Important Antipoverty Employment Generation Programs

1.Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGRY)
Started on April 1, 1999. It has replaced the following programs:Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) : Started in 1978 - 79). Training Rural Youth for Self -Employment (TRYSEM): Started in 1978-79. Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA): Started in 1978 -79. Ganga Kalyan Yojana (GKY): Started in 1997. Million Wells Scheme (MWS): Started in 1989. Supply of Improved Tool-kits to Rural Artisans (SITRA). The yojana takes into account all the strengths and weaknesses of the earlier self-employment programs. Every assisted family will be brought above the poverty line. It is proposed to cover 30% of the rural poor in each block. To Target at atleast 50% Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 40% women and 3% disabled.

2.Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)
It was introduced in 2000-01 with the objective of focusing on village level development in five critical areas I.e., primary health, primary education, housing, rural roads and drinking water and nutrition with the overall objective of improving the quality of life of people in rural areas. Rural electrification was added as an additional component from 2001-02. It has the following components: Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (Gramin Awas). Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (Rural Drinking Water Project).

3.Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
It was started on Sept. 25,2001, with the mergence of the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) and the Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojana (JGSY). Earlier Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, which started in 1989, was merged with Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojana. The objective of the program is to provide additional wage employment in rural areas and also to provide food security.

4.Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
The SJSRY came into operation in Dec, 1997, through a restructuring and streamlining of the earlier urban poverty alleviation programs, the Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY), the Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) and the Prime Minister's Integrated Urban Poverty alleviation Program (PMIUPEP). It seeks to provide employment to the urban employed or underemployed living below poverty line and educated up to IX standard through encouraging the setting up of self-employment ventures or provision of wage employment.

5.Antyodaya Anna Yojana
Launched on Dec. 25,2000. The scheme aims at providing food security to poor families. The scheme contemplates identification of 10 million 'poorest of the poor' families and providing the \m with 25kg of food grains per family per month at a low price of Rs.2 per Kg for wheat and Rs.3 per Kg for rice.

6.Annapurna Yojana
Inaugurated on March 19, 1999. Initially the scheme provided 10 kg food grains to senior citizens who were eligible fore old age pension but could not get it due to one reason or the other. Later on, it was extended to cover those people who get old age pensions. Food grains are provided to the beneficiaries at subsidized rates of Rs.2 per kg of wheat and Rs.3 per kg of rice.

Calculating GDP..

The basic formula for calculating the GDP is:Y = C + I + E + G

where
Y = GDP
C = Consumer Spending
I = Investment made by industry
E = Excess of Exports over Imports
G = Government Spending

This formula is almost self-evident (if you take time to think about it)!

GDP is a measure of all the goods and services produced domestically. Therefore, to calculate the GDP, one only needs to add together the various components of the economy that are a measure of all the goods and services produced.

Many of the goods and services produced are purchased by consumers. So, what consumers spend on them (C) is a measure of that component. The next component is the somewhat mysterious quantity "I," or investment made by industry. However, this quantity is mysterious only because investment does not have its ordinary meaning. When calculating the GDP, investment does NOT mean what we normally think of in the case of individuals. It does not mean buying stocks and bonds or putting money in a savings account (S in the diagram). When calculating the GDP, investment means the purchases made by industry in new productive facilities, or, the process of "buying new capital and putting it to use" (Gambs, John, Economics and Man, 1968, p. 168). This includes, for example, buying a new truck, building a new factory, or purchasing new software. This is indicated in the diagram by an arrow pointing from one factory (enterprise) to another. In essence, it shows the factory "reproducing itself" by buying new goods and services that will produce still more new goods and services. NOTE: There is a money-flow relationship between personal savings, S, and investment, I, but this does not figure directly in calculating the GDP.

The next component is E, or the difference between the value of all exports and the value of all imports. If Exports exceeds imports, it adds to the GDP. If not, it subtracts from the GDP. Thus, even if a nation's people work very hard to produce products for exports, but still import more than they export, the nation's GDP will be negatively impacted. This is one of the reasons trade deficits are frequently a political target. Because the balance of trade can be either positive or negative, we can rewrite the equation, showing the components of E, using X for Exports and M for Imports:Y = C + I + (X - M)+ G

You may see the formula for the GDP written this way, and it may be easier for you to remember in this format.

The final component is G. The government buys (with your tax money) goods and services (G). These purchases are a measure of those goods and services produced. Be aware that many people make the mistake of thinking that the money paid in taxes and spent by the government is "lost" and therefore subtracts from the GDP. Tax money may indeed be spent inefficiently but this fact has no bearing on the calculation of the GDP.

four pillars of democracy..

parliament,judiciary,executive and press have all got tainted over the years.democracy has survived and it is no small achievment.even then we must listen to the warning bells,which is a signal that nuts and bolts of our system are cracking.

Parliament

People with criminal record are proudly set up as candidates to parliament.In contrast,arguments are now presented why mere conviction is not enough to reject a criminal at the hustings.political parties want a signed and sealed final conviction before rejecting the criminal.how fair is this???

