National Food Security Mission

The year 2023 has been declared the International Year of Millets (IYoM) by the United Nations on the proposal initiated by the Government of India. The Government is celebrating the International Year of Millets to make it a people’s movement so that value-added products are accepted globally. Both the Central and State Governments have taken numerous steps for promoting millets (Shree Anna). The action plan of IYoM 2023 focuses on a strategy to enhance production, productivity, consumption, export, strengthening the value chains, branding and also creating awareness for health benefits etc.

To increase the production of Nutri Cereals for meeting their enhanced demand, the Central Government is implementing the National Food Security Mission - Nutri Cereals (NFSM-Nutri Cereals). The interventions covered under NFSM-Nutri Cereals include cluster front line demonstrations on improved package of practices, seed distribution & micronutrients, biofertilizers, production of certified seeds of High Yielding Varieties, plant protection chemicals, weedicides, sprayer, efficient water application tools, cropping system based training. Seed Hubs for millets have also been set up. Further interventions include breeder seed production, production of certified seeds, distribution of seed mini kits (HYVs) etc. Further, States such as Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have initiated Millet Missions in the States to promote millets.

The Government also incentivizes farmers to increase the production and productivity of millets through Rashtriya Krishi VikasYojana. It has also fixed the MSP for major millets to ensure that farmers get remunerative prices.

To increase the production of millets based products, a Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has been notified by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in June 2022. Millets are also included under the Poshan Abhiyan of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Further, the Ministry of Food and Public Distribution has revised its guidelines to increase the procurement of millets under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)  and Mid-Day Meal. The Ministry has also advised the State Governments and Union Territories to increase the procurement of millets.

Due to the above efforts of both the Central and State Governments, there has been an increased awareness about health benefits and enhanced demand for millets. The Government is committed to ensure remunerative prices to farmers so that the production and supply increase and keep the prices moderated.

Indian Semiconductor Mission

 India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has been setup as an Independent Business Division within Digital India Corporation having administrative and financial autonomy to formulate and drive India’s long-term strategies for developing semiconductors and display manufacturing facilities and semiconductor design ecosystem. Envisioned to be led by global experts in the Semiconductor and Display industry, ISM is serving as the nodal agency for efficient, coherent and smooth implementation of the programme for development of semiconductor and manufacturing ecosystem in India.

Objectives of ISM are as under:

1. Formulate a comprehensive long-term strategy for developing sustainable semiconductors and display manufacturing facilities and semiconductor design eco-system in the country in consultation with the Government ministries / departments / agencies, industry, and academia.
2. Facilitate the adoption of secure microelectronics and developing trusted semiconductor supply chain, including raw materials, specialty chemicals, gases, and manufacturing equipment.
3. Enable a multi-fold growth of Indian semiconductor design industry by providing requisite support in the form of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, foundry services and other suitable mechanisms for early-stage start-ups.
4. Promote and facilitate indigenous Intellectual Property (IP) generation.
5. Encourage, enable and incentivize Transfer of Technologies (ToT).
6. Establish suitable mechanisms to harness economies of scale in Indian semiconductor and display industry.
7. Enable cutting-edge research in semiconductors and display industry including evolutionary and revolutionary technologies through grants, global collaborations and other mechanisms in academia / research institutions, industry, and through establishing Centres of Excellence (CoEs).
8. Enable collaborations and partnership programs with national and international agencies, industries and institutions for catalysing collaborative research, commercialization and skill development.

ISM has been working as nodal agency for the Schemes approved under Semicon India Programme. The applications were received by ISM and are being appraised by ISM. ISM has also been engaging with various stakeholders of Semiconductors and Display ecosystem to attract the investments in India. So far INR 13 crore has been released to ISM.

