08TH JUNE 2020 - PIB SUMMARIES - Shiksha IAS
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Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore 08th June 2020 – PIB Summaries
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/pib-summaries/08th-june-2020-pib-summaries/
08TH JUNE 2020 – PIB SUMMARIES
Posted on June 9, 2020 by admin
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Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/pib-summaries/08th-june-2020-pib-summaries/
PIB SUMMARIES CONTENTS
1. MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS).
2. CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL (CAT).
3. SUGAR SECTOR RELATED ISSUES.
4. BS-VI EMISSION STANDARDS.
MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT
GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS)
CONTEXT
Highest ever allocation of Rs. 1,01,500 crores made under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS during
financial year 2020-2021; a sum of Rs. 31,493 crores have already been released.
CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR ALLOCATIONS SO FAR AND ITS IMPACT
A sum of Rs. 31,493 crores have already been released in 2020-2021, which is more than 50%
of the budget estimate of the current Financial Year.
A total of 80 crore person days has been generated so far and work has been offered to 6.69
crore persons. Average number of persons to whom work offered in May 2020 has been 2.51
crore per day, which is 73% higher than the work offered in May last year, which was 1.45
crore persons per day.
A total of 10 lakh works has been completed so far during the current Financial Year 2020-2021.
A sustained focus is on taking up works related to water conservation and irrigation,
plantation, horticulture and Individual Beneficiary works for livelihood promotion.
LEGAL BACKING TO MGNREGS
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005
Objective-The Act aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by
guaranteeing hundred days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural household
whose adult members (at least 18 years of age) volunteer to do unskilled work.
Funding-The central government bears the full cost of unskilled labour, and 75% of the cost
of material (the rest is borne by the states).
Demand driven scheme-It is a demand-driven, social security and labour law that aims to
enforce the ‘right to work’.
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Implementation-Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Government of India in association with
state governments, monitors the implementation of the scheme.
Central Employment Guarantee Council is a forum constituted under Section 10(3) (d) of the
MGNREGA Act, 2005. It is responsible for a central monitoring and evaluation system
for the scheme, besides advising the government on its implementation.
The act mandates Gram sabhas to recommend the works that are to be undertaken and at
least 50% of the works must be executed by them.
ISSUES WITH MGNREGA
Inadequate Financing: This year’s allocation is the highest allocation for MGNREGA in any year
since the passage of the law.
However, the allocation amounts to 0.47% of the GDP continues to be much lower than
the World Bank recommendations of 1.7% of GDP for the optimal functioning of the
programme.
Due to lack of funds, state governments find it difficult to meet the demand for
employment under MGNREGA.
Since 2012, an average of 18 per cent of the annual budgetary allocation for MGNREGA
has been spent on clearing pending liabilities from the previous years. Even this financial
year began with pending wage and material liabilities of Rs 16,045 crore. An allocation of
Rs 1 lakh crore for FY 2020-21 would mean that approximately Rs 84,000 crore is
available for employment generation this year.
Delay in Payment of wages: Most states have failed to disburse wages within 15 days as
mandated by MGNREGA. In addition, workers are not compensated for a delay in payment of
wages.
This has turned the scheme into a supply-based programme and subsequently, workers
had begun to lose interest in working under it.
Ineffective Role of PRI: With very little autonomy, gram panchayats are not able to
implement this act in an effective and efficient manner.
Large Number of Incomplete works: There has been a delay in the completion of works
under MGNREGA and inspection of projects has been irregular. Also, there is an issue of quality
of work and asset creation under MGNREGA.
Fabrication of Job cards: There are several issues related to the existence of fake job cards,
the inclusion of fictitious names, missing entries and delays in making entries in job cards.
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CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL (CAT)
CONTEXT
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurates CAT Bench at Jammu.
WHAT IS CAT?
The Central Administrative Tribunal had been established under Article 323 – A of the
Constitution for adjudication of disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment and
conditions of service of persons appointed to public services and posts in connection with
the affairs of the Union or other authorities under the control of the Government.
MEMBERS AND QUALIFICATIONS
Members are drawn from both judicial and administrative streams and are appointed by the
president. They hold office for a term of five years or until they attain the age of 65 years, in
case of chairman and 62 years in case of members, whichever is earlier.
