Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Green Revolution
Mains level: Crop diversification issues in Punjab/Haryana belt
In tackling agri-crises, these core Green Revolution States must shift to high-value crops and promote non-farm activities
Early adopters of Green Revolution Technology
- The region comprising Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, was an early adopter of Green Revolution technology.
- It was also a major beneficiary of various policies adopted to spread modern agriculture technology in the country.
- The package of technology and policies produced quick results which enabled India to move from a country facing a severe shortage of staple food to becoming a nation close to self-sufficiency in just 15 years.
Practice Question:
Q. The traditional Green Revolution States of Punjab and Haryana would need to shed “business as usual” approach and embrace an innovative development strategy in agriculture and non-agriculture to secure and improve the future of farming and rural youth. Discuss.
The rice and wheat focus
- Procurement of marketed surplus of paddy (rice) and wheat at Minimum Support Price (MSP) completely insulated farmers against any price or market risks. It also ensured a reasonably stable flow of income from these two crops.
- Over time, the technological advantage of rice and wheat over other competing crops further increased as public sector agriculture research and development allocated their best resources and scientific manpower to these two crops.
- Other public and private investments in water and land and input subsidies were the other favourable factors.
- Thus, wheat in rabi and paddy in Kharif turned out to be the best in terms of productivity, income, price and yield risk and ease of cultivation among all the field crops (cereals, pulses, oilseeds).
- It is no surprise then that the area share of rice and wheat in the total cropped area rose drastically in these states.
- The progress and specialization towards these two crops served the great national goal of securing the food security of the country.
Problems of the Green Revolutionsurfaced during the mid-1980s
- During the mid-1980s, some inimical trends related to the rice-wheat crop system in general and paddy cultivation, in particular, surfaced followed by serious second-generation problems of the Green Revolution.
- Some experts foresaw the serious consequences of the continuation of paddy cultivation in the region and suggested diversification away from the rice-wheat system in the mid-1980s.
- Since then a large number of reports and policy documents have been prepared to develop alternative options to reduce the area under paddy — necessitated by its adverse effect on natural resources, the ecology, the environment, and fiscal resources.
- Serious concerns have also been expressed about plateauing productivity and stagnant income from rice-wheat cultivation. However, the area under these two crops has only increased rather than fallen.
- In order to develop viable options to infuse dynamism in the agriculture economy of this Green Revolution belt, there is a need to understand: what attracts farmers to rice-wheat crops, why it needs to be changed, and how it can be changed.
Punjab, Haryana vs. States
- High productivity, assured MSP which is often above open market price, free power, and fertilizer subsidy underlie the higher income per unit area from wheat and paddy cultivation.
- Land-labour ratio is also very favourable in Punjab when compared to other States; on an average, a farmer owns and cultivates 2.14 hectares net sown area as against 1.42 hectares in Haryana and 1.17 hectares at the national level.
- An estimate of income (derived from National Accounts Statistics) shows that all agriculture activities taken together to generate an annual net income of ₹5.31 lakh per cultivator in Punjab; it is ₹3.44 lakh in Haryana while the all-India average is ₹1.7 lakh (reference year, 2017-18).
- A question often asked is that if per farmer agriculture incomes in Haryana and Punjab are two to three times more than the national average, then why is there so much talk of farmers’ distress in these two States?
Why farmers’ distress in these two States when everything looks good?
- The reasons seem to be the loss of growth momentum in the income from the agriculture sector, which has fallen to 1% in Haryana and 0.6% in Punjab after 2011-12.
- This is quite low by any standard and not keeping in pace with an increase in households’ expenditure. The prospects of further growth in agricultural income from the crop sector dominated by rice and wheat are very dim.
- With the productivity of rice and wheat reaching a plateau, there is pressure to seek an increase in MSP to increase income. However, demand and supply do not favour an increase in MSP in real terms.
- In India, the per capita intake of rice and wheat is declining and consumers’ preference is shifting towards other foods.
- The average spending by urban consumers is more on beverage and spices than on all cereals. On the supply side, rice production is rising at the rate of 14% per year in Madhya Pradesh, 10% in Jharkhand and 7% in Bihar.
Issues related to procurement
- The growing rice production will further increase pressure on the procurement and buffer stock of rice. Rice and wheat procurement in the country has more than doubled after 2006-07 and buffer stocks have swelled to an all-time high.
