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Indian National Congress

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Rise of Indian National Congress

 

Predecessors of INC

  • East India Association
    • By Dadabhai Naoroji in 1866 in London
    • To discuss the Indian question and to influence the British public men to discuss Indian welfare
    • Branches of the association in prominent Indian cities
  • Indian Association
    • Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose in 1876, Calcutta
    • The aim of creating strong public opinion in the country on political questions and the unification of the Indian people on a common political programme
  • Poona Sarvajanik Sabha
    • Justice Ranade, 1870
  • Madras Mahajan Sabha
    • Viraraghavachari, Anand Charloo, G Subramanian Aiyer, 1884
  • Bombay Presidency Association
    • Pherozshah Mehta, K T Telang, Badruddin Tyabji, 1885
  • These organizations were narrow in their scope and functioning. They dealt mostly with local questions and their membership were confined to a few people belonging to a single city or province

 

Indian National Congress

  • Indian National Congress was founded on 28 December 1885 by 72 political workers. A O Hume was the first secretary and was instrumental in establishing the Congress
  • First session in Bombay. President: W C Bonnerjee
  • With the formation of INC, the Indian National Movement was launched in a small but organized manner
  • The Congress itself was to serve not as a party but as a movement
  • Congress was democratic. The delegates to INC were elected by different local organizations and groups
  • Sovereignty of the people
  • In 1890, Kadambini Ganguli, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University addressed the Congress session
  • Safety Valve Theory
    • The INC was started under the official direction, guidance and advice of Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy, to provide a safe, mild, peaceful and constitutional outlet or safety valve for the rising discontent among the masses, which was inevitably leading towards a popular and violent revolution.

Does the safety valve theory explain the formation of Congress?

  • The safety valve theory is inadequate and misleading
  • INC represented the urge of the Indian educated class to set up a national organization to work for their political and economic development
  • A number of organizations, as mentioned above, had already been started by the Indians towards that end
  • Hume’s presence in Congress was used to allay official suspicions

 

 

Why was there a need for an All-India organization?

  • Vernacular Press Act, 1878
  • Ilbert Bill (1883) which would allow Indian judges to try Europeans was opposed by the European community and was finally enacted in a highly compromised state in 1884.
  • The Indians realized that they could not get the Ilbert bill passed because they were not united on all India level. Hence need for INC was felt.
  • In order to give birth to the national movement
    • Creation of national leadership was important
    • Collective identification was created

 

Aims of INC

  • Promotion of friendly relations between nationalist political workers from different parts of the country
  • Development and consolidation of the feeling of national unity irrespective of caste, religion or province
  • Formulation of popular demands and their presentation before the government
  • Training and organization of public opinion in the country

 

  • The first major objective of the Indian national movement was to promote weld Indians into a nation, to create an  Indian identity
  • Fuller development and consolidation of sentiments of national unity
    • Efforts for unity: In an effort to reach all regions, it was decided to rotate the congress session among different parts of the country. The President was to belong to a region other than where the congress session was being held.
    • To reach out to the followers of all religions and to remove the fears of the minorities, a rule was made at the 1888 session that no resolution was to be passed to which an overwhelming majority of Hindu or Muslim delegates objected.
    • In 1889, a minority clause was adopted in the resolution demanding reform of legislative councils. According to the clause, wherever Parsis, Christians, Muslims or Hindus were a minority their number elected to the councils would not be less than their proportion in the population.
    • To build a secular nation, the congress itself had to be intensely secular
  • The second major objective of the early congress was to create a common political platform or programme around which political workers in different parts of the country could gather and conduct their political activities.
    • Due to its focus solely on political issues congress did not take up the question of social reform.
  • Since this form of political participation was new to India, the arousal, training, organization and consolidation of public opinion was seen as a major task by the congress leaders.
    • Going beyond the redressal of immediate grievances and organize sustained political activity.

 

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Union and State Executive

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Governor

  • Same person can be appointed the governor of two or more states
  • Appointed by the President
  • May resign by writing to the President
  • Qualification
    • Citizen of India
    • 35 years of age
  • Art 161: Pardon for any offence against a law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends
  • Constitution does not state the procedure or the grounds for the removal of the Governor

Council of Ministers

  • The advice tendered by the CoM cannot be enquired in a court
  • Number of ministers in the CoM (including the PM) cannot exceed 15 pc of the total number of members of LS (91st amendment, 2003)
  • If a person is disqualified under the 10th schedule (defection), he cannot become a minister
  • Art 75(3): Collective responsibility

Attorney General

  • Article 76
  • Should be qualified to be appointed as a judge of the SC
  • Right of audience in all courts in the territory of India
  • Has the right to take part in the proceedings of either houses, without the right to vote.

