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
General Studies – 1
Topic: Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
Saim Sadiq’s debut film Joyland is suffering the wrath of homophobic, religious zealots who, just from watching the trailer, feel that the film is normalizing LGBTQIA folks and promoting a “gay agenda”.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the discrimination and injustice faced by the LGBTQIA+ community and measures needed to end it.
Directive word:
Analyse – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by stating that even though LGBTQIA+ people are given legal backing by abolishing section 377, they are still at the bottom of the hierarchy when it comes to basic human rights within the unit of family and society.
Body:
First, state that the social media campaigns and corporate ads for an inclusive society with respect to LGBTQI+ community have only been to a limited urban population. Many families especially in the rural areas are homophobic and transphobic and often treat people from the community to have some kind of psychological disorder.
Next, mention about issues such as forced rapes within families, admission into hospitals for change of sexual orientation, medical institutions admit people from the community along with other psychologically disturbed and conducting some psychological and sexual experiments, instances of suicides, families abandoning those who come out leading to financial insecurity etc.
Conclusion:
Next mention few NGOs and support groups that are trying to mainstream the cause of LGBTQIA+ community and create a truly inclusive society.
Introduction
The LGBTQIA+ community faces a lot of problems. The main problem is acceptance from people outside the community. For the Indian LGBT community, a truly inclusive society remains a distant dream. In urban India, where social media and corporate initiatives have created increasing awareness of LGBT rights, the scenario looks more upbeat for gay men than for transgender people or lesbian women. While urban LGBT voices that are heard through several online and real-world platforms form an important part of LGBT activism, these expose only a small part of the diverse challenges faced by the community.
Body
Issues faced by LGBTQIA+ community in India
- No legal recognition of marriage: Same-sex marriages are not legally recognized in India even though many countries like USA, UK have legalised it.
- Issue of rights:The rights enjoyed by opposite-sex couples are not enjoyed by same-sex couples. They are prohibited from those rights. For example-
- The lack of a legal structure around their relationship became increasingly stark when they tried to bring each other on as nominees in insurance and financial plans,just as a married couples did.
- Lack of family support: Lack of communication between LGBT children and the parents often leads to conflict in the family.
- Many LGBT youths are placed in foster care or end up in juvenile detention or on the streets.
- Most often than not, LGBTQ children from poor families are abandoned. They end up begging as there is no avenue for education or employment.
- In some parts, secret honour killings are plannedso that the only way for a young gay man to survive is to run away in the cover of the night to some city, with no money or social support.
- Sanctioned rape: In other parts, lesbian women are subjected to family-sanctioned corrective rapes,which are often perpetrated by their own family members.
- Village medics and babas oftenprescribe rape to cure lesbians of homosexuality. Refusal to marry brings more physical abuse
- Education and health: The LGBTQ children are abandoned and marginalised, who end up being isolated by the rest of the society. They are denied the fundamental right of education as well as health.
Measures needed
- The LGTBQ communityneeds an anti-discrimination law that empowers them to build productive lives and relationships irrespective of gender identity or sexual orientation and place the onus to change on state and society and not the individual.
- Policemust not harass sexual minorities. There must be changes to the police conduct rules to provide for punishing erring police personnel in this regard.
- Government bodies, especially related to Health, and Law and Order need to be sensitised and made aware about the changed position of law to ensure that the LGBTQ community is not denied public servicesor harassed for their sexual orientation.
- Enumerating sexual orientation and gender identity in non-discrimination andanti-bullying policies is an important step toward acknowledging diversity, protecting vulnerable students.
- Training school staff empowers themto respond when they encounter abuse. Younger generations of Indians will grow up knowing of criminalisation as a thing of the past, and that will be a boon to their basic rights.
- In 2014, the Supreme Court issued a sweeping judgment inNALSA v. India, which held that transgender people should be legally recognised according to their gender identity, enjoy all fundamental rights, and receive special benefits in education and employment. This must be implemented and enforced.
Conclusion
The queer and gender non-conforming people have found an ally in the court, but they would need greater effort on the part of the authorities at various levels, if their rights are to be protected. In any case, any change in law in terms of recognising same-sex relations or understanding self-identification of gender must be complemented by an attitudinal change in society at large.
