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Cabinet approves Nehru Solar Mission

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission that aims to add 20,000 MW of power in India by 2022. “The Cabinet has sanctioned Rs.4,337 crore for the initial activities in this regard,” Information & Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told journalists after the cabinet meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In his Independence Day speech this year, Dr. Singh had said that the solar energy mission will be launched on November 14. But, the launch date was put off as the government was not ready with its implementation plan. If the target is achieved, 10 per cent of the estimated power to be generated by then will be from solar sources at a cost of Rs.90,000 crore. It will mean electricity for three cities of the size of Delhi. It is the first of the eight missions — originally suggested by the council in 2008 — to get approval before the Copenhagen Climate Change summit. Various fiscal incentives have been proposed under the mission document to the manufacturers, as well end-consumers to propagate solar plants and technology, for instance to displace diesel generators, UPS and inverter system with solar-based systems. Cotton seed re-included in Act The Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval for the re-inclusion of cotton seed as an essential commodity for six months under the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) 1955, by amending the Schedule to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, or till the Seed Bill was passed by the Parliament, whichever move comes earlier. With this, the Government would be empowered to regulate the production, quality, distribution, etc., of cotton seed and to curb the sale and spread of spurious cotton seed. Quality, production and distribution would be subject to regulation under the Seed Control Order, 1983, thereby ensuring the quality of seed, particularly private hybrids of cotton/Bt.cotton seeds, and increasing productivity and production. Cotton seed was deleted from the list of essential commodities when the ECA was amended in 2007. As and when the Seeds Bill is passed by Parliament, cotton seed would be regulated under the new regulation. Thereafter, the notification of cotton seed under the ECA would be withdrawn, the Government said. Panel revises noon meal norms In a bid to provide more nutritious food to school children in upper primary classes under the National Programme for Mid-day meals, the Union Cabinet’s Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday decided to increase the norms for the quantity of pulses and vegetables and decrease those for oil and fat. The norm for pulses has been hiked from 25 gm to 30 gm per child, and that for vegetables from 65 gm to 75gm. The norm for oil and fat, in turn, has been reduced from 10 gm to 7.5 gm. Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the panel also revised the norm for the cost of cooking of the meals for primary school children to Rs.2.50 and for upper primary school children to Rs.3.75, with effect from December1. This would be increased by 7.5 per cent on April 1, 2010, and again by 7.5 per cent on April 1, 2011. The cooking cost would be shared between the Centre and northeast States on a 90:10 basis, and with other States and the Union Territories on a 75:25 basis. Cook-cum-helper norms A separate provision for payment of an honorarium of Rs.1,000 per month to each cook-cum-helper has also been made, and a norm for engaging them has been prescribed. One cook-cum-helper can now be engaged in a school with 25 students, and two of them in a school with 26 to 100 students. Schools with more than 100 students can engage additional cook-cum-helper at the rate of one per 100 students. The expenditure towards the honorarium would be shared between the Centre and States on the same basis as for the cooking costs. Further, it decided that the determination of the cost of construction of a kitchen-cum-store for the implementation of the programme would be on the basis of State schedule of rates and the plinth area norm laid by the Department of School Education and Literacy on the basis of number of children studying in the school.

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