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 In the spotlight |
A budget for inclusive growth
Explicitly based on the assumption that the victory of the Congress party in the recent general elections was a “mandate for inclusive growth and equitable development”, Union Budget 2009-10 had a slew of announcements related to rural development, housing, micro finance and health ...
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A budget for inclusive growth
Explicitly based on the assumption that the victory of the Congress party in the recent general elections was a “mandate for inclusive growth and equitable development”, Union Budget 2009-10 had a slew of announcements related to rural development, housing, micro finance and health:
 Convergence in NREGS
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was extended to all rural districts of the country in April 2008. Predictably, the allocation for the scheme has been increased enormously, to INR 391 billion for the year 2009-10, an increase of 144% over 2008-09 budget estimates.
The government has also announced intentions to roll out pilot projects for `convergence’ of NREGS works, with schemes related to agriculture, forests, water resources, land resources and rural roads. The idea, mooted almost since the time NREGS was launched, is fraught with practical difficulties - several government departments have to work together.
Civil society could find spaces in developing village-level plans. Convergence is going to be tried out in 115 `pilot districts’. The list will be announced by the ministry of rural development.
More funds for villages with high SC population
Budget 2009 announced a new scheme for villages in which the population of scheduled castes is above 50%.
Apparently based on the Ambedkar village scheme launched in UP in the mid-1990s, the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) assures `gap funding’ of INR 1 million to each eligible village, over and above allocations it receives from the central government under other rural development and poverty alleviation schemes.
Initially, the scheme is going to be launched in 1000 of 44,000 odd villages in the country with SC population above 50%. The selection of villages is bound to raise some political controversies and the guidelines framed for the scheme would have to be closely read. There are bound to be conditions imposed on panchayat functioning.
If PMAGY is a success in the 1000 selected villages, it will be extended to all the 44,000 odd eligible villages.
Housing programme for urban poor
Budget 2009 made a financial allocation for Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a scheme for subsidising housing for the urban poor, on the lines of the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY).
RAY was announced by the President of India earlier in 2009. Guidelines for the scheme are being framed and a draft concept note is expected to be circulated soon. CSOs can help state governments formulate responses and proposals. One of the most contentious issues would be giving property rights to slum dwellers.
Expansion of SHG movement
Declaring that the women’s self help group movement is “bringing about a profound transformation in rural areas”, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government hopes to enroll at least 50% of all rural women in India as members of SHGs over the next five years and link these SHGs to banks.
The corpus of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, which has schemes for facilitating credit support or micro finance to poor women, will be increased. The government also proposes to provide interest subsidy to poor households for loans up to INR 100,000 taken from banks under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY).
Expansion of financial services
The finance minister announced that a sub-committee of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) will identify `unbanked’ and `under-banked’ areas in the country and formulate an action plan for providing banking facilities to all these areas in the next three years.
Budget 2009 set aside INR 1 billion as one-time grant-in-aid to ensure provision of at least one centre/point of sale for banking services in each of the `unbanked’ blocks in the country.
The finance minister disclosed that the RBI has announced a further relaxation in its branch authorization policy. Scheduled commercial banks are now allowed to set up off-site ATMs without prior approval, subject to reporting.
Support to small enterprises
Credit at reasonable rates for micro, small and medium enterprises will be facilitated by providing a special fund of INR 40 billion out of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) to Small Industries Development Bank (SIDBI).
The finance minister said that this fund will “incentivise” banks and State Finance Corporations (SFCs) to lend to micro and small enterprises by refinancing 50% of incremental lending.
Expansion of health scheme for poor
Budget 2009 increased by 40% allocation for Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), operationalised last year.
Using biometric smart cards, RSBY is a medical insurance scheme for below poverty line (BPL) families, entitling them to hospitalization coverage up to INR 30,000.
Relief for charitable organizations
The finance minister announced some tax relief to charitable organizations receiving donations. Anonymous donations received to the extent of 5% of total income or a sum of INR 100,00 whichever is higher, would not be taxed.
Other measures of relevance to the social sector announced in Budget 2009 included:
- A plan to launch a National Mission for Female Literacy, with focus on minorities, SC, ST and other marginalised groups.
- Commitment to universalisation of the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS), to cover all children under the age of six by March 2012.
- A scheme for `Evaluation, Monitoring and Research for Foodgrains Management and Strengthening of Public Distribution System (PDS)’, including computerization of the Targeted Public Distribution System, training, professional services and capacity building.
Apart from this, the finance minister announced that a draft Food Security Bill would be soon put out on the website of the Department of Food and Public Distribution for public debate and consultations.
The bill proposes that every family living below the poverty line in rural or urban areas will be entitled by law to 25 kilos of rice or wheat per month at INR 3 a kilo.
Summing up
Apart from the hefty increase in allocation to NREGS, Budget 2009 does not mark any major or radical initiative of the Union government in the social sector.
Given the uncertain economic times, this was only to be expected.
Also, one must remember, as the finance minister himself stressed, that the budget is not the only policy declaration opportunity for the government. For instance, on PSU disinvestment, the budget promised little, but the government may do more, the finance minister hinted in media interviews.
A few new schemes or proposals related to the social sector were announced in Budget 2009, such as PMAGY, but the financial allocation is modest, and the government is clearly moving cautiously.
Even the ambitious food security bill has been effectively put on the backburner, by the formation of an empowered group of ministers to look into the issue - the group does not meet often and takes over a year to arrive at decisions.
