Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Covid-19 mortality data
Context
Over the last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been busy, in an unprecedented effort, to calculate the global death toll from COVID-19.
Revision of Covid-19 death toll by WHO
- Globally from an estimated six million reported deaths, WHO now estimates these deaths to be closer to almost triple the number.
- The new estimates also take into account formerly uncounted deaths, but also deaths resulting from the impact of COVID-19.
- For example, millions who could not access care, i.e., diagnosis or treatment due to COVID-19 restrictions or from COVID-19 cases overwhelming health services.
- India’s stand: India is in serious disagreement with the WHO-prepared COVID-19 mortality estimates.
- The argument being made by India’s health establishment through a public clarification is that this is an overestimation, and the methodology employed is incorrect.
India’s Covid response
- India’s COVID-19 response has been replete with delays and denials.
- For instance, for the longest time that India’s COVID-19 number rose, the health establishment continued to insist that community transmission was not under way.
- It took months and several lakh cases before they agreed that COVID-19 was finally in community transmission.
- The devastation of the second wave showed how unprepared we were to combat the deadly Delta variant.
- By the time the wave subsided, India’s population was devastated, and helpless, seeing dignity neither in disease nor in death.
Conclusion
The figures ratchet up not only issues of administrative but also moral accountability for governments that they have been previously side stepped.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Palk Bay
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Sri Lanka fisheries issue
Context
After a gap of 15 months, the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group (JWG) on fisheries held its much-awaited deliberations (in virtual format) on March 25.
Background of the issue
- As sections of fishermen from the Palk Bay bordering districts of Tamil Nadu continue to transgress the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), cases of many of them getting arrested and their boats being impounded by the Sri Lankan authorities continue.
- Apart from poaching in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, the use of mechanised bottom trawlers is another issue that has become a bone of contention between the fishermen of the two countries; the dispute is not just between the two states.
- Use of mechanised bottom trawlers: This method of fishing, which was once promoted by the authorities in India, is now seen as being extremely adverse to the marine ecology, and has been acknowledged so by India.
- The actions of the Tamil Nadu fishermen adversely affect their counterparts in the Northern Province.
- Reason for transgression: The fishermen of Tamil Nadu experience a genuine problem — the lack of fishing areas consequent to the demarcation of the IMBL in June 1974.
- If they confine themselves to Indian waters, they find the area available for fishing full of rocks and coral reefs besides being shallow.
- Under the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act 1983, mechanised fishing boats can fish only beyond 3 NM from the coast.
- This explains the trend of the fishermen having to cross the IMBL frequently.
Way forward
- Transition to deep-sea fishing: While Indian fishermen can present a road map for their transition to deep sea fishing or alternative methods of fishing, the Sri Lankan side has to take a pragmatic view that the transition cannot happen abruptly.
- In the meantime, India will have to modify its scheme on deep-sea fishing to accommodate the concerns of its fishermen, especially those from Ramanathapuram district, so that they take to deep-sea fishing without any reservation.
- Alternative livelihood measures: There is a compelling need for the Central and State governments to implement in Tamil Nadu the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana in a proactive manner.
- The scheme, which was flagged off two years ago, covers alternative livelihood measures too including seaweed cultivation, open sea cage cultivation, and sea/ocean ranching.
- During Mr. Jaishankar’s visit, India had signed a memorandum of understanding with Sri Lanka for the development of fisheries harbours.
- This can be modified to include a scheme for deep-sea fishing to the fishermen of the North.
- Joint research on fisheries: . It is a welcome development that the JWG has agreed to have joint research on fisheries, which should be commissioned at the earliest.
- Institutional mechanism: Simultaneously, the two countries should explore the possibility of establishing a permanent multi-stakeholder institutional mechanism to regulate fishing activity in the region.
- Using common thread of culture, language and religion: The people of the two countries in general and fisherfolk in particular have common threads of language, culture and religion, all of which can be used purposefully to resolve any dispute.
Conclusion
What everyone needs to remember is that the fisheries dispute is not an insurmountable problem. A number of options are available to make the Palk Bay not only free of troubles but also a model for collaborative endeavours in fishing.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NFSA 2013
Mains level: Paper 3- PDS reforms
Context
The release of two new working papers, one from the World Bank and the other from the IMF, has led to a renewed debate on poverty in India.
A substantial decline in extreme poverty in India
- Both papers claim that extreme poverty in the country, based on the international definition of $1.90 per capita per day (in purchasing power parity (PPP), has declined substantially.
- The World Bank paper uses the Consumer Pyramid Household Surveys (CPHS) data to conclude that 10.2 per cent of the country’s population was at extreme poverty levels in 2019.
- The IMF paper calculates poverty by using the NSO Consumer Expenditure Survey as the base and adjusts it for the direct effect of the massive food grain subsidy given under the National Food Security Act (NFSA, 2013) and PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) during the pandemic period.
- It claims that extreme poverty has almost vanished – it was 0.77 per cent in 2019 and 0.86 per cent in 2020.
- Another estimate of poverty by the NITI Aayog, the multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI), has put Indian poverty at 25 per cent in 2015 based on NFHS data.
- How MPI is calculated?: This MPI is calculated using twelve key components from areas such as health and nutrition, education and standard of living.
How much should be the coverage under NFSA, 2013?
- The offtake of grains under NFSA in FY20 was 56.1 million metric tonnes (MMT).
- Following the outbreak of Covid-19, the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) in April 2020 to distribute 25 kg cereals per family per month in addition to food transfers under the NFSA.
- That catapulted the offtake to 87.5 MMT (under PMGKAY and NFSA) in FY21.
- The scheme continued in FY22, and the grain offtake touched 93.2 MMT.
Issues with the wide coverage
- A further extension of free food on top of the NFSA allocations was uncalled for.
- This will strain the fisc, reduce public investments and hamper potential job creation.
- A look at the size of food freebies will help understand the gravity of this problem.
- As of April 1, the Food Corporation of India’s wheat and rice stocks stood at 74 MMT against a buffer stock norm of 21 MMT – there is, therefore, an “excess stock” of 53 MMT.
- The cost of excess stock: The economic cost of rice, as given by FCI, is Rs 3,7267.6/tonne and that of wheat is Rs 2,6838.4/tonne (2020/21).
