Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan – Its Goal, Highlights, Advantages & Difficulties!

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan: What is it?

To make India an independent country, the Indian government launched the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan in May 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the leader of this initiative. Amid the epidemic, this expedition was started.
This program was primarily created to aid the nation during the pandemic, for which the prime minister promised a 20 lakhs crore economic stimulus package.
Five fundamental elements make up Atmanirbhar Bharat: economics, population, system, infrastructure & demand.

Although this mission was started to address the shortage of vaccines during the Coronavirus epidemic, it later underwent significant development, and several sectors can now be found operating in the same area and different dimensions.

Goals of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

The following are the major goals of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Scheme:

• to support the regional and local manufacturing and service companies.
• must focus on the trade imbalance and the balance of payments to raise residents’ living standards.
• to achieve complete self-sufficiency for the nation and its people.
• to make India a centre for the global supply chain.
• help stimulate the economy fiscally while also reviving each industry individually.
• to emphasise independence, focusing on resources including money, labour, land, and legal reforms.
• to offer stimulus plans for the economy worth 10% of Indian GDP.
• to provide financial assistance and unique incentives to farmers and small-business owners that suffered losses as a result of COVID-19.

Characteristics of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

Business loans without collateral
Providing collateral-free loans to the MSME sector is the centrepiece of the Atmanirbhar Abhiyan initiative. This states that small firms are permitted to borrow up to 20% of their total outstanding credit from recognised institutions.
Small businesses are eligible for these loans if they have up to 25 crores in outstanding debt or less than 100 crores in annual revenue. The program will be in effect until October 31, 2020.
Support for States
To increase financial accessibility, the Central Government increased the borrowing ceilings for State Governments from 3% to 5% for the years 2020–2021.

Ease of Doing Business 
The emphasis on boosting the nation’s economy by attempts to relax IBC-related requirements for stressed-out businesses. General Financial Rules have been loosened to help the building and real estate industries.

Agriculture Boost
Through NABARD, additional emergency working capital for farmers was made available with the help of 30,000 crores of rupees. The nation’s three crore farmers will profit from it. To formally recognise Micro Food Enterprises (MFE), the government has also created a plan worth Rs. 10,000 crores.

Farmers receive more credit
Possibly next to the logistics industry, agriculture has been struck the most. To assist, the Atmanirbhar plan has released a 1.63 lakh crore agricultural package, which comprises direct farm produce access, fisheries, animal husbandry, and micro food companies.

Education Reforms:
In India, the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan promotes technology-driven, equitable education through several official websites, including PM eVIDYA and the SWAYAM PRABHA DTH channels.

What is the purpose of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan?

The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is required due to the following crucial factors, which are covered below:

• to increase the local manufacturing sector’s percentage of GVA (gross value added). Despite India’s GDP expanding over the past ten years, the manufacturing sector has remained unchanged.
• to increase exports to diminish the over-reliance on imports from other nations and the budget imbalance.
• PM Modi used the Sanskrit word “Eshah Panthah”—which means “self-sufficient India”—when announcing this program. It implies that India’s only option is to become independent. The Mundaka Upanishad refers to this expression.
• To promote regional and indigenous goods from different areas of the nation, the Atmanirbhar Abhiyan is required.
• Several policies date back more than a century. The Indian government will implement various significant reforms through the Atmanirbhar Bharat program in the areas of supply chains for agriculture, rational tax systems, straightforward, understandable laws, human resource management, and a robust financial system.

Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan Drawbacks

Because the package places more emphasis on indirect than direct advantages, it hasn’t been able to inspire corporates with confidence or hope. Instead of depending more on loans, the government ought to have developed programs that would offer monetary assistance.
Loans for MSMEs that are claimed to be collateral-free or unsecured may result in more company defaults and NPAs.
With unsecured loans, the asset quality of the banking sectors—especially PSUs—which are already struggling with bad loan difficulties, might continue to deteriorate.
Increased default rates will further add to the government’s financial burden as it may be required to support failing institutions.
Only 1% of India’s GDP growth would be spent on government expenses overall as a result of the package. Consequently, these actions won’t be sufficient to increase the economy’s demand.

