05/02/2020 Policy Brief Issue no. 3 1 POLICY BRIEF Central and State Government Policy Updates In this issue: Sarpanch to be elected from • Sarpanch Elections among panchayat members • Farmer Coordination he Government of Maharashtra’s cabinet of Committee ministers passed a decision to elect the Sar- panch from among the elected members of the • Review of Nashik T Panchayat. Details of the same are expected to be Division by Maha CM shared in due course of time. This system would re- place the direct election of the Sarpanch from among • E-National the people that was the norm. Agricultural Market The Minister of Rural Development, Hasan Mushrif, • Agri Export Policy— stated that adverse effects of direct elections on dem- Status of ocratic processes of the gram panchayat were ob- Maharashtra served since the past few years. This move, he said, is expected to increase the pace of the work and • Economic Survey streamline it. He further stated that this would im- 2019-20: Highlights prove coordination among the gram panchayat body members. Farmer Coordination Committee to be set up in Maharashtra n order to increase productivity of agriculture produce market commit- among farmers and to improve tee, and three active farmers. I their income levels sustainably, the state government has resolved to set The meetings of this committee would up a block-level Farmer Coordination be held every quarter and solutions to Committee in each block. The role of queries such as climate-resilient agri- this committee would be to coordinate culture, crop status, productivity indica- all the agriculture and related schemes tors, marketing, provision of guaran- of the government at the block level tees such as fertilisers, seeds, pesti- and ensure seamless knowledge shar- cides etc, crop loan, cottage industry, ing and implementation efficiency. This joint or side businesses for improved resolution was put into effect on Janu- income levels among farmers, bank ary 23, 2020. loan processes for farmers, electricity The committee will be chaired by the connection processes for farmers, var- Tehsildar, with the Block Agricultural ious government schemes and others Officer as its Secretary and the Block would be ensured. These meetings Development Officer as its Treasurer. and their progress would be regularly The committee will also comprise the monitored by the District Collector. following others – Block Livestock De- velopment Officer, Deputy Engineer – A ‘Farmer Dignity and Guidance Wing’ Irrigation Department of the region, should be established at each agricul- Agriculture University or Research Or- tural department level in order to cater ganisation in the vicinity, Agriculture to the queries and technical issues; Officer – Panchayat Samiti, represent- and provide guidance regarding a wide atives of the pisciculture, sericulture range of scheme implementation areas and khadi udyog departments, MSEB such as selection of beneficiaries, engineer, representative from a lead scheme awareness etc. for this wing, a bank of the block, assistant registrar of Public Relation and Guidance Officer a cooperative organisation, secretary will be appointed. Leprosy Eradication brations. Hence, awareness and scien- Fortnight tific knowledge dispensation pro- n the occasion of the World grammes of the central government Leprosy Eradication Day (30th O January), the Maharashtra Scholarship increase for government has announced a Leprosy Eradication Fortnight Programme to be minority students held till February 13, 2020. As a part of this programme, a gram inister of State of Minority sabha will be organized in each gram Development and Social Jus- panchayat and a leprosy eradication M tice Vishwajeet Kadam di- pledge will be undertaken, as per infor- rected investigation for the revision of mation provided by state Health Minis- scholarships being provided to minority ter Rajesh Tope. The fortnight will also students. He said that a revision is im- see street plays, essay writing, drawing minent in the light of recent increase in contests and other such activities ar- college and overall education fees. ranged at the village-level. This announcement was made during Leprosy eradication has been one ma- the Minister’s minority department jor initiative of the central government meeting to review the progress of the also on the occasion of Mahatma schemes, activities undertaken and Gandhi’s 150 birth anniversary cele- works done by the department. 