Government must sensitise the general public and officials, to reduce and finally eliminate the stigma associated with LGBTQ+ community through the mass media and the official channels. School and university students too should be sensitised about the diversity of sexuality to deconstruct the myth of heteronormativity. Heteronormativity is the root cause of hetero-sexism and homophobia.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India
Why the question:
At the centre, it is the Central Information Commission (CIC). Until the 2019 amendment to the RTI Act, Information Commissioners (ICs) appointed to the CIC were equal in status to the Chief Election Commissioner, and that of a Supreme Court judge. They had a five-year fixed term and terms of service. After the amendments of 2019, the Centre gave itself powers to change and decide these terms whenever it wished, thereby striking at the independence of the commission and those who man it.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the healthcare challenges and ways to overcome it.
Directive word:
Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we must investigate the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by writing about the aims and objectives of Central Information Commission.
Body:
First, Discuss the issues and constraints faced by CIC in implementing the RTI act. E.g There is no centralised database of RTI applicants at the centre/ state level, thus resulting in decreased accuracy of the annual RTI reports submitted by CIC; There is a general public perception that CIC has been lenient towards the unaccountable PIOs; lack of monitoring and review mechanisms in CIC to make public officers comply with the provisions of the RTI act; High pendency of cases and delayed appointments in CIC etc.
Next, write about the changes introduced by the 2019 amendment to the RTI Act and its impact on the working of CIC.
Next, write about the measures needed to uphold transparency and accountability.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward.
Introduction
A good 17 years after India got the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the transparency regime in the country remains a mirage with nearly 3.15 lakh complaints or appeals pending with 26 information commissions across India.
According to a report by the Satark Nagrik Sangathan, the backlog of appeals or complaints is steadily increasing in commissions every year.
Body
About Central Information Commission
Objectives
- To receive and inquire into complaints from any citizen as provided in RTI Act.
- To receive and decide upon the second appeal from any citizen as provided in the RTI Act, and RTI rules 2012.
- To exercise the powers conferred on CIC under the RTI Act.
- To perform the duty of Monitoring and Reporting as provided in Section 25 of the RTI Act.
Powers and Functions
- To receive and inquire into a complaint from any person regarding information requested under the RTI act.
- It can order an inquiry into any matter if there are reasonable grounds (suo-moto power).
- While inquiring, the Commission has the powers of a civil court in respect of summoning, requiring documents, etc.
- Adjudication in the second appeal for giving information;
- Direction for record-keeping
- Imposition of penalties and Monitoring and Reporting including preparation of an Annual Report.
Issues in the working of CIC
- Delays and Backlogs: On average, the CIC takes 388 days (more than one year) to dispose of an appeal/complaint from the date it was filed before the commission.
- A report released last year has pointed out that more than 2.2 lakh Right to information cases are pending at the Central and State Information Commissions (ICs).
- No Penalties: The report found that the Government officials hardly face any punishment for violating the law.
- Penalties were imposed in only 2.2% of cases that were disposed of, despite previous analysis showing a rate of about 59% violations which should have triggered the process of penalty imposition
- Lack of Transparency: The criteria of selection, etc, nothing has been placed on record.
- Amendment and powers to centre: The Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019 amended the Right to Information Act, of 2005.
- The RTI Act, 2005 specified the tenure, terms of service, and salaries of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and Information Commissioners (ICs) at the central and state levels, in the parent law.
- The RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019 removed these provisions and stated that the central government will notify the term and quantum of salary through rules.
Way forward and Conclusion
- Democracy is all about the governance of the people, by the people and for the people. In order to achieve the third paradigm, the state needs to start acknowledging the importance of an informed public and the role that it plays in the country’s development as a nation. In this context, underlying issues related to RTI Act should be resolved, so that it can serve the information needs of society.
- The role of information commissions is crucial especially during Covid-19 to ensure that people can obtain information on healthcare facilities, social security programs and delivery of essential goods and services meant for those in distress.
- By its 2019 order, the apex court had passed a slew of directions to the Central and State governments to fill vacancies across Central and State Information Commissions in a transparent and timely manner.
- Urgent digitization of records and proper record management is important as lack of remote access to records in the lockdown has been widely cited as the reason for not being able to conduct hearings of appeals and complaints by commissions.
Topic: Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India
Why the question:
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 has brought more unwelcome news for India, as far as its global ranking on a vital indicator of human development is concerned. India ranked 107 out of 121 countries.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about causes and impact of hunger and malnutrition and ways to tackle it.
