Author: CD Staff

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Financial powers to Panchayat

• The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, promulgated on 24 April 1993, has been inserted as Part IX in the Constitution that enjoins the States to establish Panchayats.
• It lays down that “the State shall take steps to organise village Panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.”

Need for financial devolution:

• To strengthen democracy at grass root level with more revenue resources for better service delivery.
• To increase accountability to people so performance can be realized as direct contact with people.

Various Constitutional Provisions

• Collection of Taxes: States have been provided the powers to authorise the PRIs to levy, collect, and appropriate certain taxes, duties, tolls, fees, etc.
• Share of revenues: They can also assign to them the revenues of certain State-level taxes, subject to such conditions as are imposed by the State Government.
• Grant-in-aid: The PRIs may also be provided with grant-in-aid.
• State Finance Commission for review: In support of these requirements, Article 243-I of the Constitution mandates setting up of the State Finance Commission (SFC) every five years.
• Central provisions: Under the Article 280(3) (bb) of the Constitution, Central Finance Commissions are required to make recommendations to augment the Consolidated Fund of the State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats in the State.

Central Finance Commission Recommendations

• Recommendations for devolution to the Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) began from the Tenth Finance Commission onwards (period 1995-2000).
• Up to the Twelfth Finance Commission (period 2005-10), nominal amounts of devolution were made to the RLBs on a lump sum basis.
• Thirteenth Finance Commission (XIII FC) made a radical departure by awarding a percentage of the divisible pool.

Fourteenth Finance Commission (XIV FC)

• It has recommended an amount of Rs 200292.20 crore to the GPs in the country.
• This amount was divided in Basic Grant (Rs. 180262.98 crores) and Performance Grant (Rs. 20029.22 crore).
• It adopted a trust-based approach and recommended that the devolutions be made directly to the GPs without any share at the levels of other tiers.

Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC)

• It recommended devolution to all tiers of the Panchayati Raj including the Traditional Bodies of Non-Part IX States and Fifth and Sixth Schedule Areas.
• XV FC grants are provided in two parts, namely-
• Basic (Untied) Grant: For general purposes
• Tied Grant: 30% of the total grants be utilised for drinking water, rainwater harvesting, and water recycling

Own Sources of Revenues (OSRs) of RLB

• The three tiers of the Panchayats have been provided with own revenue generating powers.
• However, the GPs in general are empowered to levy the most number of taxes and non-taxes within their jurisdiction.
• Property tax, cess on land revenue, surcharge on additional stamp duty, tolls, tax on professions, tax on advertisements, non-motor vehicle tax, user charges, etc. contribute the maximum to the OSR.

Issues

• OSR amounts manage to meet only around 10 per cent of the total expenditure of the panchayats.
• In most States, the property tax generates the maximum revenue. However, this tax remains inelastic and adds to the inefficient ways of its administration.
• A few progressive States like Karnataka have reformed the tax structure and are using the unit area method in determining the tax base.

Hurdles in Financial Devolution

• Political will: Reluctance of Politicians and bureaucrats to relinquish power to local bodies remain major hurdle.
• Lack of resources: Issues like lack of expertise to plan development priorities and use resources optimally, lack of resources to implement development agenda with minimal avenues for taxation and income.
• Lack of institutional mechanism: Non-uniformity of various programmes at local level can make regulatory oversight difficult.

Way Forward

• Updating of PRI Acts/Financial Rules and making them available to change in tax and non-tax levy, rate structure etc.
• Better assessment of properties required for levying Property Tax (classified plinth area-based valuation seems to be the most scientific)
• Relook on various exemptions to rationalise the taxes/levies
• Augmentation of Tax Administration Structure
• Technology-based Tax Administration may also be further expanded to cover even utility charges like water, street lights, sanitation charges, etc.

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Context

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has recently appointed a three-member committee to revisit the criteria for 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in educational institutions and government jobs.

This came after Supreme Court’s observations while hearing petitions challenging the government notice issued in July which provides for 10% EWS quota in NEET admissions.

Not pronouncing any judgment means that EWS reservation will be put on hold as far as medical admissions are concerned.

EWS Quota: A backgrounder

• The 10% reservation was introduced through the 103rd Constitution Amendment and enforced in January 2019.
• It added Clause (6) to Article 15 to empower the Government to introduce special provisions for the EWS among citizens except those in the classes that already enjoy reservation.
• It allows reservation in educational institutions, both public and private, whether aided or unaided, excluding those run by minority institutions, up to a maximum of 10%.
• It also added Clause (6) to Article 16 to facilitate reservation in employment.
• The new clauses make it clear that the EWS reservation will be in addition to the existing reservation.

Significance of the quota

• The Constitution initially allowed special provisions only for the socially and educationally backward classes.
• The Government introduced the concept of EWS for a new class of affirmative action program for those not covered by or eligible for the community-based quotas.

What are the criteria to identify the section?

• The main criterion is that those above an annual income limit of ₹8 lakh are excluded.
• It accounts income from all sources such as salary, business, agriculture and profession for the financial year prior to the application of the family, applicants, their parents, siblings and minor children.
• Possession of any of these assets, too, can take a person outside the EWS pool:

1. Five or more acres of agricultural land
2. A residential flat of 1,000 sq.ft. and above
3. A residential plot of 100 square yards and above in notified municipalities, and
4. A residential plot of 200 square yards and above in other areas

What are the court’s questions about the criteria?

• Reduction within general category: The EWS quota remains a controversy as its critics say it reduces the size of the open category, besides breaching the 50% limit on the total reservation.
• Arbitrariness over income limit: The court has been intrigued by the income limit being fixed at ₹8 lakh per year. It is the same figure for excluding the ‘creamy layer’ from OBC reservation benefits.
• Socio-economic backwardness: A crucial difference is that those in the general category, to whom the EWS quota is applicable, do not suffer from social or educational backwardness, unlike those classified as the OBC.
• Metropolitan criteria: There are other questions as to whether any exercise was undertaken to derive the exceptions such as why the flat criterion does not differentiate between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.
• OBC like criteria: The question the court has raised is that when the OBC category is socially and educationally backward and, therefore, has additional impediments to overcome.
• Not based on relevant data: In line with the Supreme Court’s known position that any reservation or norms for exclusion should be based on relevant data.
• Breaches reservation cap: There is a cap of 50% on reservation as ruled in the Indira Sawhney Case. The principle of balancing equality ordains reservation.

