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California Court Holds Insurer’s Settlement Decisions Not In Bad Faith

In its recent decision in ACE Capital v. Eplanning, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32613 (E.D. Cal. March 8, 2013), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California had occasion to consider California rules concerning settlement of competing claims to limited insurance proceeds, particularly in a situation where some of the claims are not covered.

Underwriters insured Eplanning under a $5 million claims made and reported professional liability policy. A number of claims were made and reported during the policy period, the total of which far exceeded the policy’s limit of liability. While Underwriters initially undertook the defense of Eplanning and settled some of the underlying claims, it eventually interpleaded the remainder of the policy proceeds - just in excess of $300,000 - into the court to be allocated among the various remaining claimants. At issue in the interpleader was whether Underwriters’ conduct was in bad faith, pursuant to Schwartz v. State Farm, 88 Cal.App.4th 1329 (2001), for not having commenced its interpleader earlier. This bad faith claim, however, was asserted by underlying plaintiffs who had brought four individual suits not covered under the policy since their claims were first made after the policy’s expiration. These plaintiffs, as the assignees of the insured, argued that an insurer can still act in bad faith, even where no policy benefits are ultimately due, “where there are numerous covered claims asserted against the policy” and where there is a potential for coverage. Thus, plaintiffs argued that Underwriters committed bad faith in its settlement of other claims, and that this bad faith cause of action was assignable notwithstanding the fact that plaintiffs’ underlying suits were not otherwise covered under the policy.

The court disagreed, noting that given the claims made and reported nature of Underwriters’ policy, and given the fact that the four suits brought by underlying plaintiffs were commenced after the policy’s expiration, there never was a potential that these particular claims would be covered under the policy. The court concluded that the decision in Schwartz only extended to claims for which insurers can have a coverage obligation and where this coverage obligation is breached. Thus, Underwriters were not required to consider plaintiffs’ four suits in making its decisions concerning settlement and interpleader. The court agreed that Underwriters could have no bad faith exposure to underlying plaintiffs given the correctness of Underwriters’ disclaimer of coverage. As the court explained, “an insurer cannot be held liable on a bad faith claim for doing what is expressly permitted in the agreement.”

#Interpleader #Bad Faith

President Conferred first ever Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony, 2012 on Sitar Maestro Late PT. Ravi Shankar

President Shri Pranab Mukherjee here conferred the first ever Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony, 2012 on Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar at Rashtrapati Bhawan. Since Pandit Ravi Shankar passed away on 11th December, 2012, the Award was presented to his wife, Smt. Sukanya Shankar. The International Award carries a prize money of Rs. 1 Crore (One Crore), shawl, plaque and a citation. The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch, dignitaries and the family members of Pt. Ravi Shankar were present during the award ceremony. The Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony has been instituted as a part of the commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and an announcement to this effect was made by the then Finance Minister in his Budget Speech on 28th February, 2011. It is an International Award with prize money of Rs. 1 Crore for promoting values of Cultural Harmony. The Jury constituted for the selection of Tagore Award for the year 2012 under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister of India selected Pandit Ravi Shankar, the Indian Sitar Maestro, to be the first recipient of the Tagore Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Cultural Harmony and Universal Values. The award was announced on 7th May 2012 during the closing ceremony of the commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore

Oklahoma Court Holds Failure to Warn Not a Covered Professional Service

In its recent decision in Hanover Am. Ins. Co. v. Saul, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29739 (W.D. Okl. Mar. 5, 2013), the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma had occasion to consider whether a chiropractor’s alleged failure to protect her patient from being sexually assaulted triggered coverage under a medical professional liability policy.

NCMIC Insurance Company insured Dr. Debora K. Balfour, and her practice, Dr. Deborah K. Balfour Chiropractic, P.C, (“DKBC”), under a professional liability policy. Dr. Balfour and DKBC were named as defendants in an underlying suit, along with Dr. Balfour’s ex-husband, in a matter involving alleged sexual assault, on multiple occasions, of one of Dr. Balfour’s patients, who was a minor at the time. It was alleged that Dr. Balfour’s ex-husband was the perpetrator of these assaults, some of which took place in the office building in which the DKBC practice was located. The suit alleged medical malpractice against Dr. Balfour for having allowed her husband access to the premises and for having failed to warn her patient regarding her husband’s “history and propensity to sexually molest under age females.” NCMIC agreed to provide Dr. Balfour and DKBC with a defense, but subsequently denied coverage.