Directive word:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you must debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You must give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving a statistic regarding Hunger and malnutrition in India.
Body:
Describe the impact of hunger and malnutrition in India – status of child mortality, stunting and wasting in India, loss of demographic dividend, extreme poverty etc.
Next write about the causes which contribute to the undernourishment, stunting and wasting of children.
Next, write about the measures that are needed to overcome hunger and malnutrition in the country.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Introduction
Malnutrition is the condition that develops when the body is deprived of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ function.
Meghalaya has the highest number of stunted children (46.5%), followed by Bihar (42.9%). Maharashtra has 25.6% wasted children (weight for height) — the highest — followed by Gujarat (25.1%). Jharkhand has the highest percentage of women (26%), between 15 and 49 years, who have a below-normal Body Mass Index (BMI).
Body
Malnutrition in India
- India, currently has the largest number of undernourished people in the world around 195 million.
- Nearly 47 million or 4 out of 10 children in India do not meet their full human potential because of chronic undernutrition or stunting.
- 9% of children under 5 years are stunted and 20.8% are wasted, compared to the Asia average of 22.7% and 9.4% respectively.
- Rate of overweight and obesity continues to rise, affecting almost a fifth of the adults, at 21.6% of women and 17.8% of men.
- Inequities in food and health systems increase inequalities in nutrition outcomes that in turn can lead to more inequity, perpetuating a vicious cycle.
Causes of hunger and malnutrition in India
- Poverty: Poverty restricts the food choices and has been the causative factor of hunger related deaths.
- If the persistent high prices of food items and the regional disparities in terms of development, especially the backwardness among the hilly and tribal areas also taken into account, the percentage of people who cannot afford balanced nutrition will be much higher in India.
- Poor access to safe drinking water: Safe and tap drinking water is still a luxury in many parts of rural India and urban slums/shanties. Unsafe water causes water borne diseases and children are prone to it more than adults.
- Issues with agriculture: The change from multi to mono cropping systems limits the diversity of agricultural products.
- Inclination towards cash crops and changing food habits result in malnutrition, undernutrition and even micro-nutrient deficiencies.
- Local cuisine such as millets are not being consumed causing nutrient deficiencies and anaemia.
- Food wastage: Food wastage is also an emerging challenge that undermines the efforts to end hunger and malnutrition. According to the FAO, the global volume of food wastage is estimated at 6 billion tonnes of primary product equivalents.
- Poor health services: The relationship between poverty and access to health care can be seen as part of a larger cycle, where poverty leads to ill health and ill health maintains poverty.
- Insufficient education and training: In developing countries, children do not have access to basic education because of inequalities that originate in sex, health and cultural identity. It has been revealed in reports that illiteracy and lack of education are common factor that lead to poverty and in turn hunger.
- Covid-19 impact: The momentum set by this entire nutrition movement was disturbed once Covid lockdowns led to the shutting of schools, Anganwadi centres, Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres.
- Further, frontline workers had to be engaged in Covid-related work that took precedence over their daily duties, which entailed identifying, referring and monitoring children suffering from severe acute malnutrition and moderate acute malnutrition among other nutrition-strengthening activities.
- States tried to cope to the best of their abilities by replacing hot-cooked meals with dry ration or cash transfers.
- Moreover, indirect forces triggered by the pandemic such as disruption in food systems, dried-up income sources, job losses and consequent financial hardships also mean that access to nutrient-rich food might have reduced among economically vulnerable people.
Measures needed to curb malnutrition in children
- Agriculture-Nutrition linkage schemes have the potential for greater impact in dealing with malnutrition and thus, needs greater emphasis.
- Recognising the importance of this link, the Ministry for Women and Child Development launched the Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh in 2019.
- There is a need to promote schemes directed to nutrition-agriculture link activities in rural areas. However, implementation remains the key.
- Early fund disbursement: The government needs to ensure early disbursement of funds and optimum utilisation of funds in schemes linked to nutrition.
- Underutilisation of Resources: It has been pointed out many a times that expenditure made under many nutrition-based schemes is considerably lower than what was allocated under them. Thus, emphasis needs to be on implementation.
- Convergence with other Schemes: Nutrition goes beyond just food, with economic, health, water, sanitation, gender perspectives and social norms contributing to better nutrition. This is why the proper implementation of other schemes can also contribute to better nutrition.
