Programmes, Agencies and Institutions working for the development of
Urban and Rural Areas; People centered Participatory Development; Poverty
Alleviation Programmes.
Number of questions- Mains: 02, Prelims – 10
Mains Questions of the day-
1.Describe the role of Public Distribution System in Poverty Alleviation?
Introduction: –
What is PDS and what are its objectives?
Body: –
Mention the working of PDS and its role in poverty reduction.
Conclusion: –
Strengthening of the existing PDS system by capacity building and training
of the implementing authorities along with efforts to plug leakages is the
best way forward.
It can be further strengthened by the increased public participation
through social audits and participation of SHGs, Cooperatives and NGOs in
ensuring the transparency of PDS system at ground level.
Content: –
PDS is one of the biggest welfare programmes of the government, helping
farmers sell their produce at remunerative prices as well as the poorer
sections of society to buy food grains at affordable rates
The Public Distribution System (PDS) is a system of management for food
and distribution of food grains plays a major role in poverty alleviation.
This programme is operated jointly by the Central Government and the
State Government of India. The responsibilities include:
Allocations of commodities such as rice, wheat, kerosene, and sugar
to the States and Union Territories.
Issue of Ration Cards for the people below the poverty line.
Identification of families living below the poverty line.
Management of food scarcity and distribution of food grains.
PDS was later relaunched as Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) in
1997 and is controlled by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
TPDS plays a major role in the implementation and identification of the
poor for proper arrangement and delivery of food grains.
Therefore, the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) plays the same
role as the PDS but adds a special focus on the people below the poverty
line.
The expanded access to the PDS has resulted in poverty reduction and
improving the food security in the country.
The contribution for the overall poverty reduction has increased by 3.1%
during 2011–2012, which compose of 3.8% in reduction in rural regions and
1.4% in the urban areas.
Its effectiveness can be enhanced with technology based solutions as is
evident from some of the states’ successes.
2.Explain the problems in rural health care system.
Introduction: –
Explain the present situation of rural healthcare in India.
Body: –
Mention the problems in rural health care system in India.
Conclusion: –
Medical colleges need to encourage students to visit rural areas and
understand the healthcare requirements of poor and downtrodden.
Doctor in the government service must mandatorily serve in rural areas
before getting his/her first promotion.
Young doctors at grass roots level need to be sensitive to patients and their
family.
Private sector need to work with the government in providing modern and
affordable healthcare facilities in the rural areas and bridge the urban- rural
divide.
Medical associations should campaign to educate people on preventing
lifestyle diseases which are slowly penetrating even the rural areas.
Content: –
Rural Healthcare
In India, 75% of the healthcare infrastructure is concentrated in urban areas
where only 27% of the total Indian population is living.
The remaining 73% of the country’s population is lacking proper primary
healthcare facilities.
Rural Health Care services in India are mainly based on Primary health care,
which envisages attainment of healthy status for all.
Also being holistic in nature it aims to provide preventive, promote curative
and rehabilitative care services.
The health care infrastructure in rural areas has been developed as a three
tier system as follows.
Sub Centre: Most peripheral contact point between Primary Health
Care System & Community manned with one Health Worker
(Female)/ Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) & one Health Worker (M).
The Sub Centre is the most peripheral and first contact point
between the primary health care system and the community
Primary Health Centre (PHC): A Referral Unit for 6 Sub Centres 4-6
bedded manned with a Medical Officer In charge and 14 subordinate
paramedical staff.
Community Health Centre (CHC): A 30 bedded Hospital/Referral Unit
for 4 PHCs with Specialized services
The situation of rural health care in India has not changed much during the
past decade.
Problems in rural health care: –
Infrastructure: –
The biggest concern for the rural healthcare system is the lack adequate
infrastructure.
The existing healthcare centres in rural areas are under-financed, uses
below quality equipment, are low in supply of medicines and lacks qualified
and dedicated human resources.
Underdeveloped roads, railway systems, poor power supply are some of
the major disadvantages that make it difficult to set up a rural healthcare
facility.
Doctor
Patient and Nurse-Doctor Ratio – Both these ratios contribute collectively to
the inadequacy of the rural healthcare system.
Every doctor needs a nurse to cater to their patients.
The rural healthcare infrastructure is three-tiered and includes a sub-
centre, a PHC and a CHC. PHCs are short of more than 3,000 doctors, with
the shortage up by 200% over the last 10 years to 27,421 as per a report by
India Spend.
A patient is not always treated on time in rural India since the doctors are
less in number.
Insurance
Insurance is something that is severely lacking in rural healthcare.
India has one of the lowest per capita healthcare expenditures in the world.
The government has only contributed to about 32% for the insurance in
healthcare sector in India which is sufficient.
Affordability
People cannot afford the upmarket health services when they need to visit
private hospitals.
Advance technological advancements have also made healthcare costly.
The cost of diagnostic facilities is also going up.
Along with that, there are commissioned charges that most people don’t
understand.
Lack of Awareness
Awareness about proper healthcare is insufficient in India.
Proper education on basic issues like the importance of sanitation, health,
nutrition, hygiene and on healthcare policies, importance of medical
services, their rights, financial support options, the need for proper waste
disposal facilities.
It is very important to inculcate a health seeking behaviour in them.
Lack of Medical Stores
Medicines are often unavailable in rural areas.
Supply of basic medicine is irregular in rural areas.
The fair price shops (PPP model) are located in tertiary care and secondary
care hospitals. These fair price shops charge differently in different
locations.
Discounts vary from 50% to 70% by the same provider on the same
medicine.
Prelims Questions of the day: –
1.What is UHI, that the Government is set to launch under the National Digital
Health Mission?
