The Monsoon Session 2022 of Parliament commenced on 18 July 2022 and was adjourned sine die on 8 August 2022. Below are curated highlights from the Question Hour and Zero Hour of the session.

Highlights from Question Hour and Zero Hour

Women and Child Development

• The National Creche Scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) [1] to provide day-care facilities to children (between 6 months and 6 years) of working mothers. The state-wise data on the number of crèches under the National Creche scheme highlights [2] the following:
  • • States with the highest number of creches under the scheme are Assam (616), West Bengal (602), Jammu and Kashmir (561), Karnataka (544), Manipur (427), and others.
    • State and Union Territories with low numbers of creches under the scheme are Goa (1) Sikkim (19), Meghalaya (40), Chandigarh (52), Delhi (53), Gujarat (58), and others.

• • Several states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and others have no crèches under the scheme till date.

• The POSHAN Tracker is an MIS based application that provides a 360-degree view of the services and activities of Anganwadi Centres (AWWs) to ensure improved nutritional management of beneficiaries. The POSHAN Tracker has a migration module to enable shifting from one AWC to another in order to facilitate nutrition for migrant beneficiaries. Anganwadi Workers can pull the data of a migrant beneficiary to their own database through this module.

• As reported on ICDS-RRS portal [3] (ICDS-Rapid Reporting System), out of the total number of operational Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) i.e. 12 lakh, about 51.5% AWCs (6.18 lakh centres) were running in their own buildings and 24.2% AWCs (2.9 lakh centres) were running in rented premises as on 31 March 2022 [4].

• The Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Index (2021-22) ranks States and UTs on their coverage of Iron Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation. According to the AMB Index (2021-22):
  • • Some of the top-performing states in terms of IFA coverage were Andhra Pradesh (75.3%), Maharashtra (58%), Himachal Pradesh (56.9%), Chhattisgarh (56.1%), Tamil Nadu (54.8), Odisha (53.1%), and Madhya Pradesh (51.1%).
    • Some of the worst performing states were Mizoram (22.9%), Tripura (21%), Bihar (20.3%), Meghalaya (20%), Arunachal Pradesh (15%), Manipur (13.1%), and Nagaland (11.8%).

Housing

• Government of India (GoI) conducted “Awaas+” survey between January 2018 and March 2019 to identify potential beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) which were left out under the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC)-2011. The collected data are being utilised to prepare an additional list of potential beneficiaries for PMAY-G. As on 19 July 2022, a total of 63.68 lakh houses have been allocated to eligible states and Union Territories (UTs) from Awaas+ data. (Download our latest brief on PMAY-G to know the status and progress of the scheme.)

Health

• Under the Ayushman Bharat programme, launched in April 2018, Sub Centres (SCs) and Primary Health Care centres (PHCs) are being transformed into Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) across rural and urban areas. By December 2022, 1.5 lakh SCs and PHCs were targeted to be transformed to AB-HWCs. As on 30 June 2022, a total of 1.2 lakh AB-HWCs have been operationalised against the target of 1.5 lakhs. (To know more about the status and progress of HWCs, download our latest brief on Ayushman Bharat.)

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) was launched on 30 March 2020 as an insurance scheme for approximately 22 lakh public healthcare workers, including community workers, fighting COVID-19 pandemic. The insurance policy has been extended till 15 October 2022. As on 5 August 2022, claims of 2075 health workers have been settled under PMGKP across the country.

Water

• Under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), as on 22 July 2022, 34.3% (6.57 crore) rural households have been provided with tap water connections. At the time of JJM’s announcement in August 2019, out of 18.93 crore rural households in the country, approximately 17% (3.23 crore) rural households were reported to have tap water connections. Therefore, out of 19.15 crore rural households in the country, around 51.2% (9.81 crore) rural households are currently reported to have tap water supply. Tap water connections to the remaining 49% (9.34 crore) rural households are planned to be provided by 2024 under JJM.
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Accountability Initiative’s Budget Brief (2022-23) on JJM highlights that the release of funds by GoI has been slow and the utilisation of funds available has been even slower. In FY (financial year) 2021-22, only 26% of GoI’s approved budget had been released to the states till 1 January 2022, over three-fourths into the fiscal year. Despite low releases, not all funds were spent. Expenditures as a proportion of GoI funds available stood at 44% as on 1 January 2022 (Download our latest brief on JJM to know the status and progress of the scheme.)

