Committed to give high priority to water conservation and its management, the Government of India has formulated Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana with a vision of expanding the coverage of irrigation ‘Har Khet Ko Pani’ and improving the efficiency in use of water ‘More Crop Per Drop’ in a concentrated manner with end to end solution on source creation, management, distribution, field application and expansion activities.

Objectives of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)

To encourage expansion activities linked to water harvesting, water management and crop alignment for farmers and grass roof level field functionaries; to attract greater private investments in irrigation that, in turn would enhance agricultural production and productivity and increase far income; to attain convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level.

One of the main objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana is to make sure the integrated development of rainfed areas by using the watershed approach towards soil and water conservation, regeneration of ground water, limiting runoff, catering livelihood options and other NRM activities.

The increase the physical access of water on the farm and extend cultivable area under assured irrigation that has been named ‘Har Khet Ko Pani’ is a prime objective of the Yojana. Along with this the Yojana has also the objective of increasing the appropriation of precision irrigation and other water saving technologies that has been phrased ‘More Crop Per Drop’.

Other important objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana include irrigation of water source, distribution, and improve on-farm water use efficiency to decrease wastage and increase availability both in extent and duration; introduction of sustainable water conservation practices; exploration of the feasibility of reusing treated municipal waste water; and enhancement of recharging of aquifers.

Must Read: Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojna (PMMY)

Strategy and Areas of Concentration

In order to achieve the declared objectives, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana has announced that it will formulate strategies by concentrating on end-to-end solution in irrigation supply chain. This supply chain includes distribution network, water sources, efficient farm level application, extension services on new technologies and information, etc.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana has been formulated by combining ongoing schemes such as Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR)- Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) Department of Land Resources (DoLR); River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (RD & GR) of the MoWR; and on Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC).

Programme Components

Under this Yojana the aim is to create new water sources through Minor Irrigation of both surface and ground water.

The Yojana invisages repairing, restoration and renovation of water bodies; strengthing the carrying capacity of traditional water sources, Construction of rain harvesting structures (Jal Sanchay).

Under this Yojana comes command area development, empowering and creation of distribution network from source to the farm; improvement in water management-at least 10% of the command area to be covered under micro-precision irrigation.

Also Read: PRADHAN MANTRI JAN DHAN YOJNA

PMKSY (More Crop Per Drop)

Under this component of the Yojana come: Programme management, preparation of State/District Irrigation Plan, approval of annual action, Monitoring etc. capacity building, training and awareness campaign consist of low cost publications, use of pico-projectors.

Under this component the extension workers are going to be empowered to spread relevant technologies after getting requisite training in the area of promotion of scientific moisture conservation and agronomic measures; Information Communication Technology (ICT) interventions are to be used in the field of water-use efficiency.

PMKSY (Watershed Development)

This component of the Yojana aims to the effective management run off water and improved soil and moisture conservation activities such as ridge area treatment, drainage line treatment, rain water harvesting and other allied activities on watershed basis.

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National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in December 2008 and the Certificate of Commencement of Business was issued in April 2009. The company, which has been incorporated as a Section 25 company under The Companies Act 1956, is now under Section 8 of The Companies Act, 2013. The formation of NPCI is aimed to operate for the benefit of all the member banks and their customers.

NPCI would function as a hub in all electronic retail payment systems which is ever growing in terms of varieties of products, delivery channels, the number of service providers and diverse Technology solutions. NPCI is now certified for three standards – PCI-DSS (sensitive data security in payment systems), ISO27001 (information security) and ISO 22301 ( business continuity) apart from ISO 9001( Quality Management)

NPCI has successfully completed the major project of developing a domestic card payment network called- RuPay. RuPay card payment system symbolizes the capabilities of the banking industry in India to build a card payment network so that dependency on international card schemes is minimized. The RuPay card is now accepted at all the ATMs (1,60,000+), 95% of PoS terminals (9,45,000+) and most of the e-Com merchants (10,000+) in the country.

