Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban
GS Paper 2: Government Policies, Poverty
Important for:
Prelims exam level: PM Awas Yojna
Mains exam Level: Initiatives taken for poverty eradication
Why in News
The scheme has completed its 7 years.
About the scheme
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), a flagship Mission of Government of India being implemented by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), was launched in 2015.
• The Mission addresses urban housing shortage among the EWS/LIG and MIG categories including the slum dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to all eligible urban households by the year 2022, when Nation completes 75 years of its Independence.
• The Mission covers the entire urban area consisting of Statutory Towns, Notified Planning Areas, Development Authorities, Special Area Development Authorities, Industrial Development Authorities or any such authority under State legislation which is entrusted with the functions of urban planning & regulations.
• All houses under PMAY(U) have basic amenities like toilet, water supply, electricity and kitchen.
• The Mission promotes women empowerment by providing the ownership of houses in name of female member or in joint name.
• Preference is also given to differently abled persons, senior citizens, SCs, STs, OBCs, Minority, single women, transgender and other weaker & vulnerable sections of the society.
• A PMAY(U) house ensures dignified living along with sense of security and pride of ownership to the
beneficiaries.
Components of the Scheme
‘In-situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR):
o Central Assistance of Rs. 1 lakh per house is admissible for all houses built for eligible slum dwellers under the component of ISSR using land as Resource with participation of private developers.
o Flexibility is given to States/Cities to deploy this Central Assistance for other slums being redeveloped.
o States/Cities provide additional FSI/FAR or TDR to make projects financially viable.
o For slums on private owned land, States/Cities provide additional FSI/FAR or TDR to land owner as per its policy. No Central Assistance is admissible in such case.
Floor Space Index (FSI) is the ratio between the total built-up area and plot area available allowed by the government for a particular locality. Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building’s total floor area to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built.
Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS):
o Beneficiaries of Economically Weaker Section (EWS)/Low Income Group (LIG), Middle Income Group (MIG)-I and Middle Income Group (MIG)-II seeking housing loans from Banks, Housing Finance Companies and other such institutions for acquiring, new construction or enhancement* of houses are eligible for an interest subsidy of 6.5%, 4% and 3% on loan amount upto Rs. 6 Lakh, Rs. 9 Lakh and Rs. 12 Lakh respectively.
o The Ministry has designated Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), National Housing Bank (NHB) and State Bank of India (SBI) as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) to channelize this subsidy.
o The CLAP portal has significantly contributed towards streamlining processes under CLSS vertical which has also facilitated the Ministry in reducing in grievances.
Affordable Housing in Partnership (AHP):
o Under AHP, Central Assistance of Rs. 1.5 Lakh per EWS house is provided by the Government of India.
o An affordable housing project can be a mix of houses for different categories but it will be eligible for Central Assistance, if at least 35% of the houses in the project are for EWS category.
• Beneficiary-led Individual House Construction/ Enhancement (BLC-N/ BLC-E):
o Central Assistance upto Rs. 1.5 lakh per EWS house is provided to eligible families belonging to EWS categories for individual house construction/ enhancement.
o The Urban Local Bodies validate the information and building plan submitted by the beneficiary so that ownership of land and other details like economic status and eligibility can be ascertained.
Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) for Migrant Workers/ Urban Poor
• COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in reverse migration of urban migrants/ poor in the country.
• Urban migrants stay in slums/ informal settlements/ unauthorised colonies/ peri-urban areas to save cost on housing.
• They need decent rental housing at affordable rate at their work sites.
• In order to address this need, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has initiated Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs), a sub-scheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U).
• This will provide ease of living to urban migrants/ poor in Industrial Sector as well as in non-formal urban economy to get access to dignified affordable rental housing close to their workplace.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):
• The transfer of the Central Assistance and State/ULB share to the beneficiaries is being done by States/ULBs through DBT mode where the installments are credited directly into the beneficiary’s bank account as per construction stage completed and geo-tagged.
CLSS Awas Portal (CLAP):
• A web based monitoring system, CLSS Awas Portal (CLAP) is a common platform where all stakeholders i.e. MoHUA, Central Nodal Agencies, Primary Lending Institutions, Beneficiaries and Citizens are integrated in real time environment.
