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  • Russia warns against NATO enlargement

    One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies warned NATO that if Sweden and Finland joined the US-led military alliance then Russia would have to bolster its defences in the region, including by deploying nuclear weapons.

    Why in news?

    • Finland, which shares a 1,300-km border with Russia, and Sweden are considering joining the NATO alliance.

    Why do they want to join NATO?

    • The possible accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO to get collective Western security against Russia — would be one of the biggest strategic consequences of the Ukraine war.
    • Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917 and fought two wars against it during Second World War during which it lost some territory to Moscow.
    • Sweden has not fought a war for 200 years and post-war foreign policy has focused on supporting democracy internationally, multilateral dialogue and nuclear disarmament.

    What is NATO?

    • NATO is a military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949.
    • It sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.
    • Its original members were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
    • NATO has spread a web of partners, namely Egypt, Israel, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Finland.

    Why was it founded?

    Ans. Communist sweep in Europe post-WWII and rise of Soviet dominance

    • After World War II in 1945, Western Europe was economically exhausted and militarily weak, and newly powerful communist parties had arisen in France and Italy.
    • By contrast, the Soviet Union had emerged from the war with its armies dominating all the states of central and Eastern Europe.
    • By 1948 communists under Moscow’s sponsorship had consolidated their control of the governments of those countries and suppressed all non-communist political activity.
    • What became known as the Iron Curtain, a term popularized by Winston Churchill, had descended over central and Eastern Europe.

    Ideology of NATO

    • NATO ensures that the security of its European member countries is inseparably linked to that of its North American member countries.
    • It commits the Allies to democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law, as well as to the peaceful resolution of disputes.
    • It also provides a unique forum for dialogue and cooperation across the Atlantic.

    What is Article 5 and why is it needed?

    • Article 5 was a key part of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, or Washington Treaty, and was meant to offer a collective defence against a potential invasion of Western Europe.
    • It states: (NATO members) will assist the party or parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
    • However, since then, it has only been invoked once, soon after the 9/11 attack in the United States.

    Why has Article 5 not been invoked this time?

    • The reason is simple: Ukraine is a partner of the Western defence alliance but not a NATO member.
    • As a result, Article 5, or the Collective Defence Pledge, does not apply.
    • While NATO has said it will not be sending troops to Ukraine, it did invoke Article 4, which calls for a consultation of the alliance’s principal decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council.
    • In its history, it has only been activated half a dozen times.
    • But the fact that this time around eight-member nations chose to invoke it was enough to demonstrate the seriousness of the situation at a global level.

    What may prompt NATO to invoke Article 5?

    • NATO will invoke Article 5 only if Russia launches a full-blown attack on one of its allies.
    • Some top US officials have warned of the impact of some of Russia’s cyberattacks being felt in NATO countries.
    • When you launch cyberattacks, they don’t recognize geographic boundaries.
    • Some of that cyberattack could actually start shutting down systems in eastern Poland.

    But what is NATO’s problem with Russia?

    • Russia has long been opposed to Ukraine’s growing closeness with European institutions, particularly NATO.
    • The former Soviet republic shares borders with Russia on one side, and the European Union on the other.
    • After Moscow launched its attack, the US and its allies were quick to respond, imposing sanctions on Russia’s central bank and sovereign wealth funds.

     

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  • What is the ‘Long Period Average’, IMD’s benchmark for monsoon prediction?

    India is likely to receive a normal monsoon for the fourth consecutive year, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its first Long Range Forecast (LRF) for this year.

    What is Long Period Average (LPA)?

    • The IMD predicts a “normal”, “below normal”, or “above normal” monsoon in relation to a benchmark “long period average” (LPA).
    • The LPA of rainfall is the rainfall recorded over a particular region for a given interval (like month or season) average over a long period like 30 years, 50 years, etc.
    • LPA refers to the average rainfall recorded from June to September for the entire country, the amount of rain that falls every year varies from region to region and from month to month.
    • The IMD’s prediction of a normal monsoon is based on the LPA of the 1971-2020 period, during which India received 87 cm of rain for the entire country on average.
    • It has in the past calculated the LPA at 88 cm for the 1961-2010 period, and at 89 cm for the period 1951-2000.

    Why LPA is needed?

