts namely Baramulla, Pulwama,

Rajouri, Poonch and Doda have been

sanctioned by the Rural Electrification

Corporation on 27th November 2009. With

this, RGGVY schemes for the entire state have

been sanctioned.

In the Kashmir valley, five pairs of

short distance service Diesel Multiple Units

(DMU) trains have been put in operation

between Budgam and Qazigund, Qazigund

and Baramula and Baramula and Budgam.

Out of 977 km roads, including

national highways and state roads, envisaged

to be constructed at an estimated cost of about

Rs 2628 crore, an expenditure of about Rs 1513

crore has been incurred upto 31st March 2010.

Work on the construction of two-

room dwelling units for migrant families living

in camps was speeded up. Implementation of

the rehabilitation package for the poor

migrants of Akhnoor tehsil was completed.

38 new anganwadis were set up. Work on

upgrade of the Srinagar airport was completed.

Considerable progress in the construction of

AIIMS-like institute at Jammu was made.

10.2.3 Relief and rehabilitation of migrants

and persons affected by militancy

Tenders were floated by the State

government for constructing transit

accommodation at three sites for the return

of migrant families to the Kashmir valley, as a

54

follow up to the Prime Minister’s package, for

return and rehabilitation of migrants. Further,

the State government created 3000

supernumerary posts for the recruitment of

migrant youth, framed recruitment rules and

advertised for applications. The rate of cash relief

to eligible migrants in Jammu and Delhi was

enhanced to Rs. 1250 per head per month, subject

to the ceiling of Rs. 5000 per family per month.

The pension rate in respect of parents of persons

killed due to militancy was increased to Rs. 750

per month. 1444 orphans were provided

assistance during 2009-10 for education.

10.2.4 Youth mobilization

A new scheme of National Youth

Corps has been launched to enable youth to serve

for up to two years in nation-building activities.

Under the first phase of the scheme, 8000

volunteers would be deployed in the state to

undertake activities like cleaning and maintenance

of Dal Lake, female literacy work under the

Saakshar Bharat initiative, health & sanitation

activities, crowd and disaster management and

serving as tourist volunteers for handling inflow

of pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi and Amarnath

shrines.

10.3 Bundelkhand

The UPA government has approved a

Special Bundelkhand Drought Mitigation

Package to the tune of Rs.7266 crore,

comprising of Rs.3506 crore for Uttar Pradesh

and Rs.3760 crore for Madhya Pradesh, to be

implemented over a period of three years

starting with 2009-10. Besides converging

resources from ongoing central programmes

and schemes, additional central assistance of

Rs.1596 crore for Uttar Pradesh and Rs.1854

crore for Madhya Pradesh has been approved.

Security

“We have a hard task ahead but one that can be and must be achieved with

determination and coordinated action. We will only succeed if we are united as a

nation in addressing the concerns related to our internal security.”


Security

Security

First Mahila Battalion of BSF

Security

11 Security

11.1 Internal Security Initiatives

A number of important decisions and

measures have been taken. These measures

include, inter alia, augmentation of the

strength of Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs),

amendment of the Central Industrial Security

Force Act to enable deployment of the force

in joint venture industrial undertakings,

establishment of National Security Guard

(NSG) hubs at Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad

and Mumbai, empowerment of the Director

General of NSG to requisition aircraft for the

movement of NSG personnel in the event of

any emergency, strengthening and re-

organizing of Multi-Agency Centre to enable

it to function on round-the-clock basis for real

time collation and sharing of intelligence with

other intelligence and security agencies, tighter

immigration control, effective border

management through round-the-clock

surveillance & patrolling along the borders,

establishment of observation posts, border

fencing, flood-lighting, deployment of modern

and hi-tech surveillance equipment, upgrade

of the intelligence set-up and strengthening of

the coastal security.The National Investigation

Agency has commenced work. As a part of

steps to counter terrorist threats, the National

Counter-Terrorism Centre and National

Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) are also

envisaged.