• The portal facilitates processing of applications along with tracking of subsidy status by beneficiaries. CLSS tracker has also been incorporated in PMAY(U) mobile App and UMANG platform.
VL-SRSAM
GS Paper 3: Science and Technology
Important for:
Prelims exam level: VL-SRSAM and other missile systems
Mains exam Level: Not Much
Why in News
THE INDIGENOUSLY developed shipborne weapon system, Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM), was successfully flight tested by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy off the coast of Chandipur in Odisha.
About VL-SRSAM
• The Vertical Launch – Short Range Surface to Air Missile, or VL-SRSAM is a quick reaction surface-to-air missile developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• During mid-course flight, the missile uses fibre-optic gyroscope based inertial guidance mechanism while in terminal phase uses active radar homing.
• With lock on before launch (LOBL) and lock on after launch (LOAL) capability, the missile receives mid-course update via datalink.
• VL-SRSAM intended to replace older Barak 1 surface to air missile system onboard Indian Navy warships.
• It will also be used as short range air defence system for Indian Air Force.
Bureau of Indian Standard
GS Paper 2: Government Policies
Important for:
Prelims exam level: BIS
Mains exam Level: Not Much
Why in News
Bureau of Indian Standard, National Standard Body of India, has published standards for Test Specifications for Lithium-ion Traction Battery Packs and Systems (Performance Testing) for Electrically Propelled Road Vehicles.
About BIS
• The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
• It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which came into effect on 12 October 2017.
• Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is the ex-officio President of the BIS.
• The organisation was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI).
• It also works as WTO-TBT enquiry point for India.
Members and Head quarter
• It has 25 members drawn from Central or State Governments, industry, scientific and research institutions, and consumer organisations.
• Its headquarters are in New Delhi, with regional offices in Eastern Region at Kolkata, southern Region at Chennai, Western Region at Mumbai, Northern Region at Chandigarh and Central Region at Delhi and 20 branch offices.
Green Climate Fund
GS Paper 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Important for:
Prelims exam level: Green Climate fund
Mains exam Level: Initiatives to tackle pollution and environmental challenges
Why in News
A stakeholder consultation workshop on “Understanding India’s Climate Financing needs and its mobilization with focus on Green Climate Fund (GCF)” was organized by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
What is GCF?
• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the world’s largest environmental fund that seeks to help developing nations in cutting down their greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time making them adapt suitably to climate change.
• This is done by supporting projects, programmes, policies and other activities through a state-of-the-art funding window.
• It was established formally as a financing mechanism by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010 it is headquartered in the Songdo district in South Korea.
• The mandate of GCF is to promote a paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and to adapt to the impacts of climate change (adaptation).
• Given the urgency and seriousness of climate change, the purpose of GCF is to make a significant and ambitious contribution to global efforts towards attaining the goals set by the international community to combat climate change.
Activities Supported
• The GCF finances activities to both enable and support adaptation, mitigation (including REDD+), technology development and transfer, capacity-building and the preparation of national reports.
• Countries are also supported in the pursuit of project-based and programmatic approaches in accordance with strategies and plans (such as low-emission development strategies, Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, National Adaptation Programmes of Action, National Adaptation Plans and others).
The GCF’s main impact areas are:
o Low-emission energy access and power generation
o Low-emission transport
o Energy efficient buildings, cities and industries
o Sustainable land use and forest management
o Enhanced livelihoods of the most vulnerable people, communities, and regions
o Increase health and well-being, and food and water security
o Resilient infrastructure
o Resilient ecosystems.
India and the GFC
• The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has been selected as India’s Nationally Designated Authority (NDA) for the GCF.
• The MOEFCC will make suggestions on funding proposals for national climate strategies to the controlling board of the GCF.
• NABARD has been accredited by GCF as the first Entity for sourcing financial resources from GCF for India.
Gender policy
• The GCF has had a formal Gender Policy and a multi-year Gender Action Plan.
• The GCF was the first climate finance mechanism to “mainstream gender perspectives from the outset of its operations as an essential decision-making element for the deployment of its resources”.