Parliament

  • Consists of the President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
  • Six months should not intervene between consecutive sessions
  • The president shall address a joint sitting of both the houses at the first session of every year and at the first session after the general elections
  • The Chairman and Speaker can vote only in case of equality of votes
  • Quorum: One-tenth of the total number of members of the House
  • MPs resign by addressing their resignation to the Speaker of the Chairman
  • If a member is continuously absent for 60 days without permission for all the meetings of the House, his seat is declared vacant
  • Article 102: grounds for disqualification.
    • 5 grounds
  • Decision on questions as to disqualification of members shall be referred to the President and his decision shall be final. The President, in giving his decision, shall act in accordance with the advice of the Election Commission
  • Joint sitting: If passed by one house and rejected by the other, disagreement between houses on the amendments to the bill, more than six months has passed and the other house has not passed the bill
  • Joint sitting does not apply to Money Bills

Council of States

  • Elected members: 238 from state and union territories
    • Allocation of seats given in the 4th schedule
  • Nominated members: 12
    • From field of Literature, science, art and social service
  • Elected members of the states to be elected by respective Legislative Assembly by proportional representation by means of single transferrable vote
  • Representatives of UTs to be chosen as Parliament may by law prescribe
  • 1/3 members retire every 2 years
  • At least 30 years of age
  • Deputy Chairman can resign by addressing to the Chairman

Most RS seats: UP>Maharashtra>TN=AP>Bihar=WB>Karnataka

States with only one RS seat: Arunachal, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura

States with least RS seats: Above 8<HP=Uttaranchal<J&K<Haryana=CG

UTs: Delhi-3, Puducherry-1, Rest-zero

House of People

  • 530 members from states by direct elections
  • 20 from UTs chosen in a manner prescribed by the Parliament
  • 2 nominated by the President from the Anglo-Indian community if it is not represented
  • Ratio of LS seats allocated to a state and its population should be same across states
    • This may not be followed if the population of the state is less than 6 million
  • Population kept as frozen till the census taken after 2026
    • For LS constituency allotment to states: 1971 census data used
    • For defining boundaries of constituencies: 2001 census data used
  • At least 25 years of age
  • Speaker can resign by addressing to the Dy Speaker. The latter can resign by addressing to the Speaker
  • When LS is dissolved, the Speaker shall not vacate his office until immediately before the first meeting of the LS after its dissolution
  • Whenever the Deputy Speaker is appointed as a member of a parliamentary committee, he automatically becomes its chairman

Most LS seats: UP>Maharashtra>AP=WB>Bihar>TN

States with one LS seat: Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim

Least LS seats: Above 3<Manipur=Meghalaya=Goa=AP=Tripura<HP<Uttaranchal<J&K

UTs: Delhi(7), Puducherry(2), Rest -1

Reserved for SC: UP – 17, WB – 10

Reserved for ST: MP – 6, Jharkhand, Orissa – 5, CG, Gujarat, Maharashtra – 4

 

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Civil Disobedience Movement and Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 1931

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  • Started by Gandhi on 12th March 1930 with the Dandi March. Reached Dandi on April 6.
  • Defiance of forest laws in Maharashtra, Central Province and Karnataka. Refusal to pay chaukidari tax in Eastern India.
  • Wide participation of women
  • Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan organized Khudai Khidmatgars (aka Red Shirts)
  • Nagaland: Rani Gaidilieu
  • First RTC, 1930
    • Congress boycotted
  • Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 1931
    • Government agreed to release the political prisoners who had remained non-violent
    • Right to make salt for consumption
    • Right to peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops
    • Congress suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement
    • Agreed to take part in the second RTC

 

