Hours after Congress president Sonia Gandhi >attacked the government for its false promises on transparency, the Union Cabinet met on Wednesday evening to approve an amendment that would effectively dilute the scope of the Whistle Blowers Protection Act of 2011. The amendment incorporates ‘necessary provisions’ to keep issues of national security out of its purview.
Anti-corruption activists have argued that the new provisions could weaken the fight against corruption in key sectors like defence. In the past, several dubious deals like the Bofors, Scorpene, Tatra truck and AgustaWestland scams have been exposed by whistle blowers.
Ms. Gandhi attacked the government in the Lok Sabha for not notifying the Bill despite it getting the President’s assent last year. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha, in December 2011 and the Rajya Sabha had passed it on 21 February last year and it received the President’s assent on May 9. During the last days of UPA rule, the BJP had proposed certain amendments to the Bill when it came up for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha. One was to bar whistleblowers from seeking information on national security.
New schemes The Union Cabinet also gave approval to three major social security initiatives that will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 9. The schemes — the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) , the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) will be inaugurated in Kolkata where Assembly elections are due next year.
An official release said the decision on APY will benefit 2 crore subscribers in the first year, and that on the PMSBY and the PMJJBY will provide affordable personal accident and life cover to a vast population.
These initiatives, announced in the government’s budget, are aimed at providing a universal social security net that will be linked to individual user's bank accounts.
The PMSBY will offer a renewable one-year accidental death-cum-disability cover of Rs. 2 lakh for partial/permanent disability to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years for a premium of Rs. 12 per annum per subscriber.
The PMJJBY on the other hand will offer a renewable one year life cover of Rs. 2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years, covering death due to any reason, for a premium of Rs. 330 per annum per subscriber.