A variant of the card called ‘Kisan Card’ is now being issued by all the Public Sector banks in addition to the mainstream debit card which has been issued by 43 banks. A variant of Pre-paid RuPay card would shortly be launched by IRCTC. More than 150 Cooperative banks and the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in the country have also issued RuPay ATM card. More than 17 million cards are being issued by various banks, and it is growing at a rate of about 3 million per month.

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The NPCI symbol uses the acronym of the organization’s name. The letter forms are arranged to reflect solidity with progressiveness and dynamism. The use of the red dot and swirl make the entire image unique and memorable. The swirl also communicates worldwide presence. The green and red combination is reminiscent of the Indian National colors. It presents a fresh, individualistic and environmentally conscious message to the world.

The corporation service portfolio now and in the future include:

• National Financial Switch (NFS) which connects 166928 ATMs of 242 banks
• Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) provided to 62 member banks, with more than 6 crore MMIDs issued.
• National Automated Clearing House – has close to 400 banks as Live.
• Aadhaar Payments Bridge System (APBS) has more than 300 banks as Live.
• Cheque Truncation System (CTS) has fully migrated western & southern grid from MICR centres.
• Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS)- has 26 member banks.
• RuPay – Domestic Card Scheme- has issued over 17 lakh cards and enabled over 9 lakh PoS terminals in the country.

There are ten core promoter banks (State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank,Citibank  and HSBC). The Board consists of Balachandran M as the chairman, Nominee from Reserve Bank of India, Nominees from ten core promoter banks and A. P. Hota, managing director and chief executive officer, NPCI.

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The Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS) at its meeting held on 24 September 2009 has approved in principle to issue authorisation to NPCI for operating various retail payment systems in the country and granted Certificate of Authorisation for operation of National Financial Switch (NFS) ATM Network with effect from 15 October 2009.

NPCI has deputed its officials to IDRBT Hyderabad and NPCI has taken over NFS operations from 14 December 2009. Membership regulations and rules are being framed for enrolling all banks in the country as members so that when the nation-wide payment systems are launched, all would get included on a standardised platform.

A Technical Advisory Committee has also been constituted with two professors of IIT Bombay. N. L. Sarda is the chairman and G. Siva Kumar is the Co-Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee. Members in this committee are drawn from banks at the level of Deputy general manager/ Assistant general manager.

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Foreign trade in India includes all imports and exports to and from India. At the level of Central Government, it is administered by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) which provides the basic framework of policy and strategy to be followed for promoting exports and trade. The Trade Policy is periodically reviewed to incorporate changes necessary to take care of emerging economic scenarios both in the domestic and international economy. Besides, the Department is also entrusted with responsibilities relating to multilateral and bilateral commercial relations, Special Economic Zones, state trading, export promotion and trade facilitation, and development and regulation of certain export-oriented industries and commodities.

Foreign trade is nothing but trade between the different countries of the world. It is also called as International trade, External trade or Inter-Regional trade. It consists of imports, exports and entrepot. The inflow of goods in a country is called import trade whereas outflow of goods from a country is called export trade. Many times goods are imported for the purpose of re-export after some processing operations. This is called entrepot trade. Foreign trade basically takes place for mutual satisfaction of wants and utilities of resources.

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3 Types of Foreign Trade

Foreign Trade can be divided into following three groups :-

Import Trade : Import trade refers to purchase of goods by one country from another country or inflow of goods and services from foreign country to home country.

Export Trade : Export trade refers to the sale of goods by one country to another country or outflow of goods from home country to foreign country.

Entrepot Trade : Entrepot trade is also known as Re-export. It refers to the purchase of goods from one country and then selling them to another country after some processing operations.

Need and Importance of Foreign Trade

Following points explain the need and importance of foreign trade to a nation.

