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History is being made in Uttarakhand Assembly elections this time with incumbent Chief Minister, Congress’ Harish Rawat, entering the fray from two constituencies – Haridwar Rural and Kiccha in Udham Singh Nagar district – both in the Terai region. However, what has surprised many is Mr. Rawat’s decision to stay away from any of the seats in the hills. Incidentally, after becoming Chief Minister, Mr. Rawat chose Dharchula in Pithoragarh district, situated on Indo-China border, for the by-election.

Congressmen argue that Mr. Rawat decided to contest from the two seats in order to boost his party’s protests in two districts – Udham Singh Nagar where BJP has a strong support base, and Haridwar where there is a triangular fight between Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. But people say Mr. Rawat not to contest from a seat in the Hills, either from Kumaon or Garhwal region, is not going down well in the state where majority population hails from the hilly areas.

Elections in Uttarakhand are interestingly poised as it is going to be a contest between Harish Rawat versus rest of the “important” leaders of the state with all now in the BJP ranks – from three Chief Ministers and now BJP MPs – B.C. Khanduri, Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank, B.S. Koshyari to former Congress Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. Even the patriarch of Uttarakhand politics, former UP and Uttarakhand Chief Minister N.D. Tiwari, is now a BJP “sympathizer”. BJP also has support of former Cabinet Ministers in the Harish Rawat government – Yashpal Arya, Harak Singh Rawat and Amrita Rawat.

In such a scenario, Harish Rawat seems to be facing a tough challenge as almost all the stalwarts of Uttarakhand politics representing three prominent regions of the state – Garhwal, Kumaon and Terai region – have ganged up against him. What is likely to make going tough for Harish Rawat is the fact that he is still considered a “Kumaoni” Chief Minister and not a “leader” of all Uttarakhandis. Moreover, all the nine Congress MLAs who revolted against him early last year hail from Garhwal region. So there is a strong undercurrent among people of Garhwal who feel that Mr. Rawat neglected his own MLAs and also the Garhwal region. All these factors are going trouble the incumbent Chief Minister.

Another important aspect of this election is Mr. Rawat’s heavy dependence on the Haridwar region to help improve Congress’ electoral fortunes. Mr. Rawat had represented Almora Lok Sabha seat prior to emergence of the Ram temple movement in the early nineties that catapulted BJP’s fortune in the hill state. After losing successive elections post 1991, Mr. Rawat shifted to Haridwar, where Muslims electorate are in good numbers, and won in 2009. But he failed to retain the seat for his wife Renuka Rawat in 2014 elections who contested on a Congress ticket.

Since taking over the responsibility of Chief Minister, Mr. Rawat has been nursing Haridwar region well. It is from this region that his wife, son and daughter were aspirants for MLA tickets. But under ‘one family, one ticket’ formula, he failed to secure tickets for his family members. Though it is another fact that Hardwar Rural constituency, which is one of the seats from where he is in the fray, was being nursed by his daughter Anupama. It is widely believed in the Congress that if Mr. Rawat wins both the seats, he will vacate Hardwar Rural seat for his daughter.

Haridwar region comprise over a dozen seats, and Congress’ good performance in this area could change fortunes of the party, though it will not be easy as BSP has been a good performer in the region and has been successful in bagging between three and eight seats since Uttarakhand came into being. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP swept entire Uttarakhand except for the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat where the Congress was able to secure five out of 14 assembly segments. However, in a triangular contest in Assembly polls, no political pundit will hazard a guess on who is going to come out victorious.

Talking about Mr. Rawat’s “adventurism” to contest from two seats and also being the sole leader of the Congress to lead the entire election campaign in the state, political pundits remember Congress veteran N.D. Tiwari whose one fatal mistake in 1991 to contest from two seats – Nainital Lok Sabha and Haldwani Assembly constituency – in undivided Uttar Pradesh resulted in him losing out in the race for the Prime Minister’s post.

In 1991 elections, polls were held simultaneously for Lok Sabha and UP Vidhan Sabha. Mr. Tiwari representing Congress contested from Nainital Lok Sabha and Haldwani Assembly seat. In the era of Ram Mandir movement, people of Nainital district voted for the BJP in Lok Sabha while Haldwani voters sent Mr. Tiwari to Lucknow. The Congress went on to form the government in Delhi, while the BJP got the mandate in UP. Had Mr. Tiwari won Lok Sabha in 1991, he could have been Congress’ choice for the Prime Ministership ahead of P.V. Narasimha Rao. People fear that a similar confusion could arise in the minds of Kichha and Haridwar Rural voters, both held by the BJP, from where Mr. Rawat is in the fray. 

