Governance

ROSTL Scheme

Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies on Export of Garments and Made-ups

  • The scheme has replaced the Rebate of State Levies (RoSL) Scheme. The difference between RoSL & RoSCTL Scheme is that under RoSL Scheme, there was no benefit on the central tax and Levies.

Significant Features

  • Intends to compensate the State and Central Taxes and Levies in addition to the Duty Drawback Scheme on export of apparel/ garments and Made-ups by way of rebate.
  • The Rebate of State Taxes and Levies includes: VAT on fuel used in transportation, captive power, farm sector, mandi tax, duty of electricity, stamp duty on export documents, embedded SGST paid on inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers etc.
  • The Rebate of Central Taxes and Levies includes: Central excise duty on fuel used in transportation, embedded CGST paid on inputs such as pesticides, fertilizer etc.
  • The rebate under the RoSCTL Scheme shall be given to the exporter in the form of duty credit scrips which will be maintained in the electronic duty credit ledger.
  • The value cap per unit of exported product have also been specified for several items and the rebate amount cannot exceed the said amount.
  • The period of validity of the e-scrip (one year) will not change on account of its transfer.
  • Eligibility: All the exporters of garments/Apparels and made-ups manufactured in India. However, entities under the Denied Entity List of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade are kept out.
  • Under: Ministry of Textiles and came into effect from March, 2019.
  • Regulatory body: Department of Revenue.

RoDTEP Scheme- Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products Scheme

  • The scheme was introduced by the Government of India through the amendments made in the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20.

Significant Features

  • Rebate of all hidden Central, State, and Local duties/taxes/levies on the goods exported which have not been refunded under any other existing scheme.
  • It does not only include the direct cost incurred by the exporter but also the prior stage cumulative indirect taxes.
  • Benefits would be provided in the form of transferable duty credit scrip, or in the form of electronic scrip which.
  • All exporters irrespective of their status in respect of the goods manufactured in India are eligible. Also, there is no turnover limit criterion to claim the benefit.
  • The scheme follows the global principle that the taxes/duties should not be exported and therefore, WTO compliant.
  • Under: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  • Administered by: Department of Revenue
  • The scheme is not applicable to- Apparel and made-ups which are benefitted under RoSCTL scheme.

Vibrant Villages Programme

The Union Cabinet has approved Centrally Sponsored Scheme- “Vibrant Villages Programme” (VVP) for the Financial Years 2022-23 to 2025-26.

About Vibrant Villages Programme:

  • Comprehensive development of villages of blocks on northern border thus improving the quality of life of people living in identified border villages.  This will help in encouraging people to stay in their native locations in border areas and reversing the outmigration from these villages adding to improved security of the border.
  • The scheme will provide funds for development of essential infrastructure and creation of livelihood opportunities in 4 states and 1 UT: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh along the northern land border of the country which will help in achieving inclusive growth and retaining the population in the border areas.
  • This central scheme will promote social entrepreneurship and empowerment of youth and women through skill development and entrepreneurship through
    “Hub and Spoke Model”.
  • Under the ‘one village-One product’ model, the local cultural, traditional knowledge, and heritage will be promoted through community-based organizations, Cooperatives, SHGs, NGOs, and others. 
  • Vibrant Village Action Plans will be created by the district administration with the help of Gram Panchayats.
  • There will not be overlap with Border Area Development Programme.
  • The ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ will focus on mobile and internet connectivity, all-weather road, drinking water, and round-the-clock electricity using renewable sources (Solar and Wind energy). It will also focus on the development of tourist centres, multi-purpose centres, and health and wellness Centres.

Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA)

Context: The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is preparing to introduce a new version of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) that will enable contributors to retain 50% of their investment in equity funds until they reach the age of 45.

About Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA):

  • It is a statutory regulatory body set up under PFRDA Act 2013, to promote old age income security and protect the interests of NPS subscribers. 
  • PFRDA is regulating NPS, subscribed by employees of Govt. of India, State Governments and by employees of private institutions/organizations & unorganized sectors. 
  • It operates under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance in the Government of India.

