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Stand-Up India scheme aims to promote entrepreneurship among the SC/ST and Women by facilitating bank loans - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 29, 2023
A video spreading the message that the government is offering women collateral-free loans of up to one crore under the Stand Up India scheme is gaining traction on social media platforms. In this article, let’s fact-check the assertion presented in the post.
Claim: Government is offering women collateral-free loans of up to one crore rupees under the Stand Up India scheme.
Fact: Stand-Up India scheme guidelines specify that banks are required to facilitate at least one borrower from the SC or ST community and at least one woman borrower per branch for establishing a greenfield enterprise. Though the loans offered under the scheme do not require collateral, the guidelines specify a mandatory margin ranging from 10% to 15% of the loan amount. Hence, the claim made in the post is PARTLY TRUE.
As claimed in the viral video, the government is reportedly offering women loans of up to one crore rupees under the Stand Up India scheme. However, the details provided in the video are incomplete. The scheme aims to promote entrepreneurship and is not exclusively designed for women; it also encourages entrepreneurship among Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities.
Stand-Up India Scheme:
In view to promote entrepreneurship among the SCs, STs, and Women, the union government in April 2016 launched the Stand Up India Scheme (SUPI). The scheme facilitates bank loans of value between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs.1 crore for setting up greenfield enterprises in manufacturing, services, the trading sector, and activities allied to agriculture.
While women entering entrepreneurship are eligible to apply for the loan, not all women applicants will probably secure the loan, as this is not a conventional loan; rather, it aims to promote entrepreneurship. It is explicitly stated in the scheme guidelines, specifying that ‘banks are required to facilitate at least one borrower from the Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST) and at least one woman borrower per branch for establishing a greenfield enterprise.’ This suggests that the branch has the discretion to choose beneficiaries based on factors such as project viability and other considerations.
The details provided by the government regarding loan disbursements corroborate this. As per the information, more than Rs. 40,700 crores were sanctioned to over 1,80,630 accounts under Stand-Up India Scheme in 7 years as of April 2023. State-specific information on beneficiaries under the scheme for each of the past five years is accessible here.
Mandatory Margin :
Additionally, even though the loans offered under the scheme do not require collateral, the guidelines specify a mandatory margin ranging from 10% to 15% of the loan amount. This means that the beneficiary is required to make an upfront down payment of 10-15% when obtaining the loan. All these loans will be secured under the CGSSI (Credit Guarantee Scheme for Stand-Up India Scheme), and the repayment period extends to 7 years, with a maximum moratorium period of 18 months.
The comprehensive guidelines regarding the execution of the scheme can be viewed here and here. Furthermore, the specific provisions adhered to by scheduled commercial banks, such as the State Bank of India, concerning the implementation of the scheme can be accessed here and here.
To sum it up, the stand-up India Scheme aims to promote entrepreneurship among the SCs/STs and Women by facilitating bank loans.

created: December 29, 2023


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Standing Committee calls to mitigate price& revise taxes on Petrol & Diesel
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 10, 2021
The Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (2020-21) studied ‘Price Rise of Essential Commodities – Causes & Effects’ recently and submitted a report. In the report, the committee called on the government among other things to mitigate the price rise & revise taxes on petrol & diesel.
The Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (2020-21) selected the subject ‘Price Rise of Essential Commodities – Causes & Effects’ for examination and report. Accordingly, the Committee took briefing and oral evidence of the representatives of the Department of Consumer Affairs in December 2020.
Essential commodities are vital and very essential in a way that they must reach everybody at affordable prices. To ensure adequate availability of all the essential commodities to the economically weaker families/people of the country at a fair price, under Article 246, entry no. 33 of the Concurrent List of Seventh Schedule (of the Constitution of India), the Parliament passed the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. There is no specific definition of essential commodities in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 (EC Act), but Section 2(A) of the Act states that an “essential commodity” means a commodity specified in the “Schedule” of this Act. The Act gives powers to the Central Government if it is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the public interest, to notify an item as essential, in consultation with the State Governments.
The Government enacted The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 in September 2020, which allows the central government to regulate the supply of certain food items only under extraordinary circumstances (such as war and famine). Stock limits may be imposed on agricultural produce only if there is a steep price rise.
List of Essential Commodities
The list of commodities included in the Schedule of Essential Commodities under the Essential Commodities Act (EC Act), 1955, are;
With respect to new additions to the above list, the committee enquired whether there are plans to include more items including Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) which directly impact the welfare or health of consumers, viz. packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, over-the-counter drugs, and other consumables. The Department of Consumer Affairs stated that no such plans are under consideration at present.
Price rise of Essential Commodities.
As per the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the causes of price rise of essential commodities include factors such as:
Increase in cost of cultivation: Increase in cost of cultivation for inputs like fertilizers, wages, etc. influences the prices of food articles.
Lack of technological breakthrough: The technological breakthrough for enhancing the productivity of pulses, oilseeds, and cereals in India has not advanced sufficiently. These are not the favoured crops due to high risk and fluctuations in production, giving rise to supply-side constraints.
Infrastructure and logistics constraints as factors for price rise: There is wastage of crops due to lack of awareness about proper storage, improper handling during their transportation, lack of awareness about proper methods of storage, etc. These factors are significant in influencing the prices of highly perishable items like fruits and vegetables. Also, an increase in fuel prices directly impacts transportation costs which add to the wholesale and retail prices of food products.
The Department of Consumer Affairs stated in a written note that because of the inherently perishable nature of the produce and short shelf life, around 30% of vegetables in the country perish during harvest, storage, grading, transport, packing and distribution. Further, there is wastage of vegetables along the supply chain due to poor post-harvest management and lack of cold chain and seasonality of vegetable production creates fluctuations in prices.
Adverse weather conditions and dependence on Monsoon: The Ministry also stated that with a limited area under irrigation, crops have become susceptible to the vagaries of Monsoon and adverse weather conditions like drought. The Indian farmers are dependent on the four-month Monsoon season during which 80% of the year’s total rainfall is received.
Apart from these general factors, the Ministry stated that hoarding by the traders is also a factor contributing to the price rise of essential commodities like pulses and onion.
In other words, several factors like a demand-supply mismatch, including due to adverse weather/rainfall induces shortages in the food supply, rising international prices, multiple tiers in the value-chain, increase in the cost of production, structural changes in demand patterns, etc. are factors affecting food inflation.
The report notes that the food inflation rate (%) spiralled upwards from 2019-20 onwards. The all-India food Inflation rate (%) for the year from 2015-16 to 2020-21 shows the following trend:
The all-India average retail prices of some of the essential food commodities in India are given in the following table:
In view of the adverse effects of food inflation, especially for relatively economically vulnerable sections, steps are taken by the Government from time to time to mitigate the price rise. The report elaborates on these measures.
Observations/Recommendations of the Committee
While the committee report makes a host of recommendations, some of the major ones are as follows:
List of Essential Commodities
At present, there are 7 (seven) commodities included in the Schedule of essential commodities under the Essential Commodities Act. The Committee noted that a proper mechanism may be evolved to periodically review the inclusion/deletion of commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 after due consultations with the concerned Departments and State Governments. The Committee also recommends that the Government may consider the inclusion of more consumables in the list of essential commodities, particularly those which directly affect the health of all consumers, and which are useful for village and town dwellers, and subsidize these products. Such items may also be included in the list of commodities monitored by the Price Monitoring Division (PMD), which may go a long way in improving the health and welfare of needy consumers at large.
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020
The Committee noted that although the country has become surplus in most agricultural commodities, farmers have been unable to get better prices due to lack of investment in cold storage, warehouses, processing, and export as entrepreneurs stated to be get discouraged by the regulatory mechanisms in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Committee also noted that, as recommended by the High-Powered Committee for Transformation of Indian Agriculture comprising the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, NITI Aayog, and the Chief Ministers there is a need to create an environment based on ease of doing business and for removing the fear of frequent statutory controls under the Essential Commodities Act in order to boost immediate investment in the agriculture sector, increase competition and enhance farmers’ income. The Committee expects that the recently enacted ‘The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020’ which was aimed at addressing these issues would resolve some of the issues. They, therefore, recommend the Government to implement the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 in letter and spirit, and without let or hindrances.
Noting further that foodstuffs such as potato, onions, and pulses are part of a common man’s daily diet and that lakhs of people who do not get the benefits of Public Distribution System (PDS) may suffer adversely in the aftermath of the implementation of the new Act, the Committee also desired the Government to continue to keep a constant watchful eye on the prices of all essential commodities and to resort to the remedial provisions provided in the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 when needed.
Safety standards of food items
The data provided by the government, however, revealed that while between the years 2016-17 and 2019-20, there was an increase in the number of food samples analysed from 78,340 to 1,18,775, the number of samples found non-conforming from 18325 to 29589, and the number of civil/criminal cases launched from 13080 to 27412, but the number of convictions actually fell from 1605 to 821 during the same period. The report argues that these trends undoubtedly indicate a slackening of efforts by FSSAI regarding enforcement work on food safety standards in the country. The committee, therefore, urged the Government to add vigour to existing efforts on testing and analysis of food items and ensure that there is no slackening of enforcement of food safety standards against the defaulting food business operators and stringent action is taken against them. Side by side, vigorous efforts should be made to ensure that all food business operators comply with the quality parameters of food items that are stored in godowns.
Increase in cost of cultivation as a factor for price rise
The Committee noted that an increase in the cost of cultivation for inputs, especially fertilizers, wages, etc., influences the prices of food articles. With the limited area under irrigation, crops have become susceptible to the vagaries of Monsoon and weather conditions like drought. The Committee recommends that the Government should make a comprehensive study of the impact thereof on the cost of farm produce through a panel of experts, professionals, academicians, etc. and then devise an effective action plan to address the problems associated with it.
Fluctuations in prices due to crop losses because of poor management
The Committee noted that around 30% of vegetables in the country perish during harvest, storage, grading, transport, packing and distribution. Further, there is wastage of vegetables along the supply chain due to poor post-harvest management and lack of cold chain and seasonality production creates fluctuations in prices. In this context, Committee noted that the Government has taken various steps to spread awareness about the proper use of storage and transportation techniques, and is organizing various training programmes and awareness campaigns under schemes like Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), etc. Other measures taken by the Government include awareness campaigns, advertisements, etc. in print and electronic media to raise awareness among the farmers, ‘Kisan Suvidha’ mobile application developed by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare to facilitate dissemination of information to farmers on critical parameters. The committee recommended that the Government should monitor the progress and success of these schemes through annual appraisal and also by calling evaluations from the concerned State Governments so that the present unsustainable level of vegetable wastages is brought down to the minimum.
Price rise in Oil and Gas sectors
The Committee suggested that the taxes levied on petroleum products, especially on petrol and diesel are on the higher side and need a revision after making an evaluation of the prevailing oil pricing regime existing in the country and also making a comparative assessment of the same with the systems prevailing in this regard in other countries.
Measures to stabilize food inflation
The Committee recommended that the Government should make concerted efforts to keep the food inflation rate in the country to the minimum by adopting policies and measures to tackle the supply-side constraints which have been causing an inflationary spurt in food items from time to time. They also recommend that the Government should take concrete steps to monitor all existing schemes and programmes aimed at augmenting the production of food crops. The Government should make efforts to popularize the use and application of proper and updated agro-management techniques through the provision of credit at concessional terms from financial institutions, banks, etc. to enable the farmers to achieve higher yields from their investment, thereby resulting in increased output of essential food items in the country in the long-run.
Featured Image: Price and Taxes on Petrol & Diesel