(Sandeep Joshi is Founder-Editor of Uttarakhand Panorama, a news portal dedicated to Uttarakhand.)”

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 Raking up the issue of exodus of Hindus from western Uttar Pradesh, Firebrand BJP leader and Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath on Monday said if such situation continued this region would soon become “Kashmir”. “As Kashmiri Pandits were terrorized and forced to flee the Kashmir Valley and their properties were forcefully occupied, I foresee a similar scenario as Hindus are being forced to leave their properties behind and migrate,” Yogi Adityanath said while addressing election rally in Dhaulana/Pilkhuwa seat in Hapur district where four time BJP MP, Dr. Ramesh Chandra Tomar, is in the fray.

Yogi Adityanath said situation is very grim in entire western Uttar Pradesh, particularly in districts like Muzzafarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut and Ghaziabad. “BJP is committed to not let this happen anymore…We have lost Kashmir Valley, but we cannot let western Uttar Pradesh to become second Kashmir,” he said and urged Hindu voters to unite and support the BJP with their full might. He alleged that a ‘fatwa’ has been issued by Muslim clerics to support Muslim candidates, and said that this was a direct challenge to all Hindu voters who should unite and fight for their survival.

Targeting Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, the BJP MP said Uttar Pradesh has lost its sheen and recognition in the last five years of rule of both the parties. Uttar Pradesh was lagging far behind in all spheres of development – economic, industrial, agriculture, education, health, infrastructure. He said while other parties have announced their manifestos, BJP has released ‘pledge document’ which is party’s commitment to take Uttar Pradesh to new heights and again bring it to national mainstream.  

“By sending Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Parliament from Varanasi, people of Uttar Pradesh has managed to redeem the political image of the state. Now by bringing BJP to power, people of Uttar Pradesh would end misrule and tyranny of Akhilesh Yadav, who has been rejected by his father and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Voters will also reject Mayawati , a political opportunist, who is trying to make alliance of Dalits and Muslims, which was rejected by Bhim Rao Ambedkar at the time of Independence,” he added.  

Addressing the rally, BJP Dhaulana candidate Dr Ramesh Chandra Tomar said total anarchy prevailed under Akhilesh Yadav government where people lived in fear and women were looted and tortured. “BJP workers were tortured by police and false cases were slapped on them,” he said and accused sitting SP MLA for running his fiefdom in the constituency. Dr. Tomar urged Hindus voters to unite behind him as Muslims were doing on behest of their Maulanas (Muslim priests). “Do not Dhaulana convert into a Maulana constituency,” he said and urged all Hindu voters to unite and vote for the BJP.

Dr. Tomar, whose position got a boost with BJP’s former contestant, Y.P. Singh, joined the poll campaign, recalled incidents of Masuri and Pilkhuwa where Hindus were allegedly terrorized and police under instructions of local SP MLA did not take action against guilty. He said if voted to power he would reopen all cases of atrocities against the Hindus and put all the accused behind bars. He also promised to fulfill promises made to his electorate, particularly to the farming community which forms a major chunk of voters in Dhaulana constituency.”

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Banking at the doorstep will no longer remain a mere slogan but will become a reality due to huge postal network in the country, Union Finance MinisterArun Jaitley said in New Delhi on Monday while launching the operations of the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). 

Mr. Jaitley along with Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched two pilot branches at Raipur and Ranchi through video conferencing. The Finance Minister said that  about 650 IPPB branches will be opened by September this year and that will have a multiplier impact as far as banking in India is concerned. 

He said that financial inclusion is critical for the socio-economic development of the country, but there are significant gaps in this area and a large proportion of country’s population remain unbanked or underbanked. IPPB will effectively leverage the ubiquitous post office network with its pan-India physical presence, long experience in cash handling and savings mobilization, backed by the ongoing project of IT-enablement, to bridge this gap in Financial Inclusion.

