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Answer the following questions in 150 words:
General Studies – 1
Introduction
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was an Indian nationalist, whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India. Bose viewed freedom not only in terms of political self-rule but also freedom from socio-economic inequalities, casteism, intolerance etc. Bose held steadfast to a vision of large scale industrialisation and a politics devoid of irrationality and religiosity.
Indian government has decided to install a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate to commemorate his 125th birth anniversary and as part of the yearlong celebrations
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Bose’s political ideology:
- Bose’s fight was not only for political freedom but also social and economic freedom. Thus, he was strongly of the opinion that Social reforms and national freedom movement were inextricably related.
- He worked with this vision and it is clearly seen in his ideas and activities during the Indian national movement.
- He believed that basic education should be grounded in one’s own national and cultural context, which would then prepare students for higher education in a wider international environment.
- He had been a strong proponent of socialist reconstruction of the nation. He stood for increased national production and equitable social distribution.
- He strongly emphasised on Panchayati Raj Institutions, radical land reforms, cheap credit to the peasant and likewise development of social forestry and cultivation .This shows his determination of creating a modern and a socialist state based on economic regeneration to improve the lot of millions of down trodden masses.
- Tolerance of differences in terms of ethnicity, caste, gender, religion is the ultimate sign of maturity for a people and a nation. How Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians could all unite under one banner and one slogan – Unity, Faith and Sacrifice.
- He wanted different communities in the country to enjoy basic human rights, good health, literacy, decent employment, and live together in peace and harmony.
- The creative spirit must set to work the social, religious and commercial life.
- Society must be purged of narrowness and inequality.
- His vision of religion was one which is free from bigotry and superstition.
- He wanted the Indian business community must grow into a healthy self-conscious and public-spirited body corporate.
- To promote gender parity, he himself led by example by creating Rani Jhansi regiment in his army.
- In the domain of culture, according to Bose, India needed more genuine poets, painters, sculptors, historians, philosophers, economists imbued with the spirit of scientific research and endowed with a real creative talent.
Conclusion
Bose’s socialism and patriotism is respected even today as he created a sense of enthusiasm, made women participated in the Indian national army ,tried to make India a true place for all castes and classes. His vision of equity and justice remain exemplary and profound till date and in the times to come.
Introduction
Tropical cyclones—also called typhoons or hurricanes—are intense water-rotating systems formed by strong winds (of speeds at least 62 kilometres/hour) around low-pressure areas. They have a spiral, anticlockwise movement.
West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, within which the larger share of the Sundarbans is located, is impacted by cyclones the most frequently among Indian districts, found a recent study.
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Reasons behind Bay of Bengal being the hot-bed for frequent cyclonic storms
- The vast low pressure created by the warm water of the ocean.
- The Bay of Bengal shaped like a trough that makes it more hospitable for storms to gain force.
- The high sea surface temperature makes matters worse in the Bay triggering the intensity of the storms.
- The Bay of Bengal also gets more rainfall with sluggish winds and warm air currents around it that keep temperatures relatively high all year.
- The constant inflow of fresh warm water from the perineal rivers like Brahmaputra, Ganga makes it further impossible to mix with the cooler water below.
- Lack of landmass between the Pacific Ocean and the Bay of Bengal tend cyclonic winds to move into the coastal areas causing heavy rainfall.
- The absence of air movements from north-western India towards the Bay in the post-monsoon phase is also another reason for the chances of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal.
Impact on Sundarbans
- In 2021, the Sundarbans saw two (Yaas and Jawad cyclones) out of the 10 cyclonic disturbances that swept the country. What stands out is that around 70 per cent of the cyclones were of severe categories in the Sundarbans area.
- A 2021 study Spatiotemporal analysis of tropical cyclone landfalls in northern Bay of Bengal, India and Bangladesh by the World Bank also underlined the increasing threat of cyclones in the Sundarbans area.
- About 28% of the Sunderbanswas damaged by Cyclone Amphan in 2020.
- Cyclone winds breaks the embankments, resulting in salt water pouring onto the land, which will have the most durable impact on livelihoods.
- Saline water kills freshwater fish in ponds in a day, most sources of drinking water disappear, and land can’t be used for cultivation for up to five years.
- Salinity increases whenever a cyclone strikes, since seawater enters the rivers and then the riverine islands. This increases the saline content of the soil which, in turn, leads to stunted growth and weak roots for the mangroves.
- There have been increasing incidences of tigers encroaching into the human habitation post-cyclone in search of food resulting in wildlife-human conflicts. Wildlife-human conflicts (WHC) pose a significant obstacle to the protection and conservation of wildlife in the forests across the world.
Way forward
- Rebuilding shelter belts should be given utmost importance which are the breeding ground of species such as the Olive Ridley Turtles.
- Trees such as cashews or exotic casuarinas will take only 6-7 years to grow but are less resilient as compared to tropical trees that take almost two decades to grow fully such as Neem and tamarind provided they are planted at a distance of 300 metres away from the high tide line.
- Compensation records of human-wildlife conflicts could be utilised to identify an overview of the distribution of the conflicts across the regions and prioritise areas that need immediate intervention
- The forest department has to make sure that the losses compensated match the market value, are dealt timely and the people affected by the conflict have a compassionate ear to pour out their problems.
- To save Sundarbans from the fate of being lost, we need to check the rising level of global warming. It is estimated that by the end of 2020, 20% of Sundarbans will be lost.
Conclusion
Natural disaster comes without warning and they are exacerbated by climate change. India should prepare to mitigate and deflect the destruction caused by Cyclones. India needs to employ more technology, strict following of command structure and most importantly the participation and cooperation of local communities in the affected area
Introduction
Today, India is the largest user of the groundwater in the world with almost 90% being used for drinking water and almost 60-70% for irrigation. Current statistics also show that nearly 50% of urban water supply comes from groundwater. India is on the threshold of a very serious groundwater crisis, which needs mitigation both in the fields and at the policy corridors of the country.
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Status of Groundwater Depletion in India:
- India accounts for 16-17% per cent of the world’s population living in less than 5 per cent of the global area, and has just 4 per cent of the global water resources.
- According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), the estimated water resources potential of the country, which occurs as natural runoff in the rivers, is 1,999 billion cubic metres.
- Of this, the estimated usable resources are 1,122 billion cubic metres per year 690 BCM per year surface water and 432 BCM per year replenishable groundwater.
- With the population rising, demand for water will increase manifold in coming years. According to the CWC, per capita availability in the country will decrease from 1,434 cubic metres in 2025 to 1,219 cubic metres in 2050.
- By CWC benchmarks, a water-stressed condition happens when per capita availability is less than 1,700 cubic metres, and a water-scarcity condition when per capita availability falls below 1,000 cubic metres. Some river basins are facing a water-scarcity condition.
- Among these are the basins of the Indus (up to the border), Krishna, Cauvery, Subarnarekha, Pennar, Mahi, Sabarmati and east-flowing rivers, and west-flowing rivers of Kutch and Saurashtra including Luni.
- ‘Water and Related Statistics 2019’ report:
- According to ‘Water and Related Statistics 2019’, a report published by the CWC, the annual replenishable groundwater resources in India (2017) are 432 BCM, out of which 393 BCM is the annual “extractable” groundwater availability.
- Fifteen states account for about 90 per cent of the groundwater potential in the country. Uttar Pradesh accounts for 16.2 per cent, followed by Madhya Pradesh (8.4%), Maharashtra (7.3%), Bihar (7.3%), West Bengal (6.8%), Assam (6.6%), Punjab (5.5%) and Gujarat (5.2%).
- The current annual groundwater extraction is 249 BCM, the largest user being the irrigation sector. This is why the government has called for alternatives to water-intensive crops such as paddy and sugarcane.
- Compared to the decadal average for 2009-18, there has been a decline in the groundwater level in 61% of wells monitored by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB).
- Among the states where at least 100 wells were monitored, the highest depletion has been in Karnataka (80%), Maharashtra (75%), Uttar Pradesh (73%), Andhra Pradesh (73%), Punjab (69%).
Measures needed to augment ground water
- The government should develop policies to determine which crops should be grown in which region according to the water availability, which “has not been the focus.” For instance, Punjab has a semi-arid climate but it grows rice, which depletes groundwater and is “highly unsustainable.”
- The traditional flood irrigation in India accounts for huge water loss through evapotranspiration. Drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation must be used for efficient utilisation of water.
- There should be restrictions to cut off the access to groundwater in areas identified as “critical” and “dark zones”, where the water table is overused or very low.
