Social Security for Persons with Disabilities in India

P Madhava Rao

While the programmes of Social Security are to guarantee income maintenance or

income support, the condition of the disabled persons is somewhat different. Some might
have become disabled due to work injury or accident or due to some other contingency
during their work life. Such persons have employment related social security schemes in
operation in India. However, there are majority of the disabled persons in the country
who are not employed but require social protection. This chapter seeks to address the
problems of those along with their social security needs and attempts to design a policy of
social security for them.

Introduction
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines Social Security as "the security that
society furnishes through appropriate organization against certain risks to which its
members are perennially exposed. These risks are essentially contingencies against which
an individual of small means cannot effectively provide by his own ability or foresight alone
or even in private combination with his fellows.

The mechanics of social security therefore consists in counteracting the blind injustice of
nature and economic activities by rational planned justice with a touch of benevolence to
temper it." This definition of ILO clears and centers on provision of support to an
individual or to his/her family to protecting them falling into contingent poverty which is
that the individual is not otherwise poor but for the contingency. These contingencies as
per ILO are sickness, medical care for the worker, maternity, unemployment, work injury,
death of worker, invalidity and widowhood.

The contingencies however are the work related contingencies and the individual and his
family will be protected only in the case the individual is working before becoming a
subject of the contingency. Thus being employed is a precondition for becoming eligible for
social security benefits. Ironically, this definition does not cover the protection that has to
be provided for the people who are already poor and therefore the Social Assistance
programmes cover them.

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Top

Evolution of Social Security

The concept of social security is as old as the history of man. Stories of Bible tell us how,
during the years of famine, Joseph tried to tide over the situation by making use of surplus
stocks of grain which he had stocked during the earlier years of plenty. The oldest
institution of social security is family that includes the extended family. Industrial
revolution in the Europe has seen the growth of urban and industrial centers that affected
the rural joint families thereby disturbing the institution of social security in the joint
family system.

When individual was unable to take care of his own needs, the society realized the
importance of protecting the individual and his family. In great Britain the poor laws were
enacted to provide minimal food and shelter in a workhouse to the poor. Private savings,
compensation by employers medieval guilds, mutual aid or mutual benefit societies,
private insurance and life insurance are some of the evolutionary forms of social security
efforts.

Need for Social Security

Modernization and urbanization have resulted in radical socio-economic changes and give
rise to new conflicts and tensions consequent upon the erosion of age old family and
fraternal security. The transition from agricultural economy to an industrial economy
brought in special accompanied problems that called for social security.

Purpose and Contingencies of Social Security

The purpose of any social security measure is to give individuals and families the
confidence that their level of living and quality of life will not erode by social or economic
eventuality; provide medical care and income security against the consequences of defined
contingencies; facilitate the victims physical and vocational rehabilitation; prevent or
reduce ill health and accidents in the occupations; protect against unemployment by
maintenance and promotion of job creation and provide benefit for the maintenance of any
children.

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The contingencies of social security as delineated by ILO are medical care, sickness benefit,
unemployment benefit, old age benefit, employment injury benefit, family benefit,
maternity benefit, invalidity benefit and survivors benefit.

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Social Security Strategy in India

The social security strategies include the following:

• Social insurance with the participation of the beneficiary pooling risks and resources
• Social assistance financed from general revenues and granting benefits on the basis
of means test
• Employers liability schemes where there is an identifiable employer and within the
economic capacity of the employer
• National Provident Funds
• Universal schemes for social security.

Social Security in India

Article 43 of the Constitution speaks of state's responsibility to provide social security to
the citizens of this country. In India, we find all the above strategies in practice. For the
purpose of discussion, we may categorize the social security schemes available in India as
Preventive Schemes, Promotional Schemes, and Protective Schemes.

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Preventive Schemes
Preventive Schemes are the Schemes aimed at risk prevention. In the strategy of social
management of risks, preventive approach tries to prevent poverty and helps people under
below poverty line to come above poverty line. Preventive health care, vaccinations against
diseases forms part of he preventive strategies. Majority of the schemes are of social
assistance in nature.

Promotional Schemes
Promotional social security schemes are mainly of Means tested Social Assistance type,
where to guarantee minimum standards of living to vulnerable groups of population, the

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Governments at the State and Center draft schemes financed from the general revenues of
the Government. These are the strategies of risk mitigation. These guarantee:

• Food and Nutritional Security by ensuring per capita availability of food grains,
access to food, developing agriculture sector, targeted Public Distribution system
etc.
• Employment security by ensuring employment by generating employment,
redeploying the surplus manpower in any sector, creating rural employment
opportunities, encouraging technological up gradation.
• Health Security by ensuring availability of medical facilities, maintaining standards
of sanitation and drinking water, eradication and control of communicable diseases,
timely vaccination of children and child bearing women, health insurance, old age
homes and social insurance for the elderly.
• Education Security by ensuring opening of schools, Encouraging children to attend
classes, making education compulsory upto certain age, opening adult learning
centers or formulating schemes like Sakshara, running schemes like mid day meals
etc.
• Women Security: by empowering women, encouraging women literacy, banning
dowry, designing widow pension schemes.
• Assistance to the disabled by undertaking programmes to promote health and
education among the disabled persons, providing rehabilitation services and
reservations in services so as to enable them to participate in social and economic
activity.

All the above form part of promotional social security schemes where State Governments
are more involved than the Central Government. Examples of schemes in the promotional
social security area include:

• Food for work

• Jawahar Rojgar Yojana
• Antyodaya
• Rural Landless Labourers Employment Guarantee Schemes
• programmes of Integrated Rural Development Project
• Drought prone area Programmes

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 • Sakshara
• Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS)
• Public Distribution System
• reservations for the disabled in services
• special educational institutions for the disabled persons etc.

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Protective Social Security Programmes

The protective social security programmes help the poor in removing/reducing contingent
poverty. In India, the protective social security programmes have been designed to address
the contingent poverty or the contingencies d defined by the ILO. These programmes take
care of old-age income needs (Old age pension), survival benefits (Provident Funds),
medical need of insured families (Medical Insurance), widow and children/dependant
economic needs (Widow/Children/orphan, and dependent pension), maternity benefits,
compensation for loss of employment and work injury benefits.

The benefits are extended only to working population majority of whom are in the
organized sector through legislations like:

• Employees State Insurance Act 1948

• Workmen's Compensation Act 1923
• Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952
• Payment of Gratuity Act 1972
• Maternity Benefits Act 1976

Social Security for Disabled Persons in India

Having discussed the social security concepts and strategies and programmes available for
the vulnerable groups, the need for the Social Security programmes for the persons with
disabilities can hardly be overemphasized. However, we need to understand that the family
has been the primary producer of welfare even before the birth of a welfare state on the
lines of modern welfare approach. Later community, membership institutions, markets,
and finally States provided welfare facilities.

5
Particularly in democratic states, it has been the political necessity to produce and
distribute welfare for the vulnerable groups in the society. The magnitude of the woes of
the persons with disabilities is vast and its impact on the individual, family and community
is severe. The most vulnerable groups among the persons with disabilities include very
young children, women and the aged with disabilities.

Their existence and livelihood requirements have to be taken care of by some agency in the
society-that agency could be the state in the absence of benevolent markets and
communities and more so when the families of the persons with disabilities cannot do so.
Further it is apart of social justice that a State may assure to its subjects.

In the United States the Social Security Administration, United States (SSA) considers one
as disabled under Social Security Rules, if on cannot do work that he did before and SSA
decides that he cannot adjust to other work because of his medical condition(s). a person's
disability must also last or be expected to last for at least one year or to result in death.

Social security programme rules assume that working families have access to other
resources to provide support during periods of short-term disabilities, including workers'
compensation, insurance, savings and investments. "The Persons with Disabilities (Equal
Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, inter-alia and strives
to promote empowerment of persons with disabilities. The right to received support and
assistance, although essential to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, is
not enough.

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Data
NSSO 58th Round, undertaken in 2002, estimates that about 1.85 percent of population
suffer from some kind of disability or other. However, detail data are available now for
designing a comprehensive social security system for persons with disabilities. In contrast,
detailed statistics on the disabled population in Europe is available on the basis of which
social security is planned and implemented.

Some of the fundamental rights contained in the European Convention on human Rights
and its Protocols, and the Revised European Social Charter include the right to education;

6
the right to work; the right to private and family life; the right to protection of health and
social security; the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion; the right to
adequate housing etc.

Based on these statistics the European countries are working hard to make their disabled
people enjoy the fruit of the policies. Therefore, availability of detailed data on the disabled
population in India is a pre-requisite for better planning and implementation of social
security schemes. Data on the following aspects as regards the disabled population in the
country will be useful in this regard:

• Parents with disabled children below poverty line:

This is required to design some additional social assistance schemes.
• Unemployed disabled persons who can be gainfully employed:
This is required to design special employment schemes and employment drives and
to evolve income generation strategies for the disabled persons and ultimately make
them eligible for protective type of Social Security Schemes.
• Non-employable disabled persons who always require support of the
Family/Community or the State:
This is required to design State assisted/funded schemes as well as to rehabilitate
them in the homes for disabled persons.
• Disabled persons above 60 years of Age:
This is required to help mitigate the hardships of the disabled senior citizens
through Old Age Pension Schemes in the form of Social Assistance and State
assisted health care.
• Disabled women:
This is required to understand whether the disabled women are dependent on their
parents or on their husbands and the poverty status of their family/parents and to
design schemes of Assistance or Insurance Accordingly. This will also help us to
understand the requirements of the disabled women in the child bearing age and
making provisions for their maternity care.
• Disabled widows:
This will help planners to understand the dependency levels of the widows, if they
are pensioners, their economic status etc.

