Sikkim Reaping Benefits Under The Prime Minister’s new 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities

The Government is striving for inclusive development of the citizens, which includes both majority and minority. To realize the aim, the Union Government has formulated a number of people oriented policies and programmes. Some of these policies focus on minorities and are exclusively for them. The Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities is one such programme which is aimed at increasing educational opportunities, allowing fair and just share in economic pursuits, employment through different schemes, and also provide support for generating self employment.

Sikkim, has also been implementing the schemes introduced by the Ministry of Minorities Affairs (MOMA) to realize the goals of Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities. The Department of Social Justice & Empowerment is the nodal body for implementation of the schemes in Sikkim. North District has been identified as the District with substantial minority population. The monitoring is done by a high level committee headed by Chief Secretary. In the education sector Pre-Matric, Post –Matric and Merit-cum-Means based Scholarships are being provided to Minority community students, which includes Buddhists and Christians in Sikkim.

As far as Pre-Matric Scholarship scheme is concerned, according to official records, Sikkim has been allocated 11,201 seats, out of which 3201 are for the Buddhist and 800 for the Christian students, with 30% earmarked for girl students. The funding is done at 75.25 ratios between centre and State Govt.

Pre-Matric scholarships are provided to the economically weaker sections of Buddhists and Christian community students from class 1 to 10. The Students have been availing of the opportunity in Government as well as the private institutions selected and notified by the State government. Those with at least 50% of marks or corresponding grade in the final exams and income of parents not exceeding Rs. One Lakh are awarded scholarship. Those eligible are provided scholarship, subject to submission of a copy of Sikkim Subject Certificate or Certificate of Identification and other relevant documents. It is available to not more than 2 beneficiaries per family. The students, both day scholars and boarders, from class 1-10, have been availing @ Rs 100 as Maintenance Allowance in the Government schools. Whereas, in the private schools, the rate for day scholars from 1-5 is Rs 1000 in the form of maintenance allowance, from class 6-10, are being provided Rs 5000 per annum i.e Rs 1000 as Maintenance and Rs 4000 as Fee Reimbursement. The Private School Boarders from class 1-5 have been given Rs 1000 as Maintenance Allowance, class 6-10 are availing the Maintenance Allowance @ Rs. 6000 and Fee reimbursement @ Rs. 4000 only. There is no reimbursement for government scholarship holders as they are not charged any fee, at all.

The other scheme is that of Post-Matric Scholarship (PMS), a cent percent Centrally Sponsored scheme aimed at providing better educational facilities to meritorious students from economically weaker sections of minority Buddhist and Christian communities in the State. The students can avail of the opportunity in the Government, private colleges and Universities respectively and also in residential Government as well as private institutions notified by the Government. The income limit for eligibility for the scholarship under PM’s New 15 point programme is  Rs 2 lakhs. The State has been allocated 700 seats altogether out of which 560 are for the Buddhist and 140 for Christians, including 30% for girls. The students have also been availing On Line Form filling facilities. Under this scheme,

meritorious students with at least 50% marks are given scholarship. Each scholarship holder is provided admission & tuition fee not exceeding more the Rs 7000 for classes 11 to 12 and also for those pursuing technical & professional studies of same level. This is applicable to both boarders and day scholars, with maintenance allowance @ Rs 380 per month for Boarders, 10 months in any academic year and Rs 230 for day scholars. For Technical & Vocational courses also actual amount is given to boarders & day scholars. The Under Graduate and Post Graduate, boarder and day scholars have been availing of actual amount spent subject to the ceiling of Rs 3000 and Maintenance Allowance @ Rs 570 for boarders and 300 for the Day Scholars. The M. Phil and Ph. D research scholars, not availing any other fellowship are given Rs 1200 per boarder and Rs 550 per month per Day Scholar.

The other important Scholarship scheme under Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities implemented in Sikkim is the Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship for students belonging to minority communities, i.e Buddhists and Christians. The Government of India has been implementing the scheme through the state government for the betterment of poor and meritorious students. A great number of students have been pursuing professional and vocational courses, generating employable workforce.

Altogether 60 seats have been allocated by the Union Government to Sikkim, for those Sikkim Subject certificate holders, having not more than rupees  two lakh fifty thousand only  income per annum, for studies in government and private institutions. Out of these, the Buddhists have been given 48 and Christians 12 seats. They are given up to Rs. 20,000 per year subject to actual expense and Maintenance Allowance @ Rs 10 thousand to boarders and Rs 5 thousand to the Day Scholars provided they have studied in institution enlisted by the Government. The scholars are expected to get admission in the institution themselves in the first instance. Under this scheme, it has been learnt that sometimes the State runs short of seats. In such circumstances, the Central Government is requested to divert seats from other states where Buddhists’ concentration is lesser.

The scheme appears to have been benefitting a vast section of the State’s population. 

'Exploitable Potential ' To 'Credit Potential’: NABARD Shows The Way

 As an annual exercise, NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) takes up a detailed exercise in all districts across the country for mapping the credit potential that is expected to stimulate balanced growth. Here, the emphasis is mainly on the key stake holders in the development process - the district administration, implementing departments, banks, farmers etc.