The NCMIC policy insured “all sums to which this insurance applies and for which an insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of an injury. The injury must be caused by an accident arising from an incident during the policy period. The injury must also be caused by an insured under this policy.” Notably, the policy defined “incident” to mean:

… any negligent omission, act or error in the providing of professional services by an insured or any person for whose omissions, acts or errors an insured is legally responsible.

Professional services, in turn, was defined as:

… services which are within the scope of practice of a chiropractor in the state or states in which the chiropractor is licensed.

NCMIC argued, among other things, that the policy only insured Balfour, and DKBC, for acts of medical malpractice, such as when a patient is injured while receiving chiropractic treatment. Dr. Balfour’s alleged failure to have warned her patient of a danger posed by her husband, argued NCMIC, did not relate to chiropractic services and thus fell outside the policy’s coverage. Dr. Balfour, on the other hand, argued that whether or not she had a medical professional obligation to warn her patient of her husband’s proclivities was an issued to be determined in the underlying action, not in the insurance coverage action. In other words, Dr. Balfour contended that the court in the declaratory judgment action could not adjudicate the scope of her medical professional duties to her patient.

The court rejected Dr. Balfour’s contention, agreeing with NCMIC that the policy insured Dr. Balfour solely with respect to chiropractic treatment per se. As the court explained:

The policy provides coverage for injuries such as those that result from a misdiagnosis or a negligently performed treatment, or perhaps even a failure to warn about the consequences of certain physical activity on an injury being treated.

The court agreed that while the plaintiff in the underlying suit alleged that Dr. Balfour breached a duty by failing to protect plaintiff from being assaulted, the duty alleged in the underlying suit was distinct from the medical duties insured under NCMIC’s policy:

Balfour's failure to warn her patient about [her ex-husband] and allowing him to have access to the building where her chiropractic practice was located - may be a violation of some duty, it is not a violation of a professional duty Balfour owed [her patient] as her chiropractor.

In reaching its decision, the court relied on case law standing for the general proposition that professional liability policies insure services involving specialized skill or knowledge. The court concluded that warning a person, even a patient, of the harm posed by another person on the premises, does not implicate such specialized skills or knowledge, and thus cannot be considered a professional service for the purpose of an errors and omissions policy.

#Professional liability

New syllabus of UPSC civil services Examination Great news for new aspirants...mains also changed

UPSC notified much waited NEW EXAM pattern for UPSC Exam 2013. As there is no changes in the preliminary exam which already changed by UPSC in 2011, there are some important changes in the new notification notified by UPSC on 05.03.2013. We will break up the changes as follows:

MAIN EXAMINATION:

There are two kind of changes in the main exam one is optional papers and other one is pattern of the exam itself. As for as pattern concern:

The overall weightege of the GENERAL STUDIES papers going up as expected like UPSC introduced two more papers in General Studies ie. Now total number of General Studies Paper is FOUR with marks of 250 each account to total 1000 Marks.

1. General Studies Paper -I

(Indian Heritage and Culture,

History and Geography of the World 250 Marks

and Society)

2. General Studies Paper -II

(Governance, Constitution,

Polity, Social Justice and 250 Marks

International relations)

3. General Studies Paper -III

(Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security 250 Marks and Disaster Management) 4. General Studies –IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) 250 Marks Total - 1000 Marks

The second change in the pattern is UPSC removed compulsory language paper and introduced English language paper to be counted for ranking along with other papers. Mark of English Paper (English Comprehension & English Précis- Matriculation Standard) is scaled down to 100 Marks.

Another Change in the pattern is marks of personality test reduced to 275 Marks. Essay continues with 200 Marks.

There is a change in the medium of exam also. If one wants to take any one of the following language as a medium he has to be studied in that language in graduate level. Languages are Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. However at least 25 candidate should have taken in these language as a medium if not candidate should write either in English or Hindi.

If we concern about the optional papers the importance of it goes away as we expected. The following changes have been taken place in the optional subjects.

After this there will be only one optional paper in the UPSC main Examination.

Optional will have two papers with 250 Marks each.

All can not take Literature paper as optional, only who has done graduation in the particular literature can take that paper.