source: news-factly

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Standing Committee on Health rips apart the functioning of MCI - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 31, 2016
The Medical Council of India (MCI) has always been in the news for the wrong reasons. Now, the parliamentary standing committee on Health came down heavily on the functioning of MCI in its 92nd report and noted that the MCI has failed in all of its mandates.
The Medical Council of India (MCI) is a statutory body entrusted with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining high standards of medical education in India. The MCI has always been in the news for the wrong reasons. Now the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health in its 92 report came down heavily on various aspects of the functioning of MCI.
‘MCI has failed on all its mandates’
The department related standing committee on Health & Family Welfare looked into the functioning of the MCI in its latest report. The committee is chaired by Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav, a Rajya Sabha member from the Samajwadi party. The committee has 10 members from the Rajya Sabha and 21 members from the Lok Sabha.
In its scathing report, the standing committee felt that the MCI has repeatedly failed on all its mandates over the years. The committee noted the following as some of the prominent failures of MCI.
The committee also felt that the onus of failure has to be shared by successive governments both at the center and states also. The committee noted that the medical education is fast sliding downwards and quality has been hugely side-lined in the context of increasing commercialization of medical education and practice. The committee further noted that incremental tweaks won’t be enough and that a complete overhaul of the system is necessary. The committee observed that MCI is an opaque body with very little transparency.
‘Doctor – Population ratio should guide the setting up of new Medical Colleges’
The committee made a number of recommendations to overhaul the system. Some of the important recommendations of the committee are the following,


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Standing Committee on Home Affairs recommendations for migrants
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 22, 2021
The standing committee on Home Affairs recently submitted a report on the management of COVID-19 and related issues. Among other issues, the committee made a specific set of recommendations for safeguarding the interests of migrant workers including the creation of a national database.
The Standing Committee on Home Affairs submitted a report on ‘Management of COVID-19 and related issues’ in December 2020. The report broadly covers preparedness, improvement in health infrastructure, and the social and economic impact of the pandemic. It also makes a mention of the lessons learnt from this experience. This report was submitted about one month after the standing committee on Health released a report on the same issue.
Committee appreciated efforts of government, MoHFW, AIIMS and other institutions
The committee appreciated the government’s efforts in managing the pandemic and also the imposition of lockdown to delay the peak infections, mop up healthcare infrastructure, and the announcement of relief to the vulnerable under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana. It also appreciated the government’s efforts to bring back Indians stranded abroad. Appreciating the efforts of AIIMS, Health Ministry, and other institutions involved, the committee extended its gratitude towards the frontline healthcare workers and the Corona warriors who lost their lives while on duty. The committee also felt that there are some areas that governments should look into to ensure better preparedness in case of future pandemics
Disparity in public and private health facilities revealed by the pandemic
The committee appreciated the efforts put in by the central and state governments by overcoming the infrastructural hurdles and quickly responding to the situation by increasing testing capacity, availability of beds, testing centres, medical equipment, etc. The committee highlighted that the pandemic revealed the disparity in the health infrastructure in public and private facilities.  Private facilities are expensive and inaccessible for many.
The committee called on the government to allocate more funds and strengthen the public health infrastructure, which will also be useful to handle future pandemics. It also said that the availability of health infrastructure and development should be ensured in rural and remote areas. It was also observed that private facilities charged exorbitantly high rates for COVID-19 treatment and called for regulatory oversight on hospitals to ensure that insurance claims are not rejected blindly. In the long run, the committee felt that government should aim at making COVID-19 treatment cashless for those covered under insurance.
Data should be made available for research taking care of privacy concerns
Precise studies on test rate, recovery, and fatality rate are vital for discerning the pattern, opined the committee. It further added that the testing facilities were not uniform across states and arrangements should be made to ensure that adequate health infrastructure is available in all districts. This was emphasized in the report of the Committee on Health as well. Furthermore, the committee stated that relevant data should be made available for the research community to provide inputs for managing the pandemic. The data should be such that it adheres to data anonymization and privacy laws. The committee also recommended that an open and transparent data sharing mechanism should be put in place for the public, scientists, and health professionals to access which would help in strengthening pandemic control.
Over-pricing, black marketing and other malpractices should be monitored
Another concern raised by the committee is the sale of beds by private hospitals, black marketing, and overpricing of some medicines used for the treatment of the coronavirus infection. The committee noted that people should be made aware of the inexpensive and effective repurposed medicines so that they do not end up spending a lot of money on expensive drugs. Efforts should be made to ensure that quality medicines are available for all at a subsidized rate, especially during pandemics.
The committee highlighted the need to devise a comprehensive Public Health Act, preferably at the national level such that it helps to monitor and control private hospitals to curb malpractices. The Act should also keep a check on the black marketing of medicines and product standardization.
AYUSH medicines and treatment can also be considered for dealing with the pandemic
Further, it was also recommended to include other cost-effective medicines including AYUSH medicines. Even the health standing committee report emphasized using AYUSH medicine and treatment to fight the pandemic. Both the committees suggested that AYUSH has huge potential to prevent and treat the ongoing pandemic. Patients and common people were recommended to have herbs and spices as part of their diet and practice Yoga to boost immunity.
Emergency Use Authorization of vaccines should be given after due consideration
While the report was being drafted, no application was received for the grant of Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) of COVID-19 vaccines. The Health Ministry also informed the committee that as per the records, Central Drug Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) had not approved any vaccine in the past for emergency use authorization. The committee recommended that all mandatory requirements should be fulfilled and trials in all phases must be complete on a sufficient sample size. EUA should be given by the government only after due consideration and caution.
DGCI granted restricted use approval for indigenous Bharat BioTech Vaccine
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave restricted use approval for the indigenous Bharat Biotech & Serum Institute of India’s vaccine and phase III clinical trial approval for Cadila’s vaccine. The Indian vaccine was first tested successfully on mice, rats, rabbits, Syrian hamster, and non-human primates. Phase I and Phase II trials were carried out involving around 800 people and the results were positive. About 22,500 persons of 25,800 in phase III of trials got the vaccine and data proved that the vaccine was safe, according to the press release. Interim data of Cadila’s vaccine in Phase I/II trials covering about 1000 persons in India suggested that the vaccine was safe and immunogenic.
Epidemic diseases Act should be revisited since it is outdated
COVID-19 was declared a notified disaster in India so as to provide funds under State Disaster Response Fund. The National Disaster Management Act, 2005 was invoked by the centre to lay down uniform guidelines for the entire country. The National Disaster Management Authority is actively involved in fighting the pandemic. While lauding the efforts of the authority, the committee expressed that a separate wing may be formed under NDMA specialised in handling pandemics in the future.
The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 is outdated and was framed in a pre-colonial era even before the Spanish Flu which struck more than a century ago. The committee suggested that the Act be revised and updated so as to address challenges out of unprecedented events in the future. The committee noted that Disaster Management Act (NDMA), 2005 is meant for addressing natural disasters that occur every year and not meant for pandemics.
Committee made recommendations to safeguard migrant workers
According to the committee, the sudden imposition of lockdown resulted in an unprecedented disruption. The intra-state and inter-state movement of people and goods came to a standstill because of the lockdown. Further, the shutdown of economic activities resulted in severe social and economic consequences for migrant labourers, factory workers, and daily wage earners who were the most affected. The uncertainty resulting from the untimely dissemination of information about the arrangements made for food, shelter, and other facilities is what led the migrants to leave for their home states, as per the Committee. The halt in economic activities impacted the unorganized sector more than the rest. The committee made the following recommendations on this issue.
The committee noted that there should be proper implementation of the schemes and interventions of the government and the benefits should reach all. The Home Ministry told the committee that it would record the lessons learnt and best practices for reference in case of future pandemics.
Featured Image: Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Covid-19

