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 – 1
Reference: New Indian Express
Introduction
Sculpture art is one of the most ancient art forms in India. Archaeological studies have confirmed that Indians were familiar with sculptures about 4000 years before. Sculpture was the favoured medium of artistic expression on the Indian subcontinent. Indian buildings were profusely adorned with it and indeed are often inseparable from it. The subject matter of Indian sculpture was almost invariably abstracted human forms that were used to instruct people in the truths of the Hindu, Buddhist, or Jain religions.
Body
Tracing development of sculpture from ancient to medieval India
- Indus Valley Civilization: Sculpture representation started with knowledge of Terracotta and effective chiselling of stones. The Lost Wax Technique or the ‘Cire-Perdu’ process has been known from the time of the Indus Valley Civilization itself.
-
- The statue of the Dancing Girl found from Mohenjo Daro is one of the finest examples of Indus Valley art.
- The figurine is about 4 inches tall. Datable to 2500 BC. It is said to be in the tribhanga it is one of the oldest bronze sculpture.
- Bronze sculptures and statuettes of various icons of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism have been found from various parts of India dating from the 2nd century CE to the 16th century CE.
- Most of the images were used for religious and ritualistic purposes.
- The metal casting process was also used for making articles of daily use like utensils.
- Gupta and pre-Gupta period: Buddha sculptures were abundantly found. The Sanghati or the robe is wrapped over the shoulders and turn over the right arm, while the other end of the robe covers the left arm.
- The clothes of the Buddha figures are thin.
- Youthful and proportionate figures.
- Pallavas: Best Pallava bronze is the Icon of Shiva in Ardhaparyanka asana (one leg kept dangling).
- Right hand in Achamana Mudra (indicating he is about to consume poison).
- Cholas (10th -12th Century): Chola bronze art is the most sought-after today in the world of art and exquisite pieces of art developed during this period. This technique is still practised in south India, particularly in Kumbakonam.
- Their World-famous work is Shiva as Nataraja where Shiva’s dance is associated with the end of the cosmic world.
- Ardhanarisvara image: Union of Shiva and Parvati is represented.
- Vijayanagar (16th century): Portrait sculpture is seen wherein artists tried to preserve the knowledge of the royal patrons for the future generation. Tirupati: There is a life-size standing bronze sculpture of King Krishnadevaraya with his 2 queens Tirumalamba and Chinnadevi.
Religion as influence in scultpure art
- It is universally accepted that art and culture is the mirror of society. Even during stone ages, ancient people used cave drawings to express and communicate their experiences and thoughts. India is a land of art and culture.
- Indian art is considered to have originated during the Indus Valley Civilization, around 2500 BC. Indian paintings during the time were often inspired by nature, and spirituality, making it stands out in terms of religious content and aesthetics, an aspect that is appreciated worldwide even today.
- Hinduism: Sculptures of Hindu deities from mythology, puranas, scriptures are depicted widely throughout the centuries.
- Buddhism: Buddhism has influenced the artists from the time of its origin and continues to inspire them even today. Ajanta caves in Maharashtra have stones carved in the shape and imagery of Gautam Buddha, depicting stories from his life. It is mindboggling to see how hills were cut to make caves, and how huge rock was transformed into huge human figurines with limited resources.
- Influence of Islam: Buland Darwaza of Fatehpur Sikri, Taj Mahal in Agra and Shalimar Bagh in Kashmir are some primary examples of Mughal art and architecture.
Conclusion
All in all, India and its art sector have a history to depict the saga of those religions. In return, these religions are known to supply space to Indian paintings, sculptures, music, or allied art in their inheritance. While religion influences art, art also features a reaction to religion. The religious influence of art has defiantly been around for hundreds of years and plays a crucial role to the history of art. These art works help folks that are trying to find peace, security, and hope. Religious paintings are expressions of spiritual themes and principles from the attitude of people who are of various denominations and non-secular groups. Religious paintings are used for both decorative and reflective purposes.
Reference: Indian Express
Introduction
According to Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, “Person with disability” means a person with long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, in interaction with barriers, hinders his full and effective participation in society equally with others. According to Census 2011, India is home to 26.8 million people with disabilities and that is a huge underestimation.
The Supreme Court, in Avni Prakash v National Testing Agency and Ors. judgment ruled that, reasonable accommodations, such as compensatory time to enable them to finish an exam, should be made.
Body:
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: A landmark step for disabled
- It becomes the duty of the Union, states as well as Union Territories to take up the matter.
- It is also important to ensure that all government buses are disabled friendly in accordance with the harmonized guidelines.
- Disability has been defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept.
- The types of disabilities have been increased from 7 to 21. The act added mental illness, autism, spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, speech and language disability, thalassemia, haemophilia, sickle cell disease, multiple disabilities including deaf blindness, acid attack victims and Parkinson’s disease which were largely ignored in earlier act. In addition, the Government has been authorized to notify any other category of specified disability.
- It increases the quantum of reservationfor people suffering from disabilities from 3% to 4% in government jobs and from 3% to 5% in higher education institutes.
- Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education.