- The value of “excess stocks”, beyond the buffer norm, is, therefore, Rs 1.85 lakh crore — this, despite a total of 72.2 MMT grains distributed for free under the PMGKAY in FY21 and FY22.
- Ballooning food subsidy: All this results in a ballooning food subsidy for FY 23, it is provisioned at Rs 2.06 lakh crore, for FY 23, it is provisioned at Rs 2.06 lakh crore.
- But this amount is likely to go beyond Rs 2.8 lakh crore with the continuing distribution of free food under the PMGKAY.
- This would amount to more than 10 per cent of the Centre’s net tax revenue (after deducting the states’ share).
Way forward
- It is all the more important to change the current policy of free food given the massive leakages in the PDS.
- As per the High-Level Committee on restructuring FCI, leakages were more than 40 per cent based on the NSSO data of 2011.
- Ground reports suggest that these leakages hover around 30 per cent or so today.
- Make PDS more targeted: In reforming this system of free food, wisdom lies in going back to the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
- Under AAy, the “antyodaya” households (the most poor category) get more rations (35 kg per household) at a higher subsidy (rice, for instance, at Rs 3/kg and wheat at Rs2/kg).
- For the remaining below poverty line (BPL) families, the price charged was 50 per cent of the procurement price and for above poverty line families (APL), it was 90 per cent of the procurement price.
- This will make PDS more targeted and lead to cost savings.
- Use of technology: There could be some problems in identifying the poor. However, technology can help overcome this difficulty.
- Option of cash transfer: This measure should be combined with giving people the option of receiving cash instead of providing grains to targeted beneficiaries.
- The savings so generated from this reform can be ploughed back as investments in agri-R&D, rural infrastructure (irrigation, roads, markets) and innovations that will help create more jobs and reduce poverty on a sustainable basis.
Conclusion
The government needs to bite the bullet and emulate the Vajpayee government (which had introduced AAY) in using scarce resources more wisely.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Opportunities for India in the wake of Ukraine-Russia conflict
Context
As Mahatma Gandhi’s nation, India must be a committed and relentless apostle of peace and non-violence, both at home and in the world.
How the Russia-Ukraine conflict is reshaping the world order
- Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a paradigm of free societies, frictionless borders and open economies evolved to be the governing order in many nations.
- This catalysed freer movement of people, goods, services and capital across the world.
- India too has benefited enormously from being an active participant in this interconnected world, with a tripling of trade (as share of GDP) in the last three decades and providing vast numbers of jobs.
- Such tight inter-dependence among nations will lead to fewer conflicts and promote peace, was the established wisdom.
- The Russia-Ukraine conflict has dismantled this wisdom.
- Mutually beneficial to mutually harmful: If inter-connectedness and trade among nations were mutually beneficial, then it follows that its disruption and blockade will be mutually harmful.
- Global Village was built on the foundation of advanced transportation networks, cemented with the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency and fenced by integrated payment systems.
- Any disruption to this delicate balance runs the risk of plunging the ‘Global Village’ into disequilibrium and derailing the lives of all.
Trade opportunity for India
- Trade with other nations should and will always be an integral cornerstone of India’s economic future.
- A reversal towards isolationism and protectionism will be foolhardy and calamitous for India.
- As the western bloc of nations looks to reduce dependence on the Russia-China bloc of nations, it presents newer avenues for India to expand trade.
- It presents a tremendous opportunity for India to become a large producing nation for the world and a global economic powerhouse.
- However, to capitalise on these opportunities, India needs free access to these markets, an accepted and established global currency to trade in and seamless trade settlements.
Suggestions for India
1] Bilateral currency agreements are unsustainable
- The American dollar has emerged as the global trade currency, bestowing an ‘exorbitant privilege’ on the dollar.
- But a forced and hurried dismantling of this order and replacing it with rushed bilateral local currency arrangements can prove to be more detrimental for the global economy in the longer run.
- We had an Indian rupee-Russian rouble agreement in the late 1970s and 1980s, when we mutually agreed on exchange rates for trading purposes.
- Now, with India’s robust external sector, a flourishing trading relationship with many nations and tremendous potential to expand trade, such bilateral arrangements are unsustainable, unwieldy, and perilous.
2] Avoid discounted commodity purchases from Russia
- In the long run, India stands to gain more from unfettered access to the western bloc markets for Indian exports under the established trading order than from discounted commodities purchased under new bilateral currency arrangements that seek to create a new and parallel global trade structure.
- It entails a prolonged departure from the established order of dollar-based trade settlement or jeopardises established trading relationships with western bloc markets, it can have longer term implications for India’s export potential.
3] Non-disruptive geo-economic policy
- India needs not just a non-aligned doctrine for the looming new world order but also a non-disruptive geo-economic policy that seeks to maintain the current global economic equilibrium.
- By the dint of its sheer size and scale, India can be both a large producer and a consumer.
- To best utilise this opportunity, India needs not just cordial relationships with nations on either side of the new divide but also a stable and established global economic environment.
4] Social harmony is a must
- Just as it is in India’s best interests to balance the current geo-economic equilibrium, it is also imperative for India to maintain its domestic social equilibrium.
- Social harmony is the edifice of economic prosperity.
- Fanning mutual distrust, hate and anger among citizens, causing social disharmony is a shameful slide to perdition.
Conclusion
The reshaping and realignment of the world order will be a unique opportunity for India to reassess its foreign policy, economic policy and geo-political strategy and don the mantle of global leadership.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Communal violence in India
Context
Communal violence, a complex phenomenon, has been over-simplified to suit a convenient political narrative.
India’s syncretic traditions and impact of invasions
- For aeons, India has had syncretic traditions inspired by the Vedic aphorism, “Ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti” (there is only one truth and learned persons call it by many names).
- Because of this underpinning, Indian society has never insisted on uniformity in any facet of life.
- This equanimity of Indian society was, however, disrupted by invading creeds.
- The first such incursion came in 712, when Muhammad bin Qasim vanquished Sindh, and as Chach Nama, a contemporary Arab chronicle states, introduced the practice of treating local Hindus as zimmis, forcing them to pay jizya (a poll tax), as a penalty to live by their beliefs.