created: January 22, 2021


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Who stands to benefit from Simultaneous Elections?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 31, 2018
Simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha & State Assemblies are being debated again with the Law Commission’s draft report. The available data on simultaneous does not indicate any definitive trend. But National Parties with momentum at the National level might gain from simultaneous elections.
As Factly reported earlier, various political parties have differing views about holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha & State Assemblies. The Law Commission of India has now put its draft report in the public domain on this subject. While recommending simultaneous elections, it has called for further discussion on the issue based on its draft report.
While the necessary consensus and constitutional amendments will take time, who stands to benefit if simultaneous elections were to be held? Does past election data suggest any trends?
Only Andhra Pradesh, Odisha & Sikkim had assembly elections along with the Lok Sabha election in 2004, 2009 and 2014. What do the past election results in these states suggest?
Andhra Pradesh
In the 2004 elections, the BJP as a junior partner had an alliance with TDP while the Congress was in alliance with TRS & the left parties. The Congress alliance’s vote share in the Lok Sabha elections was 2.16% more than its vote share in the Assembly. The BJP+TDP alliance lost more than 2% vote share when it came to the Lok Sabha election. The Congress won both the Assembly & Lok Sabha elections in 2004.
In 2009, the BJP & Congress contested alone while the regional parties like TDP & TRS were in alliance. Even in 2009, the Congress’s vote share in Lok Sabha elections was 2.4% more than its vote share in Assembly. For BJP, the Lok Sabha vote share was marginally more than its Assembly vote share. The regional parties lost more 3% vote share in the Lok Sabha elections compared to the Assembly elections. The Congress again won both the Assembly & Lok Sabha elections.
In 2014, the BJP was back in alliance with the TDP while Congress contested alone in the aftermath of the state bifurcation.  The BJP alliance’s vote share for Lok Sabha was 1.22% more than its vote share in the Assembly. The Congress’s vote share for Assembly & Lok Sabha was more or less the same. The TRS which won in Telangana had a slightly greater vote share in Lok Sabha compared to the assembly. The BJP alliance won both in residual Andhra Pradesh & Lok Sabha.
Odisha
In 2004, the BJP was in alliance with the BJD while the Congress contested alone. Both the BJP alliance & Congress gained close to 5% & 6% vote share respectively in the Lok Sabha elections compared to the Assembly. Independents & other smaller parties more than 10% vote share in the Lok Sabha. The BJP+BJD alliance won in the Assembly and majority of the Lok Sabha seats.
In 2009, the BJD & BJP contested separately. In these elections, both the Congress & BJP gained vote share in Lok Sabha compared to the Assembly. The Congress gained more than 3.5% while BJP gained around 1.8%. The BJD lost more than 1.6% vote share in Lok Sabha. The BJD won the Assembly as well as majority of the Lok Sabha seats.
In 2014, all the three parties,  BJD, BJP & Congress gained vote share in Lok Sabha compared to Assembly. But the greatest gain was by the BJP (3.8%) followed by BJD (1.42%). Congress gained only 0.67%. The BJD won both the Assembly & majority of the Lok Sabha seats.
In Arunachal Pradesh & Sikkim
Simultaneous elections were held in Arunachal Pradesh only in 2014. The Congress lost close to 8% vote share in Lok Sabha elections while the BJP gained more than 15% vote share in the Lok Sabha. Both Congress & BJP won one seat each in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections here.
In Sikkim, both the Congress & BJP have marginally increased their vote share in Lok Sabha elections in each of the elections in 2004, 2009 & 2014. The strong regional party SDF’s vote share in Lok Sabha was only slightly less than the Assembly in 2004, 2009 as well as 2014.
What does the data indicate?
It has to be noted that many local factors including strong regional party leaders with an appeal, presence of other smaller parties,alliances etc. could impact the outcome of simultaneous elections, in addition to the national issues. While the available data does not point any definitive trend, certain things emerge.


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Startup India – 75 Startups received Rs 337 crore in funding till date - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 21, 2017
Against the plan of providing Rs 2500 crore every year for startup funding, government has released Rs 600 crore in two years. Till date, 75 startups have received a funding of Rs 337 crore under the Startup India initiative.
The action plan for Government of India’s flagship initiative, Startup India, was announced in January 2016. Among other things, the action plan outlines setting up of a fund for providing funding support to startups. The fund was to be set up with an initial corpus of Rs 2,500 crore and a total corpus of Rs 10,000 crore over a period 4 years (i.e. Rs 2,500 crore per year). But the information shared by the government in the Rajya Sabha reveals that only Rs 600 crore has been released by the government so far for this purpose.
The Startup India Initiative
The initiative was launched with a view to build a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and startups in the country. The initiative aims to empower startups to grow through innovation and design.
A startup is defined as the one that
Once the startup registers on the portal, it is granted recognition based on the information submitted and other eligibility criteria. Recognized startups will be eligible for a host of benefits like
What is the current status?
As per information shared by the government in the Rajya Sabha, following is the current status of various plans under the Startup India initiative as of 1 December 2017.
Number of recognized Startups: Government mentioned that 5350 startups have been recognized till 01 December 2017. The number has now increased to more than 5800. The government also mentioned that at least 40000 people are employed in these recognized startups.
Funding Support: The government’s idea for funding was to be in the nature of Fund of Funds, which means that it will not invest directly into Startups, but shall participate in the capital of SEBI registered Venture Funds. Under the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS),
The amount released by the government (Rs 600 crore in 2 years) and subsequent funding to startups is a far cry from the government’s initial commitment of Rs 2500 crore every year.  Even the 2017-18 budget has a meagre allocation of Rs 10 crore for Startup India and an allocation of Rs 1 lakh for FFS.
Other Benefits: Government data shows that the following other benefits have been availed by the startups.
The information shared by the government also mentioned that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) spent Rs 2.7 crore in 2015-16, Rs 4.8 crore 2016-17 and Rs 13.2 crore in 2017-18 on the initiative.

created: December 21, 2017


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Startup India Status Report
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 8, 2016
The Startup India initiative was launched earlier this year to encourage and extend incentives to startups. As on date, more than 100 entities have been recognized as startups and 12 are found to be eligible for tax benefits.
The Startup India initiative was launched earlier this year to encourage startups in the country by extending various incentives. The Startup India status report was released recently which contained the progress made on various fronts. According to the status report, a total of 571 applications have been received out of which only 12 were found eligible for tax benefits.
12290 Queries resolved by the Startup Hub
Startup India Hub was operationalised on 1 April 2016 to resolve queries and provide handholding support to Startups. According to the latest status report, the hub has been able to resolve 12,290 queries received from Startups through telephone, email and Twitter. Startups who wish to seek clarifications on the recognition as a startup, certificate of eligibility to avail tax benefits, information on incubators, funding etc can get in touch with the hub on the toll-free number 1800115565 or email: id dipp‐startups@nic.in.
Only 12 applications eligible out of 571 for tax benefits
As per the status report, 571 applications have been received for recognition as a startup out of which only 106 had the required documents. Out of the total applications received, only 12 applications could be considered for tax benefits as only they have been incorporated after 1 April 2016. Out of the 12, seven have submitted all the required documents. A large rejection rate indicates lack of awareness of the criteria.
Though more than 100 entities have been recognized as a startup by the DIPP, not all of them would be eligible for tax benefits since tax benefits are extended to those entities incorporated after April 1, 2016. The entities recognized as startups will be eligible for other benefits as listed in the Startup India action plan.
Incubators can charge up to a maximum of Rs 10000 for recommendation letter
As per the norms, Startups are required to submit a letter of recommendation from a recognized incubator while applying for recognition. The status report now makes it clear that a maximum fee of Rs 5,000 can be charged by the incubators for providing LoR to Startups. In cases where external experts are required to assess the innovativeness of the startup, a maximum fee of Rs 10,000 can be charged by the incubators.
More incubators will be recognized
A process for recognition of incubators has also been launched. The incubators have to apply to get recognized by the Government. Only the recognized incubators can provide a letter of recommendation to the startups.
A panel of facilitators has been constituted for providing assistance and support in filing applications for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), where the DIPP would bear the cost of filing. The detailed information on IPR facilitation is also on the startup India website.
Startups falling under the list of 36 “white” category industries have been exempted from all the applicable compliances under the three different Environment Laws.