- Government funded educational institutions as well as the government recognized institutions will have to provide inclusive education.
- Stress has been given to ensure accessibility in public buildingsin a prescribed time frame along with Accessible India Campaign.
- The Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners will act as regulatory bodies and Grievance Redressal agencies, monitoring implementation of the Act.
- A separate National and State Fundbe created to provide financial support to the persons with disabilities.
Shortcomings of the act
- The Bill strangely makes the clauses on non-discrimination in employment mandatory only in government establishments.
- The Bill continues with the 1995 act’s provision of having a chief commissioner and state commissioners. Neither the commissioners nor any of the members of their advisory committees are required to be Persons with Disabilities.
- Despite a Supreme Court judgment in 2013 that reservations should be decided on the basis of the total number of vacancies in a particular cadre, rather than the posts identified by the government to be filled by persons with benchmark disabilities, the bill has stuck to the latter.
- Also, like it does for the institutions wanting to be registered as ones for PWDs, the bill does not specify the time frame for a certificate of disability to be issued. This gives PWDs no way to address the trials and tribulations they face when tackling the bureaucracy in receiving what has been their right for years now.
- The amended bill does define public buildings and public facilities and services towards making such infrastructure accessible to PWDs in a “barrier-free” manner. However, for all the benefits that this bill strives to provide, basic issues of accessibility, including to information and communication technology, and certification of disability remain a distant unfulfilled dream in the absence of any political will.
Way forward
- Although RPWD Act, 2016 is a rights-based legislation, the success of the statute will largely depend on the proactive measures taken by the respective state governments on its implementation.
- It is time to leverage this vast human capital. It is hoped that the proposed new law, a robust rights-based legislation with a strong institutional mechanism, shall ensure enjoyment of rights by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with the non-disabled citizens of India.
- Many disability certificates can now be issued by primary health care doctors after specific training, which will be a boon to many disabled patients in rural areas. However, the disability guidelines should have also given the power of certification to the private practising doctors, so that the shortage of human resources could have been taken care of, with adequate checks and balances.
- Considering the sociocultural prejudices against them, and the inability, rather the refusal, to keep in mind the needs of PWDs, this bill, as was the fate of the 1995 act, will go only so far to ensure for them the rights that should have been a given. Till they are treated as second-class citizens, and not recognised as capable individuals in their own right, India will continue to be an unjust and inequitable society.
Conclusion
Until each of us is firmly committed to the idea of implementing the two fundamental changes sketched above, we will continue to live in an environment in which, even as we sing praises of the disabled who achieve success despite the obstacles placed on their path, we do not pause to reflect on what it is that makes it so hard for them to succeed in the first place and what we can do to reverse this state of affairs.
Value addition
Major provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016:
- Disabilities covered:
- Disability has been defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept.
- The types of disabilities have been increased from existing 7 to 21 and the Central Government will have the power to add more types of disabilities.
- Persons with “benchmark disabilities” are defined as those certified to have at least 40 per cent of the disabilities specified above.
- Rights and entitlements
- Responsibility has been cast upon the appropriate governments to take effective measures to ensure that the persons with disabilities enjoy their rights equally with others.
- Additional benefits such as reservation in higher education (not less than 5%), government jobs (not less than 4 %), reservation in allocation of land, poverty alleviation schemes (5% allotment) etc. have been provided for persons with benchmark disabilities and those with high support needs.
- Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education.
- Government funded educational institutions as well as the government recognized institutions will have to provide inclusive education to the children with disabilities.
- For strengthening the Prime Minister’s Accessible India Campaign, stress has been given to ensure accessibility in public buildings (both Government and private) in a prescribed time-frame.
- Guardianship
- The Act provides for grant of guardianship by District Court under which there will be joint decision – making between the guardian and the persons with disabilities.
- Establishment of Authorities
- Broad based Central & State Advisory Boards on Disability are to be set up to serve as apex policy making bodies at the Central and State level.
- Office of Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities has been strengthened who will now be assisted by 2 Commissioners and an Advisory Committee comprising of not more than 11 members drawn from experts in various disabilities.
- Similarly, the office of State Commissioners of Disabilities has been strengthened who will be assisted by an Advisory Committee comprising of not more than 5 members drawn from experts in various disabilities.
- The Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners will act as regulatory bodies and Grievance Redressal agencies and also monitor implementation of the Act.
- District level committees will be constituted by the State Governments to address local concerns of PwDs. Details of their constitution and the functions of such committees would be prescribed by the State Governments in the rules.
- Creation of National and State Fund will be created to provide financial support to the persons with disabilities. The existing National Fund for Persons with Disabilities and the Trust Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities will be subsumed with the National Fund.
- Penalties for offences
- The Act provides for penalties for offences committed against persons with disabilities and also violation of the provisions of the new law.
- Any person who violates provisions of the Act, or any rule or regulation made under it, shall be punishable with imprisonment up to six months and/ or a fine of Rs 10,000, or both. For any subsequent violation, imprisonment of up to two years and/or a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs five lakh can be awarded.
- Whoever intentionally insults or intimidates a person with disability, or sexually exploits a woman or child with disability, shall be punishable with imprisonment between six months to five years and fine.