The UPA government has adopted an

integrated approach in dealing with Left Wing

Extremists (LWE) in the area of security,

development and public perception. The State

governments deal with the various issues

related to LWE issues in the states. The

Central government supplements their efforts

in several ways. These include providing

Central Paramilitary

Forces (CPMFs) and

commando battalions,

setting up of Counter

Insurgency and Anti

Terrorism (CIAT) schools;

modernisation and

upgradation of the State

police and their

intelligence apparatus

under the Scheme for

Modernisation of State

Police Forces (MPF

Scheme); re-imbursement

of security related

expenditure under the

Security Related

Expenditure (SRE)

scheme; filling up critical

infrastructure gaps under

55

Training at NSG Hyderabad Hub

Security

the scheme for Special Infrastructure in left wing

extremism affected States; assistance in training

of State police through Ministry of Defence,

central police organisations and Bureau of Police

Research and Development; sharing of

intelligence; assistance in community policing and

civic action and assistance in development work

through a range of schemes of different Central

ministries.

An amount of Rs. 668.61 crore has been

released during 2009-10, under the schemes of

Modernisation of Police Forces (Rs. 578.61

crore), Security Related Expenditure (Rs. 60.00

crore) and Special Infrastucture Scheme (Rs. 30.00

crore) to left wing extremism affected States. A

sum of Rs. 1230.00 crore has been released to all

the States for modernisation of State police

forces.

56

11.2 Managing Borders

11.2.1 Border infrastructure

During 2009-10, construction of 210 km

of fencing, 310 km of border roads and 400 km

of floodlighting was completed along the India-

Bangladesh border. Construction of 50 border

out-posts was also commenced. Formation works

along a length of 35.89 km and surfacing works

along a length of 11.2 km were completed on 11

roads along the India-China border. In the

Gujarat sector, along the India-Pakistan border,

construction of 15 km length of border roads

was completed.

11.2.2 Border fencing

Fencing along a length of 210 km was

completed along the India-Bangladesh border

during 2009-10, besides replacement of fencing

Border Fencing at India-Bangladesh Border

Security

along a length of over 400 km on this border.

Along the India-Pakistan border, fencing along

a length of 19 km was completed in the Gujarat

sector.

11.2.3 Border area development

During 2009-10, an amount of Rs. 635

crore has been released to the states under the

Border Area Development Programme, aiding

in the construction of roads, bridges,

school buildings, community

centres, cultural centres, primary &

community health centres, the

acquisition of ambulances and

medical equipment and the

development of agriculture & allied

sectors.

11.2.4 Land ports

Construction of seven

integrated check posts has been

taken up at Attari (India-Pakistan)

and Raxaul (India-Nepal border)

while work at Jogbani (India-Nepal

border), Dawki (India-Bangladesh

border), Akhaura (India-Bangladesh

border), Moreh (India-Myanmar

border) and Petrapole (India-

Bangladesh border) will be also

taken up shortly.

11.3 Defence

The UPA government is

continuing with its focus on the

modernisation of its armed forces

and ensuring defence preparedness

of the country. The raising of two

mountain divisions to safeguard the

North-Eastern borders and setting up

of the second Officers Training

Academy (OTA) at Gaya, Bihar

have been approved. The modernisation of

Rashtriya Rifles was also approved to improve

the counter insurgency grid in Jammu &

Kashmir. Another area being accorded high

priority is the development of roads and

infrastructure in the high altitude areas.

Coastal and maritime security has

assumed great importance after the terrorist

strike in Mumbai. The UPA government is

Agni-3 launched on Feb. 7, 2010

57

Security

INS Arihant - Nuclear Submarine

committed to strengthening the coastal security

and surveillance mechanism. An integrated and

synergetic approach has been adopted by

involving the Indian Navy, Coast Guard,

Intelligence, Custom, State Marine Police, and

other central and state agencies in meeting this

challenge.

A decision has been taken to induct the

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system, with

precision strike capability against land targets.

Akash surface to air missile system capable of

multi-target handling, is also being inducted.

To improve the living conditions of the

troops, 48,470 family dwelling units have been

constructed under the Married Accommodation

Project. Planning and construction of additional

79,397 houses is in progress.

58

Governance and Civil Society

“An active citizenry is the foundation of a strong democracy.”


Governance andCivil Society


Transparent Government - NGO Interface


12 Governance and Civil Society

12.1 Reforms

12.1.1 Administrative reforms

The Second Administrative ReformsCommission completed its term on 30th April

2009. It has presented 15 reports to the

government. A final decision has been takenby the government on 10 reports.

