HRD Minister Releases Report on Reading Habits of North-East Youth Compared to All India, NE States Fare Better

Union Human Resource Development Minister Dr M M Pallam Raju says reading habits face a real challenge in the world of TV and internet. The Minister said this while releasing a report Youth of North-East India: Demographics and Readership in New Delhi today, in the presence of Minister of State for HRD, Sh Jitin Prasada. Driving home the point of the need for people, especially the young, to read  more Dr Pallam Raju said reading as a habit grows in a conducive ecosystem, where libraries, book shops and teacher encouragement play an important role.

The Report attempts to give an analytical and detailed account of the reading habits of the literate youth in the north-eastern states and their exposure to different forms of media, and how diverse socio-economic and motivational factors impact their reading habit. The reading of ‘leisure or non-text books’ among the literate youth is the special focus of the study.

Some of the salient features of the report are

• As compared to all India, the performance of the north-eastern states is much superior. In fact, the north-eastern region has performed much better than Maharashtra, which is the topmost state of the country in terms of economic well-being. The results reveal that the NAGMAMI ( Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram) region is at the top slot with 67 percent (85% urban, 59% rural) readers followed by Assam with 41 percent (55% urban, 38% rural), showing that these NE states are far ahead of Maharashtra with 34 percent (39% urban, 28% rural) readers. The ‘rest of the NE states’ and the ‘rest of the states’ are at the bottom of the table with only 24 percent and 23 percent readers respectively in these regions
• The north-eastern states of India, despite their economic backwardness, have a greater proportion of readers among its youth population. The survey results reveal that in the north-eastern states, 43 percent of the youth are readers. While the central states have the largest block (85%) of non-readers, the north-east has the smallest (57%).
• It is noticed that the north-eastern region has the highest proportion of literate youth hailing from rural areas, while in the remaining parts of India, the concentration of literate youth is more towards urban.
• In Assam, the highest percentage of rural youth (41%) considers the subject of the book as the most important deciding factor. The other important considerations are ‘author profile’ and ‘price’ as viewed by 26 percent and 17 percent youth respectively (Table 4.27). However, in other NE states, price of the book is the most important factor (52%) while purchasing leisure books, followed by subject (16%) and author profile (13%). For rural Maharashtra, subject is the most important weighing factor as viewed by 38 percent youth, the next important factor being price which has only a marginal amount of higher support over the author profile (22% vs 19%). The youth from the ‘rest of the states’ has expressed a more convincing opinion – that subject (30%) and author profile (27%) are the two most important weighing factors, price can only be the third factor (25%)

The Report is a follow-up study of the National Youth Readership Survey (2009-10) assigned to National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) by the NBT under the National Action Plan for the Readership Development among the Youth (NAPRDY) mooted by NBT. In order to have a better understanding of the status of the North-Eastern (NE) states as compared to the rest of country in this sector, the findings are compared with the similar result for one developed state (Maharashtra) and one economically backward state (Bihar), chosen on the basis of their per capita gross domestic product. This is over and above the comparison of the findings in respect of the NE states with the overall Indian situation.

Sh M A Sikandar, Director , NBT, Advisory panel members and representatives from NCAER were present on the occasion.

Special Indian Cinema Centenary Award

Among the many firsts at the 43rd International Film Festival of India, a special award of Rs 10 lakh has been instituted as a celebration of the centenary of feature films in India. Briefing the media here, Shri Shankar Mohan, Festival Director, IFFI said, the special Indian Cinema Centenary Award will be bestowed to a film chosen from three nominations from the festival programme – International Competition, Cinema of the World and the Indian Panorama. A specially constituted jury which will have Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose and Kishwar Desai, will adjudge the nominations, wherein the winner will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh, Silver Peacock and a Certificate. Shri Mohan informed that total cash award will cross one crore 10 lakh rupees in this festival.