- The country does not find an easy way to dispose of such large stocks and they are creating stress on the fiscal resources of the government.
- The implication of all these changes is that farmers in the region will find it difficult to increase their income from rice-wheat cultivation and they must be provided alternative choices to keep their income growing.
- Procurement of almost the entire market arrivals of rice and wheat at MSP for more than 50 years has affected the entrepreneurial skills of farmers to sell their produce in a competitive market where prices are determined by demand and supply and competition.
- Thus, to enable Punjab and Haryana farmers to move toward high-paying horticulture crops requires institutional arrangements on price assurance such as contract farming.
Environmental issues, unemployment
- The biggest casualty of paddy cultivation and the policy of free power for pumping out groundwater for irrigation is the depletion of groundwater resources.
- In the last decade, the water table has shown a decline in 84% observation wells in Punjab and 75% in Haryana. It is feared that Punjab and Haryana will run out of groundwater after some years if the current rate of overexploitation of water is not reversed.
- In the last couple of years, the burning of paddy stubble and straw has become another serious environmental and health hazard in the whole region.
- Another rather more serious challenge for the two States is to provide attractive employment to rural youths. Most of the farm work in these two States is undertaken by migrant labour.
- The younger generation is not willing to do manual work in agriculture and looks for better paying salaried jobs in non-farm occupations. Government jobs are few and far less than the number of job seekers.
- Thus, the option left is to create jobs in the private industry and the services sector. This requires private investments in suitable areas.
- Punjab has witnessed a flight of private capital from the State during the rise of militancy which hurt the State economy, employment and the revenues of the State.
- This setback has pushed the rank of the State in per capita income from number one in the 1970s and the early 1980s to number 13 among the major states of the country.
- For further progress and to meet the aspirations of rural youth to get satisfactory employment, the State needs large-scale private investments in modern industry, services, and commerce besides agriculture.
The solution lies in…
- The solution to the ecological, environmental and economic challenges facing agriculture in the traditional Green Revolution States is not in legalizing MSP but to shift from MSP crops to high-value crops and in the promotion of non-farm activities.
- Rather than focusing on a few enterprises, Punjab and Haryana should look at a large number of area-specific enterprises to avoid gluts.
- This will require a mechanism to cover price and market risks. Farmers’ groups and farmer producer organizations can play a significant role in the direct marketing of their produce.
Agricultural specificities and way forward
- Both Punjab and Haryana need to promote economic activities with strong links with agriculture tailored to State specificities.
- Some options for this are: promotion of food processing in formal and informal sectors; a big push to post-harvest value addition and modern value chains; a network of agro- and agri-input industries; high-tech agriculture; and a direct link of production and producers to consumers and consumers without involving intermediaries.
- The traditional Green Revolution States of Punjab and Haryana would need to shed “business as usual” approach and embrace an innovative development strategy in agriculture and non-agriculture to secure and improve the future of farming and rural youth.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PM-WANI
Mains level: Digital banking facilitation measures
The PM-WANI project seems to fit within the framework of an evolving decentralized concept to bridge the e-divide.
Practice Question:
With the PM-WANI, the state is expanding the reach of digital transformation to those who have been excluded till now. It is a game-changer because it has the potential to move Digital India to Digital Bharat. Discuss.
PM WANI – the ‘game-changer’
- The term ‘game-changer’ can be seen as an accurate reflection of the capability of an initiative to change the status quo for Prime Minister’s Wi-Fi Access Network Interface, or PM WANI.
- It provides for “Public Wi-Fi Networks by Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) to provide public Wi-Fi service spread across the length and breadth of the country to accelerate the proliferation of Broadband Internet services through Public Wi-Fi network in the country”.
What the data shows
- The initiative can help to bridge the increasing digital divide in India. Recently, the NITI Aayog CEO had said that India can create $1 trillion of economic value using digital technology by 2025.
- As per the latest Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, about 54% of India’s population has access to the Internet.
- The 75th round of the National Statistical Organization survey shows that only 20% of the population has the ability to use the Internet.
- The India Internet 2019 report shows that rural India has half the Internet penetration as urban, and twice as many users who access the Internet less than once a week.
Digital poverty
- Umang App (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) allows access to 2,084 services, across 194 government departments, across themes such as education, health, finance, social security, etc.
- The ability to access and utilize the app enhances an individual’s capabilities to benefit from services that they are entitled to.