Government is very focused on its important objective of building the overall semiconductor ecosystem and ensure that, it in-turn catalyses India’s rapidly expanding electronics manufacturing and innovation ecosystem. Government has approved the Semicon India programme with a total outlay of INR 76,000 crore for the development of semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country. The programme has further been modified in view of the aggressive incentives offered by countries already having an established semiconductor ecosystem and a limited number of companies owning advanced node technologies. The modified programme aims to provide financial support to companies investing in semiconductors, display manufacturing and design ecosystem. This will serve to pave the way for India’s growing presence in the global electronics value chains.

Following four schemes have been introduced under the aforesaid programme:

1. ‘Modified Scheme for setting up of Semiconductor Fabs in India’ for attracting large investments for setting up semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities in the country to strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem and help establish a trusted value chain. The Scheme extends a fiscal support of 50% of the project cost on pari-passu basis for setting up of Silicon CMOS based Semiconductor Fab in India.
2. ‘Modified Scheme for setting up of Display Fabs in India’ for attracting large investments for manufacturing TFT LCD or AMOLED based display panels in the country to strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem. Scheme extends fiscal support of 50% of Project Cost on pari-passu basis for setting up of Display Fabs in India.
3. ‘Modified Scheme for setting up of Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics / Sensors Fab / Discrete Semiconductors Fab and Semiconductor Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) / OSAT facilities in India’ shall extends a fiscal support of 50% of the Capital Expenditure on Pari-passu basis for setting up of Compound Semiconductors / Silicon Photonics (SiPh) / Sensors (including MEMS) Fab/ Discrete Semiconductor Fab and Semiconductor ATMP / OSAT facilities in India.
4. ‘Semicon India Future Design: Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme’offers financial incentives, design infrastructure support across various stages of development and deployment of semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductor linked design. The scheme provides “Product Design Linked Incentive” of up to 50% of the eligible expenditure subject to a ceiling of ₹15 Crore per application and “Deployment Linked Incentive” of 6% to 4% of net sales turnover over 5 years subject to a ceiling of ₹30 Crore per application.

In addition to the above schemes, the Government has also approved modernisation of Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Mohali as a brownfield Fab.

The government has reached out foreign semiconductor companies and invited them to set up semiconductor and display manufacturing facilities in the country. As a result, India Semiconductor Mission, a Nodal Agency setup for implementation of the programme has received proposals under all schemes which are currently under consideration.

National Solar Mission

The National Solar Mission is one of the eight missions of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The objective of the National Solar Mission is to establish India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. The Mission is under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

National Hydrogen Mission

 The Mission aims to aid the government in meeting its climate targets and making India a green hydrogen hub. This will help in meeting the target of production of 5 million tonnes of Green hydrogen by 2030 and the related development of renewable energy capacity.

Features of Mission :

• The Green Hydrogen / Ammonia manufacturer can bank his unconsumed renewable power, up to 30 days, with distribution company and take it back when required. 

• Distribution licensees can also procure and supply Renewable Energy to the manufacturers of Green Hydrogen / Green Ammonia in their States at concessional prices which will only include the cost of procurement, wheeling charges and a small margin as determined by the State Commission. 

• Waiver of inter-state transmission charges for a period of 25 years will be allowed to the manufacturers of Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia for the projects commissioned before 30th June 2025. 

• The manufacturers of Green Hydrogen / Ammonia and the renewable energy plant shall be given connectivity to the grid on priority basis to avoid any procedural delays. 

• The benefit of Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) will be granted as incentive to the hydrogen/Ammonia manufacturer and the Distribution licensee for consumption of renewable power. 

• To ensure ease of doing business a single portal for carrying out all the activities including statutory clearances in a time bound manner will be set up by MNRE.

Union Cabinet approved Swachh Bharat Mission for Urban Areas

The Union Cabinet on 24 September 2014 approved Swachh Bharat Mission for Urban Areas. The mission will begin from 2 October 2014 and will be implemented over a period of five years.

The mission will be implemented in over 4041 statutory towns of the country and will cost around 62009 crore rupees of which 14623 crore rupees will be borne by the Union Government.