    • The IMD records rainfall data at more than 2,400 locations and 3,500 rain-gauge stations.
    • Because annual rainfall can vary greatly not just from region to region and from month to month, but also from year to year within a particular region or month.
    • An LPA is needed to smooth out trends so that a reasonably accurate prediction can be made.
    • A 50-year LPA covers for large variations in either direction caused by freak years of unusually high or low rainfall, as well as for the periodic drought years.
    • It also takes into account the increasingly common extreme weather events caused by climate change.

    Range of normal rainfall

    The IMD maintains five rainfall distribution categories on an all-India scale. These are:

    1. Normal or near normal, when the percentage departure of actual rainfall is +/-10% of LPA, that is, between 96-104% of LPA;
    2. Below normal, when departure of actual rainfall is less than 10% of LPA, that is 90-96% of LPA;
    3. Above normal, when actual rainfall is 104-110% of LPA;
    4. Deficient, when departure of actual rainfall is less than 90% of LPA; and
    5. Excess, when the departure of actual rainfall is more than 110% of LPA.

    Also read:

    Various terms related to Indian Monsoon

     

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  • [pib] SVANidhi se Samriddhi Program

    The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched ‘SVANidhi se Samriddhi’ program in additional 126 cities across 14 States/ UTs.

    About PM SVANidhi Scheme

    • The Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi Scheme is aimed at benefiting over 50 lakh vendors who had their businesses operational on or before March 24 2020.
    • It is a Central Sector Scheme.
    • The scheme was announced by Finance Minister as a part of the economic package for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.
    • The loans are meant to help kick-start activity for vendors who have been left without any income since the lockdown was implemented on March 25.
    • The scheme was valid until March 2022.

    What is SVANidhi se Samriddhi Program?

    • SVANidhi se Samriddhi program was started to provide social security benefits to street vendors for their holistic development and socio-economic upliftment.
    • Quality Council of India (QCI) is the implementing partner for the programme.
    • Under the program, socio-economic profiling of PMSVANidhi beneficiaries and their families is conducted to assess their eligibility for 8 Government of India’s welfare schemes and facilitate sanctions of eligible schemes.

    These schemes include:

    1. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana,
    2. PM Suraksha Bima Yojana,
    3. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana,
    4. Registration under Building and other Constructions Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act (BOCW),
    5. Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana,
    6. National Food Security Act (NFSA) portability benefit – One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC),
    7. Janani Suraksha Yojana, and
    8. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY).

     

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  • [Sansad TV] Perspective: The Sri Lankan Default

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    Context

    • After weeks of economic turmoil, Sri Lanka announced that it would be defaulting on all of its external debt worth $51 billion.
    • After running out of foreign exchange for imports, Colombo called the move a last resort.
    • The island nation is grappling with its worst economic downturn since independence, with regular blackouts and acute shortages of food and fuel.

    Sri Lankan Crisis: A backgrounder

    (1) Fragility of Sri Lankan Economy

    • Post-independence from the British in 1948, Sri Lanka’s agriculture was dominated by export-oriented crops such as tea, coffee, rubber and spices.
    • A large share of its gross domestic product came from the foreign exchange earned from exporting these crops. That money was used to import essential food items.
    • Over the years, the country also began exporting garments, and earning foreign exchange from tourism and remittances (money sent into Sri Lanka from abroad, perhaps by family members).
    • Any decline in exports would come as an economic shock, and put foreign exchange reserves under strain.

    (2) Series of BoP Crises

    • For this reason, Sri Lanka frequently encountered balance of payments crises.
    • From 1965 onwards, it obtained 16 loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
    • Each of these loans came with conditions including that once Sri Lanka received the loan they had to reduce their budget deficit, maintain a tight monetary policy, cut government subsidies for food for the people of Sri Lanka, and depreciate the currency.
    • But usually in periods of economic downturns, good fiscal policy dictates governments should spend more to inject stimulus into the economy. This becomes impossible with the IMF conditions.
    • Despite this situation, the IMF loans kept coming, and a led the economy soaked up more and more debt.
    • The last IMF loan to Sri Lanka was in 2016. The country received US$1.5 billion for three years from 2016 to 2019.

    The conditions were familiar, and the economy’s health nosedived over this period. Growth, investments, savings and revenues fell, while the debt burden rose.

