Scheduled castes got a "raw deal" under Govt of India credit schemes: Economists

By Our Representative
In a detailed presentation before a seminar in Delhi in front of civil rights and Left-wing politicians, two senior economists with the Transdisciplinary Research Cluster on Sustainability Studies (TRCSS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, Dinesh Abrol and Rollins John have said that the Government of India’s (GoI’s) credit schemes meant for the country’s marginalized communities, as also minorities and women, have failed to take off.
Called “Development for All? Assessing the Pattern of Financing under Modi Government”, and presentation at the Constitution Club in Delhi on March 15, said, quoting the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, that schemes like Shilpi Samridhi Yojana (SSY), MahilaKishan Yojana (MKY), Nari Arthik Sashaktikaran Yojana (NASY), Green Business Scheme and Vocational Education and Training Loan Scheme (VETLS), meant especially for socio-economic development of Double the Poverty Line (DPL) Scheduled Castes (SCs), have “failed to receive” the necessary support from GoI.
According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GoI, persons whose family income is below Rs 20,000 per annum in rural areas and Rs 27,500 per annum in urban areas are considered to be below poverty line (BPL), and those whose family income is below Rs 40,000 per annum in rural areas and Rs.55,000 per annum in urban areas respectively are considered to DPL.
Analyzing the performance of the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), the presentation said, “The committee noted with complete dismay the extremely poor performance of all of these schemes. Even the quantum of assistance provided by the corporation in the range from up to Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 30 lakh is not being disbursed.”
Thus, there were “no beneficiaries” at all under NASY, while under VETLS also, except for 21 beneficiaries in 2016-17, there were no beneficiaries for the last five years. “The same is the case with Green Business Scheme with 40 and 20 beneficiaries in 2016-17 and 2017-18 having 1265 beneficiaries in total four years”, Abrol and John say, adding, “Even under Shilpi Samridhi Yojana there are mere 324 beneficiaries in the last five years.”
As for the Mahila Kisan Yojana, which is exclusively meant for SC women beneficiaries under DPL for income generating ventures in agriculture and/or mixed farming related economic activities, they say, there were “only 915 beneficiaries” in the last five years, say Abrol and John, wondering, why at all was the scheme introduced in, even though “very few women, that too under DPL category, have land ownership rights.”

Quoting from the report of the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, Abrol and John say, three micro-credit schemes, Micro-Credit Finance (MCF), Mahila Samridhi Yojana (MSY) and Ajeevika Micro-finance Yojana (AMY) “are underfinanced by NSFDC for income generating activities for SCs living below Double the Poverty Line. For instance, in the year 2016-17 Rs 29.16 crore was disbursed by NSFDC to State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) and the number of beneficiaries was 7,267.
Further pointing out that SCAs utilised only 5.39 per cent of the allocated funds in the Scheme in 2017-18, the economists say, “SCAs of NSFDC utilized only 50.70, 43.10 and 59.96 per cent of the allocated amount during the year 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively under Mahila Samridhi Yojana.”
In fact, economists say, there were no beneficiaries under this scheme in 2016-17 and only 394 beneficiaries in 2017-18. Further, total number of beneficiaries since introduction of this scheme was only 486 till the end of last financial year i.e. 2017-18, which is nothing keeping in mind the population of the target group. And after September, 2017 there was no progress in the number of beneficiaries which remained the same, i.e. 394, till March, 2018.

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World Bank clarifies: Its 26th rank to India not for universal access to power but for ease of doing business

By Our Representative
In a major embarrassment to the Government of India, the World Bank has reportedly clarified that it has not ranked India 26th out of 130 countries for providing power to its population. The top international banker’s clarification comes following Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s claim that India has “improved to 26 position from 99” in access to electricity in just one year.

"Misleading" satellite images being shared on Balakot surgical strike on Jaish camp

By Dr Vinay Kate*
With every passing day more questions are being raised about the surgical strike India did in Balakot as a response to Pulwama attacks. So far the Indian media has claimed mass casulaty of 300+ terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad in this surgical strike, but there is hardly any report from foreign media about the same.