- There is a need to treat water as common resource rather than private property to prevent its overexploitation
- Problems and issues such as water logging, salinity, agricultural toxins, and industrial effluents, all need to be properly looked into.
- Government has initiated schemes like DRIP programme, more drop per crop, Krishi Sinchai Yojana to ensure economical water use practices in agriculture.
- Bottom-up approach by empowering the local community to become active participants in managing groundwater.
- Creating regulatory options at the community level such as panchayat is also one among the feasible solutions.
- Traditional methods of water conservation should be encouraged to minimize the depletion of water resources.
- Artificial recharge of tube wells, water reuse, afforestation, scientific methods of agriculture should also be done.
Conclusion
The focus will be on arresting the rate of decline of groundwater levels as well as water consumption. Leveraging schemes like Atal Bhujal Yojana which seeks to strengthen the institutional framework and bring about behavioural changes at community level for sustainable groundwater resource management is vital. We need to have more community-led Water Security Plans.
General Studies – 2
Introduction
A sacrosanct federal system which India has evolved over a period of time starting from the late 18th Century is different from the accepted notion of federation. The evolved Indian federalism is very unique in character and the Union – State relationship has also become extremely complex over the years.
Judicial doctrines are basically set of principles, procedural steps, or test for determining judgements in a certain legal matter, which is commonly formed by precedent in the common law.
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Doctrine of Pith and Substance
The Doctrine of Pith and Substance holds that the union and the state legislatures should not encroach upon each other’s spheres. This doctrine helps in examining the true nature of a legislation and deciding which list it belongs to, central or state.
- When a law is challenged on the grounds that one level of authority (whether it provincial or federal) has encroached on the exclusive jurisdiction of another level of government, the concept is used.
- According to this doctrine, it is examined to check its “true nature and character” in order to ascertain in what list it falls.
- It provides a degree of flexibility. It is widely used in determining whether the state is within its power to make a statute that involves a subject mentioned in the union list of the constitution.
- Apart from its application in situations involving the legislature’s competence (Article 246), the Doctrine of Pith and Substance is also used in matters involving repugnancy in laws passed by Parliament and state legislatures (Article 254).
- In such circumstances, the theory is used to resolve inconsistencies between legislation passed by the federal government and those passed by state legislatures.
- In Prafulla v. Bank of Commerce (1946), the SC held that a State law, dealing with money lending (a State subject), is not invalid, merely because it incidentally affects promissory notes.
Doctrine of colourable legislation
The idea of power separation underpins it. Separation of powers requires striking a balance of power between various state components.
- It’s founded on the principle that “what can’t be done directly can’t be done indirectly.”
- This notion of colourable legislation is used when a legislature does not have the authority to pass legislation on a certain subject but does so indirectly.
- The Court has laid down certain tests for discovering whether any particular Act constitutes colourable legislation.
- The court must examine the substance of the law, not its form or title, as enacted by the legislature.
- The court must consider both the object and the law’s effect.
- If the legislature follows a legislative plan, the court must study all of the acts that make up the plan and establish the cumulative effect.
- In S Joshi v. Ajit Mills (1977), the SC observed that “In the statute of force, the colourable exercise of or extortion on administrative force or misrepresentation on the constitution, are articulations which only imply that the assembly is clumsy to authorise a specific law, albeit the mark of competency is struck on it, and afterwards it is colourable enactment.”
Various judicial pronouncements
- In Krishna v. State of Madras (1957), SC has held that, “In order to ascertain the true character of the legislation, one must have regard to”-
- Whole enactment
- Underlying objective
- Scope and effect of its provision
- In C.G. Narayan Dev vs State of Orissa (1953) judgement, the SC explained the meaning, scope of this doctrine as “when anything is prohibited directly, it is also prohibited indirectly”.
- The SC in different judicial pronouncements has laid down the certain tests in order to determine the true nature of the legislation impeached as colourable :-
- The court must look to the substance of the impugned law, as distinguished from its form or the label which the legislature has given it. For the purpose of determining the substance of an enactment, the court will examine two things: – Effect of the legislature and 2. Object and the purpose of the act.
- The doctrine of colourable legislation has nothing to do with the motive of the legislation, it is in the essence a question of vires or power of the legislature to enact the law in question.
- The doctrine is also not applicable to Subordinate Legislation.
Conclusion
Though in normal times the distribution of powers must be strictly maintained and neither the State nor the Centre can encroach upon the sphere allotted to the other by the Constitution, yet in certain exceptional circumstances the above system of distribution is either suspended or the powers of the Union Parliament are extended over the subjects mentioned in the State List. Those circumstances are emergencies, to implement international agreements, with due consent of state and so on. Maintaining the balance in federalism is key to successful governance of the nation and its citizens.
Introduction
An imbroglio has evolved around Ukraine. The US and its NATO allies find themselves in a confrontational mode with Russia over Ukraine. The principal contention surrounds Russian refusal to acquiesce to any possibility of NATO drawing Ukraine within its orb. Moreover, Ukraine borders Russia and it is considered by Russia to be within its sphere of diplomatic influence.
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Background of Ukraine issue
- Tensions between Ukraine and Russia, both former Soviet states, escalated in late 2013 over a landmark political and trade deal with the European Union.After the pro-Russian then-President, Viktor Yanukovych, suspended the talks, weeks of protests in Kiev erupted into violence.
- Then, in March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea,an autonomous peninsula in southern Ukraine with strong Russian loyalties, on the pretext that it was defending its interests and those of Russian-speaking citizens.
- Shortly afterwards, pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared their independence from Kiev, prompting months of heavy fighting. Despite Kiev and Moscow signing a peace deal in Minsk in 2015,brokered by France and Germany, there have been repeated ceasefire violations.
- India along with 57 other countries had abstained in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/262 in response to the Russian annexation of Crimea on “Territorial integrity of Ukraine” which was adopted on 27 March 2014 with the support of 100 countries.
Impact of Ukraine issue on India
- India has economic and defence trade ties with Ukraine, as well as 7,500-odd citizens residing there. There are precedent and principle-related concerns, though many in Delhi argue that power often trumps those.
- In 2014, the Russian annexation of Crimea created problems for India.
- If Moscow again takes military action against Ukraine, it will significantly complicate India’s objectives vis-à-vis Russia, China, the US, Europe, and even Ukraine.
- It would hinder Delhi’s interest in preventing a further deepening of Russia’s ties with China.
- Beyond the strategic challenge that a close Sino-Russian partnership poses for India, a Moscow that is more beholden to Beijing would be particularly problematic at this moment when India is dependent on Russian military supplies and Sino-Indian border tensions could flare up again.
- Russian military action against Ukraine would also impede Delhi’s suggested approach for stalling Sino-Russian ties or fuelling friction between them — that the West, particularly the US, stabilise relations with Russia.
- Russian military action against Ukraine would complicate India’s efforts to maintain a delicate balance between its partnerships with the US, Europe, and Russia. Delhi could try its posture, post the Russian annexation of Crimea, of neither openly criticising nor endorsing Russian actions.
- A worsening Russia-Ukraine conflict would also bring India-US and India-Europe contradictions on Russia to the fore. The western response will involve even more sanctions that will further hinder India’s ability to do business with Russia and diversify Russia-India ties.
- A Russia-Ukraine crisis could also create headwinds for India’s move to deepen security and economic ties with European partners. A crisis nearer home could reduce the latter’s increased attention to Asia, especially India.
Way forward
- Both Russia and the US are highly valued partners of India.
- It would not be judicious to take sides under the current circumstances.
- India should continue to adopt a balanced, neutral approach as it has done so far.
- India needs to be mindful of the fact that it cannot support the coercive, military occupation of a country’s territory by another.
- India should encourage both Russia and the US to try to reach a compromise with a mutually acceptable agreement in the forthcoming meeting in Geneva.
- A conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with the latter supported by the US and Europe, would be in no one’s interest.
- The message should also be clear that another action like the 2014 annexation of Crimea will not be tolerated and would immediately trigger an appropriate response from Ukraine’s allies.
Introduction
The Lakshadweep UT Administration has said incumbent administrator’s (Praful K Patel) proposals are aimed at ensuring safety and well-being of residents along with promoting the islands as a tourist destination on par with the Maldives. However, the residents view them as ripping the social and cultural fabric of the islands.
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The administrator introduced a slew of draft legislations that will have a wide-ranging impact on the islands:
- The Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, 2021;
- The Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation (PASA);
- The Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2021 and
- Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021.