• Division of labour and specialisation – Foreign trade leads to division of labour and specialisation at the world level. Some countries have abundant natural resources. They should export raw materials and import finished goods from countries which are advanced in skilled manpower. This gives benefits to all the countries and thereby leading to the division of labour and specialisation. 
• Optimum allocation and utilisation of resources – Due to specialisation, unproductive lines can be eliminated and wastage of resources avoided. In other words, resources are channelised for the production of only those goods which would give highest returns. Thus, there is rational allocation and utilisation of resources at the international level due to foreign trade.
• Equality of prices – Prices can be stabilised by foreign trade. It helps to keep the demand and supply position stable, which in turn stabilises the prices, making allowances for transport and other marketing expenses.
• Availability of multiple choices – Foreign trade helps in providing a better choice to the consumers. It helps in making available new varieties to consumers all over the world.
• Ensures quality and standard goods – Foreign trade is highly competitive. To maintain and increase the demand for goods, the exporting countries have to keep up the quality of goods. Thus, quality and standardised goods are produced.
• Raises standard of living of the people – Imports can facilitate standard of living of the people. This is because people can have a choice of new and better varieties of goods and services. By consuming new and better varieties of goods, people can improve their standard of living.
• Generate employment opportunities – Foreign trade helps in generating employment opportunities, by increasing the mobility of labour and resources. It generates direct employment in import sector and indirect employment in other sectors of the economy. Such as Industry, Service Sector (insurance, banking, transport, communication), etc.
• Facilitate economic development – Imports facilitate economic development of a nation. This is because, with the import of capital goods and technology, a country can generate growth in all sectors of the economy, i.e. agriculture, industry and service sector.
• Assitance during natural calamities – During natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods, famines, etc., the affected countries face the problem of shortage of essential goods. Foreign trade enables a country to import food grains and medicines from other countries to help the affected people.
• Maintains the balance of payment position – Every country has to maintain its balance of payment position. Since, every country has to import, which results in the outflow of foreign exchange, it also deals in export for the inflow of foreign exchange.
• Brings reputation and helps earn goodwill – A country which is involved in exports earns goodwill in the international market. For e.g. Japan has earned a lot of goodwill in foreign markets due to its exports of quality electronic goods.
• Promotes World Peace – Foreign trade brings countries closer. It facilitates the transfer of technology and other assistance from developed countries to developing countries. It brings different countries closer due to economic relations arising out of trade agreements. Thus, foreign trade creates a friendly atmosphere for avoiding wars and conflicts. It promotes world peace as such countries try to maintain friendly relations among themselves.

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The drain theory, as formulated by the nationalists, referred to the process by which, a significant part of India’s national wealth, was being exported to England for which India got no economic returns. In other words, India was made to pay an indirect, tribute to the English nation.

Needless to say, this drain of India’s wealth to England, in the form of salaries to British officers posted in India, home charges and the profits made on the British capital invested in India, benefited England and diminished the sources for investment in India. Amiya Bagchi observes:

“Since after acquiring dominion over India, the East India Company and private traders could appropriate Indian goods or tribute or profits without really paying for them. Britain did not any longer have to send bullion to India to balance her accounts. Instead bullion was now sent out from India either to China or to Britain”.

Bagchi’s estimate is that ‘external drain’ from Bengal constituted about 3 to 4 percent of the gross domestic material product. If expenditure on wars of the East India Company is added in this period, Bagchi maintains:

“that at least 5 to 6 per cent of resources of the ruled land were siphoned off from any possibility of investment”.

An elementary principle of economic development is that surplus is generated for investment but if the surplus is siphoned off from a colony to the colonizers, the colony gets underdeveloped. This was the impact of the external drain on the economy of India under British colonial rule starting with Bengal after the battle of Plassey in 1757.

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External drain, however, was only one element of British exploitation of India, linked with other sources of exploitation like heavy taxation and an unfavourable trade. The British benefited immensely from the plunder and exploitation of India. Lord Curzon wrote:

“India is the pivot of our Empire…..If the Empire loses any other part of its Dominion we can survive, but if we lose India the sun of our Empire will have set”.

The Company obtained Dewani or civil administration rights of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1765 and this opened new opportunities for plunder by the Company. The land revenue because of Dewani rights was remitted by the Company to England. This monopoly of plunder and exploitation by the Company continued by the end of the eighteenth century when England moved from mercantile capitalism to industrial revolution and the emerging industrial capitalists in Britain started demanding the end of Company rule in India.

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