What is the current status of the EWS quota?

• The reservation for the EWS is being implemented by the Union Government for the second year now.
• Recruitment test results show that the category has a lower cut-off mark than the OBC, a point that has upset the traditional beneficiaries of reservation based on caste.
• The explanation is that only a small number of people are currently applying under the EWS category — one has to get an income certificate from the revenue authorities — and therefore the cut-off is low.
• However, when the number picks up over time, the cut-off marks are expected to rise.

Practical issues with EWS Quota

The EWS quota will come in for judicial scrutiny soon. But it’s not only a matter for the judiciary, India’s Parliament should revisit the law too.

• Hasty legislation: This law was passed in haste. It was passed in both the houses within 48 hours, and got presidential approval the next day.
• Minority appeasement: It is widely argued that the law was passed to appease a certain section of upper-caste society and to suppress the demands for minority reservations.
• Morality put to question: Imagine! A constitutional amendment has been made with few hours of deliberation and without consultation of the targeted group. This is certainly against constitutional morality and propriety.
• Substantial backing is missing: This amendment is based on a wrong or unverified premise. This is at best a wild guess or a supposition because the government has not produced any data to back this point.
• Under-reservation of Backward Classes: The assertion is based on the fact that we have different data to prove the under-representation of SC, ST, OBCs. That implies that ‘upper’ castes are over-represented (with 100 minus reservation).
• Rationale of 10%: There is one more problem in this regard. The SC and ST quota is based on their total population. But the rationale for the 10 per cent quota was never discussed.
• Principle of Equality: Economic backwardness is quite a fluid identity. It has nothing to do with historic wrongdoings and liabilities caused to the Backward Classes.

Way forward

• Preserving the merit: We cannot rule out the sorry state of economic backwardness hampering merit in our country .
• Rational critera: There has to be collective wisdom to define and measure the economic weakness of certain sections of the society in order to shape the concept of economic justice.
• Judicial guidance: Judicial interpretation will pave the wave forward for deciding the criterion for EWS Quota.
• Targetted beneficiaries. The centre needs to resort to more rational criteria for deciding the targeted beneficiary of this reservation system. Caste Census data can be useful in this regard.
• Income study: The per capita income or GDP or the difference in purchasing power in the rural and urban areas, should be taken into account while a single income limit was formulated for the whole country.

Conclusion

• Reservation is a constitutional scheme to ensure the participation of backward classes shoulder to shoulder with all citizens in the nation-building process.
• The EWS quota with above discussed ambiguities is the subversion of the constitutional scheme for reservation.

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NITI Aayog has recently released the state-wise National Multidimensional Poverty Index or MPI in line with the global index released by the United Nations each year.

Must read:

A brief history of India’s Poverty Levels

National MPI Project

• The National MPI Project is the first attempt in years to define poverty measures and is aimed at deconstructing the Global MPI and creating a globally aligned and yet customised India MPI.
• The MPI is based on three dimensions — health, education, and standard of living — with each having a weighting of one-third in the index.
• The household micro data collected at the unit-level for the NFHS serves as the basis of the computation of National MPI.

Parameters used

• The NMPI is calculated using 12 indicators — nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets and bank account,
• They have been grouped under three dimensions namely, health, education and standard of living.

Why NFHS-4?

• Connoting regime change: Data collected during the NFHS-4 (2015-2016) corresponds to the period before the full roll out of new governments’ flagship schemes.
• Baseline after rollout of new schemes: Hence it serves as a useful source for measuring the situation at baseline i.e. before large-scale rollout of nationally important schemes.

Key highlights NMPI

The MPI identifies 25.01 percent of the population as multidimensionality poor.

• As per the index, 51.91% of the population in Bihar is poor, followed by Jharkhand (42.16%), Uttar Pradesh (37.79%), Madhya Pradesh (36.65%) and Meghalaya (32.67%).
• On the other hand, Kerala registered lowest population poverty levels (0.71%), followed by Puducherry (1.72%), Lakshadweep (1.82%), Goa (3.76%) and Sikkim (3.82%).
• Other States and UTs where less than 10% of the population are poor include Tamil Nadu (4.89%), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (4.30%), Delhi (4.79%), Punjab (5.59%), Himachal Pradesh (7.62%) and Mizoram (9.8%).

Need for National MPI

Poverty is not just the absence of income, money and/or money-like resources required to meet needs. 

• Multiple disadvantages: A person who is poor can suffer multiple disadvantages at the same time – for example they may simultaneously have:

1. Poor health or malnutrition
2. Lack of clean water or electricity
3. Poor quality of livelihood options
4. Little/No schooling
5. Disempowerment
6. Threats of violence
7. Climate change vulnerability etc.

Other factors include:

1. Limited financial resources
2. Material deprivation
3. Social isolation
4. Exclusion and powerlessness
5. Physical and psychological ill-being

• Multiple dimensions: Focusing on one factor alone, such as income, is not enough to capture the true reality of poverty. National MPI ensures a holistic approach towards defining poverty at the national level.
• More comprehensive: MP measures can be used to create a more comprehensive picture. They reveal who is poor and how they are poor – the range of different disadvantages they experience.
• Better targeting: As well as providing a headline measure of poverty, multidimensional measures can be broken down to reveal the poverty level in different areas of a country and among different sub-groups of people.
• Priority definition for target groups: It offers statistics that determine the national priorities by using a set of dimensions, indicators with respect to the urban and rural areas of India along with an indicator-wise deconstruction and breakdown.

Various govt. interventions to for poverty alleviation

(I) Food Security

• National Food Security Act 2013 (also ‘Right to Food Act’): It aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of the country’s 1.2 billion people.  

