Becoming Atmanirbhar- Concept to Reality
With the vision of making India a self-reliant nation, the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan or Self-reliant India campaign kickstarted on 12th May 2020. The Prime Minister announced a Rs. 20 lakh crore economic package under the scheme (equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP) to aid India out of the Coronavirus crisis. The aim of this campaign is to make the country and its citizens independent and self-reliant in all senses with the five pillars of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat: Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography, and Demand.
According to the official data, the number of participants in the campaign is 10,81,123 and around 263 activities have been carried out after the campaign kickstarted. One of the components of this campaign is reforms For the poor, farmers, and migrant workers. The One Nation One Card scheme now covers 68.6 Crore beneficiaries who can access the ration from the fair price shop situated anywhere in India.
PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi received 26.62 lakh loan applications out of which 13.78 lakh loans totaling Rs 1,373.33 cr were sanctioned. Under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, Proposals from twenty-one states were sanctioned at a total cost of Rs. 1,681.32 crore.
Atmanirbhar Abhiyan has also focused on the farmers in the country. A credit boost was given to 157.44 lakh eligible farmers through Kisan Credit Cards with a sanctioned limit of Rs 1,43,262 crores in two phases. Moreover, Additional Emergency Working Capital Funding of Rs 25,000 crores was disbursed out through NABARD for farmers. Rs.65,000 crores were spent on subsidized fertilizers for helping 140 million framers.
To increase the ease of doing business and provide relief to the businesses, the government announced collateral-free loans and emergency credit of Rs 3,00,000 crores to restart businesses including MSME. Under the Special Liquidity Scheme for NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs Rs. 7227 crores has been disbursed. There has been an additional allotment of Rs.40,000 crore for MGNREGS for boosting employment. The government is also lowering penalties for all defaults for One-person Companies, Small Companies, Producer Companies, and Startups.
The government is empowering women by offering them various training to improve their skills. For instance, The women farmers in Gaya, Bihar were trained to make DIY products like foot mats, tea coasters, wall hangers, quilts and razai from domestic waste. The rural women in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu attended an Areca Leaf plates training program for self-employment generation and sustainable income generation.
The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan has given a platform for innovations in the country. Naveen Mali, a farmer from Gujarat, has built an innovative mini tractor powered by solar energy. The tractor has solar panels on the roof which are used to charge the batteries of the tractor. Jui Keskar, a teenager from Pune designed and developed an innovative device called JTremour 3D — a wearable device for patients suffering from Parkinson’s.
Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0, the focus was on job creation and tax relief in the housing sector. The government launched Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana for the creation of new employment opportunities. An additional outlay of Rs.10,000 crore was provided for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana.
Hence, Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan has been helping various sectors in India to cope with the economical losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic while making India self-reliant in the upcoming years.
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