Important Battles

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1744-48 First Anglo-French Carinatic war. Madras returned to British by the treaty of Aix-la-
  Chappalle. In battle of St. Thome, a small French Army defeated Nawab Anwar-ud-
  din’s large one.
1748-54 Second Anglo French Carinatic war. The French sided with Muzaffar Jang (grandson of
  Asaf Jah) & Chanda Sahib (in Carinatic) while the Enlish supported the claims of Nasir
  Jang (son of late Nizam, Asaf Jah) & Anwar-ud-din (Carinatic) Initially the French
  under Dupleix had success (& stationed officer Bussy at Hyderabad) but later the
  English got hold. Treaty of Pondicherry signed.
1757-63 Third Anglo French Carinatic war. French captured Fort St. David. Lally did the
  mistake of recalling Bussy from Hyderabad. Later the French were badly routed at
  Wandiwash by the British under Sir Eyre Coote.
1757 Battle of Plassey. British under clive & treacher Mir Jaffar routed Siraj-ud-daula. Mir
  Jafar was made Bengal but later replaced by his son-in-law Mir Kasim. He revolted &
  was again replaced by Mir Jafar.
1760 Battle of Wandiwash. French decisively defeated
1761 Third Battle of Panipat. Marathas defeated by Ahmad Shah Abdali
1764 Battle of Buxar. Mir Kasim, Shuja-ud-daula & Shah Alam II defeated by Major Munro.
  Treaty of Allahabad signed which gave the diwani of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa & Bihar to
  the Enlish & trading rights in Awadh. Shah Alam on pension of 26 laksh/annum.
1767-69 I Anglo Mysore war. Both the British & Haider Ali returned each others territories The
  britisheres committed to help Haider against a third party invasion
1775-82 First Anglo Maratha war. The British army was defeated. The humiliating convention
  of Wadgaon was concluded in which the company was required to give up all the
  advantages of Treaty of Purandhar. Peace was at last restored by treaty of Salbai signed
  between Warren Hastings & Mahdji Scindia whereby salsette & Bassein were given to
  the British.
1780-84 II Anglo Mysore War. In 1782 Haider Ali passed away due to illness leaving the
  struggle to Tipu. War concluded by treaty of Mangalore
1790-92 III Anglo Mysore war. Tipu signed the treaty of Seringapattam
1799 IV Anglo Mysore war. When the subsidiary alliance was offered to Tipu Sultan he
  flatly refused & hence the war happened in which the Marathas & the Nizam helped the
  Britishers. Tipu died fighting the war.
1803-1805 Second Anglo Maratha war. Marathas defeated.
1814-16 Anglo Nepal war. War came to an end by treaty of Sagauli
1817-19 Third Anglo Maratha war. Marathas decisively defeated
1823-26 First Anglo Burmese war. Buremese defeated & conducted Treaty of Yandahboo
1839-42 First Anglo Afghan war. The Britishers were defeated.
1845-46 First Anglo-Sikh war. Sikhs defeated & Treaty of Lahore conducted
1848-49 Second Anglo Sikh war. Sikhs defeated & Punjab annexed to British. Maharaja Dalip
  Singh given an annual pension of 50,000 pounds & sent to England for higher studies
  & later converted to Christianity. The Kohinoor was gifted to Queen Victoria.
1852 Second Anglo Burmese war. English successful
1878-80 Second Anglo Afghan war. English suffered losses.
1885-87 Third Anglo Burmese war. English annexed Burma
1919-21 Third Anglo Afghan war. English though victorious did not benefit from the war.

 

 

 

 

26.01.18 Meghalaya(MeghalayaPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Manipur wants fishermen to stop using LED bulbs

 

  • The state forest and environment ministry has warned that stern action will be taken against fishermen who used light emitting diode (LED) bulbs at Loktak Lake by night. While the government has conceded that fishing is the prime livelihood for people living around the lake and the activity cannot be stopped, it has said the use of these bulbs disturbs the habitat of the several migratory birds who flock there.
  • Thousands of migratory birds, mostly water fowls belonging to around sixty different species, are currently staying at the 237 sq km lake, the largest freshwater lake in the northeast. 

    INTERNATIONAL

     

    • WEF launches Global Centre for Cybersecurity
    • In a bid to safeguard the world from hackers and growing data breaches — especially from nation-states — the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced a new Global Centre for Cybersecurity.
    • Headquartered in Geneva, the centre will become operational from March.

     

    • Cyber breaches recorded by businesses are on the rise. In the last five years, these have almost doubled to an average of 130 breaches per business in 2017.