A. Union Health Institution
B. Unified Health Interface
C. United Health Institute
D. Union Health Initiative
Answer: B
Explanation: –
Unified Health Interface:
• The Unified Health Interface (UHI) is an open and interoperable IT network for
digital health in India.
• UHI is envisaged to bring a digital health tech revolution with innovative health
services and efficient utilization of healthcare infrastructure in the country.
• UHI will enable private and public apps to be a part of the national digital health
mission. The interface will ensure that only verified healthcare providers are a
part of the NDHM.
• UHI will bring ease of living and better access to quality health services. The
patients or users can search, book lab tests, online medical consultation via video,
voice, or chat, transfer health records or test reports digitally, and make digital
payments.
• The service providers or healthcare industry can be searched based on their
specialization, experience, ratings, language, gender, and location.
2.What is the sharing pattern between the Centre and the non-North eastern
states in the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme?
A. 90: 10
B. 70: 30
C. 60: 40
D. 50: 50
Answer: C
Explanation: –
Under the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme, both the Centre and State government
share the cooking cost for daily meals in the ratio of 60:40 for non-North eastern
states and UTs with legislatures except J&K and in the ratio of 90:10 for all others.
Recently, the Centre has decided to transfer its share of the cooking cost
component in the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme for students of classes 1 to 8,
into their bank accounts as a one-time Covid relief.
3.Which State/UT has launched Dalit Bandhu scheme?
A. Telangana
B. Madhya Pradesh
C. Tamil Nadu
D. Chhattisgarh
Answer: A
Explanation: –
Dalit Bandhu is the Telangana government’s flagship programme.
It is a welfare scheme for empowering Dalit families of the state and enabling
entrepreneurship among them through a Rs 10 lakh direct benefit transfer per
family.
4.The Ministry of Labour recently launched India’s first national database on
unorganised workers on which portal?
A. e-Shram portal
B. Samadhan portal
C. AtmaNirbhar Bharat portal
D. None of the above
Answer: A
Explanation: –
The Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) launched the e-Shram
portal for creating a National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW).
e-Shram Portal: It seeks to register an estimated 398-400 million
unorganised workers and to issue an E-Shram card containing a 12 digit
unique number.
5.Which Ministry is associated with ‘Centre for Financial Literacy & Service
Delivery (SAKSHAM Centres)’?
A. Ministry of Finance
B. Ministry of Rural Development
C. Ministry of Education
D. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
Answer: B
Explanation: –
SAKSHAM Centres:
Centre for Financial Literacy & Service Delivery (CFL&SD) would act as a one
stop solution/single window system for basic financial needs of Self-Help
Groups (SHGs) households in rural areas.
Objective:
To provide financial literacy & facilitate delivery of financial
services (savings, credit, insurance, pensions etc.) to SHG members and
rural poor.
SAKSHAM Application:
A mobile & web-based application called “SAKSHAM” has also been
developed.
It will be used by the community resource person of the Centre to
know the penetration of various financial services for each SHG &
village, identify major gaps and accordingly provide training and
deliver the required financial services.
It is under Ministry of Rural Development.
6.Which Indian state/UT launched Mission Bhagiratha to make sustainable
drinking water sources?
A. Bihar
B. Telangana
C. Jharkhand
D. West Bengal
Answer: B
Explanation: –
Mission Bhagiratha is a flagship project of the Telangana Government to
provide piped water supply to rural and urban areas across the State.
The project requires interlinking of Krishna and Godavari River with
reservoirs existing in Telangana State to collect, conserve and supply water
to every household.
Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya are part of Kaleshwaram Lift
Irrigation Project.
7.Which Union Ministry implements ‘Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin
(PMAYG)’ scheme?
A. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
B. Ministry of Rural Development
C. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
D. Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Answer: B
Explanation: –
About the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G):
Launch: To achieve the objective of “Housing for All” by 2022, the erstwhile
rural housing scheme Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was restructured to
Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G).
Ministry Involved: Ministry of Rural development.
Aim: To provide a pukka house with basic amenities to all rural families,
who are homeless or living in kutcha or dilapidated houses by the end
of March 2022.
To help rural people Below the Poverty Line (BPL) in construction of
dwelling units and upgradation of existing unserviceable kutcha houses by
providing assistance in the form of a full grant.
Cost Sharing: The cost of unit assistance is shared between Central and
State Governments in the ratio 60:40 in plain areas and 90:10 for North
Eastern and hilly states.
8.International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lauded which Indian scheme for
preventing extreme poverty?
A. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana
B. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
C. Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana
D. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
Answer: A
Explanation: –
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has praised India’s efforts for food
distribution during the pandemic.
They said that the nation averted extreme poverty rise during this period by
providing food security through the government initiative Pradhan Mantri Garib
Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).
9.Which is the nodal agency to implement the Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)?
A. National Medical Commission
B. Medical Council of India
C. National Health Authority
D. AIIMS
Answer: C
Explanation: –
The world’s largest health insurance/assurance scheme fully financed by
the government.
Provides cashless access to health care services for the beneficiary at the
point of service.
The National Health Authority (NHA) is the nodal agency responsible for the
nationwide roll-out and implementation of the AB-PMJAY scheme.
This scheme is a Centrally sponsored scheme with some Central sector.
10.‘Ambedkar Young Entrepreneur (AYE)-Mentor program’ is a new scheme of
which Union Ministry?
A. Ministry of Finance
B. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
C. Ministry of Women and Child Development
D. Ministry of Education
Answer: B
Explanation: –
Ambedkar Young Entrepreneur-Mentor Programme: –
Under these scheme, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is looking to
launch a scheme to help aspiring entrepreneurs who belong to SCs and OBCs and
are failing to receive venture capital funds (VCF).