Out of the accepted 798

recommendations contained in these 10reports, action has been taken on 402

recommendations.

12.1.2 e-Governance

In 2009-10, 39,615 additional Common

Service Centres were established. Servicesbeing offered through these centres include

birth, death, caste, income & domicile

certificates, services relating to the MahatmaGandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Scheme, utility bill collection,

employment exchangeservices, postal services,

electoral roll registration,

right to informationservices, record of rights,

integration with online

portals, and managementinformation system and

awareness services for

National Rural HealthMission, disaster

management, AIDS control

and telemedicine.

Thirteen State

Wide Area Networks werecommissioned providing

secure broadband connectivity to the block level.

Computer tools and fonts were developed in the

remaining 12 Indian languages. e-District pilotproject was launched in 13 districts of Uttar

Pradesh, Assam and Tamil Nadu.

Mission mode e-Governance projects on

immigration, Unique Identity (UID), e-Office,

treasuries and commercial taxes were sanctionedin 2009-10. Mission mode projects on agriculture,

police, gram panchayats, employment exchanges,

and land records progressed from theconceptualization phase to the design and

development phase. Roll-out started in the case

of Customs & Central Excise, e-Courts and e-District (pilot) projects. The Customs and Central

Excise projects enabled the facility for online

registration and e-filing of returns and e-filingof documents.

The UPA government has taken a major

initiative to provide a unique identification to allthe resident Indian population. The Unique

Identification Authority of India has been

constituted to implement the UID scheme. This

59

Unique Identity to Every Citizen


scheme shall ensure that various development

deliverables reach the poor and needy in time,

shall enable better monitoring and help plugleakages. Necessary action is being taken to ensure

that it is possible to begin issuing UID numbers

in 2010.

The 13th National Conference on e-

Governance was organized on 18th and 19th

February 2010 at Jaipur. The theme of the

Conference was “e-Governance from Citizen’s

perspective”. National Awards for e-Governance were also presented during the

Conference.

12.1.3 Reform of the justice system

The UPA government has drawn up

a ‘Blueprint for Judicial Reforms’ for reducingpendency in courts, providing quick and

effective justice, introducing accountability of

judges and bringing transparency in the judicialprocesses for the litigants. Based on the

recommendations of a “National Consultation

for Strengthening the Judiciary”, held on 24-25 October 2009, the UPA government has

decided, in principle, to set up a National

Mission for Delivery of Justice and LegalReforms, inter-alia, to reduce case pendency

from an average of 15 years to three years by

the year 2012.

Special assistance to States to facilitate

judicial reforms

To facilitate judicial reforms in the

country and reduce the large arrears of cases

in courts, the government has accepted therecommendation of the 13th Finance

Commission for providing Rs. 5000 crore to

the states for the following measures :

(i) Setting up of morning and evening courts;

(ii) Promoting alternate dispute resolutionmechanism of mediation and conciliation by

providing physical infrastructure and training

of mediators and conciliators in every judicialdistrict of the country;

(iii) Strengthening capacity-building of judicial

officers and public prosecutors by improvingthe infrastructure of State Judicial Academies

and providing greater financial resources;

(iv) Improving access to justice for the

marginalized sections by providing greater

allocations for provision of legal aid; and

(v) Improving court management through

induction of management expertise.

Implementation of the Gram Nyayalaya Act

The UPA government has brought into

force the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 in thecountry from 2nd October 2009 to enable setting

up of over 5000 village courts at the grass-roots

level for delivery of quick and affordable justiceto the people at their doorstep.

12.1.4 Strengthening the Right to Information

Efforts have been made to strengthen

both the ‘demand’ and ‘supply’ side for

effective implementation of the Right toInformation Act. Information Commissions

have been set up both at the Centre and in the

States. Government departments are beingencouraged to put more information in the

public domain; training programmes have

been organized for CPIOs and appellateauthorities and guidebooks have been prepared

for use of both government officials and the

60


public. To strengthen the demand side, press as

well as electronic media, is being used for

increasing awareness. An independentevaluation of the functioning of the RTI

regime has been made and efforts are

underway to address the shortcomingsidentified. A consultation was held with Chief

Information Commissioners and Information

Commissioners of the Central and StateInformation Commissions on 14th October

2009 to elicit their views on strengthening the

RTI regime.