In the US,cabinet posts are denied to those who have defaulted on taxes,governors are impeached over misconduct and industrialists convicted of misleads within a few months.the presence of anti-social elements in parliaments is no longer an aberration,it is an accepted fact!! (to be continued....)

NREGA-promise unfulfilled.

Not Again – Another high Profile Welfare Scheme fails.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was dubbed as mother

of all centrally sponsored schemes. The scheme had support of all the allies of the new coalition partners when the new government took over power in May 2004.

NREGA promised to remove poverty in rural areas by ensuring atleast 100 days of employment to rural poor with fixed wages. The idea was to provide livelihood option to the exploited unemployed millions living in rural area and create assets and infrastructure for sustainable growth and development.

Initially 200 out of 600 districts were short listed for implementation of this scheme. Backwardness was the sole criteria and hence country’s most backward districts found place in the first list. Later, looking at the funds allocation the politicians of all hues and colours started lobbying to get their favourite bastions included in the list. When Rahul Gandhi, a heir of Gandhi dynasty, raised the issue in the parliament, the govt. decided to extend this scheme and cover all the districts in the country.

Till now every thing seemed perfect. The opposition party was skeptical, that with this scheme the ruling coalition will gain a great mileage in the electoral battles as people would have benefited through the scheme and developed sympathy towards the leaders who designed this sort of welfare scheme of wage employment. But history repeats itself fast, especially when big bucks are involved. A former Prime Minister had said that only about 15 percent funds reach the ultimate beneficiary. The balance is siphoned out or utilized for other activities in its long journey from Delhi to the village poor in a distant district.

Controller and Auditor general of India had earlier come out with the evaluation report of NREGS which points to even worse scenario like:

• More than 90 percent funds seem to have been diverted or misused.

• Funds have been allocated to NGOs and contractors against the norms.

• Fraudulent or no proper muster rolls prepared

It is high time that the government abandons the idea of fooling people with grand schemes of social welfare, poverty alleviation etc. Instead the people will be better of if government only concentrates on creating durable infrastructure like road, electricity, drinking water supplies. Poor people will rid themselves of poverty even by simple measures like self help groups and micro finance.

Poverty in India : Agenda for Next Government

India is home to approximately 1/3rd of the world's poorest people. In a national economic survey last year, it was authoritatively reported that around 830 million people of our 1 billion population, live on Rs 20 or less per day. This is a national shame; and a far greater tragedy than all the terror attacks on our country. When we say India is moving towards becoming a super power in the next decade, and that our Technology revolution is creating a new middle class and new market, we seem to be talking about a small fraction of India.The facts are India is far from becoming a superpower, and can barely lay claim to even being described as a nation breaking the barrier of "developing nation" into that of a "developed nation. India as a nation is still vastly underdeveloped. After 60 years of independence, if we still have more than 80% of our population in poverty, it is a loud statement about the priorities of successive governments over the last 5 decades. The Congress party which had been in power for almost all this time, save 5-6 years of BJP led Governments has to take the responsibility squarely for this.Even opposition parties , in recent times, have been carried away by issues like national security/terrorism etc, which , while extremely important, are nowhere near impacting the lives of 90% of people in India. Why should a poor rural family struggling to provide 2 meals for their children , worry about luxury hotels in a metropolitan city being attacked by terrorists ? As far as these poor families are concerned, it would make little or no difference to them whether Jihadis were marching down Parliament road in New Delhi or if the British were ruling India still. This is a stark reality that has escaped the entire political class, who seem to place more emphasis on what the English news channels are reporting everyday on their idea of India which is so far removed from reality that the political leadership too runs the risk of being caught up in this fantasy land.

There are TWO Indias today. An urban, English speaking Tv and computer savvy India who seem to be so caught up in their own imagined representative power, and a rural, poor and struggling India to whom neither the Internet nor International affairs makes any difference to their lives and no one ever gives this India a voice. We talk about the stock market casino economy all the time, we work ourselves up into mass hysteria about financial slowdown, economic crisis, terror attacks in cities, cricket mania, spicy news about movie stars etc, NONE of which is an issue for nearly 90% of our population. This makes our country a bunch of hypocrites, a small 10% of the population living in a make believe world that it is THEY who matter and reflect India. This includes business leaders, upper middle class, lower middle class, media and all other Indians who actually see Mahatma Gandhi's face on a Rs 100 currency note...90% of India DO NOT see a 100 rupee note every day, and to this huge part of India, inflation fluctuating between 10% and 12 % , Sensex falling by a 100 points, world oil prices falling by $10 per barrel, and terrorists opening an office on Marine drive; ALL these things are completely irrelevant.

