New Delhi Mar 24 PTI A parliamentary standing committee has sought to know why despite requisite measures people were dying while cleaning sewers and septic tanks as it stressed plugging loopholes in policies for their rehabilitation without delayAccording to official data 325 people died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks during the last five yearsA parliamentary standing committee report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday said it is unable to comprehend the reasons why the initiatives of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment were not making the requisite impactThere are various schemes such as skill development programme loans at concessional rates credit-linked upfront capital subsidy implemented by the department to stop manual scavengingThe committee is surprised to note that despite all these measures deaths of persons while cleaning sewer and septic tanks continues even today it saidThe panel mentioned that it believes the National Action Plan for mechanized Ecosystem initiated in coordination with the line ministries would help ease out the problem of manual cleaning once all municipal bodies are made aware of the same and encouraged to implement mechanical cleaningIn the report the committee noted that it would like the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment to set up a mechanism for periodic scrutiny of the scheme as there is a strong need to plug loopholes affecting its efforts without further delayThe committee would also like the budgetary allocation meant for the implementation of the schemes to be enhanced instead of reducing them at the revised stage it saidThe parliamentary panel also expressed disappointment over the department spend only Rs 287342 crore on various welfare schemes administered by them till December 31 2021 out of the revised estimate of Rs 10180 crore during the year 2021-22Noting the reasons submitted by the department for the slow pace of expenditure the panel stated that while cooperation from state governments is a time-taking process the department should have been more proactive to obtain orders for the continuation of various schemesNevertheless assuming that the ball has now been set rolling the committee hopes that the initiatives taken by the department would certainly streamline the system and provide maximum benefit to the needy beneficiaries with funds releasing on time leaving no scope for their misuse The panel observed that the budget of the department was downsized at the revised estimate stage in the last two years as the budget estimate of Rs 1010357 crore and Rs 1051762 crore was reduced to Rs 820756 crore and Rs 10180 crore at a revised stage during 2020-21 and 2021-22 respectivelyThe committee is concerned that even a reduced budget was not utilized fully it said PTI UZM NSD

New Delhi Jan 31 PTI Indias COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 16659 crore with over 53 lakh vaccine doses administered on Monday the Union Health Ministry saidThe daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late in the night it addedCumulatively 541158635 first doses have been administered to people in the 18-44 age group and 405844481 have got the second dose in the same group since the start of phase three of the vaccination drive according to Health Ministry dataIn the age group of 15-18 years 46547420 first doses and 335552 second doses have been administered Also 12429876 precaution doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries have been given so farThe vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level the ministry underlined PTI UZM NSD NSD

New Delhi Dec 17 PTI A parliamentary standing committee has asked the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry to plug all identified loopholes in the system as it expressed displeasure over reports of alleged misappropriation of funds under scholarship schemes for the underprivileged in some statesThe panels report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday said the representatives of the ministry have been claiming that the system is fail-safe as all transactions and verifications are done onlineThe committee is quite disturbed by cases reported about the alleged misappropriation of funds under scholarship schemes for underprivileged sections in some states which is stated currently under enquiry the panel saidIt is disconcerting for the committee to observe that such instances however minuscule would dent the confidence of students on government scholarship schemes it stressedThe Parliamentary Standing Committee said that it desires the ministry to further plug all identified loopholes in the system and strengthen the privacy of data and passwords and reduce all manual interventions be it school personnel banking intermediaries NGOs or unauthorized personsIt said the department should counsel the states to try to reach out to a sample size of beneficiary students directly to ascertain they are not being duped in the pretext of government scholarships and they are receiving the full amount of the entitled scholarship money for the term as approved against their names in the portalThe parliamentary committee also referred to the 60-year-old Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Caste students that guarantees financial assistance to Scheduled Caste students whose parents annual income does not exceed Rs 25 lakhThe committees note that only 11315 lakh students have benefited during the last two years ie 2018-19 and 2019-20 up to December 31 2020 with an expenditure of Rs 863947 crore under this schemeThe Committee feel that the number of beneficiaries should be much more ie around 80 lakh per year to realise the number of 4 crore students projected to be benefitted in the next five years it saidIn light of the decision that states have to give their share of 40 per cent of scholarships amount first and then the 60 per cent share of the Centre will be released to the students the panel said it was informed by the representatives of the ministry that states liability has now been reducedNonetheless all state governments are not very efficient in giving their share on time Hence the committee feels that an appropriate system may be developed so that the students are not deprived of scholarship in the absence or delay in providing share by the states the panel saidThe committee therefore recommends that adequate awareness may be created amongst students so that the maximum number of students can take the benefit of the scheme particularly in view of the target fixed next five years it saidIt also recommended that since the suggestions made in the recently conducted evaluation study of the scheme are practical and worthy of consideration those may be examined and implementedThe committee said it also appreciates the concept of issuing a FreeShip Card which will prove to be beneficial for the students for admission to the institution of their choice anywhere in the country without paying any feeThe committees desire that the department should direct all the states and Union Territories to issue FreeShip Card to all eligible students who have applied under the scheme it said PTI UZM NSD

New Delhi Oct 25 PTI Indias COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 1028 crore with more than 58 lakh vaccine doses administered on Monday the Union Health Ministry saidThe daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late in the night it addedIn the 18-44 age group 409247732 first doses and 128674750 second doses have been administered since the start of phase three of the vaccination drive according to health ministry dataThe ministry further said that cumulatively 718831679 first doses and 309837374 second doses of Covid vaccine have been administered so farIndias COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 1028 Crore 1028669053 on Monday More than 58 lakh 5887981 vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm on Monday it saidThe vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level the ministry underlined PTI UZM NSD NSD