In his address, Mr. Sinha commended the hard work done by the Department of Posts in setting up the India Post Payments Bank and hoped that both organizations will work in tandem to take the benefits of government schemes and financial services that are not easily available in rural areas to customers across the country and to the marginalized population in urban and rural areas alike. He said, the objective of IPPB will be public service rather than promoting commercial interests.

B V Sudhakar, Secretary, Department of Posts, said that the IPPB is widely expected to be a game changer for financial inclusion in the country as the USP of this initiative is doorstep banking, particularly in the rural areas.

As mandated by the RBI, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) would focus on providing basic financial services such as all kinds of payments; including social security payments, utility bill payments, person to person remittances (both domestic and cross-border), current and savings accounts up to a balance of Rs 1 lac, distribution of insurance, mutual funds, pension products and acting as business correspondent to other banks for credit products especially in rural areas and among the underserved segments of the society.

Set up us a 100% Government of India owned Public Limited Company under the Department of Posts, it will open around 650 branches in district HQ locations. All 1.55 lakh post offices, including the 1.39 lakh of the rural post offices, will be mapped to the IPPB branch at the district headquarter and function as access points for IPPB which will usher in state of the art internet and mobile banking platforms, digital wallets and use innovative and emerging technologies to catalyse the shift from a cash dominant to a less cash economy.

While many other banks and financial institutions are working on the same theme, the USP of IPPB will be its ability to ease access and handhold the adoption of new age banking and payments instruments among citizen of all walks of life through the delivery by postmen and Grameen Dak sevaks, savings agents and other franchisees who will take banking to door steps. IPPB thus aspires to the most accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man with the motto – Ã¢Â€ÂœNo customer is too small, no transaction too insignificant, and no deposit too little”.

Given ‘in principle’ approval by the RBI along with 10 other aspirants in August 2015, IPPB received the Cbinet’s approval in June, 2016 and was incorporated as on Sept 17, 2106. Today it became the second payments bank to launch its operations. Having got its final banking license from the RBI on the Jan 20, 2017 it has commenced operations in record time of 10 days in partnership with the Punjab National Bank, after obtaining all necessary approvals and registrations from the RBI, NPCI.”

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CRISIL Foundation’s analysis of India Inc’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity last fiscal shows overall spending increased a significant 22%, with bulk of the money going into education, skills development, healthcare and sanitation initiatives. The average spending was up 29 basis points to 1.64% in 2016 as against the mandated 2%.

The Companies Act, 2013, encourages corporates to spend at least 2% of their average net profit of the past three years on CSR activities. In fiscal 2016, the second year of the CSR mandate, 1,505 companies, or 30% of the 4,887 listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, met the criteria for mandatory spending. Of these, 77%, or 1,158 companies, reported on their CSR activity, compared with 1,024 companies or 75% of the 1,300 eligible in fiscal 2015. These 1,158 companies also spent a lot more money compared with fiscal 2015, which led to a 29 basis points improvement in average spending to 1.64% compared with 1.35% in fiscal 2015, moving closer to the 2% mandate, the analysis has suggested.

According to Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and CEO, CRISIL: “A standout feature of the last fiscal was about focus shifting to CSR outcomes. This is indeed the way to go, as underlined by the ‘Effective Altruism’ movement worldwide where, instead of doing what feels right, find the best causes to work on by using empirical evidence and analysis.”

A quick survey of corporates and implementing agencies threw up some interesting pointers to this end. Majority of the companies said they were open to collaboration for CSR activity, but finding the right partner, and structuring and reporting on such partnerships, were among the challenges. In absolute terms, the total money spent rose by Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 8,300 crore in fiscal 2016. Another Rs 1,835 crore needed to be spent for the average to achieve the mandated 2%. Of this, as much as Rs 5,300 crore – or Rs 1,175 crore more than fiscal 2015 — were spent on CSR activities linked to education, skills development, healthcare and sanitation, which are also the government’s priority areas.

Says Ramraj Pai, President, CRISIL Foundation: “This public-private partnership is great to see because, as a percentage of total government expenditure, India spends significantly less than what other BRICS nations do. So the private sector ramping up where government spending is low is truly synergistic CSR.”