Extreme repression, corporate loot, cultural genocide "characterise" India's tribal belt

Counterview Desk
As Lok Sabha polls approach, there is considerable ferment in one section of the population -- India's Adivasis, forming about 8.6 per cent of India's population. Things became particularly critical following the February 14, 2019 Supreme Court order, allegedly seeking to evict lakhs of tribals from their forest lands.

Industry in India "barely growing", export growth 0%, whither moral anchors?

Counterview Desk
In a sharp critique of the Modi government, the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), one of world renowned economist Prof Kaushik Basu, who is Professor of Economics and Carl Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University, has told students at the IIM-A’s 54th Annual Convocation on March 16, 2019 that they have a “special responsibility” on their shoulders, “the responsibility to reject narrow sectarianism, uphold scientific thinking, openness to new ideas, and freedom of speech.”

Gujarat model? Industrial effluents "invade" borewells, discharge coloured water in farms

By Rajiv Shah
In a major embarrassment for Gujarat model, of the 21 samples taken by officials of the state government's environmental watchdog Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in two villages of Vadodara district and analyzed by its laboratory in Gandhinagar, the state capital, to find out pollution level in groundwater, 16 were assessed as highly contaminated – these were, in fact, found to be discharging reddish, brownish, reddish, or yellowish water.

Refugees as criminals? US govt report blames Amit Shah for calling Bangladeshis termites

Counterview Desk
The chapter “Freedom of Movement” of the US State Department’s “India 2018 Human Rights Report”, released recently, has criticized BJP chief Amit Shah for terming alleged Bangladeshis who may be in Assam as “termites”, because their names were struck down from the list of National Register of Citizens, under preparation in the state.
Pointing out that four million residents were excluded from Assam’s final draft list, leading to “uncertainty over the status of these individuals, many of whose families had lived in the state for several generations”, the report regrets, the Indian law does not even contain the term “refugee,” treating refugees like Rohingiyas as “any other foreigners.”
“Undocumented physical presence in the country is a criminal offense. Persons without documentation were vulnerable to forced returns and abuse”, the report says.
Text of the Freedom of Movement chapter: The law provides for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, a…

Congress would win just 9 of 26 Lok Sabha seats: Gujarat Assembly segment-wise analysis

By Rajiv Shah
Even as the Congress plans its first working committee meet in Gujarat on February 28 after an almost 58 year gap, there is reason to wonder what is in store for India’s grand old party in a state which has been long been a BJP bastion – in fact ever since mid-1990s. Ahead of the then assembly polls in late 2012, talking with me, a senior Gujarat Congress leader, currently Rajya Sabha MP, frankly said he saw no reason why Congress would win.

"Pro-corporate" Supreme Court order on FRA would further marginalize Adivasis

By VS Roy David, JP Raju*
For millions of Adivasis and other traditional forest dwellers February 13, 2019 will go down in history as the day of apocalypse. This is like the proverbial Black Friday where millions of most marginalized people of India were ordered by malicious anti-people draconian Supreme Court order depriving them the life and livelihood by evicting them from their habitats.

Financial inclusion? Not micro-loans; India's poor "need" investment in health, education

By Moin Qazi*
India has grown into a global powerhouse. Its economy is soaring but the picture on the ground is still quite arid. The green shoots that you see are only a patch of its landscape. Most Indians are hapless victims of inequity. India is one country where intense poverty abounds in the shadow of immense wealth.

India, Pakistan told to eliminate nuclear weapons: N-war "would kill" 2 billion

Counterview Desk
The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), a non-partisan federation of national medical organizations in 64 countries, representing tens of thousands of doctors, medical students, other health workers, and concerned citizens, claiming to share the common goal of creating a more peaceful and secure world freed from the threat of nuclear annihilation, has warned that “an unprecedented global catastrophe” awaits the globe against the backdrop of warmongering in India and Pakistan.

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