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- Created on 16 October 2014
(Image Courtesy narendramodi.in)
Should a village dabha owner be required to seek Central Government approval to acquire a few square metres of forest land for creating a new access to his food outlet? Should his application not be cleared at the district level? Is it not good enough for the owner of Baba Da Dabha in a Punjab village to support his application with 10 documents. These include separate assurances to pay for compensatory afforestation (CA) and make additional payment for the forest’s net present value (NPV).
Should the nodal officer of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) have returned his application with the objection - “geo reference map not enclosed; project site not visible on survey sheet”? Does MOEF expect a villager to submit geo reference digital data as mandated under its order issued in July 2011?
The Union Minister for Environment and Forest, Prakash Javadekar, must ponder over these issues as more than 50% of the forest clearance applications filed since 15th July 2014 have been returned to applicants with one objection or the other? Some of the objections are friovlous.
The returned proposals include Sauni Yojna, the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s dream project to bring Narmada flood waters to drought-hit Saurashtra region in Gujarat. Another similar, returned project is named Pokaran Falsoond Balotra Siwana Lift Water Supply Project that would bring potable water to three towns and 563 villages in Barmer & Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan.
Many of the returned applications envisage acquistion of a few square metres of forest land. Baba Da Daba, for instance, requires diversion of 0.0040 hectares of forest land at Village Tanuli in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.
Read more: From Modi’s ‘Sauni Yojna’ to Baba Da Dabha; it is ‘Office Office’ at MOEF
- Created on 06 July 2014
(Published by India Legal Magazine dated 30th June 2014)
- Created on 25 March 2022
An indigenous technology developed for extracting sulphate of potassium (SOP), a premium fertilizer, from sea bittern is under a cloud. In spite of its licensing and successful demonstration to two leading companies beginning 2006, the technology has not matured into an optimally-operated, commercial plant.
The issue is important from the standpoint of translating AatmaNirbhar Bharat call into success in reducing import dependency in core areas – food security and energy security. India’s vulnerability on this count in area of fertilizers and oil and gas has under focus due to Russia-Ukraine War (RUW).
The cloud over indigenous technology can be seen in the recent disclosures made by its first technology licensee or beneficiary, Archean Chemical Industries Limited (ACIL). The revelations are scattered in its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for stock market listing and in its latest annual report.
Though ACIL’s commercial-scale, SOP plant was commissioned in 2014, it has operated at a very low, capacity level year after year. The capacity utilization of SOP plant declined to 1.54% in 2020-21 from 14.65% in previous year. Capacity utilization was 10.06% in 2018-19 and 0.06% in first half of 2021-22!
Attaining optimal production efficiency & respectable capacity usage is daunting.
The company thus continues to seek overseas help to improve the working of its plant. The plant has approved capacity of 1 lakh tonne per annum (LTPA) of SOP. Its rated, certified capacity is 1.3 LTPA.
Read more: CSIR’s Marine Potash Fertilizer Technology Stuck in Grey Zone
- Created on 23 December 2018
(Image Courtesy: dbtbharat.gov.in
Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfer (DBT) has hit avalanche of challenges posed by food and fertilizers subsidies. These dole-outs account for the lion’s share of explicit subsidies given by the Union Government.
Though Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy (CTFS) Rules were notified in August 2015, not one State has discontinued physical delivery of subsidized grain through ration shops. Jharkhand aborted its pilot CTFS in Nagri Block of Ranchi district six months after its launch in October 2017. Cash transfer was strongly opposed by majority of the beneficiaries. A few lakh beneficiaries, however, continue to be served through CTFS in three Union Territories.
CFTS can work only when the delivery of food grains across the country is smooth and timely. The Government also has to ensure that open market prices are fair and competitive, a herculean task in an economy of continental dimensions.
Any price volatility in different regions due to supply glitches or market manipulations would make beneficiaries realize the gross inadequacy of cash transferred. Hence the poor masses continue to prefer subsidy in kind as that ensures access to fixed price of coarse grain, wheat and rice.
They have patience to stand in long queues for grain, which is not always of specified quality.
No one knows whether and when CTFS would be rolled out across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who loves to speak about Aadhaar-based DBT, remains silent on this issue.
Mr. Modi also maintains stony silence on turning pseudo-DBT for fertilizers into real DBT under which subsidy goes straight in beneficiaries’ bank accounts. His silence on long-delayed inclusion of urea under nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) scheme for fertilizers is equally deafening.