- In the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni, while receiving the caliphate honours on his accession to the throne, took a vow to wage jihad every year against Indian idolaters.
- The fact is, ties between the two communities were seldom cordial.
- There were intermittent skirmishes, wars and occasional short-lived opportunistic alliances.
- When Pakistan declared itself an Islamic Republic in 1947, it would have been natural for India to identify itself as a Hindu state.
- It didn’t, and couldn’t have — because of its Hindu ethos of pluralism.
- India, is, and will always be, catholic, plural, myriad and a vibrant democracy.
Conclusion
It’s relevant to recall what Lester Pearson (14th PM of Canada) said: “Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Communal violence and its implications for society
Context
India has a long history of communal violence. Just how similar or different are the recent episodes? And what kind of dangers do they pose to the polity and society?
What is different this time?
- Religious processions: It should first be noted that such processions have historically been some of the largest triggers for communal riots.
- Such processions can be, and have been, intensely political, often morphing from the religious to the communal.
- Communalism Vs. Religiosity: Communalism in South Asia has always been distinguished from religiosity.
- Religiosity may be about deeper meanings of life, but communalism is about a coercive assertion of power or a bloody search for retribution, often historically construed and presented.
- Thus, it is not the coexistence of religious processions and riots that is surprising today.
- What is different this time? Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti are not the principal religious processions touching off riots.
- Eroding neutrality of state: The second difference that in the past, processions might have caused riots, but the state rarely gave up the principle of neutrality in dealing with them.
- When a state either explicitly favours a community or looks away when a particular community is hounded, intimidated and attacked, it is no longer a riot, but a pogrom.
- The rapidly eroding religious neutrality of the government in several states is one of the most alarming political developments.
- In recent months, there have been spectacles of calls to murder in Dharam Sansads (religious assemblies).
- Such speech is criminally liable. India’s Constitution prohibits speech that endangers “public order”.
- In the past, it was invariably hard to find clear evidence of who led the riots.
- The riot leaders now openly proclaim call for violence.
- Such leaders are either not punished, or are merely given a slap on the wrist and some of them are even celebrated as heroes and rewarded with high office.
- New research on vigilantism makes it clear that vigilantism, especially lynchings, cannot flourish unless the state provides impunity to vigilante groups.
Conclusion
Even though India has a long history of communal violence the recent episodes of violence are different and pose grave dangers to the polity and society.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pillar One
Mains level: Paper 3- OECD formula for digital tax and its implications for India
Context
Over the past four years, 137 countries have engaged intensively with the OECD to find a solution to the tax challenges arising from digitalisation. Like any international agreement, finding a middle ground has been difficult and a series of compromises have been made.
What makes it difficult to tax the digital economy?
- Operation across the border: The unique feature of the digital economy is that firms can operate seamlessly across borders and users and their data contribute to their profits.
- However, this made it harder to tax such an economy.
- It was not clear how profits were to be pinned down to any jurisdiction.
- Political issues: Taxing digital economy became a political issue because the largest technology firms are tax residents of developed countries and redefining digital presence as the basis of taxation would potentially allow large markets like India more right to tax.
- Developing vs. developed countries: Developing countries wanted that profits from digital operations should be fractionally apportioned to markets while developed countries believe that a fraction of residual profit, mainly arising from marketing functions, should be taxed in markets.
Equalisation levy and DST issue
- The divergence in developed and developing countries as explained above compelled countries to implement unilateral measures.
- India was the first country to implement a gross equalisation levy on turnover.
- This is not covered by tax treaties.
- So, while the income tax act does not apply to the levy, credit is available for the tax paid by the company in its home country.
- Similarly, several other countries have announced or implemented a digital services tax (DST).
- In 2021, India expanded the scope of the equalisation levy.
- The US initiated the US Trade Representative investigations which found DST to be discriminatory, and then announced retaliatory tariffs.
Two-pillar approach and issues with its adoption
- The DSTs encouraged the US to actively participate in finding a consensus-based solution.
- As talks progressed, the OECD announced that the issue of allocation of taxing rights would be actively considered and adopted a two-pillar approach.
- Pillar One approach: The first pillar was to define the rules for taxing digital companies.
- Sovereignty issue: Pillar One was to go beyond digital companies and apply to large companies with annual revenue over € 20 billion. To ensure certainty to taxpayers, the solution will require excessive global coordination.
- Whether this will undermine sovereignty, remains to be seen.
- Therefore, it is important to consider if the consensus approach is worth pursuing.
- EL may still apply to companies not covered by OECD proposal: In fact, the EL may apply to companies that are not covered by the OECD proposal, leaving one to wonder whether it will truly address the tax challenges from digitalisation.
- Complications: Corporations that argue in favour of simplicity must also consider the potential benefits from an EL like tax that sets aside the complications of attributing profits to complex functions.
- The OECD approach creates a fiction of reallocation, where the profits reallocated through Pillar One could in fact be compensated for by taxing back global profits taxed below 15 per cent.
Conclusion
As per Pillar One proposal, DSTs will be removed once the OECD approach is ratified in 2023. It is imperative therefore that countries assess the price of compromise.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Merit goods vs public goods
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with competitive freebie politics
Context
Against the backdrop of promises of freebies in Punjab, this article deals with the harm caused by such freebies to the economy, life quality and social cohesion in the long run.
Macroeconomic stability of the Union and the States
- India is a Union of states. It is not a confederation of states.
- The Union is indestructible.
- The Union, therefore, is integral to both the Centre and the states.
- The strength of the Centre lies in the strength of the states.
- Therefore, the macroeconomic stability of the Union is contingent on the macroeconomic stability of both the Centre and states.
The complex issue of freebies
- There is great ambiguity in what “freebies” mean.
- Merit goods Vs. Public goods: We need to distinguish between the concept of merit goods and public goods on which expenditure outlays have overall benefits.
- Examples of this are the strengthening and deepening of the public distribution system, employment guarantee schemes, support to education and enhanced outlays for health, particularly during the pandemic.
- All over the world, these are considered to be desirable expenditures.
- Freebies could be expensive? It’s not about how cheap the freebies are but how expensive they are for the economy, life quality and social cohesion in the long run.
Issues with the culture of competitive freebie politics
1] It affects macroeconomic stability
- Freebies undercut the basic framework of macroeconomic stability.
