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: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
The article discusses the concept of Ram Rajya, which has been often used to describe an ideal state of governance in India.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about Mahatma Gandhi’s Ram Rajya concept and how to achieve 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 defining Ram Rajya as per Mahatma Gandhi.
Body:
First, write about the various features of Ram Rajya – principles of dharma, self-governance, equality, and non-violence. Gandhi believed in creating a decentralized political system where local communities had a say in decision-making etc.
Next, write about the steps that must be taken in order to achieve it in the present times.
Conclusion:
Conclude by summarising the above.
Introduction
‘Ram Rajya’ envisages a society in which virtue, morality and justice are the core ideals around which day-to-day interactions between citizen and citizen and state and citizen occur. Since it is impossible to imagine such a perfect state of affairs, Ram Rajya, in the modern sense, is often thought of as an idealistic goal which governments should keep in mind and take inspiration from while implementing their governance agenda.
Body
Various aspects of Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of Ram Rajya
- Though Mahatma Gandhi may have coined the term in its modern avatar, the concept of ‘Ram Rajya’ has been a part of Indian thinking for centuries.
- The term has both a practical and a philosophical-cum-utopian aspect.
- Practically, it can be described as a means of putting the idea of good governance at the centre of all governmental activity.
- But there is a deeper philosophical and spiritual resonance to the concept, which idealises Lord Rama as a perfect ruler.
- A devout Hindu, Gandhi was greatly influenced by the teachings of the Ramayana.
- The twin principle of Gandhi’s Ram Rajya was Right Means and Right Ends.
- Ram Rajya is envisioned as that state of governance where the ruler is wise enough to place the good of the people above the interest of his own.
- Gandhi said that for him a true Ram Rajya would ensure “equal rights to both prince and pauper”.
- Gandhiji implied an ideal Rajya where values of justice, equality, idealism, renunciation and sacrifice were practised
- By Ram Rajya Gandhi do not mean Hindu Raj but the kingdom of God.
- For him, Ram and Rahim were one and the same; He acknowledged no other God than the one God of Truth and righteousness.
- One of the core aspect of Ram Rajya was true democracy in which the meanest citizen could be sure of swift justice without an elaborate and costly procedure.
- For Gandhiji, Ram Rajya was not just a matter of communal harmony and protecting the defenceless, but also a conversation which every Indian should have with the self.
Means to achieve Ram rajya in contemporary times
- The first step towards creating such a benevolent land is to look within.
- This form of introspection involved to magnify one’s own faults a thousand fold and shut your eyes to the faults of your neighbours. That is the only way to real progress.
- We need to learn to love the way Ram loved Sita. There is no way to achieve Ram Rajya or swaraj without observing this svadharma.
- There is a need to establish a strong connection of concern and understanding between political leaders and the people.
- Ram Rajya conveys a sense of duty on those sitting at the helm of public institutions to set the highest of moral and ethical values. Only then a political Utopia will prevail.
- There is a need to emphasize the building of individual moral buildup and the role of the state should be minimized.
- The Justice system should be swift, easily accessible to even the marginalized of the society.
- There should be respect for all religions and faiths, without any discrimination.
Conclusion
Gandhi summed up Ram Rajya as “the sovereignty of the people based on pure moral authority”. Thus, Ram rajya was an ideal society where everybody follows a code of righteous living, lives content and happy and meet their essential needs.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government;
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday (April 5), set aside the orders passed by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) on January 31, 2022, and the Kerala High Court on March 2, 2022, refusing to renew Malayalam news channel Media One’s broadcast license.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the principles of natural justice and doctrine of proportionality and their importance.
Directive word:
Elaborate – Give a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the context. You must be defining key terms wherever appropriate and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving context.
Body:
First, explain the concept of principles of natural justice – fair opportunity for all parties to present their case, impartial decision-makers, and decisions based on relevant, reliable, and admissible evidence.
Next, explain the doctrine of proportionality – means used to achieve a particular objective must be proportionate to the end sought, with the least restrictive measures used that are necessary to achieve the goal, and that the benefits of the measure outweigh any harm or burden imposed on individual rights.