12.1.5 Performance Monitoring and

Evaluation

The Performance Monitoring and

Evaluation System (PMES) for government

departments has been approved in September2009. Under this system, at the beginning of

each financial year, with the approval of the

Minister concerned, each department wouldprepare a Results-Framework Document

(RFD) consisting of the departmental vision,

mission, objectives, success indicators, keyresult-areas, and targets for that year. At the

end of the year, all ministries/departmentswould review and prepare a report listing the

achievements of their ministry/department

against the agreed results in the prescribedformat. This report is to be finalized by the

1st of June each year. To adjust for any

unforeseen circumstances such as droughtconditions, natural calamities, epidemics, etc,

achievements of each ministry/department

against the performance goals laid down inRFD will also be reviewed after six month in

October of each year. In Phase I of

implementation 59 departments/ministriesprepared RFDs for their respective departments

covering the period from 1st January 2010 to 31st

March 2010. All these documents have also been

placed on departmental websites. In Phase-II,

the system has been extended to 62 departments/ministries for the period 1st April 2010 to 31st

March 2011.

12.1.6 Delivery Monitoring Unit

A Delivery Monitoring Unit has been

set up in the Prime Minister’s Office to reviewselected flagship programmes, initiatives and

iconic projects, with a view to ensuring

effective delivery, through steady monitoringby the Ministry concerned. Ministries have

also been advised to place information in the

public domain on their respective websites andhave begun so placing the information.

12.1.7 Crediting scholarship and social

security scheme payments through post

office and bank accounts

State governments have been asked todisburse pension under National Social

Assistance Programme and payment of

scholarships to Scheduled Caste, ScheduledTribe and Other Backward Classes students

through bank/post office accounts. Old age

pension to 70.83 lakh beneficiaries and 29.86lakh beneficiaries are being disbursed through

banks and post office accounts respectively.

12.1.8 Web-based portal for a transparent

Government-NGO interface

The ‘NGO Partnership System’ is aweb based portal to provide Voluntary

Organizations (VOs)/Non Government

Organizations (NGOs) with a host of facilities.As many as 27752 VOs/NGOs have alreadysigned up with the NGO-Partnership System.

The data base of signed up VOs/NGOs

61


(State-wise and sector-wise) and schemes availablefor NGO funding is now operational.

12.2 Centre-State Relations

12.2.1 Report of the Thirteenth Finance

Commission

The Thirteenth Finance Commission has

given its recommendations on Centre-State fiscal

relations during 2010-15.

The share of States in the net proceeds

of Union taxes has been enhanced to 32% from

the 30.5% recommended by the Twelfth Finance

Commission. The estimated total transfers to

States, comprising share in central taxes and

grants-in-aid during 2010-15 amount to

Rs.17,66,677 crore as against Rs.7,55,751.72 crore

recommended for 2005-10.

Central grants-in-aid have been raised to

Rs. 3,18,581 crore during 2010-15 as compared

to Rs. 1,42,640 crore during 2005-10.

Central loans administered by Ministries,

other than the Ministry of Finance, to States, that

are outstanding as at the end of 2009-10, will be

written-off.

These recommendations have been

accepted.

Further, interest rates on loans from

Natonal Small Savings Fund to States contracted

till the end of 2006-07 and outstanding at the

end of 2009-10 are to be reset @ 9%. The States

will be benefitted by Rs. 28,360 crore from this

relief during the period of these loans.

Government has accepted this recommendation

in principle.

62

Building Bridges

“I sincerely believe that India cannot realize its development ambition or its ambition

of being a great power, if our neighbourhood remains disturbed as it is and therefore, it is in our

interest to work with all neighbouring countries to ensure a peaceful neighbourhood. What is at

stake is the future of one and half billion people of humanity.”


