News Analysis India

Tag: Union Cabinet

  • Union Cabinet restores MPLADS after break caused by pandemic

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to restore the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). MPs will get Rs 2 crore for development activities for the remainder of 2021-22 and annually Rs 5 crore thereafter.

    The MPLAD Scheme was suspended in April 2020 due to the pandemic and funds went into the Consolidated Fund of India. Announcing the decision at a press conference, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to restore the scheme for the remaining part of financial year 2021-22. The scheme will continue till 2025-26.

    While Rs 2 crore to each MP will be released in one instalment for the remainder of 2021-22, from 2022-23 to 2025-26 funds will be released at the rate of Rs 5 crore per annum in two instalments of Rs 2.5 crore each. “During COVID-19, a decision had been taken by the Cabinet that for 2020-21 and 2021-22, MPLAD Scheme money will be used in the fight against the pandemic.

    All parliamentarians had also enthusiastically given their consent to contribute in the fight against Covid. I am glad to share with you that in view of the improvement in economic scenario, a decision has been taken to restore MPLAD Scheme for the remainder period of the fiscal 2021-22,” Thakur said at the briefing.Under the MPLAD Scheme, all MPs can recommend development programmes involving expenditure of `5 crore every year in their constituencies.  The decision to suspend it had evoked sharp reactions from Opposition parties, which criticised the government and sought its restoration.

    While the Congress said the decision would undermine the role of an MP and had sought its review, Left parties and Trinamool Congress had also slammed the government for the decision. The TMC had termed the step “whimsical” and “undemocratic”.

  • Eligible railway employees to get productivity linked bonus equal to 78 days’ wage

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a productivity-linked bonus equivalent to 78 days’ wage to eligible non-gazetted Railway employees, Union minister Anurag Thakur said.

    The bonus for the financial year 2020-21 will benefit about 11.56 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees, he said.

    An expenditure of nearly Rs 1,985 crore will be incurred on this.

    The bonus is usually announced ahead of Dussehra and Puja festivities.

    The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of PLB to the eligible non-gazetted railway employees is Rs 7000/- p.m.

    The maximum amount payable per eligible railway employee is Rs. 17,951 for 78 days.

    About 11.56 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees are likely to benefit from the decision.

    Railway Board Chairman and COO Suneet Sharma, later at a press conference, said that the bonus will be disbursed as usual before Dussehra.

    He said that the payment of these bonuses, especially after a tough year that saw railwaymen battling against coronavirus and still reporting for duty, would encourage them to work harder.

    “Many rail employees reported to work despite the fear for their personal welfare. They were frontline workers. This payment of bonus will encourage them to work harder,” said Sharma.

    The Productivity Linked Bonus on Railway covers all non-gazetted railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel) who are spread over the entire country.

    Last year, the Indian Railways had disbursed a bonus worth 78 days’ wages to its 11.58 lakh non-gazetted employees after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet had approved disbursal of productivity and non-productivity-linked bonus for 2019-2020 to more than 30 lakh central government employees.

  • Union Cabinet approves increase in Fair and Remunerative Price on sugarcane to Rs 290 per quintal

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet approved an increase in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) on sugarcane to Rs 290 per quintal based on a 10 per cent recovery, informed Union Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday.

    Briefing the media on Cabinet decisions here today, Goyal said, “The Union Cabinet has decided that the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) which is paid on sugarcane will be increased to Rs 290 per quintal which will be based on a 10 per cent recovery. When the recovery increases beyond 10 per cent, then on every point 1 per cent rise, additional Rs 2.90 is paid per quintal. Even if a farmer has less than 9.5 per cent recovery, their Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) will be Rs 275 per quintal.”

    The Centre had in August 2020 increased the FRP by Rs 10, bringing the amount to Rs 285 per quintal. In 2019-2020, the government had fixed Sugarcane FRP at Rs 275 per quintal.

    He further said, “Many farmers across the country have increased their recovery by using modern technology, implementing new practices on a large scale. We have been observing that the recovery in our country is improving.”

    “Also last year, export was also at a record high. Our country has entered contracts of exporting 70 lakh tonnes of sugarcane, out of which 55 lakh tonnes has already been exported and the remaining 15 lakh tonnes is in the pipeline,” added the Union Minister.

    With the amendment of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 on October 22, 2009, the concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane was replaced with the ‘Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)’ of sugarcane for 2009-10 and subsequent sugar seasons.