Next, write about their importance and applications – decision-making is fair and unbiased, public authorities do not unduly interfere with the fundamental rights of individuals, uphold the rule of law and ensure accountability.
Conclusion:
Conclude by Summarising.
Introduction
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday (April 5), set aside the orders passed by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) on January 31, 2022, and the Kerala High Court on March 2, 2022, refusing to renew Malayalam news channel Media One’s broadcast license
The principles of natural justice have great significance in the study of Administrative law. It is also known has substantial justice or fundamental justice or Universal justice or fair play in action. The principles of natural justice are not embodied rules and are not codified.
Body
About Natural justice
- No one should be a judge in his own cause.
- Justice should not only be done, but manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.
The above rules make it clear that judiciary must be free from bias and should deliver pure and impartial justice. Judges must act judicially and decide the case without considering anything other than the principles of evidence
- The bench allowed the challenge to the order of the MIB and judgment of the High Court on account of the principles of natural justice constitutionalized by its judgment in its 1978 ruling in “Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India”.
- The Court observed that “that there is an inherent value in securing compliance with the principles of natural justice independent of the outcome of the case.”
- Actions which violate procedural guarantees can be struck down even if non-compliance does not prejudice the outcome of the case, the court held.
- It also stated that “the core of the principles of natural justice breathes reasonableness into procedure”.
- Additionally, the court clarified that in the present case, the burden is on the claimant to prove that the procedure followed infringes upon the core of procedural guarantees.
Doctrine of proportionality
Proportionality means that the administrative action should not be more drastic than it ought to be for obtaining the desired result. This implies that canon should not be used to shoot a sparrow. Thus this doctrine tries to balance means with ends.
- The judgment went on to explain that the validity of the claim of involvement of national security considerations must be assessed on the test of
- whether there is material to conclude that the non-disclosure of information is in the interest of national security; and
- whether a reasonable prudent person would draw the same inference from the material on record;
- Even assuming that non-disclosure is in the interest of confidentiality and national security, the means adopted by the respondents do not satisfy the other prongs of the proportionality standard as per the apex court. The top court then reiterated that courts can assess the validity of public interest immunity claims albeit based on the “structured proportionality standard”.
Conclusion
The principles of natural justice have been adopted and followed by the judiciary to protect public rights against the arbitrary decision by the administrative authority. One can easily see that the rule of natural justice include the concept of fairness: they stay alive and support to safeguard the fair dealing.
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India
Why the question:
Agniveers who have been assured a 10% reservation in the paramilitary forces, will have to clear a written examination before they are recruited. This was made clear for the first time on Thursday, when amended rules were notified by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), for the recruitment of constables.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about Agnipath scheme, its benefits and risks.
Directive:
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 the writing about aims and objectives of Agnipath scheme for recruiting soldiers
Body:
Frist, discuss the key features of the scheme – recruitment, salary, duration and post tenure etc.
Next, write about the major benefits from the scheme.
Next, write about various concerns associated with the scheme in the short term and long term.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward to address these shortcomings.
Introduction
Agnipath Defence Policy Reform is a government scheme launched to recruit young men and women in the Indian Armed forces. The Agnipath scheme was announced by the defence Minister Rajnath Singh on June 14th 2022.
Agniveers who have been assured a 10% reservation in the paramilitary forces, will have to clear a written examination before they are recruited. This was made clear for the first time on Thursday, when amended rules were notified by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), for the recruitment of constables.
Body
About the Agnipath scheme
- Agnipath is a new defence recruitment model that would allow “patriotic and motivated”youth to serve in the armed forces for a period of four years.
- The process of recruitment will commence in 90 days.
- The plan is to recruit about45,000-50,000 personnel below officer rank in the three services every year through a biannual exercise with a six-month gap.
- As per the Agnipath scheme, this year there will be aplanned intake of about 46,000 young men and women.
- Soldier recruited through Agnipath scheme will be known as ‘Agniveers’.
