SECURE SYNOPSIS: 13 DECEMBER 2018
NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Issues related to health
Why this question
The government off late has been focussing on the role of generics as a way to reduce health costs and ensuring better health outcomes. The article examines the role of generics as a panacea for India’s disease burden and thus needs to be discussed.
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to discuss the role of generic in reducing the disease burden , bring out the obstacles in this and discuss the way forward.
Directive word
Critically examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any .When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, all you need to do is look at the good and bad of something and give a fair judgement.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Mention that the government, in its efforts to cut down on out-of-pocket expenditure and make affordable healthcare a reality, is relying on a generics-only model. The push for generics witnessed a boom under Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana.
Body
- Explain the advantages offered by generics in reducing disease burden – low cost, enhanced availability etc
- Discuss the obstacles in promoting generics as the panacea for alleviating disease burden – spurious drugs, reduced effectiveness etc
- Thereafter, discuss the enablers in promoting generics – government’s push for the generics-only model by introducing Jan Aushadhi stores nationwide has bolstered the hold of generics in India.
Conclusion – Discuss the role of generics in acting as a panacea for disease and burden and discuss way forward.
Background:-
- In the Indian market, generics hold a whopping 75% share. The government’s push for the generics-only model by introducing Jan Aushadhi stores nationwide has bolstered the hold of generics in India So there is a need to emphasise the consequences of following the generics only model.
How generics help :-
- By promoting generic drug consumption, the government safeguards the health of its generic drug manufacturing industry which is one of the largest suppliers of low-cost medicines in the world.
- Branded generics follow regulatory mechanisms like US FDA and WHO Good Manufacturing Practices, which make them more reliable than generic counterparts.
- As per the latest National Sample Survey Office survey on healthcare, in 2014, medicines emerged as a principal component of total health expenses with 72% in rural areas and 68% in urban areas.
- For a country with one of the highest per capita out-of-pocket expenditures on health, even a modest drop in drug prices will free hundreds of households from the widespread phenomenon of a medical poverty trap.
How generics only model cannot help India reduce disease burden :–
- Medicine procurement and distribution should be driven by global best standards, not lowest price .
- Not only does a low-quality drug delay a patient’s recovery, but also attacks immune system, longer duration of dosages inviting associated comorbidities.
- Lack of quality:-
- CDSCO’s surveillance report shows a range of commonly consumed generic drugs fall short of standard quality-control criteria. Most of India’s generic drugs manufacturers do not follow US FDA guidelines for domestic distribution.
- Substandard medicines may promise affordable healthcare in the present, but in the future results could be catastrophic. Relying on generics alone can be counter-productive in the mission to make India disease-free.
- Lack of qualitative benchmarks :-
- The absence of an international standard drug regulatory mechanism deters Indian doctors from trusting just any generic drug.
- Most Indian pharmacists are ill-equipped to dispense generics with precision.
- Dependence on generics alone would transfer the onus of selecting a drug from the doctor to the pharmacist and could lead to unreliable medical practices where medicines would be dispensed with a profit margin as the driving force.
- Cases of prolonged illness :-
- A sudden shift from branded drugs to generics will only add to the doctors dilemma. A doctor cannot try out generics especially for patients living with life-threatening conditions like pneumonia, worsening asthma, sepsis, etc.
- The drug samples in India are monitored in both central and regional laboratories. However, limited resources and manpower lead to inadequate testing at irregular intervals. This leads to drugs not of standard quality (NSQs) and spurious medicines in the Indian supply chain.
- In 2016, a study on the Spurious and Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) medicines in the supply chain in India comprising of more than 47,000 samples collected scientifically, revealed that more than 10% samples were declared NSQ in the supply chain, of medicines procured by government agencies, compared to the all-India average of 4%.
Way forward:-
- There is a need to educate and certify retailer-pharmacists, and increase the capacity of existing laboratories.
- There is a need for a drug quality assurance set up before the prescription of drugs with generic names, albeit marketed under different trade names, is encouraged.
Conclusion:-
- While the push for a generics-only policy is a step in the right direction, it is important to assess and ensure that Indian generic companies are competent enough to take on the task before institutionalizing such a policy.
- Also, the policy must move beyond rhetoric for in a sector such as health, faulty policy design will directly affect the country’s mortality statistics.
Topic – Part of static series under the heading – “Issues related to poverty and hunger”
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to explain the reasons behind unequal distribution of poverty and hunger. Thereafter, it expects us to suggest certain measures to eradicate poverty and hunger.