The analysis further said there were 133 companies that either did not spend a dime, or were still freezing their CSR agenda. But even that is an improvement given that 200 companies were in the same boat in fiscal 2015. Of the 1,024 companies that figured in our analysis last year, 917 continued to meet the CSR criteria in 2016. Nearly two-thirds of them increased their CSR spend, while one-third reduced. Encouragingly, 56% of them spent 2% or more compared with 50% in fiscal 2015. In fiscal 2015, smaller companies had spent relatively more, but in fiscal 2016, the larger ones have done well with more than half of them adhering to the 2% mandate versus approximately a third previously. There were two reasons for the 22 percentage point jump in adherence by the larger companies: one, they are overcoming the challenge of large-scale interventions, which takes more time and effort. And two, they are using implementing agencies, mainly non-governmental organisations, for execution. Somewhat counter-intuitively, many smaller ones preferred going solo.”

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With a view to bring about transparency in the funding of political parties, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Arun Jaitely while presenting the General Budget 2017-18said that the political party could receive maximum donation up to Rs. 2,000 in cash from one person. The Finance Minister Mr Jaitley proposed that banks will issue Electoral Bonds to enable donations to political parties.

He said that the political parties would be entitled to receive donations by cheque or digital mode from their donors. Every political party will have to file its Income-Tax Return within the prescribed time limit, he added.

In a significant step to cleanse the system of funding of political parties, Mr Jaitley said that donations to political parties can soon be made by purchasing electoral bonds from authorized banks. The Finance Minister said that the Government will soon frame a Scheme in this regard and an amendment is being proposed to the Reserve Bank of India Act to enable the issuance of electoral bonds. He said that a donor could purchase bonds from authorised banks against cheque and digital payments only. These bonds shall be redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party within the prescribed time limit from issuance of bond, he added.

The Finance Minister said that these steps have been proposed as the political funding for elections couldn’t become transparent though attempts were made to cleanse the system. Despite amendment to the Representation of Peoples’ Act, the Companies Act and the Income Tax Act to incentivise political donations by individuals, partnership firms, HUFs and companies, political parties continue to receive most of their funds through anonymous donations which are shown in cash. He said that the situation has only marginally improved since the provisions were introduced, such as granting exemption from payment of tax to both the donor and the donee, provided a list of donors is maintained, who had contributed more than Rs. 20,000.”

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There were many firsts to this year’s Union Budget. This was the first combined Budget that included the railways. Also, the Budget was tabled on the first day of February instead of the last.The general and railways budgets were being presented separately since 1944 on the last working day of February.

 Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley while presenting the General Budget 2017-18, in Parliament said that India was now in a position to synergize the investments in railways, roads, waterways and civil aviation. For 2017-18, the total capital and development expenditure on Railways has been pegged at Rs. 1,31,000 crore. This includes Rs. 55,000 crore provided by the Government, the Finance Minister added.

The Finance Minister said that, the Railways will focus on four major areas, namely, passenger safety, capital and development works, cleanliness and finance and accounting reforms. For passenger safety, a `Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh’ would be created with a corpus of Rs.1 lakh crore over a period of 5 years, to be funded by seed capital from the Government, Railways’ own revenues and other sources. Further, the Government will lay down clear cut guidelines and timeline for implementing various safety works to be funded from this ‘Kosh’. Unmanned level crossings on Broad Gauge lines will be eliminated by 2020. Expert international assistance will be harnessed to improve safety preparedness and maintenance practices.

Talking about the proposed steps for modernization and upgradation of identified corridors, Mr Jaitley said that Railway lines of 3,500 kms will be commissioned in 2017-18, as against 2,800 kms in 2016-17 and steps will be taken to launch dedicated trains for tourism and pilgrimage. In the next 3 years, the throughput is proposed to be enhanced by 10%. Further, the Minister added that Railways have set-up joint ventures with 9 State Governments and 70 projects have been identified for construction and development.

Regarding station redevelopment, the Finance Minister said that at least 25 stations are expected to be awarded during 2017-18 for redevelopment and 500 stations will be made differently- abled friendly by providing lifts and escalators. It is also proposed to feed about 7,000 stations with solar power in the medium term, of which, a beginning has already been made in 300 stations. Works will be taken-up for 2,000 railway stations as part of 1000 MW solar mission, the Minister added.