- Special Courts will be designated in each district to handle cases concerning violation of rights of PwDs.
General Studies – 2
Reference: New Indian Express
Introduction
Electoral bonds will allow donors to pay political parties using banks as an intermediary. Although called a bond, the banking instrument resembling promissory notes will not carry any interest. The electoral bond, which will be a bearer instrument, will not carry the name of the payee and can be bought for any value, in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh or Rs 1 crore.
Electoral bonds have received tremendous attention and scrutiny as a unique poll funding instrument since their introduction in 2018. Critics have termed this a significant step backward in achieving the goal of transparency in political funding.
Body
Rationale behind the electoral bonds:
- Electoral bonds have been introduced to promote transparency in funding and donation received by political parties.
- The scheme envisages building a transparent system of acquiring bonds with validated KYC and an audit trail. A limited window and a very short maturity period would make misuse improbable.
- The electoral bonds will prompt donors to take the banking route to donate, with their identity captured by the issuing authority. This will ensure transparency and accountability and is a big step towards electoral reform.
- The previous system of cash donations from anonymous sources is wholly non-transparent. The donor, the donee, the quantum of donations and the nature of expenditure are all undisclosed.
- According to government the system of Bonds will encourage political donations of clean money from individuals, companies, HUF, religious groups, charities, etc.
- After purchasing the bonds, these entities can hand them to political parties of their choice, which must redeem them within the prescribed time.
- Some element of transparency would be introduced in as much as all donors declare in their accounts the amount of bonds that they have purchased and all parties declare the quantum of bonds that they have received.
- The electoral bonds are aimed at rooting out the current system of largely anonymous cash donations made to political parties which lead to the generation of black money in the economy.
Findings on Electoral bonds:
- Since its introduction, electoral bonds have become an essential source of financing for all major political parties.
- Between March 2018 and January 2021, electoral bonds worth Rs 6,514.50 crore were redeemed by parties.
- While the ruling BJP has managed to receive the lion’s share (60.17%) of political funding made through the bonds, over half of the total income of all national and regional parties too was contributed through this method.
- for both the principal political parties, it seems that the quantum of political donations channelised through cash donations/non-identifiable sources has decreased substantially.
- Instead, today more funds are channelised through the formal banking system. This was not the case with the earlier system in which half of the political donations were not traceable as they were made in cash form.
- Viewed from this angle, the electoral bonds scheme is an improvement over the previous system.
electoral bonds have only legitimized opacity:
- The move could be misused, given the lack of disclosure requirements for individuals purchasing electoral bonds.
- Electoral bonds make electoral funding even more opaque. It will bring more and more black money into the political system. electoral bonds would cause a “serious impact” on transparency in funding of political parties
- With electoral bonds there can be a legal channel for companies to round-trip their tax haven cash to a political party. If this could be arranged, then a businessman could lobby for a change in policy, and legally funnel a part of the profits accruing from this policy change to the politician or party that brought it about.
- The amendments would pump in black money for political funding through shell companies and allow “unchecked foreign funding of political parties in India which could lead to Indian politics being influenced by foreign companies
- Companies no longer need to declare the names of the parties to which they have donated so shareholders won’t know where their money has gone.
- They have potential to load the dice heavily in favour of the ruling party as the donor bank and the receiver bank know the identity of the person. But both the banks report to the RBI which, in turn, is subject to the Central government’s will to know.
Alternative mechanisms for electoral funding:
- According to Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, an alternative worth exploring is a National Electoral Fund to which all donors can contribute.
- The funds would be allocated to political parties in proportion to the votes they get. Not only would this protect the identity of donors, it would also weed out black money from political funding.
- The total cost of MPLADS funding for all MPs is nearly ₹4,000 crore every year, and scrapping the scheme even for one year in an MP’s five-year term will be enough to bankroll state funding of Lok Sabha candidates. This is a legalized way of allowing MPs and MLAs to shower money on their constituencies at state expense.
- Direct funding of candidates, who will be reimbursed according to their final share of the votes cast.
- The best way to bring about such transparency in political funding is to put a complete ban on cash donations by individuals or companies to political parties.
- Making it mandatory for all parties to receive donations only by cheque, or other modes of money transfer.
- There should be clear provisions for getting tax benefits for all those making such donations.
- Make it mandatory for political parties to submit details of all donations received with the Election Commission and also with the income-tax department.
- State funding of political parties can be considered. The Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Funding of Elections had endorsed partial state funding of recognised political parties.
- The mechanics of this process need to be carefully worked out to establish the allocation of money to national parties, State parties and independent candidates, and to check candidate’s own expenditure over and above that which is provided by the state.
- Voters have to be made aware through awareness campaigns about ill effects of money power during elections. Bringing political parties under the preview of RTI act.
Conclusion
The 255th Law Commission Report on Electoral Reforms observed that opacity in political funding results in “lobbying and capture” of the government by big donors. Various commissions, including the Election Commission, have given detailed recommendations on suitable remedies. Public funding needs to be examined and introduced with proper checks and balances.