- This scheme will be the only form of recruitment of soldiers into the three defence services Armed Force, Indian Navy and Air Forces, hereon.
- Enrolment of Agniveers to all three services will be througha centralized online system, with special rallies and campus interviews at recognised technical institutes such as the Industrial Training Institutes, and the National Skills Qualifications Framework. The Model is based on an all-India merit-based selection process.
Objectives
- It aims at providing an opportunity to the patriotic and motivated youth with the ‘Josh’ and ‘Jazba’ to join the Armed Forces.
- It is expected to bring down the average age profile of the Indian Armed Forces by about 4 to 5 years.
- The scheme envisions that, the average age in the forces is 32 years today, which will go down to 26 in six to seven years.
Various benefits to Youth
- Upon the completion of the 4-years of service, a one-time‘Seva Nidhi’ package of Rs 11.71 lakhs will be paid to the Agniveers that will include their accrued interest thereon.
- They will also get a Rs 48 lakh life insurance cover for the four years.
- In case of death, the payout will be over Rs 1 crore,including pay for the unserved tenure.
- The government will help rehabilitate soldiers who leave the services after four years.They will be provided with skill certificates and bridge courses.
- Furure Ready Soldiers:It will create “future-ready” soldiers.
- More Employment Opportunities: It will increase employment opportunities and because of the skills and experience acquired during the four-year service such soldiers will get employment in various fields.
- Higher Skilled Workforce: This will also lead to availability of a higher-skilled workforce to the economy which will be helpful in productivity gain and overall GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth.
Issues related to the scheme
- Difficult to Find Another Job:The ‘Agnipath’ scheme opens the way for recruitment of about 45,000 soldiers into Army, Navy and Air Force in the first year but on a short-term contract of four years. After the completion of the contract, 25% of them will be retained and the rest will leave the forces.
- The four years of service will mean other jobs will be out of reach after that, and they will be left behind their peers.
- No Pension Benefit: Those hired under the ‘Agnipath’ scheme will be given a one-time lumpsumof a little more than Rs 11 lakh when they end their four-year tenure.
- However, they do not receive any pension benefits.For most, seeking a second job is essential to support themselves and their families.
- Training May Remain Unutilized: Forces will lose experienced soldiers.
- The jawans joining the Army, Navy and Air Force will be given technical training so that they are able to support the ongoing operations. But these men and women will leave after four years, which could create a void.
Conclusion
Despite the reservations, there is potential for future employment to these youth as the defence industry is ready to take off in a huge manner in India. Once this happens, the industry will have readily skilled youth for the jobs and hence there is also future to these youths. At the same time, national security is ensured.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, Nano-technology, biotechnology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
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 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the biotechnology sector of the country, its potential and significance in the light of initiatives launched by the country.
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:
write a few introductory lines on what you understand by Biotechnology.
Body:
First, write that Biotechnology has diverse applications in India – agriculture, healthcare, environmental protection, and industrial processes etc.
Next, mention the various steps taken by India to promote it – stablishing research institutions and promoting research and development, intellectual property rights, and international collaborations etc.
Next, write about the potential and limitations of the above.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Introduction
United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity, defines Biotechnology “any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use”. And “Biological resources” includes genetic resources, organisms or parts thereof, populations, or any other biotic component of ecosystems with actual or potential use or value for humanity. India has become the world’s 12th biggest biotechnology economy having the second highest number of USFDA-approved plants. Biotechnology will help developing countries accomplish things that they could never do
Body
- Biotechnology in Medicine
- Biotechnology techniques are used in medicine for diagnosis and treating different diseases. It gives opportunities for the people to protect themselves from dangerous diseases.
- The field of Biotechnology, genetic engineering has introduced techniques like gene therapy, recombinant DNA technology and polymerase chain reactionwhich use genes and DNA molecules to diagnose diseases and insert new and healthy genes in the body which replace the damaged cells
- Genetic modification in mosquitoes can solve the problems of epidemic diseases such as dengue and malaria
- Artificial insemination is the artificial introduction of semen into the reproductive tract of a female animal. It is used extensively in breeding animals, such as sheep and cattle
- Medical researchers believe that stem cell therapy has the potential to dramatically change the treatment of human disease. A number of adult stem cell therapies already exist, particularly bone marrow transplants that are used to treat leukaemia.
