PIB Summary- 22th September, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

PM CARES Fund

Why in News?
Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the PM CARES Fund 

About PM CARES – Fund

• The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The fund will be used for combating, and containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future. 
• Although the documentation for the constitution of the fund has not been made public, the Government of India has stated that the Prime Minister of India is the chairman of the fund, and that trustees include the Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance in the Government of India.
• The PM CARES Fund has faced criticism for the lack of transparency and accountability in relation to its establishment, functioning, and accounts.
• The total amount of funds donated and the names of donors have not been publicly disclosed, and the fund is privately audited.
• The Government of India has initially claimed that the fund is a private fund, and denied that the PM CARES Fund is a public fund for the purposes of transparency laws such as the Right to Information Act 2005, even though the Fund uses government infrastructure and the national emblem of the Government of India.
• In December 2020, the Government of India reversed its stance and admitted that the PM CARES Fund was a public fund, but still refused to disclose information regarding it under the Right to Information Act 2005.
• There are currently several ongoing cases at the Supreme Court of India and several High Courts in relation to the Fund.

Convergence Module Between AIF, PMFME & PMKSY

Why in News?
As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Union Ministers launched the convergence module between the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Pradhan Mantri Micro Food Enterprises Upgradation Scheme (PMFME) and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a pan India central sector scheme to inject formal credit into farm and farm-processing based activities.
• The Aim is to provide medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets.
• The fund was initially announced during the Third Tranche of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Economic Stimulus Package
• This scheme provides a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that reaches farmers in every corner of the country.

Details of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

• The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee.
• The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund will be financed and managed by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
• Financing will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG), Farmers, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs and Central/State agencies or Local Bodies sponsored by Public Private Partnership Projects.

About PM-FME Scheme

•  It is a centrally sponsored scheme.
• Aim is to modernize and enhance the competitiveness of the existing individual micro enterprises and ensure their transition to formal sector 
• To provide support to Farmer Producer Organizations, Self Help Groups, and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain. 
• Duration: The PM-FME scheme will be implemented over a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore.  
• Funding: The expenditure under the PM-FME scheme would be shared in 60:40 ratio between Central and State Governments, in 90:10 ratio with North Eastern and Himalayan States, 60:40 ratio with UTs with legislature and 100% by Centre for other UTs. 

Objectives

• Increase in access to finance by micro food processing units.
• Increase in revenues of target enterprises.
• Enhanced compliance with food quality and safety standards.
• Strengthening capacities of support systems.
• Transition from the unorganized sector to the formal sector.
• Special focus on women entrepreneurs and Aspirational districts.
• Focus on minor forest produce in Tribal Districts.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana

• It is a Central Sector Scheme.

Objectives

• To supplement agriculture.
• To create processing and preservation capacities.
• To modernise and expand existing food processing units with a view to increasing the level of processing.
• To add value leading to the reduction of wastage.

Seven component schemes under PMKSY

• Mega Food Parks.
• Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure.
• Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters.
• Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages.
• Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities.
• Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure.
• Human Resources and Institutions.

SPARSH Initiative

Why in News?
The Defence Accounts Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today with Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank, to onboard them as Service Centres under the System for Pension Administration (Raksha) (SPARSH) initiative, across more than 14,000 branches throughout India. 

About SPARSH

• SPARSH is an initiative of Ministry of Defence which aims at providing a comprehensive solution to the administration of pension to the defence pensioners.
• It is in line with the Government’s vision of ‘Digital India’, ‘Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)’ and ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’.
• The system is administered by DAD, and caters to all the three Services and allied organisation.
• The system on roll-out is initially catering to the new retirees and subsequently being extended to cover the existing defence pensioners.
• The system caters to all activities of the pension cycle namely: Initiation and Sanction, Disbursement as well as Revision.
• SPARSH has been designed keeping defence pensioners at the centre, who will be given a completely transparent view of their pension account, through an online portal.
• It captures and maintains a complete history of events and entitlements of the pensioner – right from the date of commencement of pension to the date of cessation of pension due to the last eligible beneficiary.
• SPARSH has fundamentally re-engineered the process of pension disbursement – from generation of the Pension Payment Orders (PPOs) to Direct Benefit Transfer of pensions, with the motto of right pension delivered at the right time.