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 • Disabled persons engaged in agriculture and informal sector:
This data will enable the Government to design programmes of skill upgradation for
the workers in the informal employment and self employment and create backward
and forward linkages for their economic activities. It is also possible to specially
brand the products produced by the disabled and grant export concessions and
subsidies.
• Disabled persons retired from armed forces and capable of being
reemployed:
This data will enable planners to assess the assistance required for this category of
people.

Required Social Security Programmes for the Disabled Persons in India

Assistance and benefits both in the form of cash and kind will help ameliorate the
condition of the disabled persons who have to bear additional economic and social cost due
to their disability. Granting benefits for the persons with disabilities is a necessary
condition but not a sufficient one for their empowerment and overall development. People
with disabilities, like all people, require love and affection that is most often best provided
by their families.

Specific measures and assistance are therefore essential to help these families overcome
the threat of many possible sources of deprivation and provide and caring home as a much
better and more natural alternative to life in large institutions/homes for disabled for
disabled. If the family itself is poor, it may not be able to extend any kind of support to the
disabled members but rather treat him as an extra burden. Before designing the
programmes suggested hereunder, this fundamental social understanding should not be
overlooked.

The cash benefits by way of assistance could be in the form of the following:

• Scholarships to the disabled children

• Old age pension to the aged and widows
• Unemployment assistance to the education disabled
• Cash subsidies for self employed
• Disablement pension
• Retirement pension

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The benefits in the form of kind could be in the form of:

• Concessions and support in various activities and concessions in transport

• Medical assistance
• Medical insurance where employer liability schemes are possible
• Compensation in the case of work injury resulting in disability
• Maternity care for the disabled mother
• Compulsory provision of crèches in all the work places for the children of disabled
mothers
• Reservations and Concessions in services
• Special skill upgradation programmes
• Special schools and Teacher Training centers
• Tax rebates for the disabled persons as well as the parents of the disabled children

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Available Programme for the Disabled

Currently reservations in services, concessions in employment, disability pension under the
Employees' provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952, medical and
maternity benefits under Employees' State Insurance Act 1948, benefits under the
Workmen's Compensation Act 1923, special schools for the disabled children, disability
specific assistance programmes are available in the country, through the coverage is not
comprehensive.

Ironically three major Social Security Acts listed above are the employer liability and
employment related benefit schemes. They are operative only in the case of disability
during the course of employment. There are no programmes for old age and survivor
benefits in the case of the disabled who cannot be employed or the disabled person who are
not employed even after crossing the employable age.

There are no programmes for the disabled, dependent and aged widows excepting some
very meager assistance given by some State Governments such as old age pension of Rs. 75
per month. In addition we find that multiplicity of agencies and duplicity of benefits are
very common to all the social security programmes available in India, and the plight of the
persons with disabilities has no exception to this rule. Annexure II gives the status of

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pension/unemployment allowances for the persons with disabilities, State/union Territory
wise-source: Chief Commissioner Disabilities

Programmes/Schemes required to be designed for the Disabled Persons

Currently available schemes or programmes do not comprehensively address the problems
of the disabled persons. The major Social Security Acts available in India aim only at
employment related disability. N fact a large number of the disabled persons are outside
employment or in informal economic activities or simply dependent on their parents,
children and/or spouses.

In some of the Rural Development and other programmes there are some disabled
beneficiaries. However, keeping in view the statutory provision of 3% reservation for
persons with disabilities I all poverty alleviation schemes, the coverage is negligible. This
provision needs to be effectively implemented.

In the United States the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability
programmes are the largest of several Federal Programmes that provide assistance to
people with disabilities. While these two programmes are different in many ways. Both are
administered by the Social Security Administration and only individuals who have a
disability and meet medical criteria may qualify for benefits under either programme.
Supplemented Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement programme funded
by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes) it is designed to help aged, blind and
disabled people, who have little or no income; and it provides cash to meet basic needs for
food, clothing, and shelter. Based on the international best practices and the India specific
requirements th urgent need is to formulate the following types of benefits and
programmes:

i. Universal old age defined benefit Pension Scheme for the disabled without any
means test (As Social Assistance) should be thought of based on national average
wage that guarantees poverty alleviation among the persons with disabilities;
ii. Universal medical benefits (possibility of establishing opening separate out patient
windows for the disabled should be seen to lessen the hardships of the disabled
patients who stand in the general queues in the public hospitals), free treatment to
the disabled persons by corporate hospitals could be thought of a precondition for
grant of license to the corporate hospitals;

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 iii. Universal Unemployment Assistance to the disabled persons with means test will
definitely alleviate poverty among the persons with disabilities and employable.
However, a scheme of discontinuance of the benefit in the event of non-acceptance
of employment may be thought of to protect them from falling into unemployment
trap;
iv. Trying up with corporate hospitals to extend medical care at a confessional rate to
the disabled, where the disabled have a capacity to pay, and subsidizing cost of
surgical treatments in the hospitals;
v. Social assistance to the disabled children and scholarship schemes for them if they
are school going. Pre-examination training to enable them to sit of competitive
examinations along with other candidates;
vi. Special Employment and Skill upgradation programees
vii. Bank credit at subsidized rate of interest for the self-employment projects taken up
by the disabled persons (NHFDC activities needs to be expanded)
viii. Reservations in services ad other concessions provided needs to be effective
implemented
ix. Incentives to be given to employers encouraging employment of the disabled
persons in consonance the provisions in the PWD Act, 1995.

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Financing of the Schemes

The approach to financing the schemes designed for the disabled persons as also launching
of new social security schemes for persons with disabilities should be broadened and the
following options including the traditional budget allocations out of the Government funds
need to be explored:

• Finance from the general revenues or tax financed as a major source;

• Collection of cess from the industries, employment in which leads to occupational
diseases and work hazards;
• Special tax on luxury items and those items consumption of which are injurious to
health
• Contribution from employed parents of the disabled to establish a separate fund for
Disability welfare;

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 • Donations from charitable organizations;
• Donations from international donors and agencies;
• Employer share of contribution at enhanced rates for the programmes designed to
address contingent poverty;

Administrative Arrangements
The current Administrative arrangements for delivery of support and benefits to the
persons with disabilities are scattered. There is neither a uniform benefit formula nor is
there any single agency that administers or guides the programme. It is suggested that
multiplicity of agencies or departments currently looking after disability benefits need to be
integrated together to have comprehensive programme design and implementation policy
under one umbrella wit a Chief Executive officer.

However disability specific branches under that agency may be designed to continue the
professional approach. As per the Act, one of the jobs of the office of Chief Commissioner
for persons with disabilities is to monitor utilization of funds disbursed by Central
Government. This needs to be ensured. A National Commission has also been set up
recently to aid and advice the Government regarding disability and rehabilitation matters
and to recommend action. Date may be collected through census as also NSSO surveys at
regular intervals.

A National Unique Identification Number on the lines of National Social Security Number
may be thought of to avoid duplicity in benefit delivery. The State Governments may start,
in right earnest issue of identify cards, preferably, SMART cards with assigning such
numbers.

All the States may appoint independent State Commissioners, who, as per the Act., may
perform their quasi-judicial function in supervising and implementation of various
provisions of the Act., and redressing grievances. Administration arrangements may be
made for collection and recording of contributions and donations for developing a fund for
social security programmes for disabled.

The current system of collection of contributions under protective Social Security schemes
need not be disturbed; investment of funds and budgetary allocations made for the purpose
need to be enhanced and designing effective income generating schemes may be given

12
attention. Suitable schemes along with administrative arrangements may be made for
delivery of benefits including medical benefits, old age pension and benefits in cash or
kind.

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Conclusion
The current Social Security programmes are employment related and do not appear to have
any special attention to the disabled persons. To be eligible for the benefits one has to
become disabled after getting into employment. This approach does not address the
disability ab-intio and major problems of non-employment and poverty among the
disabled persons.

Disabled persons in India are the most vulnerable group. Unfortunately, disabled persons
irrespective of their economic status are subjected to social exclusion in the society.
Economic, psychological and social confidence building is therefore immediately
necessary. Social Security programmes for the disabled, to some extent will relieve the pain
of being dependent.

Comprehensive administrative arrangement, poling up funds form various sources and

delivering the benefit under professional supervision and control are the other immediate
requirements. Lack of information and dissemination and absence of a single window
approach make persons with disabilities often unaware of what benefits and schemes are
available to them.

Besides ensuring that available benefits reach them, more resources from local state,
national and international agencies, Government and Non-Government Organisations
need to be mobilized. For example, resources available under various
Departments/Ministries and schemes such as:

• Rural Development,
• HRD Ministry
• Labour Ministry
• DRDA Programmes
• Grant in aid schemes for special schools

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 • Pension schemes
• UNDP programmes
• CARART
• NHFDC and international funding organisations such as NORAD, Action Aid, SIDA,
DANIDA and others need to be harnessed.