Development plans proposed for the Lakshadweep islands
- On an island where crime rate is already low, administrator introduced a proposal to implement the anti-social Activities Regulation bill, 2021, or the goonda act. Under this act anyone can be arrested without a trial for a period of up to one year.
- A draft on the Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021 (LDAR) has been another bone of contention.
- The draft gives the administrator powers to remove or relocate islanders from their property, for town planning or any developmental activity. This is to make Lakshadweep like Maldives. Severe ecological concerns are raised about this plan.
- The draft bill gives the government and its bodies arbitrary and unchecked power to directly interfere with an islander’s right to possess and retain their property.
- The new proposal also includes introduction of liquor shops on the islands, to fuel tourism, which thus far have been restricted owing the majority Muslim population.
- A change is also being brought about to the Panchayat regulations wherein those people having more than two kids would be unable to contest for any panchayat elections.
- Among a string of changes, a beef ban has been proposed and non-vegetarian meals have been scrapped from the midday meals.
- The Administration has decided to allow liquor to be served at resorts on inhabited islands. Currently, prohibition is in place on all inhabited islands, with liquor served only at resorts on the uninhabited Bangaram island.
- As for Covid norms, earlier on the islands a mandatory 14-day quarantine was put into place, however now a negative RT-PCR would now suffice to enter the islands. This has caused concern for the locals.
Critical analysis
- Alongside the islanders and people on social media, opposition leaders in Lakshadweep and neighbouring Kerala have raised cause for concern.
- Residents have alleged that the move will lead to a proliferation of liquor sales on the island, which had been observing near-prohibition until now.
- The change in covid norms led to the island losing its ‘green zone’ tag and a spurt in infections in subsequent months. As of May 28, the Union Territory has reported over 7,300 cases and 28 deaths. Islanders blame the Administration for mismanagement in handling of the pandemic.
- Lawmakers in Kerala raised issues of locals. Majority of the 70,000 people in this Island depend on fishing and government services, but the new administration demolished huts of fisherman accusing Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violation.
- The measures of administrator were termed authoritarian and locals are severely protesting the same. This has also fuelled demand for certain degree of autonomy to the people to administer themselves with elected representatives.
Conclusion
So far, people in the Lakshadweep have been living pretty much within the bounds of the ecological integrity of the islands. The new plans are feared to take agency away from the islanders. With the ingress of outside developers, islanders may feel alienated from their resources and land, which may fuel north-east like separatist movements. Adequate representation of the people must be given and their opinions valued before making major reforms.
General Studies – 3
Introduction
Inflation refers to the rise in the prices of most goods and services of daily or common use, such as food, clothing, housing, recreation, transport, consumer staples, etc. Inflation measures the average price change in a basket of commodities and services over time. The opposite and rare fall in the price index of this basket of items is called ‘deflation’. Inflation is indicative of the decrease in the purchasing power of a unit of a country’s currency. This is measured in percentage.
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Differences between Demand pull and cost push inflation
- Demand-pull inflation occurs when there is an increase in aggregate demand, categorized by the four sections of the macroeconomy: households, businesses, governments, and foreign buyers.
- Cost-push inflation means prices have been “pushed up” by increases in the costs of any of the four factors of production—labor, capital, land, or entrepreneurship—when companies are already running at full production capacity.
- The demand-pull inflation is when the aggregate demand is more than the aggregate supply in an economy, whereas cost push inflation is when the aggregate demand is same and the fall in aggregate supply due to external factors will result in increased price level.
- Demand-pull inflation arises when the aggregate demand increases at a faster rate than aggregate supply. Cost-push Inflation is a result of an increase in the price of inputs due to the shortage of cost of production, leading to decrease in the supply of outputs.
- Demand-pull inflation describes, how price inflation begins. On the other hand, cost-push inflation explains Why inflation is so difficult to stop, once started.
- The reason for demand-pull inflation is the increase in money supply, government spending and foreign exchange rates. Conversely, cost-push inflation is mainly caused by the monopolistic groups of the society.
- The policy recommendation on demand-pull inflation is associated with the monetary and fiscal measure which amounts to the high level of unemployment. Unlike, cost push inflation, where policy recommendation is related to administrative control on price rise and income policy, whose objective is to control inflation without increasing unemployment.
supply-side factors behind recent inflationary trends in India
- Supply side constraints, which are now being referred to as a major problem, simply mean that production in the economy is unable to keep pace with rising demand due to a variety of factors such as inadequate infrastructure, lack of credit, availability of labour and availability of technology.
- For example, it is common to hear from business leaders that though India is a country where labour is abundant, it is difficult to find quality people.
- Further, availability of fuel is affecting capacity creation in power generation, which will impact sectors that depend on power for production, affecting overall production in the economy.
- Factors such as these add up and do not allow the economy to produce at the desired pace. As a consequence, supply to the market place falls short of demand and results in higher inflation.
- The lockdowns disrupted supplies and that added to shortages and price rise.
- Prices of medicines and medical equipment rose dramatically.
- Prices of items of day-to-day consumption also rose.
- Fruits and vegetable prices rose since these items could not reach the urban markets.
- Industry and services estimated to contract by 9.6% and 8.8% respectively during FY21
Measures to keep the inflation under control
- Monetary policy Measures: Maintaining price stability is the foremost objective of the monetary policy committee of RBI. However, during the pandemic, growth has taken centre stage and RBI has rightly cut interest rates.
- Commodity prices: GoI needs to remove supply side bottlenecks. For example, GoI can immediately offload 10-20% of its pulses stock with NAFED in the open market.
- Fuel prices: Bringing them under GST would reduce the prices by at least 30 rupees. GST council must agree to this with haste.
- Policy measures: Navigating out of this will need a fiscal stimulus to shore up consumer spending, an investment revival to increase the productive capacity of the economy, and a careful management of inflationary expectations.
- Concomitantly, the government will also need to pursue redistribution of income to reduce the widening disparity.
- This also calls for fiscal prudence to cut wasteful spending, find new revenue through asset sales, mining and spectrum auctions, and build investor confidence.
Conclusion
With the rise in inflation amidst a second wave, the balancing acumen of the MPC will now be sorely tested. Factors like rising commodity prices, supply chain disruptions are expected to raise overall domestic inflation. Government and RBI need to chalk out a fiscal plan to ensure that the inflation doesn’t burden the common man in the country
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the stark divide between the rich and the poor. At this juncture, evaluating the state of inequality serves as an eye-opener on the income/wealth divides prevailing across regions. Such divides are represented in terms of the share of income/wealth among the top 10% of the population against the bottom 50% of the population. Rising inequality of wealth and income across countries has been pointed out by the latest edition of the World Inequality Report.
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Growing inequality due to Covid-19
- Inequalities were increasing earlier also but the pandemic has widened them further. For example, the share of wages declined as compared to that of profits. The big companies and a large part of the corporate sector could manage the pandemic.
- But the informal sector and workers have suffered a lot with loss of incomes and employment in the last one year. In other words, the recovery is more k-shaped with rising inequalities.
- A new survey carried out by People’s Research on India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE), a think tank, attempts to fill the void.
- As reported in this paper, data gathered in the survey indicates that the annual income of the poorest 20 per cent of households in India declined by around 53 per cent in 2020-21 compared to levels observed in 2015-16.
- In comparison, incomes of the top 20 per cent households grew by 39 per cent over the same period.
- A consequence of this divergence is that the richest 20 per cent of households (the top quintile) accounted for 56.3 per cent of total household income in 2021, up from 50.2 per cent in 1995.
- At the other end of the spectrum, the share of the bottom 20 per cent of households declined from 5.9 per cent to 3.3 per cent over the same period.
- Women lost more jobs and many are out of the workforce. Inequalities have increased in health care and education.
- In its latest report, Oxfam noted “The wealth of Indian billionaires increased by 35 per cent during the lockdown and by 90 per cent since 2009 to $422.9 billion ranking India sixth in the world after US, China, Germany, Russia and France,” in its report titled ‘The Inequality Virus’.
- Multiple estimates by multilateral institutions show the COVID-19 pandemic will hit India the hardest by sending 40 million people into “extreme poverty”, worsen hunger and income inequality, and yet the government seems oblivious with no data, no estimation or policy response
- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that 260 million people will be back in poverty by 2020 – almost as many as the 271 million who left between 2006 and 2016.
Measures to address the inequalities
A three-pronged approach for reducing inequalities. These are: focus on employment and wages; raising human development, and quasi universal basic income and other social safety nets.
- First, creation of quality or productive employment is central to the inclusive growth approach. At the macro level, the investment rate which declined from 39% in 2011-12 to 31.7% in 2018-19 has to be improved. Investment in infrastructure including construction can create employment.
