Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India has organized a two-day National review Conference on 12th and 13th February,2024 in Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi under the Chairpersonship of Secretary, D/o Social Justice and Empowerment. Senior officers and officials from State Governments/UTs Public Financial Management System) PFMS, National Scholarship Portal (NSP), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Department of Social Justice and Empowerment attended and participated in the programme.

Secretary, SJ&E, delineated the objective of the National review conference viz. to review the implementation of the schemes and Acts of this Department and to create a better synergy between the State Governments/UTs and Centre.

On the first day of the National Conference, discussion on schemes related to Educational Empowerment of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Economically Backward Classes (EBCs) and Denotified Tribes (DNTs) ensued in which larger interest of the State Governments/UTs were addressed. Under Centrally sponsored Scholarship schemes for SC students, States/UTs were requested to expedite the process and send the finally verified State share paid data on National Scholarship Portal (NSP). In addition, other issues related to Biometric authentication of Institute Nodal officer (INOs)/Head of institution (HoIs)/ District Nodal Officer (DNOs)/ State Nodal Officer (SNOs), expediting Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries, refund of unspent balance and pending audit response from the State Government were deliberated upon. Under Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for SCs, Central share of Rs. 32,635 Cr to 5.04 Cr beneficiaries during the last 10 years have been released. Similarly, under Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme for SCs and others, an amount of Rs. 3537.38 Cr to 2.37 Cr beneficiaries have been released in the last 10 years. In addition, under both the above said schemes, the Central Government is releasing scholarship into the DBT accounts of the beneficiaries through Aadhaar Based Payment Bridge System (ABPS).

Presentation on schemes such as Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS), Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Target Areas (SRESHTHA), PM- Young Achievers Scholarship Award Scheme (PM-YASASVI) were made which highlighted the key issues related to the schemes. It was requested that States/UTs which have not sent proposals/requisite documents, send the same immediately to enable the Central Government to release funds under the above schemes in FY 2023-24. The States/UTs were guided regarding the course of action to receive the benefits under the schemes. In the last 10 years, under SRESHTHA- an amount of Rs. 512.01 Cr has been released to 3.28 lakh beneficiaries, under SHREYAS- an amount of Rs. 2543.76 Cr has been released to 93,993 beneficiaries.

A presentation was made to review the status of implementation of National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) Scheme highlighting the progress made so far and pointing out States which are lagging behind in the implementation of the scheme. As per the programme, the remaining issues related to Social Empowerment including extending support to Senior citizens, Transgenders, beggary and sanitation workers will be taken up on 13th February.

 The progress and achievements of National Scheduled Castes Finance & Development Corporation and National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation were also reviewed. It was directed that both these Corporations should explore innovative ways to improve the quality of services being offered to needy citizens from the SC and OBC segments.

 

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