Aam Aadmi
Encyclopedia
Aam Aadmi is a term used by Indian National Congress
as their political agenda in 2004 and 2009 elections and uses this as its guiding principle in running its coalition government. It refers to the average Indian or Average Joe
. The idea of Aam Aadmi is to address three essential things: Food, Clothing and Shelter.
Aam Aadmi aims at the happiness of common man. The government must protect the common man by providing subsidies on food and fertilizer. However, there are high administrative costs of delivery in present subsidy
scheme. The economists now opt direct cash transfers to reduce administrative costs.
-led United Progressive Alliance
government. Its obejctive was to strengthen the Right to Information Act, National Rural Employment Guaranteed Scheme, National Food Security Act and Bharat Nirman Yojana by way of economic and social inclusion of every underprivileged section of society. No marginal groups are excluded from the development process. Women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes belong to the marginal groups. The development plank is akin to Indira Gandhi
's Garibi Hatao
.
The Right to Information Act 2005 is an Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The Act specifies that citizens have the right to:
The Right to Information Act makes the common man up to date. His role in government's decision-making process has been redefined by the Act. The Right to Information Act is an effective tool to control corruption
, make government accountable, and curb the arbitrary use of power. The Act has now been amended to provide for disclosure by government in all non-strategic areas.
This Act came into force on February 2, 2006. The twin objectives of the Act are augmenting wage employment and strengthening natural resource management. As per the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, job cards are issued to the rural unskilled labour by guaranteeing work for 100 days in a financial year at a minimum daily wage of Rs.100. It is the largest programme in the world for rural reconstruction. The scheme covered 604 districts in India in three phases and provided employment opportunities for more than 4.47 crore households in 2008-09. The total outlay for the scheme is $8 billion during 2009-10.
NREGA creates transparency and accountability in governance. All NREGA beneficiaries now have accounts with banks or post offices. The scope of the programme is limited to unskilled manual labour. The scope can be extended through increased land productivity. Land productivity can be maximized through better convergence
of NREGA with other programmes. Sustainable development
is the ultimate goal of NREGA. M.S. Swaminathan, Father of Green Revolution
in India argues that there is a synergy between National Food Security Act and NREGA. NREGA through its diversified programmes on human development helps to ensure food security for all. It is the realisation of Gandhi's dream to make India self-sufficient. The scheme has now been renamed as Mahatma Gandhi
Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Gandhiji taught us how unskilled manual labour can be made use of for the betterment of society.
. Food Security Act takes into consideration the following three important aspects:
Food availability in the market depends on domestic production and imports whereas access to food hinges on the purchasing power
of Aam Aadmi. Food absorption means the inclusion of required calorie-content micro and macro nutrients in our daily food in-take and thereby enables the human body to fight against deficiency diseases. The absorption of food in the body also depends on non-food factors such as safe drinking water, environmental hygiene, primary health care and access to toilets.
Targeting the BPL families is one of the main issues in the implementation of the Act. In 2005 Planning Commission has made an evaluation of PDS schemes. They found that more than 50 per cent of food did not reach the poor families. In the words of Dr.C Rangarajan, "Food prices must be controlled, otherwise they have a tendency to lead to manufacturing inflation. That will require monetary action especially on the supply management side".
Bharat Nirman Yojana is an action-oriented business plan for rural infrastructure. It is an important step in bridging the gap between rural and urban areas and improving the quality of lives of rural masses. It comprises projects on irrigation, roads (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana), housing (Indira Awaaz Yojana), water supply, electrification and telecommunication connectivity.
The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(PMGSY) was launched on 25 December 2000. The primary objective of PMGSY is to provide good quality all-weather roads in all the rural areas where urban-rural road connectivity is found to be very weak. All unconnected habitations with a population of more than 500 persons has been provided connectivity by 2007.
Aam Aadmi is the image of common man. He is one among millions of illiterate population of India. Whatever be the changes in the economy affects him the most. Inflation, financial meltdown and the resultant job loss are cumbersome for Aam Aadmi. To put it otherwise, Aam Aadmi is always caught up in a vicious circle
of poverty.
and use of computers. The Youth will work at the panchayat level to facilitate the smooth functioning of NREGA and the Right to Information Act. They creates awareness among the rural poor of their rights.