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State Governments start setting up Special Courts to fast track pending cases against sitting MPs/MLAs
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 3, 2018
Following the directions of the Supreme Court in December 2017, State Governments have started setting up special courts to fast track pending criminal cases against sitting MPs/MLAs.
In compliance of the Supreme Court’s direction to set up special courts to fast track pending cases against sitting MPs/MLAs, several state governments have started notifying special courts. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had designated the court in Bhopal as the special court for this purpose while the Government of Telangana also setup a special court in Hyderabad for this purpose.
Fast tracking cases against sitting MPs/MLAs
The issue of fast tracking pending criminal cases against sitting MPs/MLAs has been a longstanding demand of the civil society. The Supreme Court while hearing a case in (Writ Petition (Civil) 536/2011) had in March 2014 directed that the trial in pending cases against MPs/MLAs, where charges have been framed for offences specified in Sections 8(1), 8(2) and 8(3) of the Representation of People’s Act, be concluded within an year from the date of framing the charges.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had also sent an advisory to all the states in June 2014 reiterating the court’s comments and directing them to take certain steps like identifying all such cases, appointment of special prosecutors, review of cases at regular intervals, constitution of a district level co-ordination committee among other things.
Fresh Directions of the Supreme Court in December 2017
In another case (Writ Petition (Civil) 699/2016), the Supreme Court passed an order on 14 December 2017, directing that state governments setup special courts to fast track all pending cases against sitting MPs/MLAs by 01 March 2018.The High Courts of respective states have been directed to trace out the case records of all such pending cases and transfer the same to the special courts that are being setup.
Supreme Court asks for additional information from the Government on such cases
The Supreme Court has asked the Government of India to furnish the following additional information by February 2018.
The government had assured the court that the information would be submitted within 2 months. The next hearing of the case is due on 07 March 2018.
Glimmer of hope before 2019 elections
The central government has also allocated Rs 7.8 crore for setting up of 12 special courts for this purpose. Once the special courts start functioning, one hopes that all such pending cases against sitting MPs/MLAs will be decided before the 2019 elections.


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Which state was under President’s rule most number of times?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 21, 2018
According to a RTI response from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), President’s rule was imposed maximum number of times in Uttar Pradesh (10 times) while President’s rule was in vogue for maximum number of days in Punjab (more than 3000 days). Congress was in power at the center when President’s rule was imposed 84 times, which is more than 73% of all the occasions.
When President’s rule was imposed in Uttarakhand in March 2016, it became the 115 instance of imposition of President’s rule since 1950. As per response of the MHA to a RTI application by Factly, President’s rule was imposed most number of times (10 times) in Uttar Pradesh.
President’s rule was imposed at least once in 27 of the 29 states
President’s rule was imposed at least once in 27 of the 29 states in the country. Except in Chhattisgarh and Telangana, President’s rule was imposed at some point in the rest of the 27 states. Uttar Pradesh leads the charts where President’s rule was imposed 10 times followed by Bihar where it was imposed 9 times. In Kerala, Manipur, Orissa and Punjab, President’s rule was imposed 8 times each. In both Gujarat and Karnataka, it was imposed five times each. Uttarakhand, Mizoram & Arunachal Pradesh are the only states where President’s rule was imposed only once. In both Uttarakhand & Arunachal Pradesh, President’s rule was imposed in 2016.
Punjab was under President’s rule for close to 10 years effectively
In terms of the absolute number of days, Punjab was under President’s rule for 3510 days, which is about 10 years. Much of this was in the 80s during the height of militancy in Punjab. In fact, Punjab was under President’s rule for 5 continuous years from 1987 to 1992. Second is Jammu & Kashmir with 2061 days (close to 6 years); much of this in one continuous stretch between 1990 and 1996. In fact, these are the only two occasions when the President’s rule went beyond the constitutionally stipulated maximum of 3 years and a mention to this extent is also made in the constitution.
Uttar Pradesh was under President’s rule for 1700 days followed by Nagaland for 1545 days. Kerala was under President’s rule for 1515 days. Ten states were under the President’s rule for more than 1000 days each. Only Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh were under President’s rule for less than 100 days each.
President’s rule was imposed 84 times when a Congress led government was in power
Out of the 115 times when President’s rule was imposed, Congress or a Congress led alliance was in power at the center 84 times. This is more than 73% of the times when President’s rule was imposed in the country. The Janata alliance was in power when President’s rule was imposed 16 times. Interestingly, the Janata alliance was in power only for 2 years between 1977 and 1979, but recommended president’s rule 16 times. BJP or a BJP led alliance recommended President’s rule 7 times followed the National Front Alliance that recommended President’s rule 6 times. The United Front alliance (1996 to 1998) recommended President’s rule only twice during its two year tenure.
This is the second part of a two part series on imposition of President’s Rule in India. In the first part, the number of times President’s rule was imposed and its use since 1950 was analyzed.


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State Tableaux @ Republic Day Parade
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 10, 2018


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State Vat on Petrol & Diesel
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 11, 2017

created: September 11, 2017


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State Wise Number of Communal Incidents in India
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 5, 2018