- Stem cell transplantation was first used in the treatment of blood disorders and it was a breakthrough. Conventionally known as bone marrow transplantation, the stem cells responsible for production of the blood cells reside in the bone marrow
- Biotechnology in Agriculture
- Biotechnology has played major role in agriculture by altering genes, studying and cloning various crops in order to provide better quality products of foods ultimately improving our lives.
- Hybrid Seeds, Artificial Seeds, Photosynthesis improver, Stress resistant crops and plants, Bio-fertilisers, Bio-pesticides are some of the potential applications.
- Potential advantages that biotechnology can confer across a wide range of agricultural applications are in areas such as livestock management, storage of agricultural products and sustaining current crop yields, while reducing the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
- Biotechnology offers a very promising alternative to synthetic foods and an improvement on conventional plant-breeding technologies. Combined with other advanced agricultural technologies, it offers an exciting and environmentally responsible way to meet consumer demand for sustainable agriculture.
- Biotechnology has a major application in the food sector.
- Bread, cheese, wine, beer, yogurt, and vinegar are all made by culturing microorganisms and are really the oldest products of biotechnology.
- It helps in improving the edibility, texture, and storage of the food; in preventing the attack of the food, mainly dairy, by the virus like bacteriophage.
- Biotechnologists are also developing tests that will allow the detection of food-contaminating microorganisms and the toxins they produce, which may be present only in minute quantities.
- Biotechnology also has applications in the detection of mutagens (substances that cause genetic mutations) in individual food products.
- GM crops which have been approved for use in food items in select countries include corn, maize, soya, tomato, potato and papaya.
- Latest innovations in biotechnology that fortify major staples with micro nutrients like vitamin A, zinc and iron can be game changers for hunger problem in India.
- Biotechnology in Animal husbandry
- The application of biotechnology in this area, in increasing production efficiency through manipulation and control of physiological systems and improving the health and well-being of animals, assumes great significance.
- Embryo transplantation, used with cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep, aims to increase the number of offspring from a quality female.
- Cloning embryos to artificially produce genetic duplicates of an animal has also become possible.
- Direct manipulation and alteration of an animal’s genetic material— genetic engineering—has the potential to produce even more drastic changes in animal breeding. It is believed that genetically altered pigs may one day be able to provide compatible organs for emergency transplantation (xenotransplantation) into humans.
- Biotechnology in Food Processing
- Biotechnology has a major application in the food sector.
- Bread, cheese, wine, beer, yogurt, and vinegar are all made by culturing microorganisms and are really the oldest products of biotechnology.
- It helps in improving the edibility, texture, and storage of the food; in preventing the attack of the food, mainly dairy, by the virus like bacteriophage.
- Biotechnologists are also developing tests that will allow the detection of food-contaminating microorganisms and the toxins they produce, which may be present only in minute quantities.
- Biotechnology also has applications in the detection of mutagens (substances that cause genetic mutations) in individual food products.
- GM crops which have been approved for use in food items in select countries include corn, maize, soya, tomato, potato and papaya.
- Latest innovations in biotechnology that fortify major staples with micro nutrients like vitamin A, zinc and iron can be game changers for hunger problem in India.
- Biotechnology in Environment:
- Biotechnology can be used to tackle environmental issues like deforestation and air pollution
- Biotechnology can help in finding out the level of Particulate Matter 2.5 in the air,
- Biotechnology is already providing a clean and renewable alternative to traditional fossil fuels, the burning of which contributes to global warming.
- The benefit of environmental biotechnology helps us to avoid the use of hazardous pollutants and wastes that affect the natural resources and the environment.
- Biosensors, which combine a biological component (such as an enzyme) with various electronic components to trigger a circuit when a particular type of chemical is detected. Biosensors are capable of detecting extremely low levels of proteins, hormones, pollutants, gases, and other molecules.