- With each move towards digitization, we are threatening to leave behind a large part of our population to suffer in digital poverty.
- What the government is trying to achieve with PM-WANI is anyone living in their house, a paan shop owner or a tea seller can all provide public Wi-Fi hot posts, and anyone within range can access it.
- This will also help to reduce the pressure on the mobile Internet in India. Going back to the India Internet report, it shows that 99% of all users in India access the Internet on mobile, and about 88% are connected on the 4G network.
- This leads to a situation where everyone is connected to a limited network, which is getting overloaded and resulting in bad speed and quality of Internet access.
Key links
- There are three important actors here.
- First is the Public Data Office (PDO). The PDO can be anyone, and it is clear that along with Internet infrastructure, the government also sees this as a way to generate revenue for individuals and small shopkeepers. It is important to note that PDOs will not require registration of any kind, thus easing the regulatory burden on them.
- Second is the PDOA, who is basically the aggregator who will buy bandwidth from the Internet service provider (ISPs) and telecom companies and sell it to PDOs, while also accounting for data used by all PDOs.
- The third is the app provider, who will create an app through which users can access and discover the Wi-Fi access points.
- Two pillars have been given as a baseline for public Wi-Fi.
- Interoperability – where the user will be required to login only once and stay connected across access points.
- Multiple payment options – allowing the user to pay both online and offline.
- The products should start from low denominations, starting with ₹2. It is suggested in the report that the requirement of authentication through stored e-know your customer (KYC) is encouraged, which inevitably means a linking with Aadhaar.
Aiding rural connectivity
- The PM-WANI has the potential to change the fortunes of Bharat Net as well. Bharat Net envisions broadband connectivity in all villages in India.
- The project has missed multiple deadlines, and even where the infrastructure has been created, usage data is not enough to incentivize ISPs to use Bharat Net infra to provide services.
- One of the reasons for the lack of demand is the deficit in digital literacy in India and the lack of last-mile availability of the Internet.
- The term digital literacy must be seen as an evolving decentralized concept, which depends on how people interact with technology in other aspects of their life and is influenced by local social and cultural factors.
- The PM-WANI seems to fit within this framework, simply because it seeks to make accessing the Internet as easy as having tea at a chai shop. This is not a substitute for the abysmal digital literacy efforts of the government, but will definitely help.
Security, privacy issues
- There are some concerns, mainly with respect to security and privacy. A large-scale study conducted at public Wi-Fi spots in 15 airports across the United States, Germany, Australia, and India discovered that two thirds of users leak private information whilst accessing the Internet.
- Further, the TRAI report recommends that ‘community interest’ data be stored locally, raising questions about data protection in a scenario where the country currently does not have a data protection law in place.
- These are, however, problems of regulation, state capacity and awareness and do not directly affect the framework for this scheme.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Judicial conduct and associated issues
Several inadequacies in the justice delivery system lie hidden as disproportionate attention is given to the Supreme Court.
Public expects the judiciary to be ideal
- The citizens of the country expect the Supreme Court and its constituents to be ideal, and the challenge of the Supreme Court is to come to terms with that reality.
- However, it is not the Supreme Court alone that matters in the justice delivery system. There are other inadequacies of the system that don’t get as much public attention.
Practice Question: Explain the various inadequacies in the justice delivery system in India which lie hidden. What steps need to be taken to address them?
Spending on judiciary
- The issue of spending on judiciary, most often, is equated with increasing the salaries of judges and providing better court infrastructure. Such perceptions are unfortunate.
- India has one of the most comprehensive legal aid programmes in the world, the Legal Services Authority Act of 1987.
- Under this law, all women, irrespective of their financial status, are entitled to free legal aid. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and children too are entitled to free legal aid.
- In reality, this law is a dead letter. There has been little effort on the part of successive governments to provide a task force of carefully selected, well-trained and reasonably paid advocates to provide these services.
- In comparison, the system of legal aid in the U.K. identifies and funds several independent solicitor offices to provide such services. India is yet to put in place anything similar to this.
Poor judge-population ratio
- The judge-population ratio provides one of the most important yardsticks to measure the health of the legal system. The U.S. has about 100 judges per million population. Canada has about 75 and the U.K. has about 50.
- India, on the other hand, has only 19 judges per million population. Of these, at any given point, at least one-fourth is always vacant.