     

    • As a borderless problem, urgent action is needed to create a safe operating environment for new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, robotics, drones, self-driving cars and the Internet of Things (IoT).

     

    • The global centre will be an excellent opportunity to safeguard verticals like automotive and health care where wireless connectivity is the key.

     

    ·        First India-designed vaccine passes WHO test

     

    • For the first time, a vaccine conceived and developed from scratch in India has been “pre-qualified” by the World Health Organisation.
    • The Rotavac vaccine, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Limited last year, was included in India’s national immunisation programme. To be “pre-qualified” means that the vaccine can be sold internationally to several countries in Africa and South America.
    • While several vaccines from India have been pre-qualified, this is the first that was entirely developed locally and, according to experts, is a sign that there is a credible industrial, scientific and regulatory process in place to develop vaccines in India.
    • The Rotavac vaccine protects against childhood diarrhoea caused by the rotavirus and was built on strain of the virus isolated at the the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here over 30 years ago.
    • India included the Rotavac in its national immunisation in 2016, with about 35 million doses delivered till date. A dose costs between ₹55-60, according to the company.
    • Rotavirus is responsible for an estimated 36% of hospitalisations for childhood diarrhoea around the world and for an estimated 200,000 deaths in low- and middle-income countries.

     

    NATIONAL

     

    • AICTE releases new model curriculum
    • The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) formally released its new model curriculum for engineering and technical courses reducing the credits to be earned for an undergraduate degree from 220 to 160.
    • The time freed would be utilised for practical and creative activities, including hackathons.
    • The top technical education regulator had also decided to make internships mandatory for the award of degrees, as part of the exercise.
    • The internship would have a minimum of 14 credits. Each credit means 40-45 hours of work.

     

    • Multiple chief guests, a first for Republic Day
    • From a single leader gracing Republic Day, India has pulled off a diplomatic coup of sorts by having as many as 10 leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for January 26 this year.
    • Just as the presence of U.S. President Barack Obama as the chief guest at Republic Day in 2015 sent a signal to the rest of the world, the ASEAN leaders’ participation has a resonance of its own.
    • An important aspect of the R-Day parade this year is the focus on showcasing indigenously developed military platforms for the visiting heads of state. This is significant as India is now trying to significantly beef up its military sales as part of its defence diplomacy and wants to showcase these platforms to ASEAN countries.
    • List of Padma awardees 2018
    • This year 85 recipients have been selected for the prestigious awards including two duo cases. This includes 3 Padma Vibhushan, 9 Padma Bhushan and 73 Padma Shri awards. Fourteen of the awardees are women, while 16 persons are foreigners and three are being awarded posthumous.

    Padma Vibhushan –

     

    Illaiyaraja

    Ghulam Mustafa Khan

    1. Parameswaran

     

    Padma Bhushan –

     

    Pankaj Advani

    Philipose Mar Chrysostom

    Mahendra Singh Dhoni

    Alexander Kadakin (Foreigner/Posthumous)

    1. Nagaswamy

    Ved Prakash Nanda (Overseas Citizen of India)

    Laxman Pai

    Arvind Parikh

    Sharda Sinha

     

    Padma Shri –

     

    Abhay and Rani Bang

    Damodar Ganesh Bapat

    Prafulla Govinda Baruah

    Mohan Swaroop Bhatia

    Sudhanshu Biswas

    Saikhom Mirabai Chanu

    Pandit Shyamlal Chaturvedi

    Jose Ma Joey Concepcion III (Foreigner) & 65 others.

     

     Gk bit– Padma Awards

     

    • Padma Awards were instituted in the year 1954. Except for brief interruptions during the years 1977 to 1980 and 1993 to 1997, these awards have been announced every year on Republic Day. The award is given in three categories, viz. Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, in the decreasing order of importance.

     

    • Padma Vibhushan for “exceptional and distinguished service”. Padma Vibhushan is second highest civilian award in India.

     

    • Padma Bhushan for “distinguished service of a high order”. Padma Bhushan is third highest civilian award in India .

     

    • Padma Shri is awarded for “distinguished service”. Padma Shri is last and fourth highest civilian award in India.

     

    • The Padma award is just an honour. No cash allowance or any facility/benefit in terms of concession etc.

     

    • The Padma Awards are given on the recommendations done by the Padma Awards Committee, which is created by the Prime Minister Annually.

