Important Government Schemes for Finance and Insurance, Health and Urban India

The Planning Commission of India functioned until 2014 to formulate various government schemes under five-year plans. NITI Aayog replaced it in 2015 and became the policymaker of the country.

It works under the Union Ministry of Planning and formulates schemes or yojanas to uplift the Indian economy. These yojanas are largely formed from the data collected by Census. They are under different ministries and work on different objectives.

Let’s take a look at important Government schemes for finance, insurance, urban India. Health, sanitization, and vulnerable sections of the country.

Important Government Schemes for Finance and Insurance

1. Atal Pension Yojana

It is a government scheme primarily for the unorganized sector. All the member citizens of the National pension scheme can apply for this scheme. It is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Act 2013.

The government of India introduced this scheme in 2011 but it became official in 2015. Before this Swavalamban Yojana was offering the incentives but APY took over it in 2015. It comes under the Ministry of Finance.

2. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

It is a financial inclusion program by the Government of India. It is open to Indian citizens to provide affordable access to financial services. These services are bank accounts, remittances, credit, insurance, and pensions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced PMJDY in 2014, on his first independence day as PM. It comes under the Ministry of Finance and 15 million bank accounts opened on inauguration day under this scheme.

3. Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan

It is a pension scheme for old-age protection and the social security of unorganized workers by the Indian Government. Unorganized workers between the age of 18 and 40 years can apply for this scheme.

Their monthly income has to be Rs 15,000 or below of the applicant. The monthly pension is a minimum of 3,000 per month. It comes under the Ministry of Finance and began in 2019.

4. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana

It is an accident insurance scheme in India. It is available to all Indians between the age of 18 – 70 years with bank accounts. The annual premium id of ₹12 exclusives of taxes. There is no GST paid under this Yojana.

This insurance scheme is availed through banks and maintained by public sector insurance companies. The Prime Minister made this scheme official in 2015 in Kolkata.

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is a similar scheme but it covers life insurance. Both the schemes became official together in 2015 and have the same financial benefits. They all come under the Ministry of Finance.

5. Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana

It is a pension scheme for the senior citizens of India. Indian citizens above the age of 60 are applicable to this scheme. The Indian Government made this scheme official in 2017 and will be active until 2023.

The scheme provides a return of 7.40 % and is GST free. The policy term is of 10 years and the minimum investment is 15 lakhs. It comes under the Ministry of Finance.

6. Pooled Finance Development Fund Scheme

It is a scheme by the Government of India. It is to provide credit facilities to Urban Local Bodies according to their creditworthiness. This will help them access market borrowings by a pooled mechanism. The idea is to achieve self-sustainability.

It comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and began in 2006.

7. Gold Monetisation Scheme

It is an investment scheme by the Indian government. it allows customers to deposit gold that in turn provides them safety, interest earnings, and other benefits.

It was part of the Union Budget 2015 and comes under the Ministry of Finance. Government banks and other approved commercial banks are offering this scheme to Indian citizens.

8. National Social Assistance Scheme

It is a scheme by the Government of India to provide financial assistance to different individuals. They are the elderly, widows, and persons with disabilities.

It has five sub-schemes – Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, National Family Benefit Scheme, and Annapurna Scheme.

They all come under the Ministry of Rural Development and began in 1995.

9. National Pension Scheme

It is a voluntary pension system in India. This scheme acts as an instrument in India where the entire pension withdrawal amount is tax-free. It was initially only for government employees but soon became open for all citizens between the age of 18 – 65.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority administers this scheme. In 2018, it became entirely tax-free. It comes under the Ministry of Finance.

Important Government Schemes for Health and Sanitisation

1. Central Government Health Scheme

It is a health care scheme for the central government employees residing in CGHS covered cities. This scheme provides comprehensive health care to pensioners and their dependents of these employees. It began in 1954 in New Delhi.

Currently, it operates in – Allahabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Chandigarh, and more. The medical facilities are available in the Wellness Centres of CGHS. The system of medicines used is – Allopathic, Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Sidha, and Homeopathic.

2. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana

It is a healthcare scheme by the Government of India. It aims to provide free access to healthcare to 40% of the total population in the country. This scheme is part of the National Health Policy of India. It began in 2018 and comes under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

This scheme is the world’s largest government-sponsored healthcare program. It also serves as a poverty alleviation program because people with low incomes are availing this in India.

3. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana

It is the National Health Insurance Programme of India that began in 2008. This scheme aims to provide insurance coverage to unrecognized sector workers belonging to BPL families. It offers cashless insurance at private and public hospitals.

This scheme comes under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

4. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

It was a country-wide campaign starting from 2014 to 2019. The idea was to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management. It was heavily promoted by the NDA government with an aim to achieve an “open-defecation free” 2019.

It follows the Sustainable Development Goals 6 established by the United Nations Organisation. This scheme was under the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation ( Rural ) and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs ( Urban ).

5. Mission Indradhanush

It is a health programme by the Government of India. It began in 2014 and comes under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This scheme aims to achieve 90% full immunization coverage of India by 2020. There are 8 vaccinations provided under this mission.

It works closely with the National Health Mission. NHM began in 2013 and was active till 2020. It worked on improving the rural and urban health sector. It is a health scheme by the NDA government.

