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.
Economy & Agriculture
Q1. There is a need to go beyond the provisions of gas stoves and toilets for women and empower them with land and property rights through effective land reforms. Discuss (10M)
Introduction
The 2017-18 NSSO data reveals that more than 70% of rural women are engaged in agricultural work. Yet, only 13.9% of women own land holdings, according to the agricultural census of 2015-16.
Moreover, there is concentration of operational holdings (25.7 per cent) by women in the marginal and small holdings categories. It points towards more deep-rooted inequality in the Indian society
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It is desirable that women have better access and ownership of land because it leads to various social and economic benefits for the country.
- Improve financial autonomy of women
- Lack of ownership of land does not allow women farmers to approach banks for institutional loans as banks usually consider land as collateral.
- So financial autonomy could be achieved by the land ownership.
- Nutritional benefits
- According to many studies, women have a greater tendency to use their income for the needs of their householdslike better nutrition and education of children. Which would create a strong base for society
- Environmental benefits
- Women have played and continue to play a key role in the conservation of basic life support systems such as land, water, flora and fauna.
- They have protected the health of the soil through organic recycling and promoted crop security through the maintenance of varietal diversity and genetic resistance
- Social
- Without resources such as land, women have limited say in household decision-making, and no recourse to the assets during crises
- This often relates to other vulnerabilities such as domestic violence and HIV and AIDS.
- So , these social problems could be reduced by making women financially independent.
Reason behind less right to women in farming system
- Land being a state subject
- It is not governed by the constitution under a uniform law that applies equally to all citizens but rather is governed by personal religious laws. It tends to discriminate against women when it comes to land inheritance.
- Cultural aspect
- It hinder women’s ownership of land in patriarchal societies cannot be discounted.
- Women are not officially counted as farmers because they are either labeled “agricultural laborers” or “cultivators”.
Way forward
- Formal education, availability of economically viable agricultural machinery for women, training, extension services, social engineering, and gender budgeting is need of the hour.
- The government plans to launch an awareness campaign looking at how Agricultural Science Centres (Krishi Vigyan Kendra) can play a significant role in empowering women farmers and shifting existing, biased perceptions of women’s roles in agriculture.
- An ‘inclusive transformative agricultural policy’ should aim at gender-specific intervention to raise productivity of small farm holdings, integrate women as active agents in rural transformation.
- Provision of credit without collateral under the micro-finance initiative of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) should be encouraged.
- Better access to credit, technology, and provision of entrepreneurship abilities will further boost women’s confidence and help them gain recognition as farmers.
- The possibility of collective farming can be encouraged to make women self-reliant. Training and skills imparted to women as has been done by some self-help groups and cooperative-based dairy activities (Saras in Rajasthan and Amul in Gujarat).
CONCLUSION
Land rights for women should be seen as a means to drive progressive and sustainable change among women, their families, and communities, rather than as an end in itself and to make women in India more independent and self-reliant, it is important that we engage with the issue of land rights.
Q2. What is the rationale behind the demand for the legalization of MSP? Discuss the challenges associated with such a move? Suggest measures required for better price realization of agricultural crops? (15M)
INTRODUCTION
MSP is a form of government intervention to insure the farmers against a steep decline in the prices of their goods and to help them prevent losses. The government of India sets the MSP twice a year for 24 commodities. This is done by the government to protect the farmers against a fall in prices in a year of bumper production. When the market price falls below the declared MSP, the government would purchase the entire quantity from the farmers at MSP.
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The chief objectives of setting up MSP are:
- Support farmers from distress sales
- To procure food grains for public distribution
Fig : Reason for failure of MSP |
Rationale behind the demand for the legalization of MSP
- Farmers receive less than MSP:
- Especially during harvest time, are well below the officially-declared MSPs. And since MSPs have no statutory backing, they cannot demand these as a matter of right.
- Limited procurement by the Govt:
- Also, the actual procurement at MSP by the Government is confined to only about a third of wheat and rice crops
- 10%-20% of select pulses and oilseeds.
- According to the Shanta Kumar Committee’s 2015 report,only 6% of the farm households sell wheat and rice to the government at the MSP rates.
- Regional divide
- Out of the total procurement half of it is bought in Punjab and Haryana alone.
- Farmers in Haryana and Punjab, thus, receive higher prices than farmers in East Indian states for the same crops, including paddy and wheat.
