As we confront the public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.
Why does India need a specialised cadre of public health engineers
Achieving SDGs and growing demand for water consumption: For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
Limited capacity: The availability of systemic information and programmes focusing on teaching, training, and capacity building for this specialty cadre is currently limited.
Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
However, the nexus between wastewater and solid waste management and public health issues is not brought out clearly.
India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
Different from the international trend: In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials. This differs from international trends.
Way forward
Introducing public health engineering as a two-year structured master’s degree programme or through diploma programmes for professionals working in this field must be considered to meet the need of increased human resource in this field.
Interdisciplinary field: Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field.
Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
Public health engineering’s combination of engineering and public health skills can also enable contextualised decision-making regarding water management in India.
Conclusion
Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this. Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.
India has banned exports of wheat effective immediately, citing a risk to food security.
This is partly due to the war in Ukraine and as a scorching heatwave curtailed output and domestic prices hit a record high.
The price which was already high in the wake of Russia’s invasion of major wheat exporter Ukraine — jumped to 435 euros ($453) per tonne as the European market opened.
Do you know?
India is the second-largest producer of wheat in the world, with China being the top producer and Russia the third-largest — Ukraine is the world’s eighth-largest producer of wheat.
India’s Wheat Exports
Modi’s goal of India becoming a major wheat exporter hinged on the opportunity presented by the war.
While India has been the world’s second-largest producer of the commodity, most of it was used domestically.
Its share in the global wheat exports has been only around 1%.
It hoped to considerably plug the deficit created by Russia, which accounts for 30% of the global wheat exports.
To some extent, Indian wheat exports did rise. Countries like Egypt and Turkey, besides others in Asia, tapped India following the onset of the war.
Top wheat exporters globally (in million metric tons):
Top wheat exporters globally (in million metric tons):
Why did India ban the export of wheat?
Harvest reduction due to heatwaves: Heatwaves in the latter part of March, especially in northwest India, impacted production of foodgrains.
High inflation: Record retail inflation has punctured India’s export hopes.
Food security: While wheat prices are up nearly 20%, prices of essential food items such as flour have risen nearly 15% last year.
China’s factor in the export ban
There is also China factor behind the sudden decision to ban the export of wheat.
China is using this opportunity to hoard wheat. It is importing wheat on a large scale to store it to disrupt the global market soon.
China can store the wheat for a short time and divert it to its allies in the coming days or sell it at a higher price.
By hoarding it, China can effectively control the market prices of wheat globally.
With its huge foreign exchange reserves, China can purchase the wheat stocks at a higher price, only to control the wheat market in the coming days.
This will hinder smaller and vulnerable developing countries from buying the necessary wheat.
Inherent challenges to India’s wheat exports
Logistics challenges: Logistical challenges such as congestion at ports and unavailability of train rakes are major infrastructural bottlenecks for wheat exports from India.
Cost efficiency: Unless seamless infrastructural facilities and timely and cheaper modes of transport are available in the coming days, India may find it difficult to make significant inroads into the wheat export market.
MSP factor: India’s export competitiveness is influenced by the Centre’s MSP. Due to high MSP, India has remained a rather small player in the export market, even when thousands of tonnes of grains rot in the FCI warehouses.
High procurement costs: The inefficiency associated with open-ended procurement of wheat in quantities far in excess of our normal requirement is well known. The policymakers justify it on the ground that it ensures farmers get remunerative prices.
Government interventions: Wheat, being an essential commodity, is prone to frequent government interventions in terms of export bans and imposition of higher import duty. This creates market distortions.
Climate change: Many challenges confront Indian wheat export, not the least of which is global warming and climate change. Whether deliberate or out of ignorance, many experts overlook the well-recognised fact that Indian wheat is at the limit of heat tolerance.
Low acreage under wheat crop: At about 33 million hectares, the area under wheat cultivation is perhaps reaching a saturation point. There is a case for shifting a part of the wheat area in Punjab and Haryana to other crops such as oilseeds and pulses.
What about government procurement?
Dip in procurement: This year the government’s wheat purchase has seen a dip owing to several reasons from lower yield to higher market prices being offered by private traders.
Costlier than MSP: A large quantity of wheat was being bought by traders at a higher rate than the minimum support price (MSP).
Stock hoarding: Farmers and traders are holding on to some quantity of wheat, expecting higher prices for their produce in the near future.
Is India staring at a food shortage?
No. India’s grain stocks are well above the buffer levels and the decision to regulate wheat exports was taken largely to check prices and curb hoarding.
The public distribution system PDS would be run smoothly in the country.
However, the government has replaced wheat with rice in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme for 2022-23.
