The first session of Parliament every year starts with the president’s address to both Houses. In this speech, the president highlights the government’s achievements in the last year, and announces its key policy plans for the current year. Ahead of the president’s address on Monday, we examine the status of some government initiatives that have been highlighted in previous presidents’ speeches.
Financial inclusion, digital payments
In 2014, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana was launched to promote access to financial services for all. Over the last four years, 310 million Jan Dhan accounts have been opened, and deposits currently stand at Rs74,000 crore.
The government has launched various initiatives such as BHIM and UPI to aid digital payments. Digital transactions have been on an upward trend with a spike just after demonetisation.
The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), launched in 2000, seeks to connect 132,000 unconnected habitations with all-weather roads by March 2019. In the last couple of years, after an increase in the targets following a CAG report, the ratio of connected to targeted habitations has fallen.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) aims to provide housing for urban and rural poor by 2022. As of January 2, 2018, only 9% of the sanctioned houses had been completed under PMAY-Urban. Under PMAY-Gramin, 22% of the target of 10 million houses has been completed.
The Swachh Bharat Mission aims to eliminate open defecation and achieve 100% scientific management of municipal solid waste by October 2, 2019. The total number of toilets built cover 77% of rural households, and 52% of villages have declared themselves open-defecation free.