- The convergence of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Jal Jeevan Mission with schemes pertaining to nutrition, will bring holistic changes to India’s nutrition scenario.
- Mid-Day Meal Scheme: The Mid-Day Meal Scheme aims to enhance the nutrition of school children by providing a balanced diet in schools.
- By including milk and eggs in each states’ menu, preparing a menu based on climatic conditions, local foods etc. can help in providing the right nutrition to children in different States.
Conclusion
Welfare measures must continue to reach the most vulnerable population and children and mothers must be at the centre of the focus to target hunger and malnutrition. Achieving zero hunger requires agriculture and food systems to become more efficient, sustainable, climate-smart and nutrition–sensitive. It is important to look at the future of food production to achieve the zero-hunger goal. Human resource capacity building is the key as is access to education and health services and empowering the poor through partnerships.
Value Addition
Government welfare measures
- Eat Right India: An outreach activity organised by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for citizens to nudge them towards eating right.
- Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana: A centrally sponsored scheme executed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, is a maternity benefit programme being implemented in all districts of the country with effect from 1st January, 2017.
- Food Fortification: Food Fortification or Food Enrichment is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, Vitamin A & D to staple foods such as rice, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content.
- National Food Security Act, 2013: It legally entitled up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System.
- Mission Indradhanush: It targets children under 2 years of age and pregnant women for immunization against 12 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD).
- Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme: Launched on 2nd October, 1975, the ICDS Scheme offers a package of six services to children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
- Supplementary Nutrition,
- Pre-school non-formal education,
- Nutrition & health education,
- Immunization,
- Health check-up and
- Referral services.
- POSHAN Abhiyaan: Also called National Nutrition Mission, was launched by the government on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on 8th March, 2018.
- The Abhiyaan targets to reduce Stunting, undernutrition, Anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
- It also targets to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 4% to 25% by 2022.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Difficulty level: Easy
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 3 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 (Revision) Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the role played by FDI in the Indian economy.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Body:
Write the various aspects of FDI in emerging economies – First, international flows of capital, diversification of lending and investment, global integration of capital markets, allows the transfer of technology and can also promote competition in the domestic input market etc. Substantiate with examples.
Conclusion:
Conclude by summarising.
Introduction
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is when a company takes controlling ownership in a business entity in another country. It is, thus, a purchase of an interest in a company by a company or an investor located outside its borders. For nearly a decade, year after year, India has hit record heights of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow. The latest is the highest ever, $83.5 billion, in the last financial year.
Body
FDI: an important source & force behind economic development of India:
- Economy:
- Capital inflows create higher output and jobs.
- Capital inflows can help finance a current account deficit.
- Long-term capital inflows are more sustainable than short-term portfolio inflows.
- For e.g., in a credit crunch, banks can easily withdraw portfolio investment, but capital investment is less prone to sudden withdrawals.
- Acts as a bridge by filling up budgetary gap, stabilize rupee and improves Balance of Payment situation.
- Knowledge economy:
- Recipient country can benefit from improved knowledge and expertise of foreign multinational.
- Employment generation:
- creates employment opportunity mainly in service sector and ITEC.
- Investment from abroad could lead to higher wages and improved working conditions, especially if the MNCs are conscious of their public image of working conditions in developing economies.
- Infrastructure development:
- FDI in construction, railways except operation help in developing projects like high-speed train, Freight corridor, etc.
- Taxation:
- Increased revenue in the form of corporate tax and for community welfare development as CSR.
- Enhances Competition:
- Increase competition among domestic manufacture, may lead to improved quality and services.
FDI: not the sole solution for India’s socio-economic issues:
- The motive of the foreign investors is only profit not the development of country so they often shifts their bases in search of high profits so there is more volatility and speculations in capital market. With their sudden exit, there may be unemployment and high inflation.
- Gives multinationals controlling rights within foreign countries. Critics argue powerful MNCs can use their financial clout to influence local politics to gain favourable laws and regulations.
- FDI does not always benefit recipient countries as it enables foreign multinationals to gain from ownership of raw materials, with little evidence of wealth being distributed throughout society.
- Multinationals have been criticized for poor working conditions in foreign factories. e.g., Apple’s factories in China
- It threatens existing markets that are labour intensive by replacing with technology as in multi brand retail.