A person shall not be qualified for appointment as the Chairman unless he is, or has been, a
Judge of a High Court, provided that a person appointed as Vice-Chairman before the
commencement of this Act shall be qualified for appointment as Chairman if such person has
held the office of the Vice-Chairman at least for a period of two years.
JURISDICTION AND EXEMPTIONS
The CAT exercises original jurisdiction in relation to recruitment and all service matters of
public servants covered by it. Its jurisdiction extends to the all-India services, the Central civil
services, civil posts under the Centre and civilian employees of defence services. However, the
members of the defence forces, officers and servants of the Supreme Court and the
secretarial staff of the Parliament are not covered by it.
ENABLING ACT
In pursuance of Article 323-A, the Parliament has passed the Administrative Tribunals Act in
1985. The act authorises the Central government to establish one Central Administrative
Tribunal and the state administrative tribunals. There are 17 Benches and 21 Circuit Benches
in the Central Administrative Tribunal all over India.
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OPERATING PRINCIPLES
It exercises jurisdiction only in relation to the service matters of the parties covered by the
Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.
The Tribunal is guided by the principles of natural justice in deciding cases and is not bound
by the procedure, prescribed by the Civil Procedure Code.
Under Section 17 of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985, the Tribunal has been conferred with
the power to exercise the same jurisdiction and authority in respect of contempt of itself as
a High Court.
APPEALS AGAINST AWARDS
The orders of Central Administrative Tribunal are challenged by way of Writ Petition under
Article 226/227 of the Constitution before respective High Court in whose territorial
jurisdiction the Bench of the Tribunal is situated.
SUGAR SECTOR RELATED ISSUES
CONTEXT
Shri Ram Vilas Paswan reviews sugar sector related issues with officials of DoFPD.
PRICING
Fair and Remunerative Price
FRP is the minimum price that the sugar mills have to pay to farmers.
It is determined on basis of recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and
Prices (CACP) and after consultation with State Governments and other stake-holders.
State Advised Price (SAP)
In other key growing states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand,
farmers get the State Advised Price (SAP) fixed by state governments which is usually
higher than FRP.
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Problems of Sugar Industry
Uncertain Production Output
Sugarcane has to compete with several other food and cash crops like cotton, oil seeds,
rice, etc. This affects the supply of sugarcane to the mills and the production of sugar
also varies from year to year causing fluctuations in prices leading to losses in times of
excess production due to low prices.
Low Yield of Sugarcane
India yield per hectare is extremely low as compared to some of the major sugarcane
producing countries of the world. For example, India’s yield is only 64.5 tonnes/hectare
as compared to 90 tonnes in Java and 121 tonnes in Hawaii.
Short crushing season
Sugar production is a seasonal industry with a short crushing season varying normally
from 4 to 7 months in a year.
It causes financial loss and seasonal employment for workers and lack of full utilization of
sugar mills.
Low Sugar recovery rate
The average rate of recovery of sugar from sugarcane in India is less than ten per cent
which is quite low as compared to other major sugar producing countries.
High Production cost
High cost of sugarcane, inefficient technology, uneconomic process of production and
heavy excise duty result in high cost of manufacturing.
Most of the sugar mills in India are of small size with a capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 tonnes
per day thus fail to take advantage of economies of scale.
Government policy and control
Government has been controlling sugar prices through various policy interventions like
export duty, imposition of stock limit on sugar mills, change in meteorology rule etc.,
to balance supply demand mismatch.
But these controls have resulted in unremunerative sugar prices, increasing arrears for
sugar mills and dues to be paid to sugarcane farmers.
Government Initiative
Rangarajan committee (2012) was set up to give recommendations on regulation of sugar
industry. Its major recommendations:
Abolition of the quantitative controls on export and import of sugar, these should be
replaced by appropriate tariffs.
Committee recommended no more outright bans on sugar exports.
The central government has prescribed a minimum radial distance of 15 km between
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any two sugar mills, this criterion often causes virtual monopoly over a large area can
give the mills power over farmers. The Committee recommended that the distance
norm be reviewed.
There should be no restrictions on sale of by-products and prices should be market
determined. States should also undertake policy reform to allow mills to harness power
generated from bagasse.