     

    • The award Committee is supervised by the Cabinet Secretary and comprises of Secretary to the President, Home Secretary, and 4-6 distinguished individuals as members.

     

    • The awardees are given a medallion and a Sanad signed by the President of India.

     

    • The total number of awards to be given in a year should not be more than 120 (not including posthumous awards and to foreigners/ NRI/OCIs).

     

    • No Padma awards were given in the year of 1978, 1979, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 due to the change of government.

     

     

    • Microsoft AI to enhance translations of Indian languages
    • Microsoft will use Deep Neural Networks to enable high-quality Indian language translations.
    • It recognizes speech to convert into text, eliminates errors in the data, translates it to the target language, and synthesizes the text-based translation into speech.
    • It also puts every word within the context of other words in the sentence to better the translation.

     

    • UDAN Phase-II: 325 routes awarded; 40% for North East hills
    • The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation awarded 325 air routes under the second phase of government’s flagship UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam naagrik) regional.
    • Around 40% or 129 of 325 air routes were awarded to the newly created category of ‘priority areas’ that include Jammu and Kashmir, Northeastern and hill states.
    • The routes under phase-II were awarded to 15 airlines and helicopter operators after bidding process.
    • The airports to be connected under phase-II: Total 78 airports i.e. 36 served airports, 13 underserved airports and 29 unserved airports.

Administrative Organization of the British

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Army

Army fulfilled four important functions:

  1. Instrument to conquer Indian powers
  2. Defended the British Empire in India against foreign rivals
  3. Safe-guarded against internal revolt
  4. Chief instrument for extending and defending the British Empire in Asia and Africa.

Bulk of the army consisted of Indians. In 1857, of the total strength of 311400, about 265900 were Indians. Highest Indian rank was that of Subedar.

British could conquer and control India through a predominantly Indian army because:

  1. There was absence of modern nationalism at that time
  2. The company paid its soldiers regularly and well, as opposed to the Indian rulers and chieftains.

Police

Cornwallis was responsible for the creation of a modern police system in India. He established a system of Thanas (or circles) headed by a daroga. The police:

  1. Prevented organization of a large-scale conspiracy against foreign control
  2. Was used to suppress the national movement.

Judiciary

Though started by Hastings, the system was stabilized by Cornwallis.

Civil Cases

District: Diwani Adalat (civil court) presided over by the District Judge

Provincial Court: Appeal from civil court

Sardar Diwani Adalat: Highest appeal

There were also, below the District Court, Registrar’s Court (headed by Europeans) and subordinate courts headed by Indians known as munsifs or amins.

Criminal Cases

4 divisions of Bengal presidency. Each had a Court of Circuit presided over by the civil servants. Appeals could be made to Sardar Nizamat Adalat.

William Bentinck:

  • Abolished the provincial courts of appeal and circuit
  • Their work was assigned to District Collectors
  • Raised the status and power of Indians in the Judicial service.

In 1865, High Courts were established at Madras, Calcutta and Bombay.

British brought about  uniformity in the system of law. In 1833, the government appointed Law Commission headed by Macaulay to codify Indian Laws. This eventually resulted in the Indian Penal Code, Code of Civil and Criminal Procedures and other codes of laws.

 

Meghalaya Food Security

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Meghalaya Food  Security

Tucked away in the hills of eastern sub-Himalayas is Meghalaya, one of the most beautiful State in the country. Nature has blessed her with abundant rainfall, sun-shine, virgin forests, high plateaus, tumbling waterfalls, crystal clear rivers, meandering streamlets etc.

Emergence of Meghalaya as an Autonomous State on 2nd April 1970 and as a full-fledged State on 21st January 1972 marked the beginning of a new era of the geo-political history of North Eastern India.

The State of Meghalaya is situated on the north east of India. It extends for about 300 kilometres in length and about 100 kilometres in breadth. It is bounded on the north by Goalpara, Kamrup and Nowgong districts, on the east by KarbiAnglong and North Cachar Hills districts, all of Assam, and on the south and west by Bangladesh.Meghalaya Food Security

Meghalaya is subject to vagaries of the monsoon.The average annual rainfall is about 2600 mm over western Meghalaya, between 2500 to 3000 mm over northern Meghalaya and about 4000 mm over south-eastern Meghalaya. There is a great variation of rainfall over central and southern Meghalaya.