Goa all set to host 43rd International Film Festival of India

The stage is set for the 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) beginning tomorrow amidst genial surroundings of Goa to promote some of the best cinemas of India and the world. The 10-day cinematic extravaganza which promises to be a showcase of the glorious hundred years of Indian cinema will look back at the magic of Indian cinema in a never seen before avatar. With the galaxy of stars like Akshay Kumar, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Om Puri, Jackie Shroff, Vinay Pathak, the opening ceremony promises to be one of the greatest celebrations of the centenary year of Indian Cinema. While the opening festival will see popular Bollywood star Akshay Kumar as the Chief Guest, the cultural celebrations will bring together ace Bollywood Choreographer Saroj Khan, much appreciated Bollywood singer Kailash Kher, along with a bevy of stars on a singular podium. As a part of the international presence, the cine lovers will be treated to the company of renowned Polish Director Krzysztof Zanussi who will be conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award, Kim Ki-duk, Michael Winterbottom, Susanne Bier amongst others.

Briefing the media here, Shri Shankar Mohan, Festival Director, IFFI said, at the festival one can look forward to the international premier of Ang Lee’s much anticipated 3D Film ‘Life of Pi’, and also Kim Ki-duk’s much awaited movie ‘Pieta’. Apart from showcasing cinema of varied cultures of the world, the festival will also bring together stalwarts like Nitin Desai, Resul Pookutty, Debabrata Pain, Shyam Benegal, Avy Kaufman, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and David Womark taking Master Classes which will provide the audience with an opportunity of interacting with the masters themselves and learn the nuances of filmmaking. As a first of its kind initiative, Canon will do a technical workshop to increase knowledge about the nuances of filmmaking.

In the 43rd edition of IFFI, over a hundred movies will be screened as a part of the Indian Cinema and the World Cinema segments. The Indian Section will bring to the audience movies from across the country in the Indian Panorama (Feature and Non-Feature Section) which is selected by a core jury headed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta for the Feature and M R Rajan for the Non-Feature section. The Indian Panorama will screen twenty feature films with ‘Baandhon’ director by Jahnu Barua as the Opening film, and nineteen films in the non-feature section with ‘Celluloid Man’ directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur as the Opening film.

Apart from the Indian Panorama, the Indian section will bring to the audience varied films in different sections like ‘100 Years of Indian Cinema-A Celebration (Feature & Non-Feature)’ showcasing choice of movies from the glorious hundred years of Indian cinema, ‘FTII: Young at 50’ which will showcase films from Film and Television Institute of India’s glorious fifty years, Retrospective of Soumitra Chatterjee, Special Tribute to Girish Kasaravalli and Muzaffar Ali, Vintage: A Tribute to Masters showcasing works of Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyam Benegal, D Ramanaidu and K Balachander; Homages to Yash Chopra, Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Navodaya Appachan, T Damodaran, Ashok Mehta, Rajen Kothari, AK Hangal, Dara Singh, Joy Mukherjee, Dinesh Thakur and Ravi Shankar Sharma; along with a showcase of Students’ Package and a package of movies celebrating Incredible India.

Apart from the International Competition, the cine lovers at the 43rd IFFI will be treated to a varied line-up of world cinema which will be showcased in sections like ‘Cinema of the World’ which will have a showcase of fifty-one films from forty-two countries with Ang Lee’s 3D film ‘Life of Pi’ as its Opening Film and Mira Nair’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ as its Closing Film. Other sections in the International section include ‘A Cut Above’, ‘Masterstrokes’, ‘Festival Kaleidoscope’, ‘Turkish Currents’, ‘Sketches on Screen’, ‘Retrospective: Susanne Bier’, ‘Special Tribute: Ashok Amritraj’, ‘In Focus: Kim Ki-duk’, ‘Soul of Asia’, ‘Documentaries’ and ‘Homages’.

Rabi Crops Sown in 196 Lakh Hectare so Far

            As per reports received from different States, sowing of rabi crops is in full swing in different parts of the country. The details of the area covered so far and that covered during this time last year are given below: -

(Area in lakh hectare)

Crops	Area Sown (2012-13)	Area Sown (2011-12)
Wheat	49.60	60.26
Rice (Rabi)	0.46	0.49
Coarse Cereals	35.44	35.38
Pulses	63.51	76.12
Oilseeds	46.86	50.81
Total Rabi Area	195.86	223.06

           

MP: CP: weatherwatch (16.11.2012)

Self Regulation Best Way Forward: Manish Tewari
National Press Day- 2012 Commemorated
National Awards for Excellence in Journalism Given

Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri Manish Tewari has said that the changing paradigm in the media space has taken place due to the technological innovations in the media domain. Both the regulatory framework and human ingenuity have not kept pace with the technological innovations. I the current scenario, self regulation was the best way forward with the participation and partnership of key stakeholders. The Minister stated this while delivering his address at the commemoration of the National Press Day organized by Press Council of India.