The effort clearly is a response to thereduced availability of wheat.
What has been the global reaction to the ban?
Global wheat prices rose nearly 50% since the start of this year as supplies from Russia, the number one wheat exporter, and Ukraine, number six, were hit.
Agriculture ministers from G7 condemned India’s decision to withhold wheat exports amid a global grain shortage.
India was expected to fill the gap created because of the Ukraine war.
How will the ban affect India’s neighbors?
This ban has widely deemed a failure for India’s soft-power, geopolitical standpoint.
Even with the ban, there is a window open for neighbouring countries.
The export will be allowed to other countries “based on the request of their governments”.
This window is crucial for Sri Lanka because the country is facing an economic crisis.
Wheat exports will be allowed in cases where an irrevocable letter of credit has already been issued.
Also, Bangladesh and Nepal have traditionally relied on Indian wheat.
What is the impact on farmers and traders?
Missed opportunity: The ban has deprived Indian wheat traders the opportunity to gain from the global grain shortage.
No profitmaking: It may have an unfavourable impact on wheat farmers too.
Issues with the ban
This ban has impacted the credibility of India as a reliable supplier of anything in global markets.
It conveys that we don’t have any credible export policy as it can turn its back at the drop of a hat.
More interestingly, it also reflects a deep-rooted consumer bias in India’s trade policies.
It is this consumer bias that indirectly becomes anti-farmer. This ban deprives farmers from profit-making.
It only shows the hollowness of agri-trade policies and dreams of doubling agri-exports.
The export ban also reflects poorly on India’s image in playing its shared global responsibility amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Way forward
Balancing between food security and ensuring better returns to farmers through exports is a delicate act.
India’s wheat export ban will not help tame inflation at home.
The Government could have announced a bonus of Rs 200-250/quintal on top of MSP to augment its wheat procurement.
The govt could have calibrated exports by putting some minimum export price (MEP).
The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the order of a civil court in Varanasi directing a videographic survey of a temple- mosque complex upholding the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
What is the Places of Worship Act?
The long title describes it as an Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship.
It holds places of worships as it existed on the 15th day of August, 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
When was this law passed?
The Act was brought in 1991 by the then pseudo-secular government at a time when the Ram temple movement was at its peak.
Then, communal tensions in India were at peak.
Parliament determined that independence from colonial rule furnishes a constitutional basis for healing the injustices of the past.
It sought to provide the confidence to every religious community that their places of worship will be preserved and that their character will not be altered.
What are its provisions?
Anti-conversion: Section 3 of the Act bars the conversion, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination — or even a different segment of the same religious denomination.
Holiness of a place: Section 4(1) declares that the religious character of a place of worship “shall continue to be the same as it existed” on August 15, 1947.
Litigation: Section 4(2) says any suit or legal proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place existing on August 15, 1947, pending before any court, shall abate — and no fresh suit or legal proceedings shall be instituted.
Exception for Ayodhya: Section 5 stipulates that the Act shall not apply to the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, and to any suit, appeal or proceeding relating to it.
Issues with the law
The law has been challenged on the ground that it bars judicial review, which is a basic feature of the Constitution.
It imposes an “arbitrary irrational retrospective cutoff date”, and abridges the right to religion of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs.
What is the recent controversy?
The temple-mosque complex in Varanasi clearly shows that the mosque stands over a rundown temple.
Videography shows the presence of Hindu deities inside the mosque.
Right-wing propagandists highlight the intention of Aurangzeb behind leaving remnants of the temple to keep reminding communities of their historical fate and to remind coming generations of rulers of their past glory and power.
What did the Supreme Court say in its Ayodhya judgment?
The constitutional validity of the 1991 Act was not under challenge, nor had it been examined before the Supreme Court Bench that heard the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit.
The Places of Worship Act imposes a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing our commitment to secularism under the Indian Constitution.
The law is hence a legislative instrument designed to protect the secular features of the Indian polity, which is one of the basic features of the Constitution.
The Places of Worship Act is a legislative intervention which preserves non-retrogression as an essential feature of our secular values.
A report has flagged issues due to threats posed to anaemic persons over iron over-nutrition created by rice fortification.
Highlights of the report
No prior education: The activists discovered that neither field functionaries nor beneficiaries had been educated about the potential harms.
No warnings issued: There were no warning labels despite the food regulator’s rules on fortified foods.
No informed choice: The right to informed choices about one’s food is a basic right. In the case of rice fortification, it is seen that no prior informed consent was ever sought from the recipients.
What are the risks highlighted?