- In labour market, correcting the mismatch between demand and supply of labour is needed (only3% of India’s workforce has formal skill training as compared to 96% in South Korea, 80% in Japan, and 52% in the United States).
- Manufacturing should be the engine of growth. Here, labour-intensive exports are important and manufacturing and services are complementary.
- Focusing on micro, small & medium enterprises and informal sectors including rights of migrants is important rather than providing 75% reservation to locals in private jobs.
- Getting ready for automation and technology revolution such as IR 4.0. Workers need to be reskilled and up-skilled.
- Social security and decent working conditions for all; raising real wages of rural and urban workers and guaranteeing minimum wages are key to reducing inequality.
- Apart from spending on vaccines and other related measures, we need to move towards universal health care and spend 2%-3% of GDP on health. Education and health achievements are essential for reducing inequality of opportunities.
Way Forward
- Enhancing tax and non-tax revenues of the government is needed to spend on the above priorities.
- The tax/GDP ratio has to be raised, with a wider tax base. Richer sections have to pay more taxes.
- Similarly, the inequalities between the Centre and States in finances should be reduced. State budgets must be strengthened to improve capital expenditures on physical infrastructure and spending on health, education and social safety nets.
- Apart from economic factors, non-economic factors such as deepening democracy and decentralisation can help in reducing inequalities.
- Unequal distribution of development is rooted in the inequalities of political, social and economic power. We have to find opportunities and spaces where the power can be challenged and redistributed.
Introduction
At the 26th Conference of Parties (CoP26), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a five-fold strategy — termed as the panchamrita — to achieve this feat.
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Panchamrit strategy
The five-fold strategy include:
- India will get its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatt (GW) by 2030
- India will meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030
- India will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes from now onwards till 2030
- By 2030, India will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45 per cent
- So, by the year 2070, India will achieve the target of Net Zero.
Ways to achieve ambitious ‘Panchamrit’ declaration:
- Focus on Energy Efficiency:
- Will need energy efficient buildings, lighting, appliances and industrial practicesto meet the net-zero goal.
- Increased usage of Biofuels:
- Can help reduce emissions from light commercial vehicles, tractors in agriculture.
- In aviation, the only practical solution for reducing emissions is greater use of biofuels, until hydrogen technology gains scale.
- Transition towards Electric vehicles:
- This will further help curb the carbon emissions.
- Carbon Sequestration:
- India willhave to rely on natural and man-made carbon sinks to soak up those emissions. Trees can capture 0.9 billion tons; the country will need carbon capture technologies to sequester the rest.
- Carbon Pricing:
- India, which already taxes coal and petroleum fuels, should consider putting a tax on emissions to drive change.
- Deploying lower-carbon Energy:
- There are four main types of low-carbon energy: wind, solar, hydro or nuclear power. The first three are renewable, which means these are good for the environment – as natural resources are used (such as wind or sun) to produce electricity.
- Deploying lower carbon energy would help address both domestic and international climate challenges while simultaneously improving the economic well-being of India’s citizens.
- Mainstreaming Renewable energy:
- India’s energy mix is dominated by coal powered electric generation stations as of now.
- The need of the hour is increase the share of renewable energy in this energy mix.
Way forward for India:
- Given the massive shifts underway in India’s energy system, we would benefit from taking stock of our actions and focusing on near-term transitions.
- This will allow us to meet and even over-comply with our 2030 target while also ensuring concomitant developmental benefits, such as developing a vibrant renewable industry.
- We can start putting in place the policies and institutions necessary to move us in the right direction for the longer-term and also better understand, through modelling and other studies, the implications of net-zero scenarios before making a net-zero pledge.
- It would also be in India’s interest to link any future pledge to the achievement of near-term action by industrialised countries.
- That would be fair and consistent with the principles of the UNFCCC and also enhance the feasibility of our own actions through, for example, increasing availability and reducing costs of new mitigation technologies.
Value addition
Challenges for India to achieve carbon neutrality
- India is the world’s third-biggest emitter of GHG.
- India’s per capita CO2 emissions – at 1.8 tonnes per person in 2015 – are around a ninth of those in the USA and around a third of the global average of 4.8 tonnes per person.
- India must also meet the aspirations of 1.4 billion people for faster economic development. This will limit India’s development potential.
- Meeting the nation’s existing target of 450 gigawatts of renewables by 2030 is already a massive lift. Hitting net zero will require an even more dramatic acceleration.
- By 2050, India’s total electricity demand would be about 5500 to 6000 terawatt-hours (TWh), roughly a factor of five on today’s level.
- In developed countries, emissions have already peaked. Their decision is only about the path to net-zero. Emerging economies like India, instead, will go through a high-growth phase with rising energy demand and emissions. So, before a net-zero year can be targeted, India must discuss options for its peaking year
- Many argue that net zero is not equitable and fair as it does not differentiate between developing and developed countries in sharing the burden of mitigation.
- Some also criticise mid-century net zero as allowing uncontrolled emissions today while relying on uncertain technologies to offset emissions in the future.
- Many net zero pledges are premised upon trading and offsetting emissions, allowing the rich to continue emitting and buying their way out.
Introduction
In India, announcements are made in various sectors without a stated national vision. There is no official document to guide policy and decision-making. The fact that every military emergency, like Kargil or Pulwama, has resulted in emergency arms purchase shows that there is a lack of national vision. There is a need of formulating a comprehensive and coherent multi-sectoral and multi-ministerial policymaking.
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Rationale behind creating a national vision for defence forces
- National security concepts have, in the two decades of the 21st century, undergone fundamental changes.
- Porous international boundaries, growing terror threats, increasing insurgency within country demand government to envisage and formulate a National Security Doctrine for India.
- The existence of such a document will dissuade adventurism and will reassure our citizens that appropriate measures are in place to protect us.
- Many of India’s national security inadequacies stem from the absence of a national security/defence vision.
- It will not only become the basis for strategy-formulation, contingency-planning and evolution of SOPs, but also send a reassuring message to our public.
- It is necessary in the face of havingnuclear-armed neighbours, Pakistan and China.
- To define India’s role in the world and its commitment to protecting the life, liberty and interests of its people.
- The country should have an overall national security document from which the various agencies and the arms of the armed forces draw their mandate and create their own respective and joint doctrines which would then translate into operational doctrines for tactical engagement.
- In the absence of this, as is the case in India today, national strategy is broadly a function of ad-hocism and personal preferences.
Probable challenges in creating a national security vision
- There is a skewed national security decision-making structure that is driven more by idealism and altruism, rather than by realpolitik imperatives.
- National security has suffered neglect for decades due to pre-occupation of our politicians with electoral politics.
- Defining national interests in a multi-party democracy like India that has representation across the ideological spectrum has been hard to achieve.
- Decisions of national security are taken in individual silos rather than cross-domain exchange as subjects are inter-related.
- There is opacity in the functioning of Intelligence agencies for instance there is no credible external audit that happens.
- The agencies that are to provide security cover and neutralise terrorist threats do not have a cohesive command and control structure.
- There has been a gap in political pronouncements in our military capabilities — material as well as organisational.
Way forward
- 5 key areas in draft National Security Policy that Shyam Saran, former chairman of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), has prepared and handed over to the government in January 2015: Domestic security, External security, Military preparedness, Economic security and Ecological security.
- “Strategic communication” is of overarching importance in National Security which must be improved. A command control and communication centre must be built.
- The NSD should guide various doctrines related to external and internal security to fill a huge void in the higher defence management of the country.
- The policy must go much beyond issues of national security and encapsulate the domain of constitutional rights as well.
- It must take an all-inclusive approach to national security integrating diplomatic engagement, domestic economic discipline and amity among communities at home with military power.
- We need to tailor our strategic defence doctrine to create long-term measures towards a deterrent based on severe retribution.
- Emerging strategic technologies like Artificial Intelligence, robotics and miniaturised wars are likely to play an increasingly important role in future warfare, this must be taken care of.
Answer the following questions in 250 words:
General Studies – 1
Introduction
Marital rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without the consent of the other spouse. Although it was once widely unrecognized by law and society as wrong or as a crime, it is now recognized as rape by many societies around the world. Criminal Law in India has been amended multiple times for the protection of the women. However, the non-criminalization of marital rape in India undermines the dignity and human rights of women.
The Delhi High Court is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the exception to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which exempts forceful sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife from the offence of rape, provided the wife is above 15 years of age, also known as the “marital rape exception”.