Optional papers divided into two groups:

Group-1

(i) Agriculture

(ii) Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science

(iii) Anthropology

(iv) Botany

(v) Chemistry

(vi) Civil Engineering

(vii) Commerce and Accountancy

(viii) Economics

(ix) Electrical Engineering

(x) Geography

(xi) Geology

(xii) History

(xiii) Law

(xiv) Management

(xv) Mathematics

(xvi) Mechanical Engineering

(xvii) Medical Science

(xviii) Philosophy

(xix) Physics

(xx) Political Science and International Relations

(xxi) Psychology

(xxii) Public Administration

(xxiii) Sociology

(xxiv) Statistics

(xxv) Zoology

Group-2

Literature of any one of the following languages:

Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu,

Urdu, English.

Now the total marks for UPSC is 2075 Marks.

MORE IMPORTANT: UPSC will have the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all papers of the examination.

That is can scale down any papers particularly optional papers, UPSC trying to have further control over optional paper deliberately. This is also gives hint about English language paper.

Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana

Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY), Conditional Maternity Benefit (CMB) is a centrally sponsored scheme for pregnant and lactating (P & L) women to improve their health & nutrition status to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives to pregnant and nursing mothers. It is being implemented using the platform of ICDS. The scheme was introduced in October, 2010 on pilot basis now operational in 53 selected districts including Bihar. The scheme attempts to partly compensate for wage loss to Pregnant & Lactating women both prior to and after delivery of the child. The scheme envisages providing cash directly to the beneficiary through their Bank Accounts/Post Office Accounts, in response to individual fulfilling specific conditions. The scheme covers all pregnant and lactating women above 19 years of age and above for first two live births are entitled for benefits under the scheme except all Government/PSUs (Central & State)

Akshay Urja Shops to be set up in the districts.

Akshay Urja Shops will be set up in all the districts of the country by the ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE). Sanction has already been accorded for setting up 287 Akshay Urja Shops besides 113 Aditya Solar Shops. This scheme provides for financial support as recurring grant and incentive linked with turn-over for operation of the shops, for a period of two years. Prior to 2005-06, the scheme was being implemented since 1995 for setting up Aditya Solar Shops.

California Court Addresses Priority of Coverage In Auto Context

In the recent case GuideOne Mutual Insurance Company v. Utica National Insurance Group (4th Appellate Dist. 2/28/13), the California Court of Appeal considered priority of coverage among primary and excess insurers following settlement of a serious bodily injury claim from a car versus motorcycle accident. The accident case settled for $4.5 million and the coverage action was subsequently filed to reallocate the settlement payments.

The driver of the car was a pastor for Crosswinds Community Church, which operated under the oversight and control of an organization referred to as CEA. The accident happened during the course of the pastor’s work for Crosswinds. The pastor’s personal auto insurance policy, which specifically identified the subject car as a covered auto, paid its $100,000 policy limits toward the settlement. GuideOne insured Crosswinds under a commercial general liability policy which also covered the pastor as Crosswind’s employee acting in the course and scope of employment. GuideOne paid its $1 million primary policy limits and its $1 million umbrella policy limits. Utica National Insurance Group and its affiliate (referred to collectively by the court as “Utica”) covered CEA under a commercial auto policy (and its umbrella policy) for liability as to covered autos, which included nonowned autos. Utica paid its $1 million primary policy limits and $400,000 out of the $5 million umbrella policy limits.

GuideOne subsequently sued Utica for contribution from the umbrella policy, seeking reallocation of the settlement shares based on a ratio as to the respective coverage held by the insurers, as was the sharing formula provided for in the other insurance clauses of each policy. The trial court found in favor of GuideOne on its motion for summary judgment, holding that it was entitled to contribution in the amount of $600,000.

Utica argued on appeal that GuideOne’s policies were primary to both of Utica’s policies because GuideOne insured the pastor, the tortfeasor, while Utica’s policies insured an entity which was only vicariously liable. The court of appeal agreed with that argument.

The appellate court found that the statute dealing with priority of coverage, Insurance Code §11580.9(d), only established that State Farm was primary because it specifically scheduled the car as a covered auto, and the other four policies were excess. The priority of coverage for the remaining policies was not subject to the conclusive presumption in §11580.9(d). In reversing the trial court, the court of appeal relied on the decision in United States Fire Ins. Co. v. Nat. Union Fire Ins. Co. (1980) 107 Cal.App.3d 456, which held, in an airplane accident case, that insurance covering the negligent pilot was primary to insurance covering the pilot’s vicariously liable employer. The U.S. Fire court looked to general principles of indemnity law which says an employer liable for the negligent acts of his employee is entitled to indemnity from the employee A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal case, Canadian Indem. Co. v. U.S. F&G Co., 213 F.2d 658 (9th Cir. 1954) held similarly.