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Statements made on NRC : A Fact-Check
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 31, 2019
The Prime Minister made some statements on NRC in a rally he addressed on 22 December. Here is a fact-check on some of his statements.
Addressinga rally in Ram Leela Maidan on 22 December 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modistated that there has been no discussion on NRC in his government’s tenure atthe centre.
Mediaand many from the civil society were quick to point out the mention of NRC byAmit Shah and other cabinet ministers on various forums. This is one ofstatements of the Prime Minister which contradicts the statements made by himand his government earlier.  Not onlyhim, various political parties and their leaders across the political spectrum havechanged their stand vis-à-vis CAA & NRC as noted in one of our earlier
stories.  In this story,we fact check the various claims made about NRC & CAA by the Prime Minister& others.
Claim
1 : No discussion in the Government regarding NRC
Duringthe speech at Ram Leela Maidan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that , therehas been no discussion in his government about NRC since he took over in 2014. Hefurther goes onto say that the NRC in Assam was implemented as per thedirection of Supreme Court.  Here is the video link to this part of the speech.
In spite of the claim that his government has not discussed anything relating to NRC , there have been multiple instances where members of his government as well as Bharatiya Janata party have alluded to NRC.
a. The question of a nationwide NRC was asked multiple times in parliament. In their response, the government has been non-committal of carrying out NRC across the country.
However,Union Home Minister Amit Shah, told the Rajya Sabha on 20 November 2019 thatNRC would be carried across pan-India. The Bharatiya Janata Party on its officialTwitter handle  tweeted his statement made in the Rajya Sabha.
b. Furthermore, addressing an election rally in Jharkhand ahead of the second phase of State elections, Amit Shah stated that NRC would be implemented to remove all the infiltrators from the country and this would be done prior to 2024 General elections. Here is a video link to that part of speech at the election rally.
c. TheBJP also tweeted on 11 April 2019, an excerpt from Amit Shah’s speech , which stated that NRCwould be implemented in the entire country. The tweet further states that allthe infiltrators except for Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists would be removed fromthe country. This tweet is deleted from their twitter account. Factly was ableto retrieved it from the web
archives.
TheBJP’s manifesto for 2019 elections, states that NRC would be implemented in a phased manner inother parts of the country. This is stated under the head ‘CombatingInfiltration’ on Page 11 of the manifesto.
BJP’sworking president JP Nadda has on 19 December 2019 stated
that Citizenship Law will be implemented as well as NRCwould be brought in. He made this statement at an event where he met refugeesfrom Afghanistan.  Here is a video
link to that statement.
Hence,there have been multiple instances where in BJP officially and the cabinetministers referred to the implementation of NRC across the country. PM’s claimthat NRC was not discussed by his government also does not stand true sinceHome Minister Amit Shah has gone on record in Rajya Sabha saying that anationwide NRC would be implemented. To conclude, the PM’s statement that NRCwas never discussed by his government is misleading.
Claim: NRC was never discussed by his government since I took over as PM in 2014 – PM Narendra Modi
Fact: On multiple occasions, BJP leaders as well as Cabinet Ministers referred to a nationwide NRC. Hence, the claim of PM Narendra Modi is Misleading.
Claim
2: There are no detention centres
Multipletimes during his speech on 22 December 2019, PM Narendra Modi claimed thatthere were no detention centres and that this is a lie which is beingpropagated by the opposition, specifically Indian National Congress.  Here is the video link to the statementgiven by Narendra Modi.
Furthermore,in an interview
to ANI, Amit Shah states that they have not created any newdetention centers under the their government.
On27November 2019, Dr. Santanu Sen asked a question in Rajya Sabha aboutthe lack of facilities in detention centres.
Respondingto this question, the government stated that as per the information provided by State Government of Assam, there are 6Detention Centres in Assam as on 22 November 2019 and that 988 foreigners arelodged in them.
Thisis contrary to the PM’s statement that there are no detention centres in thecountry.
EvenAmit Shah’s statement that there are no new detention centres, doesn’t matchwith the answers provided by the government in parliament. These answers providea completely different picture.
Answeringa question in Lok Sabha on 10 March 2015, the government stated
that the State of Assam has set up 3 detentions centres.
However,as seen in the answer on 27 November 2019 there are 6 detention centres,implying that new detention centres have come up after 2015.
Furthermore,responding to another
question in Rajya Sabha on 11 December 2019, it was stated thatthe Government has approved a new detention centres at Matia, Goalpara, Assamat an estimated cost of Rs. 46.51 crores.
Answering another
question in Rajya Sabha on 24 July 2019, the government statedthat a ‘Model Detention Centre Manual’ is circulated by the Central governmentto all the States & UTs which provides a formal procedure for setting up ofdetention/holding centres.
Further,there have been news reports of detention centres being built in various partsof the countries.  As per few of these news
reports, CIDCO ( City and Industrial DevelopmentCorporation), received a request from Maharashtra’s government.
Thereis also latest
news that the current Chief Minister of Maharashtra,Uddhav Thackeray scrapped the decision made by the earlier government to builda detention centre. The latest statement would imply that the work towards buildinga detention centre was initiated.
Meanwhile,there have been media reports that the government of Karnataka recently  opened the first detention centre for illegal immigrants, near Bengaluru. The HomeMinister of Karnataka has earlier
in October 2019 confirmed the building of detention centres forillegal immigrants.
However,recently the Home minister of Karnataka, stated
that the detention centre would only be used for illegalimmigrants who are accused of crimes.
Toconclude,the statement made by Prime Minister that there are nodetention centres in India as well as the statement made by Amit Shah thatthere are no new detention centres being built is False, as the answersof the government in both the houses provide information not only of theexistence of detention centres but also of the plans to build new ones.
Claim: There are no detention centers in India – PM Narendra Modi.
Fact: The answers of the government in both the houses of parliament provide information not only of the existence of detention centres but also of the plans to build new ones. Hence, the claim of PM Narendra Modi is False.
Claim
3: Dr. Manmohan Singh has earlier supported CAB
BJP’sworking president JP Nadda, also a member of Rajya Sabha, speaking on
CAB in Rajya Sabha stated that Dr. Manmohan Singh hassupported Citizen Amendment Bill earlier.
JPNadda made the statement in reference to what Dr. Manmohan Singh spoke in theparliament on 18 December 2003. Based on this, JP Nadda asked Congress not tochange its earlier stand on CAB because they are now in opposition and requestedthem to support the CAB.  Here is the video
link of what Dr. Manmohan Singh said in 2003.
Thisvideo has been shared on various social media platforms as well on mainstreammedia.
The verbatim statement of Dr. Manmohan Singh is in the screenshot below.
Thisis part
of a speech by Dr. Singh during the debate in Rajya Sabha onCitizenship Amendment Bill, 2003. The 2003 bill varies from that of CitizenAmendment Bill -2019 in multiple aspects.
The Citizen
Amendment Bill -2003, introduced some changes to the Citizenship act of 1955.Through this amendment , ‘illegal migrant’ was determined as any foreigner whohas entered India without any valid passport or travel documents or anyone whohas entered in India with a valid passport or travel documents but has stayedbeyond the permitted time period.
Thamendment also defined ‘Overseas Citizen of India’, as any person of a foreigncountry of India origin or who was an Indian citizen immediately prior tobecoming a citizen of other country.
Theact further modified the provisions for ‘Citizenship by Birth’ as under
Itwas during the discussion of this bill in Parliament, that Dr. Manmohan Singhhas requested the government to even look into the case of refugees who arepersecuted minorities and have come from Bangladesh.
Here,Dr. Manmohan Singh while referring to persecuted minorities may inherently referto non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh but does not make any specific referenceto religions.
Furthermore,it was spoken in context of CAB-2003 which has different provisions compared tothat of CAB-2019.
CAB-2019,is primarily about granting citizenship to persecuted minorities from thecountries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and belonging to any of thesix (Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Parsi) religiouscommunities.
Dr.Manmohan Singh also does not specifically talk about any changes to the processinvolved in granting citizenship to these refuges, but asks the government ofthe day to be more liberal in granting citizenship to these refugees. The viewsexpressed in that discussion are not directly related to CAB-2019. At the sametime, Dr. Singh did talk about a liberal approach while granting citizenship topersecuted minorities.
Toconclude, Dr. Manmohan Singh did speak about the refugees & persecutedminorities in 2003. He was advocating a more liberal approach to granting themcitizenship. He does not talk about specific religions and refers to Bangladeshas an example. Hence to say that Dr. Manmohan Singh supported CAA likeprovisions in 2003 are not entirely true. Hence this claim is only Partly
True.
Claim: Dr. Manmohan Singh supported CAA like provisions in 2003 –  BJP working president J P Nadda.
Fact: Dr. Manmohan Singh did speak about the refugees & persecuted minorities in 2003. He was advocating a more liberal approach to granting them citizenship. He does not talk about specific religions and refers to Bangladesh as an example. Hence to say that Dr. Manmohan Singh supported CAA like provisions in 2003 are not entirely true. Hence this claim is only Partly True.