Emphasizing the Government’s focus on `Swachh Rail’, the Finance Minister said that a series of steps are proposed to be taken to enhance cleanliness in Railways, of which, an SMS based  `Clean My Coach service’ has already been started. It is now proposed to introduce the `Coach Mitra facility’, a single window interface to register all coach related complaints and requirements. Further, the Finance Minister said that by 2019, all coaches of Indian Railways will be fitted with bio-toilets.  Pilot plants for environment friendly disposal of solid waste and conversion of biodegradable waste to energy are being set-up at New Delhi and Jaipur Railway Stations and five more such Solid waste management plants are now being taken-up.

The Finance Minister, in his Budget Speech, also gave details about proposed steps to be taken by the Government to help Railways stay competitive vis-a-vis other modes of transportation dominated by the private sector and retain their position of pre-eminence.

A new Metro Rail Policy will be announced with focus on innovative models of implementation and financing, as well as standardization and indigenization of hardware and software. This will open-up new job opportunities for our youth.  A new Metro Rail Act will be enacted by rationalizing the existing laws. This will facilitate greater private participation and investment in construction and operation, he added.”

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India has reacted cautiously a day after Pakistan’s Interior Ministry ordered placing the Jamaat-ud-Dawa andthe Falah-e-Insaniyet Foundation Hafiz Saeed, the architect of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, under house arrest. New Delhi  has said that more needs to be done by Islamabad if it wants to prove its commitment to fighting terrorism.
“”Exercises such as yesterday’s orders against Hafiz Saeed and others have been carried out by Pakistan in the past also. Only a credible crack down on the mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attack and terrorist organizations involved in cross border terrorism would be proof of Pakistan’s sincerity,”” a statement from the External Affairs Ministry said.

“”India has long maintained that the UN Security Council 1267 provisions pertaining to listing and proscription of known terrorist entities and individuals must be effectively and sincerely enforced by all member states. We have also consistently called the bringing known terrorists under the ambit of the 1267 sanctions,”” the statement said.
It said that New Delhi has noted that Hafiz Saeed and four others have been placed under preventive detention.

The detention of Hafiz Saeed in Lahore came after the US administration of President Donald Trump has clamped down with visa restrictions at at countries deemed linked to terrorism. Apprehension of similar action against Pakistan could have been a factor in the action against Hafiz Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, security analysts say.”

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In a sign that does not augur well for the labour in the organised sector, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting his budget proposals for the fiscal 2017-18 on Wednesday announced that legislative reforms will be undertaken to `Simplify, Rationalize and Amalgamate’ the existing Labour Laws.

Mr.  Jaitley while presenting the General Budget 2017-18 in Parliament said that the Government is keen on fostering a `conducive’ labour environment wherein labour rights are protected and harmonious labour relations lead to higher productivity. Legislative reforms will be undertaken to simplify, rationalize and amalgamate the existing labour laws into 4 Codes on (i) wages; (ii) industrial relations; (iii) social security and welfare; and (iv) safety and working conditions.

The Finance Minister further said that the Model Shops and Establishment Bill 2016 has been circulated to all States for consideration and adoption. This would open-up additional avenues for employment of women. The amendment made to the Payment of Wages Act, is another initiative of our Government for the benefit of the labour and ease of doing business.

The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was quick to read the writing on the wall. D.L. Sachadev, Secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) in a statement issued here lamented that the Union budget does not provide for employment generation. He said that the central trade unions to meet soon to decide the action programme against `anti worker’ provisions of the budget.

The sign of nervousness among the trade unions is understandable in recent months the Union Government through gazette notifications effected several changes to the Acts passed by Parliament adversely impacting the labour interests.

This is the backdrop to the statement, issued here hours after the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2017-2018, by the AITUC leader. He contended that in the name of easy doing business, the budget presented by the Finance Minister of India has given more tax concessions to the corporate world by reducing the tax rates while totally inadequate relief has been given to small and medium scale industries which provide and create employment.

According to him the social allocation for health and education has also not been increased. There is a nominal increase of a few hundred crores for jobs under MNREGA. No compensation has been given for loss of jobs and wages to the people who have suffered due to demonetisation. The scheme workers have also not been provided any relief. Listing of PSUs in the stock market and further liberalization of FDI is also against national interest. The Finance Minister has unusually mentioned passing of labour law related codes which do not fall under his domain.

Mr. Sachdeva said that the Central Trade Unions will meet soon to decide the action programme against anti worker provisions of the budget.”