- FDI favours short term returns over investments in
- Diffusion of technology in difficult in our country where the state of both human and physical capital is not yet on par with developed countries. so with the increase in technology many unskilled workers lost their jobs.
- In India, FDI is sector specific like finance , IT, Banking, Insurance and outsourcing which predominantly employ skilled workers.
- The capital inflow at times worsen the regional inequalities. It is usually limited to urban and well developed regions like Delhi, Maharashtra etc, and states like Odisha receives around 1% of FDI. This makes richer region more rich and poor regions poorer.
- FDI may be a convenient way to bypass local environmental laws. Developing countries may be tempted to compete on reducing environmental regulation to attract the necessary FDI.
Way forward conclusion
- Role of FDI can at most be seen as complementary and qualitative in nature.
- Government must bring reforms to encourage MSME sector which could boost the rural employment generation.
- Public expenditurefor investment in capital formation as infrastructure and energy is for long term benefits of spurring economic activity and creating short term demands.
- Spending on social sectors and India’s pressing issues of poverty, demographic challenge and agrarian stagnation are towards avoiding social unrest and maintain a social security net.
- Government while continuing to simplify processes to attract FDI must realise it’s limited role and thereby take upon itself to make headway towards strengthening pillars of economic development which are health, education, and employment.
Value addition:
FDI in India
FDI is an important monetary source for India’s economic development. Economic liberalisation started in India in the wake of the 1991 crisis and since then, FDI has steadily increased in the country. India, today is a part of top 100-club on Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and globally ranks number 1 in the greenfield FDI ranking.
Routes through which India gets FDI
- Automatic route: The non-resident or Indian company does not require prior nod of the RBI or government of India for FDI.
- Govt route:The government’s approval is mandatory. The company will have to file an application through Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which facilitates single-window clearance. The application is then forwarded to the respective ministry, which will approve/reject the application in consultation with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce. DPIIT will issue the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for processing of applications under the existing FDI policy.
Importance of Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM):
In low-income countries confronting widespread poverty, mobilizing domestic resources is particularly challenging, which has led developing countries to rely on foreign aid, foreign direct investment, export earnings and other external resources. Nevertheless, there are compelling reasons to give much more emphasis to DRM.
- Greater reliance on DRM is vital to elevating economic growth, accelerating poverty reduction and underpinning sustained development.
- High-growth economies typically save 20-30 per cent or more of their income in order to finance public and private investment.
- DRM is potentially more congruent with domestic ownership than external resources.
- Foreign aid invariably carries restrictions and conditionality.
- FDI is primarily oriented to the commercial objectives of the investor, not the principal development priorities of the host country.
- DRM is more predictable and less volatile than aid, export earnings, or FDI
Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 3 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 (Revision) Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about capital market reforms, present issues and possible solutions to them.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving context about the capital markets.
Body:
First, in brief, write about the importance of capital market in the country’s economy.
Next, write about various measures taken in the past to reform the capital markets – The Narasimham Committee (1991), SEBI, Credit Rating etc.
Next, write about the present issues in the capital market in the country and suggest possible measures to resolve them.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward.
Introduction
The capital market is the place that acts as the platform between the suppliers and the buyers. The savings and investments are channelized between the persons who have capital and the person who needs capital. In simpler terms, the market where buyers and sellers engage in trading of financial securities like bonds, stocks, etc. However, the market is much wider than securities. The participants during such transactions can be an individual as well as an institution.
Body
Measures taken to reform capital markets
- Abolition of Controller of Capital Issues: The Capital Issues (Control) Act, 1947 governed capital issues in India. The capital issues control was administered by the Controller of Capital Issues (CCI).The Narasimham Committee (1991) had recommended the abolition of CCI and wanted SEBI to protect investors and take over the regulatory function of CCI.
- As a result, the government replaced the Capital Issues (Control) Act and abolished the post of CCI.
- Companies are allowed to approach the capital market without prior government permission subject to getting their offer documents cleared by SEBI.
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI): SEBI was set up as a non-statutory body in 1988 and was made a statutory body in January 1992. SEBI has introduced various guidelines for capital issues in the primary market. They are explained below
- Companies are required to disclose all material facts and specific risk factors associated with their projects
- SEBI has also introduced a code of advertisement for public issues for ensuring fair and truthful disclosures
- SEBI has allowed the companies to determine the par value of shares issued by them.