Elaborating further, the Minister said, that in view of the challenges that had emerged, there was need for constant introspection so that the self regulation process could be taken forward. The Constitution of India under Article 19 provides for the freedom of speech and expression, from where the media drew its strength.

The Press Council of India has instituted National Awards to honour journalists excelling in print journalism in various fields were given during the occasion. These awards were given today to encourage the media to pursue its duties following the dictum of ‘freedom with responsibility’.

There is one main Award in honour of one of the greatest reformer journalists of the country, ‘Raja Ram Mohan Roy National Award for Excellence in Journalism’ and carries a cash award of Rupees One Lakh, a plaque and a citation. Other awards are in the fields of Rural Journalism, Developmental Reporting, Women Empowerment, Indian Language Reporting, Photo-Journalism etc., carry Rupees fifty thousand each, a plaque and a citation.

This year’s awardees include Damayanti Datta, Priyanka Dubey, R. Samban, Rajesh Parshuram Joshte, Razia Begum, Biplab Banerjee, Lattur Rathinam Shankar, Partha Paul, Kamal Kishore, Sanjoy Ghosh, Zishaan Akbar Latif and Hasan Kamaal.

President Unveils Aakash Version 2.0 Tablet on National Education Day

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee took the occasion of National Education Day to release and dedicate to the nation, the innovative and modestly-priced Aakash Version 2.0 tablet in New Delhi today.

Unveiled in the presence of Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju, Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Sh Jitin Prasada and Dr Shashi Tharoor, Ministers of State for Human Resource Development, Aakash Version 2.0 is a full-fledged tablet computer . IIT Bombay along with the Ministry of Human Resource Development has created several useful educational applications for the tablet. Teachers and students in the remotest corners of India can join a classroom and benefit from lectures delivered by the best teachers.

Some of the initiatives in technology-enabled education that can run on Aakash Version 2.0 tablet include Ten Thousand Teachers Training Programme – a live video interaction with participants , Clicker applications for real time feedback in country-wide classroom, Daisy Books for differently-abled students, NCERT content , GNU Khata- an accounting package for barefoot accountants in rural areas and Scholarship Portal integrated with Aadhar.

On National Education Day, which is also the 124th birth anniversary of Independent India’s first Education Minister , Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, rich tributes were paid to the great freedom fighter and eminent educationist.

President Mukherjee recalled the great visionary and extolled his exemplary contribution to nation –building, promoting secularism and particularly his indelible imprints in the field of education and culture. Sh Mukherjee also appreciated the launch of UNESCO’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, which is the first Category-I Institute of India to be set up in entire Asia.

Crediting Maulana Azad for laying the foundations of India’s education system, Dr M M Pallam Raju said The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) is indeed a major step forward in concretizing Maulana’s vision of free and compulsory education for all. He said we need to promote research and innovation in our institutions and create the right educational eco-system because in a knowledge economy, the wealth of a nation will not be measured in terms of its natural resources but in terms of its human capital. The Minister said even more important than development of job skills is the need to develop appropriate values of tolerance, non-violence, secularism and humanism amongst children and youth.

Pointing out that educational indicators for SC, ST, Minorities, Girls, OBCs and persons with disabilities show much lower levels in comparison to the general population, Sh Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for HRD said we need to understand the importance of enhancing educational participation by all sections of our society which is significant for achieving overall growth and development.

Drawing attention to a world undergoing several unprecedented changes in almost every sphere of human life, Dr Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for HRD said it is all the more imperative that India bring about far-reaching educational reforms to cope with these dynamic challenges.

Dr. Karan Singh, India’s designated Representative to UNESCO, and Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General UNESCO also spoke on the occasion. On the occasion, a brochure on Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development was also released.