Remove the regulations on release of non-levy sugar. Removal of these controls will
improve the financial health of the sugar mills. This, in turn, will lead to timely payments
to farmers and a reduction in cane arrears.
Based on the report, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommended a
hybrid approach of fixing sugarcane prices, which involved fair and remunerative price
(FRP).
The year 2013-14 was a water-shed for the sugar industry. The Central Government considered
the recommendations of the committee headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan on de-regulation of
sugar sector and decided to discontinue the system of levy obligations on mills for sugar
produced after September, 2012 and abolished the regulated release mechanism on open
market sale of sugar.
The de-regulation of the sugar sector was undertaken to improve the financial health of sugar
mills, enhance cash flows, reduce inventory costs and also result in timely payments of cane
price to sugarcane farmers.
The recommendations of the Committee relating to Minimum Distance Criteria and adoption
of the Cane Price Formula have been left to State Governments for adoption and
implementation, as considered appropriate by them.
With the aim of benefitting Sugar farmers and in order to clear their arrears/cane dues, the
Union Government has decided to increase the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) of Sugar from Rs.
29 to Rs. 31 for the year 2019-20.
Apart from this, the government has also provided incentives on producing ethanol from B-
heavy molasses and cane juice to divert the sugar surpluses towards biofuel, thus indirectly
supporting sugar prices. The new Biofuel Policy 2018 has fixed a target of achieving 20 per
cent ethanol blending with petrol by 2030.
Extending Assistance to sugar mills for defraying expenditure towards internal transport,
freight, handling and other charges to facilitate export of sugar from the country
Government is reimbursing carrying cost (which includes interest rate @ 12% maximum and
storage charges /insurance premium @1.5%) of Rs.780 crore towards maintenance of buffer
stock.
As ethanol is a way forward for sugar sector, all sugar mills are being encouraged to divert
excess sugarcane and sugar to fuel grade ethanol to achieve 10% blending target by year
2022. The Government has allowed production of ethanol from sugar and sugar syrup for
current ethanol supply year 2019-20 (December, 2019 - November, 2020) and fixed the
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remunerative ex-mill price of ethanol.
Soft loans of about Rs. 18,643 crores are being extended through banks to 362 sugar mills and
molasses-based standalone distilleries for enhancement and augmentation of ethanol
production capacity, for which an interest subvention of about Rs.4,045 crore for five years is
being borne by the Government.
BS-VI EMISSION STANDARDS
CONTEXT
Distinct colour band for number plate sticker for BS-6 four-wheel vehicles. Green strip of 1 cm
thickness for BS 6 vehicles for sticker of registration details being stuck on windshields of 4
wheelers.
BHARATH STAGE NORMS
Bharat Stage norms are standards set by the government to regulate emission of air
pollutants from motor vehicles. The norms set the limit for the release of air pollutants such
as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, particulate matter (PM) and sulphur
oxides from vehicles using internal combustion engines. The Bharat stage norms are based
on Euro norms.
Standard Reference Date of Implementation
Bharat Stage II Euro 2 1 April 2005
Bharat Stage III Euro 3 1 April 2010
Bharat Stage IV Euro 4 1 April 2017
April 2020 with a mandate
Bharat Stage VI Euro 6
(proposed)
BS-VI REQUIREMENTS
Carmakers would have to put three pieces of equipment — a DPF (diesel particulate filter), an
SCR (selective catalytic reduction) system, and an LNT (Lean NOx trap) — to meet stringent
BS-VI norms, all at the same time.
This is vital to curb both PM (particulate matter) and NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions as
mandated under the BS-VI norms.
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How is BS-VI Different from BS-IV?
The major difference between the existing BS-IV and forthcoming BS-VI norms is the presence
of sulphur in the fuel.
While the BS-IV fuels contain 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur, the BS-VI grade fuel only has
10 ppm sulphur content.
Also, the harmful NOx (nitrogen oxides) from diesel cars can be brought down by nearly
70%.
In the petrol cars, they can be reduced by 25%.
However, when we talk about air pollution, particulate matter like PM 2.5 and PM 10 are the
most harmful components and the BS-VI will bring the cancer-causing particulate matter in
diesel cars by a phenomenal 80%.
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