1. Prologue
2. [Act 1] Minorities
   1. Minorities in India?
   2. Jains Minority status
   3. Shia vs Sunni: What’s the difference?
   4. (New) USTAAD
3. [Act 2] SC/ST/OBC
   1. Areas without SC/ST population
   2. % SC Population: Top 5 & Bottom 5
   3. % ST Population: Top 5 & Bottom 5
   4. Schemes
   5. (SC) Entrepreneur fund
   6. (ST) Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana
   7. (ST) Minor Forest produce
   8. (OBC) JAT OBC status
4. [Act 3] Physically challenged
   1. Adip (existing scheme)
   2. Visually challenged (VC): budget 2014
   3. Currency: Existing Shapes for blind
   4. Plastic Notes
   5. PH: New institutions (Budget 2014)
   6. WIPO’s Marrakesh Treaty
5. [Act 4] Elderly & social security
   1. EPFO reforms in Budget 2014
6. [Act 5] Sports
7. [Act 6] Defense: One Rank One pension
8. Appendix
   1. Tribals: Andaman vs Nicobar
   2. Primitive Tribal groups of India (75)

Prologue

Economic Survey Chapter 13, total four parts

1. UNDP’s Human Development report 2014, poor, women and children [coming soon]
2. Demographic Dividend: Education, youth, Skill Development[coming soon]
3. Minorities, SC, ST, PH, Elderly, Sports & Defense [you’re here]
4. Rural and urban infrastructure [done]

[Act 1] Minorities

Minorities in India?

• Total six minorities in National Commission for Minorities Act 1992
• Population wise ranking: (1) Muslims > (2) Christians > (3) Sikhs > (4) Buddhists > (5) Jains > (6) Parsi
• NSSO Per capita Expenditure wise: Sikhs > Christians > Muslims > remaining
• Minorities are majorities in certain regions for example:

Religion	Forms majority in
Muslims	Lakshadweep  (UT) Jammu and Kashmir
Christians	Nagaland Mizoram Meghalaya
Sikhs	Punjab

Jains Minority status

• 6^th and latest name to be added in central list of minorities. (2014)
• Although 11 states had already given them minority status- Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, UP, MP, Rajasthan etc.

What Benefits will Jains get?

1. Government cannot interfere in their educational institutions, temples and trusts.
2. They can evict tenants from their community properties. Tenant cannot seek relief under Rent control laws.
3. Eligible for Government schemes for scholarships, fellowships, free coaching for competitive exams etc
4. Bank loans given to Jains will be counted under Priority sector lending (PSL) targets.

Shia vs Sunni: What’s the difference?

Sunni	Shia
They chose Abu Bakr, a close Companion of the Prophet Muhammad, as the Caliph (politico-social leader) of Muslim community.	They wanted Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law Ali to be appointed as Caliph.
Mughals were Sunni Muslims. Majority of Indian Muslims are Sunni	India has second largest population of Shia after Iran Gujarat’s Dawoodi Bohra and part of Varansi’s weavers are Shia Muslims. By and large Shia leaders support/have soft corner for Modi.* (IE, TheDiplomat)
Saudi, Bahrain, Turkey, Qatar’s ruling regime.	Iran and Syria’s ruling regime.
Iraq’s ISIS Egypt’s Muslim brotherhood	Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

*UPSC is not going to ask that in Prelims. But for interviews,you’ve to keep in mind that  in Politics and Diplomacy, not everything is black and white, “Modi vs Muslims” has variety of shades so don’t fall into any leading-questions by the panel. Anyways, let’s move to schemes. I’m not dwealling into past schemes because most of them being “scholarship” type, no questions seen in recent times. Therefore, directly focusing on new schemes:

(New) USTAAD

1. Up gradation of Traditional Skills in Arts, Resources and Goods.
2. Will provide skill Development, marketing linkages and support to minority artisans.

Some examples of Minority arts/handicraft:

1. Muslims: Zardozi Embroidery of Lucknow- given GI tag in 2013. Zardosi is a Persian word for embroidery in gold.
2. Sikh: Phulkari embroidery.
3. Buddhists: Thangka paintings

Other announcements

Hamari Darohar	to preserve rich heritage of minority Indian culture
Nai Manzil	to give Skill training Madrasa passouts, to help them find job/business in mainstream.
Khwaza Garib Nawaz	Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF) will setup this Senior secondary school at Ajmer.

[Act 2] SC/ST/OBC

First Census 2011 data and ranking

Areas without SC/ST population

Census counts SC only in Hindu. No religion bar for ST though.

NO SC	NO ST
Arunachal Pradesh Nagaland Lakshadweep A&N Islands	Punjab Chandigarh Haryana Delhi Pondicherry
list made under article 341	Art. 342

% SC Population: Top 5 & Bottom 5

SC %: Top 5	Bottom 5
Punjab Himachal West Bengal Uttar Pradesh Haryana	Mizoram (lowest) Meghalaya Goa D & N Haveli Daman & Diu

% ST Population: Top 5 & Bottom 5

ST %: Top 5	Bottom 5
Lakshadweep Mizoram Nagaland Meghalaya Arunachal	Uttar Pradesh (lowest) Tamil Nadu Bihar Kerala Uttarakhand

We can even prepare separate rankings based on “Absolute numbers”, “only states, no UT”…but then cost benefit declines because hard to memorize so much data.

So moving on:

Schemes

1. Previous schemes available at: wp.me/p2tsJl-1II
2. Again, I’m not repeating them here because cost: benefit is bad. Majority of them deal with scholarship and finance corporations. In recent times, hardly any MCQs seen from that genre in any competitive exam. Prime study focus should be on Constitutional provisions.
3. Therefore, let’s directly jump to new schemes

(SC) Entrepreneur fund

• Under IFCI [Industrial Finance Corporation of India]
• To promote entrepreneurship among SC – they’ll receive loans @concessional rates.
• Interim budget had given 200 crores, new General budget gave another 200 crores.

(ST) Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana

NDA Government yet to work out details. But earlier CM Modi had launched a scheme with same name, in Gujarat. So let’s check the salient features of that Gujarat Scheme.

Officially called: Chief minister’s 10 point program for Scheduled Tribes

Employment 5 lakh Tribal families Education- ITI, Hostel in tribal tehsil Economy: market linkage Health: Chiranjivi Yojana, medical camps for anemia etc. Housing for all tribal families

Safe Drinking water Irrigation, watershed All weather roads (to habitats with population of 250 or more) 24/7 electricity Urban Development, broadband connectivity in tribal tehsils

(ST) Minor Forest produce

NAME	Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through MSP
WHO	Tribal ministry, 2013 via Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED)
WHAT?	Government announces Minimum support price (MSP) for 12 minor forest produce and herbal medicinal plants. Fund for infrastructure Development, knowledge base, market intelligence sharing.

List of Minor forest produce under this scheme

Tendu Bamboo Mahuwa Seed Sal Leaf

Sal Seed Lac Chironjee wild honey

myrobalan (Amla) Tamarind gums Karanj.

(OBC) JAT OBC status

• 2014: Jats were included in the central OBC list, thereby eligible for reservation in central government jobs and admissions.
• But keep in mind that OBC status depends on domicile.
• Therefore, only Jats domiciled in from following nine states are eligible: Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.
• National Commission for Backward Classes’ (NCBC) had advised government not to give them OBC status.

[Act 3] Physically challenged

There are many existing schemes & organization: ALIMCO, DDRS, DDRC, Jaipur foot etc. but as I explained earlier- cost benefit is bad. Still, if you want to check visit wp.me/p2tsJl-1JF

Adip (existing scheme)

WHO	Ministry of Social justice and Empowerment
WHAT?	Money for purchasing aids/devices for Physically challenged.
Budget-2014	Will give fund for modern/contemporary devices.

Visually challenged (VC): budget 2014

• India has world’s largest population of visually challenged people. More than 2 crores.
• Will setup 15 new braille presses, to meet demand of books for VC.
• Will modernize 10 existing presses.
• Currency notes with Braille like signs for easy identification.

Currency: Existing Shapes for blind

note	shape in the middle of left side
Rs.1000	Diamond
Rs.500	Round
Rs.100	Triangle
Rs.50	Square
Rs.20	Rectangle
Rs.10	No Shape
Rs.5	No Shape

Plastic Notes

• Current paper currency is printed on Cotton Fibre paper.
• RBI plans to introduce Polymer plastic notes of Rs.10
• Pilot testing will be done in five cities Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneswar– selected for their different climate conditions.
• Benefits: longer life span (5 years), difficult to counterfeit, stain proof, tear proof, cheaper to produce.
• Australia: first country to introduce plastic notes.
• Timeframe to introduce plastic notes: India (2015), UK (2016)

PH: New institutions (Budget 2014)

1. Universal inclusive design institution- for construction of disabled friendly building, public transport and civic amnesties.
2. National mental health rehabilitation institute.
3. Centre for disability sports.

WIPO’s Marrakesh Treaty

• Copyright doesn’t apply IF book is reproduced for visually challenged (VC) people i.e. in Braille language, audiobooks etc.
• Even permits cross-border exchange and translation of such books for the benefit of VC.
• BUT with conditions: only non-profit purpose, have to get license from national bodies.
• 2014: India signed and ratified this treaty.
• more details on WIPO: wp.me/p2tsJl-1gC

[Act 4] Elderly & social security

1. Existing Sarkaari Insurance schemes: wp.me/p2tsJl-1Dv. (I’ll cover Insurance FDI, PFRDA, NPS, Swavlamban etc under Chapter 5 financial intermediaries).
2. Social security, EPFO, ESIC, factories act etc: wp.me/p2tsJl-gs

Let’s directly move to:

Budget 2014: new announcements

Varishtha Pension BIMA Yojana	for those aged 60 and above Scheme validity only 1 year from 15th August 2014.
Unclaimed Money	Lot of money lying in PPF, Post office Savings- it belongs to senior citizens who did not give proper payment instructions before their death. Budget 2014 promised a committee on how to use this unclaimed money for welfare of other senior citizens.

EPFO reforms in Budget 2014

1. Promised Minimum Rs.1000 pension per month, to all subscribers.
2. All workers whose basic pay is upto Rs.15,000- they’ll have to compulsorily join EPS scheme.
3. Meaning they’ll have to contribute 12% of basic in provident fund and their employer will also have to contribute 12%.
4. Earlier this ceiling was 6500. Thus, now more workers will be covered in this social security net.
5. “Uniform Account Number” (UAN)- so you don’t have to open a new EPFO account every time you switch jobs.

[Act 5] Sports

Budget 2014 announcements

Training	Will setup National level sports academies across India. They’ll Will train potential champions from junior level 100 cr. For training our athletes for ASIAN and commonwealth games.
New institutions	Sports University at Manipur (100 cr) Centre for Disability sports. (location undecided)
J&K	indoor and outdoor sports stadiums (200cr.) It’ll help prevent extremists’ influence on youth.
Himalayan sports	Will host games to unique Himalayan sports; will Invite Nepal, Bhutan and hill states.

Related: PIN-2014: Sports, venues, mascots and awards: wp.me/p2tsJl-2Dz

[Act 6] Defense: One Rank One pension

• 2006: UPA government modified pension rules for defense services
• As a result, a serviceman retiring after 2006 would receive bigger pension than someone retired before 2006.
• Even if both were in same rank and had spent same number of years in service!
• Therefore, defense personnel were demanding “one rank one pension”.
• Both Interim budget and General budget 2014 made additional funding for this.

Defense: Budget 2014 announcements-some fodder for GS3.

Numbers not important

War memorial for defense forces at Princes park, Delhi	100 cr
Police memorial: Location yet to be decided	50 cr
Socio-economic Development of border villages	990 cr
Rail connectivity to border areas	1000 cr
Research fund. Money will be given to PSU, private companies and universities	100 cr
Marine police station, boats	150 cr
Internal security	3000 cr
Capital assets for defense	5000 cr

Related Topics (Click on the links)

1. PIN 2014: Defense related persons / terms in News.
2. Defense compilation for static information on various forces, missiles, weapons etc.

Appendix

Once in a while, UPSC asks “human geography” question about Tribe vs location.

Tribals: Andaman vs Nicobar

Andaman: Negrito Tribes	Nicobar: Mongoloid Tribes
Great Andamanese Onge Jarawa Sentinalese	Nicobarese Shompens

Primitive Tribal groups of India (75)

Government calls them “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs)” (2006 onwards)

Andhra Pradesh	Odisha
Bodo Gadaba Bondo Poroja Chenchu Dongria Khond Gutob Gadaba Khond Poroja Kolam Kondareddis Konda Savaras Kutia Khond Parengi Poroja Thoti	Birhor Bondo Didayi Dongria-Khond Juangs Kharias Kutia Kondh Lanjia Sauras Lodhas Mankidias Paudi Bhuyans Soura Chuktia Bhunjia
MP+Chattisgarh	Bihar+Jharkhand
Abujh Marias Baigas Bharias Hill Korbas Kamars Saharias Birhor	Asurs Birhor Birjia Hill Kharia Korwas Mal Paharia Parhaiyas Sauria Paharia Savar
Gujarat	Kerala
Kathodi Kotwalia Padhar Siddi Kolgha	Cholanaikayan Kadar Kattunayakan Kurumbas Koraga
Karnataka	UP+Uttaranchal
Jenu Kuruba Koraga	Buxas Rajis
Maharashtra	WB
Katkaria (Kathodia) Kolam Maria Gond	Birhor Lodhas Totos
Tamilnadu	Andaman Nicobar
Kattu Nayakans Kotas Kurumbas Irulas Paniyans Todas	Great Andamanese Jarawas Onges Sentinelese Shom Pens

Finally, states with only 1 Primitive tribal group each

Manipur	Marram Nagas
Rajasthan	Seharias
Tripura	Reangs