Structure of the answer
- Explain the reasons behind unequal distribution of poverty and hunger
- Climatic factors- Areas which are hot makes it difficult for people to work and therefore their capacity to work reduces. This is the usual case in rural areas. Besides that, flood, famine, earthquake and cyclone cause heavy damage to agriculture.
- Rapid growth of population- There is an increased rate of population with no adequate means of livelihood. This aggravates the problem of poverty.
- Size of family- In rural areas, the size of the family is also an issue. The per capita income is low and the families are huge.
- Low agricultural productivity- Some areas are not blessed with good productivity maybe due to bad location or climate or soil. This reduces the agricultural productivity and results into poverty. Etc
- Suggest some measures to eliminate poverty and hunger
- Co-operative Federalism- The states and the centre need to work together to achieve the goals.
- Better implementation and coverage of schemes like MGNREGA.
- Career Counselling programs especially for women. In this way, women can also be active bread earners to the family.
- Effective implementation of Skill India programme in order improve the skills and enable employment to all which in turn will end poverty.
- With respect to Zero Hunger, better implementation of schemes such as MDM in schools, TPDS, better functioning of anganwadis systems, better co-ordination between anganwadis and municipalities for better functioning of Integrated Child Development Scheme and increase in the number of healthcare facilities to arrest the issues of malnutrition especially in rural areas.
Conclusion – Emphasize on the importance of tackling this issue and suggest way forward.
Background:-
- The complex nature of poverty in India may be related with the vulnerability, natural adversities, shocks and uncertainties coupled with inequality and unemployment. It is resulting in uninsured risks of its citizen.
Reasons behind unequal distribution of poverty and hunger :–
- Climatic factors:-
- Areas which are hot makes it difficult for people to work and therefore their capacity to work reduces. This is the usual case in rural areas. Besides that, flood, famine, earthquake and cyclone cause heavy damage to agriculture.
- Rapid growth of population:-
- There is an increased rate of population with no adequate means of livelihood. This aggravates the problem of poverty.
- Size of family:-
- In rural areas, the size of the family is also an issue. The per capita income is low and the families are huge.
- Low agricultural productivity:-
- Some areas are not blessed with good productivity maybe due to bad location or climate or soil. This reduces the agricultural productivity and results into poverty.
- Unequal distribution of land and other assets:-
- Fragmentation of land leads to marginalisation. This results into only a few farmers getting the maximum share of land while others are left with only a meagre land holding. This decreases the potentiality and leads to poverty also.
- Governance failure:-
- While a large number of poverty alleviation programmes have been initiated, they function in silos. There is no systematic attempt to identify people who are in poverty, determine their needs, address them and enable them to move above the poverty line.
- Lack of proper implementation and right targeting
- There has been a lot of overlapping of schemes.
The goal 1 of SDG states No Poverty and the goal 2 states Zero Hunger. Towards this, the following measures can be put into place in India to achieve these goals–
- Co-operative Federalism:-
- The states and the centre need to work together to achieve the goals.
- Better implementation and coverage of schemes like MGNREGA.
- Casual agricultural labour is the largest group that is stuck in poverty, as per data from the socioeconomic caste census. These are the “working poor”, for whom the State has not been able to secure the right to an adequate means of livelihood. This must be addressed.
- There is a geographical dimension to poverty i.e.., concentration of poverty in certain parts of the country. So there should be renewed focus on the poorest districts: to universalise access in these areas and applying indicators that assess performance-based improvement of the most vulnerable.
- Poverty has persisted among certain marginalised groups, especially among the Scheduled Tribes. Hence, the inclusion of tribal girls or women in programmes in the poorest blocks and villages should be used as an indicator of performance.
- Career Counselling programs especially for women. In this way, women can also be active bread earners to the family.
- Better functioning of institutes like ITIs which can provide vocational education and enable students to get jobs.
- Effective implementation of Skill India programme in order improve the skills and enable employment to all which in turn will end poverty.
- With respect to Zero Hunger, better implementation of schemes such as Mid day meals in schools, TPDS, better functioning of anganwadis systems, better co-ordination between anganwadis and municipalities for better functioning of Integrated Child Development Scheme and increase in the number of healthcare facilities to arrest the issues of malnutrition especially in rural areas.
Topic– Part of static series under the heading – “Issues relating to poverty and hunger”
Key demand of the question
The question expects us to first highlight the statistics on poverty, and thereafter use it as an argument in favour of targeted basic income. We need to critically examine the pros and cons of the same and thereafter discuss the way forward.