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Current scenario:
- Marital rape has been impeached in more than 100 countries but, unfortunately, India is one of the only 36 countries where marital rape is still not criminalized.
- In 2013, the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) recommended that the Indian government should criminalize marital rape.
- The JS Verma committee set up in the aftermath of nationwide protests over the December 16, 2012 gang rape case had also recommended the same.
- As per the NCRB report, in India, a woman is raped every 16 minutes, and every four minutes, she experiences cruelty at the hands of her in-laws.
- An analysis of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 data indicates that an estimated 99.1 per cent of sexual violence cases go unreported and that the average Indian woman is 17 times more likely to face sexual violence from her husband than from others.
Marital Rape: inconsistent with the law as well as the constitutional rights of women:
- Rape laws in our country continue with the patriarchal outlook of considering women to be the property of men post marriage, with no autonomy or agency over their bodies.
- They deny married women equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Indian constitution.
- Lawmakers fail to understand that a marriage should not be viewed as a licence for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity. A married woman has the same right to control her own body as does an unmarried woman.
- The concept of marital rape in India is the epitome of what we call an “implied consent”.
- Marriage between a man and a woman here implies that both have consented to sexual intercourse and it cannot be otherwise.
- The centre argues that criminalising marital rape would destabilise the institution of marriage and be an easy tool for harassing the husbands.
- It has cited the observations of the SC and various HCs on growing misuse of Section 498A (harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws) of IPC.
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860, also communicates the same. Section 375 defines the offence of rape with the help of six descriptions. One of the exceptions to this offence is “Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape”.
- Earlier, Section 375 (Exception) created a classification not only between consent given by a married and unmarried woman, but also between married females below 15 years of age and over 15 years old. This was rightfully struck down by SC and made it 18 years.
Need to criminalize Marital Rape in India
- The SC judgment was only a small step towards striking down the legalisation of marital rape.
- It is high time that the legislature should take cognisance of this legal infirmity and bring marital rape within the purview of rape laws by eliminating Section 375 (Exception) of IPC.
- By removing this law, women will be safer from abusive spouses, can receive the help needed to recover from marital rape and can save themselves from domestic violence and sexual abuse.
- Indian women deserve to be treated equally, and an individual’s human rights do not deserve to be ignored by anyone, including by their spouse.
Conclusion
Rape is rape, irrespective of the identity of the perpetrator, and age of the survivor. A woman who is raped by a stranger, lives with a memory of a horrible attack; a woman who is raped by her husband lives with her rapist. Our penal laws, handed down from the British, have by and large remained untouched even after 73 years of independence. But English laws have been amended and marital rape was criminalised way back in 1991. No Indian government has, however, so far shown an active interest in remedying this problem.
Value Addition: Important cases and Committee reports
- The government defended exception to marital rape in Independent Thought v. Union of India (2017) saying it against the institution of marriage.
- However, rejecting this claim, the Supreme Court observed, “Marriage is not institutional but personal – nothing can destroy the ‘institution’ of marriage except a statute that makes marriage illegal and punishable.”
- In Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018), the Supreme Court held that the offence of adultery was unconstitutional because it was founded on the principle that a woman is her husband’s property after marriage.
Way forward:
- What constitutes marital rape and marital non-rape needs to be defined precisely before a view on its criminalisation is taken.
- Defining marital rape would call for a broad based consensus of the society.
- States should intervene in the matter, since criminal law is on the concurrent list and implemented by states —and given the vast diversity in cultures across states.
- Factors like literacy, lack of financial empowerment of the majority of females, mindset of the society, vast diversity, poverty, etc., should be considered carefully before taking any decision.
- The need for “moral and social awareness” to stop such an act.
- The recent privacy judgment by the Supreme Court is also set to play an important role. The right to bodily integrity is a crucial facet of Article 21.
- Timely medical care and rehabilitation, skill development and employment for facilitating economic independence of victims.
- Need for undertaking both legal and social reforms to deal with the menace of marital rape
Introduction
The North-East is a melting pot of races and home to almost 238 indigenous tribes. While large sections of the people of the North-East are of Tibeto-Burman origin, the Khasi-Jaintia group is Austro-Asiatic, and the Mon-Khmer group is more akin to their brethren from Cambodia in habits and language.
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Issues faced by tribes of the north east:
- Tribal land alienation and dispossession are at the crux of the crisis tribal communities face across the north east: Encroachment of tribal land by non-tribal people is often the cause for tribal unrest.
- Insurgency and armed conflict resulting in forced migration and eviction from homelands
- AFSPA: The prolonged deployment of the armed forces and its lack of transparency in dealing with human rights violations has made the AFSPA a symbol of oppression.”
- There are questions related to the routinisation of arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and torture in custody of tribal people living in conflict areas.
- Added to this is criminal neglect and violent corruption that has systematically obstructed the delivery of public goods and services.
- Bureaucratic apathy, lack political will, lack of awareness with respect to rights and entitlements, lack of credible data to make policy
- Racism: Trust deficit with the mainland in the wake of violence especially during COVID crises
- Poor connectivity and mountainous terrain make it difficult for the greater integration with mainland India.
Measures taken by Government for their development:
- Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER): It is responsible for the matters relating to the planning, execution and monitoring of development schemes and projects in the North Eastern Region, to accelerate the pace of socio-economic development of the region.
- In pursuance of the provisions of 5th and 6th schedule, the various autonomous district has been created to contain the demands of various ethnic groups like Karbi Anglong, Khasi hill district, Chakma district etc.
- Inner Line Permit (ILP): Restrictions are imposed on the entry of outsiders to maintain the original identity of indigenous people of Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh entry of outsiders are not allowed without ILP.
- special attention under Hill Area Development Program, North Eastern Region Vision 2020
- Vocational training in tribal areas to develop the skills of the ST youth for a variety of jobs as well as self-employment and to improve their socio-economic condition by enhancing their income,
- Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) and Tribal Festivals to preserve north eastern tribal art and culture.
Conclusion
It is important to acknowledge the multihued diversity among tribals of north east especially in matters of citizenship, so that any future balkanisation tendencies can be addressed by not just through geographical integration but also through emotional integration to the mainland India.
Introduction
Tribal movements in India arose during the British colonial period due to the colonial oppression. Tribal movements or rebellions were due to occupation of tribal land and interference and overwhelming them with outside cultures hampering the lives of the tribals.
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The causes for the tribal uprisings included
- Imposition of Land revenue Settlement. For instance, Famine, enhanced land revenue demands and economic distress goaded the Chuar aboriginal tribesmen of the Jungle Mahal of Midnapore district and also of the Bankura district (in Bengal) to take up arms.
- British policies and acts like the establishment of the Forest department in 1864, Government Forest Act (1865) and Indian Forest Act (1878)which restricted the activities of tribals in forest areas led to their ire against the British. g.: Koya revolt against British for denial of tribal’s rights over forest areas.
- Extension of settled agriculture. E.g.: : The British expansion on their territory led to an uprising by the martial Pahariyas of the Raj Mahal Hills in 1778.
- New excise regulations which imposed a ban on tribals to make their own liquor, an important trait of their culture.
- Large scale transfer of forest land. g.: large-scale transfers of land from Kol headmen to outsiders like Hindu, Sikh and Muslim farmers and money-lenders who were oppressive and demanded heavy taxes.
- Restrictions on shifting cultivation in forest. For eg.: Khasi and Garo rebellions against occupation of hilly land and ban on shifting cultivation.
- Introduction of the notion of private property.
- Exploitation by low country traders and money lenders. E.g: Santhal rebellion against moneylenders and traders. The Ulgulan uprising against money lenders
- Work of Christian Missionaries and against the interference of other religions such as Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. g: Tana Bhagat Movement
Significance
- The uprisings helped create an united notion against the oppressive nature of British rule.
- It laid bare the colonial rule of East India company.
- It played an important role in bringing the tribal people together and imparting to them the consciousness of belonging to one country.
- The Tribal rebellions in India took place for social, cultural and political reasons, particularly against the acquisition of their land and exerted their rights over forest resources.
Reasons for failure
- Though these early movements created a healthy culture promoting expression of local dissent against authoritarianism, they also faced certain limitations.
- Though as single events, these revolts were powerful and pervasive in their region; from the national perspective, they were localised and isolated events that didn’t capture the popular imagination of the nation at large. This limited the effect that these uprisings could have had.
- Additionally, most of these uprisings arose from dissatisfaction over local grievances, and the rest of the nation could not identify with the agitating persons and express empathy for their grievances.
- The uprisings were not revolutionary in ideas, thought or ideology, but were just external manifestations of protests over particular grievances.