- The politics of freebies distorts expenditure priorities.
- Outlays are being concentrated on subsidies of one kind or the other.
- Illustratively, in the case of Punjab, while estimates vary, some have speculated that the promise of freebies might cost around Rs 17,000 crore.
- As we know, the debt-to-GDP ratio of Punjab is already at 53.3 per cent for 2021-22, which would worsen on account of these new measures.
2] Distortion of expenditure priorities
- Take, for instance, the change to the new contributory pension scheme from the old scheme, which had a fixed return.
- Rajasthan announced that it would revert to the old pension scheme.
- This decision is regressive as the move away from the old scheme was based on the fact that it was inherently inequitable.
- The pension and salary revenues of Rajasthan amount to 56 per cent of its tax and non-tax revenues.
- Thus, 6 per cent of the population, which is made up of civil servants, stands to benefit from 56 per cent of the state’s revenues.
- Intergenerational inequality: This is fraught with dangers not only of intergenerational inequality, but also affects the broader principles of equity and morality.
3] Increases social inequality
- The issue of intergenerational equity leads to greater social inequalities because of expenditure priorities being distorted away from growth-enhancing items.
4] It affects the environment
- When we talk of freebies, it is in the context of providing, for example, free power, or a certain quantum of free power, water and other kinds of consumption goods.
- This distracts outlays from environmental and sustainable growth, renewable energy and more efficient public transport systems.
5] The distortion of agricultural priorities
- The depleting supply of groundwater is an important issue to consider when speaking of freebies pertaining to free consumption goods and resources.
6] Effect on the future of manufacturing
- Lower the quality of competitiveness: Freebies lower the quality and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector by detracting from efficient and competitive infrastructure enabling high-factor efficiencies in the manufacturing sector.
7] Subnational bankruptcy
- Freebies bring into question market differentiation between profligate and non-profligate states and whether we can have a recourse mechanism for subnational bankruptcy.
Way forward
- The race to the bottom implies government deregulation of markets and business.
- We must strive instead for a race to efficiency through laboratories of democracy and sanguine federalism where states use their authority to harness innovative ideas and solutions to common problems which other states can emulate.
Consider the question “What are the challenges in dealing with the competitive freebies politics? What are its drawbacks?”
Conclusion
The economics of freebies is invariably wrong. It is a race to the bottom. Indeed, it is not the road to efficiency or prosperity, but a quick passport to fiscal disaster.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 239AA
Mains level: Paper 2- Delhi statehood issue
Context
Recently, both Houses of Parliament passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, to unify the trifurcated Delhi Municipal Corporations.
Background of the trifurcation
- The split-up was first proposed in the 1987 Balakrishnan Committee Report which was bolstered in the 2001 Virendra Prakash Committee Report.
- The proposal finally took shape in 2011 and the law to trifurcate was enacted.
- A seven-member Delhi Legislative Assembly Panel was set up in 2001 to study the recommendations and suggest modalities.
- Trifurcation in 2011: The proposal finally took shape in 2011 and the law to trifurcate was enacted.
Changes introduced by the amendment
- The law provides that the power to determine the number of wards, extent of each ward, reservation of seats, number of seats of the Corporation, etc. will now be vested in the Central government.
- The number of seats of councillors in the Municipal Corporations of Delhi is also to be decided now by the Central government.
- By exercising that very power, the number of councillors to the Municipal Corporations of Delhi has been reduced from 272 to 250.
- The Central government has also taken over powers from the State to decide on matters such as ‘salary and allowances, leave of absence of the Commissioner, the sanctioning of consolidation of loans by a corporation, and sanctioning suits for compensation against the Commissioner for the loss or waste or misapplication of municipal fund or property
Issues with the changes made
- The Central government’s line is that the amendment has been passed as in Article 239AA of the Constitution, which is a provision that provides for special status to Delhi.
- No consultation with Delhi govt.-The large-scale changes by the Central government has been done without any consultation with the Delhi government.
- Not in line with Part IXA of the Constitution: Part IXA specifically states that it will be the Legislature of the State that will be empowered to make laws concerning representation to the municipalities.
- Part IXA is a specific law while Article 239AA is general law: The argument of the Centre that Article 239AA can be applied over and above Part IXA of the Constitution does not hold good as the latter is a specific law that will override the general law relatable to Article 239AA.
- Against the federalism: In State of NCT of Delhi vs Union of India judgment the Supreme Court held, “The Constitution has mandated a federal balance wherein independence of a certain required degree is assured to the State Governments.”
- It was made clear that the aid and the advice of the State government of Delhi would bind the decision of the Lieutenant General in matters where the State government has the power to legislate.
- No doubt, the amendment to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 will lead to further litigation on the aspect of a sharing of powers between the State of NCT of Delhi and the Central government.
Conclusion
The interference of the Centre in matters such as municipal issues strikes a blow against federalism and the celebrated Indian model of decentralisation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 21 of Indian Constitution
Mains level: Paper 2- Right to housing
Context
Communal clashes broke out during Ram Navami processions in several parts of the country including at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh. Subsequently, the Madhya Pradesh government bulldozed the houses of those who were allegedly involved in rioting.
Right to housing
- Fundamental right under Article 21: The right to housing is not only a fundamental right recognised under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, it is also a well-documented right under the international human rights law framework, which is binding on India.
- Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care.
- Likewise, Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) recognises “the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living condition.
- The rights recognised under ICESCR, according to Article 4, can be restricted by States only if the limitations are determined by law in a manner compatible with the nature of these rights and solely to promote society’s general welfare.
- Besides, international law also prohibits arbitrary interference in an individual’s right to property.
- For instance, Article 12 of the UDHR states that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation”.
- Article 12 also stipulates that “everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks”.
- This same right is also provided under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Protection against Forced eviction
- According to the UN Human Rights Office, an integral element of the right to adequate housing is ‘protection against forced evictions’.
- The UN Human Rights Office defines ‘forced evictions’ as ‘permanent or temporary removal against the will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection’.
Way forward
- The apex court in cases like Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab, Vishaka vs State of Rajasthan, and recently in the famous Puttaswamy vs Union of India has laid down the principle that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution must be read and interpreted in a manner which would enhance their conformity with international human rights law.
