Policies, Programs and Schemes of the Government

1. Social Welfare Schemes

1.1 Beti Hai Anmol Yojana

• Objective: Promote the birth of girl children and support their education.
• Key Features:
  • Financial assistance to families (from Below Poverty Line or economically weaker sections) for the education of girls up to senior secondary levels.
  • Fixed deposit or lump-sum grant provided at specific milestones in the girl’s educational journey.

1.2 Mukhya Mantri Kanyadaan Yojana

• Objective: Financial assistance for the marriage of daughters of economically weaker families.
• Key Features:
  • Assistance given to families who cannot afford marriage expenses.
  • Aims to reduce financial burden and discourage child marriages.

1.3 Mukhya Mantri Sahara Yojana

• Objective: Provide monthly financial aid to chronically ill patients from economically weaker backgrounds.
• Key Features:
  • Patients suffering from illnesses like cancer, paralysis, muscular dystrophy, etc., are eligible.
  • Monthly monetary support to lessen the medical burden on families.

1.4 Mukhya Mantri Seva Sankalp Helpline (1100)

• Objective: Facilitate redressal of public grievances and provide quick governance services.
• Key Features:
  • Citizens can call the toll-free helpline for grievance registration and updates.
  • Time-bound resolution mechanism.

2. Health and Nutrition

2.1 Himachal Health Care Scheme (HIMCARE)

• Objective: Provide health insurance coverage for families not covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
• Key Features:
  • Cashless treatment in empanelled hospitals up to a certain limit (e.g., ₹5 lakh per family per year).
  • Covers secondary and tertiary healthcare expenses.

2.2 Mukhya Mantri Grihini Suvidha Yojana

• Objective: Provide free LPG gas connections to households not covered by the central government’s Ujjwala scheme.
• Key Features:
  • Aims to reduce dependence on conventional cooking fuels like wood.
  • Improves indoor air quality and reduces drudgery for women.

2.3 Mukhya Mantri Poshan Yojana (Mid-Day Meal & Nutrition)

• Objective: Enhance the nutritional levels of children in government schools.
• Key Features:
  • Supplements the central Mid-Day Meal initiative.
  • Focus on locally sourced, nutritious meals.

3. Education and Skill Development

3.1 Medha Protsahan Yojana

• Objective: Financial assistance to meritorious students for coaching in competitive exams (like UPSC, NEET, JEE).
• Key Features:
  • One-time grant to selected students who clear state-level eligibility criteria.
  • Encourages brighter prospects in professional and competitive fields.

3.2 Mukhya Mantri Gyandeep Yojana

• Objective: Provide interest subvention on education loans for higher studies.
• Key Features:
  • Partial interest subsidy for students obtaining bank loans.
  • Reduces the financial burden of higher education.

3.3 Kaushal Vikas Nigam (Skill Development)

• Objective: Enhance employability and entrepreneurship through skill training.
• Key Features:
  • Ties up with industrial sectors for on-job training programs.
  • Certification courses in different trades to boost job opportunities.

4. Agriculture, Horticulture, and Rural Development

4.1 Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Development Project (HPHDP)

• Objective: Improve horticulture productivity (fruits, vegetables, flowers) and boost farmers’ income.
• Key Features:
  • Focus on modernizing orchard management, irrigation, and marketing facilities.
  • Support for infrastructure like storage, packing, and grading units.

4.2 Mukhya Mantri 1 Bigha Scheme

• Objective: Encourage rural households, especially women’s self-help groups, to develop kitchen gardens or small-scale horticulture.
• Key Features:
  • Financial and technical assistance for cultivating vegetables and fruits.
  • Aims at self-sufficiency in nutrition and additional income generation.

4.3 Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana

• Objective: Promote natural farming and reduce chemical usage in agriculture.
• Key Features:
  • Encourages farmers to adopt Zero Budget Natural Farming methods (ZBNF).
  • Training, financial incentives, and marketing support for organically grown produce.

4.4 Mukhya Mantri Kisan Evam Khetihar Mazdoor Jeevan Suraksha Yojana

• Objective: Provide insurance coverage to farmers and agricultural laborers.
• Key Features:
  • Covers accidental death and disability.
  • Minimal or no premium from beneficiaries to ensure wide coverage.

5. Women Empowerment

5.1 Shagun Scheme

• Objective: Provide financial support for the marriage of daughters from BPL families.
• Key Features:
  • Lumpsum amount handed over to the family.
  • Aims to reduce the financial burden and ensure dignity in marriage ceremonies.

