UPSC Essentials: One word a day – PM-DevINE, the government scheme

Subject: Polity, Government schemes and policies

Relevance: Government schemes are an important part of UPSC syllabus. They are essentials not only for prelims but also for mains examinations. The Government of India has a great focus on North-Eastern India. Every news of this region should be taken seriously by aspirants. Beyond the word will let you know briefly about MoDONER, its initiatives/activities and the NER District SDG index. Don’t miss solving the MCQ.

Why in news?

— The Union Cabinet has approved the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) – a new scheme for the Northeastern states which was announced in the Union Budget earlier this year. The scheme will be operational for the remaining four years of the 15th Finance Commission, from 2022-23 to 2025-26, and will have an outlay of Rs 6,600 crore.

What is PM-DevINE?

— The new scheme, PM-DevINE, is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% Central funding and will be implemented by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) through North Eastern Council or Central Ministries/ agencies.

— The PM-DevINE Scheme will have an outlay of Rs.6,600 crore for the four year period from 2022-23 to 2025-26 (remaining years of 15th Finance Commission period).

— PM-DevINE will lead to creation of infrastructure, support industries, social development projects and create livelihood activities for youth and women, thus leading to employment generation.

— Measures would be taken to ensure adequate operation and maintenance of the projects sanctioned under PM-DevINE so that they are sustainable.

— To limit construction risks of time and cost overrun, falling on the Government projects would be implemented on Engineering-procurement-Construction (EPC) basis, to the extent possible.

— Efforts will be made to complete the PM-DevINE projects by 2025-26 so that there are no committed liabilities beyond this year, said DoNER officials.

What are the objectives of PM-DevINE?

The objectives of PM-DevINE are to:

(a)    Fund infrastructure convergently, in the spirit of PM Gati Shakti;

(b)    Support social development projects based on felt needs of the NER;

(c)    Enable livelihood activities for youth and women;

(d)    Fill the development gaps in various sectors.

What is the justification for announcement of PM- DevINE?

According to PIB,

“The justification for announcement of PM-DevINE is that the parameters of NE States in respect of Basic Minimum Services (BMS) are well below the national average and there are critical development gaps as per the NER District Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Index 2021-22 prepared by NITI Aayog, UNDP and MDoNER. The new Scheme, PM-DevINE was announced to address these BMS shortfalls and development gaps.”

What else you should know about PM-DevINE?

According to PIB,

— PM-DevINE will provide support to infrastructure and social development projects which may be larger in size and will also provide an end-to-end development solution instead of isolated projects.

— It will be ensured that there is no duplication of project support under PM-DevINE with any of the other schemes of MDoNER or those of any other Ministry/Department.

— PM-DevINE, was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 to address development gaps in the North Eastern Region (NER). Announcement of PM-DevINE is yet another instance of the importance being attached to the development of NE Region by the Government.

— PM-DevINE is an additionality to the quantum of resources available for the development of the NER. It will not be a substitute for existing Central and State Schemes.

— While some of the projects to be approved for 2022-23 under PM-DevINE are part of the Budget announcement, projects with substantial socio-economic impact or sustainable livelihood opportunities for the general public (e.g., basic infrastructure in all Primary Health Care Centres, comprehensive facilities in Government Primary and Secondary Schools, etc) may be considered in the future.

Beyond the word: MDoNER, its initiatives/activities and an Index

MDoNER

— The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MD0NER) is responsible for the matters relating to the planning, execution and monitoring of development schemes and projects in the North Eastern Region. Its vision is to accelerate the pace of socio-economic development of the Region so that it may enjoy growth parity with the rest of the country.

Initiatives/activities of MDoNER:

NESIDS

North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme” (NESIDS) was approved by the Government of India as a Central Sector Scheme. Under the Scheme guidelines of NESIDS, 100% centrally funding is provided to the State Governments of North Eastern Region for the projects of physical infrastructure relating to water supply, power and connectivity enhancing tourism and Social infrastructure relating to primary and secondary sectors of education and health.

NLCPR

The Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) Scheme came into existence in 1998 under then Planning Commission. Subsequently, it was transferred to DoNER in 2001. Since inception of the Scheme, various projects were sanctioned across sectors for development of North Eastern Region as per Scheme guidelines framed for the purpose and revised from time to time.

The objective of NLCPR Scheme is to fill up the gap in infrastructure sector of the North Eastern Region through sanctioning the projects prioritised by the State Governments. Ministry gets Annual Budgetary Allocation from Ministry of Finance for funding the projects under NLCPR Scheme. Funds under the scheme are shared between the Central and State Governments on 90:10 basis.