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Traders, who have traditionally been a loyal constituency of the Sangh Parivar in general and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in particular, are gaga over the Union Budget 2017-18 presented by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley going by the generous words of a well known traders lobby Confederation though immediately it is not clear as to what are the reasons for their elevation.

B.C. Bhartiya, the National President and Praveen Khandelwal, the Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Wednesday described the Union budget is a progressive document which lays fundamental for the future.

In a statement, they said, “the budget is a progressive document whose working round the year will culminate into dividend in next year Budget  since it is expected that implementation of GST in this fiscal will add sizeable number of tax payers in the Country giving leverage to the Government to reduce Bank lending rates and bringing down Income Tax slabs considerably-said the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). Reduction of corporate Tax to 25% for turnover upto Rs. 50 cr will boost SME and small businesses in the Country. Lending target under Pradhanmantri Mudra Yojna has been doubled and set at Rs.2.44 lakh crores which will result in financial inclusion of last mile trader and in turn will consolidate the retail market. 

The joint statement maintained that announcement for creation a Payments Regulatory Board in the Reserve Bank of India by replacing the existing Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems will boost digital payment landscape in the Country. However, transaction charges are major deterrent in adoption of digital payments and it was hoped that Government will subsidise such charges directly to the Banks. Model Shops and Establishment Bill will create new business avenues to small retailers particularly job opportunities for the women.

According to them, however, security and safety aspects needs to be considered by the State Governments to open up additional opportunities. Reduction in limit of cash expenditure of Rs.10 thousand will prove to be counter productive and will stall smooth business activities.”

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The government has prepared an action plan to eliminate Kala-Azar and Filariasis by 2017, Leprosy by 2018 and Measles by 2020. Elimination of tuberculosis by 2025 is also targeted. Similarly, action plan has been prepared to reduce Infant Mortality Rate from 39 per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 28 by 2019 and Maternal Mortality Ratio from 167 per 100,000 live births in 2011-13 to 100 by 2018-2020. Also, 1.5 lakh Health Sub Centres will be transformed into Health and Wellness Centres.

The Finance Minister Mr Jaitley in his Budget speech said that to strengthen secondary and tertiary levels of health care, adequate availability of specialist doctors was needed. “We have, therefore, decided to take steps to create additional 5,000 Post Graduate seats per annum. In addition, steps will be taken to roll-out DNB courses in big District Hospitals; strengthen PG teaching in select ESI and Municipal Corporation Hospitals; and encourage reputed Private Hospitals to start DNB courses. The Central Government will work with the State Governments to take these tasks forward. The Government is committed to take necessary steps for structural transformation of the Regulatory framework of Medical Education and Practice in India’’ he added.

Two new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will be set-up in Jharkhand and Gujarat.

The Budget also proposes to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to ensure availability of drugs at reasonable prices and promote use of generic medicines. New rules for regulating medical devices will also be formulated. These rules will be internationally harmonised and attract investment into this sector. This will reduce the cost of such devices.

Education:

In the higher education sector, the government will undertake reforms in the University Grants Commission. Good quality institutions would be enabled to have greater administrative and academic autonomy. In his Budget Speech, the Finance Minister said that the colleges will be identified based on accreditation and ranking, and given autonomous status. A revised framework will be put in place for outcome based accreditation and credit based programmes.

He also proposed to introduce a system of measuring annual learning outcome in the schools. He said that emphasis would be given on science education and flexibility in curriculum to promote creativity through local innovative content. Similarly, he proposed to create innovative fund for secondary education for ensuring universal access, gender parity and quality improvement. This will include ICT enabled learning, transformation and the focus will be on 3,479 educationally backward blocks.

The government proposes to establish a National Testing Agency as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct all entrance examinations for higher education institutions. This would free CBSE, AICTE and other premier institutions from these administrative responsibilities so that they can focus more on academics.

Women and Child:

The government has said that Mahila Shakti Kendra will be set-up at village level with an allocation of Rs. 500 crores in 14 lakh ICDS Anganwadi Centres. This will provide one stop convergent support services for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition. Under nationwide scheme for financial assistance to pregnant women Rs. 6,000 each will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children.

For the welfare of women and children under various schemes across all the Ministries the allocation has been stepped-up from Rs.1,56,528 crore in BE 2016-17 to Rs. 1,84,632 crore in 2017-18.”