Why in news?

• The Union Cabinet has approved a slew of schemes ranging from the PMe-Bus Sewa to seven multi-tracking projects of the Indian Railways worth Rs 32,500 crore.

What’s in today’s article?

• PMe-Bus Sewa
• PM Vishwakarma Scheme
• Other decisions taken by Cabinet

PMe-Bus Sewa

• 
• Seeking to enhance green mobility, the Union Cabinet gave a nod to the PM e-Bus Sewa for augmenting city bus operations.
  • An e-bus is any bus whose propulsion and accessory systems are powered exclusively by a zero-emissions electricity source.
• The scheme will be implemented in two segments:
  • In 169 cities, 10,000 e-buses will be deployed using a public-private partnership (PPP) model;
    • In this segment, depot infrastructure will also be developed or upgraded to support the new e-buses, including the creation of behind-the-meter power infrastructure like substations.
  • In 181 other cities, infrastructure will be upgraded under the green urban mobility initiatives
    • In this second segment, initiatives will focus on bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, automated fare collection systems, and charging infrastructure.
• Cities with a population of three lakh and above will be covered under the scheme, including all the capital cities of Union Territories, and the northeastern and hill States.
• States or cities will be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators.
• The Central government will support these bus operations by providing subsidies to the extent specified in the scheme.

PM Vishwakarma Scheme

• The Union Cabinet approved a ₹13,000 crore PM Vishwakarma scheme.
• It aims to provide subsidised loans to traditional artisans and craftsmen including weavers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, laundry workers, and barbers.
• Key highlights:
  • Artisans and craftspeople will be provided a recognition through PM Vishwakarma certificate and ID card.
  • The craftsmen will be provided a subsidised loan of Rs 1 lakh in the first tranche, and another Rs 2 lakh in the second tranche, at a concessional interest rate of 5%.
  • It also has a provision to provide skill upgradation, incentive for toolkit as well as digital transactions and marketing support.
  • Skilling programme will take place at both basic and advanced types. Participants will get a stipend of ₹500 per day while undergoing training.
  • Beneficiaries will also receive up to ₹15,000 to buy modern tools.
  • The scheme also aims at improving the quality, as well as the reach of products and services of artisans and craftsmen and to ensure that Vishwakarmas are integrated with the domestic and global value chains.

Other decisions taken by Cabinet

• Extension of Digital India Programme
  • The Union Cabinet approved a five-year extension and expansion of the Digital India programme, including an expansion of the Computer Emergency Response Team, India (CERT-in).
    • The expansion of the programme, established in 2015, will have an outlay of ₹14,903 crore.
  • The extended programme aims to re-skill and up-skill 6.25 lakh IT professionals and train another 2.65 lakh persons in information security.
• Bhashini
  • The AI-enabled multi-language translation tool – Bhashini – will be rolled out in 22 Schedule Vlll languages.
• National Supercomputing Mission
  • The National Supercomputing Mission, which has deployed 18 supercomputers, will add nine more such machines.
  • These supercomputers will have so many applications in weather forecasting, geology, agriculture, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) modelling.
• Document verification for MSMEs
  • DigiLocker, the online repository operated by the government for official documents, will be expanded to serve MSMEs.
  • This will make it easier for them to get verified documents for business loans.