The PM-KISAN scheme is a central sector scheme launched in February 2019 to supplement the financial needs of land-holding farmers, Arjun Munda, Union minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, told the Rajya Sabha.
Under this scheme, financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments every four months are transferred into the bank accounts of farmers’ families across the country through direct benefit transfer.
A farmer-centric digital infrastructure has ensured the benefits of the scheme reach all the farmers across the country without any involvement of the middlemen, the minister said.
Maintaining absolute transparency in registering and verifying beneficiaries, the Government of India has disbursed over Rs 2.81 lakh crore to more than 110 million farmers, Munda said.
Loss of livestock due to lumpy skin disease
In 2023, 27,218 animals died due to lumpy skin disease, Parshottam Rupala, Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, told the Rajya Sabha.
Management of textile waste
There is no centralised information or data on state-wise textile waste generated in the country, Darshana Jardosh, minister of state for Union ministry of textiles, told the Rajya Sabha.
However, as per the Circular Economy in Municipal Solid and Liquid Waste Report, 2022 by Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, textile waste, a component of municipal solid waste, accounts for 15 per cent of total dry municipal solid waste, the minister said.
Occurrence of accidents involving electric vehicles
The transport research wing of Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways collects road accident data from police departments in states and union territories on a calendar year basis, according to the ministry, Krishan Pal Gurjar, minister of state for the Union ministry of heavy industries, told the Rajya Sabha.
The road accident data is published in the transport ministry’s annual publication, Road Accidents in India, the minister said. However, specific information or data involving road accidents of electric vehicles (EV) is not collected by the department.
Sale of electric vehicles
The sale of EVs registered a growth of 49.25 per cent in 2023, showed data by Federation of Automobile Dealers Association, Gurjar told the Rajya Sabha.
Promotion of city compost
The Centre has approved the policy on the promotion of city compost, Bhagwanth Khuba, minister of state for Union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, told the Lok Sabha.
The policy was formulated by the department of fertilisers on February 10, 2016, under which financial assistance in the form of market development assistance at the rate of Rs 1,500 per tonne was provided for scaling up production and consumption of city compost, the minister said.
Initially, existing fertiliser marketing companies with a good marketing network were allowed to market city compost. Subsequently, in order to increase the volume of sales and make compost available at affordable prices to farmers, manufacturing companies producing compost were allowed to sell city compost in bulk directly to farmers, the minister said.
Shortage of health professionals
As per information provided by National Medical Commission (NMC), there are 1,308,009 allopathic doctors registered with the state medical councils and the NMC as of June 2022, Bharati Pravin Pawar, minister of state in the Union ministry of health and family welfare, told the Lok Sabha.
Assuming 80 per cent availability of registered allopathic doctors and 565,000 AYUSH doctors, the doctor-population ratio in the country is 1:834, which is better than the WHO standard of 1:1000.
Also, there are 3.65 million registered nursing personnel as on December, 2022. Assuming 80 per cent availability, around 2.92 million are active nursing personnel and 1.3 million allied and healthcare professionals in the country, the minister added.
Fight against tuberculosis
As per the Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report, 2023, published by the World Health Organization, the incidence rate of TB in India has shown a 16 per cent decline from 237 per 100,000 population in 2015 to 199 per 100,000 population in 2022, Pawar told the Lok Sabha.
During the same period, the TB mortality rate has shown a 18 per cent decline from 28 per 100,000 population in 2015 to 23 per 100,000 population in 2022. The efforts taken by India have been appreciated in multiple international forums, Pawar added.
Death due to COVID vaccine
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has implemented a nationwide National Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) surveillance system, which continuously monitors vaccine-related AEFI reports via the COWIN app, Satya Pal Singh Baghel, minister of state in the Union ministry of health and family welfare, told the Lok Sabha.
To date, there has been no direct link between heart attacks and COVID-19 vaccines, the minister said.
Malnutrition in Bihar
Malnutrition indicators such as underweight and stunting have steadily improved in the National Health Family Survey (NHFS) conducted by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, Smriti Irani, Union Minister for women and child development, told the Lok Sabha.
As per the recent report of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years’ age in Bihar have improved as compared with NFHS-4 (2015-16). Stunting has reduced from 48.3 per cent to 42.9 per cent and underweight prevalence has reduced from 43.9 per cent to 41 per cent, Irani said.
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