Conclusion
Every new drug discovery or drug approval not only draws cheers from millions of victims of debilitating diseases but also adds value to biotechnology companies. In a complex play of scientific progress and market forces, the biotechnology industry is recording growth that can rival the information technology industry boom of the 1990s. India with its young workforce and a potential market for the end-products can look out for a bright future in the biotechnology sector.
Value addition
Government initiatives to boost the sector:
- The Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and RIKEN, Japan’s largest research organisation have signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) to launch joint research programs in the fields of biology, life sciences and material sciences.
- UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE) have signed a MoU to encourage and develop collaborative opportunities between Indian life sciences organisations and the UK.
- The Drugs Controller General of India has approved Biocon Ltd to market its biosimilar ‘Trastuzumab’ developed jointly with the US drug-maker Mylan, for treating breast cancer. “This is a major milestone for both partners as it is the world’s first biosimilar trastuzumab to be accorded regulatory approval,” said Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon.
- The Government of India plans to set up National Institute of Biotic Stress Management for addressing plant protection issues will be established at Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, Nano-technology, biotechnology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
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 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about ChatGPT, changes introduced by it and opportunities and threats posed by it.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining ChatGPT.
Body:
First, write about the changes introduced by ChatGPT as chatbot which has brought in new aspects to conversational AI.
Next, write about the advantages it brings in various domains such as – education, journalism, search engines, art etc.
Next, write about the limitations of ChatGPT and adverse effect it can cause in the existing industry.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Introduction
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s new chatbot, is a ‘conversational’ AI which answers queries just like a human would. It is a variant of GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) which is a large-scale neural network-based language model developed by OpenAI.
Body
Chat GPT & contours of conversational artificial intelligence (AI)
- ChatGPT is a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence that can be used to ask questions.
- This chatbot is designed in such a way that the responses to queries are both technical and jargon-free.
- It is a natural language processing (NLP)model that works with a large corpus of conversational data.
- It can generate human-like responses, allowing for natural conversation between the user and the virtual assistant.
- The chatbot employs Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) technology. It is, however, altered to appear more human-friendly.
- It is based on GPT-3.5, a deep-learning language model that generates human-like text.
- Because it improves over time and understands queries better through machine learning, the technology will produce different answers for the same question in the future.
Opportutnities
- It can be used in real-world applicationssuch as digital marketing, online content creation, answering customer service queries or as some users have found, even to help debug code.
- The bot can respond to a large range of questions while imitating human speaking styles.
- It is being seen as a replacement for the basic emails, party planning lists, CVs, and even college essays and homework.
- It can also be usedto write code, as examples have shown.
- Chatbots are convenient for providing customer service and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- They also free up phone lines and are far less expensive over the long run than hiring people to perform support.
- Using AI and natural language processing, chatbots are becoming better at understanding what customers want and providing the help they need.
- Companies also like chatbots because they can collect data about customer queries, response times, satisfaction, and so on.
Threats
- Governance: Companies such as OpenAI are self-governing the space through limited release strategies, and monitored use of models, however, self-governance leaves chances for manipulation
- Fear of Job losses: automation of tasks that were previously done by humans, such as writing news articles or composing music.
- Reduced need for human cognition: young children who will see AI as their friend to do their homework.
- Fear of Societal Biasbeing replicated by AI
- Issues surrounding intellectual property and copyright: The datasets behind generative AI models are generally scraped from the internet without seeking consent from living artistsor work still under copyright
- Fear of Misinformation and Mistrust by manipulation of information, creating fake text, speech, images or video
- Fear of Concentration of Power in the hand of a few companies
- Risks for national security using automated troll bots, with advanced capabilities
Way forward
- Need to make generative AI modelsmore transparent, so that the public can understandhow and why the model is making certain decisions
- Use of diverse training data, as well as techniques like fairness constraints or adversarial training to mitigate bias.
