Malaria cases in India
As per information received by Indian Council of Medical Research, the World Malaria Report 2023 has two types of figures: Estimated and reported, SP Singh Baghel, minister of state for Union ministry of health and family welfare, told the Rajya Sabha.
As per the estimates, India accounted for 65.3 per cent of the estimated malaria cases in the World Health Organization’s Southeast Asia region in 2022. The estimations were calculated by adjusting the number of reported malaria cases for completeness of reporting, the likelihood that cases were parasite-positive and the extent of health service use.
India contributed to 21.8 per cent of the reported cases in the region (176,522 out of 808,683 reported cases) in 2022. For the reported cases, the country showed a steep decline in malaria cases from 2015 onwards, with 85 per cent reduction in reported cases after the launch of the National Framework for Malaria Elimination in 2016, the minister said.
Impact of global warming on agriculture
The government has taken note of the adverse impact of global warming on agriculture in the country, Arjun Munda, Union minister for agriculture and farmers’ welfare, told the Lok Sabha.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture made climate change projections for India using bias-corrected probabilistic ensembles of 33 global climate models, he said.
Rainfall during Kharif cropping season is projected to increase in the range of 4.9-10.1 per cent and 5.5-18.9 per cent by 2050 and 2080, respectively, the study showed. Meanwhile, rainfall during Rabi cropping season is projected to increase in the ranges of 12-17 per cent and 13-26 per cent by the year 2050 and 2080, respectively, Munda said.
Farmer suicides
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Union ministry of home affairs compiles and disseminates information on suicides in its publication titled Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI), Munda told the Lok Sabha.
The report till 2022 is available on NCRB website. The ADSI reports, however, do not give separate reasons for farmers’ suicide, the minister said.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations
Information from the Union ministry of power showed that 12,146 public EV charging stations are operational across the country as of February 2, 2024, Krishan Pal Gurjar, minister of state for Union ministry of heavy industries, told the Lok Sabha.
Data of farmers practicing organic farming
A total of 4.09 million farmers have been registered under organic farming across the country, as certified by National Programme for Organic Production and participatory guarantee system, Munda told the Lok Sabha.
Promotion of chemical-free natural farming
The government has been promoting natural farming as chemical-free farming since 2019-2020 through a sub-scheme, namely Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati (BPKP) under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), Munda told the Lok Sabha.
So far, an area of 409,000 hectares (ha) has been sanctioned and Rs 70.13 crore has been released for natural farming in eight states under BPKP across the country. An area of 148,000 ha has also been sanctioned for the promotion of natural farming along the Ganga Corridor, the minister said.
The government has formulated the National Mission on Natural Farming as a separate and independent scheme by upscaling the BPKP to motivate farmers to adopt natural farming and enhance the reach of natural farming, he added.
Nutrition-sensitive agriculture
ICAR has implemented a programme on “Nutri-Smart Villages” to reach out to 75 villages across India through the network of All India Coordinated Research Project on Women in Agriculture, Munda told the Lok Sabha.
The objectives of the programme are to promote nutritional awareness, education and behavioural change in rural areas involving farm women and schoolchildren, harness traditional knowledge through local recipes to overcome malnutrition and implement nutrition-sensitive agriculture through homestead agriculture and nutri-gardens.
Concerted efforts have led to the development of 150 biofortified varieties, including 132 field crops and 18 horticultural crop varieties, which are nutritionally rich, the minister said.
GeoMGNREGA project
Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) geographical information system solution project, called GeoMGNREGA, was launched on September 1, 2016 for geo-tagging of all completed works that started before November 1, 2017 under the scheme, Niranjan Jyoti, minister of state in the Union ministry of rural development, told the Lok Sabha.
As of January 31, 2024, more than 57.4 million assets had been geo-tagged under GeoMGNREGA and made available to the public.
Ultra mega solar power project
As of December 31, 2023, 51 solar parks with an aggregate capacity of 37,740 megawatts have been sanctioned in 12 states in the country since launch of ultra mega solar power projects in December 2014.
An aggregate capacity of 10,504 MW of solar projects has been commissioned in 20 solar parks so far, RK Singh, Union minister of power and new and renewable energy, told the Rajya Sabha.
Adoption of the rooftop solar programme
The Union ministry of new and renewable energy is implementing Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II, under which central financial assistance is available for installation of rooftop solar in the residential sector, Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
In order to accelerate the installation of rooftop solar in the country, central public sector enterprises under the Union ministry of power have been engaged in progressing rooftop solar in the states and Union territories assigned to them, including through the RESCO mode, Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
Health conditions of tribal women
As per National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), the prevalence of anaemia among all Indian women age 15-49 years is 57 per cent and 64.6 per cent for scheduled tribe women in the same age group, Bharati Pravin Pawar, minister of state in the Union ministry of health and family welfare, told the Rajya Sabha.
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