Building Bridges

Building Bridges

Con

soli

dati

ng

Part

ner

ship

s

Building Bridges

13 Building Bridges

13.1 External Affairs

13.1.1 Neighbourhood and beyond -

consolidating partnerships

The UPA government, in its second

term, pursues its foreign policy objectives

which are closely integrated with the country’s

fundamental security and development

priorities. India’s foreign policy aims at a global

order in which India’s overriding goals of

rapid, sustained and inclusive socio-economic

development and poverty alleviation are

attained rapidly without any hindrance. To

this end, India’s foreign policy has combined

firm commitment to our core national values

with dynamic adaptation to changes in the

international environment. As a corollary to

these objectives, India is committed to close

and good neighbourly relations with all

countries in its immediate and extended

neighbourhood.

India continued to support Nepal’s

transition to a stable, peaceful, prosperous and

a multi-party democratic State. For better

border management and improving

connectivity with Nepal, India is investing over

Rs.1600 crore to construct roads in Nepal’s Terai

area, establish two integrated check posts and

build two cross-border railway links.

Relations with Bangladesh picked up

momentum after the return of multiparty

democratic politics in Bangladesh. Several

important agreements relating to security, counter

terrorism, power and culture were signed during

the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina in January 2010. India has provided a

Line of Credit of US$ 1 billion to Bangladesh

to support infrastructure projects, including in the

areas of railway infrastructure, supply of

locomotives, coaches, buses and dredging. India

has also agreed to provide 250 MW from the

grid to help address their energy requirement and

to facilitate transit of goods to Nepal and Bhutan.

India is continuing its broad-based

development assistance to Bhutan. India is

providing assistance to Bhutan in developing its

hydropower sector and to purchase at least

10,000 MW of power from Bhutan by 2020.

Ten hydropower projects, identified for the

purpose, are at various stages of implementation.

The end of three

decades of protracted conflict in

May 2009 provides the

opportunity for Sri Lanka to

return to normalcy. India has

continued to urge the

Government of Sri Lanka to find

a negotiated political settlement

acceptable to all sections of

society. India has been assisting

in the rehabilitation of the

internally displaced persons in

Northern Sri Lanka as well as in

Powergrid Corporation Project in Afghanistan

63

Building Bridges

reconstruction and developmental activities. India

has announced a grant of Rs.500 crore to support

this process. Our extensive assistance includes

provision of field hospitals, artificial limb fitment

camps, seven demining teams, supply of shelter

materials, agricultural starter packs etc. Projects

relating to railway infrastructure are being taken

up through the Line of Credit for US$ 413

million.

India has taken up several bilateral

projects with Myanmar to enhance cross

border connectivity, trade and investment.

These initiatives will give a big boost to the

opening up of the North-Eastern States to

Myanmar.

Government’s expectation that

Pakistan acts with purpose against the

perpetrators of the Mumbai attack was

conveyed on several occasions, including at the

highest level. India reiterated the need for

Pakistan to fulfill the assurances given by its

leaders not to allow the use of territory under

Pakistan’s control for terrorism directed

against India. The Foreign Ministers and

Foreign Secretaries have been charged with the

responsibility of working out the modalities

of restoring trust and confidence in India-

Pakistan relations and thus paving the way for

a substantive dialogue on all issues of mutual

concern.

India’s development partnership with

Afghanistan, which spans the entire gamut of

socio-economic developmental activities, is

spread all across the country and has earned

tremendous goodwill of the Afghan people,

cutting across ethnic and regional lines.

Despite attacks by extremist forces, India’s

commitment to assisting the people and

Government of Afghanistan as they build a

democratic, pluralistic and peaceful country

remains undiluted.

India and China have established a

Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for

Peace and Prosperity and outlined “a Shared

Vision for the 21st Century.” The two

countries continued their high level

engagement. In addition to strengthening of

bilateral relations, the recent period witnessed

emerging congruence on global issues such as

climate change, WTO and the new global

financial order. In 2010, the two countries are

celebrating the 60th anniversary of the

establishment of diplomatic relations and a

series of activities are being organised to mark

the occasion.

India and Japan have forged a Strategic

and Global Partnership. India has received

substantial investment and development

assistance from Japan, including for flagship

projects such as the Dedicated Freight

Corridor and Delhi-Mumbai Industrial

Corridor and is negotiating a high-quality and

mutually beneficial Comprehensive Economic

Cooperation Agreement with Japan. The two

sides have also issued a Joint Declaration on

Security Cooperation and an Action Plan to

advance their security cooperation.