The Mission is the urban component of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and will be implemented by Union Ministry of Urban Development. The rural component of the Mission will be implemented by Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Main elements of the Mission

• The Mission includes elimination of open defecation, conversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toilets, eradication of manual scavenging, Municipal Solid Waste Management.
• The Programme consists of components for providing (i) Individual household toilets; (ii) Community and public toilets; and (iii) Municipal Solid Waste Management in all 4041 statutory towns
• It would cover 1.04 crore households, provide 2.5 lakh seats of community toilets, 2.6 lakh seats of public toilets and solid waste management facility for all towns.

Aim of the Mission

• It aims towards bringing a behavioural change in people regarding healthy sanitation practices and generating awareness among citizens about sanitation and its linkages with public health.
• It also aims at strengthening of urban local bodies to design, execute and operate systems to fulfill these objectives and creating an enabling environment for private sector participation in capital expenditure and operational expenditure.

Background

The plan of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was mentioned in the Union Budget 2014-15 by the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 10 July 2014. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was proposed in the Union Budget under Drinking Water & Sanitation plan. As proposed, the Abhiyan will cover every household with sanitation facility by the year 2019

National Mission for Green India

The National Mission for a Green India, as one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), recognizes that climate change phenomena will seriously affect and alter the distribution, type and quality of natural resources of the country and the associated livelihoods of the people. The Mission (henceforth referred to as GIM) acknowledges the influences that the forestry sector has on environmental amelioration through climate mitigation, food security, water security,biodiversity conservation and livelihood security of forest dependent communities.

The objectives of the mission are three-fold:

• Double the area to be taken up for afforestation/eco-restoration in India in the next 10 years, taking the total area to be afforested or eco-restored to 20 million ha.(i.e., 10 million ha of additional forest/non forest area to be treated by the Mission, in addition to the 10 million ha which is likely to be treated by Forest Department and other agencies through other interventions).
• Increase the GHG removals by India's forests to 6.35% of India's annual total GHG emissions by the year 2020 (an increase of 1.5% over what it would be in the absence of the Mission). This would require an increase in above and below ground biomass in 10 million ha of forests/ecosystems, resulting in increased carbon sequestration of 43 million tons CO2-e annually .
• Enhance the resilience of forests/ecosystems being treated under the Mission enhance infiltration, groundwater recharge, stream and spring flows, biodiversity value, provisioning of services (fuel wood, fodder, timber, NTFPs, etc.) to help local communities adapt to climatic variability.

The Mission targets can be classified as:

• 2.0 m ha of moderately dense forests show increased cover and density.
• 4.0 m ha of degraded forests are regenerated/afforested and sustainably managed.
• 0.10 m ha of mangroves restored/established.
• 0.10 m ha of wetlands show enhanced conservation status.
• 0.20 m ha of urban/peri urban forest lands and institutional lands are under tree cover.
• 1.50 m ha of degraded agricultural lands and fallows are brought under agro-forestry.•  0.10 m ha of corridor areas, critical to wildlife migration are secure.
• Improved fuel wood use efficiency devices adopted in about 10 million households (along with alternative energy devices).
• Biomass/NTFP based community livelihoods are enhanced that lead to reduced vulnerability.

Some key highlights of the Mission strategy are listed below:

1. Holistic view to “greening” (broader than plantations):

The scope of greening will not be limited to just trees and plantations. Emphasis will be placed on restoration of ecosystems and habitat diversity e.g. grassland and pastures (more so in arid/semi-arid regions), mangroves, wetlands and other critical ecosystems. It will not only strive to restore degraded forests, but would also contribute in protection/enhancement of forests with relatively dense forest cover.

2. Integrated cross-sectoral approach to implementation:

The Mission would foster an integrated approach that treats forests and non forest public lands as well as private lands simultaneously, in project units/ sub-landscapes/sub-watersheds. Drivers of degradation e.g. firewood needs and livestock grazing will be addressed using inter sectoral convergence (e.g. livestock, forest, agriculture, rural development, energy etc.)