Meghalaya is basically an Agricultural State with about 80% of its total population depending entirely on Agriculture for their livelihood.Rainfall varies from place to place and from altitude to altitude. The amount of rainfall over Cherrapunjee and Mawsynram is quite heavy. During the last two decades, it has ranged from 11,995 mm to 14,189 mm in Cherrapunjee and over Mawsynram it was 10,689 mm to 13,802 mm.

The total cropped area in the State has increased by about 42 per cent during the last twenty-five years. Food grain production sector covers an area of over 60 per cent of the total crop area. Besides the major food crops of Rice and Maize, the State is also renowned for its Horticultural crops like Orange, Lemon, Pineapple, Guava, Litchi, Banana, Jack Fruits and Temperate fruits such as Plum, Pear, Peach etc.Potato, Ginger, Turmeric, Black Pepper, Areca nut, Tezpatta, Betelvine, Short-staple cotton, Jute, Mesta, Mustard and Rapseed etc. are some of the important cash crops in the State.

Meghalaya has ranked among the known BIMARU states in the malnutrition index for 2016. According to a report titled ‘Bridging the gap: Tapping the agriculture potential for optimum nutrition’ prepared jointly by ASSOCHAM and EY, seven Indian states which rank high on the malnutrition index are Uttar Pradesh (50.4 per cent) followed by Bihar (49.4 per cent), Jharkhand (47.4 per cent), Chhattisgarh (43 per cent), Meghalaya (42.9 per cent), Gujarat (41.6 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (41.5 per cent). Even among the northeastern states, Meghalaya stood high as far as child undernourishment is concerned. According to National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16), as much as 43.8% of children in Meghalaya have stunted growth, which is also related to the maternal-undernutrition, and 29% are underweight. Low nutritional outcomes can in turn lead to slower development and susceptibility to illness, the effects of which can hamper them throughout their lives, hindering and limiting their potential for growth. While at a glance the situation seems dismal at best, there are glimmers of hope in the offing.

Consistent indications of food shortage or mismanagement of food services emerge especially in Songsak Block, East Garo Hills.

To overcome these difficulties in the state; the state government has taken various steps and launched various schemes and programmes like:-

  1. National Food Security Act:- The state government launched the Food Security Act (FSA) across the State in 2015 under National Food Security Act, 2013. Under the programme, 77.79 per cent rural population and 50.87 per cent urban population will be covered based on the 2011 socio-economic census.  under the programme, focus will be given to pregnant mothers and infants from 0-6 years for supplementing their nutritional requirement as per the mandate of the Act.Under NFSA, 2013, a total of 4.22 lakh has been identified as priority households in the State of Meghalaya and 72, 460 household in West Garo Hills district out of which 29,476 is in Tura Sardar Division and 41,984 in Dadenggre Civil Sub-Division.

According to the Act, every person belonging to priority households is entitled to receive 5 kg of food grains per person per month at subsidized prices not exceeding Rs. 3.00 per kg for rice, Rs. 2.00 per kg for wheat and coarse cereals for Rs. 1 per kg.

  1. Integrated Child Development Services:-

It is centrally sponsored scheme and was launched in 1975. ICDS is a unique early childhood development programme aimed at addressing the health, nutrition and development needs of young children, pregnant and nursing mothers. In Meghalaya the first project was launched on an experimental basis at SongsakC&RD Block, East Garo Hills District in the same year. Since then, the Department has come a long way in expanding the ICDS projects to the 39 Community and Rural Development Blocks and 2 Urban ICDS Projects at Shillong and Tura through a network of 5896 Anganwadi Centre.

The scheme has been re-launched in Mission Mode during 2012 as the restructured and strengthened ICDS programme with the vision to ensure holistic physical, psychosocial, cognitive and emotional development of young children under 6 years of age in a nurturing, protective, child friendly and gender sensitive family and community.

The components and core package of services under ICDS are: –

  • Early Childhood Care, Education & Development (ECCED)
  • Care & Nutrition Counselling
  • Health Services
  • Community Mobilization, Awareness, Advocacy and IEC

The Supplementary Nutrition Programme under ICDS has two components:

  • Morning  snacks  &  hot  cooked  meals  served  daily  at  the  AWC  to  all  children  between  3-6 years  attending  Preschool  at  AWC  for  25  days  in  a  month.
  • Take Home Ration in the form of RTE Energy Dense Food is given for children 6 months  to  3  years   and  pregnant/lactating  mothers.