(II) Employment and Skilling

• National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) – Ministry of Rural Development started NRLM 2011 to evolve out the need to diversify the needs of the rural poor and provide them jobs with regular income on a monthly basis.
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) – In 2005 Ministry of Rural Development initiated MGNEREGA to provide 100 days of assured employment every year to every rural household. One-third of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women.

(III) Income Support

• PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY): The Ministry of Finance in 2014 initiated PMJDY that aimed at direct benefit transfer of subsidy, pension, insurance, etc., and attained the target of opening 1.5 crore bank accounts. The scheme particularly targets the unbanked poor.
• PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN): PM KISAN is an initiative by the government of India in which all farmers will get up to ₹6,000 per year as minimum income support.

Various challenges

• Pauperization: Every year a huge number is added to the population pool of the country. To exemplify, this pandemic has led to severe pauperization of migrant workers.
• Regional divide: Incidence of extreme poverty continues to be much higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
• Jobless growth: Despite rapid growth and development, an unacceptably high proportion of our population continues to suffer from severe and multidimensional deprivation.
• Inadequate resources: The resources allocated to anti-poverty programmes are inadequate and there is a tacit understanding that targets will be curtailed according to fund availability.
• Implementation bottlenecks: Lack of proper implementation and right targeting has been legacy issues in India. There has been a lot of overlapping of schemes.

Conclusion

• The National MPI offers a clear picture of various developmental projects and their impact in creating a better roadmap to gauge poverty at different levels.
• Active participation by the states in the creation of alignment with the development agendas is must.
• To do so, indices like NMPI act as a directive in shaping up policy and will better their implementation.

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Overview

• The Summit between India and Russia marks the 21st Annual Summit between the two countries after the 2+2 dialogue.
• This will be the first in-person meeting of the Russian President and PM Modi after 2019.
• It is in continuation of the tradition of Annual Summits alternately in India and Russia.

The 2+2 Dialogue

• It is a strategic conversation between the defense and the foreign ministries of two countries having diplomatic relations.
• India now has a 2+2 format dialogue mechanism on strategic and security issues with four of its key strategic partners, Russia being the latest.
• The three others — Australia, the US and Japan — are also ‘Quad’ partners.

2+2 Dialogue with Russia

• Russia is one of those countries with which a 2+2 format talk “fits perfectly” in India’s foreign policy.
• To be sure, the India-Russia 2+2 do have a particularly strong signaling component when seen against the backdrop of the S400 controversy.
• It can be read as a reminder to Washington that the S400 deal and broader India-Russia defense cooperation will continue, regardless of US concerns.

Expected outcomes of this Summit

• There is a propensity towards the signing of agreements between India and Russia in areas of Defence, Trade, Energy and also Space Technology.
• The Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics (RELOS) Agreement is expected to be signed between the two countries.
• Both nations have agreed for the manufacture of over six lakh AK-203 assault rifles by a Joint Venture, Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd, at Korwa, Amethi, in UP.
• Both countries will take an attempt to deepen their collaboration with a primary focus on regional security concerns with the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

India-Russia Relations: A backgrounder

• The relations between Russia and India are an important and privileged strategic partnership.
• The relationship began with a visit by Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru to the Soviet Union in June 1955.
• During the Cold War, India and the Soviet Union (USSR) had a strong strategic, military, economic and diplomatic relationship.
• After the collapse of the USSR, Russia inherited its close relationship with India resulted in the special relationship.

The Partnership

Traditionally, the Indo-Russian strategic partnership has been built on five major components: politics, defense, civil nuclear energy, anti-terrorism cooperation and space.

(1) Strategic Relations

• India is the second-largest market for the Russian defence industry.
• In 2017, approximately 68% of the Indian Military’s hardware import came from Russia, making Russia the chief supplier of defence equipment.
• It has rose above a buyer-seller relationship with the joint ventures projects.

(2) Economic Relations

• Bilateral trade between both countries is concentrated in key value-chain sectors.
• These sectors include highly diversified segments such as machinery, electronics, aerospace, automobile, commercial shipping, chemicals, pharmaceuticals etc.
• Both countries set a target of reaching US$30 billion in bilateral trade by 2025.
• Energy sector is another important area in Indo-Russian bilateral relations.

Recent trends in bilateral ties

Despite the best efforts, divergences grew in the bilateral relationships as the underlying structural changes in the international environment are pulling the two nations apart.

(1) Bilateral divergence

• While the top leadership of the two nations have continued to engage with each other, divergences have been cropping up with disturbing regularity.
• For India, what should be concerning is Russia’s increasing tilt towards Pakistan as it seeks to curry favour with China.
• Moscow had historically supported India at the UNSC by repeatedly vetoing resolutions on the Kashmir issue.

(2) Military-Defence Complexes

• Strains are becoming apparent as India moves further along the path of military indigenization and import diversification.
• India’s procurement from the US and France has also been seen as a heated divergence between the two.
• This was a result of the unreliability of Russian supplies, as manifested in late arrivals, defective parts, and perennial conflicts overpricing and warranties.

(3) Cultural Vacuum

• On an everyday level, while India films and yoga are popular in Russia, no parallel exposure to any aspect of Russian popular culture exists among Indians.
• This is the most woefully neglected aspect of their relationship, suffering on both sides from lack of funding and, no less important, a shortage of political will.
• Another aspect of ties is tourism which could be much more vigorous between the two countries than present India’s US affinity

(4) India-US ties

• India’s engagement with the US addresses its core concerns regarding regional security.
• The signing of the long-awaited Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) is set to elevate the bilateral defence partnership and give India access to advance US defence systems.
• A closer engagement with the US is a challenge for India, as this relationship is not likely to be a partnership of equals, for the foreseeable future.

Significance of ties

(1) Russia needs India as

• Ukraine conquest: A market for its goods to bypass Western sanctions imposed after its power push in Ukraine.
• Countering China: Despite its renewed friendship with China, Russia will soon find itself in competition with it as Beijing regards itself as the new G2 along with the US.
• Against US hegemony: India can help provide the multi-polarity that Russia fiercely seeks.

