1) Mahila Samman Saving Certificate Scheme: The scheme offers deposit facility up to Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a tenor of 2 years. It offers fixed interest rate of 7.5 per cent.
- There are no tax benefits, but partial withdrawal is allowed in this scheme.
- This is a one-time scheme announced in Budget 2023 and will remain available for a two-year period i.e. up to March 2025.
2) Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme: Started in 2022, It provides for settlement of disputed tax, disputed interest, disputed penalty or disputed fees in relation to an assessment or reassessment order.
- The dispute is settled on payment of 100% of the disputed tax and 25% of the disputed penalty or interest or fee.
- The taxpayer is granted immunity from levy of interest, penalty and institution of any proceeding for prosecution for any offence under the Income-tax Act in respect of matters covered in the declaration.
- Disputes related to wealth, securities transaction, commodities transaction tax, and the equalisation levy are not covered under the scheme
- The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has settled tax disputes in more than 133,000 pleas made under the Vivad Se Vishwas scheme.
3) Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF): The government will set up UIDF of Rs 10,000 crore per year for creating infrastructure in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. The fund would be established through the use of priority sector lending shortfall. It will be managed by the National Housing Bank.
- Cities having a population between 50,000 and 1,00,000 are classified as tier-2 cities while those with a population of 20,000 to 50,000 are known as tier-3 cities.
4) National Digital Library: Ministry of Education under its National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology has initiated the National Digital Library (NDL) project to develop a framework of virtual repository of learning resources with a single-window search facility. It is being developed at IIT Kharagpur
- NDL is the Single Window Platform that collects and collates metadata from premier learning institutions in India and abroad, as well as other relevant sources.
- It makes quality learning resources available to all learners and has 1.7 Crore content from more than 160 sources, in over 200 languages.
5) PM-VIKAS: The newly-conceptualised Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman (PM-VIKAS) scheme in budget 2023-24, will enable the country’s artisans to improve the quality, scale, and reach of their products, integrating them with the Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSME) value chain
- Some of the primary factors of the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman are:
- Financial aid, Advanced skill training, Access to the latest technology, Integration into the MSMEs, Paperless payments, Wider reach and introduction to a global market
- The initiative has been taken by Ministry of Minority Affairs and will benefit around 60 castes which are recognised as Vishwakarma.