    Under the FRP system, the farmers are not required to wait till the end of the season or for any announcement of the profits by sugar mills or the Government. The new system also assures margins on account of profit and risk to farmers, irrespective of the fact whether sugar mills generate profit or not and is not dependent on the performance of any individual sugar mill, according to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

    In order to ensure that higher sugar recoveries are adequately rewarded and considering variations amongst sugar mills, the FRP is linked to a basic recovery rate of sugar, with a premium payable to farmers for higher recoveries of sugar from sugarcane. 

  • Cabinet nod for palm cultivation scheme

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new Centrally sponsored scheme to promote palm plantation which aims to cut down on the import of palm oil, with focus on Northeastern states and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired the meeting, termed it a game-changer, saying it will give a boost to Atmanirbhar Bharat.

    Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters during a briefing that the cultivation of palm in the country would be scaled up three times. He said there’s an availability of 28 lakh hectares, almost one-third in the Northeast, which could be utilised for the palm oil programme. Tomar said no forest land will be diverted for this purpose.

    Tomar also stated the government will be coming out with a Minimum Support Price (MSP) kind of a mechanism to give assurance to the farmers that their produces will be procured. He also stated the government will support the MSP mechanism by direct benefit transfer to the farmers the difference of the MSP and market price.

    The scheme entails a financial outlay of `11,040 crore out of which `8,844 crore is the share of the Central government, with the sharing formula with Northeastern states being 90:10 and 60:40 for the rest of the country. The scheme will be called “National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)”. 

    Tomar argued the government is promoting palm oil within the country because of the higher per hectare yield in comparison to other oil seeds, including mustard, groundnut and soybean.

    The scheme aims to cover an additional area of 6.5 lakh hectares for oil palm till 2025-26 and reach the target of 10 lakh hectares later. The production of crude palm oil is expected to go substantially, up to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30.

    Kigali Amendment to be ratifiedThe Cabinet in a meeting on Wednesday chaired by PM Narendra Modi gave its nod for ratifying the ‘Kigali Amendment’ to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer for phasedown of Hydro-flurocarbons. The amendment was adopted by parties to the Montreal Protocol in 2016.

  • Bill restoring power of states, UTs to make OBC list set to be tabled soon

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: In line with the BJP’s poll bid for the next year’s Assembly elections, the Union Cabinet in its meeting on Wednesday is learnt to have given nod to a Constitution Amendment Bill to give the powers to the states and the Union Territories to draw their own lists of the other backward castes (OBCs).

    The Constitution Amendment Bill was necessitated to get around the Supreme Court verdict, which had previously ruled that the power to draw the OBC list vested only with the Centre, according to a law enacted in 2018 by Parliament. The Constitution (102) Amendment Bill had granted the Constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward castes.   

    The Constitution (127) Amendment Bill, which will be brought before Parliament in the ongoing monsoon session, will allow the states to add castes in the OBC lists. The lists of the states and the UTs of the socially and educationally backward castes will be separate from the OBC list prepared by the Centre. 

    The Cabinet decision has come close on the heels of another decision which allowed OBC reservation in the national entrance tests for the medical education.The Centre had previously argued before the Supreme Court that the Central law on drawing the OBC list was only for the purposes of the Central government and had not intended to take away the rights of the states and the UTs.     

    While briefing reporters about the Cabinet decision, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur had declined to confirm or decline the Cabinet taking up the Constitution (127) Amendment Bill, saying that Parliament is in session, not elaborating further.

    Last month, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Virendra Kumar had told Rajya Sabha that the government is in consultation with legal experts and the Ministry of Law and examining ways to protect the power of the states in determining the list of OBCs.

  • Centre invites farmers to talks, APMCs to get interest bonus

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Union Cabinet in its meeting on Thursday sought to calm the nerves of agitating farmers by allowing inclusion of Agriculture Produce Marketing Cooperatives (APMCs) in the interest subvention scheme unveiled in the Union Budget of Rs one lakh crore for creation of agriculture infrastructure. 

    Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar reiterated his appeal to renew talks with the farmer unions, saying that they have benefited in the past seven years of the various initiatives taken by the government for agriculture, including direct payments of the MSP (Minimum Support Prices) procurement of food grains.

    Tomar, briefing the Cabinet decision, said the interest subvention scheme has been amended to allow the projects for the strengthening of the APMCs within the ambit of the scheme. He also said that the individuals, Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) and others can taken up 25 projects, but in different locations and claim interest subventions for Rs 2 crore loan for each.

    He also said the state cooperatives can take up more than 25 projects under the scheme, which was unveiled in the Union Budget this year. Also, Tomar informed that the Cabinet has amended the Coconut Board to crate the post of a CEO and chairman who will be from a farming background, while the scope of the entity will be expanded to explore opportunities abroad. 

