General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - July 2019

Jul 2019

Jul 23, 2019

AP reserves 75% of private jobs for locals

Andhra Pradesh became the first state to reserve jobs for locals in all private industrial units and factories, irrespective of whether the companies get financial or any other help from the government.
The assembly passed the Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in Industries/Factories Act, 2019, which reserves 75% private jobs across all categories in industrial units, factories, joint ventures and projects in public-private partnership mode.
Although many states have repeatedly spoken about reserving a big chunk of private jobs for locals, none has implemented it as yet. Madhya Pradesh had on July 9, 2019 said it would bring a law to reserve 70% of private sector jobs for locals.
Soon after coming to power in December 2018, MP chief minister Kamal Nath had announced an industrial policy that made it mandatory for locals to be given 70% of jobs in companies availing financial and other facilities from the government.
The demand has existed in Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra as well.
The new AP law states that if locals with necessary skills are not available, then companies must train them in association with the state government and hire them. Experts say with the rule, companies will not be able to hide behind the excuse of not finding skilled labour.
The Act also says that only those units that are listed in the first schedule of the Factories Act will be exempted from the Act—after the government looks into each application and takes a call.
These are mostly hazardous industries like petroleum, pharmaceuticals, coal, fertilisers and cement, among others.
Companies will have to comply with these provisions within three years of the commencement of the Act and will have to provide quarterly reports about local appointments to a nodal agency.
Chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised the reservation in the run-up to the assembly election.

National Medical Commission Bill introduced

The National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, which seeks to replace the controversial Medical Council of India (MCI) and usher in major reforms in the medical education sector, was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The MCI was dissolved in 2018 following corruption charges and a board of governors was constituted to take over its functioning.
According to the bill, aimed at repealing the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, the common final year MBBS [Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery] exam will now be known as National Exit Test and this will serve as the licentiate exam for medical graduates, become criteria for admission to postgraduate (PG) medical courses, and also for screening of foreign medical graduates.
Currently, different medical colleges have different MBBS exam patterns, which means there is no surety of the quality of the graduate passing out of the course.
The bill also puts a cap on fees on 50% of seats in MBBS and PG colleges.

Jul 21, 2019

Centre may Fix Ceiling on Insurance Premiums in PM Agriculture Scheme

Seeking to cut delays in settling claims, the Union agriculture ministry may come out with new operational guidelines for its flagship crop insurance scheme in the next few days.
The amended version of the scheme — Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) — may fix a ceiling on insurance premium, make it voluntary even for loanee farmers and include a provision where all collected premium amount can be deposited with a trust or specially created corpus fund.
The corpus fund may be managed by a public insurance company unlike the existing norms where the collected premium is kept by insurers including 13 empanelled private insurance companies.
Farmers have to currently pay low fixed premium amount (maximum 1.5% for rabi, 2% for kharif food and oilseed crops and 5% for commercial/horticultural crops of the total premium) for crop insurance against non-preventable natural risks while remaining part of the premium burden is shared equally by Centre and states.
Many states, however, have expressed concerns over increase in overall premiums ever since the PMFBY was launched in kharif 2016.
Records of PMFBY show that the number of farmers covered under the scheme declined from 5.77 crore in 2016-17 to 5.21 crore in 2017-18. But, the numbers went up to 5.61 crore in 2018-19.

Jul 20, 2019

Trans Rights Bill in New Avatar Tabled in LS

Marking a change from its previous avatar by allowing individuals the right to self declaration of gender identity without going through a screening committee, The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2019 was introduced in LS.
Identity certificates will be issued by the district magistrate based on documents that may be prescribed under the rules. The bill also states that "appropriate government" which refers to the Centre and states will have to make provision for coverage of medical expenses by a comprehensive insurance sche- me for sex reassignment surgery, hormonal therapy, laser therapy and other health issues of the community.
The 2019 bill comes without the controversial provision that existed in the previous bill that sought to criminalise begging by the community.
In terms of offences and penalties the bill makes compelling or enticing a transgender person to indulge in the act of forced or bonded labour a punishable offence with imprisonment and fine.
The same punishment applies to anyone who harms or injures or endangers the life, safety, health or well-being, whether mental or physical, of a transgender person or causes physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse.
The bill also talks of a national council that will be led by the social justice minister.

