Atal Bihari Vajpayee Passes Away

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a towering politician, statesman, orator and a poet passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. 

  • He was Prime Minister thrice in 1996, 1998-1999 and 1999-2004.
  • Born on December 25, 1924, in Gwalior, Mr. Vajpayee was elected 10 times to the Lok Sabha from four different States and was twice member of the Rajya Sabha.
  • He was awarded India's highest civilian honor Bharat Ratna in 2015 on his birthday. His birthday, December 25, is observed as the Good Governance Day by the government.
  • He was also awarded Padma Vibhushan in 1992.

Few Flagship Initiatives

1. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

  • Launched in 2000-2001 to provide free and compulsory education to children between 6 to 14 years.
  • As per 2013 data, the school dropout has declined from 80 lakh in 2009 to 30 lakh in 2012 due to the success of the SSA.
  • The net enrolment ratio at the primary level has also increased to 99.8 per cent since the launch of the scheme.
  • Recently the Government has approved an Integrated Scheme on School Education by subsuming the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.
  • In January, 2017 the government launched a dedicated web portal ShaGun for monitoring the progress of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). The portal was developed by World Bank in collaboration with Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. Its name has been derived from the words Shala (means schools) and Gun (i.e. Gunvatta meaning Quality).

2. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

  • Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) conventions are being held every year since 2003.
  • It is celebrated on 9 January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, returned to India from South Africa.
  • These conventions provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of the land of their ancestors for mutually beneficial activities.
  • These conventions are also very useful in networking among the overseas Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields.
  • The 15th PBD will be held in Varanasi (U.P.) in January, 2019 and its theme will be "Role of Indian Diaspora in Building a New India".

3. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana

  • The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched on 25th December, 2000 to provide all-weather access to unconnected habitations.
  • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and 50% of the Cess on High Speed Diesel (HSD) is earmarked for this Programme.
  • Recently, the Government has brought forward the target date by three years from 2022 to 2019 to achieve complete rural connectivity through all-weather roads under PMGSY.
  • The unit for this Programme is a Habitation and not a Revenue village or a Panchayat. A Habitation is a cluster of population, living in an area, the location of which does not change over time.