(2) India needs Russia because

• Energy security: An area of special interest for India is the exploration of hydrocarbon reserves along the coast of Russia’s Far East where India has decided to extend a $1 billion Line of Credit.
• Space collaboration: Despite expanding its purchases from the US, Israel and Europe, India still needs to collaborate with Russia to master future technology including for space.
• Defence purchases: It improves India’s bargaining power when it negotiates arms sales with the West.
• Indian exports: Russia can be a major market for Indian industry such as pharmaceuticals, manufactured goods, dairy products, bovine meat and frozen seafood.
• Geopolitical importance: Russia continues to be a balancing force against any designs China and Pakistan may have in our region.
• UNSC ambitions: New Delhi needs Moscow’s support in the former’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Way forward

• The recent comprehensive U.S.-India Strategic 2+2 Dialogue is a model to follow.
• There should be more meetings at the highest state level, regular annual reports on the progress of the working groups, and reinvigorated interactions.
• India’s cores strength is that it follows an independent foreign policy.
• On its long way to become a global power, it will likely have to follow a zigzag course, balancing between American demands, long-term friendship with Russia and its own strategic necessities.

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Historical background

• Lord Mayo’s Resolution of 1870 on financial decentralisation visualised the development of local self-government institutions.
• Lord Ripon’s Resolution of 1882 has been hailed as the ‘Magna Carta’ of local self-government. He is called as the father of local-self government in India.

Establishment of Panchayats

• DPSP: The Part IV of the Constitution of India contains Directive Principles of the State Policy in which Article 40 is provisioned for organisation of village panchayats.
• 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992: It has inserted the Part IX in the Constitution, that enjoins the States to establish panchayats.
• PESA Act: A separate legislation “Provisions for Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act” (PESA) was passed in 1996 to extend Part IX of the Constitution to the areas listed under the Fifth Schedule, subject to certain exceptions and modifications.

Why need PRIs?

• India is predominantly a rural nation, wherein about 65 per cent of people and 70 per cent of the workforce lives in rural areas that contribute to about 46 per cent of the economy.
• In view of the increasing rural population, the number of administrative units- PRIs has been increasing over time.
• Expansion of rural residential areas, creation of new districts, Tehsils, blocks, etc., are other contributing factors.

Landmark feat: 73^rd Constitutional Amendment Act

• This Amendment paved the way for reform in local governance in the country.
• It provided for setting up of three tiers of panchayats (only two tiers in case of States or Union Territories (UTs) having population less than 20 lakhs) ,

It contains provision for:

• Devolution of powers and responsibilities to panchayats for both preparation of plans for economic development and social justice, utilising resources available with them (Article 243G)
• Implementation of the schemes and programmes related to twenty-nine subjects listed in the ‘Eleventh Schedule’ of the Constitution
• Women’s reservation

Establishment of a separate Ministry

• Subsequently, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) was established on 27 May 2004.
• The primary objective to oversee the implementation of Part IX of the Constitution and PESA Act 1996.
• ‘Panchayats’ being a State subject, their functioning is guided by respective State/U’T Panchayati Raj Acts.

Women empowerment and PRIs

• Reservation for women in PRIs and subsequent increase in the quota by States has brought an unprecedented and huge number of women in the governance arena in India.
• 21 states have made provisions of 50% reservation in PRIs in their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.

E-Governance Mechanism in Panchayats

• Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) serve around 65% of the country’s population.
• Improving functions of PRIs for better delivery of services is essential for the well-being of rural people.
• Now the applications for these services have been unified in a single and simplified portal called eGramSwaraj.

Bottom-up Planning

• Provision of basic infrastructures: Emphasis on e-governance, capacity building of PRIs, focused information, education, and communication (lEC) campaign are some of the main activities.
• These are prerequisites for effective planning by PRIs in consultation with local people organized by the Gram Sabhas.
• Backward Regions Grant Funds (BRGF) Scheme: This was implemented (2006-2015) to bridge critical gaps in local infrastructure and other developmental requirements along with the capacity building of PRIs.
• Preparation of the district plan:  This was an important part of BRGF.

Capacity Building of PRIs

• Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA): It was launched for implementation to develop and strengthen the capacities of PRIs to become more responsive towards local development needs.
• Training: It is conducted on various themes such as constitutional and statutory provisions on the functioning of PRIs, e-Governance, financial management, commitments on SDGs, and livelihood troubles, and so on.
• Participatory plans: This helps PRIs in preparing participatory plans that leverage technology, efficient and optimum utilisation of available resources, for realising solutions to local problems linked to SDGs.
• Incentivization: Further, panchayats are also being incentivized through awards and financial incentives in recognition of their good work for improving planning and delivery of services.

Devolution of Funds, Functions, and Functionaries (3Fs)

• MoPR has been working to realize the aspirations of constitutional provisions on various aspects of devolution of 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule.
• The progress made by the States is quite varied in terms of the devolution of subjects.
• Various studies have highlighted that in some States the extent of devolution is robust; in others still, it is a work in progress.

Other works: Land records management through ‘SVAMITVA’

• Ensuring the property rights of rural inhabitants is essential for and inclusive social and economic development of the country.
• The Ministry has launched a scheme named ‘SVAMITVA’ to prepare property records of rural people of their houses using drone surveying technology.
• The goal is to cover most of the more than six lakh villages in the next five years.

Outcomes: Structural change in rural economy

• Employment opportunities are shifting from the agriculture sector to construction, manufacturing, and service sectors.
• Also, there is a huge potential for Agro-processing industries and MSMEs in rural areas.
• Panchayats need to appropriately include these in their planning and work with relevant agencies and stakeholders for their implementation.
• An emphasis on skilling of rural population and promotion of rural entrepreneurship is needed in these sectors.
• As per a report, there is huge untapped potential for the growth of financial services such as credit, insurance, and digital payment facilities in rural areas.

Way forward

• Flagship progam of Central and State Governments should clearly lay out the role of panchayats in their guidelines.
• A lot of Panchayats are now equipped with the basic infrastructure but gaps still remain across the States.
• In order to fill the gaps, the saturation approach needs to be adopted as announced by the Prime Minister on 75th Independence Day.
• Representation of women in PRIs has substantially increased but effective participation requires appropriate training and exposure visits of these elected representatives.

