Month: August 2023

• Education is a powerful tool for fostering socioeconomic advancement within a nation, particularly for religious minorities.
• However, in recent years, significant scholarship schemes have been discontinued, funding has been curtailed, and beneficiaries have decreased, raising worries about the commitment to inclusive growth.

Overview of Minority Educational Programmes

• Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme: Originally spanning classes 1 through 10, it is now only covering classes 9 and 10.
• Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme: Supports students in grades 11 and above, with enhanced funding this fiscal year.
• Scholarship Scheme Based on Merit and Means: Aided professional and technical courses, funding was significantly reduced.
• The Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) provided financial support for research academics but was phased out in 2022.
• Padho Pardesh: Interest subsidy plan for higher study overseas has been discontinued.
• Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship: The scholarship for deserving females has been terminated.

Policy Changes and Their Consequences

• Shift in Focus: Despite acknowledging the importance of education for religious minorities and inclusive growth, the government has cancelled two significant educational projects, limited the scope of another, and cut spending on several Ministry of Minority Affairs programmes.
• Beneficiary Drop: Between 2019 and 2022, the number of beneficiaries under six educational plans for religious minorities fell by 7%, while government funding on these programmes fell by around 12.5%.
• Budget Cuts: The Ministry of Minority Affairs’ budget for fiscal year 2023-24 was reduced by 38.3%, from Rs 5,020.5 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 3,097 crore. Furthermore, a considerable percentage of monies allocated the previous year went unused.

Importance of Strengthening Educational Aid

• Diverse Religious Minorities: India has about 30 million individuals from religious minority communities, including Muslims (14.2%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.7%), Buddhists (0.7%), Jains (0.4%), and Zoroastrians.
• Challenges Facing Muslims: Muslims, the world’s largest religious minority, have difficulties in areas such as economics, health, and education. Their participation in formal employment continues to be minimal, with many labouring in the informal economy in deplorable conditions.
• Report of the Sachar Committee: The Sachar Committee emphasised the suffering and neglect experienced by Muslims across several development dimensions, emphasising the importance of affirmative action.
• The establishment of a Ministry of Minority Affairs: In response to these concerns, the UPA government established this Ministry in 2006 to ensure that issues impacting minority populations received concentrated attention.

Impact and Difficulties

• Reduced beneficiaries and financing have hampered project implementation, resulting in a widening imbalance in educational and economic metrics.
• Poor beneficiary coverage and persistently low unit costs continue to be barriers to scheme implementation.
• Enrollment of Muslim students in higher education lags behind that of other populations, exacerbating existing inequities.

Way Forward

• Increase educational help by improving scholarships such as pre-matric, post-matric, merit-based, and national abroad scholarships.
• Implement targeted projects based on the 15-Point Programme to close development gaps in minority-dominated areas.
• Make scholarships more demand-driven and provide more financial resources to reduce unit costs.
• Increase the entire budget allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs in order to address minority educational achievement deprivation.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/religious-minorities-muslims-india-education-scholarship-explainer/article67226138.ece#:~:text=The%20Maulana%20Azad%20National%20Fellowship,of%2044%25%20in%20three%20years.

• A former British nurse’s recent conviction emphasises the importance of patient safety in healthcare institutions.
• While there are no strict standards governing neonatal safety, there are procedures in place to ensure the well-being of babies and reduce potential dangers.

Patient Safety Provisions in India

• Patient safety is defined as freedom from injury or potential harm related with healthcare provision, according to the ‘National Patient Safety Implementation Framework (2018-2025).’
• Legal Protection: Patients in India are protected by a variety of laws, including the Consumer Protection Act, the Clinical Establishment Act, and mechanisms established by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority and the Drugs Controller General of India to protect their rights.
• Fragmented Laws: From the Hippocratic Oath to clinical establishment standards, patient safety is governed by a variety of laws, indicating a varied approach to ensuring safe healthcare practises.

Neonatal Safety and Care

• Proactive Measures: While there are no exclusive standards for neonatal care, mechanisms are in place to address concerns such as mix-ups and abductions. Deliberate harm is extremely rare and is frequently associated with complicated psychological conditions.
• Staffing, equipment, infection control, parental involvement, training, and continuing medical education are all part of the complete provisions that ensure neonatal safety.
• Human Errors: In a society with a high birth rate, human errors in newborn care are possible, although premeditated, deliberate injury is an unusual occurrence.