Thalassemia, sickle cell anaemia and malaria are conditions where there is already excess iron in the body, whereas TB patients are unable to absorb iron.
Consumption of iron-fortified foods among patients of these diseases can reduce immunity and functionality of organs.
Endemic zones identified
Jharkhand is an endemic zone of sickle cell disorder and thalassemia, with a prevalence of 8%-10%, which is twice the national average.
Jharkhand is also an endemic zone for malaria — in 2020, the State ranked third in the country in malaria deaths.
What is Fortification?
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has explicitly defined fortification.
It involves deliberate increasing of the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of food and to provide public health benefit with minimal risk to health.
Types of food fortification
Food fortification can also be categorized according to the stage of addition:
Commercial and industrial fortification (wheat flour, cornmeal, cooking oils)
Biofortification (breeding crops to increase their nutritional value, which can include both conventional selective breeding, and genetic engineering)
Home fortification (example: vitamin D drops)
How is fortification done for rice?
Various technologies are available to add micronutrients to regular rice, such as coating, dusting, and ‘extrusion’.
The last mentioned involves the production of fortified rice kernels (FRKs) from a mixture using an ‘extruder’ machine.
It is considered to be the best technology for India.
The fortified rice kernels are blended with regular rice to produce fortified rice.
How does the extrusion technology to produce FRK work?
Dry rice flour is mixed with a premix of micronutrients, and water is added to this mixture.
The mixture is passed through a twin-screw extruder with heating zones, which produces kernels similar in shape and size to rice.
These kernels are dried, cooled, and packaged for use. FRK has a shelf life of at least 12 months.
As per guidelines issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the shape and size of the fortified rice kernel should “resemble the normal milled rice as closely as possible”.
According to the guidelines, the length and breadth of the grain should be 5 mm and 2.2 mm respectively.
But why does rice have to be fortified in the first place?
India has very high levels of malnutrition among women and children.
According to the Food Ministry, every second woman in the country is anaemic and every third child is stunted.
Fortification of food is considered to be one of the most suitable methods to combat malnutrition.
Rice is one of India’s staple foods, consumed by about two-thirds of the population. Per capita rice consumption in India is 6.8 kg per month.
Therefore, fortifying rice with micronutrients is an option to supplement the diet of the poor.
What are the standards for fortification?
Under the Ministry’s guidelines, 10 g of FRK must be blended with 1 kg of regular rice.
According to FSSAI norms, 1 kg of fortified rice will contain the following: iron (28 mg-42.5 mg), folic acid (75-125 microgram), and vitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 microgram).
Rice may also be fortified with zinc (10 mg-15 mg), vitamin A (500-750 microgram RE), vitamin B-1 (1 mg-1.5 mg), vitamin B-2 (1.25 mg-1.75 mg), vitamin B-3 (12.5 mg-20 mg) and vitamin B-6 (1.5 mg-2.5 mg) per kg.
How can a beneficiary distinguish between fortified rice and regular rice?
Fortified rice will be packed in jute bags with the logo (‘+F’) and the line “Fortified with Iron, Folic Acid, and Vitamin B12”.
Advantages offered
Health: Fortified staple foods will contain natural or near-natural levels of micro-nutrients, which may not necessarily be the case with supplements.
Taste: It provides nutrition without any change in the characteristics of food or the course of our meals.
Nutrition: If consumed on a regular and frequent basis, fortified foods will maintain body stores of nutrients more efficiently and more effectively than will intermittently supplement.
Economy: The overall costs of fortification are extremely low; the price increase is approximately 1 to 2 percent of the total food value.
Society: It upholds everyone’s right to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger
Issues with fortified food
Against nature: Fortification and enrichment upset nature’s packaging. Our body does not absorb individual nutrients added to processed foods as efficiently compared to nutrients naturally occurring.
Bioavailability: Supplements added to foods are less bioavailable. Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a nutrient your body is able to absorb and use.
Immunity issues: They lack immune-boosting substances.
Over-nutrition: Fortified foods and supplements can pose specific risks for people who are taking prescription medications, including decreased absorption of other micro-nutrients, treatment failure, and increased mortality risk.
Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary is now notified as a tiger reserve after a nod by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Ramgarh Vishdhari TR
Ramgarh Vishadhri, located mostly in Bundi district and in part in Bhilwara and Kota districts.
It is also home to the Indian wolf, leopard, striped hyena, chinkara, antelope and foxes among other animals.
It is now India’s 52nd tiger reserve and Rajasthan’s fourth, after Ranthambore, Sariska and Mukundra.
The reserve will be spread in an area of 1,501.89 sq km.