Conclusion

• Panchayats have also strengthened and are now equipped to handle disasters/ natural calamities.
• They have played an active role in mitigation and management of Covid-19, which is reflected in the dashboard created by the Ministry to monitor real-time activities in this direction.
• Panchayats need to be empowered to levy and collect taxes, tolls, fees, user charges, etc., along with other activities to enhance their Own Source of Revenue.
• Panchayat also need to consider climate action as an integral part of planning and harnessing renewable energy.

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Context

• According to the National Family Health Survey data for 2019-21, the country’s population is set to fall.
• The Total Fertility Rate – which is the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime has dropped to 2 for the first time.

TFR decline in India

• In the 2015-16 survey, the national TFR was 2.2, and before that in the 2005-06 survey it was 2.7.
• Now it has dropped down to 2 – which is below replacement level.
• The replacement level TFR, at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next one, is estimated to be 2.1.

Various reasons for TFR decline

• Behavioural change in people without any coercion to achieve this feat
• Use of modern Contraceptives
• Women Empowerment through increased access to education, labor markets, health services, and contraception
• Choice to defer having children
• Stress on financial resources

Other factors

• COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated declining fertility rates.
• The burden of care for families had its disproportionate impact on women.

Government Initiatives

• Started as back as 1951, India’s family planning programme is among the world’s oldest.
• The earliest government communication campaigns sought to promote smaller families. But there was little progress.
• In 1975, when the government declared Emergency, the desperation to control the population took a dark turn due to forced sterilization.
• In 1994, the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD), convened under the auspices of the United Nations.
• The ICPD inspired India’s 2000 National Population Policy.

Importance of a declining TFR

• Population stabilization: A TFR of 2 is clear indicator of a country’s long-term population stability. The TFR of 2.1 is a desirable goal for the country.
• Population no more a liability: This simply suggests that India does not have to worry that a large population is hindering its progress. 
• Accelerating Economic Growth: Over the next 2 to 3 decades, younger demographic profiles will provide opportunities for accelerated economic growth.
• Improved healthcare: India’s success in stabilizing population can be largely attributed to increased investment in public healthcare.

Negative impacts

TFRs with less than 2.1 children per female suggest that generations are not producing enough offspring to replace themselves and eventually would lead to a declining population.

• Rise in Ageing populations
• Deflation caused by the ageing populations
• Higher dependency ratios
• Increased strain the global workforce and social benefits.
• Loss of productivity and innovation

Way forward

• Governments must implement targeted social and behavioral change communication strategies to ensure that men are also responsible for family planning. 
• The government must provide health and life-skills education at an early age along with ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health services.
• It must absolutely swear off coercive population-control policies for good.

Gram Sabha: A backgrounder

• The Gram Sabha is the fulcrum of the Panchayati Raj and village development.
• It is the Sabha of the electorate. All other institutions of the Panchayati Raj like the Gram Panchayat, Block Panchayat and Zilla Parishad are constituted by elected representatives.
• People use the forum of the Gram Sabha to discuss local governance and development, and make need- based plans for the village.
• The Panchayat implements development programs under the overarching mandate, supervision and monitoring of the Gram Sabha.
• All decisions of the Panchayat are taken through the Gram Sabha and no decision is official and valid without the consent of the Gram Sabha.

Constitutional Provisions

• The term Gram Sabha is defined in the Constitution of India under Article 243(b).
• Gram Sabha is the primary body of the Panchayati Raj system and by far the largest.
• It is a permanent body.

Members of the Gram Sabha

• Persons, those who are above 18 years of age and
• living in the village and
• whose names are included in the electoral rolls for the Panchayat at the village level.

Meetings of the Gram Sabha

• According to the State Panchayat Raj Acts, the Gram Sabha must meet at least two to four times in a year.
• For people’s convenience, in most of the States, four national-international days have been identified as reference dates for these meetings. They are

• Republic Day (26^th January)
• Labour day (1^st May)
• Independence Day (15^th August)
• Gandhi Jayanti (2^nd October)
• Gram Panchayats are however free to convene Gram Sabha on other dates according to their convenience.

Who organizes Gram Sabha?

• Panchayat Secretary (often called the Gram Sevak) after obtaining approval of the Sarpanch should organize the Gram Sabha.
• Condition: The Sarpanch has to convene a Gram Sabha meeting when either 10% members of Gram Sabha or 50 persons of Gram Sabha (whichever is more) submits their requisition for holding a Gram Sabha.
• Purpose of the meet: These members have to inform the purpose for the meeting.
• Convening: A written request for the meeting must be handed over to the Sarpanch during office hours 5 days before the date of meeting.

Issues with Gram Sabha

The functioning of Gram Sabha is often criticized due to:

1. Lack of regularity and transparency
2. Low participation
3. Irregular Gram Sabha meetings
4. Absence of a coherent Gram Sabha agenda, etc.

• The vulnerable sections of the village community hesitate to voice opinions due to inhibitions on account  of their financial and social standing.
• The elected representatives of the Gram Panchayat, especially the Sarpanch, exercise significant powers and reduce Gram Sabhas to mere symbolic platform.

Need & Relevance of Gram Sabha

• Consensus building: Gram Sabha is a unique institution which would enable the citizens to highlight grass-root level problems and build consensus on possible solutions.
• Participatory governance: Various flagship programs of the government require large scale mobilization and people’s direct participation.  It provides an ideal platform for this.

Issues in functioning

• Lack of funds: There is a need to enlarge the domain of panchayats to be able to raise their own funds.
• Political interference: The interference of area MPs and MLAs in the functioning of panchayats also adversely affected their performance.
• Ad-hocism: There is a presence of adhocismi.e. lack of clear setting of agenda in gram sabha, gram samiti meetings and no proper structure.
• Unclear devolution: This has allowed concentration of powers with the states and thereby restraining the elective representatives who are more aware and sensitive to the ground level issues to take control.
• Surrogate representation: Often women members are dominated by their spouses.