created: December 31, 2019


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Data: States borrow 50% more through SDLs in the first four months of 2020-21 compared to 2019-20
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 12, 2020
COVID-19 has put severe stress on the economy of the country affecting the tax revenues of both the centre & the states. Data from the RBI indicates that the states have borrowed 50% more amount through State Development Loans (SDLs) in the first four months of 2020-21 compared to the same period in 2019-20.
As part of its 5th tranche of announcements of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat Package’, the Government of India has decided to allow the states to increase their borrowing limit from 3% to 5% of GSDP. This would allow states to go for external borrowings to generate additional resources at a time when the economy is going through a crisis.
The lockdown imposed across the country due to COVID-19, and extended lockdowns in few of the States due to higher prevalence of COVID-19 have had a negative impact on the economy. The revenue sources of not only the Centre but also that of the states have been severely affected. Similar to the Centre, each of the states have their own budgeted expenses which they plan to meet through the various sources of revenues. Lesser revenue generation would mean that the states would not be able to finance their planed expenditure and implement various schemes.
The states try to bridge this deficit by seeking loans and other financing options from external sources. However, there is a statutory limit on the extent to which the states can borrow to ensure fiscal stability. The decision of the central government to extend this statutory limit to 5% of GSDP, provides the states more room to raise funds during this pandemic.
States compensate a major portion of Fiscal Deficit through Market Borrowings
One of the key targets of FRBM Act (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003) was to limit the Fiscal deficit of the states to 3% of GSDP. In an earlier article, we have observed that the GFD (Gross Fiscal Deficit) as proportion of GSDP varied for different states in terms of meeting the limit set by FRBM Act.
In another story, we noted that there is a fall in GST revenues of the States, which form a major source of State revenues. This puts further pressure on the already strained State budgets which are already suffering from fall in State’s Own Tax Revenue (SOTR).
An analysis of Financing of this deficit (GFD) by the states as per the actual accounts submitted for 2017-18, indicate that around 84% of the GFD of the states is financed by Market Borrowings. The budget estimates for 2019-20, peg the share of Market borrowings at 87.9% of the total financing for GFD.
SDLs enable states to raise funds through Market borrowings to fill the gap
National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) and Central Government loans were the major options for state governments to seek the funds for deficit financing. In accordance with the recommendations of the 14 Finance commission, the government of India has approved discontinuation of states seeking loans through the high-cost NSSF. This has encouraged the states to rely on State development loans (SDLs) as major source of funds for deficit financing.
What are SDLs? How do States raise the required funds through the SDLs?
State Development Loans (SDL) are debt issues by the state governments to fund their fiscal deficit. The issue of SDLs is managed by the RBI. It also takes up the responsibility of ensuring the SDLs are serviced by monitoring escrow accounts for payment of interest and principal. SDLs encourage the states to have a better fiscal strength, since the higher the Fiscal strength of a state, the lesser the interest rate/yield that it has to pay.
SDL offers two main advantages which encourage investors to invest in them and help the state governments to raise the required market borrowings to meet the budgetary requirements.
Most of the investors of SDLs are Commercial banks, Insurance companies etc. who are looking for a higher yield on investment.  Since 2014, the government has also allowed Foreign investments in SDLs.
Auction and Trading of SDLs
The auction of SDLs is held fortnightly by the RBI. In each auction, a fresh set of 10-year bonds are issued (few states issue bonds which have lesser tenure ). Various institutions participate in the bidding process and bid for the respective state bonds which are available in the auction.
The maturity and the bond yield play a key role in the choice of state bond that the investors are likely to bid for. The bidding process is facilitated through RBI’s Core Banking Solution System (E-Kuber). The securities are issued at a minimum nominal amount of ₹ 10,000 and further in multiples of ₹10,000. RBI determines the maximum yield/minimum price limits at which the yields are accepted. The results are announced by RBI as per a pre-determined date.
SDLs qualify as approved SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) security under Section 24 of Banking Regulation Act, 1949. SDLs can be traded electronically on NDS-OM (Negotiated Dealing System- Order Matching) , similar to that of Government Bond Market.
Nearly 50 % increase in borrowings through SDLs in 2020-21 so far
As discussed earlier, there is a severe strain on the finances of the various state governments because of COVID-19. Trends of recent years suggest an increase in the preference of the states to go for SDLs.
The need of the states for higher market borrowings is evident through the increase in funds raised through SDLs in the current financial year of 2020-21 (until the first week of August 2020), compared to the same period last year.
For the period April-August’2020, a total of ₹ 2.15 lakh crores was raised through SDLs by various states. During the same period last year (2019-20), the total amount raised until first week of August was around ₹ 1.45 lakhs crores. What it means is that the states have raised close to 50% more amount through SDLs in the first four months of 2020-21 compared to the first four months of 2019-20.
In the current financial year i.e. 2020-21, the highest amount was raised in April 2020 with around ₹ 55 thousand crores. In the subsequent three months i.e. May-July, the amount raised was around ₹ 44-45 thousand crores raised in each of the months. During the first auction of August 2020, an amount of around ₹ 12 thousand crores was raised by states.
When compared to 2019-20, except for July, the monthly amount raised via SDLs has been higher in the current year, 2020-21. The difference been more significant for the months of April 2020 and May 2020, when there was a near complete lockdown.
In the next part of this story, we explore debt situation of the states in detail by looking at the trends in market borrowings through SDLs over the years including the share of SDLs in their respective GSDP, the overall debt situation of the states etc.


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This State has the greatest length of National Highways & Railway Route
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 14, 2017
The length of National Highways has increased by 69% between 2003-04 and 2015-16 with the length doubling in seven states during this period . On the other hand, the total length of railway route in the country increased by a mere 5% during the same period.
New Railway lines & National Highways have always been the most important talking points during any budget. Past data indicates that some states benefited more than the others. In the 13 years between 2003-04 and 2015-16, the length of national highways has increased by 69% while the length of railway route has only increased by 5%.
12 States have more than 3000 Kms each of National Highways
In 2003-04, the total length of national highways in the country was 58115 Kms. The total length increased to 97991 Kms by the end of 2015-16 and is currently more than one lakh kilometres. By the end of 2015-16, twelve (12) states have more than 3000 Kms each of national highways. By the end of 2015-16, Uttar Pradesh has the greatest length of national highways with 8483 Kms, the only state with more than 8000 Kms of national highways. Two other states (Maharashtra & Rajasthan) had more than 7000 Kms each of national highways. The top 10 states in terms of the length of national highways accounted for more than 60% of the total length of national highways in the country.Length of National Highways doubled in 7 States
Between 2003-04 and 2015-16, the length of national highways more than doubled in seven states. Arunachal Pradesh saw the greatest increase of more than 500% during this period followed by Sikkim (398%). Of the bigger states, the increase in the length of national highways was less than 40% in Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu & Assam.Route Length increased by only 5% in 13 years
The Railway Route kilometres is different from the track length. Route Kilometre is the distance between two points on the Railway irrespective of the number of lines connecting them, whether single line, double line etc. On the other hand, track length is the length of all running tracks.
The total route length in the railways has increased by only 13000 Kms since independence and by only about 3000 Kms between 2003-04 and 2015-16. This is an increase of mere 5% 13 years. Only Uttar Pradesh has a route length of more than 8000 Kms of all the states. Only three other states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra & Gujarat have a route length of more than 5000 Kms. Andhra Pradesh also had a route length of more than 5000 Kms before the bifurcation of the state.  Of the bigger states, Kerala has a route length of only 1050 Kms, the lowest of such states. In fact, Kerala & Telangana are the only two states with a railway route length of less than 2000 Kms even with a population of more than 3 crore people. Telangana is the 12th largest in terms of geographical area. Except Assam, the other North-Eastern states together have a route length of only 179 Kms as of 2015-16. Tripura alone accounted for 151 Kms of the 179 Kms. Sikkim & Meghalaya do not have a railway route.
Featured Image: Length of National Highways & Railway routes

created: October 14, 2017


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Statistical Highlights of the Bihar 2015 Assembly Elections – Part 1 - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 10, 2015
The high voltage Bihar assembly elections of 2015 finally came to an end with the Grand Alliance registering an emphatic win. They won by more than 2/3rd majority in the house. Even the Congress party made impressive gains. The NDA tally could not cross the 60 mark as both the BJP and its alliance partners fared poorly. In a two part series, we look at some of the important statistical highlights of the 2015 Bihar assembly election results.
The results of the 2015 assembly elections in Bihar surprised many, largely because of the scale of the victory of the Grand Alliance (GA). Most opinion & exit polls predicted a neck to neck fight with some giving NDA the edge and others rooting for GA. But behind this massive victory of the GA, there are some interesting numbers. Here is a two part series exploring some of the highlights from these elections.
Vote Share
In terms of the vote share, the BJP got the highest share of 24.4%, while it must be mentioned that BJP also contested in the highest number of seats. If one takes into account the vote share per seat contested, the RJD leads the pack followed by JD(U) and the Congress; BJP came a distant fourth. One of the reasons for the NDA’s loss is BJP’s loss of more than 5% vote share compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha election. As a group, the NDA lost more than 5% of the vote share compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha election. On the other hand, the GA had lost more than 3% of their collective vote share compared to 2014 Lok Sabha election. While 3% loss is substantial, it must be noted that the GA contested separately in 2014 and to their credit, they were able to hold onto their vote share despite contesting a lesser number of seats. JD(U)’s turnaround is quite remarkable so much so that they improved their vote share compared to 2014 despite contesting in less than half the number of seats.
Strike Rate
Strike Rate of a party is defined as the number of seats won to the number of seats contested. In the 2010 Bihar Assembly Election, the BJP had the best strike rate of close to 90%, winning every 9 out of 10 seats it contested. The BJP even had a better strike rate than the JD(U) in 2010. The RJD and the Congress had dismal strike rates of 13.1% and 1.6% respectively. In 2015, the situation was quite a contrast. The RJD had the best strike rate of close to 80% of all the parties, followed by JD(U) with 70%. Even Congress had a strike rate of 66%, up from a mere 1.6% in 2010. On the other hand, BJP’s strike rate went down to 34%. The NDA allies (LJP, RLSP & HAM) had a single digit strike rate. The GA’s strike rate was 3 times that of the NDA.
Performance in Reserved & General Seats
It was expected that the NDA would do well in the reserved seats with the likes of both LJP & HAM in its fold. Bihar has a total of 38 seats reserved for SCs and 2 for the STs. The NDA’s performance in the reserved seats was actually worse than its performance in the general seats. Out of the 38 it contested, the NDA could win only 7 SC reserved seats. The Grand Alliance, on the other hand won in 29 of the 38 seats reserved seats for SCs. Both the ST reserved seats were won by the Grand Alliance. The LJP contested in 9 SC reserved seats and could not win in a single seat.
In fact, the NDA’s vote share in reserved seats was less than its vote share in general seats. For the GA, its share in SC reserved seats was 2% more than its vote share in general seats.