- It is high time that the judiciary acted and imposed necessary checks on the unbridled exercise of power by the executive.
Conclusion
The bulldozing of the houses of the alleged rioters amounts to forced eviction and arbitrary interference with an individual’s home.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AFSPA
Mains level: Paper 2- Peace process in Northeast
Context
Progress in settling border disputes, removal of AFSPA herald positive changes in the region.
Significant development for restoring normalcy in the region
- Efforts to address the issues of the Northeast have been moving according to a strategic plan which is premised on three objectives —
- 1] Ending all disputes.
- 2] Ushering in economic progress and taking the region’s contribution to GDP back to its pre-Independence levels,
- 3] making efforts to maintain and preserve the region’s languages, dialects, dance, music, food, and culture and make it attractive for the whole country.
- In this regard, two recent developments are significant:
- On March 29, the Assam and Meghalaya chief ministers signed an agreement to resolve the five-decade-old border dispute.
- The Union home ministry (MHA) decided to reduce the disturbed areas under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur after decades.
Progress on the border disputes
- As part of the strategy, existing issues of both interstate border disputes and insurgency have been closely studied and negotiated and a few agreements have been signed.
- Assam, with the maximum border disputes in the region, got into a proactive border dialogue.
- The dialogues on the state’s border disputes with Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram are continuing at a steady pace.
- After the violent flare-ups witnessed last year at the Assam-Mizoram border, today there are regular engagements to maintain peace and work out a permanent solution.
- The model of Assam’s engagement with Meghalaya, is a good one to emulate — the two chief ministers, after two rounds of talks in August last year, constituted three committees each under cabinet ministers in their states to go into the complex boundary issues.
Significance of notification on AFSPA
- Peace has been witnessed in most places across Assam, and even in Nagaland and Manipur talks with various groups for a permanent solution had resulted in a cessation of violence.
- The NLFT Tripura Agreement (August 2019), the Bru Agreement (January 2020), the Bodo Peace Accord (January 2020) and the Karbi Anglong Agreement (September 2021) have actually resulted in about 7,000 militants surrendering their arms.
- Removal of DAN: So the demand for the removal of the disturbed areas notification (DAN) was very much justified.
- DAN has been in force in the whole of Assam since 1990, in all of Manipur (except the Imphal Municipality area) since 2004 and in the whole of Nagaland since 1995.
- With the removal of the DAN tag, AFSPA has been removed with effect from April 1 this year completely from 23 districts and partially from one district of Assam, from 15 police station areas of six districts of Manipur and from 15 police station areas in seven districts in Nagaland.
- DAN is currently applicable in only three districts and in two police station areas in one other district of Arunachal Pradesh.
- AFSPA was completely removed from Tripura in 2015 and Meghalaya in 2018, respectively.
Conclusion
The efforts by the Union government to make the northeastern region the main pillar of the Act East policy have been useful in bringing a sense of political stability that is very crucial for optimal economic development and capacity enhancement in the region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bitcoin
Mains level: Paper 3- How CBDC is different from Cryptocurrencies?
Context
Cryptocurrency will be discouraged via taxation and capital gains provisions. This was the message from the Finance Minister during the Budget discussion in Parliament.
Growing worry about the cryptocurrencies
- The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in February, highlighted two things.
- First, “private cryptocurrencies are a big threat to our financial and macroeconomic stability”.
- Second, “these cryptocurrencies have no underlying (asset).
- Clearly, statements from the RBI indicate a growing worry since the proliferation of cryptos threatens the RBI’s place in the economy’s financial system.
- This threat emerges from the decentralised character of cryptos based on blockchain technology which central banks cannot regulate and which enables enterprising private entities to float cryptos which can function as assets and money.
- The total valuation of cryptos recently was upward of $2 trillion — more than the value of gold held globally.
- Challenges in banning it: Cryptos which operate via the net can be banned only if all nations come together.
- Even then, tax havens may allow cryptos to function, defying the global agreement.
Crypto as currency
- A currency is a token used in market transactions.
- Historically, commodities (such as copper coins) have been used as tokens since they themselves are valuable.
- But paper currency is useless till the government declares it to be a fiat currency.
- Paper currency derives its value from state backing.
- Cryptos are a string of numbers in a computer programme. And, there is no state backing.
- Their acceptability to the well-off enables them to act as money.
- So, cryptos acquire value and can be transacted via the net.
- This enables them to function as money.
- Solving the problem of double spending: Fiat currency has the property that once spent, it cannot be spent again except through forgery, because it is no more with the spender.
- But, software on a computer can be used repeatedly.
- Blockchain and encryption have solved the problem by devising protocols such as ‘proof of work’ and ‘proof of stake’.
Why CBDC is not a solution
- A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will not solve the RBI’s problem since it can only be a fiat currency and not a crypto.
- Blockchain enables decentralisation.But, central banks would not want that.
- Further, central bank would want a fiat currency to be exclusively issued and controlled by them.
- But, theoretically everyone can ‘mine’ and create crypto.
- So, for the CBDC to be in central control, solving the ‘double spending’ problem and being a crypto (not just a digital version of currency) seems impossible.
- Validating transaction: A centralised CBDC will require the RBI to validate each transaction — something it does not do presently.
- Once a currency note is issued, the RBI does not keep track of its use in transactions.
- Keeping track will be horrendously complex which could make a crypto such as the CBDC unusable unless new secure protocols are designed.
Conclusion
CBDCs at present cannot be a substitute for cryptos that will soon begin to be used as money. This will impact the functioning of central banks and commercial banks.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GATT
Mains level: Paper 2- Challenges to global order
Context
Western nations want to throw Russia out of the G-20. China has opposed them. India will be chair of the G-20 from December 1, 2022. The world is greatly disordered. What should India stand for?
Challenges to the global order
- The war in Ukraine in February 2022 has put the final nail in the coffin of the boundary-less global economy that seemed to be emerging with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
- Vaccines were hoarded by rich countries in the COVID-19 pandemic: poor countries starved.
- The World Trade Organization (WTO) was already in a bad state before the novel coronavirus pandemic, with rich and poor countries unable to agree on equitable rules, when COVID-19 froze global supply chains.
- Institutions of global governance have failed to unite the world.