Way forward for effective functioning

The allocation of the Finance Commission’s Untied Grants is a major step towards strengthening financial autonomy. The following recommendations have been made for the effective functioning of GS:

• Ensuring periodic Gram Sabhas
• Formulating and distributing Agenda/Action taken Report
• Preparing Annual Calendar: For spreading information about the annual schedule and the  nature of discussions in the various meetings.
• Effective Scheduling: To enable the limited resources of District/Block administration to optimise efforts towards conducting the GSs.
• Convenient Timings: Organizing Sabhas at a convenient time to enable the village population to attend in large numbers.
• Administrative presence: The district administration should ensure attendance of Group A and B officers in all the Gram Sabha meetings.
• Augmenting people’s participation: The minimum quorum for the meeting should be 10% of the members out of which at least 30% should be females.
• Digital/virtual means of citizens’ participation: wherever possible and permissible, may also be considered. The services of elected representatives, SHGs, ASHA workers, Rozgar Sahayaks, etc., should  be utilized to create awareness about participation

Conclusion

• To ensure effective functioning of the Gram Panchayats, it is important to revitalize the Gram Sabha as an assembly of the village.
• Bringing transparency, responsibility, and accountability in Panchayat functioning and its functionaries, would go a long way in creating Gram Panchayats as engines of socio-economic growth in the rural areas.
• Vibrant Gram Sabhas could also chart ways for achieving India’s Sustainable Development Goals by facilitating their localization to the Gram Panchayat level.

By facilitating participative democracy, the Gram Sabhas will not only contribute to the socio-economic development of the villages, but also create collective transformational change in the rural areas of the country.

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Context

The situation at Europe’s eastern border with Belarus has been in focus for quite some time now.  Thousands of migrants, mostly from the Middle East have flocked to Belarus to try to enter Europe through neighboring EU member states Poland, Latvia or Lithuania.

The European Commission has accused Belarus of luring migrants to Minsk with the false promise of easy entry to the EU.

Where have the migrants come from?

• The main country of origin for migrants detected crossing the bloc’s eastern land borders so far this year is Iraq.
• There are smaller numbers from Afghanistan and Syria, as well as other countries.
• The vast majority of them arrived in Minsk – the capital of Belarus – by air, and then travelled overland to the borders of EU states including Poland and Lithuania.

What are the accusations against Belarus?

• The European Commission has accused Belarus of luring migrants to Minsk with the false promise of easy entry to the EU.
• Upon arrival they are being pushed to the borders of neighboring countries.
• Poland and Lithuania have for some months accused the authorities in Belarus of orchestrating the arrival of migrants.

What happens to migrants that get across?

• The Polish border guard service says there have been 33,000 attempts to cross the border illegally so far this year, with 17,000 in October alone.
• They get apprehended for illegally crossing the borders according to authorities there.
• International law states that anyone seeking protection must be given access to the asylum process.

A classic example: Coercive Migration Diplomacy

• Here, cross-border mobility is being employed as “weapons of mass migration”.
• Belarus is inviting migrants and compelling them to enter neighboring countries.
• Therefore this entire issue is termed as a geopolitical crisis.

What causes trans-national migration?

• Escaping hardship, conflict, and persecution
• Seeking a better life
• Displacement because of environmental factors
• Economic reasons: Employment, remittances

Issues with Migration

• Sovereignty threat: Migration of people from one country to another poses a formidable threat to both the territorial as well as demographic jurisdiction of a country.
• Demographic threat: The identity of the trans-border migrants in an alien land triggers crucial issues related to national identity, political membership, and citizenship—all being defined within the binary of what is “legal” and what is not.
• Security threat: Therefore, cross-border migration makes nation states paranoid—defined as they are by territory—about their security and identity.
• Diplomatic threat: The cross-border flow of people creates more serious foreign policy crisis when the host country views the influx of people into its territory as a result of “coercively engineered migration” perpetrated by the sending state.
• Economic threat: The presence of migrants exerts great pressure on the economic resources of the host country and creates crisis for local population.
• Law and Order threats: Moreover, migrants are often regarded as “destitute”, “impoverished”, and “resource starved”; this makes them vulnerable to suspicions from among the local people.  

Protecting Refugees: The 1951 Refugee Convention

• The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol are the key legal documents that form the basis of our work.
• With 149 State parties to either or both, they define the term ‘refugee’ and outlines the rights of refugees, as well as the legal obligations of States to protect them.
• The core principle is non-refoulement, which asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.
• This is now considered a rule of customary international law.

UNHCR serves as the ‘guardian’ of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol. According to the legislation, States are expected to cooperate with us in ensuring that the rights of refugees are respected and protected.

Way forward

Asylum is a human right. States must show solidarity and compassion for asylum seekers since no human life is illegal. Amnesty International has put forward some solutions for how the world can start tackling this massive humanitarian crisis together.

• Safer transition: Opening up safe routes to sanctuary for refugees is one important solution.  
• Resettlement: This is a vital solution for the most vulnerable refugees – including torture survivors and people with serious medical problems.
• Stopping persecution: States can stop persecution by investing in search and rescue operations and immediately helping people in distress.
• Expatriation: People fleeing persecution or wars should be allowed to cross borders, with or without travel documents.
• Safety: All countries should investigate and prosecute trafficking gangs who exploit refugees and migrants, and put people’s safety above all else.
• Doing away with discrimination: Governments also need to stop blaming refugees and migrants for economic and social problems, and instead combat all kinds of xenophobia and racial discrimination.

Conclusion

• The internal discontent within Europe needs to be resolved especially the tensions rising on the Polish border and controversial allegations of Russia’s involvement.
• It is envisaged that the ongoing crisis surrounding migration is unlikely to get resolved as Europe has an ageing population and it is in need of skilled labor.
• This makes it inevitable that there will be a migration of people.
• This adds to the permanent feature of globalization and business cannot perform without the mobility of people.

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The 12th Ministerial Conference of WTO is scheduled to take place in Geneva.