Directive word
Critically examine – When you are asked to examine, you have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any .When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, all you need to do is look at the good and bad of something and give a fair judgement.
Structure of the answer
Introduction – Highlight facts and figures related to poverty in India to explain that a sizeable section of population is poor.
Body
- Explain the premise of TBI. TBI is premised on the idea that each poor individual needs guaranteed minimum income which they can count on and also provide the necessary material foundation for a life with access to basic goods and a life of dignity . It must ensure that every poor person should have right to basic income to cover their needs just by virtue of being citizens.
- Examine the merits and demerits of TBI. There are several merits of TBI such as Social justice by reducing inequality; assured poverty reduction; insurance against health, income and other shocks; Improving financial inclusion by direct benefit transfer system; psychological benefits by reducing the pressure of finding a basic living on a daily basis and administration efficiency.
- Examine whether TBI concept would work in India. You can give your view by making arguments such as conspicuous spending especially by male beneficiaries; Moral hazard that tt can make people lazy and opt out of the labor market and cause labor market distortion; gender disparity induced by cash where men are likely to exercise control over spending of TBI, which is not always in the case with other kind transfer like PDS; stress on banking system for delivery of TBI and high fiscal costs involved.
Conclusion – Give a fair and balanced view and discuss the way forward.
Background:-
- Targeted basic income is premised on the idea that each poor individual needs guaranteed minimum income which they can count on and also provide the necessary material foundation for a life with access to basic goods and a life of dignity .
- It must ensure that every poor person should have right to basic income to cover their needs just by virtue of being citizens.
Targeted basic income makes sense because of the following reasons:-
- Economists are advocating universal basic incomes for:-
- Fighting Inequality and Slow wage growth
- Countering adverse effects of advancing automation
- Countering fears that immigrants will take away jobs
- Unequal growth distribution:-
- While free trade and technological advances have grown national incomes, not every individual is better off. Redistributive government intervention is needed so that no one is left worse off
- Safety net for the weak:-
- To those too weak, unwell or challenged physically to pick up skills and take up jobs, guaranteed incomes provide a safety net
- Supplements earnings:-
- Where people are skilled and employed, but receive low wages, as seen in the case of handloom weavers or in small enterprises, basic incomes can supplement earnings and support welfare.
- Case study from Madhya Pradesh where basic income was initiated:-
- Rise in nutrition intake:-
- Specifically, consumption of pulses, fresh vegetables and meat was up 1,000%, 888% and 600% respectively. As a result, incidence of illness dropped. Enrolment and attendance, especially among female students, in schools improved
- It resulted in more equitable development. On receiving the payments, marginalised individuals began exercising agency within their households and the community
- There were also cursory economic benefits as villagers worked harder than before, with a number of adults engaging in two economic activities.
- Indebtedness decreased as the propensity to save increased over the pilot period.
- Rise in nutrition intake:-
- International experience:-
- Evidence from Indonesia and Peru shows that existing targeting methods in developing countries appear to deliver substantial improvements in welfare compared with universal programs because they can transfer much more on a per-beneficiary basis to the poor as compared with universal programs.
However this system may not work well for India :-
- Conspicuous spending especially by male beneficiaries
- Moral hazard that can make people lazy and opt out of the labour market and cause labor market distortion
- Gender disparity induced by cash where men are likely to exercise control over spending of basic income, which is not always in the case with other kind transfer like PDS
- Stress on banking system for delivery of basic income and high fiscal costs involved.
- If a basic income is introduced in addition to the two statutory income transfer schemes for food (Food Security Act) and wage jobs (MGNREGS) already in place, the government’s deficit will mount.
Conclusion:-
- Creating sustainable funding sources for it, whether by way of new taxes or by streamlining entrenched subsidies and incentives, will still be a challenge but need to be addressed.
Topic– Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
Why this question
In a country like India where poverty is rampant and inequalities glare NFSA is an important legislation catering to the food security and nutritional security of the pregnant women. However PMMVY, which was introduced a few years back has diluted the provisions of the act.
Directive word
Examine- here we have to probe deeper into the topic, get into details, and find out the causes or implications if any.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to dig deeper into the PMMVY and the NFSA and bring out the reasons as to how the former dilutes the provisions of the later and how it has increased the hardships of the poor pregnant women.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– mention that Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) of 2013, every pregnant woman is entitled to maternity benefits of ₹6,000, unless she is already receiving similar benefits as a government employee or under other laws.