Sponsored by Both: Central & State Government
The AADHAAR project started by the government of India to give biometric based identity card to every resident of India is aimed primarily to improve access to all welfare programs.
13:22, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
as their political agenda in 2004 and 2009 elections and uses this as its guiding principle in running its coalition government. It refers to the average Indian or Average Joe
Average Joe
Average Joe is an American reality television show broadcast on the NBC beginning in 2003. There were a total of four seasons, the first two following the original show premise, and the last two bringing back contestants from prior seasons.-Show Premise:...
. The idea of Aam Aadmi is to address three essential things: Food, Clothing and Shelter.
Aam Aadmi aims at the happiness of common man. The government must protect the common man by providing subsidies on food and fertilizer. However, there are high administrative costs of delivery in present subsidy
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
scheme. The economists now opt direct cash transfers to reduce administrative costs.
History
Aam Aadmi was introduced in 2004 by the Indian National CongressIndian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
-led United Progressive Alliance
United Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
government. Its obejctive was to strengthen the Right to Information Act, National Rural Employment Guaranteed Scheme, National Food Security Act and Bharat Nirman Yojana by way of economic and social inclusion of every underprivileged section of society. No marginal groups are excluded from the development process. Women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes belong to the marginal groups. The development plank is akin to Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
's Garibi Hatao
Garibi Hatao
Garibi Hatao was the theme and slogan of Indira Gandhi's 1971 election bid and later also used by her son Rajiv Gandhi. The slogan and the proposed anti-poverty programs that came with it were designed to give Gandhi an independent national support, based on rural and urban poor...
.
The Right to Information Act
Main article: The Right to Information Act 2005The Right to Information Act 2005 is an Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The Act specifies that citizens have the right to:
- inspection of work, documents and records.
- taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records.
- taking certified samples of material.
- obtaining information in the form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes 'or in any other electronic mode' or through printouts.
The Right to Information Act makes the common man up to date. His role in government's decision-making process has been redefined by the Act. The Right to Information Act is an effective tool to control corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, make government accountable, and curb the arbitrary use of power. The Act has now been amended to provide for disclosure by government in all non-strategic areas.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
Main article: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee ActNREGA creates transparency and accountability in governance. All NREGA beneficiaries now have accounts with banks or post offices. The scope of the programme is limited to unskilled manual labour. The scope can be extended through increased land productivity. Land productivity can be maximized through better convergence
Convergence
-Mathematics:* Convergence , refers to the notion that some functions and sequences approach a limit under certain conditions* Convergence , the notion that a sequence of transformations come to the same conclusion, no matter what order they are performed in.-Natural sciences:*Convergence ,...
of NREGA with other programmes. Sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
is the ultimate goal of NREGA. M.S. Swaminathan, Father of Green Revolution
Green Revolution
Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production around the world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s....
in India argues that there is a synergy between National Food Security Act and NREGA. NREGA through its diversified programmes on human development helps to ensure food security for all. It is the realisation of Gandhi's dream to make India self-sufficient. The scheme has now been renamed as Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Gandhiji taught us how unskilled manual labour can be made use of for the betterment of society.
Food Security Act
Food security is a proposed act which makes food availability a right for every citizen of India. It aims to give common man to lead a healthy and productive life. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is a centrally sponsored scheme launched on December 2000 for one crore of the poorest families. It is on the look out for the 'poorest of the poor' by providing them 35 kilos of rice and wheat at Rs.2 per kg. Whereas the National Food Security Act helps the poor to purchase 25 kg of rice or wheat per month at Rs.3 per kg. It calls for broader reforms in the public distribution systemPublic Distribution System
Public Distribution System is an Indian food security system. Established by the Government of India under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution and managed jointly with state governments in India, it distributes subsidised food and non-food items to India's poor...
. Food Security Act takes into consideration the following three important aspects:
- Food Availability.
- Food Access.
- Food Absorption.
Food availability in the market depends on domestic production and imports whereas access to food hinges on the purchasing power
Purchasing power
Purchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...
of Aam Aadmi. Food absorption means the inclusion of required calorie-content micro and macro nutrients in our daily food in-take and thereby enables the human body to fight against deficiency diseases. The absorption of food in the body also depends on non-food factors such as safe drinking water, environmental hygiene, primary health care and access to toilets.