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View Status of Pension/Unemployment Allowance Table

Status of Pension/Unemployment Allowance for Persons with Disabilities

Status of Pension/Unemployment Allowance

Disability
Sr. States/Union Unemployment
Pension/Maintenance Remarks
No. Territory Allowance
Allowance
1 Andhra Disability Pension of Rs. Rs. 75/- per month is
Pradesh 75/- per month is given to given to unemployed
all categories of disabled disabled persons
who are between the age who are on the live
group of 18 - 65 years with registers of District
minimum 40% disability. Employment
Exchange and who
are in the age group
of 18-65 years,
provided
parents'/guardian's
annual income does
not exceed Rs.

17
 12,000/-
Disability Pension is
provided to disabled
2 Bihar
persons by Labour
Department of the State.
Social Security Allowance
3 Chattisgarh
of Rs. 150/- per month.
Proposal
regarding scheme
for payment of an
unemployment
allowance to
persons with
A scheme under which a
disabilities,
one-time financial
registered with
assistance of Rs. 1000/- is
the special
provided to those persons
4 Delhi employment
who have 40% or more
exchange for
disability and whose per
more than two
annum income is not more
years and who
than Rs. 22,000/-
could not be
placed in any
gainful
occupation has
been made and is
under process.
Grant of
Unemployment
Allowance is
5 Goa
approved by the
Govt. Details are
not yet available.
6 Gujrat Disability Pension of Rs.

18
 200/- p.m. is given to
disabled persons who have
more than 75% disability,
are above 18 years of age
and whose family is below
poverty line.
Rs. 300/- per month
Jammu &
7 provided as Disability
Kashmir
Pension.
Pension Scheme for
8 Jharkhand disabled exists. Details not
given.
Scheme for pension for
Scheme is in force in
9 Haryana persons with disabilities
the State.
has been notified.
Disability Relief Allowance
of Rs. 150/- p.m. is
provided to those disabled
persons who are having at
least 40% disability and
Himachal
10 whose annual income does
Pradesh
not exceed Rs. 6000/- per
annum and the income of
earning sons should not
exceed Rs. 11,000/- per
annum.
11 Kerala Special pension scheme for Unemployment
PWDs having an annual Allowance to all
family income of Rs. educated youths,
12,000/- or less exists in including persons
the State. with disabilities,
subject to certain
eligibility conditions,

19
 is sanctioned.
Government of
Maharashtra has a
Scheme for Educated
Unemployed and this
includes persons
12 Maharashtra with disabilities also.
This scheme is
implemented
through
Employment
Exchanges.
Disability pension of Rs.
13 Manipur
100/- p.m.
Disability pension given to
totally blind and bed- Unemployment
14 Mizoram ridden persons who are allowance of Rs.
totally dependent on their 100/- p.m. given.
families @ Rs. 100/- p.m.
Disability pension of Rs.
15 Nagaland 100/- p.m. is given to blind
people.
16 Punjab Unemployment
Allownace of Rs.
400/- p.m. and Rs.
300 p.m. is given to
blind/deaf
undemployed
graduates/post
graduates and under
graduate
respectively, for
Ortho. Handicapped

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 Rs. 200/- and Rs.
150/- p.m.
respectively.
Implementing the
scheme of
17 Meghalaya unemployment
allowance @ Rs. 50/-
per month for PWDs
Orth. Handicapped, totally
blind, mentally retarded
and persons affected by
Cerebral Palsy over five
18 Orissa years of age are given
pension @ Rs. 100/- p.m.
(70,000 beneficiaries are
being provided such
pension each year.)
Pension provided. (16.80 Subsistence
19 Sikkim lacs allocated during 2002- Allowance is being
3 - 700 beneficiaries.) given.
For Visually
impaired, allowance
Those who are not placed is given ranging from
in any gainful employment Rs. 200/- to Rs.
due to severe disability are 300/- per month till
20 Tamil Nadu
given maintenance they get employment
allowance of Rs. 150/- per or they reach 40
month. years (45 years in the
case of SC, ST)
whichever is earlier.
21 Tripura State Government is giving
pension to the disabled
persons of destitute

21
 families @ Rs. 125/- per
month.
Pension is provided. (6887
beneficiaries - Rs.
22 West Bengal
42,00,000 allocated for
02-03).
Viklang Pension of Rs.
125/- pm is given to
destitute handicapped
23 Uttar Pradesh
persons having monthly
income below Rs. 1000/-
per month.
Disability Pension of Rs.
125/- pm is given to
destitute handicapped
24 Uttaranchal
persons having monthly
income below Rs. 1000/-
per month.
Rs. 100/- p.m. as
25 A & N Islands unemployment
Allowance is given.
Unemployment
allowance of Rs.
400/- pm for
Graduate/PG VH
and HI persons. Rs.
300/- pm for
26 Chandigarh
Matriculate and
under graduate VH
and HI persons is
given. All other
categories get Rs.
150/-

22
 Financial Assistance to
Dadra & Nagar
27 Destitute Disabled is @ Rs.
Haveli
60/- p.m.
Financial Assistance to
28 Lakshadweep Destitute Disabled is @ Rs.
60/- p.m.
Disability Pension of Rs. Scheme for
60/- p.m. is available for unemployment
29 Daman & Diu
persons with disability with allowance has been
the age of 55 and above. formulated.
Rs. 200/-/Rs.300/-/
Rs. 500/- per month
30 Pondicherry to unemployed
educated persons is
being given.

Back to Social Security

India to push US on social security pact

Himanshi Dhawan,TNN,Jan 18, 2010, 02.53am IST

NEW DELHI: In a move that could nip the current Indo-US bonhomie in the bud, the
Indian government is likely to link progress on the social security agreement with the US to
that of the Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement (BIPA). The ministry of overseas
Indian affairs will be taking up the matter with the ministry of external affairs.

The government has been pursuing the social security agreement — that will allow Indians
working under short-term contracts in the US to secure exemption from contributing to the
American social security system — since 2006 without much success.

23
Sources said, "The US has steadfastly turned a blind eye to the real need for finding a
solution to the complete loss of contribution for the large number of expatriate workers in
the US." It is estimated that Indian expatriate workers are contributing about $1 billion to
the US exchequer annually as social security tax, including the employers contribution.
"After three years of negotiations we are still to arrive at an agreement," a source said. The
problem, sources said, was not just the loss of revenue to the US but also the country's tax
regime.

The US social security system mandates 40 quarters of contribution to earn any benefit
which is considered grossly inequitable as the visa regime that governs the residence and
work permit of non-immigrants in the US allows a person a maximum stay of six years in
case of H1B and seven years in case of L1 visas. Government sources said this was not in
line with the international practice in social security anywhere in the world.

Also under the US law, the employer and employee have to contribute 7.65% each (total
15.3%) of the salary of the worker. However, the workers are not able to avail any social
security benefit against this contribution because the US law prescribes a minimum
qualifying period of 10 years in order to be eligible for pension. Most countries have
resolved such problems through bilateral social security agreements that essentially avoid
double social security contribution on the same earnings.

India has signed agreements with Belgium, France, Germany and has finalised negotiations
with Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

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24
News and Society > Divorce > Social Security Benefits After Divorce

0 Reviews [ add review ], Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Jean Mahserjian

Divorce does have some effects on social security benefits. The basics are quite simple. If
you are entitled to receive social security benefits based upon your own earnings record,
you will, of course, be able to collect social security after divorce based on that earnings
record. However, if you were married for ten or more years, you might be able to collect
social security benefits under your spouse's record after you are divorce. There are a few
qualifications that you must deal with.

The first issue to be addressed is the amount of time that you were married before the
divorce. To collect social security benefits based upon your former spouse's earnings
record, you must have been married for at least ten years. If you or your spouse are
considering divorce, this ten year time limit might be an important issue. For example, if
you have been married for just nine years, and if having this social security benefit after
divorce will help you, you might want to negotiate a one year separation before the divorce.
That way, you have preserved your ability to collect social security under your soon to be ex
spouse's earnings record after the divorce. The one year separation could have some impact
upon other rights that you need to address. So, it is a good idea to discuss this issue with
your divorce attorney or with an accountant before finalizing a separation or divorce
agreement.

You cannot collect social security under an ex spouse's earnings record if you remarry. So,
if you have carefully preserved this benefit after divorce, you might want to be very

careful about remarrying. You can collect social security benefits under the next
spouse's earnings record, but the same time rule will apply. That is, you must remain

25
married to that individual for ten years before you can collect social security under their
earnings record.

Many people simply want to know how much they will collect in social security benefits.
The general rule when collecting benefits under someone else's earnings record is that you
cannot collect more than fifty percent of that person's benefit. So, if your spouse or ex
spouse is going to receive a monthly benefit of $1500, you cannot collect more than $750 if
you collect under their earnings record. You need to know what your own benefit will be to
decide if you would be better off collecting under your own earnings record or under a
spouse or former spouse's earnings record after divorce.

The rules that pertain to collecting social security after divorce are different than the rules
that pertain to collecting social security after the death of a spouse to whom you are still
married. THose rules should not be confused.