3. Key role for local communities and decentralized governance:

Local communities will be required to play a key role in project governance and implementation. Gram Sabha and its various committees/groups including JFMCs, CFM groups, Van Panchayats, etc. would be strengthened as institutions of decentralized forest governance. Likewise, the Mission would support revamping/strengthening of the Forest Development Agencies. The Mission would support secured community tenure, capacity building for adaptive forest management and livelihood support activities e.g. community based NTFP enterprises.

4. Vulnerability' and 'Potential' as criteria for intervention:

An overarching criterion for selection of project areas/sub-landscapes/sub-watersheds under the Mission would include vulnerability to climatic change projections and potential of areas for enhancing carbon sinks.

5. Robust and effective monitoring framework:
A comprehensive monitoring framework at four different levels is proposed. In addition to on-ground self- monitoring by multiple agencies, the Mission would support use of modern technology like Remote Sensing with GPS mapping of plot boundaries for monitoring at output/ outcome level. A few identified sites within the project area will be selected for intensive monitoring using additional parameters like ground cover, soil condition, erosion and infiltration, run-off, ground water levels to develop water budgets as well as biomass monitoring indicators. The Mission would also commission a comprehensive research needs assessment in support of Mission aim and objectives. The Mission would set up a cell within Mission Directorate to coordinate REDD Plus activities in the country.

National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) approved by the Cabinet

The Union Cabinet gave its approval to launch a National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a new sub-mission under the over-arching National Health Mission (NHM). Under the Scheme the following proposals have been approved:

a) One Urban Primary Health Centre (U-PHC) for every fifty to sixty thousand population.
b) One Urban Community Health Centre (U-CHC) for five to six U-PHCs in big cities.
c) One Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANM) for 10,000 population.
d) One Accredited Social Health Activist ASHA (community link worker) for 200 to 500 households.

The estimated cost of NUHM for 5 years period is Rs.22,507 crore with the Central Government share of Rs.16,955 crore. Centre-State funding pattern will be 75:25 except for North Eastern states and other special category states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for whom the funding pattern will be 90:10.

The scheme will focus on primary health care needs of the urban poor. This Mission will be implemented in 779 cities and towns with more than 50,000 population and cover about 7.75 crore people.

The interventions under the sub-mission will result in

I.  Reduction in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
II. Reduction in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)
III. Universal access to reproductive health care
IV. Convergence of all health related interventions.

The existing institutional mechanism and management systems created and functioning under NRHM will be strengthened to meet the needs of NUHM. Citywise implementation plans will be prepared based on baseline survey and felt need. Urban local bodies will be fully involved in implementation of the scheme.

NUHM aims to improve the health status of the urban population in general, particularly the poor and other disadvantaged sections by facilitating equitable access to quality health care, through a revamped primary public health care system, targeted outreach services and involvement of the community and urban local bodies.

National Mission for Empowerment of Women

National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) is an initiative of the Government of India (GOI) for empowering women holistically.  It is conceived as an umbrella mission with a mandate to strengthen inter-sectoral convergence and facilitate the process of coordinating all the women’s welfare and socio economic development programmes across ministries and departments.

The salient features of the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) are:

1.                  To ensure economic empowerment of women.

2.                  To ensure that violence against women is eliminated progressively.

3.                  To ensure social empowerment of women with emphasis on health and education.

4.                  To oversee gender mainstreaming of programmes, policies, institutional arrangements     and processes of participating Ministries, Institutions and Organizations.

5.                  To undertake awareness generation as well as advocacy activities to fuel demand for   benefits under various schemes and programmes and create, if required, structures at district, tehsil and village level with the involvement of Panchayats for their fulfillment.

