INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

Garib Kalyan, Desh ka Kalyan

• Direct Benefit Transfer through PM Jan Dhan Accounts: The direct benefit transfer of US$ 409.8 Billion (Rs. 34 lakh crore) using PM Jan Dhan accounts has resulted in substantial savings for the government. These savings have been achieved through the prevention of leakages, enabling the allocation of more funds for the welfare of the poor.
• 25 crore people moved out of multidimensional poverty.
• The PM SVANIDHI scheme has extended credit assistance to 78 lakh street vendors, with 2.3 lakh vendors receiving credit for the third time.
• The PM JANMAN Yojana is reaching out to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
• The PM Vishwakarma Yojana provides end-to-end support to artisans and craftspeople engaged in 18 trades.

Empowering the Youth

• The National Education Policy 2020 is ushering transformational reforms.
• Skill India Mission has trained 1.4 crore youth, upskilled and reskilled 54 lakh youth, and established 3,000 new ITIs.
• Many institutions of higher learning, namely 7 IITs, 16 IIITs, 7 IIMs, 15 AIIMSs, and 390 universities, have been set up.
• PM Mudra Yojana has sanctioned 43 crore loans amounting to US$ 271.2 Billion (Rs. 22.5 lakh crore) for the entrepreneurial aspirations of youth.
• Fund of Funds, Startup India, and Startup Credit Guarantee Schemes are assisting the youth.

Welfare of Farmers-Annadata

• Every year under PM Kisan Samman Yojana, direct financial assistance is provided to 11.8 crore farmers, including marginal and small farmers.
• Crop insurance is given to 4 crore farmers under PM Fasal Bima Yojana.
• These initiatives are assisting farmers in producing food for the country and for the world.
• The Electronic National Agricultural Market has integrated 1,361 mandis and is providing services to 1.8 crore farmers with a trading volume of US$ 36.2 Billion (Rs.3 Lakh Crore).

Nari Shakti

• 30 crore MUDRA Yojana loans have been given to woman entrepreneurs.
• Female enrolment in higher education has gone up by 28% in 10 years.
• In Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses, girls and women constitute 43% of enrolment, one of the highest in the world.
• 1 crore women assisted by 83 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs) to become Lakhpati Didis.

Sectors Updates

Agriculture and food processing

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana has benefitted 38 lakh farmers and generated 10 lakh employment.
• Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Yojana has assisted 2.4 lakh SHGs and sixty thousand individuals with credit linkages.
• For ensuring faster growth of the sector, the government will further promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities including aggregation, modern storage, efficient supply chains, primary and secondary processing, and marketing and branding.
• A strategy will be formulated to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower.
• Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) will be stepped up to:
  • Enhance aquaculture productivity from existing 3 to 5 tons per hectare,
  • Double exports to ` 1 lakh crore; and
  • generate 55 lakh employment opportunities in near future.

Railways

• Implementation of three major economic railway corridor programs: Energy, mineral, and cement corridors; Port connectivity corridors; and High traffic density corridors.
• Projects identified under PM Gati Shakti for multi-modal connectivity, aiming to enhance logistics efficiency and reduce costs.
• Decongestion of high-traffic corridors to improve passenger train operations, ensuring safety and higher travel speeds. Integration with dedicated freight corridors to accelerate GDP growth and cut down logistic costs.
• Conversion of 40,000 normal rail bogies to Vande Bharat standards for heightened safety, convenience, and passenger comfort.

Aviation Sector

• The number of airports has doubled, reaching a total of 149.
• 517 new routes catering to 1.3 crore passengers.
• Indian carriers placed orders for over 1000 new aircraft.

Green Energy

Measures proposed to achieve ‘net-zero’ by 2070:

• Provision of viability gap funding to harness offshore wind energy potential, initially targeting a capacity of one gigawatt.
• Establishment of coal gasification and liquefaction capacity totalling 100 million tonnes by 2030.
• Implementation of a phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transportation and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic use.
• Offering financial assistance for the procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to facilitate collection, supporting sustainable practices.