Global order and governance challenge
- In the aftermath of the Second World war, new institutions for global governance were established — the United Nations and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide finance to build the economies of all countries to eliminate poverty.
- However, the victors retained their veto power within the United Nations Security Council to determine when force can be used to keep the world in order, and to prevent the proliferation of nuclear power.
- The UN General Assembly meets every year — now 193 nations strong.
- It passes many resolutions to address global problems — hunger, poverty, women’s rights, terrorism, climate change, etc.
- However, “might is right”: members of the Security Council retain their right to deny the democratic will of the Assembly when it does not suit them.
- Global governance is not democratic.
G-7 and G-20
- The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, West Germany and Canada formed the G7 in 1976. ‘so that the noncommunist powers could come together to discuss economic concerns, which at the time included inflation and recession following the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargo’.
- The European Union was invited to attend in 1977.
- Russia joined in 1998 — and ‘its inclusion was meant as a signal of cooperation between East and West after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991’.
- However, Russia was removed from G-8 in 2014 when it invaded the Crimea. China was never a member.
- After the Asian financial crisis, the G20 was formed in 1999 with the aim of discussing policies in order to achieve international financial stability.
- Russia and China are members.
- Now western nations want to throw Russia out of the G-20. China has opposed them.
- India will be chair of the G-20 from December 2022.
- Meanwhile, India is being hectored by officials from the U.S. and the U.K. to support their sanctions on Russia.
- India has so far refused to be cowed down.
Backlash against globalisation
- The belief that unfettered flows of finance and trade across national borders will lift people in all poor countries out of poverty and make the world flatter in terms of inequality has failed.
- Strong leaders who put the interests of their own countries first are gaining power through elections — in Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and even India.
- Free market capitalism is not ideologically compatible with a genuine democracy.
- Capitalist institutions are governed by the fundamental principle of ‘property rights’.
- Whereas, genuine democracies are founded on the principle of equal human rights.
- The rules of governance of capitalist and democratic institutions have always been in tension within societies.
- Capitalist institutions want to be unfettered by democratic regulations to make it easier to do business.
- Democratic institutions want to rein in the competitive animal spirits of capitalism to create a more compassionate capitalism.
Conclusion
To prevent violence, it is essential that global governance becomes genuinely democratic. Countries must not attack each other. But they must be given the freedom to evolve their own democracies and economies and not be dictated to by others.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Consumer Protection Act, 2019
Mains level: Paper 2- Right to repair
Context
Apple recently announced that consumers will have the right to purchase spare components of their products, following an order of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, which directs manufacturers to remedy unfair anti-competitive practice and asks them to make sure that consumers can make repairs, either themselves or by a third-party agency. The momentum is, however, not so strong in India.
Challenges in repairing of electronic goods
- Repairing is becoming unreasonably expensive or pretty much impossible because of technology becoming obsolete.
- Incompatibility: Companies avoid the publication of manuals that can help users make repairs easily.
- No repair manual: The absence of repair manuals means that manufacturers hold near-monopoly over repair workshops that charge consumers exorbitant prices.
- Incompatibility: Manufacturers have proprietary control over spare parts and most firms refuse to make their products compatible with those of other firms.
- Planned obsolescence results in products breaking down too soon and buying a replacement is often cheaper and easier than repairing them.
- Big companies often deploy mechanisms that practically forbid other enterprises to repair their products.
- Digital warranty cards, for instance, ensure that by getting a product from a “non-recognised” outfit, a customer loses the right to claim a warranty.
Right to repair
- The rationale behind the “right to repair” is that the individual who purchases a product must own it completely.
- This implies that apart from being able to use the product, consumers must be able to repair and modify the product the way they want to.
- Monopoly on repair processes infringes the customer’s’ “right to choose” recognised by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
- In Shamsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (2017), for instance, the Competition Commission of India ruled that restricting the access of independent automobile repair units to spare parts by way of an end-user license agreement was anti-competitive.
International practices
- Many countries have taken initiatives, adopted policies and even tried to enact legislation that recognise the “right to repair” to reduce electronic waste.
- Some jurisdictions offer limited scope for exercising the right to repair.
- For instance, under the Australian Consumer Law consumers have a right to request that certain goods be repaired if they break too easily or do not work properly.
- The Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act, 2012 requires automobile manufacturers to provide spare parts and diagnostics to buyers and even independent third-party mechanics.
- The UK also introduced the path-breaking “right to repair” in 2021 that makes it legally binding on manufacturers to provide spare parts.
Way forward
- Well-drafted legislation will not only uphold the right to repair but may aid in striking a much-needed balance between intellectual property and competitive laws in the country.
Conclusion
If people want to fix things in a timely, safe and cost-effective way, whether by doing it themselves or taking it
to a service centre of their choice, providing access to spare parts and information is imperative.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-UK ties
Context
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts British premier Boris Johnson this week in India, the moment is ripe to turn the expansive new possibilities — in trade, investment, high technology, defence, and regional cooperation— into concrete outcomes.
Background of the India-UK ties and paradoxes
- Legacies of colonialism: The bitter legacies of colonialism had made it impossible for the two sides to pursue a sensible relationship in the past.
- India’s post-colonial engagement with Britain has been riddled with multiple paradoxes.
- 1] India’s post-post colonial resentment and UK’s claim for special role: Delhi’s lingering post-colonial resentments and London’s unacceptable claim for a special role in the Subcontinent generated unending friction.
- The consequences of Partition and the Cold War made it harder for Delhi and London to construct a sustainable partnership.
- The important role played by the US: It was the US that first recognised India’s rapidly-growing relative weight in the international system.
- At the turn of the millennium, Washington unveiled a policy of assisting India’s rise.
- This was based on a bipartisan American consensus that a stronger India will serve US interests in Asia and the world.
- Over the last two decades, it has led to a quick transformation of US relations with India.
- 2] Washington is setting the pace for Delhi’s relationship with London: At the dawn of Independence, India saw London as the natural interlocutor with an unfamiliar Washington.
- Today it is Washington that is setting the pace for Delhi’s relationship with London.
- 3] China’s role in shaping India’s relations with the West: For Washington, the strategic commitment to assist India’s rise was rooted in the recognition of the dangers of a China-dominated Asia.
- London in the last two decades was moving in the other direction — a full embrace of Beijing.