Neonatal Health Challenges

• Despite a decrease in global neonatal fatalities, babies face the greatest risk of death within the first 28 days of life. A considerable number of deaths among children under the age of five occur during the neonatal period.
• India’s Situation: While infant mortality in India is continuously decreasing, preterm birth, problems during birth, infections, and birth defects continue to be major causes of neonatal fatalities.
• Improving newborn Survival: Providing good newborn care and addressing critical obstacles will help reduce neonatal mortality rates and improve child health outcomes.

Increasing Neonatal Safety

• Professional midwives who provide midwife-led continuity of care (MLCC) dramatically minimise the incidence of newborn and pre-term birth. This method emphasises the significance of expert care during childbirth and the postoperative period.
• Seeking Prompt Medical Attention: Families are recommended to seek prompt medical attention in the event of danger indications in infants, as well as to adhere to immunisation schedules for timely protection. This proactive strategy aids in the prevention and management of potential neonatal health concerns.
• Providing Appropriate Training: Appropriate training of healthcare providers, particularly those in neonatal services, is critical for sustaining high-quality treatment and adhering to safety regulations.

@the end

• A strong healthcare system is built on patient safety and newborn care.
• To secure the best outcomes for society’s youngest members, the problems of neonatal care necessitate continual attention, collaboration, and innovation.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3454497/

• As the PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) enters its ninth year, its extraordinary journey has resulted in over 50 crore bank accounts and deposits totaling over 2 lakh crore.
• The scheme’s success is due to its commitment to financial inclusion, which includes providing opportunities for underprivileged groups to use banking services and government programmes.

PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

• The PMJDY is an Indian government financial inclusion programme that was introduced in 2014.
• It is the National Mission for Financial Inclusion’s goal to provide inexpensive access to financial services such as basic savings and deposit accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, and pensions.
• Persons who do not have any other accounts can open a basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account in any bank branch or Business Correspondent (Bank Mitra) outlet under the plan.

Advantages of PMJDY

• For each unbanked person, one basic savings bank account is opened.
• In PMJDY accounts, deposits receive interest.
• In PMJDY accounts, there is no necessity to keep a minimum balance.
• The account holder receives a Rupay Debit card.
• Accident Insurance Coverage of Rs.1 lakh (increased to Rs.2 lakh for new PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018) is available with the PMJDY account holders’ RuPay card.
• To qualifying account holders, an overdraft (OD) option of up to Rs. 10,000 is provided.

Is PMJDY a success?

• Account dormancy: The PMJDY scheme has resulted in an increase in the number of bank accounts in rural areas. The share of zero-balance accounts has dropped from 58% in March 2015 to 8% now, demonstrating a greater active participation with banking services.
• Low or no transactions: The account holder’s insurance coverage is connected to their transaction history, and many accounts remain blocked owing to a lack of transactions, taking weeks or months to reactivate.
• False overdraft promise: The promised overdraft facility of Rs 5000 for new account holders has not been granted, raising doubts about the scheme’s viability.
• Payments stymied: In remote areas, a lack of sufficient connectivity, energy, internet, and ATM facilities has hampered the activation of RuPay cards and PIN numbers, which should have been considered before launching such a large-scale programme.

Prospects for the Future

• Voluntary Participation: The government hopes that PMJDY account users may choose voluntary micro-insurance schemes such as PMJJBY and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.
• Persuasion vs. Compulsion: Banks are focusing on financial literacy campaigns, special pushes, and awareness programmes to help account holders make educated decisions.
• Collaboration with line ministries, including anganwadi and Asha workers, improves awareness campaigns and assures broader coverage.
• Using Databases: Using databases for labor-related information, such as the E-Shram portal, aids in finding potential beneficiaries.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-s-pradhan-mantri-jan-dhan-yojana-crosses-500-million-accounts-empowering-women-and-rural-areas-101692428279687.html#:~:text=As%20per%20the%20latest%20reports,of%20cost%2C%20the%20ministry%20said.