SCHEMES UNDER ICDS:-

A.  Kishori Shakti Yojana – KSY (Adolescent Girls Scheme):-It aims at improving the nutritional health status of the adolescent girls by promoting awareness of health, hygiene, nutritional and family care. The activities also link with learning life skill and steps to become productive member.  Under the scheme, unmarried BPL and school drop outs adolescent Girls in the age group 11-18 years are selected and attached to the local Anganwadi Centres for monthly sitting of learning and training activities.This  scheme  is  fully  state  funded  scheme.

  1. Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG)-SABLA:- The objective of the scheme is to:
  • Enable self-development and empowerment of Adolescent Girls
  • Improve their Nutrition and Health Status
  • Spread awareness among them about Health, Hygiene, Nutrition, Adolescent

Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) and Family and Childcare

  • Upgrade their Home-based Skills, Life Skills and Vocational Skills
  • Mainstream out of School Adolescent Girls into Formal/ Non Formal-Education  and
  • Inform and guide them about existing public services, such as PHC, CHC, Post

Office, Bank, Police Station etc.

C.  Indira Gandhi MatritavaSehyogYojana (IGMSY) – Conditional Maternity Benefit (CMB) Scheme:-It is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented in the State as a pilot project in 1 (one) District i.e. in East Garo Hills, Williamnagar with 100% financial assistance from the Govt. ofIndia.  Under  this  scheme,  pregnant  and  nursing  mothers are  provided  maternity  benefits. During  2013-14,   the  Govt.  of  India,  to  bring  the  amount  of  maternity  benefit  at  par  with  the  provisions  of  National  Food  Security  Act,  2013,  enhanced  the  rate  from  Rs.4000/-  to  Rs.6000.

Further,  the  Govt.  of  India  introduced  the  financial  sharing  pattern  during  2015-16  i.e.  90:10.

3.      SampoornaGrameenRozgarYojana (SGRY):-

The primary objective of the Scheme is to provide additional wage employment in all rural areas and thereby provide food security and improve nutritional levels. The secondary objective is the creation of a durable community, social and economic assets and infrastructural development in rural areas.

But even after decades of government efforts have not yielded the desired result in terms of social security indicators and nutrition status in the state. The government can take the following steps to further improve these indicators.

 

Way forward:-

  • A community headman in ShillongUrban, also recommended a change in the food items to include more bengal gram, kidney beans, eggs and other high nutrition components. These should be considered by the government.
  • There were concerns too about instances of low and irregular supplies.
  • A lady supervisor from East Garo Hills, a functionary of the Department of Social Welfare, lamented the lack of locally grown, organically produced fruit and vegetables on the menu, something that would get children used to eating high-quality produce.
  • Provide a reliable source of income to local cultivators to boottheir income.
  • Not just the nutrition component but the ICDS scheme itself, with its focus on universalisation and strengthening of its programmes through community involvement, geared towards the welfare of vulnerable sections of the population, can benefit from new localised solutions.
  • At the same time, it must be remembered that ICDS is not just about getting a free meal – it’s about ensuring a more holistic development, be that nutritional, educational or in terms of medical help, for the generations to come.

SERICULTURE IN INDIA

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SERICULTURE IN INDIA

Production

  • Silkworm larvae are fed on mulberry leaves and after the fourth molt, they climb a twig placed near them and spin their silken cocoons.
  • The silk is a continuous-filament fibre consisting of fibroin protein, secreted from two salivary glands in the head of each larva, and a gum called sericin, which cements the two filament together.
  • The sericin is removed by placing the cocoons in hot water, which frees silk filaments and readies them for reeling.
  • The immersion of cocoons in hot water also kills the silkworm larvae.
  • In India, silk worms thrive on the leaves of mulberry, mahua, sal, ber, and kusum trees. India ranks third among the silk producing countries of the world.
  • Silk production is mainly confined to areas between 15° and 34° N latitudes.
  • The state of Karnataka is the largest producer of raw silk (65°/o) followed by Andhra Pradesh (17%) West Bengal (8°/o), Tamil Nadu (5°/o), and Assam (3%).

 

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