You can always check with the social security administration to find out what your social
security rights and benefits are. The social security administration also maintains a website
that you can interact with to figure out your rights and benefits.

Jean Mahserjian has practiced family law for close to two decades and is the author of
many books devoted to helping consumers understand family law, including the issues of
child custody and support. To download free excerpts from her family law books, visit:
Divorce Help

Pension, Family and Maternal benefits

Back to Social Security

The National Social Assistance Indian Constitution:

Programme (NSAP) which came into
Article 41 - Right to work, to education
effect from 15th August, 1995 represents a
and to public assistance in certain cases
significant step towards the fulfillment of
The State shall, within the limits of its economic
the Directive Principles in Article 41 and
capacity and development, make effective
42 of the Constitution.

26
It introduces a National Policy for Social
provision for securing the right to work, to
Assistance benefit to poor households in
education and to public assistance in cases of
the case of old age, death of primary
unemployment, old age, sickness and
bread-winner and maternity. The
disablement, and in other cases of undeserved
Programme has three components,
want.
namely:-

• National Old Age Pension Article 42 - Provision for just and

Scheme (NOAPS) humane conditions of work and
• National Family Benefit maternity relief
Scheme (NFBS) The State shall make provision for securing just
and humane conditions of work and for
• National Maternity Benefit
maternity relief.
Scheme (NMBS)
National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS)

Under this Scheme, Central Assistance is available as per the following criteria:

• Age of the applicant (male or female) is 65 years or more.

• The applicant is a 'destitute' in the sense of having little or no regular means
of subsistence from his/her own sources of income or through financial
support from family members or other sources.

• The amount of old age pension is Rs.75 per month for the purpose of
claiming Central Assistance.

National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)

Under this scheme a lumpsump amount is provided as Family benefit, to the

27
 households below the poverty line, on the death of the primary breadwinner in the
bereaved family.
Central Assistance is available under this Scheme as per the following criteria :

• The 'primary breadwinner' should be the member of the household, male or

female whose earnings contribute substantially to the total household
income.
• The death of such a primary breadwinner occurs while he or she is more than
18 years and less than 65 years of age.
• The bereaved household qualifies as one below the poverty line according to
the criteria prescribed by the Government of India.
• The amount of benefit is Rs.10,000 irrespective of the cause of death –
natural or accidental , of the primary breadwinner.

• The family benefit is paid to such surviving member of the household of the
deceased who after local enquiry, is determined to be the head of the
household.

National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS)

Under this Scheme, benefit is provided in the form of a lump sum cash assistance to
pregnant women of households below the poverty line , subject to the following
conditions:

• The benefit is restricted to pregnant women for upto the first two live births
provided they are of 19 years of age and above.
• The beneficiary belongs to a household below the poverty line as per the
criteria prescribed by the Government of India.
• The amount of benefit is Rs.500.
• The maternity benefit is disbursed in one instalment 12-8 weeks prior to the
delivery.

• Timely disbursement of maternity benefit shall be ensured. In case of delay,

it can be disbursed to the beneficiary even after the birth of the child.

Objectives

28
 • The NSAP is a 100% Centrally Sponsored Programme, that aims at ensuring
minimum national standard of social assistance, in addition to the benefit
that the States/UT’s are currently providing or might provide in future.
• The intention in providing 100 percent Central Assistance is to ensure that
social protection to the beneficiaries everywhere in the country is uniformly
available without interruption.
• Central Assistance does not displace States' own expenditure on social
security Schemes and that the States/UTs may expand their own coverage of
social assistance independently wherever they like to do so.

• The NSAP provides opportunities for linking social assistance packages to the
Schemes for poverty alleviation and provision of basic needs. For example
Maternity assistance can be linked to maternal and child care Programmes

Implementation of the Programme

• The Schemes under NSAP are implemented through the State/UT
Governments with assistance from the Panchayat and Municipal
functionaries.
• Every State/UT has identified a Nodal Department for implementing NSAP
as per provisions of the NSAP Guidelines.
• The Secretary of the Nodal Department is to perform as the Nodal Secretary
on NSAP for the State/UT concerned.
• At the Districts, there are District Level Committees on NSAP.
• The States/UTs have notified the constitution of the District level
implementing authorities under the Chairmanship of the respective District
Magistrate/District Collector, to implement the Schemes under NSAP in
their respective areas.
• The District Collector or the official given the nodal responsibility thereof, in
turn, is responsible for processing applications for sanction of benefits and
for arranging the disbursal of the benefits to the beneficiaries.
• The disbursing authorities may adopt various modes of payment including
cash disbursement as prescribed in the Guidelines.
• The Gram Panchayats/Municipalities are expected to play an active role in
the identification of beneficiaries under the three NSAP Schemes.

29
 • The State Government may thus, communicate the targets for NOAPS, NFBS
and NMBS to the Panchayats/Municipalities so that the identification of
beneficiaries can suitably be made by the Gram
Panchayats/Neighbourhood/Mohalla Committees in line with these targets.
• Central Assistance under NOAPS, NFBS and NMBS may also be preferably
disbursed in public meetings, such as Gram Sabha meetings in the rural
areas and Neighbourhood/Mohalla Committee meetings in urban areas.

• The Panchayats/ Municipalities are responsible for disseminating

information about NSAP and the procedures for obtaining benefits under it.
In this task, they may encourage the involvement and cooperation of
voluntary organisations also.

Related Resources
AP-Social Security

Source: rural.nic.in and wikipedia

30
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Home: UPA Government's "Report to the People 2009-10"

UPA Government's "Report to the People 2009-10"

Submitted by admin2 on Tue, 06/01/2010 - 20:12

in

• Factbox

NetIndian News Network

New Delhi, June 1, 2010

31
The following are the highlights, including the Executive Summary, of the "Report to the
People 2009-10" presented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here today to mark the
completion of the first year of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government's second
five-year term:

THE REPORT TO THE PEOPLE 2009-10 is in continuation of the tradition of

transparency and accountability set by the UPA-I Government.

The Report begins with a foreword by the Prime Minister, which delineates the priorities
and policies of the Government. As the Prime Minister mentions:

"The second UPA government is dedicated to building an economically stronger, a socially

just, a culturally vibrant, a regionally balanced, a politically participative, a fully educated,
a technologically modern, a creative and enterprising India. As we enter the second year of
our second term we rededicate ourselves to these objectives and to the welfare of all our
citizens."

The political philosophy informing the UPA government’s functioning is reflected in Smt.
Sonia Gandhi’s view:

"It is the responsibility of every government to ensure that their legislative agenda has at its
core, a genuine concern for the well-being of the common man, that it is reflective of their
hopes and their aspirations."

The report is organized around 12 themes:

1. Enabling Human Development: (i) Education (ii) Health (iii) Child Rights

2. Social Inclusion: (i) Food Security (ii) Empowering Women (iii) Empowerment and
Development of Weaker Section (iv) An Inclusive Agenda for the Minorities (v) Disability
to Empowerment (vi) Caring for the Senior Citizens (vii) Welfare of Ex-Servicemen &
Serving Defence Service Personnel (viii) Welfare of Workers (ix) Financial Inclusion

3. Rural Renewal: (i) Bharat Nirman (ii) Rural Employment (iii) Agriculture – Towards
Food Security and Welfare of Farmers (iv) Panchayati Raj

32
4. Transforming Cities: (i) Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (ii) Mass
Transport – Metro Projects and Buses (iii) Housing for the Urban Poor (iv) Public-Private
Partnership Initiatives

5. Economic Resurgence: (i) Macroeconomic Overview (ii) Industrial Performance (iii)

Energy (iv) Transport Infrastructure

6. Sustaining the Environment: (i) National Action Plan on Climate Change (ii)
Compensatory Afforestation (iii) Green Tribunal (iv) Mission Clean Ganga

7. New Horizons: (i) Science and Technology (ii) Space Programme (iii) Information and
Broadcasting (iv) Tourism (v) Culture (vi) Commonwealth Games (vii) National Youth
Corps (viii) India post

8. Managing Disasters: (i) National Disaster Policy and Disaster-Specific Guidelines (ii)
National Disaster Response Force (iii) Relief for Floods (iv) Cyclone Shelters

9. Addressing Special Development Needs: (i) The Northeast (ii) Jammu & Kashmir (iii)
Bundelkhand

10. Security: (i) Internal Security Initiatives (ii) Managing Borders (iii) Defence

11. Governance and Civil Society: (i) Reforms (ii) Centre-State Relations

12. Building Bridges: (i) External Affairs (ii) Overseas Indians

The enclosed executive summary gives brief synopsis of Government’s initiatives and
policies during 2009-2010.

REPORT TO THE PEOPLE 2010

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Education

1) The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 was enacted
in August 2009. Notifications have been issued for the enforcement of the Constitution
(86th Amendment) Act and the RTE Act with effect from 1st April 2010.

33
2) In 2009-10, till 31st December 2009, 7400 new primary schools and 11847 upper
primary schools were opened, 35427 teachers appointed, 9708 additional classrooms
constructed, 26.62 lakh teachers provided in-service training and 9.54 crore children
provided textbooks.

3) During 2009-10, about 11 crore children were benefited by the Mid-day meal scheme.

4) The Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan was launched in March 2009 with the
objective of improving access to secondary education. During 2009-10, clearance was given
to setting up 2478 new schools and improving 6998 existing schools.