The Delhi Outcome on Earthquake Risk Reduction in EAS Member Countries

EAS-India Workshop on Building Regional Framework for Earthquake Risk Management Concludes

 Resolve to work with the Stakeholders of ERR in EAS Member Countries to:

            Participate fully in the consultations now underway amongst the EAS Member countries to mainstream ERR into their development agenda, especially through increasing mitigation (to reduce the impact of disaster), and improving preparedness for effective response, and implementing smooth and sustainable recovery and reconstruction in case of an earthquake disaster (to build back better life and livelihood in the medium- and long-terms), and to provide inputs to a new Development Agenda of these EAS Member countries; and

Work towards improving the commitment of publicly elected leaders, strengthening the legislative framework, putting in place quality control and assurance, robust enforcement regime, undertaking large scale capacity building of technical professionals, and winning trust of the citizens;

Develop acceptable methods and strategies for integration of disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and disaster recovery financing amongst EAS member countries;
Through the following framework for joint action by EAS Member Countries for preparing and/or improving Master Plans for Earthquake Risk Reduction with particular emphasis on Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Reconstruction:

(1)   Risk Assessment:

            Developing scenarios to project possible losses during future earthquakes through formal Earthquake Risk Assessment programs that include probabilistic risks of earthquakes, microzonation of urban and critical areas

(2)   Mitigation:

(A) Structural Aspects

Develop the necessary competencies in the EAS Member countries for the regulation of adopting earthquake resistant technologies for new and existing structures, and mechanisms relevant to each EAS Member Country to enforce a Techno-legal framework for compliance of state-of-the-art standards for design and construction of earthquake resistant houses, buildings and structures

(B) Non-Structural Aspects

(a) Launching JOINT state-of-the-art long-term technology capacity building programs and initiatives/activities, deputing reputable faculty members drawn from the academia and professional engineers and architects of the EAS Member Countries;

(b)        Including/improving disaster education in schools and communities;

(c)        Including/improving disaster-related technical and medical education in medical degree programs;

(d)        Developing understanding of challenges in Land Use Regulations, Building Codes and Enforcement of Bye-laws;

(e)        Networking among scientific institutions towards knowledge sharing through faculty resource exchanges and joint research projects; and

            (f)  Risk financing amongst EAS Countries or from other countries.

(3)   Preparedness:

Improving preparedness for responding to earthquakes by

(a)        Preparing Earthquake Disaster Management Plans at national, provincial and municipal levels in EAS Member Countries;

(b)        Encouraging business continuity planning in critical infrastructure and business;

(c)        Developing standards for coordinated relief assistance;

(d)        Coordination of NGOs and streamlining of volunteers participating in post-earthquake response activities in EAS Member Countries;

(e)        Developing and conducting earthquake response exercises, table top exercises, simulation drills, etc.; and

(f)        Collaborating for earthquake monitoring and data sharing.

(4)   Response:

Respond effectively by:

(a)        Sharing of experiences related to specialised volunteer arrangement, and developing specialised response;

(b)        Developing mechanisms and norms for international relief assistance;

(c)        Developing mechanisms for mobilising community involvement;

(d)        Developing best practice for efficient information and communication during earthquake disaster, and media handling;

(e)        Developing mechanism for international humanitarian assistance amongst EAS Member countries;

(f)        Developing strategies and protocol for moving rescue and relief equipment to earthquake affected areas; and

(g)        Sharing practices of developing resilient communities by strengthening community based DRR.

(5)   Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction:

Undertaking necessary groundwork to develop protocol amongst EAS Member Countries on:

(a)        Hosting focused programs on post-earthquake damage assessment of buildings for engineers of EAS countries;

(b)        Sharing possible strategies by drawing from experiences of the EAS Member countries for

1.   Smooth transition from Rescue & Relief, Recovery to Rehabilitation & Reconstruction, and

2.   Early recovery and reconstruction, especially of the critical infrastructure that is required to be brought back to functional order within a short period of time after the earthquake;

(c)        Developing acceptable regional post-earthquake shelter designs for different geographical and climatic conditions in EAS Member countries, identifying organisations to build these, and strategies for procurement and stockpiling raw materials in different regions of each EAS Member country, and

(d)  Studying Reconstruction-financing amongst EAS Countries or from other countries.