Body-
Discuss about the PMMVY in detail and discuss how it violates the NFSA in several ways. E.g
First, the benefits have been reduced from ₹6,000 to ₹5,000 per child. Second, they are now restricted to the first living child. Third, they are further restricted to women above the age of 18 years.; The scheme largely defeats the purpose it is supposed to serve because first-order births account for only 43% of all births in India; The application process is cumbersome and exclusionary: a separate form has to be filled, signed and submitted for each of the three instalments; The compulsory linking of the applicant’s bank account with Aadhaar often causes problems; Further, the PMMVY provides little assistance to women who lose their baby, because the successive payments are made only if the corresponding conditionalities are met etc.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Background:-
- Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) of 2013, every pregnant woman is entitled to maternity benefits of Rs. 6,000, unless she is already receiving similar benefits as a government employee or under other laws.
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) violates the NFSA in several ways:-
- The benefits have been reduced from 6,000 to Rs. 5,000 per child.
- The benefits are now restricted to the first living child.
- The benefits are further restricted to women above the age of 18 years.
- The scheme largely defeats the purpose it is supposed to serve: according to a recent analysis, it excludes more than half of all pregnancies because first-order births account for only 43% of all births in India.
- Application process is cumbersome and exclusionary: a separate form has to be filled, signed and submitted for each of the three instalments, along with a copy of the applicant’s mother-child protection card, her Aadhaar card, her husband’s Aadhaar card, and the details of a bank account linked to her Aadhaar number. The compulsory linking of the applicant’s bank account with Aadhaar often causes problems.
- The PMMVY provides little assistance to women who lose their baby, because the successive payments are made only if the corresponding conditionalities are met.
- The amount of money given to women in the informal sector under the PMMVY falls far short of what women in the formal sector get under the Maternity Benefits Act.
How to address this?
- Companies are less likely to discriminate against women if government shares the cost. The 2018 ILO report emphasises the need for government to share at least 2/3rds of maternity benefits costs.
- Parental leave :-
- It is better to give paternity leave or non-transferable quotas of parental leave. Nearly 55% countries recognise father’s role and give paternity leave in varying degrees.
- Matching paternity and maternity leave would create a level playing field by reducing employer discrimination.
- Iceland grants 9 months of parental leave with 3 reserved for the mother, 3 for the father, and 3 to be shared between them.
- Offering flexible work time for both sexes can help with work-life balance.
- Facilities :-
- Providing good crèches and childcare centres, not just for care but also for early childhood development, is crucial.
- SMEs located in close proximity could pool resources for creating crèches, rather than each creating its own. This would benefit women across all sectors, formal and informal.
- in Japan, government’s expansion of high quality childcare centres significantly increased women’s work participation
- Awareness:-
- Media campaigns to change social norms, favouring childcare by fathers are essential.
- There is a need for more comprehensive and gender-balanced alterations to the maternity benefit act.
General Studies – 3
Topic-Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
5) What do you think India needs to do to become a 5 trillion dollar economy. Discuss.(250 words)
Why this question
In this article, Raghuram Rajan provides insights into the conditions in India and provides suggestions as to what needs to be done by India to double the size of its economy.
Directive word
Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the steps needed to be taken/ reforms needed to be made etc in order to make India a 5 trillion dollar economy.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the size of Indian economy and the present trends of growth.
Body-
Discuss in points, what needs to be done to make India a 5 trillion dollar economy. E.g Need for strong institutions and regulators especially in the fields of environment and finance; need for environmentally sustainable growth; need to improve the Child nutrition and learning outcomes; Need for creating employment opportunities for the vast youth of India etc.
Conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Background :-
- India registered a growth rate of over 6.7 per cent last year and is being pegged as the fastest-growing economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
What India needs to do to become a trillion dollar economy :-
- Focus on equity and employment :-
- India actually need more equitable growth than today. Reports of 25 million people applying for 90,000 railway jobs is something that suggests there is not enough supply of jobs in the market.
- Need for creating employment opportunities for the vast youth of India
- Institutional strength:-
- The factor that helps India grow in a healthy way is strong institutions, whether it is the pollution regulator, the emissions regulator or whether it is the financial regulator. They have to stand as independent bodies to ensure India’s growth is healthy and stable.