5) A scheme for the establishment and management of girls’ hostels for students in the
educationally backward blocks has also been launched. During 2009-10, approval has been
given to set up 379 such hostels in 11 states.

6) It has been decided to replace the present system of awarding marks by grades in all
subjects in the Class X Board examination conducted by CBSE in 2010.

7) The National Literacy Mission has been recast as Saakshar Bharat. To reduce gender
disparity in literacy from 21% to 10%, six crore beneficiaries, out of the total target of seven
crore, will be women. Within the overall target, 1.4 crore Scheduled Castes, 80 lakh
Scheduled Tribes and 1.2 crore beneficiaries belonging to the minorities will be

8) Sixteen Central universities were established, including conversion of three State

universities in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand into Central
universities, under the Central Universities Act, 2009. Fourteen such universities have
commenced functioning in 2009-10.

9) The UPA government has approved the setting up of six Indian Institutes of
Management at Rohtak, Raipur, Ranchi, Tiruchirapalli, Kashipur and Udaipur. Two new
IITs at Indore and Mandi started functioning from the academic year 2009-10.
Government has also decided to set up 10 new NITs, to be located in Goa, Puducherry,
Delhi, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and
Sikkim.

34
10) The UPA government has decided to provide full interest subsidy to poor students,
whose parental income is limited to Rs.4.5 lakh per annum, on education loans taken by
them to pursue technical and professional courses.

Health

11) During 2009-10, more than 36000 village health & sanitation committees were set up,
over 1300 facility-based Rogi Kalyan Samitis were formed, over 53000 accredited social
health activists (ASHAs) were selected and trained, and more than 20000 doctors and
paramedical personnel were added to the public health system. Over 4984 new health sub-
centre buildings, 254 primary health centre (PHC) buildings and 102 community health
centre(CHC) buildings were completed; 3246 sub-centre buildings, 732 PHC buildings, 264
CHC buildings and 28 district hospital buildings were upgraded or renovated.

12) All disease control programmes showed sustained improvement. There was reduction
in mortality due to malaria, kala-azar and dengue, as well as reduction in the incidence of
filarial infection. In respect of tuberculosis, a cure rate of 87% has been maintained, while
the case detection rate has increased from 70% in 2007 to 72% in 2009.

13) A scheme for augmenting nursing personnel by setting up 269 new auxiliary nurse
midwife (ANM) and general nurse midwife (GNM) schools in backward and underserved
districts of the country, at a cost of around Rs. 2000 crore, has been approved. This will
create additional capacity of 16000 trained nurses annually.

14) Under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, work orders have been issued
for the medical college complex for six AIIMS-like institutions, taken up under the first
phase.

15) A modified scheme for mainstreaming of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and
Homoeopathy has been sanctioned and is under implementation at a total cost of Rs. 675
crore. As part of this mainstreaming activity, 2368 doctors and 2184 AYUSH paramedic
staff were appointed during 2009-10.

16) The H1N1 pandemic was managed effectively. More than one crore in-bound
passengers were screened at international airports, new laboratories for testing H1N1 cases

35
were established, the drug Oseltamivir was supplied to state governments free of cost, and
vaccines were imported and supplied to state governments for vaccinating health workers.

17) The Central Research Institute, Kasuali, Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor and BCG,
Guindy have been enabled to resume production of vaccines.

Child Rights

18) An additional 792 projects and 291000 anganwadi centres (AWC) including mini
anganwadis and 20000 anganwadis on demand have been approved to ensure that there is
an operational anganwadi in every habitation of the country. This will take the total
number of anganwadis to 14 lakhs. Nearly 725 lakh children below the age of 6 years and
about 160 lakh pregnant and lactating women have currently been receiving benefits of
supplementary nutrition. The number will increase further after the additional anganwadi
centres become functional.

19) The UPA government has doubled the nutritional and feeding norms. Children in the
age group 3-6 years will now be given a morning snack and a hot cooked meal.

Social Inclusion

20) The UPA government is committed to the enactment of the National Food Security Act.
Consultations have been held with states and union territories and other stakeholders. A
draft National Food Security bill is under preparation and it is proposed to be placed in the
public domain for scrutiny and comments.

21) Political empowerment of women is a powerful and indispensable tool for eliminating
gender inequality and discrimination. The Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth
Amendment) Bill, 2008 providing for reservation for women in as nearly as one-third of
the total seats of the Lok Sabha and of the State Legislative Assemblies, including the
Legislative Assembly of the NCT of Delhi, for a period of 15 years, was introduced in the
Rajya Sabha on 6th May 2008. The Rajya Sabha has passed the bill on 9th March 2010.

22) For ensuring 50% reservation for women at all levels in the three tiers of panchayats, a
bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend Article 243D of the Constitution. Presently,
out of around 28.18 lakh elected representatives of panchayats, only 37% are women.

36
23) A bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend Article 243T of the Constitution
for providing 50% reservation to women in urban local bodies.

24) During 2009-10, central assistance of Rs. 1015.96 crore was released under the post-
matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste students, covering approximately 40 lakh
students.

25) Under the post-matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Tribe students, Rs. 270.86
crore was released to assist 1376745 students during 2009-10. During 2009-10, central
assistance of Rs. 172.97 crore was released as post-matric scholarship to approximately 14
lakh students belonging to the Other Backward Classes. During the same period, under the
pre-matric scholarship scheme, central assistance of Rs.31.73 crore was released to assist
approximately 17 lakh students belonging to the Other Backward Classes. During 2010-11,
an outlay of Rs.50 crore has been allocated under the scheme.

26) During 2009-10, concessional loans amounting to about Rs. 394 crore were disbursed
through the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC),
the National Safai Karmcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) and the
National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC) to two lakh
members of the Scheduled Castes, Safai Karamcharis and Other Backward Classes.

27) The Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) was announced in 2009-10. The
PMAGY, launched on a pilot basis, with an allocation of Rs.100 crore, seeks the integrated
development of 1000 villages where the population of SCs is about 50%, in five States, viz.
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Assam. Each village would be able to
avail gap funding of Rs.10 lakh over and above the allocation under rural development and
poverty alleviation schemes.

28) Following up closely on the historic enactment conferring forest rights on the
Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, all measures have been taken to
ensure its proper implementation. As on March 2010, more than 7.82 lakh titles have been
distributed.

37
29) It has been ensured that 15% of targets and outlays for schemes included in the Prime
Minister’s New 15-Point programme for the Welfare of Minorities and considered
amenable to targeting, have been so earmarked.

30) 64 projects, at an estimated cost of over Rs. 8600 crore, have been sanctioned under
the Jawarharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for implementation in
17 towns with a sizable minority population. 101 projects, at an estimated cost of more than
Rs. 2500 crore, have been sanctioned in 83 such towns under the Urban Infrastructure
Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) component.

31) In 2009-10, 4457 primary and upper primary schools have been constructed, 3530
primary and upper primary schools have been opened, 20588 additional class rooms have
been constructed, 27 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidhyalaya (KGBV) have been sanctioned
and 7765 teachers sanctioned in blocks and districts having a substantial minority
population.

32) 502 public sector bank branches were opened in 2009-10 (upto December 2009) in
districts with a substantial minority population. Over Rs. 96000 crore of bank credit was
provided to the minorities in 2009-10 (upto September 2009).

33) 60 ITIs, located in minority concentration districts, are to be upgraded as part of the
Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme.

34) During 2009-10, 17.29 lakh scholarships were given to children belonging to the
minority communities for their pre-matric education. An amount of Rs. 202.94 crore was
spent. 48% of the pre-matric scholarships were awarded to girls. Under the post-matric
scholarship scheme, 3.88 lakh scholarships were awarded at a cost of Rs. 148.74 crore.
Nearly 55% of those awarded scholarships were girls. 35982 merit-cum-means
scholarships were awarded at a cost of Rs. 97.51 crore, with nearly one third being girl
students. Under the Meritorious Scholarship Scheme of the Maulana Azad Education
Foundation, for girl students in classes XI and XII, 15070 girls were awarded scholarships
amounting to Rs. 18.08 crore.

35) A bill to amend the Waqf Act, 1995 was passed by Lok Sabha on 7th May 2010. It
provides for timely completion of surveys of waqf properties, reduction of the scope of

38
alienation of waqf properties, providing penal provisions to prevent encroachment of waqf
properties, representation of women in the waqf boards, greater accountability and
efficiency in the administration of the waqf properties by the waqf boards etc.

36) The district plans of 80 minority concentration districts have been approved at a total
estimated cost of Rs. 2343.75 crore.

Welfare of ex-servicemen & serving defence service personnel

37) It is a constant endeavour of the UPA government to provide suitable employment for
ex-servicemen as also to impart necessary training to prepare them to take on new
assignments/jobs. This has enabled more than 50000 ex-servicemen to obtain
employment during 2009-10.

38) The health coverage for the ex-servicemen has been widened by empanelling more civil
hospitals and diagnostic centers. Disabled ex-servicemen are now entitled to get prosthetic
aid from an additional 149 Central Government Health Scheme empanelled centres apart
from the Artificial Limb Centre, Pune. The membership of Ex-Servicemen Contributory
Health Scheme (ECHS) has crossed 30 lakhs.