Benefits of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan Scheme

The Indian government initiated the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan program to encourage domestic production and lessen its dependency on imports. The following are some benefits of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan:

• By encouraging domestic production, the initiative seeks to make India self-sufficient while simultaneously reducing imports and boosting the economy of the nation.
• The initiative supports neighborhood companies financially and in other ways to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.
• The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan seeks to lessen India’s dependency on imports from outside, particularly in vital industries like defence and technology, which will improve India’s national security.
• The program attempts to promote and protect India’s rich cultural heritage by supporting local production and goods.

Difficulty Faced by the Atmanirbhar Bharat Scheme

Package’s overestimated numbers
Due to the government’s inclusion of the RBI’s measures in its fiscal package, some analysts and politicians noted that the real government spending amounts to barely 1% of the advertised package.
The effects of credit loosening won’t be felt right away.
Money is guaranteed to reach the people when it is spent directly by the government through direct benefit transfers (DBTs). Banks would be wary about lending the money they have access to because the RBI’s credit easing is not a direct government expenditure.
Not enough demand-side stimulus
Many economists assume that supply-side concerns are the only ones addressed by government stimulus. There is nothing that can generate economic demand.
Lack of funding for state governments
Insufficient money transfers have been made to the state governments, which are the primary players in the pandemic response.
Atmanirbhar Bharata’s care
It takes more than a paradigm change to move away from the historical dependence of the last many decades and towards self-reliance.
Not only do people’s mindsets need to change, but also those of the political elite and the administrative hierarchy.
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Stand-up India, Startup India, Ayushman Bharat, and Yoga Day celebrations, among other programs, not only supported the idea that Indians must seek inside themselves to make the nation clean, healthy, and economically independent, but they also enhanced national pride.
These initiatives helped to develop Atmanirbhar Bharata in many ways.

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan's Five Pillars

The five pillars for building an independent India were announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech on May 12, 2020. To obtain an understanding of the five pillars of the Abhiyan, consider the principles that have been illustrated below.
Economy: Instead of expanding and changing gradually, we should create an economy that is strong enough to make a quantum leap.
System: To develop a technology-based system that can meet the demands and aspirations of the twenty-first century. Unlike before, the current system would receive a complete update.
Infrastructure: Building up the nation’s infrastructure to the point that it becomes the face and identity of contemporary India.
Demography: The country’s millennial population, which is aspirational to raise the country to a worldwide level and transform it from a developing to a developed country, makes up the country’s lively demography. Given that India is the greatest democracy in the world, a lively demographic would have opportunities to flourish and contribute to an independent India.
Demand: To generate a demand cycle, the supply chain must be in proper working order. As a result, Atmanirbhar Bharat seeks to establish a proper cycle of demand and supply within the economy, enabling the requirements of the nation to be met to the utmost extent possible.

Agriculture Sector Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

The agriculture industry has benefited from the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan as well. The initiative’s objectives in the agricultural sector are to advance sustainable farming methods, raise farmers’ incomes, and lessen their reliance on imports.
Additionally, the government has added farmers who raise animals for food to other programs including the Kisan credit card program. NABARD has also assisted farmers by giving rural banks financial support for agricultural loans.

Summary

By expanding the availability of low-cost financing and aiding the agricultural and commercial sectors, the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan approach seeks to significantly increase the supply side. However, there is currently a pressing need for demand stimulation. Both the purchasing power of the general populace and the demand for industrial goods and services must rise.
More than merely India’s advancement or development is the focus of the Atmanirbhar initiative in India. Several other nations will imitate India and travel the path of peace and advancement when that nation, despite all of its difficulties, learns how to tap into the power of its people and shares this knowledge with the rest of the world.
After reading this article, we hope all of your questions about the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” have been answered.