- SEBI has allowed issues of IPOs through “book building” process
- FIIs Permitted to Operate in the Indian Market: Foreign institutional investors such as mutual funds and pension funds are allowed to invest in equity shares as well as in debt market, including dated government securities and treasury bills
- Accessing Global Funds Market:Indian companies are allowed to access global finance market and benefit from the lower cost of funds. They have been permitted to raise resources through issue of American Depository Receipts (ADRs), Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) and External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs).
- Also, Indian companies can list their securities on foreign stock exchanges through ADR/GDR issues
- Intermediaries under the Purview of SEBI: Merchant bankers, and other intermediaries such as mutual funds including UTI, portfolio managers, registrars to an issue, share transfer agents, underwriters, debenture trustees, bankers to an issue, custodian of securities, and venture capital funds – have been brought under the purview of SEBI
- Credit Rating Agencies: Various credit rating agencies such as Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd. (CRISIL – 1988), Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Ltd. (ICRA – 1991), Cost Analysis and Research Ltd. (CARE – 1993) and so on were set up to meet the emerging needs of capital market.
Issues in the capital market
- As the Indian economy is one of the fastest-growing economies of the world, many such challenges can hinder the growth as certain regulations have loopholes and there are several cases of embezzling funds, defrauding, and illegal channelizing of funds. The associates of the markets use it for unfair trade practices.
- Individual investors can also break the stability of the market by increasing the lending or borrowing capacity.
- Several such cases have depicted and identified the need for a more powerful regulating body.
- The case of Harshad Mehta indicates the loopholes in the system that how the funds were channelized illegally and used to manipulate the stock market. He understood the gap in the money market
- The market is generally held by a few investors that make the market biased as it diminishes the opportunity for new investors.
- There should be a ceiling over the holding of stocks to promote fairness and to provide the opportunity for new investors.
- Most of the financial scams that take place are due to the private dealings with the banks as they have a pool of funds so these should be strictly prohibited and a systematic way of regulating the funds in banks should be formulated.
Conclusion
The Indian capital market has undergone many changes after the challenges and the irreparable loss faced over years. There have been massive and revolutionary changes over years, and some significant changes that have reduced the financial scam cases. There has been a reduction of malpractices of trade over the years. The capital market has made tremendous progress in terms of institution building. They have transformed and developed the lives of investors and market intermediaries. The market has been friendlier by boosting performance and eliminating the challenges.
General Studies – 4
Topic: Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-sections.
6. What do you understand by the core value system of civil servants? (150 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 and part of ‘Abstract Thursdays’ in Mission-2022 Secure.
Directive word:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you must debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You must give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining the core value system.
Body:
Write about the role of core values in judgement of civils servants– impartiality, legality, integrity, empathy and transparency. Elaborate with examples as to how it guides the judgement of civil servants and ensure that right decisions are taken.
Conclusion:
Conclude by Summarising.
Introduction
Today there is a need for moral resurgence of civil services in the country to improve the delivery of services to the common man and to ensure the fruits of development reach the people. An ideal officer should ensure zero pendency of issues in his purview, must display the highest qualities of probity and integrity in office, be proactive in taking the measures of the government to the people, and above all be sympathetic to the cause of marginalised sections.
Body
Core value system for civil servants
- Integrity: It is the practice of synchronisation of thought, words and actions. It can be correlated to honesty but unlike honesty its more a professional value. Its related to institution. It advocate sacrifice of personal gains in favour of organisational objectives. In conflict between personal and organisational objectives organisation must be given importance. Financial integrity is important component. Civil servants are handling public assets they are the custodians of public money. Integrity ensures the economy of expenditure, reduction in unproductive expenditure, minimisation of corruption. hence integrity is utmost required value.
- Impartiality: Impartiality (also called even handedness or fair-mindedness) is a principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another forimproper reasons. A civil servant should never show any kind of prejudices, biases, and preferences into their functionating.
- Objectivity: Objectivity is a central philosophical concept, related to reality and truth, which has been variously defined by sources. Generally, objectivity means the state or quality of being true even outside of a subject’s individual biases, interpretations, feelings, and imaginings. It’s the quality of making the rational decisions without subjective biases, prejudices. Organisational decisions must be objective in order to make it efficient.