39) A committee was set up to give specific recommendations for the welfare of defence
service personnel and pensioners. The recommendations were accepted by the UPA
government and this is likely to benefit about 12 lakh personnel. An Armed Forces Tribunal
has been established to provide an appellate forum to the aggrieved personnel.

40) To boost the morale of troops, who are posted in far flung border areas and face
difficult topographic and climatic conditions, chartering of civil flights has been sanctioned
for their faster movement during leave.

41) Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme was started under the aegis of the National
Defence Fund. Under the scheme, scholarships are provided every year to wards of retired
personnel and martyrs below officer rank of armed and para-military forces. In 2009-10,
scholarships have been granted to 4525 students amounting to Rs.7.40 crore.

39
42) It has been decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for workers in the
unorganized sector like weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers and bidi workers with an
initial allocation of Rs. 1000 crore.

43) Government has also taken important steps for the benefit of workers in the organised
sector. Workmen Compensation Act, 1923 has been amended to enhance the benefits to the
workers. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 has been amended to raise the limit of maximum
gratuity payable from Rs.3.5 lakhs to Rs.10 lakhs. Comprehensive amendments have been
made in the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 to improve the quality of delivery of
health care and other benefits being provided to the insured persons in the organized
sector and also to enable ESI infrastructure to be used to provide health care to workers in
the unorganised sector. Plantations Labour Act, 1951 has been amended for providing
safety and occupational health care to plantations workers.

Rural Renewal and Agriculture

44) 71.8 lakh houses were constructed during the first phase against a target of 60 lakhs.
An ambitious target of constructing 120 lakh houses has been set for the second phase;
against this, more than 31 lakh houses have already been constructed/upgraded at a cost of
around Rs.11000 crore.

45) Over 35,000 habitations have been connected with all weather roads and over 1,90,000
kms existing rural roads have been upgraded/renewed since Bharat Nirman was launched.
In 2009-10, 3344 habitations were connected and around 35500 kms of road length
upgraded/renewed.

46) During the first phase, the emphasis was on providing safe drinking water to over 3.5
lakh habitations. With this work more or less complete, the priority has now shifted to
cover water quality affected habitations. 28672 habitations affected with chemical
contamination have been provided safe drinking water.

47) In 2009-10, under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), against a
target of 17500 un-electrified villages, 18374 villages have been electrified. Against a target
of 47 lakh BPL household connections, 47.18 lakh BPL households have been given free
electricity connections.

40
48) Under Bharat Nirman, villages not having access to public telephones were to be
provided with village public telephones (VPTs). 569385 villages, out of a total of 593601
villages in the country, have been provided with VPTs, as on 31st March 2010. Out of
250000 targeted village panchayats, about a third have been connected through
broadband.

49) Since its inception in 2006, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme has provided nearly 600 crore person-days of work. During 2009-10,
about 4.90 crore households have been provided employment through 40.98 lakh works
with 251 crore person-days of employment being generated at a total expenditure of Rs.
33087 crore. The average wage rate per day has increased from Rs. 65 in 2006-07 to Rs. 90
in 2009-10.

50) Several amendments have been made in the schedules of the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) to facilitate its implementation. These
include amendments to ensure transparency regarding custody of job cards and details to
be contained in them, disbursement of wages through banks and post offices, maintenance
of records, pro-active disclosure of information and processes and procedures to be
followed during social audits.

51) The nation faced a severe drought in 2009. The UPA government approved assistance
amounting to Rs. 4806 crore from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) to
help mitigate the effects of the drought. Various measures were taken to deal with the
situation, including introduction of a diesel subsidy scheme for supplementary irrigation to
save standing crops, additional allocation of power from the central pool, ensuring
availability of inputs, and permitting use of funds under centrally sponsored schemes for
creation of agriculture infrastructure to achieve higher production. The impact of drought
on crop production was mitigated.

52) Fertilizer is a key input for increasing agricultural production and productivity. The
demand for major fertilizers has been the highest ever during the year 2009-10. The UPA
government has been able to manage the demand in spite of the fact that the domestic
production of urea has been stagnant and reliance has had to be placed on imports for
meeting the requirement. Nutrient based subsidy policy (NBS) for all fertilizers, other than
urea, has been introduced from 1st April 2010 to correct the imbalance in nutrient

41
application, encourage production of soil specific fertilizers containing micro-nutrients,
and encourage efficient production of fertilizers.

53) Rs.266433 crore (upto January 2010) has been disbursed as credit in 2009-10.
Farmers are receiving crop loans upto a principal amount of Rs. 3 lakh at 7% rate of
interest. The UPA government is providing an additional 1% interest subvention as
incentive to those farmers who repay short term crop loans as per schedule.

54) Funds of the order of Rs.3761.43 crore were released to States/UTs during 2009-10
under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. An amount of Rs. 800 crore was released during
2009-10. Due to interventions under the National Horticulture Mission, production of
fruits, vegetables and spices has increased by 25.6%, 22% and 11.9% respectively during
2009-10 over 2005-06.

55) The Backward Regions Grant Fund programme is being implemented through
panchayats in 250 identified districts. The programme aims at removing regional
imbalances by bridging critical gaps in development and encouraging decentralized
planning. More than Rs.3600 crore were released to the identified districts in 2009-10. A
major achievement was preparation of decentralized plans by the local bodies in 246
districts.

Transforming Cities

56) As on 31st March 2010, 524 projects have been sanctioned under the Urban
Infrastructure Governance (UIG) component of JNNURM at an approved cost of over
Rs.58000 crore including additional central assistance (ACA) of more than Rs. 27000
crore; around Rs. 12300 crore have been released for implementation of projects and
procurement of buses.

57) Implementation of the first phase of the North Eastern Region Urban Development
Programme (NERUDP) with an outlay of Rs. 1371 crore commenced in 2009-10.

58) 45.83 km of metro line was added in Delhi and the National Capital Region; NOIDA
was connected to the Delhi Metro network. New metro projects were taken up in Chennai
for 45.046 kms at a total cost of Rs.14600 crore and in Mumbai for 11.07 kms at a cost of
about Rs.2356 crore.

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Economic Resurgence and Prices

59) The year, 2009-10, showed clear signs of recovery with the rate of growth being
estimated at 7.2 per cent. This has occurred, despite a decline of 0.2 per cent in agricultural
output on account of sub-normal monsoons. The recovery has been marked by renewed
momentum in the manufacturing sector, which grew by 8.9 per cent in 2009-10, compared
to 3.2 per cent in 2008-09. The recovery of the Indian economy owes largely to the
stimulus measures initiated by the Government.

60) The increase in WPI inflation could be attributed to expectations of supply-side

constraints of food items, especially due to the unfavorable south-west monsoon.

61) The UPA government has taken a number of short term and medium term measures to
improve domestic availability of essential commodities and moderate inflation. There are
enough food grains to intervene in the market to keep the prices at reasonable level.
Allocation to State governments under the Open Market Sales Scheme (domestic) for
release of 20.00 lakh tonnes of wheat has been made to check inflationary trends in the
food economy from October 2009 to March 2010. The Central Issue Price (CIP) for rice
and wheat has been maintained to protect the poor. Further, in order to check the
inflationary trend in prices of rice, a quantity of 10.00 lakh tones of rice was allocated
during October 2009 to March 2010 to State governments for distribution to retail
consumers.

62) Other measures taken to contain prices of essential commodities include a selective
ban on exports and futures trading in food grains, zero import duty on select food items,
removal of restrictions on licensing, stock limits and movement of food articles under the
Essential Commodities Act of 1955, permitting imports of pulses and sugar by public sector
undertakings, distribution of imported pulses and edible oils through the public
distribution system.

63) A Standing Core Group of Chief Ministers and some Central Ministers has been
constituted on 15th March, 2010 to consider issues related to prices of essential
commodities.

Reforms

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64) To consolidate and carry forward the reforms in direct taxes, a draft Direct Taxes Code,
along with a discussion paper, were released for public comment. It aims to improve the
efficiency and equity of the tax system and promote voluntary compliance.

65) The disinvestment policy envisages development of 'People's Ownership' of public

sector enterprises to share in their wealth and prosperity while Central public retaining
majority ownership and control with government. In 2009-10, five public issues were
completed and the funds raised by the government amounted to Rs.23552.97 crore. The
disinvestment proceeds are being used for funding the capital expenditure under the social
sector schemes of the government.

Industrial performance

66) The manufacturing sector has been the key driver in this revival of industrial growth. It
recorded a cumulative growth of 9.9 per cent in (April-January) 2009-10 as compared to
3.4 percent in (April-January) 2008-09. The recovery in the manufacturing sector has been
driven by domestic demand, backed by well-calibrated adjustments in monetary and fiscal
policies, including the fiscal stimulus.

67) The aggregate turnover of 32 CPSEs, under the Department of Heavy Industries,
increased by 14.02% (over the previous year) to Rs.38628 crore. Aggregate profit before tax
increased by 21.62% to Rs.4247 crore. Exports of goods and services increased by 64% to
Rs.13522 crore.

68) The government has accepted the recommendations of the high-level Task Force on
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), including those in the area of credit,
marketing, labour, rehabilitation and exit policy, infrastructure, technology, skill
development, taxation and development of MSMEs in the North-East and Jammu &
Kashmir.