    (3) Terror attack changed the course

    • A bad situation turned worse with two economic shocks in 2019.
    • There was a series of bomb blasts in churches and luxury hotels in Colombo in April 2019.
    • The blasts led to a steep decline in tourist arrivals – with some reports stating up to an 80% drop – and drained foreign exchange reserves.
    • Second, the new government under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa irrationally cut taxes.
    • Growth demands stability and stability lies on effective leadership which is totally blurred in Sri lanka which is suffering from ongoing financial crisis.

    (4) Pandemic

    • In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
    • In April 2021, the Rajapaksa government made another fatal mistake. To prevent the drain of foreign exchange reserves, all fertiliser imports were completely banned.
    • Sri Lanka was declared a 100% organic farming nation.
    • This policy, which was withdrawn in November 2021, led to a drastic fall in agricultural production and more imports became necessary.
    • A fall in the productivity of tea and rubber due to the ban on fertiliser also led to lower export incomes.

    (5) Immediate triggers of the crisis

    1. Leadership issues: Another instance that proved detrimental for Sri Lankan leadership is government where few members of the cabinets were immediate relatives of the Prime Minister (Rajapaksas).
    2. Ukraine War:  The invasion of Ukraine has further exacerbated the economic calamity of the country as Russia is the second biggest market to Sri Lanka in tea exports and its tourism sector is heavily reliant upon these two nations as most of the tourist arrivals are from Russia and Ukraine.

    All these factors led to the implosion of Sri Lankan economy.

    Is China the real culprit behind?

    • Many believe Sri Lanka’s economic relations with China are a main driver behind the crisis.  The United States has called this phenomenon “debt-trap diplomacy”.
    • This is where a creditor country or institution extends debt to a borrowing nation to increase the lender’s political leverage – if the borrower extends itself and cannot pay the money back, they are at the creditor’s mercy.

    A reality check

    Sri Lanka’s economy, in recent months, started experiencing, what economists refer to as a ‘twin crisis’: in form of a combined balance of payment and sovereign debt crisis. 

    (1) Debts

    • The most “burdensome debt” in terms of maturity and rates is typically owed to international sovereign bonds.
    • Loans from China accounted for only about 10% of Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt in 2020.
    • The largest portion – about 30% – can be attributed to international sovereign bonds.
    • Japan actually accounts for a higher proportion of their foreign debt, at 11%.

    (2) Losses from Ports

    • Defaults over China’s infrastructure-related loans to Sri Lanka, especially the financing of the Hambantota port, are being cited as factors contributing to the crisis.
    • But these facts don’t add up. The construction of the Hambantota port was financed by the Chinese Exim Bank.
    • The port was running losses, so Sri Lanka leased out the port for 99 years to the Chinese Merchant’s Group, which paid Sri Lanka US$1.12 billion.

    Repercussions of the crisis

    • Sustenance crisis: For Sri Lankans, the crisis has turned their daily lives into an endless cycle of waiting in lines for basic goods, many of which are being rationed.
    • Energy sources exhausted: Soldiers are stationed at gas stations to calm customers, who line up for hours in the searing heat to fill their tanks. Some people have even died waiting.
    • Sacking of the public savings: Even members of the middle class with savings are frustrated, fearing they could run out of essentials like medicine or gas.
    • Public outrage: Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has imposed several curbs on social media and news flow, its stock market and currency is sharply down. Unrest is brewing, so police action, possibly brutal, looks inevitable.

    What’s next for Sri Lanka?

    • In all probability, Sri Lanka will now obtain a 17th IMF loan to tide over the present crisis, which will come with fresh conditions.  
    • Sri Lanka is now seeking financial support from the IMF and turning to regional powers that may be able to help.
    • Earlier, President Rajapaksa had weighed the pros and cons of working with the IMF and had decided to pursue a bailout from the US.
    • Sri Lanka has also requested help from China and India, with New Delhi already issuing a credit line of $1 billion in March.

    Lessons to be learnt

    (1) For India

    While the Sri Lankan economic crisis may not directly impact India for now, the crisis itself offers useful political economy lessons for the Indian government. 

    • Populist freebies has a dear cost: A majoritarian government announcing populist measures amidst a low-growth performance cycle creates macroeconomic crisis scenarios over time. 
    • SL had fared better than India: Unlike Sri Lanka, India’s per capita income and performance in social sectors like healthcare, education and social security is worse.
    • Long term inflation is risky: India’s unemployment and joblessness crisis is far worse – in aggregate. Inflation too has remained high with the RBI struggling to keep consumer prices low.