- Lower courts where the common man first comes into contact (or at least should) with the justice delivery system is also unnoticed and hardly any attention is focused on their gaping inadequacy.
- These inadequacies are far more important to the common man than the issues relating to the apex court that are frequently highlighted in the public space.
- In All India Judges Association v. Union of India (2001), the Supreme Court had directed the Government of India to increase the judge-population ratio to at least 50 per million population within five years from the date of the judgment. This has not been implemented.
Access to justice
- Though ‘access to justice’ has not been specifically spelt out as a fundamental right in the Constitution, it has always been treated as such by Indian courts.
- In Anita Kushwaha v. Pushpa Sadan (2016), the Supreme Court held unambiguously that if “life” implies not only live in the physical sense but a bundle of rights that make life worth living, there is no justice or other basis for holding that denial of “access to justice” will not affect the quality of human life.
- It was for the first time that the Supreme Court had attempted a near-exhaustive definition of what “access to justice” actually means.
- Further, the court pointed out four important components of access to justice.
- The need for adjudicatory mechanisms.
- The mechanism must be conveniently accessible in terms of distance.
- The process of adjudication must be speedy.
- The process of adjudication must be affordable to the disputants.
- It is of course a paradox that this judgment, which emphasizes the concept of speedy justice, was passed in 2016 in a batch of transfer petitions that were filed between 2008 and 2014.
Way forward
- The state in all its glorious manifestations — the executive, judiciary and the legislature — there is a need to draw out a national policy and road map for clearing backlogs and making these concepts real.
- A disproportionate amount of attention that is given to the functioning of the Supreme Court, it is equally important to have a clear focus on these and similar issues.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAATSA, COMCASA, LEMOA , BECA
Mains level: India-US defense cooperation and Russia factor
The US has imposed sanctions on NATO-ally Turkey for its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defence system.
Q.What is CAATSA law? Discuss how it will impact India’s ties with Russia.
Turkey defies the US
- Turkey decided to move ahead with the procurement and testing of the S-400, despite the availability of alternative, NATO-interoperable systems to meet its defence requirements.
- This decision resulted in Turkey’s suspension and pending removal from the global F-35 Joint Strike Fighter partnership.
What is CAATSA?
- CAATSA stands for Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
- It is a US federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
- The bill provides sanctions for activities concerning:
(1) cybersecurity, (2) crude oil projects, (3) financial institutions, (4) corruption, (5) human rights abuses, (6) evasion of sanctions, (7) transactions with Russian defence or intelligence sectors, (8) export pipelines, (9) privatization of state-owned assets by government officials, and (10) arms transfers to Syria.
Why is India concerned?
- This sanction is of particular interest to New Delhi, which is also in the process of buying the S-400 from Moscow.
- This action has sent a clear signal that the US will fully implement CAATSA sanctions and will not tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors.
What does the sanction mean?
These sanctions comprise:
- a ban on granting specific US export licences and authorizations for any goods or technology,
- a ban on loans or credits by US financial institutions totalling more than $10 million in any 12-month period
- a ban on US Export-Import Bank assistance for exports
- Additionally, sanctions will include full blocking sanctions and visa restrictions as well.
- Last year, the US had removed Turkey from its F-35 jet programme over concerns that sensitive information could be accessed by Russia if Turkey used Russian systems along with US jets.
India may get an exemption
- Most of India’s weapons, naval arsenal, missiles, aircraft and aircraft carriers are of Soviet/Russian origin.
- As per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfer Database, during the period 2010-17, Russia was the top arms supplier to India.
- The Russian share in India’s arms imports during the same period has declined to 68 per cent, from an all-time high of 74 per cent during the 2000s.
- The combined share of the US and Israel has increased from nine to 19 per cent.
- Accounting for about 15 per cent, the US is the second-biggest supplier of arms to India during the five year period ending 2017.
- Hence, US officials have earlier requested for “some relief from CAATSA” for countries like India.
China factor
- China being more assertive and Russia finding new partners, this waiver or “carve-out” would mean India has been able to secure its interests.
- Hence, the US has designated India as a Major Defence Partner, and both countries coming together on Indo-Pacific strategy, the newly formed Quad, are on a stable footing.
Why is CAATSA bad?
- CAATSA impacts Indo-US ties and dents the image of the US as a reliable partner.
- It also makes a point on principles that, as a sovereign country, India cannot be dictated about its strategic interests by a third country.