- Privacy: Ensuring the privacy of people
- Accountable governance esp.of BigTech companies using a designated “AI ethicist” or “AI ombudsman”
- Designing a system wherein humans make the final decisionand AI can be used as a support system
- Collaboration with civil society and policymakers: To mitigate the impact of Generative AI on -the disruption of labour markets, legitimacy of scraped data, licensing, copyright and potential for biased or otherwise harmful content, misinformation, and so on.
Conclusion
While generative AI is a game-changer in numerous areas and tasks, there is a strong need to govern the diffusion of these models, and their impact on society and the economy more carefully.
Value addition
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that involves creating new, original content or data using machine learning algorithms.
- It can be used to generate text, images, music, or other types of media.
A Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) is a type of large language model (LLM) that uses deep learning to generate human-like text.
- “generative” because they can generate new text based on the input they receive
- “pretrained” because they are trained on a large corpus of text data before being fine-tuned for specific tasks
- “transformers” because they use a transformer-based neural network architecture to process input text and generate output text
Topic: Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India
Why the question:
In the last few years, the drugs problem has acquired another dimension. From just being a transit route, a new culture of illegal poppy cultivation has arrived in the Manipur hills.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about increasing trend in drug trafficking, what way India’s location makes it more vulnerable and counter measures taken by India.
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 mention the presence of Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle and draw a small map to represent the same.
Body:
First, India’s vulnerability to the trafficking of narcotics and drugs such as heroin, hashish, and synthetic drugs produced in these areas.
Increased production of opium in Afghanistan, greater domestic demand in India, and connivance of state government officials and border guarding forces together contributed towards this increase in heroin trafficking, especially in the Punjab sector. Then explain the trends in drug and narcotics trafficking; explain how it’s a threat to national security.
Discuss efforts of the government in this direction.
Conclusion:
Conclude with way forward.
Introduction
India is wedged between the world’s two largest areas of illicit opium production, the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle. This proximity has traditionally been viewed as a source of vulnerability, since it has made India both a destination and a transit route for opiates produced in these regions. the lockdown restrictions during Covid-19 have accelerated drug trafficking using the Internet. The drug trafficking scenario in India is largely attributed to various external and internal factors.
Body
Background
- According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), opium production in Afghanistan has crossed 6,000 tonnes for the fifth consecutive year.
- The reported rise in global opium prices has resulted in the exponential production of opiates increasing by 8%.
- The Taliban, cash-strapped and still looking to establish a semblance of order in the country they captured in August 2021, could indeed be looking to generate revenue from the illegal cash crop, as cases of smuggling and seizures of large consignments of drugs in India have started increasing, indicating a turn towards this trend.
Implications of Drug trafficking in India
- Challenges in the Northeast
- Indo-Myanmar border encounters non-conventional security challenges as it provides a secure channel for the movement of insurgents, narcotics trafficking, gunrunning, smuggling of wildlife etc.
- Proxy-wars: In the context of the proxy war in J&K, Pakistan’s ISI has been using the narcotics trade to
- Generate funds to sustain militancy.
- Erode the vitality of the populace in the border belt.
- Win over the local youth, as informers.
- Increase the level of criminal activity.
- Narco-terrorism: Terrorism and militancy in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, waged by Islamist extremist groups based in and supported by Pakistan. This is mainly funded by trading narcotics illegally.
- Drug Abuse on rise: The easy availability of drugs in Indian market is increasing drug abuse cases, particularly amongst the youth.
- According to a report by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, around 2.1% of Indians use opioids like opium, heroin, and non-medical sedatives.
- Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram have the highest prevalence of this opioid use.
- Drug-peddling is taking place over the Dark Web eluding the scrutiny of enforcement officers.
- Endangering lives: The illicit drug cultivation causes environmental damage in the form of river pollution.
- Toxic chemical wastes generated are stealthily dumped into rivers flowing in the region.
- Militancy: The nexus between Pakistan ISI and Pakistan Army with the drug mafia is a well-documented and established fact.
- This brought in a lot of easy money to the Pakistan’s ISI.
- With time, this money had been increasingly diverted towards fomenting, sustaining and exalting militancy in the peaceful paradise state of J&K in India.