GuideOne argued that neither of those cases involved Ins. Code §11580.9(d) nor did they involve excess policies. The court of appeal rejected that argument, pointing out that §11580.0(d) did not apply by its terms, and both GuideOne’s primary and excess policies covered the negligent driver and both of Utica’s primary and excess policies covered the employer who was only vicariously liable. The court also noted that GuideOne’s policies both covered CEA for its vicarious liability.

#Priority of coverage

Fifth Circuit Holds Direct Action Barred By Insured’s Untimely Claim Reporting

In its recent decision in First Am. Title Ins. Co. v. Cont'l Cas. Co., 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 4153 (5th Cir. Feb. 28, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals, applying Louisiana law, had occasion to consider whether an insured’s failure to report a malpractice claim prior to its policy’s expiration precluded the underlying plaintiff’s right to bring a direct action against the insurer.

Continental Casualty Company insured Titan Title, LLC under a claims made and reported legal malpractice policy in effect for the period August 16, 2008 to August 16, 2009. During the policy period, Titan, and its principal, were named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging they were negligent in issuing title insurance policies on behalf of its client, plaintiff First American Title Insurance Company. The insureds, however, failed to report the lawsuit to Continental while the malpractice policy was in effect. First American subsequently learned of the policy and gave notice of the claim to Continental in January 2010. It later amended its complaint to add Continental as a direct defendant pursuant to Louisiana’s Direct Action Statute.

The lower court granted Continental’s motion for summary judgment, concluding that First American could not recover under the policy since neither the insureds, nor First American, reported the claim to Continental during the policy period. In reaching its decision, the lower court reasoned that if the plaintiff could subvert the policy’s claims made and reporting requirement, then the policy would improperly be transformed into an occurrence policy, which would negate the bargained-for-exchange between Continental and its insured. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit acknowledged the lack of Louisiana state court guidance on the issue, requiring an “Erieguess” on the issue. The court concluded that the district court properly predicted how a Louisiana court would rule, since Louisiana state courts have held in other contexts that the Direct Action Statute does not alter the scope of coverage under an insurance policy, and that it does not give plaintiffs greater policy rights than enjoyed by insureds. See, e.g., Anderson v. Ichinose, 760 So. 2d 302 (La. 1999); Robicheaux v. Adly, 779 So. 2d 1048(La. Ct. App. 3d Cir. 2001).

With this in mind, and given Louisiana’s rigid enforcement of claims made and reporting policy requirements, the court concluded that the failure of the insured to report the claim while the policy was in effect was binding on First American’s right to insurance benefits. In this connection, the court cited to its earlier decision in Resolution Trust Corp. v. Ayo, 31 F.3d 285 (5th Cir. 1994), noting that “[w]hile the absence of prejudice-preventing notice generally does not bar a third-party action under the Direct Action Statute, the absence of claim-triggering reporting can prevent such an action because relaxing this reporting requirement expands coverage, which ‘constitutes prejudice as a matter of law.”

In reaching its decision, the court considered First American’s argument that failure to report a claim during the policy period should be considered in the same light as late notice of occurrence or suit under an occurrence policy, which Louisiana courts have held does not operate to the detriment of injured third-parties. The court rejected this reasoning, drawing a clear distinction between occurrence-based policies and claims made and reported policies:

Unlike occurrence policies, where a third party's claim vests at the time of the injury or occurrence … a claims-made-and-reported policy establishes certain conditions precedent to coverage…Claim-triggering reporting is one of these conditions. By serving as a required element for establishing a claim under a claims-made-and-reported policy's insuring clause, claim-triggering reporting "allow[s] the insurer to 'close its books' on a policy at its expiration and therefore 'attain a level of predictability unattainable under standard occurrence policies.'" … In exchange for the assurance that it will be liable for only those claims that are made and reported to it during the policy's effective term, an insurer may make certain concessions, such as accepting a lower policy premium. In light of the delicate balance in these policies, we strictly construe notice and reporting requirements in claims-made policies because of their important role in defining the scope of different in scope of temporal coverage.