Reference: The Hindu
Introduction
In line with the “Neighborhood First” approach and the “Sagar” doctrine, New Delhi attaches “a special priority” to its relations with Colombo. However, fishermen issues are persisting since a long time. Palk Bay, a narrow strip of water separating the State of Tamil Nadu from the Northern Province of Sri Lanka is a rich fishing ground for both countries and continues to be the disputed space. The major issue in Indo-Sri Lankan relations is the ongoing disagreement over the territorial rights of the island of Katchatheevu.
Body
Fishermen issues: Major concerns
- Sri Lanka has accused Indian fishermen of frequent poaching in the island nation’s waters, and damaging the marine environment through frequent trawling.
- As in the past, fishermen from Rameswaram and nearby coasts continue to sail towards Talaimannar and Katchatheevu coasts, a region famous for rich maritime resources in Sri Lanka.
- Plenty of catch in this oceanic region had triggered a proliferation of fishing trawlers in Tamil Nadu coast in the past three decades.
- There were many favourable reasons too for Indian fishermen as their access to Sri Lankan waters was easier at the time of Sri Lankan civil war.
- Bottom trawling: In July 2017, Sri Lanka became the first Asian country to ban the aggressive method of fishing and declared it an offence by unanimously passing an amendment to the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act, attracting a fine of LKR 50,000 with two years of imprisonment.
- Since then many Indians were jailed.
- Political issue: While the conflict is multilayered, its political dimension has tended to overshadow other important factors.
- It has been often a sensitive political issue in Tamil Nadu in the past one decade.
- Indians jailed: In particular, Indian analysts say, the trauma faced by the families of
fishermen detained in foreign jails hasn’t received much attention.
-
- It is pertinent that in most cases, the arrested fisher-folk have been the sole earners for their families.
- Their incarceration in Sri Lankan jails has inflicted trauma and suffering on their families.
- Katchateevu issue: While the unpopular truth in the entire conflict is accusations about Tamil fishermen entering Sri Lankan waters, ownership of Katchatheevu island, where Tamil fishermen had traditional fishing rights for centuries, also remains an unresolved issue.
Resolution of fishermen issues
- The department of ocean development and ministry of agriculture have to ensure assistance to the states so that fishermen are able to find alternative livelihood to fishing in Palk Bay.
- The Sri Lankan Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Minister appointed a three-member committee to find a lasting solution to the issue.
- According to the minister, India had accepted a draft solution submitted by Sri Lanka in January last year, but further progress was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Sri Lanka had suggested joint patrols and operations between the two countries to guarantee effective results on illegal fishing and trespassing. There is an immediate need to sign a protocol for joint patrolling.
- If both countries are unable to settle the dispute, then they could seek assistance from international maritime experts.
- The Indian government has renewed the thrust on ocean economy in recent times with the PM signing MoU on ocean economy with Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Maldives in 2015.
- Both countries have agreed on certain practical arrangements to deal with the issue of bona fide fishermen of either side crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
- Through these arrangements, it has been possible to deal with the issue of detention of fishermen in a humane manner.
- India and Sri Lanka have agreed to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries between the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare of India and Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development of Sri Lanka as the mechanism to help find a permanent solution to the fishermen issue.
Conclusion
Despite having met more than once since 2016, a solution is yet to be finalized. Irrespective of the circumstances, a potential solution to the dispute relies on the response from the respective governments of India and Sri Lanka. There is a glaring need for institutionalisation of fishing in Indian waters by the government of India so that alternative means of livelihood are provided. Government will have to mark up a comprehensive plan to reduce the dependence of Indian fishermen on catch from Palk Bay.
Value addition
Kachchatheevu island
- Kachchatheevu is a small island located about 10 miles north east of Rameshwaram.
- The fishermen used it to dry their nets and catch fish.
- When the Zamindari system was abolished, Kachchatheevu became a part of the Presidency of Madras.
- When India became independent and initiated a boundary negotiation at the maritime level with Sri Lanka, Kachchatheevu was a disputed territory between Ceylon and the British and there was never an agreement on boundary ever.
- In 1947 and 1976, as per agreements, the issue was bilaterally resolved between India and Sri Lanka, and the resultant maritime agreement has allowed Indians to visit Kachchatheevu for pilgrimage for which no visa is required.
- The Indian government has maintained that the right of access to Kachchatheevu does not cover any fishing rights.
General Studies – 3
Reference: Live Mint
Introduction
The Reserve Bank of India on October 4 gave licence to the Rs 6,000 crore National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL), a move that will help kickstart operations of the bad bank. K V Kamath Committee also suggested setting up Bad bank to revive sectors such as Trade, Textile, NBFCs, Steel and construction, etc.
Body
Overview on Non-Performing Assets and need for bad bank
- Scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) were carrying NPAs worth Rs 8.96 lakh crore on their balance sheet at the end of March 2020.
- Likely resurgence in NPAs: With Covid-related stress, Indian banks are expected to see a resurgence in their non-performing loans from 8.34-lakh crore in end-FY21 to ₹10-11 lakh crore by end of this fiscal.