- Funds Naxalism: The region is near the Naxal affected areas who exploit the corridor for expanding their revenues and arms smuggling.
- Due to lack of infrastructural development, they illicitly grow opium and cannabis providing them ready money.
- Socio Economic impact:
- The Covid-19 crisis has pushed more than 100 million people into extreme poverty, and has greatly exacerbated unemployment and inequalities, as the world lost 255 million jobs in 2020.
- Mental health conditions are also on the rise worldwide. Such socioeconomic stressors have likely accelerated demand for the drugs.
Measures taken by the government
Government of India has devised a well laid out strategy to ensure inter agency coordination and revamp the prosecution mechanism to end the menace of drug trafficking.
- There is zero tolerance policy followed by Government of India against narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances trade.
- Strong Legislation: Accordingly, the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) was enacted in 1985.
- Under this act, cultivation, manufacturing, transportation, export and import of all narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances is prohibited except for medicinal and scientific purposes and as authorised by the government.
- The Act provides for rigorous punishment for any person violating this act and if a person is caught peddling drugs for the second time, death penalty could be awarded to the offender.
- In addition, the government of India has also enacted the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in 1988, which allows detention of persons suspected to be involved in illicit trafficking of drugs.
- The Government has taken several policy and other initiatives to deal with drug trafficking problem.
- It constituted Narco-Coordination Centre (NCORD) in November, 2016 and revived the scheme of “Financial Assistance to States for Narcotics Control”.
- In 2017, the government approved new Reward Guidelines with increased quantum of reward for interdiction or seizure of different illicit drugs.
- Global Cooperation: For effective coordination with foreign countries, India has signed 37 Bilateral Agreements/Memoranda of Understanding.
- Narcotics Control Bureau has been provided funds for developing a new software i.e. Seizure Information Management System (SIMS) which will create a complete online database of drug offences and offenders.
- The government has constituted a fund called “National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse” to meet the expenditure incurred in connection with combating illicit traffic in Narcotic Drugs; rehabilitating addicts, and educating public against drug abuse, etc.
- The government is also conducting National Drug Abuse Survey to measure trends of drug abuse in India through Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment with the help of National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of AIIMS.
- Pro-active border patrol: For instances, in 2009, the BSF seized 23 kg of heroin along with 12 pistols and several rounds of ammunition in Punjab. In the same year, consignments of 58 kg of heroin, 10 kg of hashish as well as pistols and RDX were seized by the BSF along Rajasthan border.
- Cooperation with neighbours: India is a signatory to the SAARC Convention on Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic substances, 1993.
- India is also a party to the Pentalateral Cooperation on Drug Control, which focuses on the prevention of illicit trade of precursor and other chemicals used for the manufacture of heroin.
Way Forward:
- Combating misinformation on the impact of the use of cannabis products is crucial.
- Awareness-raising and communication efforts that disseminate scientific information without stigmatizing people.
- Increasing the capacity of law enforcement agencies to address drug trafficking over the darknet remains a priority.
- Joint responses by Governments and the private sector can involve controlling and removing advertisements and listings of illegal drugs on the Internet.
- Continuously update scientific standards to keep abreast of the acceleration of Internet-based services.
- Prevention and solid support are the ways in which drug abuse can be dealt with.
- Prevention programmes involving families, schools and the immediate communities are important in this regard.
- Government must notify minimum standards for running de-addiction centres.
- Fast track courts.
- Integrating drug de-addiction centre’s with rehabilitation centres.
- Unlicensed centres and those committing human rights violations must be liable to closure.
- A chapter on the impact of drug abuse should be included in school curriculum so that children understand how addiction destroys lives of people.
- Focused sensitisation programmes on drug abuse in schools and a substance abuse policy could go a long way in curbing the menace.
- Parents must consult specialists in case there is change in behaviour of their children as it could be signs of drug abuse.
Conclusion
Prevention of drug trafficking has to be accorded greater priority. At present it forms part of the larger mandate of the border guarding forces to ‘prevent smuggling and any other illegal activity’. Special measures need to be formulated to check trafficking of drugs through the borders. Various domestic laws enacted for the control of drug trafficking should be implemented stringently and severe punishments should be accorded to drug stockists.
