IMPRI Desk

IMPRI Desk

  • Joined: August 6, 2023
  • Articles: 2253

The National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) Scheme – 2023

NAMASTE Scheme

Despite the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act (PEMSR Act, 2013) legally banning the dehumanizing practice of manual scavenging in India, the crisis persists. Deadly accidents during sewer and septic tank cleaning tragically demonstrate the failure of implementation, showing that this decades-old scourge remains a fatal reality.

Taking this matter into consideration, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) in convergence with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme in July 2023. The scheme is to be implemented with an outlay of Rs. 349.70 crore, over the three-year period up to 2025-26, in all 4800+ Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of the country.

India-Russia Arctic Security Dialogue (2025): Prospects for Deeper Strategic and Security Cooperation

India-Russia Arctic Security Dialogue (2025): Prospects for Deeper Strategic and Security Cooperation

The Arctic region is emerging as a strategic arena for geopolitical competition among both Arctic and non-Arctic superpowers. It comprises the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States, Canada, Greenland (Denmark’s autonomous territory), and Iceland. The once largely ice-covered Arctic ocean is melting due to the accelerating effects of climate change, thereby opening up new opportunities for energy exploration and potential transit routes which are significantly shorter than the traditional Suez canal route.

National Food Security Act(NFSA), 2013

Security

The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, was introduced by the Government of India to strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India, in order to provide food and nutritional security by ensuring access to food of sufficient quantity and quality to all beneficiaries. Before this Act, all households of India with a valid ration card received a fixed amount of commodities at a subsidised rate under the Targeted Public Distribution System.

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (2025)

PU posting 2.0 4 2

Policy UpdateAtharva Salunke Background: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) is the principal body responsible for exploration and production, refining, distribution, import, and export of petroleum, natural gas, and allied products in India. Since oil and gas are…

India-Bhutan: Hydro-Electric Trade and Future Prospects

Hydro

India–Bhutan hydro-electric trade remains a high-value, mutually reinforcing partnership for energy security and development.Recent relations of bilateral trade operate through a mixed arrangement of long-term PPA (Power Purchase Agreements), and developer arrangements which is a State to State and increasing private participation - recently seen operations via electricity market access in India (Day-Ahead/Real Time markets).

India-Central Asia: The Need For Joint Counter-Narcotics Operations (2025)

India-Central Asia: The Need For Joint Counter-Narcotics Operations (2025)

Since the late 2010s, India has deepened strategic and economic ties with the five Central Asian Republics (CAR) of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in a bid to assert itself as a key regional power. With India re-strategising and increasing diplomatic engagement with the resource-abundant CARs, bilateral trade has also flourished, primarily in uranium, crude oil, natural gas, and a range of other critical minerals.

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