The area has been called ‘critical’ for the movement of tigers by wildlife experts and conservationists.
Though the tiger population in Ramgarh itself was not high, it plays an important role in connecting the Ranthambore and Mukundra Tiger Reserves of Rajasthan.
Back2Basics: Tiger Reserves
The Tiger Reserves of India were set up in 1973 and are governed by Project Tiger, which is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
A National Park or Wildlife Sanctuary that is considered significant for protecting tigers can be additionally designated as a Tiger Reserve.
A Tiger Reserve consists of a ‘Core’ or ‘Critical Tiger Habitat’, which is to be managed as an inviolate area, and a ‘Buffer’ or Peripheral area immediately abutting a Core area, which may be accorded a lesser degree of habitat protection.
The Union government is reassessing the concept of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) leading to a delay in the appointment to the post.
The post of CDS has also been lying vacant since the demise of Late. Gen. Bipin Rawat.
Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
The CDS is a high military office that oversees and coordinates the working of the three Services, and offers seamless tri-service views and single-point advice to the Executive.
On long-term it provides for defence planning and management, including manpower, equipment and strategy, and above all, “joint manship” in operations.
In most democracies, the CDS is seen as being above inter-Service rivalries and the immediate operational preoccupations of the individual military chiefs.
The role of the CDS becomes critical in times of conflict.
Duties and Functions of the CDS
The Ministry of Defence has outlined various functions and duties for the post of CDS:
To head the Department of Military Affairs in Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary.
To act as the Principal Military Advisor to Raksha Mantri on all Tri-Service matters.
To function as the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
To administer the Tri-Service organizations/agencies/commands.
To be a member of Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Raksha Mantri.
To function as the Military Advisor to the Nuclear Command Authority.
To bring about jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc of the three Services.
To implement Five-Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plan and Two-Year roll-on Annual Acquisition Plans, as a follow up of Integrated Capability Development Plan.
To bring about reforms in the functioning of three Services with the aim to augment combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure.
Why need CDS?
Tri-services coordination: The creation of the CDS will eventually lead to the formation of tri-service theatre commands intended to create vertical integration of the three forces.
Single-point military advisory: The CDS will be a single-point military adviser to the government and synergise long term planning, procurements, training and logistics of the three Services.
Efforts saving: This is expected to save money by avoiding duplication between the Services, at a time of shrinking capital expenditure within the defence budget.
Military diplomacy: This is today supporting conventional diplomacy. That can’t be done by different Services.
Pope Francis canonised Devasahayam Pillai as a Catholic Saint during an event in St Peter’s Basilica.
Who was Devasahayam Pillai?
Devasahayam was born on April 23, 1712 in Nattalam village in Kanyakumari district, and went on to serve in the court of Marthanda Varma of Travancore.
After meeting a Dutch naval commander at the court, Devasahayam was baptised in 1745, and assumed the name ‘Lazarus’, meaning ‘God is my help’.
His works
While preaching, he particularly insisted on the equality of all people, despite caste differences.
His conversion did not go well with the heads of his native religion.
False charges of treason and espionage were brought against him and he was divested of his post in the royal administration.
On January 14, 1752, Devasahayam was shot dead in the Aralvaimozhy forest.
Since then, he is widely considered a martyr, and his mortal remains were interred inside what is now Saint Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Kottar, Nagercoil.
Other canonized saints in India
Of the eleven, Gonsalo Garcia, born in India to Portuguese parents in Mumbai in 1557, is considered to have been the first India-born saint.
In 2008, Kerala-born Sister Alphonsa was declared as the first woman Catholic saint from India.
Mother Teresa had a fast track to sainthood when she was canonized in 2016.
India is a significant player in the global medicines industry.
Indian pharma exports witnessed a growth of 103% since 2013-14, from Rs. 90, 415 Crores in 2013-14 to Rs. 183,422 Crores in 2021-22.
Feats achieved by India’s Pharma Sector
Surplus trade: The Pharma trade balance continues to be in India’s favour.
Worldwide production: India ranks 3rd worldwide for Pharmaceutical production by volume and 14th by value. The current market size is around USD 50 billion.
High competitiveness: Indian pharma companies enabled by their price competitiveness and good quality have made a global mark with 60% of the world’s vaccines and 20% of generic medicines coming from India.
Major destinations: India’s top 5 pharma export destinations are the USA, UK, South Africa, Russia and Nigeria.
Regulatory compliance: Around 55 % of our pharma exports from India cater to highly regulated markets. For instance, the largest number of FDA approved plants outside the US is in India.
India’s Pharma Sector: A Backgrounder
India enjoys an important position in the global pharmaceuticals sector.