Paradigm Shift in Incredible India Campaign Focus on Consumer Instead of Destination Says Union Tourism Minister

India Tourism has launched two new campaigns : an International Campaign called ‘Find What You Seek’ and a Domestic Campaign called ‘Go Beyond’. These campaigns where launched at the recently concluded “World Travel Market-2012”, which was held at London. The Union Tourism Minister Shri Chiranjeevi who attended WTM- 2012 told media persons here today that the launch of these campaigns reflects a very important paradigm shift in our strategy to promote India within the country and abroad. The ‘Go Beyond’ campaign focuses on promoting lesser known destinations to domestic as well as international tourists. He said “Till now, we had been promoting India internationally from the point of view of the destinations. The Incredible India campaigns which we launched in 2002 has been extremely successful. In our ‘Take II’ of the Incredible India campaign, we are going to focus on the consumer”. The Tourism Minister said the second phase of Incredible India campaign is “Find What You Seek”. He said “Tourists from the world over can find the destination or product of their desire in India, be it heritage sites, forts, beaches, backwaters, lakes, mountains, adventure, wildlife, culture, festivals, medical, wellness, MICE, religion or shopping. India offers something for everyone and that is why we proudly say that India is an incredible destination with a range of products as found nowhere else. It is truly in India, you will find what you are seeking”.

Reffering to WTM he said this year Ministry of Tourism participated in WTM by taking a space that was about 15% higher than last year’s space. Private stakeholders from India had taken space of a similar size. This year, there were over 110 Indian participants from the trade, State Governments and Union Territory Administrations in WTM for doing serious business.

Shri Chiranjeevi also announced that during WTM 2012, India was conferred with three awards by the World Travel Awards organization. These awards were, Asia’s leading destination, Asia’s leading tourist attraction – Taj Mahal and Asia’s leading tourist Board.

Coinciding with the WTM Event 2012, the Minister also attended UNWTO Ministers’ Summit held to discuss the subject ‘Open Borders and Open Skies: Breaking Barriers to Travel’ and held discussions with Mr. Taleb Rafai, Secretary General, UNWTO; Mr. Hugh Robertson, Minister of Sports and Tourism, UK and Mr. Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, Tourism Minister of South Africa. He assured them that India will continue to play an important and pro-active role for promoting global tourism.

The Union Tourism Minister said that India would be hosting the next meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia and Far East & Pacific in April – May next year in Hyderabad. India is currently the chairperson of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia.

Shri Chiranjeevi expressed his happiness over the fact that UK has withdrawn its advisory against travel to Jammu and Kashmir. He said “We are going to initiate a fresh dialogue for entering in to a Memorandum of Understanding with UK on Tourism Cooperation”. The Minister said India and South Africa have agreed to work together for protecting the tourism interests of developing nations jointly. He said “We have also agreed to hold the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on Tourism Cooperation with South Africa at the earliest with the objective of enhancing tourist traffic between the two countries”.

Shri Chiranjeevi said India’s position was 38th in the world in terms of World Tourist Arrivals and 17th in terms of World Tourism Receipts. Expressing conern over this fact he said our endeavor is to increase India’s share to 1% in the World Tourist Arrivals by 2016.

The Union Tourism Minister said “My efforts would be to make tourism as India’s main economic and political agenda taking all state governments, union territory administrations and stakeholders on board and establish India as round the year destination. Our focus would be to further develop and promote niche products like Rural Tourism, Wellness and Medical Tourism, Cruise Tourism, Adventure and Wildlife Tourism, Film Tourism, Sports Tourism and MICE Tourism”.

Reffering to his priorities the Minister said his endeavor would be to: facilitate development of synergy between various Departments / Ministries, State Governments, Union Territories and Industry for development of Tourism, make India affordable destination by facilitating development of Budget Accommodation, ease Visa Regime and expand Tourist Visa on Arrival Scheme to additional important source market countries, expand human resource base and create new employment opportunities.

Shri Chiranjeevi said “Our effort should be to give and promote experiential tourism and show case true India. The visitors to India should be compelled to come again and again and revisit the experience because of its rich diversity”. The Tourism Minister said he is aware of hygiene and sanitation concerns. To improve these standards, Tourism Ministry has launched ‘Campaign Clean India’. “I would be especially focusing for the success of this campaign”, the Minister added.

Aadhaar based Direct Cash Transfers - Rollout to begin from 1 January 2013 in 51 districts, Half the country to be covered by 1.4.2013

            A meeting of the Executive Committee on Direct Cash Transfers was held today by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister along with the Cabinet Secretary. The  meeting was attended by the Secretaries and representatives of the Departments of  Financial Services, UIDAI (Aadhaar), IT, Planning Commission,  Expenditure, Posts, Rural Development, Social Justice & Empowerment, Tribal Affairs, Minority Affairs, Higher Education, School Education, Health & Family Welfare, Women & Child Development, Labour & Employment, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Fertilizers, and Food & Public Distribution.