Context

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the principal forum for setting the rules of international trade.
• For the past two and a half decades, it has helped reduce barriers to trade in both goods and services and created a dispute resolution system that supporters say reduced the threat of trade wars.
• However with negotiations on a comprehensive development agenda due to disagreements, the WTO is under considerable pressure to achieve meaningful results.

About World Trade Organization

• The WTO is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations.
• The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994.
• It replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
• It is the largest international economic organization in the world.

Functions of WTO

• The WTO deals with regulation of trade in goods, services and intellectual property between participating countries.
• It provides a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants’ adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments.

Working Principles of the WTO

The WTO establishes a framework for trade policies; it does not define or specify outcomes. That is, it is concerned with setting the rules of “trade policy.” Five principles are of particular importance in understanding both the pre-1994 GATT and the WTO:

1. Non-discrimination: It has two major components: the most favored nation (MFN) rule and the national treatment policy. The MFN rule requires that a WTO member must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members. National treatment means that imported goods should be treated no less favorably than domestically produced goods.
2. Reciprocity: It reflects both a desire to limit the scope of free-riding that may arise because of the MFN rule and a desire to obtain better access to foreign markets.  
3. Binding and enforceable commitments: The tariff commitments made by WTO members in multilateral trade negotiation and on accession are enumerated in a schedule (list) of concessions. These schedules establish “ceiling bindings”: a country can change its bindings, but only after negotiating with its trading partners.
4. Transparency: The WTO members are required to publish their trade regulations, to maintain institutions allowing for the review of administrative decisions affecting trade, to respond to requests for information by other members, and to notify changes in trade policies to the WTO.
5. Safety values: In specific circumstances, governments are able to restrict trade. The WTO’s agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the environment but also public health, animal health and plant health

India and WTO

Ever since the inception of this organization, India has been an active participant in its affairs and policies and played a crucial role in raising the concerns and demands of developing countries.

• Reforms Agent: India always worked towards a multilateral trading system that offers a fair, open, transparent and balanced level playing field in the interests of the developing and least developing countries.
• Leadership: India’s role right from the inception of the institution has always been that of a leader of the South, trying to ensure that fair play is brought into a rule-based system of global trade. It has retained this role till now, given that many smaller developing countries rely on it.

Issues with WTO

(1) Persistent North-South divisions

• WTO talks are mainly seen as a showdown between the North and the South.
• This is particularly so with the growth in strength of the developing countries and their regional and continental groupings.

(2) Farm Subsidies

• The tussle between developed and developing economies over farm subsidies also continues, with rich countries reserving the right to spend billions of dollars on supporting their farmers.
• The livelihood issues raised by India, on the other hand, are considered only grudgingly, while the “peace” clause, allowing a 10 per cent subsidy on public stockholding of foodgrains, was extracted after many negotiations.

 (3) Developed vs. Developing Countries

• Since the WTO allows countries to unilaterally classify themselves as “developing”, many countries have been happy to make use of this freedom. 
• So, as many as two-thirds of the 164 members of the WTO have classified themselves as developing countries.

(4) Decision-making process

• In WTO decision making is through consensus. This has translated into making the WTO decision making long and subject to external manipulation.
• Most of the time political and ideological differences come in a way of reaching a consensus.

(5) Implementation problem

• This relates basically to the difficulties that mainly developing countries face in meeting their obligations under the WTO agreements.
• The two main areas that have affected implementation by developing countries have been the TRIPS and the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures agreements.

(6) Not all countries joined

• With an increasingly global trading system, member countries do not operate in isolation and trade with WTO member countries only.
• Not all world countries have joined it makes it a less effective organization.  Countries such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Uzbekistan has not joined WTO yet.

(7) Strong influence of Corporate

• The WTO essentially protects multinational corporations based in the North.
• It is often accused to be acted as a tool of rich and powerful countries – notably the US, the EU, Japan and Canada.

(8) Protectionism Vs Free Trade

• There is a trade war between US and China despite both being a member of WTO.
• This negates the core non-discriminatory principle of WTO

(9) Dispute settlement mechanism

• While WTO’s dispute settling mechanism allows aggrieved parties to file cases against member-states, some of the cases and issues have remained unresolved for a long time
• The U.S. has systematically blocked the appointment of new Appellate Body members (“judges”) and de facto impeded the work of the WTO appeal mechanism.
• Further, the dispute resolution mechanism of the WTO, which can pass judgments on disputes, lacks the powers to enforce them as the enforcement of decisions is left to individual member states.

Criticisms of WTO

Although tariffs and other trade barriers have been significantly reduced thanks to GATT and WTO, the promise that free trade will accelerate economic growth, reduce poverty, and increase people’s incomes has been questioned by many critics.

Pro-rich: New countries actively reduce trade barriers only after becoming significantly rich.

Failure in poverty alleviation: Trade liberalization does not guarantee economic growth and certainly not poverty alleviation.

No mutual benefits: Critics also put forward the view that the benefits derived from WTO facilitated free trade are not shared equally.

Rich-poor countries rift: The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen, especially in China and India, where economic inequality is growing even though economic growth is very high.

Competition: Trade liberalization that is too early without any prominent domestic barriers is feared to trap the developing economies in the primary sector, which often does not require skilled labor.

Way forward

• There is need for the structural reform in the WTO functioning as multilateral trading system
• Need of free trade is required more by developing countries like India than developed countries. So developing countries must work collaboratively to strengthen WTO.
• Despite WTO being a democratic organization, there is a need to make it more effective in protecting the interests of small nations against stronger countries.
• WTO needs to strengthen the dispute settlement mechanism as there are issues in appointment of judges in new appellate body
• Lastly, WTO needs to enhance discussion mechanism by introducing wider consultations.

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Context

• The third Sunday of November every year is observed as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
• Globally, over 3500 people die every day on the roads, which amounts to nearly 1.3 million preventable deaths and an estimated 50 million injuries each year – making it the leading killer of people worldwide.

Road Accidents in India

• India recorded 3,74,397 accidental deaths in 2020 with road crashes constituting over 35 per cent of such fatalities, according to government data.
• The number of accidental deaths in 2020 was, however, lower than 2019 when the figure stood at 4,21,104, the annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed.
• The rate of ‘accidental deaths’ per lakh population stood at 27.7 in 2020, down from 31.4 the previous year.