69) During the year 2009-2010, the number of telephone connections is estimated to have
gone up by over 44%, which included an increase of about 60% in rural telephone
connections. Teledensity is estimated to have increased by 42%, including a 58% increase
in rural teledensity. Number of wireless connections is estimated to have gone up by nearly

44
49%, while broadband connections are estimated to have increased from 62.2 lakh to 88
lakh over the year.

70) A complete and holistic reform in the mining sector is being attempted through a new
legislation governing the development and regulation of mines and minerals. The reform
process will place sustainability and local area development at the centre stage of the
reform process. It will bring about transparency, ensure equity, provide a mechanism for
addressing issues of delay and discretion, along with incentives to encourage induction of
high technology for exploration and for scientific mining practices.

71) India emerged as the third largest steel producer in the world during the calendar year
2009; capacity for crude steel production grew from 66.36 million tonnes in 2008-09 to
72.76 million tonnes in 2009-10.

72) To develop powerlooms, handlooms and handicrafts in public private partnership

mode, development of five new mega clusters was initiated during 2009-10, in Bhilwara,
Mirzapur-Bhadohi, Srinagar, Virudh Nagar and Murshidabad.

73) The Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 was announced with the objective of arresting
decline in exports caused by the global financial crisis. Policy measures implemented
include fiscal incentives, enhanced marked access and diversification of export markets,
technological up-gradation, and procedural rationalization to reduce transaction cost and
to create new employment opportunities.

74) Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) aims to leverage the infrastructure being
created under the Dedicated Freight Corridor project to create a strong economic base with
globally competitive environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure to activate local
commerce, enhance investments and attain sustainable development in the identified area
in six states. Perspective plan for overall DMIC Region has been completed and pre-
feasibility studies of individual projects are under way.

75) In the Power sector, during the 2009-10, a capacity of 9585 MW has been
commissioned. Under the Restructured Accelerated Power Development & Reforms
Programme (APDRP), projects worth Rs. 6242.26 crore were sanctioned and Rs. 1331.46
crore disbursed to the state power utilities in the financial year 2009-10.

45
76) Great emphasis has been placed on enhancing energy security through rapid
exploration of domestic oil and gas reserves, combined with acquisition abroad and
enhancement of refining capacity. During the current year, the domestic production of
natural gas has seen an 80% increase. The domestic crude oil production during 2009-10
has increased by 7% over last year. Crude oil production from Barmer in Rajasthan has
commenced.

77) During 2009-10, international oil prices have been volatile and the Indian basket of
crude oil has ranged between $ 47 and $ 81 per barrel. However, the UPA government has
successfully insulated the consumer from the high volatility of international oil prices.

78) With the commissioning of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Units 5 & 6 during the
year, the total installed capacity of nuclear power has reached 4560 MWe with 19 reactors
being operational. Four more reactors are under advanced stages of construction and on
completion will take the installed capacity to 7280 MWe by 2011.

Transport Infrastructure

79) The government has set a target of developing 7000 km of National Highways per year,
which translates into 20 km per day. To achieve this ambitious target, there has been a
major thrust towards award of projects.

80) Indira Gandhi International airport at Delhi, designed to cater to 100 million
passengers per annum by 2036, is soon going to be fully operational, well in time for the
Commonwealth Games 2010. The modernization of 35 non-metro airports in under way.

81) The National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) is being restructured. A decision
has been taken to infuse a sum of Rs 2000 crore as equity in NACIL, out of which Rs 800
crore has already been released.

82) During the year 2009-10, 13 port sector PPP projects, with private sector investment of
Rs. 2653 crore, and capacity of 65.65 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) were awarded.
Substantial progress has been made in the construction of the international container
trans-shipment terminal at Cochin port.

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83) The second container terminal at Chennai port, with a capacity of 9.6 MTPA, has been
operationalised.

84) Despite the global economic meltdown, a growth of 6.56% in freight loading has been
achieved by Indian Railways in the year 2009-10. 14 new train services by the name
'Duronto', with AC and non-AC sleeper coaches, have been introduced for non-stop point
to point services between selected cities throughout the country. There has been no
increase in passenger fares during the year.

Sustaining the Environment

85) The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was launched by the Prime Minister on
11th January 2010. The mission has set an ambitious target of creating a capacity of 20000
MW grid solar power, 2000 MW off-grid solar applications and 20 million square metre of
solar thermal collectors by the year 2022.

86) Instructions have been issued for the formation of State-level Compensatory
Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authorities for enabling release of 10% of the
Rs 9900 crores available in the centralized account to state governments every year, for the
next five years.

87) The National Green Tribunal Bill, 2009 has been passed. It provides for establishing a
National Green Tribunal for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to
environmental protection, conservation of forests and other natural resources,
enforcement of legal rights relating to the environment, and giving relief and compensation
for damages to persons and property.

88) It has been decided that under "Mission Clean Ganga" it would be ensured that by the
year 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluents flow into the Ganga.

89) New Horizons

90) To provide internationally competitive and contemporary infrastructure for research,

product development in cutting edge areas of research in life sciences and biotechnology,
the following five new institutions have been made operational:

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a) Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad

b) Regional Centre for Biotechnology in collaboration with UNESCO, Faridabad

c) National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kolkata

d) Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore

e) National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute and Bioprocessing Unit at Mohali, Punjab

91) In partnership with agricultural universities, the bi-weekly district-level agro-

meteorological advisory services have been extended to provide information on rainfall,
maximum and minimum temperature, cloud cover, humidity etc. to farmers in 500
meteorological districts.

92) CSIR, with Cadila Pharmaceuticals, has developed for the first time a novel therapy
obtained from Ayurveda named as "RISORINE" for the treatment of tuberculosis.

93) The Indian space programme scaled new heights during the year with detection of
traces of water, ice and hydroxyl molecules on the lunar surface through India`s
unmanned mission to the Moon - Chandrayaan-1.

94) Policy guidelines were issued for Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) operators for speeding
up the process of digitalization of cable TV services.

Culture

95) Central government has recently amended the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological
Sites and Remains Act, which prohibits construction, including public projects, within the
100 metre 'prohibited area'. A National Monuments Authority is being set up as the apex
body to oversee the implementation of the Act.

96) Rs. 20 crore has been sanctioned for the upgradation of Sardar Patel's memorials at
Ahmedabad and Karamsad.

97) Preparations have started to commemorate the 150th birth anniversaries of

Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, both nationally and internationally. A

48
project to set up a memorial for Shaheed Bhagat Singh, at his native place at Khatkar
Kalan, has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 16.80 crore.

Commonwealth Games

98) The country is hosting the prestigious XIXth Commonwealth Games in October, 2010.
The Games present an excellent opportunity to herald India's emergence as a significant
sporting nation and showcase its organizational capacity to host such a major international
event. Preparations for the event are at an advanced stage.

Managing Disasters

99) The National Policy on Disaster Management has been approved on 22nd October
2009. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued guidelines on
management of landslides and snow avalanches, management of chemical terrorism and
disasters, and psycho-social support & mental health services in disasters.

100) During the year 2009-10, the National Disaster Response Force was actively engaged
in rescue and relief operations in the various states affected by cyclone, cyclonic storm,
floods, landslides etc. The swift and highly skilled flood rescue operations of the force saved
over 21000 human lives.

101) During the Southwest monsoon and the post-monsoon seasons of 2009-10, twenty
States and one Union Territory reported damage due to cyclonic storms, heavy rains,
floods, landslides, cloudburst, etc., to varying degrees. The UPA government extended
prompt and timely logistic support to the affected States. In 2009-10 financial assistance
amounting to Rs. 3791.86 crore was provided to States from the Calamity Relief Fund for
dealing with various natural calamities. Besides, financial assistance to the tune of Rs.
3261.52 crore was provided to different States from the National Calamity Contingency
Fund for the management of immediate relief operations in areas affected by calamities of
a severe nature during 2009-10.

Addressing Special Development Needs: The Northeast, Jammu & Kashmir, and
Bundelkhand

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102) A regional coordination mechanism, covering all the Northeastern states, for
gathering, analyzing and disseminating intelligence has been set up at Shillong and has
been operationalized with effect from 23rd February 2010.

103) The UPA Government has been paying special attention to the development of
national highways in the North-East region and 10 per cent of the total allocation is
earmarked for that region. So far, about 596 km length has been completed during 2009-
10. Development of roads & highways in Arunachal Pradesh involves about 2319 km of
roads. Bids have already been received for four projects with a total length of 776 km, to be
awarded shortly. The trans-Arunachal Highway forms an important part of this initiative.

104) The capital cities of the North Eastern states are getting progressively connected by
rail. Guwahati and Agartala are already connected. Projects for connecting the capitals of
Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have been taken up.

105) Three greenfield airports have been approved, of which one at Pakyong in Sikkim, is
already under construction involving a cost of Rs 264 crore. The development of Tezu
airport, at a cost of Rs. 79.00 crore, has been approved during 2009-10. The project is
being implemented by the Airports Authority of India. The airport will be ready for
operations by March 2012.

106) The implementation of the Prime Minister's package for lighting up all the villages on
the international border in Arunachal Pradesh was started in 2009. A total of 1058 villages
are to be covered under this project out of which 512 villages have already been covered by
solar photovoltaic systems.