created: November 10, 2015


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The Story of the RTI application about IPOs
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 17, 2016
Here is a story about one of the RTI applications we filed with the Department of Posts. We found that common sense could have saved the government both money & resources.
In an effort to bring out various facts & information into the public domain, we often use Right to Information (RTI) at Factly. Recently, we filed an application under RTI with the Department of Posts, Government of India seeking information on numbers related to the Indian Postal Order (IPO). What followed provided great insights into how government departments waste public money without batting an eyelid. It also exposed the poor data management in the department.
Background
Indian Postal Orders (IPOs) provide a convenient means of transmitting small sums of money by post. They come in various denominations starting from Re 1. While the use of IPOs in normal course has come down in the last decade or so, they are being used in filing applications under the RTI act. The IPO is a valid mode of payment for both the application fee and the additional fee under the RTI act. Apart from the Central Government, many State Governments also accept IPO as a valid mode of payment. In 2013, Department of Posts launched the e-IPO facility for Indian Citizens living abroad. This has been extended to those living in India in 2014.  Arguably, IPO is the easiest & the preferred mode of payment of RTI fee for most citizens.
Our motivation in filing a RTI application on IPOs was to understand if demand for IPOs has increased after the RTI act came into force in 2005 and also to validate the claim that there is a shortage of IPOs. Many newspapers reported shortage of IPOs in post offices leading to citizens facing hardships in filing RTI applications. We filed an application to know the following,
Expenditure of Rs 10000 or more in sending the response
The concerned Public Information Officer (PIO) in the Department of Posts duly forwarded the application to all heads of circles who in turn forwarded it to various head post offices and so on. By last count, we received about 200 letters from various parts of the country. We expect more in the days to come and the count might reach 500 by conservative estimates. Most of these were responses were sent via speed post. Even assuming a minimum expenditure of Rs 20 per letter in postal charges, we are looking at a total expenditure of Rs 10000 in sending a response to our application.
Same application, multiple interpretations
Though the same application was forwarded to various circles and post offices, there were multiple interpretations of the same. Some of the responses received are the following
It is impossible for the Bhilwara circle to provide information if it is not maintained in some central server in the specified format. Still, many responses simply said that the information is not maintained or no such information is available with them. In either case, they must be lying.
The Right hand does not know what the Left hand is doing
The way Department of Posts responded to the application exposes both the shortsightedness and poor data management in the department. Out of the 3 bits of information sought in the original application, two bits of information is already available with the Department of Posts in a consolidated form. After a little bit of research, we found that the annual report of the Department of Posts has consolidated information circle wise on number of IPOs sold in a particular year, value and commission earned. It also has information on cost incurred on printing the IPOs.
The only other piece of information sought in the application was about the number of IPOs printed in each year. The Department of Posts should have had this information since the indent for printing goes from the department. But still it forwarded the application to the various security printing press across the country. The Security Printing Press in Hyderabad responded.
Poor Data Management & Sheer waste of Public Money/Resources
If the Department of Posts had shared the web link of the Annual Report and informed us the presence of the consolidated numbers in the annual report, it could have saved precious public money & the time of hundreds of government officers. It is appalling to see them waste public money without batting an eyelid.

created: October 17, 2016


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Trump effect is real. Student Visas to Indians down 40% in 2 years
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 15, 2018
The number of Non-Immigrant USA visas issued to Indian Nationals increased by 4 times between 1997 and 2017. The number of student visas has come down by more than 40% in the two year period between 2015 & 2017.
Ever since the President of United States of America (POTUS) Donald Trump issued an executive order imposing a 120-day suspension of the refugee program and a 90-day ban on travel to the United States of America (USA) from citizens of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan, which was later struck down by the courts, there has been considerable anxiety and confusion among people from various countries who want to travel to the USA. Even in India, both students and job-seekers are confused about their plans to go the USA. Data from the US Department of State indicates that student visas to Indian nationals decreased by more than 40% in the two year period between 2015 & 2017 while the total number of non-immigrant visas has increased marginally to cross 1 million in 2017.
More than half the Visas issued in India are B-1 & B-2
The following are some of the common visa categories in which visas are issued.
Business Visa (B-1): Consult with business associates, attend a scientific, educational, professional, or business convention or conference, settle an estate, negotiate a contract etc.
Tourism & Visit (B-2): Tourism, vacation (holiday), visit with friends or relatives, medical treatment, participation in social events hosted by fraternal, social, or service organizations, participation by amateurs in musical, sports, or similar events or contests etc.
Temporary Work Visa (H-1B): To work in a specialty occupation. Requires a higher education degree or its equivalent.
Dependent Visa (H-4): A dependent visa issued to immediate family members (spouse and children under 21 years of age) of the H-1B visa holders.
Student Visa (F-1): To enter the USA to attend university or college.
Intracompany Transfer (L): To work at a branch, parent, affiliate, or subsidiary of the current employer in a managerial or executive capacity, or in a position requiring specialized knowledge.
The above categories of visas accounted for more than 90% of the Non-Immigrant visas issued to Indian nationals between 2007 and 2017. More than 50% of the visas issued are in the B-1 & B-2 categories. H-1B accounted for 12.8% of all the visas while more than 9% of the visas were in the H-4 category. The student visas (F-1) accounted for 5.7%.
Non-Immigrant Visas to Indian Nationals increased by 4 times in 20 years
The total number of nonimmigrant visas issued to Indian nationals has increased by almost 4 times in the last 20 years, from 1997 to 2017. From 2.49 lakh non-immigrant visas in 1997, the number crossed 1 million in 2017. In fact, the number of visas has more than doubled between 2009 to 2017. Except for the decrease in 2002, 2005, 2008 & 2009, the number of nonimmigrant visas issued to Indian nationals has increased every year in the last 20 years. In fact, the number of nonimmigrant visas issued increased by over 70% between 2012 and 2015, during Barrack Obama’s second term as the POTUS.
Trump effect is real – Student Visas down 40% in 2017
The impact of Trump’s presidency is most evident in the number of student visas issued by the US.  The number of student visas (F1) to Indians decreased by more than 40% from 74831 in 2015 to 44741 in 2017. Even globally, the number student visas issued by US decreased by close to 40% between 2015 & 2017.
But this is not the only time that the student visas have decreased from India. In 2002, in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the number of student visas decreased by over 15%. The year 2009 also saw a huge reduction in the number of student visas to Indian nationals. The number of student visas in that year decreased by more than 25%. In fact, Barrack Obama’s first term as the POTUS coincided with the worst times for student visas from India. The number of student visas decreased from 36149 in 2008 to 23446 in 2012. Surprisingly, Obama’s second term was the best ever for Indian students. The number of student visas increased almost 3 times from 23446 in 2012 to 74831 in 2015.
Chennai US consulate issued the most Visas in the last 10 years
US Consulates in New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata & Mumbai issue US Visas. The consulate in Hyderabad started issuing visas in 2009. In the period between 2007 and 2017, the Chennai consulate issued almost 1/3rd (22.81 lakh) of all the non-immigrant visas issued in India. The consulate in Mumbai issued 28.5% (19.91 lakh) of all the visas. The Delhi consulate issued 20.3%  (14.17 lakh) visas followed by Hyderabad consulate which issued 13.86% (9.68 lakh) visas. The consulate in Kolkata issued only 4.78% of all the non-immigrant visas issued between 2007 and 2017.


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Students were beaten for not wearing shoes, not on the basis of religion - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 2, 2019
A video, in which the teacher beating the children selectively, is being shared by many people on Facebook claiming that only children of specific religion were targeted. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
The school teacher was beating only the Hindu children.
Fact: In the video, it can be clearly observed  that the teacher was looking downwards towards the shoes. Only those children who didn’t have proper school shoes were beaten.  Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The video posted on Facebook is not only being shared as “Hindus being targeted” but also is being shared as “Students not wearing the hijab were punished”.
If the video posted on Facebook is clearly watched, one can come to the conclusion that only students with no proper school shoes were punished by the teacher. In the video, it can be seen that the teacher has his head looking downwards and was watching the shoes of the students. Also, one of the first students to get beaten up is a boy and there is no requirement for him to wear a hijab, so the claim of teacher beating only little girls not wearing a hijab is false. Only those students who didn’t have proper school shoes were beaten, but not the basis of religion or hijab. This article is not to debate whether a teacher can beat students for such things, but to fact check the false claims. So, the claims made about the video on Facebook are FALSE.
Finally, students were beaten based on their shoes, not on the basis of religion or hijab.


