KAS PRELIMS

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman presented the Budget 2020-21 on February 1, 2020. The Minister has allocated Rs 2.83 lakh crore rupees for the agriculture and rural development sector. The Government aims to liberalize farm markets, remove distortions in livestock and farm markets and increase agricultural investments. It also focuses to increase purchase of farm produce and related services. The Budget presents 16 action points in its budget to achieve the above aims in AGRICULTURE SECTOR.

The scheme SFURTI-Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional industries was launched in 2005. It enhances production of Khadi industries and artisans. Also, under SFURTI, the scheme for rural industries Service Centre (RISC) is being implemented. The scheme for Product Development, Design Intervention and Packaging is also implemented under SFURTI.

The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman proposed the scheme Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme in the Union Budget 2020. In order to implement the scheme, the minister introduced a bill in Lok Sabha on February 5, 2020.  The scheme aims to settle the pending cases on direct taxes. The scheme is very similar to the “Indirect Tax, Sabka Vishwas Scheme” introduced by the minister in her previous budget in 2019. The Sabka Vishwas scheme aimed to settle down the disputes related to service tax and excise duty payments

Highlights Under the scheme, the government has launched an exclusive mobile number (080-44554455), a website (janasevaka.karnataka.gov.in) and mobile application. People can check around 53 services in the site. Features of the scheme The scheme offers to provide health card, ration card, marriage registration certificate, identity card, etc. at the door steps under the scheme. A Jan Sevak is appointed to deliver the services under the scheme Jan Sevak As the citizen places his request of service through the government website, a Jan Sevak is assigned to deliver the service. The Jan Sevak will reach the residence of the citizen, collect required documents and deliver the service at his door step. Cost The Cost of the service is Rs 115. This amount does not include the cost of documentation. The scheme is to be implemented in Bengaluru. Depending on the work load, it is to be extended to the rest of Karnataka.

the State Government of Karnataka launched Janasevaka scheme. The Government aims to provide doorstep government services under the scheme. Also, it intends to digitize several services and make these services easily available to the citizens through the scheme.

The pesticides management bill includes provisions to provide compensation when there is farm loss due to use of low-quality pesticides. The loss of farmers is to be paid using funds collected from the manufacturers. The information regarding the pesticides available in the market is to be made available in digital format. This will help farmers make the right choice.

the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare introduced School Health Ambassador initiative. Under the initiative, two teachers in every school are to be made as Health and Wellness ambassador.

Pakistan test fired 600 km range Ra’ad II missile successfully on land and at sea. The missile range has been upgraded from 550km in 2017 to 600km. It is important for India to closely monitor such advances as New Delhi is roughly 430km from Lahore.

Significance There are more than 86% of small and marginal farmers that hold less than 1.1 hectares of land. They face challenges in buying fertilizers, quality seed, pesticides. The Farmer Producer Organization help farmers in addressing these challenges. They help farmers gain better access to market, technology and finance. Therefore, launching more and more of these organizations will help in betterment of life of the farmers. This will also help GoI in achieving its target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022. Kisan Credit Card The PM will also launch a saturation drive on Kisan Credit Card to the beneficiaries PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. The motive of the drive is to distribute 2 crore cards to the beneficiaries of the scheme. Today, over 6.5 crore cards have been issued under the scheme.

On February 29, 2020, PM Modi shall launch 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations at Chitrakoot. The event is being organized to commemorate the successful completion of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana