Page 47 - NIS - English 01-15 September,2023

Union Cabinet decisions Nation

installment and up to Rs 2 lakh in the second
installment will be provided at a 5% concessional
interest rate. Subsequently, this scheme will
provide skill enhancement, toolkit incentives,
incentives for digital transactions, and marketing
support.
n The Vishwakarma Yojana will provide assistance
to artisans and craftspeople in rural and urban
areas across the country. In the first phase,
PM Vishwakarma will cover 18 traditional
occupations.

DECISION: Approval of the "PM-E Bus Seva"
scheme for augmenting city bus operations. The
total cost of the project will be Rs 57,613 crore.
In total, 10,000 new electric buses will be made
available.
IMPACT: These buses will be operated in 169
cities through a public-private partnership model.
The scheme will cover all capitals of the Union Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
Territories, the North Eastern Region, and hill in his address from the Red Fort
states, as well as cities with a population of 3 lakh on August 15, said that weavers,
or more. Priority will be given to cities where there goldsmiths, blacksmiths, laundry
is no well-organized bus service. This government
initiative is expected to create 45,000 to 55,000 workers, barbers, and many
direct job opportunities in these cities. families falling into this category
would be empowered through the
'Vishwakarma Yojana'
DECISION: Approval to seven projects of
the Ministry of Railways worth approximately
Rs 32,500 crore

IMPACT: The project will cover 35 districts in nine
states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha,
Jharkhand, and West Bengal. These projects will India programme An amount of Rs 14,903 crore
add 2,339 km to the existing network of Indian has been earmarked for this. The Digital India
Railways. Apart from this, 7.06 crore man-days programme was launched on July 1, 2015, to
of employment will be available to the people of provide digital services to the citizens. The
these states. This project will facilitate ease of programme has been a great success.
operations and reduce congestion. This will enable IMPACT: Under the project, 6.25 lakh IT professionals
necessary infrastructural development on the will be skilled as per the new technology. Also, 2.65
busiest sections of the Indian Railways. lakh people will be trained in the IT sector. Cyber-
n After capacity additions, these projects will carry awareness courses will be run for 12 crore-college
200 million metric tonnes of cargo per year. This students, and nine more supercomputers will be
will pave the way for transportation of various added under the National Supercomputer Mission.
commodities like foodgrains, fertilisers, coal, These announcements by the government will give
cement, fly ash, iron and finished steel, clinker, a boost to India's digital economy. Digital access to
crude oil, limestone, edible oil, etc. services will enable and help develop India's IT and
DECISION: Approval for expansion of the Digital electronics ecosystem.

New India Samachar September 1-15, 2023 45