            The Prime Minister had recently constituted a National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers under his chairmanship and an Executive Committee on Direct Cash Transfers to give a thrust to roll out a cash transfer programme across the country, leveraging the Aadhaar platform.

            The purpose of the meeting today was to move forward and operationalise Direct Cash Transfers for which many steps need to be taken. The necessary steps include (i) identification of areas where Direct Cash Transfers can be introduced, (ii) establishing mechanisms for preparing rollout plans for these areas, (iii) ensuring rapid rollout of Aadhaar to achieve better coverage (at least 80%), (iv) ensuring universal access to banking and financial inclusion and (v) setting up mechanisms to enable cash transfers to actually take place. To facilitate all this, there is a need to constitute other committees including a Technology Committee, a Financial Inclusion Committee and Implementation Committees within each Ministry so as to ensure coordination and quick implementation.

            The agenda for the meeting was to:

        i.            Explain to all committee members the rationale and purpose of Direct Cash Transfers and the institutional architecture that has been put in place for the rollout.

      ii.            Finalise the constitution and composition of the Implementation Committees.

    iii.            Identify areas for introducing Direct Cash Transfers and make arrangements for finalising roadmaps for rollout in each area, keeping in view the roadmap already prepared for Direct Cash Transfers of LPG Subsidy.

            Based on the extensive discussions that took place and the issues raised by the participants, the following decisions were taken in the meeting:

        i.            All departments engaged in transferring benefits to individual beneficiaries will quickly move to an electronic Direct Cash Transfer system, based on an Aadhaar Payment Bridge/ Platform.

      ii.            They will identify the schemes to move to this system and also prepare a roadmap with timelines so that the rollout is smooth and fast. The roadmap for each scheme will broadly have the following timelines:

a.      51 districts      -           from 1 January 2013

b.      18 states                      -           from 1 April 2013

c.       16 states                      -           from 1 April 2014 or earlier.                                    

    iii.            The list of schemes, roadmaps, and timelines will be sent to the Planning Commission and PMO by 20 November 2012

    iv.            UIDAI will set up a dedicated cell of technical experts in UIDAI to facilitate Aaadhaar enabled Direct Cash Transfers and help individual Ministries.

      v.            Department of Financial Services will go for universal Financial Inclusion through individual Bank Accounts for all in line with the roadmap.

    vi.            UIDAI will rollout Aadhaar speedily in line with the roadmap.

  vii.            Departments will work towards digitising their databases quickly, particularly at the state level with the help of state governments, DeITy and NIC to ensure convergence.

            The Prime Minister will be holding the first meeting of the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers on 26 November 2012 where the roadmap and timelines will be presented.

Amendment to the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 and Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996

The Union Cabinet today approved the Amendment to the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) { BOCW (RECS)} Act, 1996 and Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996 and the introduction of the Building and Other Construction Workers Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012 in Parliament in its ensuing session.

This amendment will streamline the process of the registration of the construction workers. The State Welfare Boards will be able to consolidate their finances and incur expenditure on administrative and other purpose for smooth functioning of the Board. The amendments will facilitate speedy implementation of these Acts by the Central and the State Governments.

The provisions in the Amendment are given below :

1. Empower the Central Government to specify the maximum cost of construction by notification, in place of the present limit of Rs.10 lakh, which shall fall within the definition of establishment under the BOCW (RECS) Act.

2. The prerequisite condition of engagement of ninety days for registration of workers under the BOCW (RECS) Act is proposed to be done away with. Moreover, in order to extend benefits to the workers, who are engaged in building and construction work after attaining the age of sixty years, the criteria of upper age limit of sixty years is proposed to be done away with.

3. To empower the Central Government to notify such percentage of total expenditure, in place of existing 5 percent during the financial year, for meeting administrative expenses by the State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

4. To empower Central Government to appoint such number of Director Generals not exceeding 10 to coordinate with the Central Government in carrying out its responsibility of laying down the standard of inspection and to exercise the power of an inspector.