107) Under RGGVY, 16 projects have been sanctioned for Rs. 537.69 crore for
electrification of 2129 villages, intensive electrification of 1756 electrified villages and
40810 connections to BPL households.

108) The Assam Gas Cracker Project is expected to generate substantial downstream
investment and employment in the region. The construction activities at project site are in
full swing and Rs.744 crore has been spent till 31st March 2010. The project is scheduled
for completion in April 2012.

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109) The Prime Minister announced the construction of 11 hydel projects in Jammu &
Kashmir, under the Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme. Out of these, three
projects namely: Uri-I (480 MW), Salal-I & II (690 MW) and Dulhasti (390 MW) have
already been completed and commissioned. A furthet 4 projects namely, Sewa-II HEP (120
MW), Nimoo Bazgo HEP (45 MW), Chutak HEP (44 MW) and Uri-II (240 MW) are likely
to be completed within 2010.

110) RGGVY schemes for five districts namely Baramulla, Pulwama, Rajouri, Poonch and
Doda have been sanctioned by the Rural Electrification Corporation on 27th November
2009. With this, RGGVY schemes for the entire state have been sanctioned.

111) In the Kashmir valley, five pairs of short distance service Diesel Multiple Units (DMU)
trains have been put in operation between Budgam and Qazigund, Qazigund and Baramula
and Baramula and Budgam.

112) The UPA government has approved a Special Bundelkhand Drought Mitigation
Package to the tune of Rs. 7266 crore, comprising of Rs.3506 crore for Uttar Pradesh and
Rs. 3760 crore for Madhya Pradesh, to be implemented over a period of three years
starting with 2009-10.

113) Security

114) A number of important decisions and measures have been taken. These measures
include augmentation of the strength of Central paramilitary forces, amendment of the
Central Industrial Security Force Act to enable deployment of the force in joint venture
industrial undertakings, establishment of National Security Guard (NSG) hubs at Chennai,
Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai, tighter immigration control, effective border
management through round-the-clock surveillance & patrolling along the borders,
establishment of observation posts, border fencing, flood-lighting, deployment of modern
and hi-tech surveillance equipment, upgrade of the intelligence set-up and strengthening of
coastal security.

115) UPA government has adopted an integrated approach in dealing with left wing
extremists (LWE) in the area of security, development and public perception. The State
governments deal with the various issues related to LWE issues in the states. The Central

51
government supplements their efforts in several ways. These include providing Central
paramilitary forces (CPMFs) and commando battalions; modernisation and up gradation
of the State police and their intelligence apparatus under the Scheme for Modernisation of
State Police Forces (MPF Scheme); re-imbursement of security related expenditure under
the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme; filling up critical infrastructure gaps
under the scheme for Special Infrastructure (SIS) in left wing extremism affected States;
assistance in training of State police through Ministry of Defence, central police
organisations and Bureau of Police Research and Development; sharing of intelligence etc.

116) An amount of Rs. 668.61 crore has been released during 2009-10, under the schemes
of Modernisation of Police Forces (Rs. 578.61 crore), Security Related Expenditure (Rs.
60.00 crore) and Special Infrastucture Scheme (Rs. 30.00 crore) to left wing extremism
affected States. A sum of Rs. 1230.00 crore has been released to all the States for
modernisation of State police forces.

Managing Borders

117) During 2009-10, construction of 210 km of fencing, 310 km of border roads and 400
km of floodlighting was completed along the India-Bangladesh border. Construction of 50
border out-posts was also commenced. Formation works along a length of 35.89 km and
surfacing works along a length of 11.2 km were completed on 11 roads along the India-
China border. In the Gujarat sector, along the Indo-Pakistan border, construction of 15 km
length of border roads was completed.

118) Construction of seven integrated check posts has been taken up at Attari (India-
Pakistan) and Raxaul (India-Nepal border) while work at Jogbani (India-Nepal border),
Dawki (India-Bangladesh border), Akhaura (India-Bangladesh border), Moreh (India-
Myanmar border) and Petrapole (India-Bangladesh border) will be also taken up shortly.

119) The UPA government is continuing with its focus on the modernisation of its armed
forces and ensuring defence preparedness of the country. The raising of two mountain
divisions to safeguard the North-Eastern borders, and setting up of the second Officers
Training Academy (OTA) at Gaya, Bihar have been approved. The modernisation of
Rashtriya Rifles was also approved to improve the counter insurgency grid in Jammu &

52
Kashmir. Other areas being accorded high priority are the development of roads and
infrastructure in the high altitude areas, and coastal and maritime security.

120) A decision has been taken to induct the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system,
with precision strike capability against land targets. Akash surface to air missile system
capable of multi-target handling, is also being inducted.

Governance and Civil Society

121) In 2009-10, 39615 additional Common Service Centres were established. Services
being offered through these centres include birth, death, caste, income & domicile
certificates, services relating to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme, utility bill collection, employment exchange services, postal services,
electoral roll registration, right to information services, record of rights, integration with
online portals, and management information system & awareness services for National
Rural Health Mission, disaster management, AIDS control and telemedicine.

122) The UPA government has taken a major initiative to provide a unique identification to
all the resident Indian population. The Unique Identification Authority of India has been
constituted to implement the UID scheme. This scheme shall ensure that various
development deliverables reach the poor and needy in time, shall enable better monitoring
and help plug leakages. Necessary action is being taken to ensure that it is possible to begin
issuing UID numbers in 2010.

123) Efforts have been made to strengthen both the `demand' and `supply' side for
effective implementation of the Right to Information Act. Information Commissions have
been set up both at the Centre and in the States. Government departments are being
encouraged to put more information in the public domain; training programmes have been
organized for CPIOs and appellate authorities and guidebooks have been prepared for use
of both government officials and the public.

124) A Delivery Monitoring Unit has been set up in the Prime Minister's Office to review
selected flagship programmes, initiatives and iconic projects, with a view to ensuring
effective delivery, through steady monitoring by the Ministry concerned. Ministries have

53
also been advised to place information in the public domain on their respective websites
and have begun so placing the information.

125) The 'NGO Partnership System' is a web based portal to provide Voluntary
Organizations (VOs)/Non Government Organizations (NGOs) with a host of facilities. As
many as 27752 VOs/NGOs have already signed up with the NGO-Partnership System.

Centre-State Relations

126) The share of States in the net proceeds of Union taxes has been enhanced to 32% from
the 30.5% recommended by the Twelfth Finance Commission. The estimated total
transfers to States, comprising share in central taxes and grants-in-aid during 2010-15
amount to Rs. 1766677 crore as against Rs. 755751.72 crore recommended for 2005-10.

127) Central loans administered by Ministries, other than the Ministry of Finance, to
States, that are outstanding as at the end of 2009-10, will be written-off.

Building Bridges

128) The UPA government, in its second term, pursues its foreign policy objectives which
are closely integrated with the country's fundamental security and development priorities.
India's foreign policy aims at a global order in which India's overriding goals of rapid,
sustained and inclusive socio-economic development and poverty alleviation are attained
rapidly without any hindrance. To this end, India's foreign policy has combined firm
commitment to our core national values with dynamic adaptation to changes in the
international environment. As a corollary to these objectives, India is committed to close
and good neighbourly relations with all countries in its immediate and extended
neighbourhood.

129) India's commitment to its immediate neighbourhood has revitalised SAARC with the
implementation of a number of regional and sub-regional projects focused primarily on
development. New initiatives have included the setting up of the SAARC Development
Fund, establishment of the SAARC Food Bank, implementation of regional projects in
telemedicine, tele-education and agriculture and conclusion of the SAARC Convention on
Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters.

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130) India continued to press for reform of the United Nations, in particular, through
expansion of its Security Council to make it more democratic and representative.

131) India continued to play a lead role in the Non-Aligned Movement to maintain the
movement's relevance and strengthen its voice on international issues.

132) India has remained actively engaged in the multilateral negotiations on climate
change to build a rule-based, transparent and equitable climate change regime that
safeguards the interests of the developing countries and supports their endeavour for
poverty alleviation and sustainable economic development.

Overseas Indians

133) Prime Minister's Global Advisory Council of Overseas Indians has been set up to draw
upon the experience and knowledge of eminent people of Indian origin in diverse fields
from across the world. The first meeting of the Council was held on 7th January 2010 at
New Delhi.

134) The Global Indian Network of Knowledge (Global INK) is an electronic platform that
will connect people of Indian Origin from a variety of disciplines, recognized as leaders in
their respective fields, not just in their country of residence but globally as well, with
knowledge users at the national and sub-national levels in India.

135) The eighth edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention was held in New
Delhi on 7th to 9th January 2010. The Convention was attended by over 1500 delegates
from different countries. On this occasion, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards were
conferred on 14 overseas Indians. The third mini-PBD called "PBD-Europe" was held at the
World Forum in The Hague on 19th September 2009.

136) The government approved the proposal for setting up the Indian Community Welfare
Fund (ICWF) in the Indian Missions in 17 countries where emigration check is required,
and the Maldives, in August 2009. The ICWF will enable extending on site welfare &
emergency relief to overseas Indians in distress.

NNN

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2.

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