- They presented no alternate solution to the public, and failed to galvanise them into action.
- The leaders of most of these uprisings were semi-feudal in character and hence, had a traditional, conservative outlook.
- They were easily satisfied if the British provided even minor concessions or agreed to their specific demands.
- Hence, no large scale reform of society was perceived or even demanded for by the people participating in these protests.
Conclusion
It is evident that the colonial rule even, during the days of the east India Company witnessed numerous uprising and disturbances. These varied grievances reached their climax in the revolt of 1857, which in spite of targeting certain groups of Indians remains the prominent uprising against the British before the beginning of the Indian Freedom movement.
General Studies – 2
Introduction
The Constitution, under various provisions, has clearly drawn the line between Legislature and the Judiciary to maintain their independence in their respective functioning. Article 121 and 211 forbid the legislature from discussing the conduct of any judge in the discharge of his duties, while Articles 122 and 212, on the other hand, prevent the courts from sitting in judgment over the internal proceedings of the legislature. In recent times, there have been criticism levelled against judicial activism, calling it adventurism and overreach.
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Judicial activism needed in legislative vacuum
- Upholds Constitutional morality: An important case which employed this concept in an innovative manner was the Naz Foundation Case which used the concept of constitutional morality to strike down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and decriminalize homosexuality.
- The Delhi High Court had said that “In our scheme of things, constitutional morality must outweigh the argument of public morality, even if it be the majoritarian view.”
- Executive lacks Political gumption: Justice Chandrachud’s view in the Sabarimala judgement, he held that women should be allowed entry in the Sabarimala temple against popularly held religious beliefs.
- Political parties and governments did not take a stand or repeal discriminatory laws in fear of losing support base of masses.
- To protect fundamental rights: Triple Talaq in 2017 was banned as being ultra vires to fundamental rights of Muslim women. This legislation would not have been accepted if it had come from the executive or through the Parliament.
- Right to privacy also became Fundamental right under Article 21
- Most trusted institution: A People’s Survey of India report noted that Indians had 80% trust in the Supreme court. Though not an elected body, the apex court is significant to uphold rule of law.
- Eg: Whistle Blowers Act against corrupt officials and politicians was given under Article 142, until Parliament made a law on the subject.
Demerits of Judicial activism
- Unelected body: Judiciary being the unelected body, does not enjoy the “General Will” of the people. Judicial restraint is more apt for such an institution rather than dictation a legislation. Eg: Ban on liquor sale on highways led to backlash as well as spurious means to overcome the dictum
- Lack of expertise: Judiciary lacks both time and resources to enact legislation. Sometimes practical difficulties of such enactments are not known to the courts.
- Eg: Ban on BS-IV vehicles from April 2020 which had to be extended many times.
- Against Constitution’s Mandate: Judicial Review is a basic structure of the Constitution; however enacting legislation is not. Courts can look into the validity of the law, but not necessarily make a law.
- Unaccountable: Politicians remain “accountable” to the people in at least some sense, because they depend upon them in order to continue in office after five years.
- Judges who are insulated from any external control are accountable only to themselves
- Judicial adventurism: Subhash Kashinath Mahajan v. State of Maharashtra (2018): the court amended the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, by annulling Section 18 which said that no anticipatory bail will be granted to persons accused under the Act.
- There was widespread protest and opposition to this from all quarters. Finally, the law brought in to undo this was also upheld in the court.
Conclusion
Each organ of our democracy must function within its own sphere and must not take over what is assigned to the others. Judicial activism must also function within the limits of the judicial process because the courts are the only forum for those wronged by administrative excesses and executive arbitrariness. Hence legislation enacted by Judiciary must be in the rare cases as mentioned above
Introduction
The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act 1992 is a significant landmark in the evolution of grassroot democratic institutions in the country. It transformed the representative democracy into participatory democracy. It is a revolutionary concept to build democracy at the grassroot level in the country.
However, after decades of this historic amendment, Panchayati Raj Institutions have remained laggard in the developmental process.
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Success of Panchayati Raj
Gandhiji’s dream of Gram Swaraj and Oceanic Circles of Power were realised through the Panchayati Raj System.
- The PRIs are the local self-governing bodies that ensure the opportunity for people’s participation and involvement in the formulation and implementation of rural development programmes.
- The main objective of Panchayat System in India is to strengthen the base of democracy at the grass root level.
- It was introduced as a real democratic political apparatus which would bring the masses into active political control from below, from the vast majority of the weaker, poor sections of rural India.
- They play the role of a catalytic agent in integrating development of tribal masses in rural areas.
- Plan documents of both the central and state governments and various committees have emphasised the importance of these bodies in the polity. Five-year plans have also laid special emphasis on the role of Panchayats in rural developments.
- Rural Development includes measures to strengthen the democratic structure of society through the PRIs.
- PRIs have been used to improve the rural infrastructure, income of rural households and delivery systems pertaining to education, health and safety mechanisms. These institutions are to be galvanised to become effective instruments of social and economic change at the local level.
- Reservation for women (33%) has increased their presence in the public life.
Failures of democratic decentralisation especially in Panchayats
- Overwhelming dependency on government funding: Panchayat’s own resource base to raise finances is low and the financial resources are tied to certain schemes and initiatives. When Panchayats do not raise resources and instead depend on external funding, people are less likely to enforce social audit and efficacy of the schemes.
- g.: In case of Urban local bodies, majority of municipalities have not increased property tax since many years and have not leveraged the municipal bonds for betterment of city infrastructure.
- Creation of Parallel Bodies: Parallel Bodies have usurped the legitimate space of local bodies. For instance, Smart City scheme is being implemented in major cities through Special Purpose Vehicles, squeezing the limited space of urban local governance in municipalities.
- Lack of adequate Devolution: Many states have not devolved the 3F’s of function, funds and functionaries, to enable local bodies to discharge their constitutionally stipulated functions.
- Excessive control by bureaucracy
- In many Gram Panchayats, Sarpanches have to spend an extra ordinary amount of time visiting block Officers for funds and/or technical approval. These interactions with the Block staff office distort the role of Sarpanches as elected representatives.
- Multiple institutions like parastatals, development authorities, public works departments, and ULBs themselves report to different departments of the state government and have been entrusted with overlapping responsibilities.
- Poor Infrastructure: It is found that nearly 25% of Gram Panchayats do not have basic office buildings. Capacity building of elected representatives is another hindrance in the grass roots democracy. In case of urban local bodies, Mayor position is merely ceremonial.
Measures Need to strengthen Panchayats
- Central Government has started the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyaan.The campaign is undertaken under the name of “Sabka Sath, Sabka Gaon, Sabka Vikas”.
- It aims to draw up Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs)in the country and place them on a website where anyone can see the status of the various government’s flagship schemes.
- Gram Panchayats have been mandated for the preparation of GPDP for economic development and social justiceutilizing the resources available to them.
- Government of India formulated E-Panchayat Mission Mode Project for e-enablement of all the Panchayats, to make their functioning more efficient and transparent.
- Social Audit:The power of social audit was proven by Jan Sunwai in Rajasthan. Transparent, third party Social Audit can enable people to hold the representatives accountable.
- Citizen Participation: In case of Gram Sabhas, their functions and roles must be clearly defined as in the PESA Act, to enable to function effectively.
Conclusion
The need of the hour is to bring about a holistic change in the lives of people among the villagers by uplifting their socioeconomic and health status through effective linkages through community, governmental and other developmental agencies. People’s demands for the sustainable decentralisation and advocacy should focus on a decentralisation agenda. The framework needs to be evolved to accommodate the demand for decentralisation.
Introduction
In a military coup in Myanmar, a state of emergency has been imposed for one year. The coup resulted in establishing military rule again in Myanmar. Myanmar conducted elections democratically in November 2020. Aung San Suu Kyi led Party won 396 out of 476 seats (combined lower and upper houses of Parliament) and won the elections. The military reserves 25% of seats as per their 2008 Constitution.
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Background
- Military (also called Junta and Tatmadaw) has alleged that the general elections held in November 2020 were full of irregularities and that therefore, the results are not valid.
- This marked the end of Myanmar’s short-lived experience with democracy which began in 2011, when military implemented parliamentary elections and other reforms
Challenges posed to India due to current situation in Myanmar
- Geopolitical interests: Myanmar sits at the intersection of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East Policy’ policies, and therefore is an essential element in India’s practice of regional diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, and serves as a land bridge to connect South Asia and Southeast Asia.
- With an authoritarian government at the helm of affairs, overtures to China will increase and India’s interest may suffer.