Road traffic accident casualties bring about a great deal of human suffering in terms of social, medical, and economic costs, and it is crucial we mitigate them.

A global panacea

• Recognizing the enormity of the problem and the need to act, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in September 2020, proclaiming the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.
• It set a ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.
• This year marks the beginning of the Second Decade for Action for Road Safety.
• The Global Plan on Improving Road Safety was launched by the United Nations last month, calling on countries to deliver on the resolution’s target by make roads safer.

Causes of Road Accidents in India

There are multiple reasons for road accidents:

• Sub-standard roads: The life of roads is not good due to the substandard raw materials and potholes accidents caused.
• Traffic: The increasing traffic on roads and conditions of roads are not proportionate to each other.
• Use of mobile phone: Most of the people are on call while driving thus they drive recklessly and accidents happen as most of the Indians now have mobile phones.
• Drunk Driving: Drinking makes people lose the ability to focus and function properly. This makes it dangerous for the driver to operate the vehicle.
• Dis-obedience for traffic rules: Indian drivers are quick to learn to drive but they don’t learn traffic rules and the purpose of such rules.
• Malpractices: Malpractices such as over-speeding, triple riding, underage driving, etc are reducing the safety of road users.
• Implementation drawbacks: Police are supposed to execute the rules but, it may be a lack of workforce or lack of intention, they also fail to execute.
• Corrupt practices: Mostly police use the rules to mint money either officially by Chalan or in person.

Issue of non-Conviction

• According to the report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway, in 79% of all accidents, the driver was found to be at fault.
• Though this did not mean the person behind the wheel was punished for the crime.
• Conviction rates for urban road accidents typically hover between 5% and 10%.
• In hit-and-run cases, lack of eyewitnesses and surveillance typically leads to a “blind” close of the case if the victim does not note the licence plate number of the vehicle.

Various Policy Initiatives

[A] Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019

Some of the important areas of the amendment are as follows

(1) Road Safety

• In the area of road safety, the Act proposes to increase penalties to act as deterrent against traffic violations.
• Stricter provisions are being proposed in respect of offences like juvenile driving, drunken driving, driving without licence, dangerous driving, over-speeding, overloading etc.
• Stricter provisions for helmets have been introduced along with provisions for electronic detection of violations.

(2) Vehicle Fitness

• Automated fitness testing for vehicles has been made mandatory.
• This would reduce corruption in the transport department while improving the road worthiness of the vehicle.
• Penalty has been provided for deliberate violation of safety/environmental regulations as well as for body builders and spare part suppliers.

(3) Recall of Vehicles

• The Act allows the central government to order for recall of motor vehicles if a defect in the vehicle may cause damage to the environment, or the driver, or other road users.
• The manufacturer of the recalled vehicle will be required to:

1. reimburse the buyers for the full cost of the vehicle, or
2. replace the defective vehicle with another vehicle with similar or better specifications.

(4) Road Safety Board

• A National Road Safety Board, to be created by the central government through a notification to advise the central and state governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management.
• This would include standards of motor vehicles, registration and licensing of vehicles, standards for road safety, and promotion of new vehicle technology.

(5) Protection of Good Samaritan

• The Act lays down the guidelines and provides rules to prevent harassment of Good Samaritan  to encourage people to help road accident victims.

(6) Cashless Treatment during Golden Hour

• The Act provides for a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims during golden hour

[B] Old Vehicle Scrappage Policy

• The non-maintenance of old non-compliant vehicles has been a leading cause of road accident.
• With the scrappage policy, there will be some relief from the high risk of road accidents due to old vehicles and old technology.

[C] The 4 ‘E’ Approach

• The Government of India put forth Engineering, Economy, Enforcement and Education as the fundamental areas to focus on in order to ensure road safety.
• The black spot in every state, district and city shall be identified and removed.
• The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have funded to assist the National Highways Authority to remove the black spots and improve the road conditions.

[D] Sadak Suraksha – Jeevan Raksha Initiative

• The MoRTH has started a campaign to establish road safety involving the participation of citizens by promoting several activities like the Road Safety Hackathon, Article writing competition on Road Safety, movie-making on road safety.
• This will bring mass awareness about road safety and educate the citizens.

[E] iRAD Mobile and Web Application

• This is an Integrated Road Accident Database Project initiated by the MoRTH, GOI and funded by World Bank.
• The database would enable the analysis of road accidents and provide the output through data analytics techniques.
• This aims to assure a safe road for all.

Way forward

Road safety education from the primary level: Those already using our roads and driving or riding on it could have formed bad habits that are difficult to change or undo. So it’s important that we catch them young and start educating children on road safety and correct behavior on the road.

Better first aid and paramedic care: In most cases, the public and police are the first ones to reach the site of an accident. But sadly, neither has any first aid training and the police don’t even have even simple things like a first aid box or stretcher. This initial trauma care has to improve.  

Stricter criteria for driving licenses: Fortunately, the government has recognized the need for this, and getting a driving license is no longer as easy as before. Lots of the process has been digitalized and made more stringent. But it’s still far from perfect and lots more needs to be done

Better road design, maintenance, and signage: Many of our roads are poorly designed with badly placed junctions, acute corners, uneven gradients, sudden speed-breakers, etc. And this is made worse by poor road maintenance and many accidents occur because a driver suddenly swerves to avoid a pothole.

Heavy crackdown against non-compliance: This is one of the leading causes of road accidents in India and while we do have strict laws, the enforcement, particularly on our highways is quite lax. Consumption of drugs by truck drivers while driving is rampant, and this needs to stop completely.

Stricter enforcement of traffic rules: The Amended Motor Vehicles Act has higher penalties and punishment to deter people from committing traffic offenses and driving rashly. It’s high time we enforced our traffic rules and imposed discipline while driving and using the road.

Encouraging better road behavior: The people should motivate themselves to behave in a better manner on the road. The campaigns such as “Be the Better Guy”, need to be applauded, encouraged and expanded.