The National Mission Authority (NMA) comprises of the following:

I.                   Hon’ble Prime Minister

II.                Minister of Finance

III.             Minister of Human Resource Development

IV.             Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

V.                Minister of Rural Development

VI.             Minister of Panchayati Raj

VII.          Minister of Agriculture & Cooperation

VIII.       Minister of Health & Family Welfare

IX.             Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

X.                Minister of Law & Justice

XI.             Minister of Environment & Forests

XII.          Minister of Labour& Employment

XIII.       Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment

XIV.       Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

XV.          MOS(IC), M/o. WCD.

XVI.       Chairperson, National Commission of Women

XVII.    Two Chief Ministers

XVIII.    Five Civil Society Members.

The Mission does not involve direct delivery of benefits to individual beneficiaries. Funds have been released for the pilot project in Pali district in Rajasthan as well as for setting up SRCWs in different States.

The total funds earmarked for the duration 2010-15 is Rs 14134.53 lakhs. The BE for the year 2012-13 is Rs 2500.00 lakhs while the RE for the year 2012-13 is Rs 1100.00 lakhs.

23 State Resource Centres for Women (SRCW) have been established under State Mission Authority (SMA) in different States/UTs.

National Monsoon Mission

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the implementation of the programme of the National Monsoon Mission at the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) for a period of five years.

The main objectives of the National Monsoon Mission are:

(i) To build a working partnership between the academic and R&D organisations both national and international and the operational agencies to improve the operational monsoon forecast skill over the country.

(ii) To set up a state of the art dynamic modelling framework for improving the prediction skill of:

a. Seasonal and extended range prediction system (16 days to one season)

b. Short to medium range prediction system (up to 15 days).

The Mission has a budget of Rs.400 crore for five years to support the research work related to the mission.

The National Monsoon Mission after its implementation will help to implement a dynamic prediction system for the prediction of monsoon in all time scales, short range to seasonal time scale at appropriate spatial scales with improved prediction skill. The forecasts based on this prediction system will cater to the needs of various sectors like agriculture, water resources management, power generation, disaster management, tourism and transport.

The programme will be undertaken through two sub-missions on two different time scales, (i) extended range to seasonal time scale to be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune/ESSO and (ii) short to medium range scale, to be coordinated by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF)/ESSO. The Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)/ESSO will provide the ocean observations for assimilation and the India Meteorological Department/ESSO will implement the research outcome of the efforts in operational mode. The Mission will support focused research by national and international research groups with definitive objectives and deliverables to improve the models in the short, medium, extended and seasonal range scales at appropriate spatial scales. The Mission will also support observational programmes that will result in better understanding of the processes. The progress of the National Monsoon Mission will be reviewed and monitored by two committees. The Scientific Review and Monitoring Committee (SRMC) will review the research proposals from different research groups and monitor the progress of the research work. The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC), which is the apex body will steer the programme, advise and direct midcourse corrections, if any.

Background:

Prediction of monsoon rainfall variability in all spatial and time scales is very important for many sectors like agriculture, water resources management, power generation and natural ecosystems and thus economy of the country. The present statistical methods being used by the India Meteorological Department have some constraints to meet specific user requirements for forecasts on finer spatial and temporal scale. Therefore, it is necessary to make use of the state of the art dynamic models to improve monsoon prediction skills.

National Mission on Food Processing

Government has approved the launching of National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) main scheme through States/UTs during 2012-13. The basic objective of NMFP is decentralization of implementation of Ministry’s schemes, which will lead to substantial participation by State Governments/UTs. The NMFP is likely to add significantly to the Ministry’s outreach in terms of planning, supervision and monitoring of assistance through this scheme.

The major Progrmme/Schemes to be covered under NMFP during 2012-13 are:

(i) Scheme for Technology Up-gradation / Establishment /modernisation of Food Processing Industries.

(ii) Scheme for Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure for Non Horticultural Products.

(iii) Scheme for Modernisation of Abattoirs (no targets for 2012-13 & 2013-14)

(iv) Scheme for Human Resource Development (HRD)

a) Creation of Infrastructure Facilities for Running Degree/ Diploma / Certificate Courses in Food Processing Technology.

b) Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP)

c) Food Processing Training Centre (FPTC)

(v) Scheme for Promotional Activities

a. Organizing Seminars/Workshops

b. Conducting Studies/Surveys

c. Support to Exhibitions/Fairs

d. Advertisement & Publicity