- Uncertainty of the market force
- The uncertainties inherent in weather, yields, prices, global markets, and other factors that impact farming can cause wide swings in farm income.
Challenges associated with legalizing the MSP
- Statutory MSP is unsustainable
- Any fixed pre-determined price will push away private traders whenever production is more than demand, and there is a price slump in the market.
- This, in turn, will lead to government de-facto becoming the primary buyer of most farm produce for which MSP is declared, which is unsustainable.
- Huge investment on storage infrastructure
- The existing MSP regime, the government procures 110 lakh tonnes of wheat and paddy, even though it has a buffer stock norm of just 41 lakh tonnes.
- The rate of procurement and the stock is also bulging up in the case of all other crops among the 23 MSP ones.
- Problem of inflation
- Private players or government agencies buy the crops at least at the fixed price anywhere in the country; there will be a price rise and increased inflation in general.
- Huge burden on the exchequer
- The revenue will be diverted toward this and there will be no money left with the government to develop and maintain essential things like roads, bridges and so on.
- Impact India’s farm exports,
- Farm exports account for 11% of the total exports of commodities. If the MSP is higher than the prevailing rates in the international markets.
Measures required for better price realization of agricultural crops
- Forcing private traders or processors to pay MSP. This is already applicable in sugarcane.
- The Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 issued under the Essential Commodities Act, moreover, obliges payment of this legally-guaranteed price within 14 days of cane purchase.
- Government undertaking procurement at MSPthrough its agencies such as the Food Corporation of India (FCI), National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) and Cotton Corporation of India (CCI).
- The 23 MSP cropstogether, in turn, account for hardly a third of the total value of India’s agricultural output, excluding forestry and fishing.
- Guaranteeing MSP is via price deficiency payments (PM-AASHA).
- Under it, the government neither directly purchases nor forces the private industry to pay MSP.
- Instead, it allows all sales by farmers to take place at the prevailing market prices.
- Farmers are simply paid the difference between the government’s MSP and the average market price for the particular crop during the harvesting season.
CONCLUSION
India’s policymakers need to realise that agriculture is heavily supported by governments in most countries. Producer support to farming in India as a share of total farm receipts is negative, something which goes against the stereotype of agriculture being heavily subsidised. Promises of future gains from deregulation can hardly be a substitute for budgetary support for Indian farmers.
Ethics
Q3. Has increased public scrutiny through RTI and several media platforms managed to improve the accountability of the people in power? Critically examine. 10M
Introduction
Transparency and accountability are essential conditions of participatory democracy. RTI and media platforms emerged as a new tool in ensuring the participation of Indian citizens in the political and economic process of government. They also enabled enhanced accountability and transparency in government administration.
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Role of RTI and media platforms in improving accountability of government.
- Active participation of citizens – The RTI Act 2005, is helping the cause of probity in governance via citizen activism. It is not just about filing RTI applications but also initiates debates, and discussions on issues, cases etc.
- It is serving as a way to an open society and is ushering in a culture of asking questions.
- Key to good governance – The second ARC states that the RTI is the master key to good governance. The RTI helps in ensuring accountability in governance and minimizing corruption and inefficiency in public offices.
- It enables people’s participation in governance and decision-making.
- Accountable administration – RTI act has empowered people to seek definite and direct answers from officials regarding various issues that affect their lives and rights. RTI applications have annually increased by 8 to 10 times.
- So, accountability has invariably led to efficiency and a sense of responsibility among government officials.
- C-governance – Social media platforms have led to the emergence of citizen-led governance(c-governance) in India by bringing easy access to government departments and their functioning officers.
- This has increased the transparency and accountability of government.
- Social media platforms have become easy means to launch and spread campaigns against government authoritarian regimes, government delays in implementing policies etc.
Success stories of RTI.
- In Santhpur village in Bidar District of Karnataka, RTI activists used the act to expose corruption in MGNREGA. Through an RTI application, it was discovered that the people employed in four projects of MGNREGA were the same and were all members of a local politician’s family.
- Villagers in Madhubani district, Bihar used RTI to expose a solar-light scam, leading to charges against 200 corrupt officials.
- RTI also exposed wrongdoings in the organisation of Commonwealth games, allocation of 2G spectrum and coal blocks.
Even though there are some success stories of RTI and media platforms in bringing accountability to the government, there still exist various issues around them.
- Lack of Awareness – According to an estimate, between 40 and 60 lakh RTI applications are filed every year, but less than 3 per cent of Indian citizens have ever filed an RTI plea.