In pursuance of our ‘Look East’

policy, India continued to improve and

consolidate its political, economic and cultural

interaction with countries in the South East

Asia and the Pacific, both in the bilateral and

the multilateral context.

The strategic partnership with Russia

was further strengthened with the conclusion

of several agreements to intensify cooperation

in the defence, space, energy and science

sectors. A forward-looking framework agreement

64

Building Bridges

on nuclear energy cooperation, envisaging joint

collaboration in S&T, setting up of nuclear power

plants and indigenization of reactor component

manufacturing in India, was concluded.

The India-US global strategic

partnership was marked by continuity and was

further strengthened. In July 2009, the two

governments announced their new Strategic

Dialogue comprising the five pillars of (a)

strategic cooperation; (b) energy and climate

change; (c) economics, trade and agriculture;

(d) education and development; and (e) S&T,

health and innovation. At the Summit Meeting

in November 2009, the two sides decided to

launch a new phase in their transformed global

strategic partnership. Progress was made

towards implementation of the India-US Civil

Nuclear Agreement. Several cooperation

agreements in diverse areas such as energy,

climate change, agriculture, education,

women’s empowerment, etc. have deepened

the relationship.

India-EU strategic partnership received

fresh impetus with the successful conclusion of

the 10th India-EU Summit in Delhi in November

2009. With a population of around 500 million

and a GDP in excess of US $ 18 trillion on PPP

basis, EU is an important source of advanced

technologies and investment. This is reflected in

India’s steadily increasing and diversified

engagement with the EU covering trade and

investment, S&T, education, energy, security, etc.

There is also very good cooperation at the

bilateral level with individual Member States of

the EU.

Our relations with all countries in the

West Asia and North Africa region were

strengthened further in several areas including

through movement of professionals, energy, trade

and investment.

A grant of US$10 million to the

Palestinian National Authority has been made.

India enhanced its annual contribution to the

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for

Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

from US$ 20,000 to US$ 1 million.

The traditional India-Africa partnership

has been revitalised through the India Africa

Forum Summit 2008. The Pan African E-network

65

Project providing the tele-

network and tele-medicine

facilities has now been acceded to

by 47 out of the 53 African

countries. A Joint Action Plan

was further finalised in March

2010 under which 19 training

institutions will be established in

Africa by India. Several training

and capacity building

programmes will be introduced.

India strengthened its

multi-faceted relationship with the

Latin America and Caribbean

region with which our stakes areGas Turbine Project by BHEL in Dubai

Building Bridges

growing in terms of trade, investment and pursuit

of energy security and food security. India took

concerted steps to strengthen relations with

leading Latin American countries such as Brazil,

Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile as well

as deepen historical and cultural ties with the

Caribbean region that has substantial presence

of Indian diaspora.

13.1.2 Strengthening regional cooperation

India’s commitment to its immediate

neighbourhood has revitalised SAARC with the

implementation of a number of regional and

sub-regional projects focused primarily on

development. New initiatives have included the

setting up of the SAARC Development Fund,

establishment of the SAARC Food Bank,

implementation of regional projects in

telemedicine, tele-education and agriculture and

conclusion of the SAARC Convention on Mutual

Assistance in Criminal Matters. These were taken

forward at the 16th SAARC Summit in Bhutan in

April 2010, at which India announced that the

first academic session of the South Asian

University in New Delhi will begin in August 2010.

As a result, SAARC has metamorphosed into a

service provider for the economic needs of the

people of the South Asian region.

The Look East Policy, which has been

evolving since early 1990s was actively pursued,

with India significantly expanding mutually

beneficial interaction with ASEAN, and other

regional and sub-regional groupings such as the

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral

Technical and Economic Cooperation (

BIMSTEC) and Mekong-Ganga Cooperation

(MGC). The signing of the India-ASEAN FTA

in Goods which has been operationalised from

1st January 2010 was a significant development.