                  NABARD has prepared a carefully designed potential mapping process. This

entails constant updating of available infrastructure in the district. On this basis, the potential for Ground Level Credit (GLC) is projected. This exercise, being one of its kind, is vetted by technical experts from different disciplines at the regional offices of NABARD. Finally, the outcome, the Annual Potential Linked Credit Plan document is made available for the development planning domain.

                  NABARD's Potential Linked Credit Plan (PLP) is a much sought after

document by the banks, departments related to development and the academia since it offers them a fair idea as to emerging trends and aids them on focus areas. Quite often, NABARD’s PLP exercise helps all the stake holders to review, re-look and re-draw the road map for development in key sectors of the economy.

 Bottom up Approach                  True to the spirit of the 'bottom-up' approach, NABARD initiates the

painstaking development planning exercise with each district as a unit. This is easy for NABARD as it has officers stationed across almost all districts in the country.  These officers, who are designated as the District Development Managers (DDMs) are engaged in constant dialogue with the district administration and banks. They help them in setting the correct priorities for speedy growth.

                 It is also significant to note that NABARD completes the entire process of

finalizing the PLP well in advance. The time bound approach adopted by NABARD ensures that the banks are able to prepare their Annual Credit Plans (ACP) based on the PLP estimates. For example, NABARD has completed the planning exercise for the next fiscal 2014-15 before the end of the December 2013 quarter. 

  

PLP 2014-15

               The PLP 2014-15 prepared by NABARD has taken into account the potential available for development in all the sectors as also the infrastructure available for exploiting such potential. The preparation of the PLP document was preceded by a detailed consultative process with the implementing departments in the district for identifying critical infrastructural requirements. The main objective of the entire exercise is to link the development planning process with the credit planning process.

             In this context, it is essential to bear in mind the fact that NABARD had prepared a Base PLP document, co-terminus with the 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-13 to 2016-17). The present exercise is aimed at further fine tuning the projections for the year 2014-15 based on priorities laid down by the Government of India, expected improvement in power position, inflationary trends, interest subvention for crop loans, focus on farm mechanization etc. An attempt has been made to give a detailed picture of the exploitable potential which could be translated into credit potential by various banks.

 Aggregation at State Levels

            The exercise of preparation of PLPs attempted in all the districts of Tamil Nadu, for example, will be followed by the preparation of a State Focus Paper (SFP) document which is essentially an aggregation of credit estimates at the state level. It will be presented at the state level credit seminar which will be convened by NABARD. It is usually attended by senior officials of the state government, RBI, NABARD and the state level Bankers Committee (SLBC).  The forum of the state level credit seminar is also utilized to present the critical interventions required for catalyzing growth in the district to the state government officials.

Critical Infrastructural Interventions

            NABARD, as part of the PLP preparation exercise, also identifies the infrastructural requirements for up scaling the Ground Level Credit (GLC) under various sub sectors. These will be presented to the state government for necessary follow up interventions. It is also noteworthy that NABARD even offers funding to state governments under its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) window for some of the incomplete  'last mile projects'  awaiting completion and commissioning for want of crucial funds.

  Case Study: Madurai            The Potential Linked Credit Plan for Madurai, for 2014-15, envisages a total outlay

of Rs. 6293 crores for various sectors in the district under the Priority Sector category. This indicates a considerable increase over the Annual Credit Plan (ACP) target of Rs. 5520 crore for 2013-14.

            The PLP envisages a higher allocation for agriculture and allied activities in tune

with the Twelfth Five Year Plan's objective of achieving inclusive growth. The credit plan has projected the share of crop loans at Rs. 1939 crore in tune with the thrust of Government of India to give fillip to agriculture, largely through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme.

            Since Term Lending for capital formation is key for sustaining growth in

agriculture, special emphasis has been laid in the plan document for term credit for agriculture, with an allocation of Rs. 1 570 crore for lending to activities such as minor irrigation, land development, dairying, farm mechanization, plantation and horticulture and creation of storage space through rural godowns etc.

               The importance of MSME sector as a key sector for job and income generation

has been recognized with a sizable allocation of Rs. 1244 crores. Since Madurai is a prominent as an upcoming urban destination, under "Other Priority Sector" banks can lend to the order of Rs. 1540 crores in sectors like housing loans, education loans, consumption loans, loans to traders and small road transport operators.

             Shri. R. Shankar Narayan, AGM, NABARD, Madurai who formulated the credit plan for Madurai, has informed that the PLP 2014-15 has taken into account the potential available for development in all the sectors as also the infrastructure available for exploiting such potential. He added that the exercise was to arrive at the exploitable potential for credit off take through banking channels during the next fiscal 2014-15.

National Urban Livelihoods Mission - Empowering The Lives of Urban Poor

Like countless others, forty-year- old Usha left her village in Uttar Pradesh and came to Delhi in search of a better life. Two decades later, she finds herself living in a jhuggi while she struggles to bring up her five children on the meagre salary she earns as a domestic help.