Targeting the BPL families is one of the main issues in the implementation of the Act. In 2005 Planning Commission has made an evaluation of PDS schemes. They found that more than 50 per cent of food did not reach the poor families. In the words of Dr.C Rangarajan, "Food prices must be controlled, otherwise they have a tendency to lead to manufacturing inflation. That will require monetary action especially on the supply management side".
Bharat Nirman
Main article: Bharat NirmanBharat Nirman
Bharat Nirman is an Indian plan for creating basic rural infrastructure. It comprises projects on irrigation, roads , housing , water supply, electrification and telecommunication connectivity....
Bharat Nirman Yojana is an action-oriented business plan for rural infrastructure. It is an important step in bridging the gap between rural and urban areas and improving the quality of lives of rural masses. It comprises projects on irrigation, roads (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana), housing (Indira Awaaz Yojana), water supply, electrification and telecommunication connectivity.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana or PMGSY is a nationwide plan in India to provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages...
(PMGSY) was launched on 25 December 2000. The primary objective of PMGSY is to provide good quality all-weather roads in all the rural areas where urban-rural road connectivity is found to be very weak. All unconnected habitations with a population of more than 500 persons has been provided connectivity by 2007.
Aam Aadmi is the image of common man. He is one among millions of illiterate population of India. Whatever be the changes in the economy affects him the most. Inflation, financial meltdown and the resultant job loss are cumbersome for Aam Aadmi. To put it otherwise, Aam Aadmi is always caught up in a vicious circle
Vicious Circle
Vicious Circle is an album released in 1994 by L.A. Guns. Most of the songs have Phil Lewis on lead vocals, but the track "Nothing Better to Do" features Kelly Nickels on lead vocals, and "Tarantula" is instrumental. MC Bones drums on several songs. Lewis and Bones also played together in the band...
of poverty.
The Aam Aadmi Ka Sipahi
The Aam Aadmi Ka Sipahi (the Common Man's Army) upholds the Right to Information Act and NREGA. The Aam Aadmi Ka Sipahi aims to popularize the UPA government's flagship programmes by the Youth Congress and train local youths in e-governanceE-Governance
Several dimension and related factors influence the definition of eGovernance. The word “electronic” in the term e-Governance implies technology driven governance...
and use of computers. The Youth will work at the panchayat level to facilitate the smooth functioning of NREGA and the Right to Information Act. They creates awareness among the rural poor of their rights.
Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana
Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) covers death and disability insurance for the benefit of rural landless households in the country.Sponsored by Both: Central & State Government
AADHAAR
Main article: AADHAARUnique Identification Authority of India
The Unique Identification Authority of India , is an agency of the Government of India responsible for implementing the AADHAAR scheme, a unique identification project. It was established in February 2009, and will own and operate the Unique Identification Number database...
The AADHAAR project started by the government of India to give biometric based identity card to every resident of India is aimed primarily to improve access to all welfare programs.
Swabhimaan
Swabhimaan is a banking project launched to bring banking services to vast unbanked rural areas in the country. It was launched on 9 February 2010. The government has set a target of covering 73,000 new habitations, with population of 2,000 and above under the banking services by March 2012.See also
- Indira Awaaz Yojana
- RTI India
- Right to Information
- NREGS (Kerala)NREGS (Kerala)The National Rural Employment Generation Scheme ' is a historic employment scheme in India for providing 100 days guaranteed wage employment for all employment seekers above 18 years of age and willing to do work...
- Food securityFood securityFood security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. According to the World Resources Institute, global per capita food production has been increasing substantially for the past...
- Sarva Shiksha AbhiyanSarva Shiksha AbhiyanSarva Shiksha Abhiyan , is an Indian Government programme aimed at the universalization of elementary education "in a time bound manner", as mandated by the 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to children of ages 6–14 a fundamental right...
Further reading
- Mishra,N.N.; Parker,Lisa; Nimgaonkar,V.L.; Deshpande,S.N. (2008): "Privacy and the Right to Information Act, 2005", Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, 5(4), p. 159.
13:22, 19 February 2010 (UTC)