  • Union Cabinet reshuffle: Strategy evident in selection of four ministers from West Bengal

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  The Centre’s decision of axing two Ministers for State from West Bengal and drafting fresh four Bengal BJP MPs in the Union Cabinet appears to be well-designed, with an eye on balancing the caste and regional equations in the state.

    BJP did not do well in the recent Assembly polls. But around half of the 77 seats they won came from north Bengal and SC-dominated regions. The four new ministers represent various communities and ethnic groups. Two of them are from north Bengal. Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik (Home Affairs and Sports) represents Rajbongshis, the largest faction of the state’s SC community. Alipurduar MP John Barla (Minority Affairs) is the tribal face of the tea garden region.

    Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur (Port, Shipping, Waterways) belongs to the Matua community, which is a Hindu religious sect of SC refugees from Bangladesh. Bankura MP Subhas Sarkar (Education) was the other one chosen. He is known to have done well for BJP in the Jungle Mahal belt.

    ‘‘Rajbongshis form around 40% of the electorates in north Bengal and the community has a stake of nearly 20% in the Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar regions. Selection of two MPs from this region clearly indicates that the party doesn’t want to lose its Rajbongshi and tribal vote share achieved since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,’’ said a BJP leader in Kolkata.

    North Bengal has proven to be the saffron camp’s stronghold in the last two elections. The region has 54 Assembly seats, of which BJP won 30. In the remaining 240, BJP secured victory only in 37.

    Barla recently raised a demand that north Bengal should become a separate Union Territory. Although the party did not officially endorse his view, naming him in the Cabinet suggests he remains an important figure in the scheme of things. “Separate statehood has been a long-standing demand of Gorkhas in the hills and Rajbongshis in the foothills. The inclusion of Barla in the Cabinet sends a message that the Centre is not ignoring local sentiments,” said the leader.

    Thakur had on several occasions expressed discontent over the issue of non-implementation of CAA, a promise BJP had made before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to grant Matua refugees citizenship. “BJP performed well in Matua strongholds. Since implementation of CAA seems impossible now, Thakur was rewarded to ease out the discontent of Matuas, who will be needed in 2024 LS polls,’’ said another leader.

  • India affected by ship’s direction than arrangement of chairs on upper deck: Shashi Tharoor on Cabinet rejig

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday took a dig at the government over the Cabinet reshuffle, saying Indians are more affected by the seaworthiness of the ship and the direction it is sailing than by the arrangement of the chairs on the upper deck.

    His remarks came a day after a major Union Cabinet makeover was effected with Prime Minister Narendra Modi dropping 12 ministers, including Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, and bringing in Sarbananda Sonowal, Narayan Rane and Jyotiraditya Scindia along with 33 other new members to his government.

    Apart from 15 Cabinet ministers, 28 Ministers of State, comprising new faces and those elevated, were sworn in at a ceremony, which was held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

    “Wishing the new Council of Ministers well in fulfilling their duties to the people. But Indians are more affected by the seaworthiness of the ship & the direction it’s sailing than by the arrangement of the chairs on the upper deck,” Tharoor tweeted using the hashtag ‘CabinetReshuffle2021’.

    Earlier in the day, the Congress took a dig at the Cabinet expansion in a tweet from its official Twitter handle.

    “Those who used to shout slogans of ‘Minimum Government – Maximum Governance’ till yesterday, those people are today working on the model of ‘Maximum Government – Minimum Governance’. This expansion of the cabinet is not for the country but only a means to serve the interests of their respective parties,” the Congress alleged.

  • Narayan Rane made Union Minister only to target us: Shiv Sena

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Narayan Rane was inducted in the Union cabinet only to attack the Shiv Sena, the party claimed on Thursday, also alleging that the purpose of creating a new ministry of cooperation was to “harass” the sector which has strong presence in Maharashtra.

    Rane, a former Sena leader who left the party over 16 years ago, took oath as minister in the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday.

    Sena’s chief spokesperson Arvind Sawant said here that after taking charge of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Ministry, Rane’s first comments were against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

    “He said nothing about his portfolio and what he proposed to do for the MSME sector,” said Sawant, a former Union minister himself.

    Rane reportedly said that Thackeray, who heads the Sena, was not large hearted enough to congratulate him on becoming a Union minister.

    “He has been inducted in the Union cabinet only to attack the Sena without fulfilling any other responsibility, ” Sawant said.