- Declining performance of IBC: The IBC of late is following the law of diminishing returns—after the initial success of selling a few big steel mills and other good assets, where the lenders recovered well over 50% of their dues, things have gone downhill.
- In some high-profile cases, such as Videocon, Ruchi Soya and Jet Airways, the lenders have hardly recovered 5-6% of their dues.
- Pending cases: Also, too many cases and too few NCLT judges have meant pile-ups and most resolutions taking twice the time limit originally set under the IBC.
- Problem with existing ARCs: Also, the asset construction route has also run into issues. Here too the recoveries have slowed and the ARCs are also facing capital issues.
- Their security receipts are being downgraded by rating agencies as the recovery expectations move downwards.
About National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL)
- It will be a five-year guarantee for the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL)-issued security receipts to banks.
- Under the proposed mechanism, the NARCL will acquire assets by making an offer to the lead bank.
- Private sector asset reconstruction firms (ARCs) may also be allowed to outbid the NARCL.
- Separately, public and private lenders will combine forces to set up an India Debt Resolution Company (IDRC) that will manage these assets and try to raise their value for final resolution.
- A 15% cash payment would be made to the banks based on some valuation and the rest will be given as security receipts.
- Once the NARCL and the IDRC have finally resolved the asset, the balance 85% held as security receipts would be given to the banks.
- If the bad bank is unable to sell the bad loan, or has to sell it at a loss, then the government guarantee will be invoked and the difference between what the commercial bank was supposed to get and what the bad bank was able to raise will be paid from the Rs 6000 crore that has been provided by the government
Potential of NARCL
- While there are 28 ARCs in the private sector, there was a need for government-backed receipts for big ticket resolutions.
- The government guarantee for the proposed security receipts is a positive stepping stone for unlocking stressed assets’ value.
- The upfront cash payment by the NARCL to banks will immediately be accretive for the profitability and capital of the banks, however the ability of the NARCL to resolve these assets in a time-bound manner will be critical for future provision writeback by banks
- The whole idea is to ensure that these assets for which this whole set-up is being created, and the value that is locked in the assets is realised and comes back to the banks; they use it as a growth capital and the banking system becomes more robust
- From the perspective of a commercial bank saddled with high NPA levels, it will help.
- That’s because such a bank will get rid of all its toxic assets, which were eating up its profits, in one quick move.
- When the recovery money is paid back, it will further improve the bank’s position.
- Meanwhile, it can start lending again.
- From the perspective of the government and the taxpayer, the situation is a little more muddled.
- After all, whether it is recapitalising PSBs laden with bad loans or giving guarantees for security receipts, the money is coming from the taxpayers’ pocket.
- While recapitalisation and such guarantees are often designated as “reforms”, they are band aids at best.
- The only sustainable solution is to improve the lending operation in PSBs.
- Lastly, the plan of bailing out commercial banks will collapse if the bad bank is unable to sell such impaired assets in the market.
Conclusion
While the objective of NARCL is a novel one, the success lies in its implementation and downstream reforms in banks in lending. The NARCL will have to deliver on the recovery front or risk being a dump yard. Dump yards do not facilitate redistribution of capital in an economy and therefore have a cost.
Answer the following questions in 250 words:
General Studies – 1
Reference: Live Mint
Introduction
Cities across the world contribute about 80% of global gross domestic product. They are drivers of growth and dense labour marketplaces. However, recent developments have highlighted the severe economic, humanitarian and ecological repercussions of the unbalanced and unbridled growth of urban spaces.
This ‘cost’ of urban growth is evident in floods that occur in several parts of India. Unbalanced development has made cities more vulnerable to environmental shocks that get more frequent and intense
Body
Background
- From a population of 377 million in 2011, Indian cities are projected to house 870 million people by 2050, according to the UN’s projections — by far the highest among all nations.
- Delhi is likely to become the world’s most populous urban agglomeration by 2030, surpassing Tokyo.
- India is home to 11% of the total global urban population.
- By 2027, India will surpass China as the most populous country in the world.
- Unplanned urbanization, however, exerts great strain on our cities.
- In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the dire need for the planning and management of our cities.
- The existing urban planning and governance framework is complex, which often leads to ambiguity and lack of accountability.
Challenges faced by urban centres
- Risks to cities from climate change: A World Resources Institute India report notes temperature rise and flooding as two key risks to Mumbai, with possibility of 70-80% submergence of key parts of the city by 2050.
- Extreme flooding events and droughts are becoming frequent. Eg: Chennai floods in 2021.
- Pandemic and distress migration: The pandemic itself threw light on the implications of a systemic health shock—an exodus of city residents who moved to the safety of their homes. This mass movement of labour paralysed industrial units, apart from civic and other services in cities.
- Inadequate affordable housing has meant that almost one-sixth of the urban population lives in slums.
- High population density: On the one hand, the rural-urban migration accelerates the pace of urbanisation, on the other, it creates excessive population pressure on the existing public utilities.
-
- Consequently, the cities suffer from the problems of slums, crime, unemployment, urban poverty, pollution, congestion, ill-health and several deviant social activities.
- Water supply is unreliable. Groundwater has been exploited unabated, without proper measures to recharge the water table.
