Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Environment and Forests
Press Release :-Decision of Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife
New Delhi: October 6, 2009
This Press Release is issued on behalf of Shri Jairam Ramesh,Minister of State(Independent Charge), Environment & Forests.
The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife chaired by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Environment & Forests, considered the proposal of the Kerala Government on 16th September 2009 seeking permission under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to conduct survey and investigation for the Mullaperiyar Dam located in the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
After consideration of the proposal the Standing Committee, in discharge of its statutory functions, decided to accord permission for survey and investigation. This permission is only for survey and investigation without in any way affecting any other legal & administrative clearances required.
vlk/vlk/dk/kol/16:24 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Food Processing Industries
PM's inaugurates the first Conference of State Food Processing Ministers
New Delhi: October 6, 2009
Prime Minister inaugurates first conference of State Ministers of Food Processing Industries in New Delhi.
The centre and states can work together in seizing the opportunities in food processing sector says the Prime Minster.
Minister for Food Processing Industries, Subhodh Kant indicated that one lakh crore rupees are to be invested in the industry by year 2015.
The Prime minister has said that inadequate infrastructure and the taxation structure are major hurdles in the growth of food processing industry in the country. Addressing the first conference of State Food Processing Ministers in New Delhi today, Dr Manmohan Singh said that there should be a coordinated effort by the Centre and the state governments for the growth of this sector. The Prime Minister stressed that both the centre and the states can work together to seize upon the immense opportunities offered by the food processing sector. He said, it is a sunrise industry and has the potential to improve rural livelihood and employment opportunities.
India ranks first in the World in production of milk, pulses and tea and second in the production of fruits and vegetables. Dr. Manmohan Singh said despite being a major food producer, India's share in world food trade is less than two per cent. Several measures have been taken by the UPA Government to give thrust to the food processing industry.
On this occasion, the Minister of Food Processing Industries Sh. Subodh Kant Sahay said that the Ministry has projected an investment of one lakh crore rupees in food processing sector for the period ending 2015 of which forty five thousand crore rupees is expected to come from the private sector. Around fifty percent of this projection is expected during the eleventh plan period. The Indian food processing sector including value added products such as semi processed and ready-to-eat packaged foods has an approximately annual turnover of 80 billion US dollars.
He further said that Banks may consider food processing as priority area, make specific target for branches in this respect and avail refinance against their lending towards agro processing from NABARD.
Shri Ashok Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing said that the food processing industry currently employs about 1.6 million workers directly or indirectly and it is projected to grow to 37 million by year 2025. He said, a major hurdle for development of food processing sector is prevention of loss due to poor post harvest management and inadequate infrastructure and programmes for processing of agri-produce.
vl/ak/dk/kol/16:25 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Rural Development
Consultation with representatives of state level political parties on National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
New Delhi: October 6, 2009
Union Rural Development & Panchayti Raj Minister Dr. C.P. Joshi has emphasized the need for increased transparency and pubic accountability in effective implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). He was addressing a meeting of representatives of state level political parties on how to evolve an effective mechanism for inclusive growth with the help of NREGA.
In his opening remarks, Dr Joshi said the Government is committed to increase the scope of NREGA through convergence with other schemes and its implementation through Panchayats. In order to make the program more effective, responsive and transparent measures such as Social Auditing by involving NGOs, district-level Ombudsman to curb misappropriation and use of Bio-metric cards for wage payment are being initiated. The Minister said that the emphasis would be on the creation of durable assets.
The State Level Political Parties who took part in the Consultations were Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), The Telugu Desam (TDP), Shiv Sena (SS), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha {JVM}(Prajatantrik), All India Democratic Morcha (AIDF) and the Muslim League(ML). The RLD leader Shri Ajit Singh called upon the Government to enhance the Central Share of NREGA wage payment from Rs. 100 a day to Rs. 150- Rs.175 per day in view of lack of response from the needy and the poor. Shri Bharat Kumar Raut from Shiv Sena demanded area specific norms for Small and Marginal Farmers. He said that while the proposed group of 100 eminent persons should monitor NREGA at the Centre similar groups are needed at state levels. Mr. Ranjit Singh Bramhapura of Shiromani Akali Dal underlined the need to have permanent staff for NREGA works. Shri Nama Nageshwara Rao from Telugu Desam asked for a mechanism that could ensure that there is no diversion of funds earmarked for NREGA in the states. Mohammad Bashir of Muslim League said that focus should be on generating durable assets through NREGA works. Dr. Bahrul Islam from All India Democratic Front (Assam) emphasized the need to increase awareness along with active involvement of Ombudsman and said that the official's performance should be linked with implementation of NREGA. Shri Babu Lal Marandi of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) asked for an alternate mechanism in the form of Village Committees for NREGA wage payments since the Bank/Post Offices Branches in Jharkhand were far away from villages.