5. To empower the State Governments to file complaints for contravention of provisions of the Act.

6. To prescribe a time limit of 30 days for cess collecting authorities to deposit cess to the State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

7. To constitute a Committee consisting of Secretary (Labour), Secretary (Finance), Secretary (Planning) and Secretary (Social Welfare) of the State for performing the functions of the State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board till such time a Board is formally constituted by the State Government.

Background :

Building and other Construction Workers (Regulation Employment and Conditions of service) Act, 1996 (BOCW (RECS) Act and Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996 (BOCW Welfare Cess Act) were enacted with a view to regularizing the wages, working conditions, safety and for their health, welfare measures, etc. The Acts apply to every establishment which employs 10 or more workers. The major source of the fund to the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board is the collection of cess at the rate of one percent of the const of construction incurred by the employer under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996. The fund has to be utilized for the welfare of such workers. Central Government is the implementing agency in the central sphere for the purpose of enforcement of various provisions of the Act, while States are the implementing authority under State sphere. The State Governments have to frame and notify rules, constitute Advisory Committees or Expert Committees and appoint various authorities for registration of workers, cess collection, inspection and Appellate Authority. They have to constitute State Welfare Boards as well.

The matter of slow progress of implementation of these Acts has been raised at various fora. The Tripartite Central Advisory Committee, constituted under the BOCW(RECS) Act, 1996 set up a Task Force to examine various provisions of the Act. The recommendations of the Task Force were considered by the Central Advisory Committee. The Task Force and the Central Advisory Committee recommended that certain provisions of these Acts require amendments. Accordingly the Central Government decided to carry out amendments in these Acts.

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SC/SM

100% Digitisation achieved in Delhi

01-November-2012 18:30 IST

Dawn of new Digital era for Cable TV
Sun sets on Analogue Cable TV Networks in 4 Metros

Analogue Cable Television signals were switched off by the Broadcasters and Multi System Operators (MSOs) at midnight of 31st October, 2012 in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Analogue Cable TV signals were allowed to continue in Chennai due to the interim stay granted by the Hon’ble High Court of Madras.

A total of 64.31 lakh Set Top Boxes (STBs) have been installed in the 4 metro cities in the first phase of digitization during the span of about 10 months from November 2011 i.e from the date of notification .First phase of digitization covers 4 metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. As per 2011 Census figures, a total of 103.76 lakh households are there in 4 metro cities. At an average rate of 80% TV penetration as per the Census, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had estimated that about 82.59 lakh households will have TV sets. After deducting 28.14 lakh DTH connections , it was estimated that there would be 65.34 lakh Cable TV subscribers who would require Set Top Boxes.

As per the data provided by the MSOs , the percentage of digitization in Delhi has gone up to 101%. In Mumbai it is 118% whereas in Kolkata it is 85% and in Chennai it stands at 63%.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had notified necessary amendments in Cable Television Networks Rules 1995 to create an enabling environment for Cable TV digitization. TRAI had also brought out necessary regulatory framework by notifying Tariff, Inter Connection, Complaint Redressal System and Quality of Service Regulations. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also issued 53 provisional registrations to MSOs to operate in DAS areas.

Ministry had embarked on an aggressive Public Awareness Campaign in the Electronic and Print Media. 6 Video spots and 12 Radio jingles were brought out by the Ministry for broadcast on Television and radio. An intensive SMS Campaign was also launched on the Mobile phones. Additionally cinema slides and hoardings on bus shelters etc, were also put up. The ‘Blackout Advertisement’ carried out by the Ministry on all prominent Television channels created a massive public awareness about the digitization deadline. More than 200 channels carried the ‘blackout advertisement’ of the Ministry on the same day and time in a synchronized fashion which is a record of sorts.

Ministry has been closely monitoring procurement and progress of installation of STBs by various MSOs regularly. Additionally, data was also collected from DTH operators on a daily basis. A Special Task Force was constituted to steer the entire process which consisted of various stakeholders. The Task Force met on fortnightly basis and held 20 meetings so far. Ministry also launched a Facebook account and started a special website on digitization. Sub-Groups constituted by the ministry for national level MSOs, independent MSOs and Local Cable Operators helped the Ministry to get a feed back from ground. Extensive field visits were taken up by officials from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and technical teams from BECIL which is a Public Sector Undertaking of the I&B Ministry. The field visits were taken to assess the ground realities and provide continuous feedback so that the digitization process could incorporate the learning from the field.

