DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

Syllabus subtopics: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

News: NISHTHA- National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement has been launched in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Prelims and Mains focus: Key features and significance of the scheme.

Salient features of the scheme:

• It is a Mission aimed at improving learning outcomes at Elementary level through integrated Teacher Trainings.
• This Mission aims to build the capacities of 42 lakh participants covering all teachers and Heads of Schools at elementary level in all Government Schools across the country, faculty members of SIEs/SCERTs, DIETs etc.

Syllabus subtopic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

News: The government will, in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament, seek to make amendments in certain laws so as to bring the banking activities carried out by cooperative societies under the purview of the Banking Regulation Act.

Prelims focus: About Cooperative banks and regulations imposed.

Mains focus: The issue of dual regulation and its redressal

• The government is also planning to increase the amount of deposits in banks that are insured, from the current ?1 lakh.

About co-operative banks?

Co-operative banks are financial entities established on a co-operative basis and belonging to their members. This means that the customers of a co-operative bank are also its owners.

These banks provide a wide range of regular banking and financial services. However, there are some points where they differ from other banks.

Structure:

1. Broadly, co-operative banks in India are divided into two categories – urban and rural.
2. Rural cooperative credit institutions could either be short-term or long-term in nature.

• Short-term cooperative credit institutions are further sub-divided into State Co-operative Banks, District Central Co-operative Banks, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies.
• Long-term institutions are either State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (SCARDBs) or Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDBs).

3. Urban Co-operative Banks (UBBs) are either scheduled or non-scheduled. Scheduled and non-scheduled UCBs are again of two kinds- multi-state and those operating in single state.

Oversight

In India, co-operative banks are registered under the States Cooperative Societies Act. They also come under the regulatory ambit of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under two laws, namely, the Banking Regulations Act, 1949, and the Banking Laws (Co-operative Societies) Act, 1955.

They were brought under the RBI’s watch in 1966, a move which brought the problem of dual regulation along with it.

Dual Regulation of Urban Cooperative Bank (UCB):

Urban Co-operative Banks are regulated and supervised by State Registrars of Co-operative Societies (RCS) in case of single-State co-operative banks and Central Registrar of Co-operative Societies (CRCS) in case of multi-State co-operative banks and by the RBI.

1. The RCS exercises powers under the respective Co-operative Societies Act of the States with regard to incorporation, registration, management, amalgamation, reconstruction or liquidation and in case of UCBs that have multi-State presence, are exercised by the CRCS.
2. The banking related functions such as issue of license to start new banks/branches, matters relating to interest rates, loan policies, investments and prudential exposure norms are regulated and supervised by the Reserve Bank under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Syllabus subtopic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

News: Rajasthan’s flagship free medicine scheme, launched in 2011-12, has once again secured the first rank from the National Health Mission (NHM).

Prelims focus: Key features of the scheme and its significance, about National Health Mission

Mains focus: Challenges regarding implementation and ways to address them.

Context: The State registered 94.59% of online free medicine distribution at counters in public health facilities and 84.76% use of the drugs and vaccine distribution management system at primary health centres.

About the Scheme:

• Rajasthan Mukhyamantri Nishulk Dava Yojana was launched on 2nd October 2011.
• It has 2 components:

1. Free Medicines: To provide commonly-used essential medicines free of cost to patients visiting government healthcare institutions (introduced on 2nd October 2011), and
2. Free Tests: To provide free tests (introduced on 7th April 2013).

• For the successful implementation of the same, Rajasthan Medical Services Corporation Limited (RMSCL) was incorporated as a Public Limited Company.
• Since 2011, it has benefitted around 67 crore patients, and a record number of 712 medicines are covered under it.

Ranking of schemes

• National Health Mission under its Free Drug Service Initiative, started giving rankings to the states, in order to encourage them to provide free drugs to their patients coming to public health facilities.
• Aim: to reduce out of pocket expenditure of patients suffering from cancer, heart and kidney-related diseases, and other severe ailments.
• Implemented by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW) in order to support the states.
• The performance of the states was assessed by NHM on the basis of 10 parameters including: The stock of drugs, Value of drugs about to expire, and Effective compliance with the Drugs and Vaccine Distribution Management System (DVDMS), etc.

Benefits:

• Rewarding the states will act as a catalyst for ensuring the inclusive accessibility and affordability of health care services to the most downtrodden and the poorest sections of our society.
• This will also promote the spirit of co-operative and competitive federalism, whereby other states can take the lead and follow similar successful initiatives.