    The idea here is not to compare Sri Lanka with India as like-with-like. They are two different and geographically distinct nation-states with different social, political and economic features. 

    (2) Other SAARC members

    • Nations are collapsing: From Afghanistan and Pakistan, and now, Sri Lanka (with Nepal in queue), each nation’s political economy landscape appears to be in a depressing situation. 
    • SAARC has become dysfunctional: Besides India, no other South Asian countries have offered any form of support or assistance to Sri Lanka, which raises alarm over the absence of regional cooperation in South Asia.

    Way forward

    • Fiscal consolidation and discipline: What the Lankan economy would need is a robust path towards revenue based fiscal consolidation.
    • Near-term monetary policy tightening: It is needed to ensure that the recent breach of the inflation target band is only temporary.
    • Institution building reforms: such as revamping the fiscal rule, would also help ensure the credibility of the strategy, as the IMF report suggests. 
    • Flexible exchange rate policy: Other (longer-term) reforms would need to include the creation of a flexible exchange rate policy and a medium-to-long-term debt reduction strategy, while ensuring most government spending in targeted social areas continues for developmental objectives.

    Conclusion

    • It is no doubt that the over-dependence on China for economic development could be a miserable option for any country, and the latest examples of it, are Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
    • Also, Sri Lanka is a prime example of a third world country led by a post-colonial elite on the brisk of collapsing as a nation.

  • Time Banking as a Crucial Tool to Empower Women

    This newscard is an excerpt of an article originally published in the Down To Earth.

    Defining Work

    • ‘Work’ was defined by Spanish economist Lourdes Beneria in 1999 as a paid economic activity linked to the market.
    • Both paid and unpaid work, however, are constituents of our economic life.
    • This leads to an ecosystem where unpaid and care work, performed for long hours, becomes invisible.

    Narrative of Unpaid Work

    • Women perform 75 per cent of the world’s unpaid care work, and unfortunately it is not accounted for in a nation’s gross domestic product.
    • The largest source of women’s unpaid labour is domestic work.
    • These include household chores like grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning as well as caregiving to the children, elderly and infirm.
    • In the absence of this, survival is perceived as a challenge for both individuals and society as every economy is dependent on unpaid labour and care services.

    Time Poverty and unpaid work

    • This share of labour has a cost not only in terms of the unrecognised monetary value but also time poverty.
    • Time poverty is defined as “not having enough time” to pursue interests beyond unpaid domestic / care work.
    • Time poverty has a direct bearing on the ability of women to contribute to or participate in the labour market and / or public or political life.
    • Time poverty is also responsible for insufficient political participation of women globally.

    Issues with unpaid work

    • Unpaid labour is not considered ‘real work’ and is often devalued by the men and society, who directly benefit from it.
    • The situation leads to emotional strain and combined with the time poverty, the costs often outweigh the benefits.
    • Often, women do not find enough time or motivation to participate in activities outside the household.
    • Female labour force participation rate is on a declining trend in major economies.

    The conception of Time Banking

    • Time banking comes forward as a social innovation for increased empowerment of women.
    • Traditionally, household chores are expected to be performed by women. Women in general are more time poor than men.
    • Empowerment of women is limited by time poverty. In this context the concept of time banking was introduced. 
    • Time banking can be viewed as an opportunity cost of an unpaid activity in terms of the time sacrificed.

    How does time bank function?

    • In time banks, one hour equals one time credit, regardless of the service being performed or the level of each person’s skill or gender.
    • The time banks are time-sharing cooperative among women, with people helping each other meet their day-to-day needs and address challenges in their community.
    • For each hour of a service exchanged, the service provider receives one, time credit and the beneficiary pays one, time credit.
    • The time bank networks tap into unused resources of people in the community to fill unmet needs of each other.

    Significance of time banking for women

    • Time-banking can benefit women, their families and their communities by alleviating time poverty through the system of exchange services through time credits.
    • The system has the potential to improve the livelihoods of women and their families, thereby increasing overall economic activities.
    • There were time banks operating in more than 30 countries in the Americas, Africa and Europe as well as in Russia and China.
    • Most case studies showed that time banks have functioned most as community-building tools, economic drivers or within elder care.
    • They can also be utilised to prioritise women’s political participation.
    • This has a direct impact on women empowerment and entails benefits to individual women, their families and communities.