First American’s argument, concluded the court, would improperly expand the policy’s scope of coverage, and the bargained-for-exchange between Continental and its insured. As such, the Fifth Circuit concurred with the lower court’s reasoning that allowing First American to recover under the policy under such circumstances would effectively transform the policy from a claims-made policy into an occurrence-based policy.

#Direct Action #Claims Made and Reported

5th Circuit Holds No Coverage for Trucking Accident

In its recent decision in Canal Indem. Co. v. Rapid Logistics, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 3772 (5th Cir. Feb. 22, 2013), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, applying Texas law, had occasion to consider whether a trucking liability policy provided coverage for an underlying lawsuit brought by an injured independent contractor.

Canal Insurance Company insured Rapid Logistics, a motor carrier company, under an auto policy satisfying Rapid Logistic’s public liability requirements. Rapid Logistics contracted with an individual named Oralia Sanchez to use Ms. Sanchez’s truck for delivery certain goods. Ms. Sanchez, in turn, hired Rafael Olivas to operate the truck. While operating the vehicle pursuant to the Rapid Logistic’s contract, Mr. Olivas was involved in an accident causing him to sustain various injuries. Mr. Olivas later brought suit against Ms. Sanchez and Rapid Logistics. Canal denied coverage to Rapid Logistics on the basis that Mr. Olivas, technically, was an insured of Rapid Logistics. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas agreed, and ruled in favor of Canal on summary judgment.

The district court’s ruling was based on an exclusion in the Canal policy applicable to bodily injury to an “’employee' of the 'insured' arising out of and in the course of: (1) Employment by the 'insured;' or (2) Performing the duties related to the conduct of the 'insured's' business . . . .” Relying on the federal Transportation Code’s definition of “employee,” set forth in 49 C.F.R. § 390.5, the lower court concluded that Mr. Olivas was an employee, since the term is defined to include independent contractors. On appeal, Rapid Logistics argued that the district court erred by looking to the Transportation Code’s definition of employee rather than the definition in the Canal policy, which defined “employee” to include leased workers and exclude temporary workers.

The court noted that in a prior decision, it had relied on the definition of employee in 49 C.F.R. § 390.5 for the purposes of determining coverage under a similar policy. Consumers Cnty. Mut. Ins. v. P.W. & Sons Trucking, 307 F.3d 362, 366 (5th Cir. 2002). It nevertheless concluded that it need not even reach this issue in determining Rapid Logistic’s right to coverage, since the Canal policy provided coverage for “Anyone else while using with your permission a covered 'auto' you own, hire or borrow except: (1) The owner, or any 'employee,' agent or driver of the owner, or anyone else from whom you hire or borrow a covered 'auto.'” The court reasoned that the exception in this grant to coverage precluded coverage for Mr. Olivas’ suit, explaining that:

Here, Rapid Logistics admits that Sanchez owned the truck that it had hired and that Olivas was Sanchez's employee driver. Accordingly, on its face, this provision applies to exclude coverage for Olivas. Here, Rapid Logistics' version of the facts shows that the policy does not provide coverage for Olivas. Accordingly, under either the provisions of the code or the policy, Canal did not have a duty to defend.

#Auto #Employee

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e-Governance of Panchayats

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has been reviewing the implementation of the E-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) in the review meetings which are held from time to time to monitor the progress of the Project.

Two important Applications under e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) that foster transparency and accountability in Panchayati Raj Institutions are PRIASoft (web based Panchayat accounting software) and PlanPlus (web based participatory planning software). Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) that addresses all core aspects of Panchayats’ functioning viz. Planning, Monitoring, Implementation, Budgeting, Accounting, Social Audit, etc. Under e-Panchayat MMP, 11 Core Common Software Applications (reduced from 12 due to merger of two Applications) are envisaged which collectively constitute the Panchayat Enterprise Suite (PES). Four of these Applications namely PRIASoft, PlanPlus, National Panchayat Portal and National Panchayat Directory (now renamed Local Governance Directory) have been adopted by the States since two years. Six more Applications namely Area Profiler, ServicePlus, Asset Directory, ActionSoft

Introduction of New Drug Policy

The government has notified the NationalPharmaceutical Pricing Policy, 2012 (NPPP-2012) where it has also been proposed to regulate and control the prices of National List of Essential Medicines- 2011.