SIDF

The Union Finance Minister in his Budget Speech for 2008-09 announced to set apart a sum of Rs.500 crore (subsequently enhanced to Rs.586.20 crore) for North Eastern Region (NER), especially for Arunachal Pradesh and other border areas facing special problems that cannot be tackled through normal schemes. This is called Social and Infrastructure Development Fund (SIDF). It is a one-time package that covers projects, prioritized by the State Governments as per their requirement, which, inter alia, include construction of new roads and bridges, re-establishment of new sub-stations/transmission lines, construction/upgradation of hospitals, establishment of schools, water supply projects etc.

10 percent GBS

Earmarking 10% of their Annual Plan Budgets by Central Ministries for the North Eastern Region is a bold step by the Union Government to address the development deficit of the NER. 10% of the Annual Plan Budget of 52 Ministries of the Union Government is earmarked every year for spending in NER since 1998-99 even though the NER has 7.9% (2,62,179 sq. km out of 3287263 sq. km) of India’s land mass and 3.76% (4.55 crore out of 121 crore) of population as per Census 2011.

The North East Venture Fund (NEVF)

Ministry of DoNER had joined with North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) to set up the North East Venture Fund, the first and the only Venture Fund for Northeast with an initial corpus of Rs. 100 crores. The fund targets to invest in Start-Ups and unique business opportunities to provide resources for new entrepreneurships. The main focus of North East Venture Fund (NEVF)  is for mostly the enterprises involved in Food Processing, Healthcare, Tourism, segregation of services, IT, etc.

STINER

The main objective of Science & Technology Interventions in the North East Region (STINER) is to bring in the latest and advanced technologies to the North-Eastern region to help the women farmers and other artisans living there. National research institutes and technological institutions such as IITs are assigned to develop new technology for the people living in the North-eastern region which can help them in agriculture.

External aided projects

North Eastern States Roads Investment Programme (NESRIP) assisted by Asian Development Bank (ADB)

The scheme envisaged construction/up-gradation of total 433.425 km long roads in 6 North Eastern States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.

North East Rural Livelihood Project assisted by World Bank

The objective of the North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP) is “To improve rural livelihoods especially that of women, unemployed youth and the most disadvantaged, in four North Eastern States”. The proposed project has four major components:

• Social empowerment;
• Economic empowerment;
• Partnership development & management and
• Project management.

NER District Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Index 2021-22

— The NER District SDG Index & Dashboard, a collaborative effort by NITI Aayog and Ministry of DoNER, with technical support from UNDP, is the first of its kind in the country as it focuses on the North Eastern Region, which is of critical significance to the country’s development trajectory.

— The Index measures the performance of the districts of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura on the Sustainable Development Goals and their corresponding targets and ranks the districts based on the same.

— The index is based on NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index –the principal and official tool for monitoring progress on the SDGs at the national and State/ Union Territorylevels and shares the common ethos of benchmarking performance and ranking on the SDGs to foster competition among the districts.

— The NER District SDG Index aims at delineating progress at the district level on a basket of indicators and enhancing analytical understanding of sectoral issues as well as data gaps, while assisting in designing future courses of action in the region. The modular nature of the index makes it a policy tool and a ready reckoner for gauging progress of districts on the expansive set of the Global Goals, including health, education, gender, economic growth, institutions, climate change and environment, among others.

— Out of the 103 districts considered for ranking, 64 districts belonged to the Front Runner category while 39 districts were in the Performer category in the composite score and ranking of districts. All districts in Sikkim and Tripura fall in the Front Runner category and there are no districts in the Aspirant or Achiever categories.

— East Sikkim [Score 75.87] ranks first in the region followed by districts Gomati and North Tripura [Score 75.73] in the second position.

What else you should know?

NEHHDC

Home Minister recently launched the North Eastern Handicrafts & Handlooms Development Corporation Limited (NEHHDC) Mobile Application during the session. The NEHHDC would help register artisans and weavers online and collect authentic data through the app. It is expected to provide training through specially designed online courses and help the beneficiaries and redress grievances.

NESAC

North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) was established as a joint initiative of Department of Space (DOS) and the North Eastern Council (NEC) and came into being on 5th of September, 2000. The Centre helps in augmenting the developmental process in the region by providing the advanced space technology support.

Point to ponder: What exactly does the Northeast question mean as India completed its 75 years of independence?

MCQ:

Which of the following is not correctly matched?

a) North Eastern States Roads Investment Programme- Asian Development Bank

b) North East Rural Livelihood Project- UNDP

c) North Eastern Space Applications Centre- North Eastern Council

d) North East Venture Fund- North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd

Post Read Q&A

Can you recall what you read?

1. What are the objectives of PM- DevINE?
2. What are important initiatives/activities of DoNER?
3. What is the purpose of NER District SDG Index?

(Sources: pib.gov.in, mdoner.gov.in)