- Once the American deep state decided to confront Chinese power in the late 2010s, London had to extricate itself from the Chinese Communist Party’s powerful spell.
- As the US unveiled a new Asian strategy, Britain followed with its own “Indo-Pacific tilt” that helped secure the region against China’s muscular policies.
- 4] Historic tilt towards Pakistan: Unlike the US and France, which are committed to an “India first” strategy in South Asia, Britain remains torn between its new enthusiasm for India and the inertia of its historic tilt towards Pakistan.
- But India is confident that Pakistan’s relative decline in the region is bound to make it a less weighty factor in India’s bilateral relations with Britain.
- The question of Pakistan brings us to the fourth paradox—the domestic dynamics of Britain that have tended to sour ties with India.
- Delhi has figured out that the interconnected politics of India and Britain — shaped by the large South Asian diaspora of nearly four million — can be cut both ways.
- 5] Making best of historic ties: If the Tories are romantic about the Raj, nationalists in India bristle at the British imperial connection.
- Yet, together they are constructing a new relationship between India and Britain.
Better outlook for bilateral ties
- As the two sides make a determined effort to transcend the paradoxes, the regional and international circumstances provide a new basis for mutually beneficial engagement.
- Over the last couple of years, Delhi and London have begun a promising and pragmatic engagement devoid of sentiment and resentment.
- Having walked out of Europe, Britain needs all the partners it can find and a rising India is naturally among the top political and economic priorities.
- Delhi meanwhile has become supremely self-assured in dealing with London.
- With the Indian economy set to become larger than Britain’s in the next couple of years, Delhi is no longer defensive about engaging Britain.
- Even more important, Delhi recognises the value of a deep strategic partnership with London.
Conclusion
The UK has a significant international military presence and wide-ranging political influence. Realists in Delhi are trying to leverage these British strengths for India’s strategic benefit.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BRI
Mains level: Paper 2- Debt trap diplomacy
Context
China’s intervention has proved disastrous for the economies of Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
China-Myanmar relations and its implications
- Myanmar, China’s closest neighbour with a long history of cross border trade, was the first country to voluntarily turn towards Beijing, from 1988, when the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) took over the reins of government.
- World sanctions followed, but Beijing reassured the generals of its continued support and in 1989, signed a treaty of trade and cooperation that made China the sole supporter of the illegitimate military government.
- The strong western sanctions after 2007, made China virtually its sole trading partner.
- The link with China became essential for the regime’s survival but did little to increase economic prosperity.
- Wood alone accounts for about 70 per cent of Myanmar’s exports to China.
- It’s clear that China is stripping bare Myanmar’s centuries-old teak forests.
Implications for Pakistan
- In 2012, Pakistan signed on to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
- New Delhi and Washington imagined wrongly that the CPEC would lead to a major People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) expansion into the Indian Ocean through Gwadar, which even now is a largely disused port.
- As a conservative IMF estimate put it, Islamabad’s poor management of the economy and reckless borrowing has put its immediate financial needs (2022) at $51 billion.
- Projects chosen are unviable like the Gwadar port and the Lahore Metro and attracted huge public criticism. The CPEC was put on hold and rebooted.
- The IMF warned Islamabad of the CPEC repayment boosting the current account deficit, forcing Pakistan to cut Chinese interest payments for 10 years.
- The CPEC has been a humbling experience for China and an economic disaster for Pakistan.
Implications for Sri Lanka
- Against all economic surveys and advice, the Hambantota port was built, it floundered and Sri Lanka transferred the land as equity to China for 99 years.
- From 2012 to 2016, China accounted for 30 per cent of all FDI to Sri Lanka, becoming the top source of foreign investment
- Today China is funding 50 projects in the country, involving more than $1 billion, including the Colombo Port and the Lakvijaya thermal power plant.
- Today, the Sri Lankan economy is in complete meltdown, with China holding the largest amount of Sri Lankan debt.
- Private banks have run out of funds to finance imports. Its main sources of revenue, tourism and remittances, have dried up, and the government is in a crisis.
Conclusion
The recourse to availing Chinese money by Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka has led to a feeling of hubris among the leaders, inducing them to take bad economic decisions in the perception that Beijing is footing the bills.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World food program
Mains level: Paper 2- Impact of Russia-Ukraine war on the developing and least developed countries
Context
Beyond Ukraine’s borders, far beyond the media spotlight, the war has launched a silent assault on the developing world. This crisis could throw up to 1.7 billion people — over one-fifth of humanity — into poverty, destitution and hunger on a scale not seen in decades.
Impact of the war on the developing world
- Ukraine and the Russian Federation provide 30 per cent of the world’s wheat and barley, one-fifth of its maize, and over half of its sunflower oil.
- Together, their grain feeds the poorest and most vulnerable people, providing more than one-third of the wheat imported by 45 African and least-developed countries.
- At the same time, Russia is the world’s top natural gas exporter, and second-largest oil exporter.
- But the war is preventing farmers from tending their crops while closing ports, ending grain exports, disrupting supply chains and sending prices skyrocketing.
- The World Food Programme has warned that it faces the impossible choice of taking from the hungry to feed the starving.
- It urgently needs $8 billion to support its operations in Yemen, Chad and Niger.
- But while much of the world has stepped up in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, there is no sign of the same support for the 1.7 billion other potential victims of this war.
The Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance
- The group aims to develop coordinated solutions to these interlinked crises, with governments, international financial institutions and other key partners.
- 1] On food, the group is urging all countries to keep markets open, resist hoarding and unjustified and unnecessary export restrictions, and make reserves available to countries at the highest risk of hunger and famine.
- 2] On energy, the use of strategic stockpiles and additional reserves could help to ease this energy crisis in the short term.
- But the only medium- and long-term solution is to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.
- 3] And on finance, the G20 and international financial institutions must go into emergency mode.
- They must find ways to increase liquidity and fiscal space, so that governments in developing countries can invest in the poorest and most vulnerable, and in the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Social protection, including cash transfers, will be essential to support desperate families through this crisis.
- But many developing countries with large external debts do not have the liquidity to provide these safety nets.