    Time bank networks can be utilised for increasing political participation of women in the following ways:

    1. Directly: Through utilisation of time credits for campaigning for office
    2. Indirectly: By educating themselves or others on local issues or understanding their rights, accessing government programs and mobilising others.

    Way forward

    • Across the world, there are examples in our everyday life of intra- and inter-family examples of informal time-sharing.
    • However, for tangible results on a community or economy scale, the concept needs scaling up and formalisation.
    • Time banking, if made a formal arrangement, has the potential of community building, civic inclusiveness and increasing economic activity.
    • Above all, it has the potential to act as the catalyst to women empowerment by formally recognising the economic value of unpaid labour and tapping the same across communities.

     

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  • Nod to extend Gram Swaraj Scheme

    The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a proposal to continue the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA), a scheme for improving the governance capabilities of Panchayati Raj institutions, till 2025-26.

    What is RGSA?

    • The RGSA, a centrally sponsored scheme, was first approved by the Union Cabinet in 2018 for implementation from 2018-19 to 2021-22.
    • It is a unique scheme proposed to develop and strengthen the Panchayati Raj System across India in rural areas.
    • The objective of the campaign is to promote social harmony, spread awareness about pro-poor initiatives of the government, and reach out to poor households to enroll them as also to obtain their feedback on various welfare programs.
    • The main central components of the scheme included incentivization of panchayats and mission mode project on e-Panchayat including other activities at central level.

    Scope of the scheme

    • RGSA is extend to all States and Union Territories (UTs) of the country. It includes institutions of rural local government in non-Part IX areas.
    • Part IX provides for a 3 tier Panchayat system, which would be constituted in every state at the village level, intermediate level and district level.
    • This provision brought uniformity in the Panchayati Raj structure in India.

    Areas where Part IX is not applicable:

    As per Article 243M of the Constitution, provisions of Part IX of the Constitution are not applicable to:

    • Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas referred to in Article 244.
    • The States of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
    • The hill areas in the State of Manipur for which District Councils exist. (In these areas, district councils and various types of village-level bodies are in existence)
    • Panchayats at the district level to the hill areas of the District of Darjeeling in the State of West Bengal.
    • Provision of the Article 243D with respect to reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes is not applicable to the State of Arunachal Pradesh.

    Purpose of extension

    The scheme would work towards:

    • Poverty-free and enhanced livelihood in villages
    • Healthy villages, child-friendly villages
    • Water-sufficient villages
    • Clean and green villages
    • Self-sufficient infrastructure in villages
    • Socially-secure villages with good governance and engendered development

     

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  • Festivals in news: Madhavpur Mela

    The Madhavpur Mela was recently inaugurated by the President of India.

    In the entire country, there is no other fair which the President and host of Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of a number of states visit.

    What is the Madhavpur Mela?

    • The Mela is a religio-cultural fair taking place every year in Madhavpur, a village on the Porbandar coast, also known as Madhavpur Ghed.
    • The village has temples of Madhavraiji, or Lord Krishna, and his consort Rukmini, believed to have been built in the 15th century.
    • It is also known for its sandy sea beach, the turquoise waters of the Arabian Sea, a sea turtle hatchery and the Osho Ashram
    • The fair begins on Ram Navami, Lord Rama’s birth anniversary falling on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar, and culminates on Tryodashi, the 13th day of the month.

    Mythology behind the fair

    • The fair celebrates the marriage of Lord Krishna with Rukmini around 4,000 years ago, as per Hindu mythology.
    • The fair begins on Ram Navami, Lord Rama’s birth anniversary falling on the ninth day of the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar, and culminates on Tryodashi, the 13th day of the month.
    • According to mythology, Lord Krishna had established his kingdom in Dwarka near Porbandar.
    • Rukmini, daughter of King Bhimak of the present-day Arunachal Pradesh, wanted to marry Krishna, while her brother wanted to marry her off to Shishupal, Krishna’s cousin.
    • Therefore, Krishna abducted Rukmini, brought her to Gujarat and tied the knot with her at Madhavpur village.
    • Today, to mark the wedding, marriage rituals go on for five days.
    • They culminate with the idols of Lord Krishna and Rukmini being taken out in a procession through Madhavpur for ‘samaiya’, a ritual to welcome the bridegroom back home with his bride.