India actively pursued cooperative

activities in the Indian Ocean Rim Association

for Regional Cooperation and took over as

Vice Chair of the Association. Engagement

with other key regional groupings such as East

Asia Summit, Asia Cooperation Dialogue,

Asia-Europe Meeting, India, Brazil and South

Africa Forum [IBSA], Brazil, Russia, India and

China Forum [BRIC] and others were

consolidated during the period. During the

Commonwealth Heads of Government

Meeting in Port of Spain (November 2009),

Prime Minister announced enhanced support

for the Commonwealth activities as well as

several new initiatives

13.1.3 Constructive engagement on global

issues

India’s global engagement was guided

by objectives of sustaining capital inflows to

supplement domestic investment, leveraging

access to high-end technologies around the

world for development and ensuring that the

country’s growth was not constrained by

scarcity of natural resources. India continued

its constructive multilateral engagement on

issues such as global economic and financial

crisis, food and energy security, and climate

change. India participated in a proactive and

constructive manner in the G-20 meetings in

Washington, London and Pittsburgh to arrest

recession, expedite recovery and revival of

global economy and to work towards reform

of the global financial institutions.

Continuing to work for strengthening the

United Nations, India actively participated in a

number of major international fora like the

Human Rights Council, Commission on the

Status of Women, Global Forum for Migration

and Development, United Nations Commission

66

Building Bridges

on International Trade Law and Inter-

Parliamentary Union.

India continued to press for reform of

the United Nations, in particular, through

expansion of its Security Council to make it

more democratic and representative.

India continued its contribution to the

maintenance of international peace and

security by contributing troops, police

personnel and resources to the UN

Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKOs). India is

among the top three troop contributors to the

UNPKOs.

India continued to play a lead role in

the Non-Aligned Movement to maintain the

movement’s relevance and strengthen its voice

on international issues.

India has remained actively engaged in

the multilateral negotiations on climate change

to build a rule-based, transparent and equitable

climate change regime that safeguards the

interests of the developing countries and

supports their endeavour for poverty

alleviation and sustainable economic

development.

Government continued to reiterate

India’s longstanding commitment to the global

and verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons

and welcomed the renewed global interest in

moving towards a world free of nuclear

weapons. Government worked to consolidate

the benefits flowing from the September 2008

decision of the Nuclear Suppliers Group on civil

nuclear cooperation with India. A number of civil

nuclear cooperation agreements, including for

supply of fuel, were finalised.

India called for greater international

cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts and for

universal implementation of international

conventions against terrorism. It urged the

early adoption of the Comprehensive

Convention on International Terrorism.

13.2 Overseas Indians

13.2.1 Extending institutional support for

harnessing knowledge, skills and resources

of overseas Indians

Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council of

Overseas Indians:

Prime Minister’s Global Advisory

Council of Overseas Indians has been set up

to draw upon the experience and knowledge

of eminent people of Indian origin in diverse

fields from across the world. The first meeting

of the Council was held on 7th January 2010

at New Delhi.

The Global Indian Network of Knowledge

(Global-INK):

The Global Indian Network of

Knowledge (Global INK) is an electronic

platform that will connect people of Indian

Origin from a variety of disciplines, recognized

as leaders in their respective fields, not just in

their country of residence but globally as well,

with knowledge users at the national and sub-

national levels in India. The network will serve

as a strategic ‘virtual think tank’. The Global

INK is operational since 1st January 2010. The

Global INK can be reached at

www.globalink.in.

13.2.2 Facilitating sustained interaction of

overseas Indians with India

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)

The eighth edition of the Pravasi

Bharatiya Divas convention was held in New

Delhi on 7 th to 9th January 2010. The

67

Building Bridges

Convention was attended by over 1500 delegates

from different countries. On this occasion,

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards were

conferred on 14 overseas Indians.

The third mini-PBD called “PBD-

Europe” was held at the World Forum in The

Hague on 19th September 2009.

13.2.3 Transforming management of

emigration

In June 2009, the Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) between India and

Bahrain was signed for the welfare and the

protection of Indian workers.

68

Participants at the 8th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, 2010

The Social Security Agreements were

concluded with Switzerland, Luxembourg,

Netherlands, Hungary and Denmark in 2009. In

addition, the Labour Mobility Partnership

Agreement, the first of its kind with a member

State of Europe, was signed with Denmark.

The government approved the proposal

for setting up the Indian Community Welfare

Fund (ICWF) in the Indian Missions in 17

countries where emigration check is required and

the Maldives, in August 2009.The ICWF will

enable extending on site welfare and emergency

relief to Overseas Indians in distress.

Documents

Report to the People - UPA Government 2009 - 2010 (English)