Conclusion
The only lasting solution to the war in Ukraine and its assault on the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world is peace.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MDR TB
Mains level: Paper 2- TB challenge
Context
Historical importance of good nutrition was ignored by the modern therapist who tried to control TB initially with streptomycin injection, isoniazid and para-aminosalisylic acid. In the ecstasy of finding antibiotics killing the germs, the social determinants of disease were ignored.
Lack of patient-centric TB treatment
- With more drug arsenals such as rifampicin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, the fight against TB bacteria continued, which became multidrug resistant.
- The regimes and the mode of delivery of drugs were changed to plug the loopholes of non-compliance of patients.
- Blister packs of a multi-drug regime were provided at the doorstep, and the directly observed treatment/therapy (DOT) mechanism set up.
- Many of the poor discontinued blister-packaged free drugs thinking that these were “hot and strong” drugs not suited for the hunger pains they experienced every night.
Role of nutrition in dealing with TB
- India has around 2.8 million active cases. It is a disease of the poor.
- And the poor are three times less likely to go for treatment and four times less likely to complete their treatment for TB, according to WHO, in 2002.
- The fact is that 90% of Indians exposed to TB remain dormant if their nutritional status and thereby the immune system, is good.
- When the infected person is immunocompromised, TB as a disease manifests itself in 10% of the infected.
- The 2019 Global TB report identified malnutrition as the single-most associated risk factor for the development of TB, accounting for more cases than four other risks, i.e., smoking, the harmful use of alcohol, diabetes and HIV.
- The work and the findings of a team at the Jan Swasthya Sahayog hospital at Ganiyari, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh established the association of poor nutritional status with a higher risk of TB.
Way forward
- Chhattisgarh initiated the supply of groundnut, moong dhal and soya oil, and from April 2018, under the Nikshay Poshan Yojana of the National Health Mission.
- All States began extending cash support of ₹500 per month to TB patients to buy food. This amount needs to be raised.
- Nutrition education and counselling support: Without simultaneous nutrition education and counselling support, this cash transfer will not have the desired outcome.
Conclusion
Food is a guaranteed right for life under the Constitution for all citizens, more so for TB patients. Thus, the goals of reducing the incidence of TB in India and of reducing TB mortality cannot be reached without addressing undernutrition.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: JAM
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for data sharing
Context
While this year’s Economic Survey focuses on improving the quality and quantity of data for better and quicker assessment of the state of the economy, it pays little attention to access to the data by citizens, ignoring the criticality of data for a healthy and informed public discourse on issues of policy relevance.
Strengthening data architecture
- The government has been proactively strengthening the data architecture for tackling corruption and better targeting of beneficiaries.
- Since 2014, the scope of UIDAI has seen a huge expansion.
- JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) has private details of citizens.
- The government is sufficiently empowered to collect and use information about its citizens touching all the spheres of their life.
- Along with traditional instruments such as the Census, sample surveys and registers of various departments, the government is now armed with real-time data.
Erosion in citizens’ right to access data and widening information gap
- Delayed release of survey data: The citizen’s right to access relevant data for quality public discussion seems to be gradually eroding.
- In this process, the government has refused to hold itself accountable.
- This is evident from repeated events of delayed release of various survey data.
- For example, data from the consumption survey 2017-18 has not yet been released.
- Similarly, the first Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS 2017-18) was released only after the 2019 general election.
- Undermining of scientific data: Further, instead of relying on the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), a systematically designed survey for estimation of industrial sector GDP, the government has started to depend on self-reported, unverified data submitted to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs since 2011.
- Now that ASI is nearly redundant for official estimation purposes, the future of this database is uncertain.
- Another example of undermining the scientific database is the delay in the release of Water and Sanitation Survey data 2018.
- The information gaps in the area of migration are well documented.
- Information gap: While the JAM architecture and pandemic induced tracking tools allow for the mapping of individuals, researchers and the civil society do not have access to that information, which is useful to ascertain the level and prevalence of migration across regions within the country.
Conclusion
This data divide between the state and its citizens is a potential threat to the smooth functioning of a democracy. Without bridging this data gap, the scope of modern technology for tracking development cannot be realised.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Dealing with the hate speech
Context
Hate speech is at the root of many forms of violence that are being perpetrated and has become one of the biggest challenges to the rule of law and to our democratic conscience.
Consequences of hate speech
- Electoral mobilisation along the communal line: One of the most visible consequences of hate speech is increased electoral mobilisation along communal lines which is also paying some electoral dividends.
- Hate speech, in itself, must be understood and treated as a violent act and urgently so.
- With elected members currently sitting in the legislative assemblies and Parliament giving political sanction to citizens mobilised into mob violence and complicit public officials, hate speech is becoming the dominant mode of public political participation.
Role of Election Commission
- In 2019, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Election Commission, calling it “toothless” for not taking action against candidates engaging in hate speech during the election campaigns in UP.
- The Commission responded by saying that it had limited powers to take action in this matter.
- So far, the Supreme Court does not appear to have acted decisively in response to allegations of hate speech in electoral campaigns, indicating that the EC must assume more responsibility and the EC has argued that in matters of hate speech, it is largely “powerless”.
- In any case, the EC’s role is confined to the election period.
Legal provisions to deal with hate speech
- The Indian Penal Code, as per Sections 153A, 295A and 298, criminalises the promotion of enmity between different groups of people on grounds of religion and language, alongside acts that are prejudicial to maintaining communal harmony.
- Section 125 of the Representation of People Act deems that any person, in connection with the election, promoting feelings of enmity and hatred on grounds of religion and caste is punishable with imprisonment up to three years and fine or both.
- Section 505 criminalises multiple kinds of speech, including statements made with the intention of inducing, or which are likely to induce, fear or alarm to the public.
- It covers incitement of violence against the state or another community, as well as promotion of class hatred.
Recommendations and suggestions
- The Law Commission in its 267th report published in March 2017, recommended introduction of new provisions within the penal code that specifically punish incitement to violence in addition to the existing ones.
- Responsibility of Media: In recent years, hate speech in all its varieties has acquired a systemic presence in the media and the internet, from electoral campaigns to everyday life.
- This epidemic of mediatised hate speech is, in fact, a global phenomenon.
- According to the Washington Post, 2018 can be considered as “the year of online hate”.
Conclusion
Enough damage has been done. We cannot wait another day to address this growing challenge.
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