- It also shows the need for India to be nimble-footed in its diplomacy when it comes to its key major power relationships – and one cannot be sacrificed at the cost of another.
Back2Basics: India-US Defence Partnership
- India is a major market for the US defence industry.
- In the last decade, it has grown from near zero to USD 15 billion worth of arms deals.
- Since 2008, major deals include the C-17 Globemaster, C-130J transport planes, P-8 (I) maritime reconnaissance aircraft, M777 light-weight howitzer, Harpoon missiles, and Apache and Chinook helicopters.
- In percentage terms, the US share of Indian arms imports total 23 per cent in terms of the number of contracts and 54 per cent by value.
- This value is all set to increase further with the US likely accepting an Indian request for Sea Guardian drones.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Collegium System
Mains level: Judicial appointments and transparency issues
The SC Collegium has recommended the transfer of judges of several HC, including the transfer of a Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] Uproar over AP CM’s letter to CJI
What is Collegium?
- Collegium system of the Supreme Court (SC) and the High Courts (HCs) of India is based on the precedence established by the “Three Judges Cases (1982, 1993, 1998) “.
- It is a legally valid system of appointment and transfer of judges in the SC and all HCs.
- It is a system of checks and balance, which ensures the independence of the senior judiciary in India.
The Collegium System: A detailed backgrounder
- The Collegium of judges is the Indian SC’s invention.
- It does not figure in the Constitution, which says judges of the SC and HC are appointed by the President and speaks of a process of consultation.
- In effect, it is a system under which judges are appointed by an institution comprising judges.
- After some judges were superseded in the appointment of the CJI in the 1970s and attempts made subsequently to effect a mass transfer of High Court judges across the country.
- Hence there was a perception that the independence of the judiciary was under threat. This resulted in a series of cases over the years.
The Judges Cases
- The First Judges Case (1981) ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter of appointments must be full and effective.
- However, it rejected the idea that the CJI’s opinion, albeit carrying great weight, should have primacy.
- The Second Judges Case (1993) introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”.
- It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the SC.
- On a Presidential Reference in its opinion, the SC, in the Third Judges Case (1998) expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.
The procedure followed by the Collegium:
Appointment of CJI
- The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.
- As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
- In practice, it has been strictly by seniority ever since the supersession controversy of the 1970s.
- The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the PM who, in turn, advises the President.
Other SC Judges
- For other judges of the top court, the proposal is initiated by the CJI.
- The CJI consults the rest of the Collegium members, as well as the senior-most judge of the court hailing from the High Court to which the recommended person belongs.
- The consultees must record their opinions in writing and it should form part of the file.
- The Collegium sends the recommendation to the Law Minister, who forwards it to the Prime Minister to advise the President.
For HC
- The CJs of HC is appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justices from outside the respective States. The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.
- High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
- The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
- The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.
Does the Collegium recommend transfers too?
- Yes, the Collegium also recommends the transfer of Chief Justices and other judges.
- Article 222 of the Constitution provides for the transfer of a judge from one High Court to another.
- When a CJ is transferred, a replacement must also be simultaneously found for the High Court concerned. There can be an acting CJ in a High Court for not more than a month.
- In matters of transfers, the opinion of the CJI “is determinative”, and the consent of the judge concerned is not required.
- However, the CJI should take into account the views of the CJ of the High Court concerned and the views of one or more SC judges who are in a position to do so.
- All transfers must be made in the public interest, that is, “for the betterment of the administration of justice”.
Loopholes in the Collegium system
- Many have faulted the system, not only for its being seen as something unforeseen by the Constitution makers but also for the way it functions.
- Opaqueness and a lack of transparency, and the scope for nepotism are cited often.
- The attempt made to replace it by a ‘National Judicial Appointments Commission’ was struck down by the court in 2015 on the ground that it posed a threat to the independence of the judiciary.
- Some do not believe in full disclosure of reasons for transfers, as it may make lawyers in the destination court chary of the transferred judge.
- Embroilment in public controversies and having relatives practising in the same High Court could be common reasons for transfers.
Scope for transparency
- In respect of appointments, there has been an acknowledgement that the “zone of consideration” must be expanded to avoid criticism that many appointees hail from families of retired judges.
- The status of a proposed new memorandum of procedure, to infuse greater accountability, is also unclear.