• As per the  Jal Jeevan Mission’s IMIS (Integrated Management Information System), out of 2.66 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country, tap water connections have been provided to all rural households in 73.6 thousand GPs (28%). The government aims to provide tap water connections to the remaining 9.34 crore rural households in 1.92 lakh GPs by 2024.

• The average annual per capita water availability in India decreased from 1,816 cubic metres (CBM) in 2001 to 1,545 CBM in 2011. According to projected population growth, the per capita water availability would have further reduced to 1,486 CBM in 2021. 

• On 22 March 2017, the National Water Quality Sub-Mission (NWQSM) was launched to provide safe drinking water to 27,544 arsenic and fluoride affected rural habitations across the country. The ground water quality data generated by the Central Ground Water Board reports the occurrence of Arsenic, Fluoride, Iron, Nitrate, and heavy metals beyond the permissible limits set by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in various isolated pockets across the country. As on 19 July 2022, the state-wise data on the contamination of groundwater included:
  • • Groundwater in parts of 409 districts in 26 states and UTs contained Fluoride (above 1.5 mg/l).
    • Groundwater in parts of 487 districts in 23 states and UTs contained Nitrate (above 45 mg/l).
    • Groundwater in parts of 209 districts in 25 states and UTs contained Arsenic (above 0.01 mg/l).
    • Groundwater in parts of 491 districts in 29 states and UTs contained Iron (above 1 mg/l ).
    • Groundwater in parts of 176 districts in 21 states contained Lead (above 0.01 mg/l).
    • Groundwater in parts of 29 districts in 11 states contained Cadmium (above 0.003 mg/l).
    • Groundwater in parts of 62 districts in 16 states contained Chromium (above 0.05 mg/l).

• In June 2015, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched in 500 cities to provide basic civic amenities in the sectors of water supply, sewerage, and urban transport. To achieve universal water supply coverage in the selected cities, AMRUT has a target of providing 139 lakh household water tap connections. Till date, out of the target, approximately 91.5% (1.3 crore) household water tap connections have been provided under AMRUT and in convergence with other schemes.

Others

• The eSHRAM portal was launched on 26 August 2021 as India’s national database of unorganised sector workers, which includes migrant workers, construction workers, gig and platform workers, etc. Approximately 28 crore unorganised workers have registered on the eSHRAM portal in less than one year. Top 5 States with maximum registrations on the portal are Uttar Pradesh (8.3 crore), Bihar (2.8 crore), West Bengal (2.6 crore), Madhya Pradesh (1.6 crore), and Odisha (1.3 crore).

• On 14 April 2016, the Government of India launched the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) as a pan-India electronic trading platform to facilitate farmers, traders and buyers. As on 30 June 2022, 1,000 mandis from 18 States and 3 UTs have been integrated with e-NAM, and more than 1.73 crore farmers and 2.26 lakh traders have been registered on the platform.

To read curated highlights of the Budget Session 2022, click here.

Notes

[1] In Financial Year (FY) 2021- 22, GoI restructured the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan, the Scheme for Adolescent Girls, and the National Creche Scheme into Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 to converge nutrition-related initiatives and strengthen outcomes.

[2] These numbers do not include data on the number of crèches being run under the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 and by private NGOs, as this information is not maintained centrally.

[3] Rapid Reporting System (RSS) on Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.

[4] Status of AWCs in Lakshadweep and Nagaland has not been reported on the ICDS-RSS portal.

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