5.2 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) Promotion

• Objective: Encourage women in rural areas to form SHGs for collective entrepreneurship.
• Key Features:
  • Loans at subsidized rates for dairy, handicrafts, or small businesses.
  • Training, marketing, and capacity-building sessions.

6. Infrastructure and Governance

6.1 Chief Minister’s Startup/Innovation Scheme

• Objective: Promote entrepreneurial ventures and innovation among youth.
• Key Features:
  • Seed capital, mentorship, and incubation support.
  • Encourages job creation within the state.

6.2 e-Governance Initiatives (Lok Mitra Kendra & e-District)

• Objective: Provide government services digitally at citizen-centric kiosks.
• Key Features:
  • Lok Mitra Kendras in rural areas for online certificates (e.g., birth, death, caste, income).
  • Improved transparency, reduces time and cost for government service delivery.

6.3 Jan Manch Program

• Objective: Address public grievances and ensure accountability.
• Key Features:
  • Ministers and high-level officers visit designated areas on scheduled dates.
  • Citizens present their grievances and get on-the-spot resolutions, if possible.

6.4 Himachal Road Connectivity and Tunnels

• Objective: Improve road infrastructure and connectivity in remote areas.
• Key Features:
  • Construction of strategic tunnels like Atal Tunnel (Rohtang) for all-weather connectivity.
  • Focus on tourism and rapid transportation.

7. Environmental Conservation

7.1 Vidyut Vitran (Green Energy) Programs

• Objective: Promote clean energy and enhance power distribution in remote areas.
• Key Features:
  • Subsidies for solar panels, solar streetlights, etc.
  • Emphasis on micro-hydel projects in mountainous regions.

7.2 Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban/Rural) – State-Level Adaptations

• Objective: Ensure cleanliness, waste management, and open defecation-free status.
• Key Features:
  • Construction of toilets in rural areas, solid and liquid waste management systems.
  • Active participation by local panchayats and urban bodies.

1. Social Welfare Schemes

1.1 Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP)

• Launched: 2015
• Objectives:
  • Address the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR).
  • Improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls.
  • Promote girls’ education and holistic development.
• Key Features:
  • Joint initiative by Ministries of Women & Child Development, Health & Family Welfare, and Education.
  • Mass awareness campaigns about the importance of educating and empowering girls.

1.2 Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)

• Launched: 2016
• Objective: Provide LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.
• Key Features:
  • Reduces dependence on traditional cooking fuels like firewood.
  • Aims to safeguard women’s health, reduce drudgery, and improve indoor air quality.
  • Financial support for the initial setup of LPG connections.

1.3 Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

• Launched: 2014
• Objective: Achieve universal access to banking facilities.
• Key Features:
  • Zero balance bank accounts.
  • Accidental insurance cover and direct benefit transfers (DBTs).
  • Overdraft facility for account holders with good transaction history.

1.4 Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY)

• Objective: Welfare scheme for the poor and disadvantaged, particularly during crises (e.g., COVID-19).
• Key Features:
  • Free food grains distribution under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
  • Financial assistance to women Jan Dhan account holders, farmers, and senior citizens in specific circumstances.

2. Health and Nutrition

2.1 Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

• Launched: 2018
• Objective: Provide health insurance coverage up to ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalization.
• Key Features:
  • Targets poor and vulnerable families as identified in the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC).
  • Cashless treatment at empanelled public and private hospitals.
  • Covers serious illnesses requiring expensive treatments.

2.2 Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)

• Objective: Provide partial wage compensation to pregnant women and lactating mothers for the wage loss they might incur.
• Key Features:
  • Cash benefit of ₹5,000 (in three installments) for the first living child, subject to fulfilling certain health and nutrition practices.
  • Encourages them to seek better healthcare facilities and nutrition during pregnancy and post-delivery.

2.3 POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission)

• Launched: 2018
• Objective: Reduce stunting, undernutrition, and low birth weight among children, and anemia among young children, women, and adolescent girls.
• Key Features:
  • Convergence of various nutrition-related schemes.
  • Use of technology (mobile apps, dashboards) to track nutrition indicators.
  • Focus on behavior change and community-level interventions.

2.4 Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)

• Launched: 2014
• Objective: Achieve universal sanitation coverage and eradicate open defecation in both urban (SBM-Urban) and rural (SBM-Gramin) areas.
• Key Features:
  • Construction of household and community toilets.
  • Solid and liquid waste management.
  • Mass awareness on sanitation and cleanliness.

3. Education and Skill Development

3.1 Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

• Objective: Holistic development of school education from pre-primary to class 12.
• Key Features:
  • Subsume previous schemes: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), and Teacher Education (TE).
  • Emphasis on inclusive education, digital education, infrastructural improvements, and teacher training.

3.2 Mid-Day Meal Scheme

• Objective: Improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide.
• Key Features:
  • Free lunch provided to children in government schools and government-aided schools.
  • Aims to enhance enrollment, retention, and attendance, while simultaneously addressing malnutrition.

3.3 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)

• Launched: 2015
• Objective: Encourage skill development among youth and increase employability.
• Key Features:
  • Short-term training programs, recognition of prior learning (RPL).
  • Financial rewards/certificates upon successful completion.

3.4 National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS)

• Objective: Promote apprenticeship in various industries and skill sectors.
• Key Features:
  • Provides financial support to establishments engaging apprentices.
  • Targets to increase the rate of apprentices being trained and employed.

4. Agriculture and Rural Development

4.1 Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

• Launched: 2019
• Objective: Provide income support of ₹6,000 per year to all landholding farmer families.
• Key Features:
  • Three installments of ₹2,000 each, directly transferred to bank accounts.
  • Aims to supplement the financial needs of farmers in procuring various inputs.

4.2 Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

• Launched: 2016
• Objective: Provide insurance coverage and financial support to farmers in event of crop loss.
• Key Features:
  • Low premium rates for farmers, with major portion of premium subsidized by the government.
  • Covers losses from natural calamities, pests, and diseases.

4.3 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

• Launched: 2006 (Act passed in 2005)
• Objective: Provide at least 100 days of wage employment to every household in rural areas.
• Key Features:
  • Focus on creating durable assets (e.g., roads, canals, ponds).
  • Enhances livelihood security and poverty alleviation.

4.4 Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)

• Objective: Create efficient institutional platforms for the rural poor, enabling them to increase household income.
• Key Features:
  • Promotes formation of Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
  • Financial inclusion, capacity building, and skill development.

5. Housing and Urban Development

5.1 Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)

• Objective: Provide affordable housing to all by 2022 (now extended in phases).
• Key Features:
  • Two components: PMAY-Urban and PMAY-Gramin.
  • Interest subsidy on home loans for economically weaker sections (EWS), low-income groups (LIG), and middle-income groups (MIG).

5.2 Smart Cities Mission

• Launched: 2015
• Objective: Develop 100 smart cities across India with better infrastructure, sustainability, and citizen services.
• Key Features:
  • Focus on IT-enabled services, efficient public transport, and improved basic services.
  • Promotes mixed land use, housing for all, and sustainable environment.

5.3 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation)

• Launched: 2015
• Objective: Ensure robust water supply, sewerage, urban transport, and green spaces in urban areas.
• Key Features:
  • Infrastructure creation to improve the quality of life in cities.
  • Citizen participation in planning and decision-making.

6. Women Empowerment

6.1 Mahila E-Haat

• Launched: 2016
• Objective: Provide an online marketing platform for women entrepreneurs and self-help groups.
• Key Features:
  • Operated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
  • Facilitates direct contact between buyers and sellers (no intermediaries).

6.2 One Stop Centre Scheme (Sakhi Centres)

• Launched: 2015
• Objective: Provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence.
• Key Features:
  • 24×7 support including police desk, legal aid, medical, and counseling services.
  • Single-window approach to help women in distress.

6.3 Working Women Hostel

• Objective: Provide safe and affordable accommodation to working women.
• Key Features:
  • Subsidized rates, day-care facilities for children.
  • Ensures a secure environment for women coming from different socio-economic backgrounds.

7. Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

7.1 Make in India

• Launched: 2014
• Objective: Transform India into a global manufacturing hub.
• Key Features:
  • Focus on 25 key sectors (e.g., automobiles, textiles, electronics).
  • Simplification of regulatory environment, FDI reforms, and robust infrastructure development.

7.2 Digital India

• Launched: 2015
• Objective: Transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
• Key Features:
  • Initiatives like Common Service Centres (CSCs), DigiLocker, BharatNet (rural broadband).
  • E-governance, digital literacy, and improved online service delivery.

7.3 Start-up India

• Launched: 2016
• Objective: Foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and start-up ecosystem in India.
• Key Features:
  • Simplified compliance, tax exemptions, and IPR (patent) support.
  • Dedicated fund of funds for start-up investment.

7.4 Stand-Up India

• Launched: 2016
• Objective: Facilitate bank loans to women and SC/ST entrepreneurs.
• Key Features:
  • Loans between ₹10 lakh and ₹1 crore for setting up greenfield enterprises.
  • Enhances financial inclusion and entrepreneurial culture among underrepresented groups.