5 ways in which the Govt just bettered our lives today

For infrastructural development in the rural parts of the country, the Cabinet has today approved five key proposals. Aiming towards growth, proposals like developing clusters of smart villages, additional employment under MGNREGA etc. have been included.

The Cabinet also approved the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM). With an outlay of Rs 5142.08 crore, the program looks forward to bring in economic and social changes.

Let’s take a look on the key proposals that were approved by the Cabinet today.

1). Plan for rural areas: The SPMRM mission aims to create around 300 growth clusters across India in the next three years. These clusters will provide skill development training linked to economic activities, agro processing/agri services/storage and warehousing, digital literacy, sanitation, provision of piped water supply, solid and liquid waste management, street lights, better schools, inter-village road connectivity and gas connections.

2). Drought relief: The Cabinet gave its ex-post facto nod to provide an additional 50 days of unskilled manual work in the financial year over and above the 100 days assured to job card holders in areas where drought or natural calamities have been notified. This will enable states to provide additional wage employment to the rural poor in drought affected areas. The poorest rural households will benefit from this.

3). EXIM Bank: To back the Indian firms which are bidding significant infrastructural projects abroad, the EXIM Bank will also be enabled to provide concessional finance. The move will help Indian companies to bid for bigger projects overseas and the repayment of the loan would be guaranteed by the foreign Government.

4). Doubling the Hotgi-Kudgi-Gagad railway route: The CCEA also approved the proposal to double the Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag railway line at an estimated cost of Rs 1618 crore and completion cost of Rs 2058 crore. "A number of Integrated Steel Plants/Power Plants/Cement Plants are coming up along the Hotgi-Kudgi-Gadag route. This doubling work will provide the necessary line capacity for introduction of additional trains and smooth movement of rakes to/from the industries/power plants. This will also boost overall development of the region. In view of the industrial activities taking place in the area, demands are also being received for running of additional train services through this route," a government release said.

5). Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance: Cabinet also gave its approval for the proposal to promulgate the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, which would help trade and commerce in general and allow the lending institution, including banks, to continue to extend financing to the economy, without the apprehension of loan default on account of bouncing of a cheque.

Image: indiatimes