The finance minister’s budget speech was “largely a listing of moderate increases or small new allocations for a variety of programmes”, opined Dr Subir Gokarn, Chief Economist, Standard & Poor’s Asia Pacific. Read his opinion piece in the CRISIL website.
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| About CSO Partners |
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Enhancing capacities, fostering collaborations
CSO Partners is a nonprofit organization with a mission to create positive social change in India, by strengthening civil society organizations (CSOs) and fostering active collaborations with diverse social contributors - corporate groups, governments, and individuals.
By engaging at various levels with diverse groups, including governments, corporate bodies and individuals, CSO Partners
seeks to ...
Read more |
Enhancing capacities, fostering collaborations
CSO Partners is a nonprofit organization with a mission to create positive social change in India, by strengthening civil society organizations (CSOs) and fostering active collaborations with diverse social contributors - corporate groups, governments, and individuals.
By engaging at various levels with diverse groups, including governments, corporate bodies and individuals, CSO Partners
seeks to:
- mobilize resources and enhance the effectiveness of CSOs
- facilitate support services for CSOs
- promote the culture of accountability and transparency in CSOs
While the core team at CSO Partners comprises professionals from multi-discipline and multi- sector backgrounds, we have an extended base of partners specialized in services relevant to CSOs in India.
The collective experiences of the partners and the core team translates into a deep understanding of the changing landscape, scope and conditions for developmental engagement in India.
We also have keen understanding of the evolving motivations and needs of CSOs and contributors such as donor agencies, corporates and individuals.
CSO Partners has prioritized four thematic areas of work:
- Disaster management
- Promoting transparency and accountability among CSOs
Education
- Increase accessibility to support services
Four Thematic Areas of Work
Disaster Management
CSO Partners has collaborated with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and AidMatrix, an agency specialized in providing web solutions to disaster preparedness and response, to develop Corporate Disaster Resource Network(CDRN).
CDRN is a web-based supply chain management system that helps relief agencies, response agencies, local governments, and businesses to access and feed in real-time information on products and services required for emergency humanitarian relief.
CSO Partners supported ICICI Group’s effort in responding to the spate of floods in northern India in 2008. We strategized ICICI Group’s relief and rehabilitation programme, identified the implementing and anchoring organization, and developed a monitoring and reporting system.
Around INR 138 million was collected from ICICI customers and employees, and used for rehabilitation of flood victims.
Promoting transparency and accountability among CSOs
To recognize and promote quality in annual reports, a key tool for ensuring transparency and accountability of any organization, we have constituted ‘CSO Partners’ Outstanding Annual Report Awards’, in association with our strategic partners, Financial Management Service Foundation, Credibility Alliance and Murray Culshaw Consulting.
The first annual awards ceremony, for the financial year 2007-08, was held on March 27, 2009 in New Delhi.
Education
CSO Partners worked with ICICI Bank on its ‘Read to Lead’ educational initiative, launched to bridge gaps in access to formal schooling experienced by a large number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The initiative aims to reach out to 100,000 children through different voluntary organizations.
Support provided by CSO Partners included strategizing, identification and selection of NGOs, designing a monitoring system, and recommending and facilitating fund disbursal through our strategic partner Give India.
Increase accessibility to support services
CSO Partners and its affiliate partners are organizing a series of ‘Opportunities in Challenging Times’ workshops in six different cities, to reach out to approximately 500 CSOs with a cascade of domain expertise.
The primary objective of these workshops is to facilitate a common perspective of the context and to help CSOs identify challenges and opportunities. By participating in the workshops CSOs would have diagnostic interactions with different domain experts. Organization-specific action plans could follow.
The first of such workshops took place on May 22, 2009 in Mumbai. The second workshop is planned to be conducted on September 13-14, 2009 in Hyderabad.
In the pipeline
CSO Partners is developing Market Place, an online portal that would provide networking opportunities for the social sector in India. Other initiatives in the pipeline include:
- Developing a campaign for high networth philanthropy
- A campaign for corporates and SMEs to motivate and garner contributions to the social sector
- Conducting a study with a support partner and a management consulting company on corporate board directors’ philanthropic engagements, to develop a dossier that would help promote awareness and interest on such engagement among directors
- Developing a backend technical hub that would provide support to CSOs with software applications, website development, data back-up and integration of new media in communication
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All services offered by us are free of cost. Read more about us in www.csopartners.org.in |
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Announcements |
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‘Opportunities in Challenging Times’-
A workshop for CSOs on September 14-15, 2009 at The Grand Solitaire Hotel, Hyderabad. Read more ...
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Development Digest |
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 New development schemes announced |
| The Union Budget for 2009-10 has proposed two new development schemes. more close |
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| Right to Education bill passed |
| The Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill on August 4, 2009. The Rajya Sabha, the upper house, had earlier given its approval to the Bill on July 20, 2009. more close |
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| India faces drought |
| India is facing drought following the delayed monsoons, significantly affecting the ongoing kharif season in the country.Although the onset of the South-West Monsoon, 2009 was in time, the advancement of the monsoon was delayed in central and northern parts of the country. more close |
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Resources |
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The library section of our website provides links to a useful, free web resources, organized under categories like poverty, women, environment, CSR and disasters. Resources are listed under three heads: legislations/ policies/government documents, research and links to useful websites
Featured in this issue
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Research document: Swine Flu - Situation Report |
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Useful Website: Reuters AlertNet |
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Legislation/Policies/Govt. Documents: Social Code for Business |
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If you would like to include any document in this section, please contact us.
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