Dismayed that the bustling metropolis has failed to fulfill her dreams, Usha is now resigned to her fate as she is convinced she can do little to improve her living conditions or provide a better future for her children.

However, Usha and others like her   residing in the slums and resettlement colonies of Delhi and other Indian cities need not despair any more. Help is round the corner for them. They will soon get an opportunity to learn new skills, get a bank loan and even set up their own small business.

It could well turn out to be a life-changing experience for the country’s urban poor, especially the women, who will not only be personally empowered but will also be able to alter the lives of their children.

All this will be made possible by the UPA government’s newly-launched National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) which will be rolled out across the country in the coming months.

The NULM is actually an improved version of the earlier poverty alleviation programme for the urban poor titled Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) which was found to be wanting for a variety of reasons.  

Having identified the problem areas in the implementation of the SJSRY and recognising the need to address the needs of the growing population flocking to cities in search of a better livelihood, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA)  restructured the old scheme and unveiled it in its new avatar as the NULM.

To begin with, the UPA government did not hold back on the funding. A budget of a whopping Rs. 6404 crore has been provided for the remaining period of the 12 th five year plan for cities with a population of one lakh or more with Rs. 950 crore being allocated for 2013-2014.

It has also expanded the beneficiaries of urban poor to include the homeless and street vendors who are invariably ignored in government programmes.  A special provision has been made for the funding of all-weather 24/7 shelters with all essential facilities for the urban homeless. In addition, up to five per cent of the NULM budget has been earmarked to provide support to urban street vendors which will include skill upgradation and development of vendor markets.     

Explaining the salient features of NULM, Mr. B. K. Agarwal, joint secretary, ministry of HUPA, said under the improved programme urban poor, especially women, will be organized into self-help groups (SHGs), while infrastructure and trained manpower will be provided to upgrade their skills in keeping with the requirements of the market. In addition, beneficiaries will be helped to secure loans if anybody wants to set up his or her own enterprise.

“This will be first time that women in cities will be organised into thrift and credit-based SHGs to meet their financial and social needs. This is the main emphasis in NULM. We borrowed the concept from the rural areas where this experiment has proved to be extremely successful,” Mr. Aggarwal said, adding this approach has been found to be an effective catalyst for change.

SHGs are typically small groups of 10-20 women who are bound by a common agenda. Not only are these groups an effective mechanism to improve the livelihood of its members but they are also found to be an excellent support system for the women and increases their levels of confidence and self-esteem.

There are innumerable studies from rural areas which also show how involvement of women in SHGs has empowered them to play an active role in community matters like provision of adequate drinking water facilities and children’s education. With the UPA government keen to begin implementation of NULM at the earliest, the ministry of HUPA has organised several workshops in various state governments for all stake holders, including banks, to explain the  features of the new programme and  create awareness about it.

“Bank representatives were specially included to tell them that they should be more sensitive to the loan requirements the urban poor,” Mr. Agarwal pointed out.

Although municipal committees have been identified as nodal bodies for the implementation of NULM, they have been provided special funding to hire technical experts and also to draft civil society groups in the management of the programme since the local bodies do not have the expertise to do so.

These professionals will mobilise the women into SHGs and encourage them to develop a corpus through their savings which can be used by a member for a personal need or for setting up a small business. In addition, the women will be helped to open bank accounts so that they have access to credit. A provision of Rs. 10,000 has been made for the formation and activities of each SHG for the initial two years.  

“Earlier they were getting money at exorbitant interest rates but no longer,” said Mr. Aggarwal, stating that so far a bank were reluctant to sanction loans and would do so on the basis of a project report submitted by an account holder.

Now, he said, individuals and groups can get financial assistance under the mission’s Self-Employment Programme (SEP) at a subsidized interest rate to set up their own micro-enterprises. In addition, beneficiaries can also avail credit for other activities like carrying out repairs to their house or funding a child’s education through their SHG’s.

Being uneducated and having no skills, the urban poor are particularly vulnerable as they are forced to work as maids, cooks, guards or in sweat shops where they toil in poor working conditions, often being denied minimum wages. The framers of the NULM have decided to give them an opportunity to learn new skills so that they can command a better salary or set up self-employed ventures.

Since it is a critical component of the mission, 50 per cent of the budget is to be spent on the training of 2.8 million urban poor in the current five year plan. While training institutions will be set up for this purpose, the skill training providers will also place them in remunerative jobs and keep tabs on them for the first six months to guard against any exploitation.

“The skills imparted can range from retail to nursing, depending on what the market requires and on completion of the programme, each person will be given a certificate,” Mr. Agarwal said, adding that these training centres will have a well-planned curriculum and will be equipped with the necessary tools and training materials.

The NULM is indeed an ambitious programme as nobody has, so far, focused on improving the livelihood of the urban poor. As Mr. Aggarwal said, if implemented well, it could have a far-reaching and visible impact on the lives of those eking out a living in the slums of the country’s urban centres.