    Significance of the fair

    • The President observed that fairs and festivals have bonded the people of India for ages and that Madhavpur Mela also integrates Gujarat to the Northeast of India.
    • This fair reflects that, despite our languages, dialects and lifestyles being different, Indians, since time immemorial, have been one culturally.

    Do you know?

    There is one such festival called ‘Pushkaram’ which is celebrated by the people of Tamil Nadu. Devotees from Tamil Nadu perform rituals at the banks of Brahmaputra River.

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  • [Yojana Archive] Strengthening Federalism

    Context

    • Cooperation and competition are the two sides of the same coin— ‘Federalism’. Both are essential to take the ‘New India’ march forward economically and socially.
    • While on the one hand the States need to be assisted with resources and sound policy advice, on the other they need to be encouraged to improve their performance.
    • The Budget 2022-23 is a continuation of a series of reforms, policies and measures that have strengthened India’s federal system.

    Cooperative Federalism

    • Governing Council of NITI Aayoga – NITI’s Governing Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, comprises of all the Chief Ministers and LGs of UTs as equal members and a selected Government of India ministers. The Governing Councilmeets annually to evolve a shared vision of country’s economic development.
    • India @75 document – One of NITI Aayog’s major initiative since its inception has been formulating the Strategy document in 2017 (India@75), its preparation followed an extremely participative approach.
    • Other steps indicative of cooperative federalism – These steps are showcased in-
      1. Development blueprints prepared jointly with Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, and Madhya Pradesh.
      2. Regular sharing of best practices; policy support and capacity development of State/UT functionaries, etc., are other areas where NITI partners with State governments.
      3. The 17 goals and 169 targets under the SDGs are interdependent and inter-connected, and require concerted and coordinated action within the various departments.
      4. This inherent nature of the goals has forced States to dissolve silo-based functioning prevalent in government institutions.

    Various moves for Competitive Federalism

    (A) Indicators and transparent rankings

    • NITI Aayog stimulates healthy competition among States through developing indicator frameworks and transparent rankings in various sectors.
    • States are ranked through various indices measuring ease of doing business to Sustainable Development Goals.
    • Some of the indices launched by NITI Aayog are Composite Water Management Index, India Innovation Index, Export Competitiveness Index, School Education Quality Index, State Health Index and Sustainable Development Goals Index.

    (B) Aspirational Districts Programme  

    • NITI Aayog also releases rankings in the monthly changes in the performance of Aspirational Districts.
    • The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) of NITI Aayog focuses on 112  of  India’s  most  developmentally  challenged  districts  across  sectors  such  as  health  and  nutrition; education; agriculture and water resources; basic infrastructure; and financial inclusion and skill development.
    • Districts are challenged and encouraged first to catch up with the best district in their State, and then aspire to become one of the best in the nation, by competing and learning from others in the competitive and cooperative spirit of federalism.
    • Top ranked aspirational district gets Rs 10 crore, second best receives Rs 5 crore and sector wise best gets Rs 3 crore each.

    (C) Localization of SDGs

    • Starting in 2018, NITI defined the contours of the national progress monitoring on SDGs based on key national development Priorities in its first ever framework for monitoring the country’s progress on the SDGs – SDG India Index and Dashboard.
    • Now, it has been institutionalized and established as the country’s principal and official policy tool on benchmarking national and sub-national Progress.
    • Most recently, as a part of its localization efforts, NITI published the first regional index — The North-Eastern Region District SDG Index.
    • Taking the successful SDG localization model further to the level of urban areas, NITI Aayog developed and released the SDG Urban Index & Dashboard (2021-22).
    • This interactive tool is aimed at strengthening SDG localization at the city level.
    • NITI Aayog has created strong partnership with States to achieve SDG-oriented development agenda. This enables it to foster cooperative federalism.

    Strengthening Fiscal Federalism

    • Devolution of finances: The successive Finance Commissions have raised the share of States in tax revenues from 29.5% between 2000 and 2005 to 42% currently.
    • Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSCs): In line with Finance Commission recommendations, 130 Centrally Sponsored Schemes have been revamped and restructured into 65, enabling greater flexibility and impact.
    • Increased borrowing limits: Among the key fiscal support measures by Centre to States to fight Covid-19, the Centre increased the borrowing limits of States from 3.0% of GSDP to 5.0% for 2020-21.
    • GST Collection: GST has been a landmark reform of independent India showcasing the spirit of cooperative federalism. Despite the surge in Covid-19 cases, gross GST collections for the month of January 2022 were recorded at Rs 1,40,986 crore, which is the highest since the inception of GST.
    • Special assistance: In her Budget speech, the finance minister pointed out that the ‘Scheme for Financial Assistance to States for Capital Investment’ has been extremely well received by the States.