- Infrastructure:-
- Key to stronger growth will have to be areas like construction where building the infrastructure that India needs, will employ a lot more people and create jobs for people leaving agriculture as well as for modestly educated people from urban areas.
- There is a very strong need for oil hedging mechanism for India which is so dependent on oil.
-
- India needs to diversify its oil import basket.
- Many countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE are willing to step in if Iranian imports stop. India needs to negotiate this further and also deal with the US on the issue of sanctions waiver.
- India needs to diversify its oil import basket.
- Quality of education:-
- There is a need to shift towards improving the quality of education and that means a lot of remedial education to ensure that children are not left
- Research:-
- Focus on improving the quality of research or the quality of our universities and as a by-product our companies will also get better.
- Have a robust and reliable data so that economic decision makers can take decisions on that basis.
- Healthcare:-
- Need to improve the Child nutrition and learning outcomes
- Long-term systemic reform of agriculture needs to continue by making procurement system stronger
- Strengthening Banking sector:-
- There is a need to creation of bad bank ,asset management company, asset reconstruction company to take care of huge NPA.
Topic -Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation,
Why this question
As various scientific reports suggest, the world is not doing enough to bridle the climate change and the threats associated with environmental degradation have only increased with time. The article discusses the reasons for the failure to act as required in order to conserve our environment.
Directive word
Comment- here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to express our opinion as to whether most of the environmental struggles across the world are affected by the tussle between the popular politics and the people’s right to safe environment, or not. We have to justify our opinion with proper discussion and presentation of valid arguments and facts.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– mention about some of the important environmental struggles/ movements which involved a tussle between the politics and people’s rights. E.g Narmada Bachao, Chipko movement, Niyamgiri Hills people’s struggle etc.
Body-
- Bring out the contest between popular politics and people’s right to safe and sustainable environment. E.g Sustainable development goals developed by UN and agreed to by all the nations have been included in the school syllabus in India but their presence is merely nominal in the country; Policy documents include environmental concerns, but prioritise economic growth; In the context of globalisation, most countries propagate competitive nationalism etc.
- Discuss the role of individual people in environmental degradation- driven by materialism, increased incomes, more liberty but lack of sense of duty etc.
Conclusion– based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Background:-
- India continues to grapple with several environmental issues like air and water pollution, and those related to plastic and solid waste management, which demand swift action to protect nature.
Environmental struggles :-
- Chipko movement:-
- In the wake of reckless deforestation, a unique movement has bubbled in 1982. The 1980s saw the debate on environment move from just deforestation to the larger issues of depletion of natural resources.
- Silent Valley hydroelectric project was to dam the Kunthipuzha River, submerging the entire biosphere reserve and destroying its four-million-year-old rainforests.
- In 1980, the M.G.K. Menon Committee set up to review the project, came out with a recommendation to scrap it. This grassroots movement became the bedrock of Indian environmental activism
- Jungle bachao Andolan:-
- The tribals of Singhbhum district of Bihar bubbled up a protest when the government decided to replace the natural sal forests with highly-priced teak, a move that was termed “a greed game, political populism”
- Narmada Bachao Andolan announced the arrival of the India Greens, protesting against destructive development.
- One of the largest and most successful environmental campaigns, Narmada Bachao Andolan began with a wide developmental agenda, questioning the very rationale of large dam projects in India
How environmental struggles across the world are caught in sharply divided goals of popular politics and people’s right to live in safe and sustainable environment:-
- Global leaders see climate change as an irritating discourse, they also think it has no substance or truth. These leaders believe that no goal should override high industrial and economic growth.
- As for the threat of climate change, these leaders deny it and blame activist scientists for creating and spreading a myth.
- Those who espouse environmental causes are often seen as romantics while people who support fast economic growth based on rapid industrialization are perceived as practical realists.
- For more than two decades, there has been a lively environmental debate along with a high degree of legislative activity in India. However, there is vast agreement that the results of various reforms and regulations have been disappointing. Implementation has been poor.
- Even in the recent G20 summit there have been no concrete developments with respect to environment.
- Sustainable developmental goals have only a nominal presence in school curriculum.
- In the context of globalisation, most countries propagate competitive nationalism.
Even the individual plays a significant role in environmental degradation :-
- People around the world are also equally responsible for the current apathy towards environment. Despite laws people don’t abide by them and take environment protection is a very casual way with no sense of duty.
- With more incomes and economic growth people are driven by materialistic approach .
Way forward:-
- Transport conservation is another thing we can do since one of the biggest sources of greenhouses gases is transportation. Make better transport choices by choosing the least damaging option.