The salient features of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, 2012 (NPPP- 2012) are as under:

• The regulation of prices of drugs is on the basis of essentiality of drugs as under National List of Essential Medicines– 2011.

• The regulation ofprices of drugs is on the basis of regulating the prices of formulations only.

• The regulation of prices of drugs is on the basis of fixing the ceiling price of formulations through Market Based Pricing (MBP).

The provisions under National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy- 2012 (NPPP- 2012), are to put in place a regulatory framework for pricing of essential drugs as per the strength and dosages as specified in National List of Essential Medicines- 2011 which satisfy the priority healthcare needs to majority of the population.

#ca

Gender Budgeting

The Government has adopted Gender Budgeting based on the recommendations of the Expert Group on classification system of Government transactions constituted by the Ministry of Finance under the Chairmanship of the Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India.

December, 2004 to establish a ‘Gender Budgeting Cell (GBC)’. The GBCs have been formed with the objective of influencing and effecting a change in the Ministry’s policies, programmes in a way that could tackle gender imbalances, promote gender equality and development. On 8th March 2007, the Ministry of Finance also issued a Charter for Gender Budget Cells (GBCs) outlining the composition of GBCs and their functions.

The following steps are being taken by the Government in the sphere of Gender Budgeting:

i. Since 2005, the Ministry of Womenand Child Development (MWCD) along with the Ministry of Finance has been pursuing with various Ministries/Departments for setting up of GBC As per information available, so far 56 Central Ministries/Departments set up GBCs.

ii. As part of the Union Budget, every year, since 2005-06, a Gender Budget Statement 20 is prepared by the Ministry of Finance, which reflects 30% and above allocations made for women by different Ministries / Departments. In 2012-13, an allocation of `88,142.80 crores in relation to 29Ministries/ Departments wasreported in the GB Statement.

iii. Further in order to strengthen the process of gender budgeting, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has been undertaking various capacity building measures for officials of Central, State Governments and various stakeholders. A Gender Budgeting Plan Scheme was launched during 2007-08 to this effect. The Ministry has also developed a Gender Budgeting Handbook for Government of India Ministries &Departments and a Gender Budgeting Manual for Trainers. The Ministry has also undertaken one-to-one sessions with several departments to promote Gender Budgeting.

Integrated Child Protection Scheme

The Government, in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, has introduced in 2009-10, the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) for implementation throughout the country with the objective of creating a protective environment for children, especially those in difficult circumstances. The Scheme requires signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with States/UTs before implementation. All States and Union Territories, except Jammu & Kashmir, have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Government for implementation of the Scheme. ICPS has not been introduced in the State of Jammu & Kashmir as the State Government has to amend its Juvenile Justice Act to bring it in line with the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 enacted by the Central Government. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has taken up the matter with the State Government of Jammu & Kashmir to amend its JJ Act expeditiously.

NCL Among 50 Most Caring Companies

Northern Coalfields Ltd, a Mini Ratna company and subsidiary of Maha Ratna Company Coal India Ltd, has bagged the award of “50 Most Caring Companies of India” in the World Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) congress 2013 held in Mumbai on February 18, 2013 on world’s CSR Day.

NCL’s Director (Personnel) Ms Shanti Lata Sahoo received the award on behalf of the company consisting of a trophy and a citation. The award was conferred on NCL for its good corporate citizenship and company’s endeavors to promote partnership between the Business and Social Welfare Sectors.

The World CSR Congress brings over 130 countries under one roof to unite the best and celebrate leadership in building a better society and making better world.

The theme of Congress was “Possible to Do Well by Doing Good”.

Government Schemes to Fight Malnutrition

The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition especially among children and women including young girls and is implementing several schemes/programmes through schemes/programmes

Development Services (ICDS), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) namely SABLA, Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana IGMSY

Indirect targeted as follows-

Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), National Horticulture Mission, National Food Security Mission, Mahatma Gandhi National Rular Employement Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, National Rural Drinking Water Programme etc.

schemes have potential to address one or other aspect of Nutrition.

The main schemes/programmes of Ministry of Women and Child Development which have a bearing on the nutritional status includes the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme which provides a package of six services namely supplementary nutrition, pre-school education, nutrition & health education, immunization, health check-up and referrl universalised with effect from 2008-09.

sanctioned Projects are 7076 and Anganwadi

(including Mini AWCs and Anganwadi on demand) are 13.71 lakhs. Against this there are 7025 operational projects and 13.31 lakh operational AWCs as on January 2013. The services are currently availed by 927.65 lakh beneficiaries which include 746.81 lakh children (6 months to 6 years) and 180.84 lakh pregnant and lactating mothers.

Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG), or Sabla provides a package of services including health and nutrition to adolescent girls in the age 11- 18 years (with a focus on out-of-school adolescent girls) in 205 districts on a pilot basis. The scheme has two major components i.e. Nutrition and Non Nutrition Component. The beneficiaries in 2011-12 were 100.77 lakhs and during 2012-13 are 88.49 lakhs so far.

Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY), introduced in 2010, is a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating (P&L) women to contribute to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives

health and nutrition to pregnant and nursing mothers.

scheme is being implemented initially on pilot basis in 53 selected districts. The beneficiaries in 2011-12 were 3.05 lakhs and during 2012-13 are 3.76 lakhs so far.

Department

scheme

Meal

day

Mid

The

Education and Literacy has a provision for providing hot cooked mid day meal to children studying in class I to VIII in Government, Government aided, local body schools as well as children studying in the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) schools, Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS), Alternative and

and

centres

(AIE)

Education

Innovative

Maqtabs supported under SSA etc. It is a world’s largest school feeding programme and covers more than 11 crore children in 12.63 lakh institutions in the country.

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and under its umbrella, the Reproductive and Child Health Programme, seeks to improve the availability of and access to quality health care including Maternal and Child Health services particularly to rural population throughout the country. Some of the key steps undertaken through this programme

Promotion of institutional deliveries through Janani Suraksha Yojana ; Capacity building of health care providers in basic

Name Based Tracking of

and comprehensive obstetric care;

Pregnant Women; Antenatal, Intranatal and Postnatal care including Iron and Folic Acid supplementation to pregnant & lactating women for prevention and treatment of anaemia; Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) ( launched on 1 st June, 2011) which entitles all pregnant women delivering in public health institutions to absolutely free and no expense delivery including Caesarean section ; Village Health and Nutrition Days in rural areas as an outreach activity, for provision of maternal and child health

Operationalisation of sub-centers, Primary Health Centers, Community Health Centres and District

providing 24x7 basic and comprehensive

services. So far, 8.8 lakh Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHAs) have been engaged to interface with the community, more than 5 lakh village health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs) have been established,

medical units have been provided in 459 districts for delivery of health care.

Recently Government has approved the strengthening and restructuring of ICDS with special focus on pregnant and lactating mothers and children under three. The restructured and strengthened ICDS will be rolled out in three phases with focus on the 200 high burden districts for malnutrition during 2012-13 and additional 200 districts in 2013-14

districts from the special category States and NER and the remaining districts in 2014-15.

Additionally, Government has launched an Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Campaign

malnutrition for generating awareness on key nutrition issues with the pro-bono services of Shri Aamir Khan.

Restructured and Strengthened ICDS

In order to address various programmatic, management and institutional gaps and to meet administrative

operational challenges that had crept the ICDS over the years, Government approved the proposal for Strengthening and Restructuring of ICDS Scheme with an

allocation of Rs. 1,23,580 crore during 12th Five Year Plan. The Administrative Approvals in this regard have since been issued to the States/UTs.

The key features of Strengthened and Restructured ICDS inter-alia include addressing the gaps and challenges with

(a) special focus on children under 3 years and pregnant and lactating mothers;

(b) strengthening and repackaging of services including , care and nutrition counseling services and care of severely underweight children;

(c) a provision for an additional Anganwadi Worker cum Nutrition Counselor for focus on children under 3 years of age and to improve the family contact, care

counseling for P&L Mothers in the selected 200 high-burden districts across the country, besides having provision of link worker, 5% Anganwadi cum crèche centre;

(d) focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE);

(e) forging strong institutional and

convergence particularly, at the district, block and village levels;

(f) introduction of Annual Programme Implementation Plan (APIP);

(g) improving Supplementary Nutrition including cost revision; and construction for provision

(h) buildings of Anganwadi centres; resources financial adequate allocating

(i) components including Monitoring and Information System (MIS) Training and use of Information and communication technology (ICT);

(j) to put ICDS in a mission mode etc., and

(k) revision of some financial norms etc.

#ga #icds

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