- Strategic location: It serves as a buffer between India and China. Myanmar has coastal access to the Bay of Bengal. It connects Bangladesh, China and the restive North eastern states of India.
- It is also close to India’s Nicobar archipelago. Instability will have consequences on security situation in India.
- National security: Myanmar-China border has become the epicentre of local armed separatist groups operating on Myanmar soil, and Indian groups, ranging from ULFA in Assam to the NSCN (IM) in Nagaland.
- Economic interests: India has interests in natural resources of Myanmar and also developing certain projects like India–Myanmar–Thailand trilateral highway and Kaladan multi-modal project which is to link India’s landlocked north-eastern States to the Myanmar Port of Sittwe, located in the Bay of Bengal.
- Instability in Myanmar will be a roadblock to these ambitions.
- Countering China: A weakened Myanmar falling into the clutches of China as a satellite state will pressurize India to do Beijing’s bidding in regional affairs.
Steps to navigate the above challenges
- India can aid the democratically elected government if there was a request from Myanmar. Myanmar is India’s strategic partner like Nepal, Bangladesh.
- India can help Myanmar like that of erstwhile Bangladesh in 1971.
- India has to strengthen the existing cooperation. India currently has an active co-operation with Myanmar in areas of security, counter-terrorism, trade and investment, energy co-operation.
- India has to encourage more active co-operation in these fields.
- India can formalise border trade with Myanmar. Currently, India’s Border trade with Myanmar is at a very low level. ‘
- By formalising border trade like that of Border Haats in India-Bangladesh and providing enough support, we can improve people to people tie.
- It will also provide peace in long run.
- India can assist Myanmar in the implementation of the Kofi Annan Advisory Commission report on Rohingya Refugee issues.
- The commission has recommended investing in infrastructure projects.
- The recent Indian government move in developing the Sittwe port in Myanmar’s Rakhine state is one such move.
Conclusion
India should keep up the momentum by inviting Myanmar’s Foreign Minister & other important stakeholders such as leaders of political parties, civil society and think tanks to India for deliberations with their counterparts here. The single goal should be to put Myanmar back on the path of becoming “a stable, democratic and federal union”.
Introduction
Climate change is one of the defining challenges of this century. Without a global effort to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, average global temperatures are very likely to exceed 2°C even with current policies in place. While many developing countries made net-zero pledges at COP26 in Glasgow, they face enormous developmental challenges in their attempts to grow in a climate-constrained world.
In Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announced that India will strive to reach net-zero emissions by 2070.
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Existing challenges for India: Balancing climate goals and development
- For India, the national context is shaped by high youth unemployment, millions more entering the workforce each year, and a country hungry for substantial investments in hard infrastructure to industrialise and urbanise.
- Unlike the energy-intensive growth trajectories of the industrialised world, and rapidly industrialising economies like China, India’s economic growth in the last three decades, led by growth in the services sector, has come at a significantly lower emissions
- But in the coming decades, India will have to move to an investment-led and manufacturing-intensive growth model to help lift hundreds of millions more out of poverty.
- India needs to create job opportunities for another 300 million expected to enter the workforce by mid-century, and create entirely new cities and infrastructure to accommodate and connect an increasingly urban population. All of this requires a lot of energy.
- Amidst this, India’s challenge is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. With the mammoth task of industrialisation that is needed, the climate goal can be challenging.
Strategy India needs wrt Industrialisation
- Comprehensive strategy: What India needs is an overarching green industrialisation strategy that combines laws, policy instruments, and new or reformed implementing institutions to steer its decentralised economic activities to become climate-friendly and resilient.
- Private investment: A market-steering approach rather than a hands-off approach would encourage patient private sector investments in technologies needed to industrialise under climate constraints.
- Nurture private green entrepreneurship: India also needs to nurture private entrepreneurship and experimentation in clean energy technologies rather than be indifferent to it as we are today or stifle it as we did in the License Raj era.
- Green transport: Technologies needed to decarbonise the transport and industry sectors provide a significant opportunity. However, India’s R&D investments in these emerging green technologies are non-existent. The production-linked incentives (PLIs) under ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ are a step in the right direction for localising clean energy manufacturing activities.
- Quantum jump: Aligning existing RD&D investments with the technologies needed for green industrialisation is crucial for realising quantum jumps.
Way forward and conclusion
- There should be no doubt that India’s energy transition should be squarely development-focused and aim to extract economic and employment rents from decarbonisation.
- The government should neither succumb to international pressure to decarbonise soon nor should it postpone its investment in decarbonisation technologies and lose its long-term competitiveness in a global low-carbon economy.
- Instead, India should set its pace based on its ability to capitalise on the opportunities to create wealth through green industrialisation.
- India should follow a path where it can negotiate carbon space to grow, buying time for the hard-to-abate sectors; push against counterproductive WTO trade litigations on decarbonisation technologies; all while making R&D investments in those technologies to ensure that it can gain economic value in the transition.
- This will not only make India a responsible power but also make its economy competitive in a climate-constrained world.
General Studies – 3
Introduction
Unemployment has become a chronic problem of India and in the recent years the situation has only worsened. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) recently released the unemployment status report of India which showed the unemployment rate in the country was 7.91% in December 2021. It was 7% in November 2021.
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Unemployment crisis in India
- With migrant labourers retreating to their native places, the impact seems to be more severe in urban areas where the unemployment rate is now reaching 10 per cent.
- With 73.5 lakh job losses in April, the number of employees (both salaried and non-salaried) fell from 39.81 crore in March to 39.08 crore in April for the third straight month.
- In April 2020, which was the first full month of the national lockdown last year, the unemployment rate had zoomed to 23.5%.
- Women tend to face a double challenge, with lower labour participation and a higher unemployment rate for females compared with males (for ages above 15).
- For the January-April 2021 period, urban female LPR was 7.2% compared with the urban male’s 64.8%, while urban female unemployment was 18.4% against the urban male unemployment rate of 6.6%, CMIE data showed.
Causes for the sharp decline in the jobs in India
- The labour force is the sum of the employed and those unemployed who are seeking employment.
- A shrinking of the labour force is most unusual in an economy with a growing population, and thus a growing working age cohort.
- Low education and lack of skills lead to loss of many job opportunities. On the other hand, the share of young adults in higher education in India has more than doubled over the years.
- Discouraged-worker effect: A section of those hitherto willing to work may have simply dropped out of an already challenged labour market.
- Demonetization has caused demoralisation among a section of the already unemployed who may have given up all hope of finding employment.
- About 90% of Indian Workforce is in the unorganized sector which was majorly affected during Demonetization and GST introduction.
- Declining Capital formation which is not backed by Public and Private Investment.
- Low female LFPR to the tunes of 24% also adds to high unemployment rate.
- Automation and IR4.0 is a looming threat to many jobs which have repeated work or sequential work.
- Socially disadvantaged groups do not get enough exposure in the job market like the general castes and Other Backward Classes.
- Labour laws in India are complex and relatively strict. Employment protection legislation is restrictive, compared with other emerging economies and OECD countries. Thus, corporates in India tend to rely more on temporary contract labour, stay small or substitute labour for capital to avoid strict labour laws.
Measures suggested
- Increase public spending in education:
- At 3.8% of GDP, public spending on education in India is lower than countries like Brazil and Malaysia.
- The focus of the government needs to shift to spending on enhancing the quality of education and vocational training.
- Similarly, allowing foreign investment in sectors like legal and accountancy services will create employment as more foreign firms will move to India.
- Infrastructure investment can also be utilised as an engine of job-creation.
- Investing in people through healthcare, quality education, jobs and skills helps build human capital, which is key to supporting economic growth, ending extreme poverty, and creating more inclusive societies.
- Educated unemployment:
- Besides promoting technical education, the government needs to focus more on creation of jobs and demand for workers since industries are unable to create sufficient job opportunities for all the technically educated people
- Policies should ensure that the education systems prepare young people for the skill demands of employers through outreach programmes, training, apprenticeships, and access to job-search assistance measures.
- More businesses should recognise the opportunity, and need, to invest in young people so that they can help in developing the qualities necessary for education and future employment.
- NGOs should engage collectively in policy advocacy on youth They should also partner with companies to develop skills and training programmes to tackle youth unemployment.
- Singapore has launched certain programmes to establish partnerships between domestic and foreign universities to promote tertiary education. India could learn from such initiatives.
- New age sectors like defence and aerospace, education and healthcare, and burgeoning green sectors like solar energy and wind, present another massive opportunity to identify ‘upcoming jobs’ and prepare talent accordingly. India’s ambition to create more than one million new jobs in the green energy sector by 2022 is encouraging.
