Keep up-to-date with all that is happening in welfare policy with this curated selection of news, published every fortnight.

Policy News 

1.  The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises launched the MSME Innovative Scheme.
2. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises launched the Special Entrepreneurship Promotion Drive for Women. 
3. The Centre announced the extension of the Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid Affected Sectors by three months to June 2022.
4. The Ministry of Labour and Employment launched the ‘Donate-a-Pension’ program under Pradhan Mantri Shram.
5. The Centre released over ₹2,221 crore for providing grants to the rural local bodies in Bihar, Karnataka, and West Bengal.
6. The Centre has approved the continuation of the selected sub-schemes under the umbrella scheme ‘Relief and Rehabilitation of Migrants and Repatriates’ till 2025-26 with an outlay of ₹1,452 crore.

Education 

1. The Ministry of Education released the report on Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) 2020-21.
2. The University Grant Commission launched the draft guidelines for making Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) into multidisciplinary institutions. It has also directed HEIs to implement the new guidelines for establishment of research and development cells (RDC). 
3. The Delhi Directorate of Education (DoE) revised the promotion policy for students in Classes 9 and 11. 

Health 

1. The National Health Authority (NHA) introduced the Green Channel Payment (GCP) to expedite claim adjustments for treatment of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) beneficiaries.
2. The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched ‘Stree Manoraksha Project’ to improve the mental health of women in India.
3. The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare expanded the COVID-19 vaccination coverage to adolescents between the age of 12 and 14. 

Other News 

1. The office of the Registrar General & Census released the Sample Registration System (SRS) statistical report 2019.
2. The National Statistical Office (NSO) released the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for April to June 2021. The urban unemployment rate was 12.6 per cent for the quarter. 
3. The Union government amended the Census rules to allow citizens to self-enumerate online.
4. The Union Cabinet approved setting up the National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC) to monetise surplus land.
5. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) launched UPI123Pay to allow users to use unified payments interface (UPI) service on feature phones without internet.