Jul 19, 2019

Arbitration Bill Passed

Parliament passed a Bill to set up an independent and autonomous regime for institutionalised domestic and international arbitration in India.
The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) Bill, 2019, which seeks to replace an ordinance issued in March 2019 by the previous Government, was passed by Rajya Sabha. Lok Sabha had passed the Bill earlier in July 2019.
The Bill provides for setting up an independent and autonomous regime for institutionalised domestic and international arbitration and to acquire and transfer undertakings of International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution to the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre with effect from March 2, 2019.
The Upper House also passed the amendment in the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill Act, 2019 that seeks to make changes in the existing law of 1996.
It would now go to Lok Sabha. The Bill was earlier cleared by LS in August 2018 but could not be passed by RS. The Bill lapsed following the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

Jul 18, 2019

Major Changes in Transgender Bill

Under fire from rights activists and opposition parties, the Modi government has brought major changes to the draft Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill. If passed by Parliament, a person would be recognised as transgender by self-identification and not through a tedious process of convincing a screening committee.
The Bill is likely to be introduced in Parliament next week (July 2019). The Centre has brought two major changes to the draft.
The social justice and empowerment ministry has scrapped a section that required formation of a district screening committee (comprising a chief medical officer, social welfare officer, psychologist, transgender community representative and a government nominee) for recognition of transgender persons.
Now, a person would be identified as transgender through self-identification and a certificate would be issued by the district magistrate.
The proposal for the screening committee had come under a lot of flak as activists pointed out it would require submitting to a medical examination and intrusive questioning. It also went against the right to self-identification, a key right that the Supreme Court had protected.

Govt to Bring New Model Law for Water Reforms

The Narendra Modi government is drawing up a legislative package for water-sector reforms, including a model law aimed at managing what has become the scarcest resource in over a third of the country's districts.
Discussions are on at Jal Shakti, as the water resources ministry is now called, to bring a model law on water resources regulatory mechanisms to be set up by each state government, as the onus of replenishing water resources falls squarely in the states' domain, according to a constitutional division of jurisdictions.
The law is likely to be called the model water resources regulatory authority bill and only Maharashtra has such a body functioning since 2005.
Parts of Chennai have gone without piped water for several months now. The city's crisis was aggravated when Tamil Nadu received 55% less rains during the so-called winter monsoon in December 2018, according to weather bureau data.
The government also plans to bring a second model law stipulating legal provisions for re-using and recycling water. Model laws are passed by the central government to offer a framework for states to legislate in areas where they have exclusive control, such as water.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a "Jal Jeevan Mission" in Budget 2019-20 to provide potable water to every rural household by 2024, in step with the government's larger thrust on water conservation and providing safe drinking water to all parts of the country.
A model law for water-sector regulatory authorities at the state level is likely to cover issues such as dispute resolution, regulating supply at the time of crisis, water entitlement rights and regulation of bulk users. Legal provisions will also apply on processes for mandatory recycling and re-use of water.

Amendments to the Companies Act

The government recommended several amendments to the Companies Act, including penalty on companies that do not meet the mandated 2% spending requirement towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) and "fit and proper" criteria for debarring directors from holding board positions.
The move is a fallout of the IL&FS scandal, where the government was forced to supersede the board and take control but realised that it can do little to bar the disqualified directors, including some top names of the corporate sector, from holding board positions as the new Companies Act did not provide for such as action.
As a result, it has decided to go back to the Companies Act 1956, which allowed the Centre to not just seek the removal of persons concerned with the management of a company and suspected of "fraud, misfeasance, persistent negligence or default in carrying out his obligations under the law or breach of trust", but also bar them from being appointed board members for five years from the date of removal.
Under the new law, the government will have to move an application before the National Company Law Tribunal.
The move to introduce a penalty on companies not meeting the CSR obligation was inserted as over 40% of the entities were not complying with the requirement, with close to a fifth not spending any money. Companies have been given five years now.

More Power to NIA

Indian Parliament approved a legislation that grants more power to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), including the mandate to probe terror attacks on Indians and their properties in other countries.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Amendment Bill, piloted by union home minister Amit Shah, was cleared by the Rajya Sabha, where most opposition parties, barring the Left, supported the legislation. The Lok Sabha has already approved the bill.
The latest amendments will enable NIA to additionally investigate offences related to human trafficking, counterfeit currency, manufacture or sale of prohibited arms, cyber- terrorism, and offences under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.

National Medical Commission Bill Approved

The Union Cabinet approved the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 that allows the setting up of a medical commission in place of the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the repeal of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956.
The Bill is likely to be introduced in the current session of Parliament. It was first introduced in Parliament in December 2017, but lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
According to the provisions of the Bill, the common final-year MBBS exam will be known as the National Exit Test (NEXT) and will act as the licentiate exam to practise medicine, as criteria for admission to post graduate (PG) medical courses and for screening foreign medical graduates.
The NEXT will also be applicable to institutes of national importance such as the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in order to have a common standard in medical education in the country.
The Bill proposes that the National Medical Commission will have four autonomous boards: under-graduate medical education board, post-graduate medical education board, medical assessment and rating board and ethics and medical registration board.
The NMC and the boards will ensure a dynamic and modern educational environment, achieving the norms in global standards.

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