05/02/2020 Policy Brief Issue no. 3 2 Highlight Mahalakshmi Saras 2020 sees 15 crore turnover Mahalakshmi Saras, the annual exhibition cum sale of products by women’s Self- Help Groups (SHGs) saw a turnover of about 15 crores this year. The exhibition, held in MMRDA ground BKC between 17 and 29 January 2020, Captured by Pravin Likhankar was organized by the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission (Umed). Over 15 years, the exhibition has seen the participation of close to 8,000 SHGs across Maharashtra and even from around the country. What started off as a small-scale exhibition with a turnover of 50 lakh rupees during year one now has increased to 15 crore rupees. Many SHGs were awarded for innovations, excellence in product quality, presentation and marketing, maximum sales and other award categories. may be leveraged to provide tech- MoU between MoRD nical assistance and support to the DAY-NRLM. and Gates Foundation Alkesh Wadhwani from the Gates he Ministry of Rural Develop- Foundation said that said that the ment (MoRD) signed a Memo- foundation’s support will include assis- T randum of Understanding tance in improving implementation (MoU) with Bill and Melinda Gates quality, documenting best practices, Foundation (BMGF) under the and designing of tools for monitoring Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - Na- learning and evaluation. The scheme tional Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY- lays special emphasis on targeting the NRLM), for furthering their mutual ob- poorest and the most vulnerable com- jectives of strengthening grassroots munities, as it recognizes the need to institutions of the rural poor. address barriers to their development. DAY-NRLM is also building social cap- The MoU reiterates DAY-NRLM and ital and ensuring financial linkages to the Foundation’s shared focus on im- alleviate poverty and enhance the proving the lives of India’s poor and quality of the life of rural poor women. the marginalized with the aim of reduc- It has plans on innovations for alter- ing poverty through institutions of mar- nate channels of financial inclusion like ginalized rural women for promotion of digital finance, creating value chains diversified and gainful self- around rural products, improving mar- employment while creating skilled ket access, rural enterprise and also wage employment opportunities. The creating awareness on social develop- foundation’s expertise and its network ment issues and services. Review of Nashik Division by Maharashtra CM aharashtra Chief Minister There was also a commitment to en- Uddhav Thackeray conduct- sure speedy completion of dams and M ed a review of all districts of major irrigation projects across the Nashik division. division. Further, the golden triangle infrastructural road project connecting There were several important an- Mumbai, Pune and Nashik would also nouncements marking the meeting. be taken up on priority basis, and in- The Chief Minister stated that instruc- quiry regarding the same would begin tions would be given to the electricity soon. department to ensure maximum allo- cation of electricity time for agricultural The Chief Minister further ensured pri- pumps so that farmers do not face the oritisation of issues of hilly, inaccessi- burden of load shedding during cultiva- ble areas of Nandurbar. He also added tion. He further stated that incomplete that there would be special focus on irrigation works would be taken up and improving basic infrastructure and completed on priority basis. housing in tribal areas. 05/02/2020 Policy Brief Issue no. 3 3 Agri-Logistics and e-National Agriculture Market he Ministry for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare organized the first Na- tional consultative workshop on Strengthening Agri- Logistics in e- T National Agriculture Market (e-Nam) in New Delhi to realize the vision of doubling farmers income by 2022. The Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar un- veiled e-NAM (Electronic National Agriculture Market) that envisages a pan- India e-trading facility for agricultural commodities through integration of exist- ing APMCs. The aim is to ensure market integration through e-platform facili- tates transparent and competitive bidding by enabling inter-mandi trade of the agricultural produce; thereby giving advantage to the farmers for better price discovery. Presently 585 markets across 16 states and 2 Union territories have been integrated on e-platform. It is expected that 415 other mandis will soon be integrated. More than 1.65 crore farmers and 1.27 lakh traders have registered on this portal. Trade of Rs. 91000 crores has taken place on the portal, and is expected to reach 1 lakh crores soon. More than 200 prominent professionals, educationists, practitioners of agri- logistics, cleaning, grading, productivity analysis, quality management, ware- housing and transportation & logistics start-ups participated in the workshop. Sangli (Grapes), Solapur Agri Export Policy: (Pomegranate) and Nagpur (Orange). The roadmap for cluster Maharashtra’s Status development in the clusters notified he Agricultural and Processed