The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for amendment of the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 1954 by way of the Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2017.
The approval paves the way for applicability of Goods and Services Tax regime in the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
The Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Amendment Order, 2017 has already been notified in Gazette of India on 6th July, 2017 after the assent of the President.
Cabinet apprised of the MoU signed between India and Palestine on cooperation in the field of on youth affairs and sports
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Palestine on cooperation in the field of youth affairs and sports.
The MoU will help in promoting exchange of ideas, values and culture amongst all youth irrespective of their caste, religion and gender as well as development of sports in the two countries. In turn, it will help in consolidating friendly relations between the two countries.
Cabinet apprised of the Joint Declaration of Intent between India and Germany on Indo German-Centre for Sustainability
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between Department of Science & Technology (DST), India and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany on Indo German-Centre for Sustainability (IGCS). The JDI was concluded on 30th May, 2017 in Germany during the fourth Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) between India and Germany between Prime Minister of India and the German Federal Chancellor in Berlin. The JDI was signed by the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, India, Dr Harsh Vardhan and Germany’s Minister for Education & Research Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka.
The objective of the JDI on IGCS is to promote cooperation between German and Indian scientists on fundamental and applied scientific research. It includes areas such as policy support, teaching, training and dissemination of information in the area of sustainable development and climate change through inter-disciplinary/trans-
Under this JDI, the required institutional framework will be developed to provide fund support to the IGCS at IIT, Madras by DST and BMBF. DST will provide grant-in-aid support to IGCS for undertaking research in the areas of climate change for sustainable development. DST and BMBF will jointly support the IGCS for a period of five years starting from January 2018.
Cabinet approves revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given approval for revision of guidelines of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) Scheme with a view to achieve its intended objectives.
Two sets of changes have been made in the scheme:
I. Specific changes have been made in the attributes of the scheme to make it more attractive, mobilise finances as per the target and reduce the economic strains caused by imports of gold and reduce the Current Account Deficit (CAD).
II. Flexibility has been given to Ministry of Finance to design and introduce variants of SGBs with different interest rates and risk protection / pay-offs that would offer investment alternatives to different category of investors. Ministry of Finance (the issuer) has been delegated this power to amend / add to the features of the Scheme with approval of the Finance Minister to reduce the time lag between finalizing the attributes of a particular tranche and its notification. Such flexibility will be effective in addressing the elements of competition with new products of investment, to deal with very dynamic and sometimes volatile market, macro-economic and other conditions such as gold price.
Following specific changes in the scheme have been approved:
i. The investment limit per fiscal year has been increased to 4 kg for individuals, 4 Kg for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) and 20 Kg for Trusts and similar entities notified by the Government from time to time.
ii. The ceiling will be counted on Financial year basis and will include the SGBs purchased during the trading in the secondary market.
iii. The ceiling on investment will not include the holdings as collateral by Banks and Financial institutions.
iv. SGBs will be available 'on tap’. Based on the consultation with NSE, BSE, Banks and Department of Post, features of product to emulate 'On Tap' sale would be finalised by Ministry of Finance.
v. To improve liquidity and tradability of SGBs, appropriate market making initiatives will be devised. Market makers, could be commercial banks or any other public sector entity, such as MMTC or any other entity as decided by Gol.
vi. The Government may, if so felt necessary, allow higher commission to agents.
Background:
Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme was notified by the Government of India on November 05, 2015 after due approval of the Cabinet. The main objective of the scheme was to develop a financial asset as an alternative to purchasing metal gold. The target was to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for Investment into 'demat' gold bonds. The target mobilisation under the scheme at Rs. 15,000 crore in 2015-16 and at Rs.10,000 crore in 2016-17. The amount so far credited in Government account is Rs. 4,769 crore.
In view of less than expected response of the investors to the scheme, and considering its bearing on CAD and consequently on overall macro-economic health of the country, it was felt necessary to make changes in this scheme to make it a success.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
Cabinet approves revision of cost of Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of Department of Rural Development for revision of cost of Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC 2011). It provides for:
(a) Revising the cost of SECC 2011 to Rs. 4893.60 crore from the approved estimated expenditure of Rs.3,543.29 crore within the indicative cost of Rs.4,000 crore as approved by the Government.
(b) Approval of time and cost overrun and consequential revision in the upper limit of cost per record to the consortium of Central Public Sector Undertakings.
The SECC -2011 project has been concluded on 31.3.2016. The cost has already been committed and the project has met all its milestones.
Major Impact:
The Government of India has been spending a large sum of money on poverty alleviation and welfare programmes in rural and urban areas of the country to assist the poor and the marginalized section of the society. The SECC has paved the way for better targeting of the poor and evidence based targeted intervention for ameliorating conditions of the poor households.
Before the availability of SECC data, correct identification of eligible beneficiaries was a major challenge. Accusation of bias in the BPL list affected coverage of poorest of the poor. SECC data is based on information furnished by households. In addition, households were given opportunity to raise claims and objections on SECC enumerated and published data. Thus, SECC database provides an authentic list of information disclosed by the households for identifying and prioritising beneficiaries under various schemes run by Ministry of Rural Development and other Departments in the Government.
Ranking of Households is made through a three-step process involving thirteen Exclusion parameters for identifying not-poor households, five Automatic Inclusion parameters for identifying poorest of the poor households and seven Deprivation Criteria for identifying poor households. Government of India has advised States to use this process, SECC data and its TIN number of households for identification of poor under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin(PMAY-G), etc. Use of SECC-2011 has brought transparency in selection of beneficiary and its structured incidence with DBT having maximal impact on governance and accountability.
Background:
Before the availability of SECC -21011 data, Below Poverty Line (BPL) list prepared in 2002, by States/UTs was being used for identifying beneficiaries of development programmes and schemes including Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G)) and National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP). The 2002 BPL list attracted claims of biases. It was decided by the Government on 19.05.2011 to launch a Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 in order to get data for ranking of households for receiving benefits from the Government. To avoid exclusion and inclusion errors, the SECC 2011 elicited information on identified parameters from each household for identification of deprivation and multi-dimensionality of poverty.
The Ministry of Rural Development provided financial and technical support to the States/UTs for conducting Socio Economic and Caste Census-2011 (SECC-2011) to generate a large number of socio and economic indicators for ranking of each rural household across the country. The project could not be completed in scheduled time as the States/UTs needed more time to deal with enumeration and claims and objections. Cost increased from Rs.4000 crore approved by the Government to Rs.4893.60 crore.
SECC allows ranking of households based on their socio economic status. SECC-2011 provides the government the names and number of families in each Panchayat and details their status on seven deprivation parameters. The advantage of SECC is that it provides for programme specific customized priority list to suit programme objective and budget space to address specific deprivation. Ministry of Rural Development has generated customized priority list for Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojna-Gramin(PMAY-G) and Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) from SECC following due selection process approved by the Government.