6. Namami Gange Programme

It is a programme by the Indian Government to maintain a clean Ganga river. This scheme works at raising public awareness, encourages cleaning drives, and works at protecting it. It began in 2014 and comes under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. It has 221 objectives and 58 have been achieved till now.

Important Government Schemes for Urban India

1. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana ( Urban )

It is an initiative by the Government of India to provide affordable living conditions to the urban poor. The objective of the scheme is to build 20 million affordable houses by 2022. This scheme works closely with other schemes to ensure sanitization, electricity, gas connection, and clean drinking water.

They are – Saubhagya Yojana, Ujjwala Yojana, Jan Dhan banking, etc. by Dec 2019, a total of 1 cr homes are approved under this scheme. It comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

2. Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission

It is a city-modernization scheme by the Government of India under the Ministry of Urban Development. This scheme became official in 2005 to improve the life quality and infrastructure in the cities. It was a seven-year programe to encourage cities in bringing phased improvements in civic service levels.

It extended till 2014. The idea was to create economically productive, efficient, equitable, and responsive Cities in accordance with the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992.

3. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

It is an infrastructure scheme begun in 2015 by the Indian Government. It aims to establish infrastructure to ensure sewage networks and water supply for urban areas with urban revival projects. Rajasthan was the first state to implement this scheme.

It comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. There are currently 34 mission cities under this scheme.

4. Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana

It is a conservation scheme in January 2015 with an aim to bring together urban planning and economic growth for heritage conservation. The idea is to preserve the Heritage City and its monuments.

This scheme includes sanitation facilities, roads, citizen services, information, and more. It comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

5. Smart Cities Mission

It is an urban renewal by the Government of India starting from 2019. The main aim is to develop smart cities in India. It comes under the Ministry of Urban Development. It currently includes 100 cities and will make them “smart” by 2023.

They have a smart city challenge where every state participates and the winner gets government incentives.

6. Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme

It is a scheme by the Government of India that began in 1993. It allows the members of parliaments to participate in developmental work in their constituencies. The emphasis is on creating durable community assets.

It comes under the Ministry of Rural Development. One MP – One Idea is a sub-programme functioning under this scheme.

7. PRASAD Scheme

It is an Indian government scheme begun in 2015. This scheme aims at identifying and developing the pilgrim sites in India to encourage religious tourism experience. It comes under the Ministry of Tourism.

It works on developing pilgrimage destinations in a sustainable manner to provide a positive religious tourism experience.

8. National Urban Livelihood Mission

It is a government-run programme to reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households. It is by giving them access to gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment. This will result in improving their livelihoods on a sustainable basis.

The idea is to provide shelter with essential services to urban homeless. They also aim to provide them market opportunities for better living. It began in 2011 and comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Important Government Schemes for Vulnerable Sections

1. Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme

It began as the Scheme to Promote Voluntary Action for Persons with Disabilities with the cost norms of 1999. The idea is to promote equal opportunities, equity, social justice, and empowerment for disabled persons.

The name changed in 2003 to DDRS. It comes under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

2. Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan

It is an Indian Government initiative to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on migrant workers in the country. It is a public works scheme that became official in 2020 with a funding of ₹50,000 crores. The idea is to provide 125 days of employment to 670,000 migrant workers in rural areas.

This scheme is covering 116 districts in six states right now. The states are – Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, and Jharkhand. This scheme is a joint effort of 12 different Union Ministries.

3. National Food Security Mission

It is a central government scheme to increase the production of rice, wheat and pulses in the country. This scheme began in 2007 with an aim to cover 75% rural and 50% urban population under the Public Distribution System.

It also helps undernourished children across the country by providing them healthy cereals. This scheme comes under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. It encourages farm productivity enhancement, restoring soil fertility, and creating employment opportunities in the country.

4. National Scheme on Welfare of Fishermen

It is an Indian Government scheme for helping fishermen communities. They provide these communities with monetary incentives to build houses, community halls with efficient facilities. It comes under the Ministry of Fisheries and began in 2014.

5. Antyodaya Anna Yojana

It is a Government of India food and nutrition scheme. This scheme aims to provide subsidized food to the poorest families. It became official in 2000 and first began in Rajasthan. The government provides wheat and rice at a very minimum price starting from Rs 3.00/-.

It comes under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. It works closely with Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.

6. Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and Appliances for All (UJALA)

It replaces the “Bachat Lamp Yojana” and began in 2015. This is an Indian government scheme for non-subsidized LED lamp distribution projects. It comes under the Ministry of Power. It aims to provide efficient LEDs and reduce electricity usage across the country. The idea is to make electricity more affordable and productive.

It works closely with Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana. UDAY is the financial scheme for electricity distribution companies of India, the Government of India. It also comes under the Ministry of Power and began in 2015

Conclusion

Government Schemes are always present in many competitive exams. They are part of the general knowledge section of the exam. The questions are mainly around their objective, or additional feature.

They are an important part of India’s growth and development. Exams like UPSC, SSC, RRB, Banking, and more have GK sections. This article covers facts and basic descriptions of important government schemes in India.

The schemes covered above are related to Finance and Insurance, Urban India, Health and Sanitation, and Vulnerable Sections. Aspirants must give this article a read before the exams.