The Minister for Rural Development, Dr. CP Joshi while expressing gratitude for the presence of State Level Party Representatives promised to consider the observations made during the consultations and said efforts will be made to root out corruption from NREGA at all levels. Besides Dr. Joshi, the Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Pradeep Jain "Aditya" , Secretary Rural Development Dr. Rita Sharma and other Senior Officers from the Ministry also attended the deliberations.
akt/st/sak/dk/kol/16:25 hrs.
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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Ministry of Rural Development
Central Employment Guarantee Council to review the progress under NREGA on Wednesday
New Delhi: October 6, 2009
The 10TH meeting of the Central Employment Guarantee Council will be held on Wednesday, October 7 at Krishi Bhawan here under the chairmanship of Union Minister Of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj , Dr. C.P.Joshi. The meeting will take stock of the progress made under the NREGA. The issues likely to figure in the discussions include -
§ Lack of awareness about the rights and entitlements
§ Workers inability to submit written applications and demand because of lack of literacy and awareness
§ Delayed payment of wages including delayed measurements and unbanked areas
§ Lack of adequate technical and administrative personnel at block and GP level
§ Lack of publicity and inadequate people's participation in Gram Sabhas
§ Absence of Annual plans, that is no shelf of projects, delays in obtaining technical and administrative approvals which adversely affects the ability to meet demand for employment
§ Non maintenance of records such as job cards, dated receipts, employment registers, measurement books, asset registers, Muster Rolls
§ Non conduct of Social Audits
§ Lack of adequate monitoring mechanisms
§ Instances of rent seeking and misuse of authority(inflated estimates, bogus Muster Rolls, fund diversion)
§ Quality of assets
§ Lack of durability, reports of "Kutcha work" being washed away
§ Works remaining incomplete as labour demand may suddenly dry up
It will be the second meeting of the newly constituted Central Employment Guarantee Council. Its first meeting was held on 18th August, 2009 wherein the members discussed the issues related to the administrative and technical capacity building under the act besides the inclusion of new works under NREGA. The Council is headed by the Union Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Minister and has Shri Sandeep Dixit, Shri Nana Alias Ramesh Pandurang Gawande, Shri Madhu Sudan Mistri, Shri Narayan Singh Amlabe, Shri Bhakta Charn Das, Shri Jean Dreze, Shri M. I. Shanavas, Prof. Ashwani Kumar, Shri Sanjay Dixit, Ms. Aruna Roy, Shri Rangu Rao and Shri K.S. Gopal among others as the members.
The Act provides for the Central Employment Guarantee Council at the national level with the representatives from the Central Government, the State Governments, Panchayati Raj Institutions , organizations of workers and disadvantaged groups with the representatives from women and members of Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the Other Backward Castes and Minorities. The Council is mandated to perform the following functions and duties (a) establish a central evaluation and monitoring system; (b) advise the Central Government on all matters concerning the implementation of this Act; (c) review the monitoring and redressal mechanism from time to time and recommend improvements required; (d) promote the widest possible dissemination of information about the Schemes made under this Act; (e) monitoring the implementation of this Act; (f) preparation of annual reports to be laid before Parliament by the Central Government on the implementation of this Act; (g) any other duty or function as may be assigned to it by the Central Government. In addition it is authorized to have the power to undertake evaluation of the various Schemes made under this Act and for that purpose collect or cause to be collected statistics pertaining to the rural economy and the implementation of the Schemes.
akt/st/sak/dk/kol/16:25 hrs.
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