- Educated unemployment:
- There should be cluster development to support job creation in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Most of the unorganised sector employment is in MSMEs, which tend to be concentrated in specific geographic locations.
- Private sector leaders should build capacity among unskilled and semi-skilled workers to ensure sustainability of renewable energy projects and provide opportunities to rural communities.
- Government officials should create public training programmes to prepare the poor and less educated people especially semi-skilled and unskilled for employment in the clean-energy sector.
- People need to be made self employed by providing training in skills and latest technologies for agriculture and other avenues especially in rural areas.
- Women in rural areas who are left behind by men due to migration need to look into other sources of livelihood other than agriculture like animal husbandry etc..
Conclusion
In 2020, although the economy was in a very poor state following the deleterious effects of demonetisation, the rural economy was faring reasonably well on the back of two good monsoons.
However, after a year of distress, and with some part of the workforce still not having returned to their work places, rural incomes are expected to be under pressure. Economists say they are already seeing signs of sluggishness in rural consumption.
Value-addition
Steps taken by government in recent times
- Dedicated Shram Suvidha Portal: That would allot Labor Identification Number (LIN) to units and allow them to file online compliance for 16 out of 44 labor laws.
- Random Inspection Scheme: To eliminate human discretion in selection of units for Inspection, and uploading of Inspection Reports within 72 hours of inspection mandatory.
- Universal Account Number: Enables 4.17 crore employees to have their Provident Fund account portable, hassle-free and universally accessible.
- Apprentice Protsahan Yojana: Government will support manufacturing units mainly and other establishments by reimbursing 50% of the stipend paid to apprentices during first two years of their training.
- Revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana: Introducing a Smart Card for the workers in the unorganized sector seeded with details of two more social security schemes.
- The National Career Service is being implemented as a mission mode project to provide various job-related services information on skills development courses, internships etc
Introduction
Food processing generally includes the basic preparation of foods, the alteration of a food product (usually raw) into another form (as in making preserves from fruit), and preservation and packaging techniques. Food processing typically takes harvested crops or animal products and uses these to produce long shelf-life food products.
It includes the process of value addition to produce products through methods such as preservation, addition of food additives, drying etc. with a view to preserve food substances in an effective manner, enhance their shelf life and quality.
The challenge to feed the 10 billion population by mid-century is a daunting challenge across the globe.
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Scope of FPI in India:
- India is the world’s second largest producer of fruits & vegetables after China but hardly 2% of the produce is processed.
- India is among the top 5 countries in the production of coffee, tobacco, spices, seeds etc. With such a huge raw material base, we can easily become the leading supplier of food items in the world.
- In spite of a large production base, the level of processing is low (less than 10%). Approximately 2% of fruits and vegetables, 8% marine, 35% milk, 6% poultry are processed. Lack of adequate processable varieties continues to pose a significant challenge to this sector.
- Economic Survey 2020: During the last 6 years ending 2017-18, Food Processing Industries sector has been growing at an average annual growth rate of around 5.06 per cent.
- Employment: According to the Annual Survey of Industries for 2016-17, the total number of persons engaged in registered food processing sector was 54 lakhs. (whereas unregistered FPOs supports 51.11 lakh workers)
- Farmer Beneficiaries: The SAMPADA scheme is estimated to benefit about 37 lakh farmers and generate about 5.6 lakh direct/ indirect employment (ES 2020 data).
- Curbing Distress Migration: Provides employment in rural areas, hence reduces migration from rural to urban. Resolves issues of urbanization.
Challenges facing food processing industry in India
- Demand of processed food is mainly restricted to urban areas of India.
- Major problems are listed below:
- Small and dispersed marketable surplus due to fragmented holdings
- Low farm productivity due to lack of mechanization,
- High seasonality of raw materials
- Perishability and lack of proper intermediation (supply chain) result in lack of availability of raw material.
- This in turn, impedes food processing and its exports.
- More than 30% of the produce from farm gate is lost due to inadequate cold chain infrastructure.
- The NITI Aayog cited a study that estimated annual post-harvest losses close to Rs 90,000 crore.
- Lack of all-weather roads and connectivity make supply erratic.
- The food processing industry has a high concentration of unorganised segments, representing almost 75% across all product categories. Thus, causes the inefficiencies in the existing production system.
- Further, most processing in India can be classified as primary processing, which has lower value-addition compared to secondary processing.
- Due to this, despite India being one of the largest producers of agricultural commodities in the world, agricultural exports as a share of GDP are fairly low in India relative to the rest of the world.
Solutions to address the challenges
- The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is implementing PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana). The objective of PMKSY is to supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease agri-waste.
- Mega Food Parks.
- Integrated Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure.
- Creation/Expansion of Food Processing/Preservation Capacities.
- Infrastructure for Agro Processing Clusters.
- Scheme for Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages.
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy: FDI up to 100%, under the automatic route is allowed in food processing industries.
- Agri Export Zones: To give thrust to export of agro products, new concept of Agri Export Zones was brought in 2001. APEDA has been nominated as the Nodal Agency to coordinate the efforts
- cluster approach of identifying the potential products;
- the geographical region in which these products are grown;
- Adopting an end-to-end approach of integrating the entire process right from the stage of production till it reaches the market (farm to market).
Conclusion
Food processing has a promising future, provided adequate government support is there. Food is the biggest expense for an urban Indian household. About 35 % of the total consumption expenditure of households is generally spent on food. As mentioned, food processing has numerous advantages which are specific to Indian context. It has the capacity to lift millions out of undernutrition. Government has its work cut out to develop industry in a way which takes care of small scale industry along with attracting big ticket domestic and foreign investments.
Introduction
Climate change is one of the defining challenges of this century. Without a global effort to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, average global temperatures are very likely to exceed 2°C even with current policies in place. While many developing countries made net-zero pledges at COP26 in Glasgow, they face enormous developmental challenges in their attempts to grow in a climate-constrained world.
In Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announced that India will strive to reach net-zero emissions by 2070.
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Existing challenges for India: Balancing climate goals and development
- For India, the national context is shaped by high youth unemployment, millions more entering the workforce each year, and a country hungry for substantial investments in hard infrastructure to industrialise and urbanise.
- Unlike the energy-intensive growth trajectories of the industrialised world, and rapidly industrialising economies like China, India’s economic growth in the last three decades, led by growth in the services sector, has come at a significantly lower emissions
- But in the coming decades, India will have to move to an investment-led and manufacturing-intensive growth model to help lift hundreds of millions more out of poverty.
- India needs to create job opportunities for another 300 million expected to enter the workforce by mid-century, and create entirely new cities and infrastructure to accommodate and connect an increasingly urban population. All of this requires a lot of energy.
- Amidst this, India’s challenge is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. With the mammoth task of industrialisation that is needed, the climate goal can be challenging.
Strategy India needs wrt Industrialisation
- Comprehensive strategy: What India needs is an overarching green industrialisation strategy that combines laws, policy instruments, and new or reformed implementing institutions to steer its decentralised economic activities to become climate-friendly and resilient.
- Private investment: A market-steering approach rather than a hands-off approach would encourage patient private sector investments in technologies needed to industrialise under climate constraints.
- Nurture private green entrepreneurship: India also needs to nurture private entrepreneurship and experimentation in clean energy technologies rather than be indifferent to it as we are today or stifle it as we did in the License Raj era.
- Green transport: Technologies needed to decarbonise the transport and industry sectors provide a significant opportunity. However, India’s R&D investments in these emerging green technologies are non-existent. The production-linked incentives (PLIs) under ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ are a step in the right direction for localising clean energy manufacturing activities.
- Quantum jump: Aligning existing RD&D investments with the technologies needed for green industrialisation is crucial for realising quantum jumps.
Way forward and conclusion
- There should be no doubt that India’s energy transition should be squarely development-focused and aim to extract economic and employment rents from decarbonisation.
- The government should neither succumb to international pressure to decarbonise soon nor should it postpone its investment in decarbonisation technologies and lose its long-term competitiveness in a global low-carbon economy.
- Instead, India should set its pace based on its ability to capitalise on the opportunities to create wealth through green industrialisation.
- India should follow a path where it can negotiate carbon space to grow, buying time for the hard-to-abate sectors; push against counterproductive WTO trade litigations on decarbonisation technologies; all while making R&D investments in those technologies to ensure that it can gain economic value in the transition.
- This will not only make India a responsible power but also make its economy competitive in a climate-constrained world.
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