Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Modified

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at Kolkata on 9th May, 2015. APY provides a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs.1000 per month or Rs. 2000 per month or Rs. 3000 per month or Rs. 4000 per month or Rs. 5000 per month, at the age group of 18-40 years.

Certain suggestions have been received, including from the State Governments, regarding providing certain relaxations for informal sector workers, having intermittent incomes, from the provision of mandatory monthly contributions under the scheme of APY and also removing the penal provisions for non-contribution under APY to make the Scheme more viable. The matter has been examined and the necessary revisions have been made in APY to increase the acceptability of the scheme amongst informal sector workers.

The modified provisions carried out in the scheme are as under:

· The individual subscribers shall have an option to make the contribution on a monthly, quarterly, half yearly basis instead of on a monthly basis earlier
· Discontinuation of payment of contribution provision has been substantially modified in favour of the subscriber. The account will not be deactivated and closed till the account balance with self-contributions minus the Government co-contributions becomes zero due to deduction of account maintenance charges and fees
· Also the penalty on delayed payment has been simplified to Rs. One (1) per month for contribution of Rs. 100, or part thereof, for each delayed monthly payment instead of different slabs given earlier
· Similarly, premature exit from the scheme before sixty years of age was not permitted earlier except in exceptional circumstances, i.e., in the event of the death of the beneficiary or terminal disease. Now the modified provision permits the subscriber to voluntarily exit with the condition that –
· he shall only be refunded the contributions made by him to APY, along with the net actual interest earned on his contributions (after deducting the account maintenance charges) and ;
· the Government co-contribution, and the interest earned on the Government co-contribution, shall not be returned to such subscribers

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US India Business Council Delegation express Commitment to Indian Market

The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) has concluded its Pharmaceutical & Biologics Executive Mission to Hyderabad and New Delhi, India.  The delegation expressed its commitment to the Indian market; called for further dialogue with the government on issues related to pricing, intellectual property, and clinical trials; and explored partnership strategies for expanding greater access to healthcare and developing an innovation ecosystem in India.  USIBC’s Executive Mission was led by Justin McCarthy, Senior Vice President for Global Public Policy at Pfizer, and included senior representatives from Abbott, Actavis, Baxalta, Hospira, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Mylan, and PhRMA.

On Monday April 20, the delegation met with top officials from both the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governments in Hyderabad. The delegation discussed investment opportunities in both states and identified the policy and regulatory conditions conducive to attracting investment in the life sciences sector.  Although no investment commitments were made by the Council's member companies, USIBC and its membership remains committed to partnering at both the center and state levels to explore opportunities for growth.

In Delhi on April 21 and 22, the delegation met with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Department of Commerce, Department of Biotechnology, and the office of the Drugs Controller General of India.  The delegation participated in an interactive roundtable discussion on Innovation & Intellectual Property Rights: A discussion on policies, practices, and opportunities for U.S.-India Business Relations organized jointly by USIBC and the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) and sponsored by Trilegal, a leading full service law firm in India.   The delegation also joined briefings with U.S. Embassy officials.

“As an industry, we look forward to partnering with the Government of India at both the state and central levels,” said Justin McCarthy, leader of the USIBC delegation.  “We are encouraged by the positive signals we received on policy and regulatory issues that are critical to furthering growth of the industry, expanding healthcare access, and developing an innovation ecosystem in India.”

Formed in 1975 at the request of the U.S. and Indian governments, the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) is the premier business advocacy organization advancing U.S.-India commercial ties. Today, USIBC is the largest bilateral trade association in the United States, with liaison presence in New York, Silicon Valley, and New Delhi, comprised of 300 of the top-tier U.S. and Indian companies. The Chairman of USIBC is Ajay Banga, CEO and President, MasterCard Worldwide.

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Government celebrates MGNREGA Diva

The Ministry of Rural Development has decided to focus intensely on convergence of MGNREGA with other Schemes to create durable and useful assets. It has introduced a new module to capture planning and implementation of convergence initiatives. 21 States have prepared their Convergence Plans already. Convergence has been closely linked to measuring outcomes of works and their impact on the rural economy. This was stated by Minister of Rural Development, Shri Birender Singh, while addressing the tenth MGNREGA Divas celebrations here today. He said that the objective is to use MGNREGA for livelihood based sustainable development.

The Minister of Rural Development emphasized that MGNREGA has provided employment to crores of households every year and has become an important vehicle for enhancing the livelihoods of rural poor and strengthening the rural natural resource base. Over the last year, the Ministry has streamlined the Scheme to make it more relevant to the local needs and demands of the beneficiaries with greater focus on backward areas. The ministry also purposes to undertake skilling and entrepreneurship of MGNREGA workers and their family members in convergence with NRLM, he added

The Rural Development Minister also stressed on the recent initiatives taken by the Ministry to address issues around transparency and accountability in MGNREGA. For instance, some forward looking IT based initiatives like universalization of eFMS, notification of MGNREGA under DBT and mobile monitoring systems to have been introduced. The Social Audit systems have also been strengthened.

The Minister said that MGNREGA is also supporting the other flagship programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission through the construction of toilets. As a part of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), to achieve the goal of a clean India by 2019, MGNREGA has been aligned with this initiative whereby nearly 2 Crore IHHLs will be constructed during the next five years. States have also been requested to bring the existing MGNREGA workers with bank accounts under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana and to open bank accounts for new workers under this Yojana.

Shri Birender Singh expressed the hope that the current initiatives will address some of the concerns around MGNREGA in a definite manner and contribute significantly to the more efficient implementation of the Scheme.

On the occasion, MGNREGA documents- Report to the People and Report on Capacity Building were also released. The Ministry also showcased some of the achievements through a compilation of photos-Towards Creating Sustainable Assets under MGNREGA. Madhya Pradesh has been awarded for its outstanding work in the area of convergence of Schemes with MGNREGA and supporting livelihoods

Three States, 11 districts, 15 Postal Department officers and 9 Sarpanches were recognized and awarded for demonstrating excellence and undertaking specific initiatives to ensure effective implementation of MGNREGA. These awards will encourage and motivate other ground level functionaries as well to further improve implementation of the Scheme.

The tenth MGNREGA Divas celebrations organized by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India were attended by Minister of Rural Development Shri Birender Singh, Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Ram Kirpal Yadav, Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, SHri Nihal Chand, State Rural Development Ministers, Senior State Government officials, Secretary Rural Development Shri L.C. Goyal and officials of the Ministry of Rural Development, eminent professionals, representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, MGNREGA workers, District Collectors and District Programme Coordinators and members of their team. (PIB)

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