- Recycle, reuse, and compost:-
- Recycling involves cutting down on waste and energy consumption by turning used items such as plastic bottles into new items. Reusing involves cutting down on waste by reusing items such as grocery bags. Composting involving using food waste to help create nutrient-rich soil rather than landfill waste.
- India must review the programmes that it has been pursuing to revive forests, and move away from monoculture plantationsthat are favoured by even forest development corporations in many States.
- Scientific reforms to bring true nature back are needed.
- Landfills are constantly on fire exposing lakhs of people to carcinogenic emissions. This is a common problem in all cities. If people segregated garbage at home, there would be no burning of waste. People can also choose public transport, or pick electric and CNG vehicles.
General Studies – 4
Topic– Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships.
Directive word
Discuss- this is an all-encompassing directive which mandates us to write in detail about the key demand of the question. we also have to discuss about the related and important aspects of the question in order to bring out a complete picture of the issue in hand.
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to write in detail about the ethics of care theory and bring out the differences between it and the other major Western ethical theories.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines about the ethics of care theory. E.g Ethics of Care, also known as Care Ethics, has developed historically from the feminist tradition of recognizing, and requiring, that we can and should respond to marginalized members of the community with care and empathy.
Body-
- DIscuss about the theory in further detail. E.g Carol Gilligan is credited as being the founder of the EoC. promoted the view that women tended to emphasize empathy and compassion over the notions of justice-based morality; The moral duty of care, which is at the heart of EoC theory, can be contrasted with the legal standard of care, which does not oblige a person to assist others (outside of the narrow class of persons where a legal duty is imposed); The EoC advocates a moral obligation to provide care for marginalized segments of society. Where the carer is the beneficiary of a system established upon and perpetuating historical and/or current inequality, the EoC perspective would call for a heightened duty to care for others etc.
- Discuss the differences between the ethics of care theory and the other major western ethical theories. E.g While deontology and utilitarianism demand impartiality above all, EoC focuses on the moral importance of relationships with families and groups, and on how individuals or societies should respond to a situation or person requiring care; EoC differs from virtue ethics because it focuses on the caring relations rather than the virtues of individuals; In this sense, EoC is a relational ethics, a framework that includes many non-Western ethical approaches such as Chinese Confucian ethics and the African ethics of Ubuntu.
Conclusion- based on your discussion, form a fair and a balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Answer:-
Ethics of care:-
- The ethics of care” implies that there is moral significance in the fundamental elements of relationships and dependencies in human life. Normatively, care ethics seeks to maintain relationships by contextualizing and promoting the well-being of caregivers and care-receivers in a network of social relations.
- Most often defined as a practice or virtue rather than a theory as such, “care” involves maintaining the world of, and meeting the needs of, ourselves and others. It builds on the motivation to care for those who are dependent and vulnerable, and it is inspired by both memories of being cared for and the idealizations of self.
How does it have a different approach:-
- The key characteristics of an Ethics of care perspective are:
- The complexity and variation in degrees of dependence and interdependence between people and institutions over time are acknowledged and considered.
- Those people particularly impacted by our choices need to be considered carefully in our decision-making. Those especially vulnerable deserve extra consideration, love and care.
- Rather than relying on a “blanket” or “one size fits all” approach, it is necessary to attend to contextual details of situations in order to safeguard and promote the actual specific interests of those involved.
- The moral duty of care, which is at the heart of Ethics of care theory, can be contrasted with the legal standard of care, which does not oblige a person to assist others .
- The EoC advocates a moral obligation to provide care for marginalized segments of society. Where the carer is the beneficiary of a system established upon and perpetuating historical and/or current inequality, the EoC perspective would call for a heightened duty to care for others etc.
How does it differ from other major western ethical theories:-
- Ethics of care(EoC) differs from the three major Western ethical theories namely: utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics.
- While deontology and utilitarianism demand impartiality above all, EoC focuses on the moral importance of relationships with families and groups, and on how individuals or societies should respond to a situation or person requiring care.
- EoC differs from virtue ethics because it focuses on the caring relations rather than the virtues of individuals. In this sense, EoC is a relational ethics, a framework that includes many non-Western ethical approaches such as Chinese Confucian ethics and the African ethics of Ubuntu.
- Ubuntu conceptualizes power as deriving from immaterial force rather than from material resources such as wealth, weapons, physical strength or natural resources