  • The impact of the CUET is likely to be harsher on disadvantaged sections

    Context

    The introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) can be seen as a step in the direction of aligning India with international standards.

    About CUET

    • The UGC’s rationale for introducing the test is to address the disparity in the allocation of marks by different examination boards, and provide a “level playing field” to students from different sections of society and diverse regions.
    • The CUET has been envisaged as a corrective.
    •  Of the 48 central universities, 45 seem to have the requirements to institute the test.
    • The CUET is going to decide the fate of approximately 1.3 crore students for roughly 5.4 lakh undergraduate seats in 45 central universities.

    Issues with the CUET

    • Students to contend with two examinations: The marks obtained in the board examination will remain vital for admission to state and private universities as well as job applications.
    • The students will now have to contend with two examinations.
    • Impetus to coaching classes: Many educationists argue that the new examination is likely to give an impetus to coaching classes.
    •  Coaching and private tuition will flourish without much concern for quality in the preparation of the study material.
    • Not all State Boards prescribe NCERT textbooks: The CUET syllabus will be based on NCERT (under the Ministry of Education) textbooks even though not all state boards prescribe these books.
    • The coaching industry stands to take advantage of this situation and students will have a hard time navigating two sets of textbooks.
    • The impact is likely to be harsher on disadvantaged sections of the society for whom access to higher education is seen as the only route to upward mobility.

    Way forward

    • The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is constantly increasing for higher secondary education (51.4 per cent according to UDISE, 2019-20) and higher education (27.1 per cent to AISHE, 2019-20).
    • The figures indicate that higher education has acquired a mass base in the country.
    • This has important implications for a knowledge-based economy and society.
    • Maintaining the momentum of GER would require more teachers, schools and higher education institutions of quality and slow down the rush for a few but highly sought after universities and colleges.

    Conclusion

    The new examination would put additional pressure on both students and teachers at a time when they are trying to overcome the exactions of the pandemic. It appears to diverge from the objective of the National Education Policy-2020 — equitable access to good quality higher education for all students.

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  • IRMS

    Context

    A recent Gazette notification regarding the creation of the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) marks a paradigm shift in the management of one of the world’s largest rail networks.

    About the merger and IRMS

    • A nearly 8,000 strong cadre of the erstwhile eight services is now merged into one.
    • Eight out of 10 Group-A Indian Railway services have been merged to create the IRMS.
    • The merged services are: Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE), Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSS), Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME), Indian Railway Service of Civil Engineers (IRSE) and Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS).
    • Aims of the restructuring: Besides removing silos, this restructuring also aims at rationalising the top-heavy bureaucracy of the Indian Railways.

    Way forward: Training

    • Training the future leaders of India’s public transporter in the rapidly evolving logistics sector of the country is the most important task ahead.
    • The UPSC will recruit a few hundred IRMS officers each year from now, they will remain much less in number when compared to already serving officers for a long time to come.
    • Training of the existing cadre of officers: The fact remains that even after the creation of the IRMS, the 8,000 strong (already serving) officers of the Indian Railways will need to work in coordination and not in silos, as they will be serving in the organisation for decades to come.
    • This highlights the importance of training of the existing cadre of officers as they will have to deliver on the ambitious Gati-Shakti projects.
    • The task of training such a dynamic talent pool assumes importance in view of India’s aspirations of becoming a $5 trillion economy.
    • All this will require a massive revamp of the capacity building ecosystem of the Indian Railways.
    •  Redesign the training: The merger of services provides an opportunity to redesign the training for newly recruited IRMS officers to make them future-ready. Initial training along with mid-career training programmes may be reoriented.
    • The IRMS training needs to be designed based on the competencies required for different leadership roles.
    • Mission Karmayogi of the Government of India provides for competencies based postings of officers.
    • The Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) programme of the Government of India will be instrumental in shaping the career progression of IRMS officers.

    Conclusion

    Future IRMS officers should be ready to face the challenges of working in an organisation that is involved in round the clock and round the year operations, has substantial social obligations to meet and, at the same time, which must earn for itself.

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