- Non-partisanship: Being Non-partisansis a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias toward a political party. It’s the political neutrality of a civil servant which makes her the true public servant. It will not only help in delivering services in right manner but also help in institutional continuity in functioning of bureaucracy
Inculcating core value system
Celebrating the achievements of honest civil servants and recognizing their contributions should also be done. This will not only be an incentive for younger officials to push for excellence, but such publicity will also encourage the replication of innovative efforts by others.
Value-based training must be given to all civil servants to ensure probity in public life. Professional ethics should be an integral component in all the training courses and called for a comprehensive Code of Ethics for civil servants, based on the recommendations of the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC).
Due attention must be given to ensure that civil servants taking bona fide proactive actions are not discouraged or harassed. The amendment to PCA in 2018, with changes to the definition of ‘criminal misconduct’, ensures this to some extent. While the corrupt civil servants must be strictly dealt with, we must not dissuade officials from taking bold decisions in the larger public interest.
There is also a need to re-engineer our institutions and streamline the processes to cut down delays and ensure timely delivery of the services. People must be at the centre of a just and effective governance system. Some of the governance practices that helped in delivering results are single-window interfaces, e-governance, m-governance, third party appraisals, direct benefit transfer and participatory governance
Conclusion
Indian civil servants should strive to make India’s civil services the best in the world. They need to come out with innovative ideas and solutions to deliver public services to the satisfaction of every citizen. At the same time, the right ecosystem should be created to ensure that they have a meaningful career and are able to fulfill their responsibilities without fear or favour.
Topic: Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and nonpartisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker- sections.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude by Lexicon Publications.
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you must debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You must give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining justice, accountability and responsiveness.
Body:
Begin by talking about values which are important to the level of justice and continuity in public administration with suitable examples.
Mention about how public servants must be accountable to the government for the effective delivery of its programs.
Then finally talk about responsiveness of the administration to the government of the day within the law and the how constitution is key to the effective implementation of government policies in an equitable manner.
Conclusion:
Complete the answer by suggesting ways for neutrality in public administration in an increasingly polarizing world.
Introduction
Justice Accountability and Responsiveness are characteristics of good governance.
Good governance has 8 major characteristics. ‘It is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.
Body
- Justice:
- Legal framework should be enforced impartially, especially on human rights laws.
- Without rule of law, politics will follow the principle of matsya nyaya ie law of fish which means the strong will prevail over the weak.
- Accountability:
- Good governance aims towards betterment of people, and this can not take place without the government being accountable to the people.
- Governmental institutions, private sectors, and civil society organizations should be held accountable to the public and institutional stakeholders.
- Responsiveness:
- Institutions and processes should serve all stakeholders in a reasonable period of time.
Challenges to good governance
- Corruption is a major obstacle in improving the quality of governance. While human greed is obviously a driver of corruption, it is the structural incentives and poor enforcement system to punish the corrupt that have contributed to the rising curve of graft in India.
- Opaqueness in decision making in governance without accountability. People get affected by governance decisions and they must not be made in non-transparent manner.
- Justice delayed: A citizen has the right to avail timely justice, but there are several factors, because of that a common man doesn’t get timely justice.
- Lack of Accountability – Very rarely disciplinary actions are initiated against delinquent officers. There is no performance evaluation structure.
- Red Tapism – Bureaucracies have to adhere to rules and procedures which are important for good governance, however sometimes these rules and procedures are ill-conceived and cumbersome, and they do not serve the very purpose of their existence.
- Low Levels of Awareness of the Rights and Duties of Citizens – Awareness of rights and duties would ensure that officials and other citizens discharge duties effectively and honestly.
- Ineffective Implementation of Laws and Rules – We have a large number of laws to protect the rights of the citizens and vulnerable sections of society, but the weak implementation of these laws erodes the faith of the citizens in the Government machinery.
Conclusion
Justice, accountability and responsiveness is significant in public institutions to conduct and manage public affairs and resources to guarantee human rights in free of abuse and corruption, and with due regard for the rule of law.
Good governance is thus, a function of installation of positive virtues of administration and elimination of vices of dysfunctionalities. It makes the government work effective, credible and legitimate in administrative system and citizen-friendly, value caring and people-sharing.
Join our Official Telegram Channel HERE
Please subscribe to Our podcast channel HERE
Subscribe to our YouTube ChannelHERE
Follow our Twitter Account HERE
Follow our Instagram ID HERE