- Huge pending cases – The ‘Report Card’ revealed that as of 31 March 2019, there were 18 lakh appeals and complaints pending before the SICs.
- The study added that it took an average of more than a year for most SICs to dispose of complaints/appeals.
- Of the applications filed, less than 45 per cent received the information they had sought, according to the ‘Report Card of Information Commissions in India, 2018-19’ released by the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SSN) and the Centre for Equity Studies (CES).
- Attacks on activists – There is the issue of threats and acts of violence against RTI activists. In the last 15 years, at least 86 people who had filed RTI applications have been killed while 175 others have been attacked.
- At least seven applicants committed suicide while 184 applicants reported being harassed.
- The reluctance of state governments to implement section 4 of the RTI act – This section deals with the voluntary disclosure of information by public authorities. Studies confirm that more than 50% of the applications filed under the RTI act ask for information that should have been disclosed under section 4.
- This has increased the burden both on information providers and information seekers.
- The inefficiency of information commissions – In more than 90% of the cases analyzed by the RaaG study, the penalty was not imposed where it was supposed to have been imposed.
- Social media platforms like Whatsapp and Facebook have been accused of being a carrier of hate messages and fake news that incited mob violence.
- Recently social media platforms have also been brought under strict government rules and regulatory scrutiny.
Way forward
- The whistleblower protection act needs to be implemented effectively by notifying essential rules. This will reduce attacks on activists.
- As notified by the sub-committee of Information Commissioners, section 4 implementation is going to be a crucial piece in the success of the RTI act.
- The government should make the process of selection of Information Commissioners more transparent. Close to 60% of all commissioners in the country are retired, civil servants.
- Democratic and Balancing approach in regulating media platforms.
Case Study 20M
Q4. X is a chief technical officer in a Smartphone Company. The company has a culture of innovation, hard work, and openness. These have helped gain customer loyalty but the profits are often low. In recent months even the salaries are getting delayed. The investors want to propel the company into profits; they want to mine user data and sell it for profits. X has discussed this with the user community but a large number of them have been negative about such a step. The company decides to install such software on lower-end devices as user consent can be obtained if the cost of the phone is less. Many in X’s company agree to such a move. But X feels it is morally wrong.
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- Q) Do you think X is right? Is it morally wrong? Give your reasons.
- Q) What are the options available to X? Discuss its merits and demerits.
Introduction
In the 21st century Data has become the “new oil”. In a sense, data can be viewed as a resource that is valuable, but only if we can find ways to properly extract value from it. The case study highlights such an issue of unrefined data mining by a profit-minded smartphone company.
Body
- Yes, X is right and data mining by a company without proper regulations and motives is morally wrong.
Reasons
- Unethical means: Here Company is following illegal and unethical ways of data mining by aiming to collect data without the consent of users.
- Privacy concerns: This unethical and illegal way to extract data raises questions about legal and privacy concerns and compromises confidentiality and the right to privacy of an individual.
- Misuse of data: Without consent data collection is illegal, especially by using lower-end devices which have more consequences as lower-end devices are most probably used by illiterate, rural people who are unaware of the consequences of misuse of their data. Educated people can opt out of consent-giving by buying higher-end devices.
- Against established values: This unethical practice is against the company’s established values like openness, a culture of innovation and hard work.
- Short-term profit moves by a company may pose a threat to the company’s future income and fame, if this unethical data mining practice has been found by the government in future.
- The company will lose customer loyalty and consumer base and even the company may get legal sanctions from the government, which may result in the shutdown of prestigious companies.
- Promotes discrimination: Data mining can be used to discriminate against people, especially regarding racial, sexual and religious orientation.
- Data mining by the company may pose a threat to an Individual’s identity.
- The company may misuse data for commercial purposes which could raise issues of conflict of interest.
- Options available to X.
- X may persuade company investors and workers not to install software on lower-end devices.
- X can give the option of innovative advertisements for attracting a larger consumer base.
- X can give the option of privacy preserving data mining model to the company.
- X can whistle blow to the government about the company’s illegal and unethical data mining.
Conclusion
A company must decide if a lack of ethical concern will cause a loss in good will from consumers and suffer from a backlash from the company’s consumers. Companies who use data mining techniques must act responsibly by being aware of the ethical issues that are surrounding their particular application; they must also consider the wisdom in what they are doing. The importance of privacy and individuality has to be valued and believe protected to make sure that people are treated reasonably.