    In a dig at Rane’s portfolio, Sawant said, “For Maharashtra, this is improvement of sorts, from ‘heavy’ to ‘micro’.”

    Sena had handled the heavy industries portfolio when it was part of the BJP-led NDA.

    On a question about whether Rane can cause any harm to the Sena, Sawant said, “We defeated him twice in assembly polls, once in his stronghold of Malvan (in Konkan region) and in a by-poll in Mumbai (in Bandra).

    “The BJP should keep it in mind that the Sena has very close relations with the people from Konkan….they will not switch their loyalties,” he said.

    On the creation of the new Union ministry of cooperation which has been allotted to home minister Amit Shah, Sawant said, “It is just to harass the cooperative sector as it has a strong network in Maharashtra compared to other states.”

    Leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in the state, especially those from the NCP, are active in the cooperative sector, he pointed out.

  • In first meet, revamped Union Cabinet approves Rs 23,123 crore for boosting health infra, focus on child care

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet Thursday approved a Rs 23,123-crore package for improving health infrastructure to fight COVID-19 as part of which around 2.4 lakh medical beds and 20,000 ICU ones would be created with a special focus on paediatric care.

    Addressing a press conference here after the first meeting of the Union cabinet following its reshuffle on Wednesday, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the package will be implemented over the next nine months till March 2022.

    The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Mandaviya said this is the second phase of the Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package as the Central government had given Rs 15,000 crore earlier for setting up Covid-dedicated hospitals and health centres across the country.

    Under the new package, the Centre would provide Rs 15,000 crore and states Rs 8,123 crore, and the plan would be implemented jointly by them across all the 736 districts to improve medical infrastructure at primary and district health centres.

    Around 2.4 lakh normal medical beds and 20,000 ICU beds would be created of which 20 percent would be specially earmarked for children, he said.

    The minister said storage facilities for oxygen and medicines would also be created at district level under the plan.

    An official statement said states and UTs would be supported to create paediatric units in all 736 districts and to establish Paediatric Centre of Excellence in each state and UT (either in medical colleges, state government hospitals or central hospitals such as AIIMS, INIs, etc) for providing tele-ICU services, mentoring and technical hand-holding to the district paediatric units.

    They would be supported to augment 20,000 ICU beds in public healthcare system out of which 20 per cent will be pediatric ICU beds, it said.

    The Phase-II of the package has central sector (CS) and centrally-sponsored schemes (CSS) components.

    The statement said that under the central sector components, support would be provided to central hospitals, All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, and other Institutions of National Importance under DoHFW for repurposing 6,688 beds for COVID-19 management.

    National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) would be strengthened by providing genome sequencing machines, besides sanctioning scientific control room, epidemic intelligence services (EIS) and other support, it said.

    Support would be provided for the implementation of Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) in all the district hospitals of the country (presently, it is implemented only in 310 DHs), the statement said.

    All district hospitals would implement HMIS through NIC-developed e-Hospital and CDAC developed E-Shushrutsoftwares.

    This will be the biggest impetus for implementation of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) at the DHs, the statement said.

    Support would also be provided for expanding the national architecture of eSanjeevani tele-consultation platform to provide upto 5 lakhs tele-consultations per day from the present 50,000, the statement said.

    Support would also be provided for IT interventions, including strengthening the Central War room at DoHFW, strengthening the COVID-19 Portal, the 1075 COVID help lines and Co-WIN platform, the statement said.

    Under the CSS components, efforts are aimed at strengthening district and sub-district capacity for an effective and rapid response to the pandemic.

    States and UTs would be helped to provide care closer to the community due to the ingress of COVID-19 in rural, peri-urban and tribal areas, by creating pre-fabricated structures for adding additional beds at the existing CHCs, PHCs and SHCs (6-20 bedded units) and support would also be provided to establish bigger field hospitals (50-100 bedded units) depending on the needs at tier-II or tier-III cities and district HQs, the statement said.

    They would be given help to install 1,050 liquid medical oxygen storage tanks with medical gas pipeline system (MGPS) with an aim to support at least one such unit per district and augment the existing feet of ambulances, the statement said.

    As many as 8,800 ambulances will be added under the package, it said.

    Undergraduate and post graduate medical interns and final year MMBS, BSc and GNM nursing students would be engaged for effective Covid management, it added.

    In March 2020, when the country was faced with the first wave of the COVID 19 pandemic, the PM announced a Central Sector Scheme of Rs.

    15,000 crore as the ‘India COVID 19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package’, the statement said.

    Since mid-February 2021, the country is experiencing a second wave with spread into rural, peri-urban and tribal areas, the statement added.