AIR Spotlight - Welfare Schemes of the Government

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio Newsonair. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation. In this article, the topic of discussion is Welfare Schemes of the Government.

Context:

The Spotlight episode highlights the various special programs and schemes incorporated over the years by the government to better the conditions of people with special attention to farmers, enterprises, the poor, and the backward.

• The government has been consistently working towards improving the socio-economic situation in India. 
• Recently, with the Pandemic shock, India needed a suitable pathway more than before to absorb the economic shock and social repercussions.

Various Schemes

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana  2.0

• The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is a government scheme launched in 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 
• The scheme originally envisaged the distribution of 50 million LPG connections to women below the poverty line. 
• Later, it aimed to provide LPG connections to eight crore women by March 2020. However, this target was achieved seven months prior, in September 2019.
• Under Ujjwala 2.0, an additional 10 million LPG connections will be provided to the beneficiaries.

PM Garib Kalyan Yojana

• The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) was launched in the year 2016 by PM Modi along with the other provisions of the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 2016. 
• It came into effect in December 2016 under the Ministry of Finance.  
• Under the scheme, over 80 crore poor people are to be provided free food grains till November 2020 – 5kg of wheat/rice and 1 Kg of pulses per family.

Jal Jeevan Mission 

• It aims to provide Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural home by 2024.
• The outlay of JJM is Rs. 3.60 lakh crore.
• The mission is to give a boost to the manufacturing industry, creating job opportunities, and helping the rural economy.
• Assured tap water supply in rural homes reduces the drudgery of women and provides them with quality time to educate themselves, teach their children, learn a new skill, and explore better livelihood options.
• The scheme has successfully covered 41% of rural households.

Know more about the Jal Jeevan Mission in the linked article.

Ayushman Bharat

• Ayushman Bharat Programme is an umbrella health scheme of the Government of India. 
• The Ayushman Bharat program was launched in 2018 to address health issues at all levels – primary, secondary, and tertiary. 

In September 2021, the government announced the launch of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Know more about this scheme at the link.

Overview

• Many other significant programs are running currently for serving the backward groups in the county. These include Chiranjiwi Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, DBT, Kisan Samman Yojana, etc.
• The Mudra Scheme has aimed at providing the people with adequate required funds to accelerate the economy.
• It is hoped that the efforts of the government will bring better changes that will cater to the needs of millions of people and will build a Better-Strong Nation in years to come.

Read more Gist of AIR Spotlight here.

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