Houses unfinished, Bihar serves notices to 2.21 lakh beneficiaries of PMAY-G

• The Bihar government has served notices to over 2.21 lakh beneficiaries for not completing construction of their houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Gramin (PMAY-G).
• Each beneficiary is given ₹1.20 lakh for constructing houses under PMAY-G.
• The Bihar government has also initiated departmental action against 347 government employees for not ensuring complete construction of houses even after disbursal of the entire amount to the account of beneficiaries in their respective rural blocks.

PMAY - G

• Launch: To achieve the objective of “Housing for All” by 2022, the erstwhile rural housing scheme Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was restructured to Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) w.e.f 1 April, 2016.
• Ministry Involved: Ministry of Rural development.
• Aim: To provide a pucca house with basic amenities to all rural families, who are homeless or living in kutcha or dilapidated houses by the end of March 2022.
  • To help rural people Below the Poverty Line (BPL) in construction of dwelling units and upgradation of existing unserviceable kutcha houses by providing assistance in the form of a full grant.
• Beneficiaries: People belonging to SCs/STs, freed bonded labourers and non-SC/ST categories, widows or next-of-kin of defence personnel killed in action, ex servicemen and retired members of the paramilitary forces, disabled persons and minorities.
• Selection of Beneficiaries: Through a three stage validation - Socio Economic Caste Census 2011, Gram Sabha, and geo-tagging.
• Cost Sharing: The cost of unit assistance is shared between Central and State Governments in the ratio 60:40 in plain areas and 90:10 for North Eastern and hilly states.
• Features:
  • The minimum size of the house has been increased to 25 sq.mt (from 20sq.mt) with a hygienic cooking space.
  • The unit assistance has been increased from Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1.20 lakh in plain and from Rs. 75,000 to Rs. 1.30 lakh in hilly states.
  • The assistance for construction of toilets shall be leveraged through convergence with Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G), MGNREGS or any other dedicated source of funding.
  • Convergence for piped drinking water, electricity connection, LPG gas connection etc. different Government programmers are also to be attempted.
• Performance of the Scheme:
  • Only 55% of the construction target has been completed.
    • Of the 2.28 crore houses to be built for the rural poor, less than 1.27 crore had been built by January 2021.
  • Money has been sanctioned to almost 85% of beneficiaries.
  • This scheme has helped in employment generation. Many states provided employment to their migrant labourers during lock down.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban

• Launch: 25 June 2015, intends to provide housing for all in urban areas by year 2022.
• Implemented by: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
• Features:
  • Addresses Urban housing shortage among the Urban Poor including the Slum Dwellers by ensuring a pucca house to eligible urban poor.
  • The Mission covers the entire urban area consisting of Statutory Towns, Notified Planning Areas, Development Authorities, Special Area Development Authorities, Industrial Development Authorities or any such authority under State legislation which is entrusted with the functions of urban planning & regulations.
  • All houses under PMAY(U) have basic amenities like toilet, water supply, electricity and kitchen.
  • The Mission promotes women empowerment by providing the ownership of houses in the name of female members or in joint name.
  • Preference is also given to differently abled persons, senior citizens, SCs, STs, OBCs, Minority, single women, transgender and other weaker & vulnerable sections of the society.
• Divided into Four Verticals:
  • In-situ Rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers using land as a resource through private participation.
  • Credit Linked Subsidy.
  • Affordable Housing in Partnership.
  • Beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement.

Millions of olive ridleys make it to sea after Odisha beach hosts record turtle nesting

• Millions of baby olive ridley sea turtles crawled towards the Bay of Bengal after emerging from eggshells along Odisha’s Rushikulya ****beach in Ganjam district, recording one of the most successful mass nesting and hatchings in past few decades.
• This year, the Rushikulya beach has hosted around 6.37 lakh turtles — highest ever congregation — from February 23 to March 3. After 50 days, baby turtles have emerged from eggs themselves and started their journey towards sea.
• Generally, an olive ridley turtle lays 100-150 eggs in a cavity created by them with their front flippers in the beach sand. They scoop out sand for hours to create the void. After laying eggs at one go, these creatures cover it again with sand. Before sunrise, the turtles return to the sea, leaving behind the eggs to hatch after 40-60 days. Sometime, a turtle lays eggs in a pit at a place that was previously used by another turtle, leading to loss of thousands of eggs.
• The Rushikulya beach is a unique phenomenon — it is not a wildlife sanctuary, yet turtles feel safe to carry out mass nesting. Baby turtles started coming out from egg shells from the second week of April this year.

Olive Ridley Turtles

• The Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
• These turtles are carnivores and get their name from their olive-coloured carapace.
• They are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
• Habitat
  • They are found in warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
  • The Odisha’s Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary is known as the world’s largest rookery (colony of breeding animals) of sea turtles.
• Protection Status:
  • Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule 1
  • IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
  • CITES: Appendix I
• Initiatives to Protect Olive Ridley Turtles:
  • Operation Olivia:
    • Every year, the Indian Coast Guard’s “Operation Olivia”, initiated in the early 1980s, helps protect Olive Ridley turtles as they congregate along the Odisha coast for breeding and nesting from November to December.
      • It also intercepts unlawful trawling activities.
  • Mandatory use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs):
    • To reduce accidental killing in India, the Odisha government has made it mandatory for trawls to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), a net specially designed with an exit cover which allows the turtles to escape while retaining the catch.
  • Tagging:
    • The tagging of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles using non-corrosive metal tags is done to enable scientists to chart their movements and also know the areas they visit in order to protect the species and their habitats.

UN reports ‘off the charts’ melting of glaciers

• The world’s glaciers melted at dramatic speed last year and saving them is effectively a lost cause, the United Nations reported on Friday, as climate change indicators once again hit record highs.
• The last eight years have been the warmest ever recorded, while concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide hit new peaks, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said.
• “Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest extent on record and the melting of some European glaciers was, literally, off the charts,” the WMO spelled out as it launched its annual climate overview.
• Sea levels are also at a record high, having risen by an average of 4.62 millimetres per year between 2013 and 2022 — double the rate it was between 1993 and 2002.