General Studies – 4
Topic: Case Study
- Mention the major ethical issues in the above case.
- How can a humane approach be taken to eradication of poverty?
- Do you think inequalities in the society are unethical? Argue.
- Are public charities an indicator of unfairness in the society? Argue.
(250 words)
Introduction
Poverty and inequality have long been concerns of development economics. A social development paradigm with an emphasis on pro-poor growth is replacing the trickle-down industrialization model. Eradicating poverty and rectifying extreme levels of inequality go hand in hand with economic growth.
Body
When we see people suffering from materially and psychologically desperate conditions, we are compelled to act.
Ethical issues
- The eradication of poverty is supported by equal access to quality education and a fairer society so that everyone who receives education can have more options in their lives and fulfill their aspirations.
- Universal access to education and a fair society are not just about promoting economic growth. They are about ensuring human dignity. These challenges call upon our sense of ethical responsibility.
- Still, an extreme income gap in a society and between societies is alarming because it could erode social cohesion—a basic sense of trust between people who do not know each other.
- A reasonable degree of social cohesion is needed so that a society (and the world) can function, and for people to have the chance to increase their opportunities in life.
Humane approach to eradication of poverty
People living in poverty are often treated as less than human, which results in a deepening cycle of poverty. Day to day, from the cradle to the grave, they are cheated and exploited and are denied the very material and philosophical basis that allows them to flourish as human beings. This is perpetrated by family members, neighbours, employers, traders, and most shamefully, the state, the very body that is ultimately entrusted with the duty to protect and promote people’s human rights, dignity and well-being.
A human rights-based approach to poverty eradication and development needs to go an important step further and focus on how these rights are claimed, secured and enjoyed by the rights holders. Human rights are about flourishing as a human being. They involve people being free to reason and imagine what they want to be, what they want to do with their lives and what they want to become; to plan according to their own hopes and needs and to be free to act on their plans, either by themselves or with others. A human rights-based approach thus needs to ensure that rights are claimed, secured and enjoyed in ways that are empowering, strengthen peoples’ ability to negotiate with the powerful, build dignity, and increase freedom and choice to imagine and pursue the lives, futures and the rights they value. Rights can not be just handed out to people as charity; active agency and the actions of the rights-holders need to be an integral part of a rights-based approach.
Are inequalities unethical?
Opposition to inequality does not suppose that people are perfectly equal in all respects such as physical abilities. Equality does not demand complete leveling of income and wealth, only that all people have sufficient resources to ensure that their basic human needs are met. Countries such as Sweden and Canada have developed social programs like national health systems that help to meet human needs while maintaining high levels of freedom. Hence freedom and equality are not incompatible, and a reasonable balance can be achieved without undue coercion. But an argument is still needed for why inequality is morally wrong and should therefore be reduced by government activities such as taxing the rich. Here are four reasons why inequality is bad.
Why it is not ethical?
- First, inequality with respect to income and wealth undercuts equality of opportunity, which depends heavily on access to education. Poor people tend to have much worse access to educational resources because they live in worse neighborhoods with worse schools.
- Second, equality before the law is severely challenged when people do not have access to good legal representation.
- Third, people need good health in order to function fully as human beings, and the negative impact of inequality on health has been well documented.
- Fourth, inequality leads to bad social effects such as increased crime, lack of social cohesion, and lack of trust.
Public charities an indicator of unfairness in the society
- The fact that there are charitable organizations shows that there is imbalance in the society which created reason for charities to be operable.
- Nevertheless, NGO’s and charities are much needed to ensure that there is redistribution of wealth. This is an attempt to reduce the gross inequalities in the world.
- However, much support is needed and want of resources is grossly visible.
Conclusion
Poverty cannot be eradicated without addressing the pervasive inequalities in incomes and economic opportunities between and within countries, between rural and urban areas, and between men and women. Reducing such inequalities will need to start with improving access for the poor to productive resources, basic services and social protection.
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