I hope and pray Shri Advaniji takes note of this; and make poverty alleviation the single most important item of his administration , should he become the next Prime Minister. It is not only necessary but even makes better political sense to make poverty alleviation as the top most election plank for the NDA . Advaniji should announce a specific blue print for this issue and also creation of a ministry specially meant for poverty alleviation, directly under the charge of the Prime minister. Every other ministry like Agriculture, infrastructure, health, education etc should orient their programs completely in relation to the stated goals of this ministry. This ministry should take up national projects like road construction, power, etc in coordination with state govts; and ensure that each family earns a minimum of Rs 200 per day within 3 years of the next Govt taking over. India's poverty and 85% of this country being given a better standard of living, is something that is a non negotiable factor. This and this alone would form the core part of Surajya or good governance that Advaniji speaks about often.

(extracted from www.lkadvani.in)

why b.j.p should oppose the nuclear deal.

ABC OF NUCLEAR DEAL (123 AGREEMENT)Section 123 of US Atomic Energy Act (1954) allows US to enter into civilian nuclear deals with other countries and all such agreements are called 123 Agreements.India is not a recognized Nuclear weapon state and hence conditions prescribed for non-nuclear states will apply to India.After Pokhran I, US passed the nuclear non-Proliferation Act in 1978 which makes it mandatory to enter into such agreements with countries which have carried out nuclear tests only after US Congress has given authority to waive some of the provisions. This is the US India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act 2006, named after the member who introduced this bill, Mr Henry Hyde.Thereafter India had to conclude a safeguard agreement with IAEA wherein all facilities are subjected to inspections as and when needed. These safeguards are applicable in perpetuity (section 104b 2 of Hyde Act).Then US and India approached and reached an agreement with 45 Nations which form a Nuclear Supplier Group. Then, the 123 went back to US congress for final approval.

1.This will end India’s isolation imposed since Pokhran I1954-India develops 3 stage nuclear programme. StageI- Set up Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors using Uranium to produce power.The fuel which was used is called spent fuel and elements in it like plutonium can be re-used after reprocessing.Stage II- Set up Fast Breeded reactors using plutonium recovered from stage I. The special feature was that it actually gives us more fuel than it uses even after producing electricity, so it overcomes the uranium shortage in our country.Stage III- Use our vast Thorium resources and produce electricity using plutonium and thorium.Stage I is completed. For second stage, a Fast Breed Test reactor is operational since 20 years, a prototype fast breed reactor of 500MW is under construction and should be over by 2011.By 2025 we will be in a position to move over to thorium reactors. This will make us self reliant, both in fuel and technology. India has achieved this despite the isolation



2. The agreement will enable India to produce more power.It is a wrong statement that India is short on Uranium. We have large reserves in Jharkhand, Meghalaya, A.P,Rajesthan and Laddakh.AS per Govt, only the mines of A.P can give us 1200MW for 50 years, so imagine what is there from the other places! A Uranium mine can be developed in 3 years and the reactor in 5 years.Did you know?Uranium shortage in India is due to Manmohan singh who as Finance minister cut the budget for uranium mining.P. Chidambaram reduced allocation for nuclear power schemes from 2333 crores to Rs 889 crores in 2008-09.We can produce 100,000 MW of hydro power in NE India alone.Nuclear energy is more expensive than coal, gas or Hydro. Coal based plants cost 4.5 crores,Gas turbines, 3 crores, indegineously built nuclear reactors 7-8 crore and imported reactor 10 crores ! For 20000MW by 2020, Rs two Lakh Crores would be needed in next 10 years!!! By the way, Uranium prices have shot up by 300% in last two years!What about future escalations?If the costs of reprocessing are considered, then nuclear power becomes 27% more costly than coal based system of which we have reserve of 90 million tonnes! Is this way to welcome foreign companies make money?Australia which has the largest reserves of uranium does not have a single plant and US has not constructed any after 1979!!! So even this myth of the government is shattered!



3. It will dramatically improve our relations with the USA.A one sided agreement will improve relations? At what cost? BJP started this process after the relations deteriorated after Pokhran II, and also started process of strategic partnership but on the basis of equality and not subservience as this govt is doing.A country becomes great on its strength and achievements and not on basis of help from others.

3 more claims by UPA government and the contradictions:Life time supplies guarantee.Right to re-process spent fuel.Right to get superior and sensitive technology.ALL 3 CLAIMS ARE FALSE!There is no guarantee of assured supplies. The US Congress has rejected this.Right to reprocess has been postponed to future date subject that India sets a separate facility for such reprocessing and only if arrangements are worked out between the two countries. This too will have to be passed by the US congress.The issue of transfer of superior and sensitive technology too has been put off to a future date and is subject to an amendment of present agreement.So we are talking of amendments and on none of the three issues has the US made any commitments, except push it to a distant future.



BJP’S BOTTOM LINE:

1. US must give us rights at par with other nuclear states.

2. India will fulfil those obligations as adopted by other states.

3. Indian actions will be reciprocal at any stage.

4. India will accept international inspections only after all restrictions are lifted.

5. The agreement must provide for uninterrupted and unconditional supply of nuclear fuel

6. IAEA inspections valid till the deal holds good only. Not forever.

7. Complete freedom regarding foreign policy options

8. Right of India to terminate the deal on national security grounds..