A Toll free number was also designated to answer queries of people about digitization. In the countdown to the digitization, Ministry has set up a Control Room with 5 telephone lines to provide clarifications to people and answer their queries. The Control Room of the Ministry received more than 5000 calls within a span of 15 days.

Digital Cable TV system has a number of inherent advantages such as Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) which gives the information for the current programme as well as the programmes to come up. It also provides features like Movies-on-Demand and Games. A cable subscriber in digital system has facility to log in their complaints either on the Toll free number or in the Subscriber Complaint Redressal System on the web, wherein redressal of the complaint can be tracked. The consumer has a choice to select channel packages as per their choice or to select from a-la-carte list. The bill is generated by the system as per the channels chosen by the Cable subscriber. In addition to these special features the digital cable TV system provides superior picture and sound of digital quality and the consumer have a choice to select from a wide range of channels which was limited to only about 80-90 channels in an analogue system. The consumer can also subscribe to the HD channels. Digital Cable TV system will also enable the provision of Triple Play services on the same Cable TV network wherein in addition to the TV programmes, internet, radio, telephony etc., would also be available through the same cable line.

Ministry has instructed all MSOs to certify that their analogue signals have been switched off completely. They have also been asked to set up canopies/kiosks in poorer colonies to ensure Set Top Boxes are made available to them at the determined price of Rs 799/-on the spot. MSOs have also been asked to ensure the consumer is not overcharged for the Set Top Boxes. MSOs have also been advised to advertise their complaint number so that nobody takes any undue advantage of the situation.

Shri Porika Naik Balram takes over as MoS for Social Justice & Empowerment

Shri Porika Naik Balram has taken over as the Minster of State for Social Justice & Empowerment here today. On joining office he was received by Shri Anil Goswami, Secretary, SJE, Ms. Stuti Kacker, Secretary, Department of Disability Affairs and Senior Officers.

Porika Naik Balram was elected to 15th Lok Sabha in 2009 and he represents Mahabubabad, a parliamentary constituency in Andhra Pradesh.

Digitization reaches 93% in Metro cities. Ministry monitors digital switchover preparedness.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has released data about achievement of Digitization in the 4 metro cities as on 30th October 2012.The data shows that in Delhi the Cable TV digitization has touched 92% and with DTH the percentage of digitization has gone upto 95%. For Mumbai the percentage of digitization is 100% whereas for Kolkata Cable TV digitization alone has crossed 82%, along with DTH the percentage of digitization goes upto 85%. In Chennai the Cable TV digitization has reached 62% and with DTH it goes upto 86%. The overall percentage of achievement in 4 metro cities, therefore, is 89% as far as the Cable TV is concerned and with DTH, the percentage goes upto 93%.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has sent teams comprising of Technical Experts to visit various Headends of National level Multi System Operators (MSOs) as well as independent MSOs in the four metro cities of Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The Technical teams will collect on site data regarding preparedness of MSOs for analogue switch over to DAS i.e., Digital Addressable System. The teams would also look at details of Subscriber Management System and Call Centre facility etc. The teams would also look at the system available with the MSOs to ensure that no analogue signals are fed in the Cable networks after the 31st October 2012 deadline.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had launched an aggressive public awareness campaign for creating awareness among the masses about the need for Set Top Box for their Cable TV system. In addition to video and audio spots on several television channels, Ministry had also embarked on a very aggressive SMS campaign. Six round of SMS Campaign have already been undertaken reaching out to millions of subscribers in the 4 metro cities. As a further step towards digitization, Ministry has also been exhibiting slides in cinema theaters. Hoardings have also been placed at bus shelters and toilet blocks in the city of Delhi.

A review of the daily installation of STBs shows that the rate of installation has touched an all time high. On 29th October, 2012 about 88,000 set top boxes were installed out of which more than 61000 boxes were installed in Delhi alone.

The Control Room set up by the Ministry has been receiving on a average around 400 calls per day since 15th October, 2012. Ministry has positioned MSO representatives also to sit in the Control Room to reply to the queries of people from 8.00 am to 10.00 pm every day. This has provided a platform for common people to address their concerns/queries on the digitization process.

Digitization would usher in a regime of addressability and transparency, bringing a host of exciting benefits to the consumers. Digitization of the Cable TV Network would open up several opportunities for the consumers to get access to Movies and Games on Demand as well as internet.