Government Schemes & Social Justice (September 2025)

1. PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PM-DDKY)

• The News: The Union Cabinet formally approved the operational guidelines for this landmark scheme (initially announced in the 2025 Budget).
• Target: 100 "Aspirational Agricultural Districts" identified by low productivity and poor credit access.
• Unique Feature: It merges 36 existing schemes from 11 ministries into a single unified window for farmers.
• Impact: Aims to modernize farming for approximately 1.7 crore farmers, focusing on post-harvest storage at the Panchayat level and climate-resilient seeds.

2. Ayushman Bharat (Senior Citizen Expansion)

• The Expansion (Sept 11, 2025): The Union Cabinet approved health coverage for all senior citizens aged 70 and above, regardless of their income.
• Key Detail: They will receive a distinct card and a dedicated top-up cover of ₹5 lakh per year. If a family is already covered under PM-JAY, the senior citizen gets an additional ₹5 lakh just for themselves.
• Milestone: Uttar Pradesh was declared the top state in the country for Ayushman Card distribution during "Ayushman Bharat Diwas" (Sept 23).

3. PM-SURAJ Portal Milestones

• The News: The Ministry of Social Justice reported that the PM-SURAJ (Pradhan Mantri Samajik Utthan evam Rozgar Aadharit Jankalyan) portal surpassed its initial target, disbursing nearly ₹1,400 crore in loans.
• Beneficiaries: Entrepreneurs from SC, ST, and OBC communities, and Safai Karamcharis.
• Function: Provides business loans up to ₹15 lakh at concessional interest rates (as low as 4% for women entrepreneurs).

4. Gyan Bharatam Mission

• The News: A new mission focused on the digitization and preservation of rare manuscripts.
• Impact: In Arunachal Pradesh, the mission was hailed for preserving indigenous tribal traditions and spiritual heritage using AI-driven translation tools.

5. National Literacy Milestone (Sept 8)

• The Achievement: On International Literacy Day, India announced its national literacy rate reached 80.9% (up from 74% in 2011).
• ULLAS Program: The Nav Bharat Saaksharta Karyakram was credited for this jump.
• Top Performers: Ladakh was recently declared fully literate, joining states like Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh in achieving full functional literacy.

6. Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana (Bihar)

• The News: Bihar launched this specific initiative in September to provide interest-free loans and training to women-led micro-enterprises, aiming to boost the state's female labor force participation.