<h1>Union Cabinet Approves Funding Shift for Universal Service Obligation Fund Schemes to Boost Performance and Monitoring.</h1> The Union Cabinet approved a change in the funding arrangement for the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) schemes, including the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) project. The funding will shift from Non-Plan to Plan allocation in the budget, as advised by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. This change aims to enhance appraisal, monitoring, and performance evaluation. Previously, the Department of Telecommunications proposed maintaining budget allocations under the Non-Plan Budget to avoid delays. The NOFN scheme, aimed at providing broadband connectivity to Panchayats, was initially approved by the Cabinet in October 2011.