Organizational Structure:

The Authority consists of a Chairperson and not more than six members, of whom at least three shall be whole-time members, to be appointed by the Central Government.

Schemes managed by PFRDA:

  1. Atal Pension Yojana (APY): a pension scheme launched by Government of India is focused on the unorganized sector workers. Under the APY, minimum guaranteed pension of Rs. 1,000/- or 2,000/- or 3,000/- or 4,000 or 5,000/- per month will start after attaining the age of 60 years depending on the contributions by the subscribers for their chosen pension amount. The contributions under Atal Pension Yojana are invested as per the investment guidelines prescribed by PFRDA.
  2. National Pension System (NPS): is a pension cum investment scheme launched by Government of India to provide old age security to Citizens of India. It brings an attractive long-term saving avenue to effectively plan your retirement through safe and regulated market-based return. The Scheme is regulated by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). National Pension System Trust (NPST) established by PFRDA is the registered owner of all assets under NPS.

Why is WhatsApp threatening to leave U.K.?

During a recent visit to the UK, WhatsApp's head Will Cathcart stated that the company would not comply with the proposed Online Safety Bill, which would effectively ban end-to-end encryption.

What is end-to-end encryption?

The concept of end-to-end (E2E) encryption provides a high level of security for communication by ensuring that only the intended recipient can access the message. Each message is encrypted using a unique decryption key that is specific to both the sender-recipient pair and the message itself. As a result, even the messaging service provider is unable to decrypt the message, providing complete privacy and security. E2E encryption has gained significant traction in recent years, and several popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Signal, Apple's iMessage and FaceTime have already adopted it as the default security measure.

What is United Kingdom’s Online Safety Bill?

The proposed British Online Safety Bill aims to improve online safety by placing "duty of care" obligations on online platforms. Clause 110 of OSB, allows the regulator to issue notices to internet service providers to identify and take down terrorism and Child Sex Exploitation and Abuse content communicated "publicly or privately." This would require messaging apps to scan messages and potentially break end-to-end encryption.

Criticism of Online Safety Bill:

  •  The provisions of the bill would erode the benefits of encryption in private communications, reduce internet safety for UK citizens and businesses, and compromise freedom of speech.
  • Matthew Hodgson, co-founder of Element, argues that the idea of effectively requiring backdoors into private content such as encrypted messaging is controversial and would be used by bad actors.
  • Concerns have been raised about how some of the provisions in the bill will be enforced and whether the government will prosecute vulnerable individuals, such as teenagers, for posting their own self-harm images online.

What if the platforms don’t comply?

They may face penalties up to £18 million or 10% of the platforms global revenue of the preceding accounting year.

Similar law in India:

Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021:  It is made mandatory for messaging platforms with more than 5 million users in India to “enable the identification of the first originator” of a message (also called traceability). This does not involve scanning and flagging of all encrypted content, but rather aims to locate the initial source of a message that has been forwarded multiple times.

Conclusion:

Social media platforms need careful regulation and content moderation to address the spread of harmful content, while preserving benefits. Balancing regulation with freedom of expression and respecting individuals' rights is crucial. Collaboration between governments, tech companies, civil society organizations, and users is needed to create a responsible online environment.

EKLAVYA Model Residential Schools

Union Budget announced that recruitment of 38,800 teachers and support staff for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools.

About Eklavya Model Residential Scheme (EMRS)

  • Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) is a central sector scheme which aims to provide quality education to Scheduled Tribes students from Class 6 to Class 12 in remote areas to enable them to access the best opportunities in education and bring them at par with the general population.
  • Government plans to establish one EMRS in every block with more than 50% Scheduled Tribe population and at least 20,000 tribal population as per 2011 census, subject to availability of suitable land to be provided by State Government
  • In blocks, where density of ST population is higher than 90%, Eklavya Model Day Boarding Schools (EMDBS) can be set up on an experimental basis for providing additional scope for ST students seeking to avail school education without residential facility.
  • These schools focus not only on academic education but on the all-round development of students. These schools have special facilities for preserving local art & culture besides providing training in sports and skill development.
  • Each school has a capacity of 480 students and is on par with Navodaya Schools.
  • This scheme is administered by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
  • States can also run EMRS in alternative buildings preferably in Government buildings till the construction of schools is completed.
  • Education is provided free of cost to tribal students in EMRS.
  • Funding of schools:
    • Centre provides capital cost for setting up of school complex, including hostels and staff quarters. The cost has been revised upward to Rs. 37.80 crores in plain areas and Rs. 48 crores in Northeast, Hilly areas and LWE affected areas.
    • Recurring cost up to Rs 1.09 lakh per year student is paid for running of schools and towards expenses of students (uniform, books & stationery, food etc.)
    • Funds are released by Ministry of Tribal Affairs to National Educational Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) for implementation of this scheme. NESTS further releases funds to State Societies and Construction Agencies etc. as per their requirements.

Also read: What is Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund?

Current Status

  • A total of 740 EMRSs are scheduled to be established across the country by 2025-26, out of which 690 schools have already been sanctioned and 401 EMRSs are operational.

Open Defecation Free (ODF) and Swachh Bharat Mission

  • Recent Multiple Indicator Survey (MIS) of the government has called into question the Central government’s claim in 2019 that all Indian villages are open defecation free (ODF).
  • As of now, four government surveys/reports released just before or after the announcement, including the latest Multiple Indicator Survey (MIS), have not only disputed the ODF status of most States but also shown persisting levels of poor sanitation in many of them.
  • The three older surveys which disputed the ODF status were:
  • The National Statistical Office (NSO) survey from October 2018,
  • The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) of 2019­20
  • The National Family Health Survey­5 (NFHS­5) 2019­21.

What is Swachh Bharat Mission?

  • Ministry of Jal shakti launched Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBMG) in 2014. The mission was implemented as nation-wide campaign/Janandolan which aimed at eliminating open defecation in rural areas during the period 2014 to 2019 through mass scale behavior change, construction of household-owned and community-owned toilets and establishing mechanisms for monitoring toilet construction and usage.

Open Defecation Free (ODF) Status

ODF – An area is notified/declared as ODF if, at any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating in the open.

ODF + - An area can be notified/declared as SBM ODF+ if at any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating or urinating in the open and all community and public toilets are functional and well maintained.

ODF ++ - An area can be declared if it is having ODF+ status and entire faecal sludge/ septage and sewage is safely managed and treated, with no discharging and/or dumping of untreated faecal sludge/septage and sewage in drains, water bodies or open areas.

Challenges to Swachh Bharat Mission:

  • Maintaining ODF status is important after a village, block or district is declared ODF. Generally, it so happens that once it is declared, there is no pressure on the district administration to do any activity because the goal has been achieved.
  • There is more focus on quantity i.e., there is overemphasis on number of toilets being constructed ignoring other parameters.
  • Overreporting of number toilets being constructed, as highlighted by Comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of India.
  • Contradictory claims of government and various other agencies regarding status of open defecation free areas.
  • Monitoring issues, as government’s own data has revealed only 14% of the constructed toilets have gone through the second round of verification.
  • Usage-related challenges include tackling cultural and mind-set issues, providing water in rural areas, addressing the problem of small and dingy toilets, stigma associated with pit-emptying, and making-men use toilets.
  • Despite a ban on manual scavenging, it continues at various places in the country. Unofficial figures reveal presence of 13 lakh manual scavengers; official figures are about two lakhs. The Dalit community is mainly engaged in this work, and not much attention is being paid towards reforming their lives.
  • Sewage treatment remains below the intended levels, untreated sewage in turn becomes an environmental hazard.
  • Availability of water is crucial for optimal and continued utilization of the toilets. Regular supply of water remains a challenge and thus causes discontinuation of the use of the toilets.
  • Caste and religious beliefs stillplay a crucial role in deciding who is going to use the toilets and who will not. It also has an intricate relation in terms of bringing behavioral changes. Thus, as a result still a large number of people still prefer open defecation despite having a operational toilet.