- Mountains of solid waste sit on the fringes of our cities. Even today, waste segregation and recycling are poor due to lack of implementation and behaviour of people.
- Poor drainage, congested roads and deteriorating air quality are other challenges.
- Estimates by a high-powered expert committee and by the McKinsey Global Institute indicated in 2011-12 that nearly Rs 39-60 lakh crore are to be invested in urban infrastructure in the next 30 years.
- These amounts are outside the range of what the public budget can support.
For our growth ambitions to succeed, not only do these gaps have to be filled, but even greater needs, necessitated by the growing population, have to be accommodated.
Local governments and their role in urban areas
- Praja’s Urban Governance Index offers some insights. According to its framework, an empowered city government is the first step towards building equitable and sustainable cities.
- The index consists of four themes: 1) Empowered city-elected representatives and legislative structure; 2) Empowered city administration; 3) Empowered citizens; and 4) Fiscal empowerment.
- Institutionalizing this at scale may need a combination of structural changes, fiscal incentives and active citizen participation.
- First, Centre could invest in building capacity of those empowered to make decisions on our behalf.
- Municipal councillors are critical in this journey, given their structured participation in city processes and better understanding of available resources and citizen needs.
- Next, one must enhance the understanding citizens have of a city’s working and their ability to be a part of local governance.
- Finally, technology can be the connective tissue that enables a data-based dialogue between local governments and the citizenry.
- This can be turned into a city data hub that is easily accessible to citizens and municipal employees for grievance redressal, or for sharing information on government services.
- A “phygital” layer and involvement of the Central Statistics Office will be critical to drive adoption.
Conclusion
Our health and environment emergencies have helped reiterate an urgent need to invest in resilience that urban elected representatives, the bureaucracy and citizens must take note of. There is also a realization that elected local governments, citizens and technology can work together, like they did for vaccine rollouts and to tackle the spread of covid. Resiliency can be built if citizens and local councillors together work towards sustainable living in the cities.
Reference: The Hindu
Introduction
The Union Cabinet on December 15 took the decision to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years. The legal age of marriage for men is 21 years. With this decision, the government will be bringing the age of marriage for both men and women at par. The proposal to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 was based on the recommendations of a task force headed by Jaya Jaitley.
Body
Background
- In June 2020, the Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a task force to look into the correlation between the age of marriage with issues of women’s nutrition, prevalence of anaemia, IMR, MMR and other social indices.
- The committee, headed by former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly, also had on board NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul and secretaries of several ministries.
- The committee has recommended the age of marriage be increased to 21 years, on the basis of feedback they received from young adults from 16 universities across the country. Over 15 NGOs were also engaged to reach out to young adults in far-flung areas and marginalised communities.
Raising marriageable age for women: Reasons
- Nutrition levels and wellbeing: The government decided to re-examine the age of marriage for women for a number of reasons, including gender-neutrality. An early age of marriage, and consequent early pregnancies, also have impacts on nutritional levels of mothers and their children, and their overall health and mental wellbeing.
- Mortality rate: It also has an impact on Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate, and the empowerment of women who are cut off from access to education and livelihood after an early marriage.
- To reduce child marriage: The recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS) revealed that child marriage has come down marginally from 27 per cent in 2015-16 to 23 per cent in 2019-20 in the country, but the government has been pushing to bring this down further.
- Gender neutrality: Women Labour force participation is only 25% in India whereas the global average is 60%, to become world power, we cannot afford women to be out of service.
- There is a need to bring in gender-neutrality.
- Removing stereotypes: In a consultation paper of reform in family law in 2018, the Law Commission argued that having different legal standards “contributes to the stereotype that wives must be younger than their husbands”.
- Women’s rights activists too have argued that the law perpetuates the stereotype that women are more mature than men of the same age and therefore can be allowed to marry sooner.
Criticism against the move
- Child and women’s rights activists, as well as population and family planning experts have not been in favour of increasing the age of marriage for women on the basis that such a legislation would push a large portion of the population into illegal marriages.
- They have contended that even with the legal age of marriage for women being kept at 18 years, child marriages continue in India and a decrease in such marriages has not been because of the existing law but because of increase in girl’s education and employment opportunities.
- They have said the law would end up being coercive, and in particular negatively impact marginalised communities, such as the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, making them law-breakers.
- According to the State of the World Report 2020 by UNFPA, in India, 51% of young women with no education and 47% of those with only a primary education had married by age 18.
- Hence lack of education is a bigger problem.
- Further, a study by the International Centre for Research on Women has found that girls out of school are 3.4 times more likely to be married or have their marriage already fixed than girls who are still in school.
Way forward and conclusion
- For any society to make sustainable progress it is necessary to empower women and for that two most important weapons are quality of education and skills and for this they should not be under any pressure to get married early.
- Early pregnancy is associated with increased child mortality rates and affects the health of the mother. Thus, there is a need to focus on a mother’s health and readiness to carry a child.
- Government needs to emphasize upon economic and social empowerment of women and girls, as well as targeted social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) campaigns. Increasing the minimum age of marriage of women will also lead to gender-neutrality.