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Submission rate of Property Returns by IAS officers improves as Younger Officers default
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 27, 2017
While the proportion of IAS officers submitting their Immovable Property Returns (IPRs) every year has improved significantly, hundreds of officers still default on IPR submission. Most of the defaulters are the younger officers appointed after the year 2000.
The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) has recently written to all other government departments reiterating its earlier instructions issued in the year 2011, regarding submission of ‘Immovable Property Returns’ (IPR)  by IAS officers.  The latest letter highlights the decision taken in 2011 that vigilance clearance will be withheld for those IAS officers who fail to submit their IPR.
What is IPR?
As per rule 16(2) of the AIS (Conduct) Rules, 1968, all IAS officers are required to submit their IPR (as of 1 January)  latest by 31  January every year. The IPR is supposed to be filed (uploaded online) in a specific format. Even if an officer has no property to report, a NIL return has to be filed.
For instance, below is the first page of the IPR filed by the Cabinet Secretary, Pradeep Kumar Sinha for the year 2017.
Denial of Vigilance Clearance for default
The latest letter from DoPT makes it clear that non-submission of IPR on time would result in the denial of vigilance clearance. Vigilance clearance for IAS officers is mandatory for many purposes such as posting on foreign assignments, promotions, approval for foreign visits, approval for foreign trainings etc. This decision of denial of vigilance clearance was first taken in the year 2011.
Submission rate improved over the years
As per data available on the DoPT website (till 26 December 2017), the submission rate of IPRs has substantially improved over the years. For the year 2011, close to 30% of the IAS officers did not submit their IPRs. The percentage of defaulters has gone down substantially over the years and in 2017, only about 5.65% IAS officers have not submitted their IPRs. As per data available, out of 5012 IAS officers in service for the year 2017, 4729 have submitted their IPRs while 283 have defaulted. It has to be noted that the deadline for the year 2017 ended on 31 January 2017.
More Younger Officers default than the older ones
If one looks at the detailed numbers on who is defaulting, interesting trends emerge. Most defaulters for the year 2017 are the officers of the 2007 batch. Twenty-five (25) from the 2007 batch did not submit their IPRs followed by 17 each from the 2005 & 2008 batches. More than 60% of the defaulters for the year 2017 are the officers appointed after the year 2000. Among the various cadres, 30 officers belonging to the Rajasthan cadre have defaulted for the year 2017, the highest for any cadre in the country. This is followed by 29 from the AGMUT cadre and 28 from the Andhra Pradesh cadre. Only one officer each from Maharashtra & Himachal Pradesh cadre have defaulted in their IPR submission.
Even for the year 2016, the situation is no different. 97 officers of the 2006 batch have defaulted on IPR submission, the highest for any batch. This is followed by 75 from the 2007 batch and 70 from the 2009 batch. For the year 2016, more than 77% of the defaulters were those appointed after the year 2000. Most of the defaulters for the year 2016 belong to the Uttar Pradesh cadre (118 of them) followed by 79 from the Rajasthan cadre.

created: December 27, 2017


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Subramanian Swamy did not accuse Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi of exporting 2 million tonnes of Thorium to China - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 3, 2023
A post is being shared on social media claiming that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has exposed a 60 Lakh crore worth scam by revealing that Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh sold about 2 tonnes of thorium to China during the UPA regime. Let’s verify the claim made by the post.
Claim: Subramanian Swamy revealed that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh illegally sold 2 tonnes of Thorium to China during their regime.
Fact: A news report on illegal mining and export of monazite, a sand mineral containing a rich quantity of Thorium, by a private company in the southern state of Tamil Nadu was first reported by the ‘Daily Pioneer’ website during the UPA regime. In 2012, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) issued a press release stating that these allegations as baseless and completely untrue. The then Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy countered a few statements made by DAE in the press release about removing rare earth minerals like ilmenite, zircon and leucoxene from prescribed substances to open general license. But Subramanian Swamy did not accuse Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi’s involvement in this alleged scam termed baseless by the DAE. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
When we searched to check whether BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had issued any such statement accusing Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi of allowing illegal export of thorium to China, we could not find any such statement on Subramanian Swamy’s official Twitter and Facebook handles. In fact, Subramanian Swamy while responding to a news report on government considering revoking its 2019 ban on private entities mining beach sand minerals and a possibility of Adani entities stepping into the beach sand mining, Subramanian Swamy tweeted, “Yes this is a gross betrayal of national interest and security because the sand on & along the coast of TN and Kerala have thorium. Our Atomic Energy Commission had banned this mining. Adani could now sell this sand to foreigners including the Chinese to whom he owes a lot $$$”.
Yes this is a gross betrayal of national interest and security because sand on & along the coast of TN and Kerala have thorium. Our Atomic Energy Commission had banned this mining. Adani could now sell this sand to foreigners including the Chinese to whom he owes a lot $$$.
Rumours on illegal mining and export of monazite, a sand mineral containing a rich quantity of Thorium, by a private company in the southern state of Tamil Nadu was first reported by the ‘Daily Pioneer’ news site during the UPA regime. The news report alleges that a private company licensed for sand mining had illegally exported thorium rich sand and claims that between 2002 and 2012, around 2.1 million tonnes of monazite had gone missing, which amounts to approximately 235,000 tonnes of thorium.
In 2012, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) issued a press release stating that these allegations on private companies being allowed to export a million tonnes of monazite, worth several lakhs of crores of rupees, were completely baseless and untrue. DAE in the press release stated that all the sand mining licenced companies are under strict regulatory control and said they send quarterly reports to AERB stating the number of tailings disposed of safely either in the premises or as backfill. DAE stated that exporting monazite without a licence from AERB is a violation of the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules 2004 and emphasised it as a punishable crime.
Then Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy reportedly wrote a letter to the then Atomic Energy Commission Chairman RK Sinha, countering a few statements made by the DAE in the press release. Citing the ‘Daily Pioneer’ reports, Subramanian Swamy questioned DAE about the government’s decision to remove rare earth minerals like ilmenite, zircon and leucoxene from prescribed substances to open general license. Stating these measures were taken under the international pressure after the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Subramanian Swamy questioned the DAE version of stating only 30% of monazites reserves available in the country. But Subramanian Swamy did not accuse Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi’s involvement in the alleged thorium export scam that was stated as false by DAE. In 2012, Subramanian Swamy wrote a letter to Manmohan Singh urging him to take steps to protect strategic monazite reserves.
To sum it up, Subramanian Swamy did not accuse Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi of exporting 2 million tonnes of thorium to China.


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Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 24, 2024


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Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech does not hold any Guinness World Record for having the darkest skin tone on Earth - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 25, 2020
A post claiming that Sudanese model ‘Nyakim’ has entered the Guinness book of records for having the darkest skin tone on Earth is doing the rounds on Facebook. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Sudanese model ‘Nyakim’ has entered the Guinness book of records for having the darkest skin tone on Earth.
Fact: The ‘Guinness World Record’ does not monitor records for ‘skin tone’. The news about Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech entering the Guinness book of records is ‘fake’. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Nyakim Gatwech is an American model of South Sudanese descent. She has attracted attention for her dark skin colour and has achieved significant popularity on Instagram. We visited the website of the ‘Guinness World Records’ to check if it monitors the records based on ‘skin tone’, no information was found. On Twitter, ‘Guinness World Record’ replied to a tweet that it does not monitor records for skin tone. The user (@iChopTweets) to whom ‘Guinness World Record’ had replied, also tweeted saying that he had even contacted Nyakim Gatwech regarding the news and stated that it is a ‘misinformation’. The user even attached the screenshot of his conversation with Nyakim Gatwech in his tweet.
I spoke to her too and couldn't confirm the record. Apologies for the wrong information, nevertheless she deserves all the recognition. pic.twitter.com/yGQiIhJayx
To sum it up, the ‘Guinness World Records’ does not monitor records for ‘skin tone’. The news about Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech entering the Guinness book of records is ‘fake’.
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Sudha Murthy has never made this purported speech on Prime Minister Modi - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 5, 2023
The text of a long speech allegedly made by Sudha Murthy about PM Narendra Modi is doing rounds on social media. Let’s fact-check this viral speech through this article.
Claim: A speech made by Sudha Murthy about PM Narendra Modi.
Fact: Murthy Trust, the family foundation of Sudha Murthy and Narayana Murthy, told Factly that Sudha Murthy did not make this speech and that it is being misattributed to her. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To learn more details about the speech, we searched the internet to see if any major media outlets have reported on such a speech by Sudha Murthy about PM Modi. This search did not lead us to any credible information.
We then contacted Infosys Foundation and Rishi Basu, Corporate Communications Director at Infosys, for clarification. Saying that Mrs. Murthy has retired from Infosys Foundation, they forwarded our request to the Murthy Trust for clarification. In an email response, Shivani from “Murthy Trust” told us, “This is misinformation. This speech has not been given by Mrs. Sudha Murthy and is being misattributed to her.”
In the past, the same speech was attributed to Sudha Murthy’s husband, Narayana Murthy. The Quint and Alt News debunked that and published articles which you can read here and here.
To sum up, Sudha Murthy has never made this purported speech on Prime Minister Modi.