- Even the majority opinions admitted the need for transparency, now the Collegium’s resolutions are now posted online, but reasons are not given.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ayushman Bharat
Mains level: Importance of Public Health Surveillance
NITI Aayog today released a white paper: Vision 2035: Public Health Surveillance (PHS) in India.
Q.Discuss the role of Public Health Surveillance in the success of Ayushman Bharat Abhiyan.
Vision 2035 for PHS
- It is a continuation of the work on health systems strengthening.
- It contributes by suggesting mainstreaming of surveillance by making individual electronic health records the basis for surveillance.
- Public health surveillance (PHS) is an important function that cuts across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care. Surveillance is ‘Information for Action’.
Let’s have a look at the executive summary of the vision document:
PHS in India
- Surveillance is an important Public Health function.
- It is an essential action for disease detection, prevention, and control. Surveillance is ‘Information for Action’.
Why need PHS?
- Multiple disease outbreaks have prompted India to proactively respond with prevention and control measures. These actions are based on information from public health surveillance.
- India was able to achieve many successes in the past. Smallpox was eradicated and polio was eliminated.
- India has been able to reduce HIV incidence and deaths and advance and accelerate TB elimination efforts.
- These successes are a result of effective community-based, facility-based, and health system-based surveillance.
- The COVID19 pandemic has further challenged the country. India rapidly ramped up its diagnostic capabilities and aligned its digital technology expertise.
- This ensured that there was a comprehensive tracking of the pandemic.
Highlights of the vision document
- It builds on initiatives such as the Integrated Health Information Platform of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program.
- It aligns with the citizen-centricity highlighted in the National Health Policy 2017 and the National Digital Health Blueprint.
- It encourages the use of mobile and digital platforms and point of care devices and diagnostics for amalgamation of data capture and analyses.
- It highlights the importance of capitalizing on initiatives such as the Clinical Establishments Act to enhance private sector involvement in surveillance.
- It points out the importance of a cohesive and coordinated effort of apex institutions including the National Centre for Disease Control, the ICMR, and others.
Gap areas in India’s PHS that could be addressed
- India can create a skilled and strong health workforce dedicated to surveillance activities.
- Non-communicable disease, reproductive and child health, occupational and environmental health and injury could be integrated into public health surveillance.
- Morbidity data from health information systems could be merged with mortality data from vital statistics registration.
- An amalgamation of plant, animal, and environmental surveillance in a One-Health approach.
- PHS could be integrated within India’s three-tiered health system.
- Citizen-centric and community-based surveillance, and use of point of care devices and self-care diagnostics could be enhanced.
- To establish linkages across the three-tiered health system, referral networks could be expanded for diagnoses and care.
Moving ahead
- Establish a governance framework that is inclusive of political, policy, technical, and managerial leadership at the national and state level.
- Identify broad disease categories that will be included under PHS.
- Enhance surveillance of non-communicable diseases and conditions in a step-wise manner.
- Prioritize diseases that can be targeted for elimination as a public health problem, regularly.
- Improve core support functions, core functions, and system attributes for surveillance at all levels; national, state, district, and block.
- Establish mechanisms to streamline data sharing, capture, analysis, and dissemination for action.
- Encourage innovations at every step-in surveillance activity.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Bison (Gaur)
Mains level: Man-animal conflict
A gaur (Indian bison) strayed into a residential area in Pune city and allegedly died while being captured. This has depicted another ugly face of the man-animal conflicts.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which one of the following groups of animals belongs to the category of endangered species?
(a) Great Indian Bustard, Musk Deer, Red Panda, Asiatic Wild Ass
(b) Kashmir Stag, Cheetah, Blue Bull, Great Indian Bustard.
(c) Snow Leopard, Swamp Deer, Rhesus Monkey, Saras (Crane)
(d) Lion Tailed Macaque, Blue Bull, Hanuman Langur, Cheetah
Gaur/ Indian Bison
- The Indian bison are also known as Gaur, is native to South and Southeast Asia and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986.
- The global population has been estimated at maximum 21,000 mature individuals by 2016.
- It declined by more than 70% during the last three generations, and is extinct in Sri Lanka and probably also in Bangladesh.
- Populations in well-protected areas are stable and increasing.
- The Western Ghats and their outflanking hills in southern India constitute one of the most extensive extant strongholds of gaur, in particular in the Wayanad – Nagarhole – Mudumalai – Bandipur complex.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now