- Extending the scope of the Right to Education for girls up to vocational studies.
General Studies – 2
Reference: Live Mint
Introduction
Self-help groups are informal groups of people who come together to address their common problems. These self-help groups consist of around 8-10 women who pool their savings and use the corpus to give credit to members to earn a living. They are promoted under the central Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) launched in 2011 to empower women by providing them with easy access to credit. But in the last one year, they have gone beyond this role to do community work with funding from governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including tasks normally performed by health activists.
Recently, Prime Minister transferred ₹1,000 crore to bank accounts of self-help groups to benefit around 16 lakh women under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM).
Body
Work done by SHG’s during pandemic
- Nearly 76 million women in rural India had taken up self-help initiatives that proved instrumental in managing the food insecurity and healthcare challenges posed by the pandemic, an October 2020 report by the Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE) said.
- Since March 2020, and as per July 21 data from the DAY-NRLM dashboard, these groups have manufactured nearly 170 million masks, 500,000 pieces of protective equipment and 500,000 litres of sanitiser.
- Through community kitchens, they also served more than half a million cooked meals to people from vulnerable communities.
- To help deal with this crisis, self-help groups helped rural communities by distributing food and ration supplies and creating awareness.
Impact of COVID on SHGs
- With perennially scarce resources and a lack of funding, many NGOs are no longer able to provide capacity-building support to SHGs. As a result, the less-established SHGs are disintegrating.
- The NPAs of the SHG-BLP surged from ₹.423 crore in 2007-08 to ₹4,524 crore in 2018-19. This situation of bad loans will be further accentuated and dent the sustainability of SHG-BLP on account of Covid-19 pandemic if the SHGs do not convert the problems into opportunities.
- Despite increased activity, SHGs are having a hard time dealing with loss of income and rising debts as members deal with the economic impact of the pandemic, studies have found.
- Livelihood opportunities have been severely impacted due to the economic shock of Covid, especially its impact on non-farm livelihoods, in which a large section of women members of SHGs are involved.
- Self-help group members saw a higher borrowing rate (59%) against 42% women on average, a study of 15,000 women and 2,300 men from low-income households across 10 states conducted between October and November 2020 found. But members have been struggling to return their loans taken from SHGs.
- COVID has thrown many challenges to the members of SHGs with regard to conducting physical meeting, mobilising savings (physical currency notes) of the group, rotating the money for internal lending among the members, depositing the physical cash towards repayment of loans, and maintaining hard copy of records.
- Several rural women who were members of SHGs from different districts, claimed that their financial condition was affected by the pandemic, pushing them further into debt.
Way forward
- Given the adverse impact on the economy, there is an urgent need to think about new funding dedicated to crisis amelioration (perhaps through cash transfers), as well as an extended moratorium period or flexible repayment schedules for existing loans.
- Government or development sector stakeholders like the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development could help sustain and strengthen SHGs by federating them and helping them access the funding they need to increase their already significant impact on rural livelihoods.
- Federating would imply clustering the self-help groups together, which would give them a larger pool of savings to leverage, more negotiating power, and the benefits of economies of scale.
- Federating SHGs would also introduce greater transparency and professionalism to the groups, while requiring the simplification of their legal structures, allowing members to manage them without the need of hiring costly professionals.
- By embracing digital tech like e-banking, e-commerce and social media, SHGs can tide over the operational problems thrown up by the pandemic.
- Leading from the front, self-help groups have played a critical role in providing resilience for households during the pandemic and going forward, there is a heightened need for strengthening their links to institutions and creating a supportive ecosystem for them.
Conclusion
With the proper support, self-help groups can have an even greater impact, at a time when their women-centric, community-based approach is particularly needed. Government and development sector stakeholders should act now to strengthen this time-tested model: Women in India, and around the world, have never needed it more.
Reference: Indian Express , The Hindu
Introduction
Recently, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed in the Lok Sabha which seeks to link electoral roll data and voter ID cards with the Aadhaar ecosystem. The bill seeks to ensure de-duplication of electoral rolls and provide multiple qualifying dates to the voters. However, there are a lot of lacunae in this bill.
Body
Need and benefits of linking Aadhar with voter ID
- This has been a demand of the Election Commission ever since 2015. The EC had launched the National Electoral Law Purification and Authentication Programme to link the Aadhaar number with the voter ID number. It said the linking will weed out multiple enrolments in the name of one person.
- This aims to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places.
- The seeding of Aadhar data with voter identities will allow for remote voting, a measure that could help migrant voters.
- Aadhar linking is believed to be helpful in stopping bogus voting and fraudulent votes.
Other Provisions of the bill
- The bill proposes four qualifying dates (the first day of the months – January, April, July and October) for updating the voting rolls to include those who have turned 18 as compared to only one date previously (1st January).
- Gender-sensitive: The language for registration of ‘wives of service voters’ will now be replaced by ‘spouse’.
- Changing the language from ‘wives’ to ‘spouse’ will make the laws more “gender-neutral”.
Potential limitations
- Central govt supreme: It is the Central government who has the final say in prescribing the conditions under which an individual will be permitted to enter or remain on the electoral rolls, in case of her “inability” to furnish their Aadhaar.
- This means that the Central government will decide what reasons are considered acceptable for a voter to remain on the electoral roll.
- Burden Shifting: Instead of the Government proactively ensuring registration on the electoral rolls to achieve universal adult franchise, the burden now shifts to individuals who may be unable/unwilling to link their Aadhaar to justify their retention on the rolls.
- Moreover, it will lead to the deletion from the voter rolls without any procedural safeguards since at the moment, the law does not provide for a right to a hearing before such deletion.
- Privacy Concerns: Electoral data at present is held by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in its own database and is separate from other government databases.
- The proposed linkage Aadhaar and election database will make it available to the ECI and UIDAI. This could lead to infringement of the privacy of citizens.
- The legitimate voters will be disenfranchised merely upon their unwillingness/inability to submit Aadhaar
- Identification of Beneficiary Voters: The amendment will result in political profiling. By linking electoral IDs with Aadhaar numbers, it is much easier for the Government to track any voter who has accessed welfare subsidies and benefits using their Aadhaar.
- This can be used by political parties to selectively target their messages to specific voters, using information that is not publicly available.
Conclusion
The Government must invite public opinion and allow deeper parliamentary scrutiny before implementing any new provisions. It is of utmost importance in a Parliamentary democracy like India that not just the ordinary citizens but also the elected representatives are not being deprived of their rights and opportunities. A productive debate raising the concerns as well as the significance of a proposed bill is essential to identify and eliminate the concerns a legislation may pose.
General Studies – 3
Reference: Environment by Shankar
Introduction
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is the landmark multilateral environmental agreement that regulates the production and consumption of nearly 100 ozone depleting substances (ODS). The Montreal Protocol sits under the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. It phases down the consumption and production of the different ODS in a step-wise manner, with different timetables for developed and developing countries. Developing and developed countries have equal but differentiated responsibilities, but most importantly, both groups of countries have binding, time-targeted and measurable commitments.
Body
Montreal protocol: Accomplishments of the most successful global climate treaty
- The Montreal Protocol mandated the complete phase-out of CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances (ODS), which it has successfully managed to do in the last three decades.
- The protocol was adopted in 1987, becoming the only United Nations treaty to be ratified by its 198 member-states.
- The Montreal Protocol has led to the phase-out of 99 per cent of ozone-depleting chemicals in refrigerators, air-conditioners and many other products.
- From 1989–2013, the protocol’s ban on certain chemicals reduced cumulative CO2-equivalent emissions by 135 billion tons.
- This effort has led to the healing of the ozone layer hole which, in turn, protects humans, economies, and ecosystems.
- Researchers believe that the size of the ozone hole has shrunk by around 4 million sq. km since 2000 and is not as deep as it used to be, thanks to the collective efforts of nations to cut the use of chlorofluorocarbons and other dangerous gases.
- At projected rates, Northern Hemisphere and mid-latitude ozone will heal completely by the 2030s. The Southern Hemisphere will follow in the 2050s and Polar Regions by 2060.
- The Montreal Protocol offers a model of a successful environmental treaty that brought nations together to act swiftly on protecting the ozone layer.
- In 2016, Nations that were party to the protocol got together in Kigali, Rwanda, to discuss the phasing down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as the next step towards addressing ozone depletion, also necessary to curb global warming.
- Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol came into effect in 2019.
Key takeaways from Montreal protocol which acts as an example for other global initiatives
- Comprehensive negotiations: From the start, negotiation relied heavily on leadership and innovative approaches. Much negotiation was held in small, informal groups. This enabled a genuine exchange of views and the opportunity to take some issues on trust, such as the subsequent development of the Multilateral Fund. The people negotiating the treaty also included scientists, which lent credibility.
- Universal consensus:The Montreal Protocol is the only universal UN Agreement, signed by 196 states and the EU. It has more signatories than any other international agreement or body, including the United Nations itself.
- The Montreal Protocol also called for Multilateral Fund, established in 1990, which was “basically money contributed by developed countries and renewed periodically that paid developing countries and developing country industries to make the switches to the new generations of chemicals,
- The idea of using trade policy as a punishment mechanism: Due to this readily definable cause and effect relationship, the Montreal Protocol was able to establish strong enforcement provisions as well as strong commitments.
- Adjustment provision:The science was not definite at the time of adoption of the Montreal protocol, so the negotiators developed a highly flexible instrument which could increase or decrease controls as the science became clearer. This flexibility meant the protocol could be amended to include stricter controls: more ozone-depleting substances added to the control list and total phase-out, rather than partial phase-out, called for.
- Developing countries are given more time tocomply with the phase out decisions, and also they receive funding from the Multilateral Fund to facilitate compliance with the Protocol’s provisions.
Conclusion
The Montreal Protocol provides us with a good model of the future, showing a successful execution of international environmental policy. Sure, the Montreal Protocol differs from the Paris Agreement, but we can only stand to gain from studying the former’s success. There’s still time to reach a manageable and sustainable future, but to do that, we must pull out all the stops. That includes learning from our past.