The country has a large pool of scientists and engineers with the potential to steer the industry ahead to greater heights.
Presently, over 80% of the antiretroviral drugs used globally to combat AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) are supplied by Indian pharmaceutical firms.
Its evolution
Over the last few decades, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has experienced rapid expansion, which may be divided into four stages:
Foreign domination: The time before 1970 is considered as the first stage of the pharma industry. At that time, the Indian market was dominated by foreign companies.
Rise of domestic companies: The second stage covers 1970 to 1990 when several domestic companies began operations.
LPG reforms: 1990 to 2010 is the third stage, where liberalization led Indian components to launch operations in foreign countries.
Patent assisted boom: The introduction of the patent bill was one of the first advancements in the pharma industry. It allowed the Indian pharmaceutical sector to become less reliant on intellectual property laws in the US.
Rise of OTC drugs: Over-the-counter drugs (bought without prescriptions) constitute the next biggest segment with 21% of the market segment.
Market Size
According to the Indian Economic Survey 2021, the domestic market is expected to grow 3x in the next decade.
India’s domestic pharmaceutical market is at US$ 42 billion in 2021 and likely to reach US$ 65 billion by 2024 and further expand to reach ~US$ 120-130 billion by 2030.
India’s biotechnology industry comprises biopharmaceuticals, bio-services, bio-agriculture, bio-industry, and bioinformatics.
Who regulates Indian Pharma Sector?
The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 was the central legislation that regulates India’s drug and cosmetic import, manufacture, distribution and sale.
The Act clearly defines the spurious drugs, adulterated drugs and mis-branded drugs.
This also established the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).
The Act establishes the regulatory control over the manufacture and sale of drugs.
State Health department has to regulate the manufacturing, sales and distribution of drugs.
Drug Inspectors will control the implementation at ground level.
What made India the world’s pharmacy?
Low manufacturing costs: Compared to other nations, the cost of manufacturing pharmaceutical goods in India is much lower and more effective.
Skilled workforce: India now has a highly-skilled workforce as a result of technological advancements.
R&D: India’s pharma industrial sector is also robust. Most pharma labs has turned incubators.
Marketing benefits: With economic liberalization, India’s marketing and distribution system are likewise on the higher side. The sector is additionally strengthened by its diversified ecosystem.
Focus on generics: The companies broke into the worldwide market by exploring generic alternatives to costly proprietary medications.
Various govt. policies
FDI relaxation: The government has allowed 100% FDI in Greenfield pharmaceutical projects and 74% FDI in brownfield pharmaceutical projects.
PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana: The government had launched this scheme to supply low-cost pharma drugs to the economically weaker sections.
Bulk Drug Parks: In March 2020, the centre approved the establishment of mega ‘Bulk Drug Parks’ to provide common facilities like solvent recovery, effluent treatment, distillation, etc.
PLI scheme: The Cabinet also approved the ‘Production Linked Incentive Scheme’ for encouraging domestic manufacturing of drug intermediaries.
SPI Scheme: In March 2022, under the Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI) Scheme, a total financial outlay of Rs. 500 crore (US$ 665.5 million) for the period FY 21-22 to FY 25-26 were announced.
Various challenges
FDA mandate in US: The US accounts for more than a quarter of Indian pharmaceutical exports. Every medicine sold in the United States is subject to FDA monitoring and site visits by Indian businesses.
Hostile competition: There is stiff competition from firms in countries like China, Israel and Japan. Hostile and negative lobbying by the big players who frequently accuse Indian firms of violating patent laws.
Over-dependence on China: The industry is highly dependent on China for pharmaceutical raw materials. Indian drug-makers import around 70% of their total Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) / bulk drug requirements from China.
Hollowing out: India today is preferred low-cost producer and exporter of simpler off-patent formulations, the road taken is ‘hollowing out’ manufacturing in raw material: API.
Plagiarism: Fake versions of high value and/or high volume brands of the pharma companies are adversely affecting their business performance. It can also create a health hazard.
Domestic drug price control: The GoI’s Drug Price Control Order put excessive pressure on product pricing, affecting pharmaceutical companies’ profitability. Small businesses face a danger from the new MRP-based excise duty structure.
Low spending on R&D: India’s current public expenditure on R&D consistently remains low, at less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Burden of new diseases: New diseases, curbing costs, medical infrastructure, and foreign regulations are some of the challenges being faced by the pharma industry.
Regulatory lacunae: Many states have an inadequate number of drug inspectors – sometimes even as high as 53% vacancies like in Karnataka. The CDSCO itself suffers from insufficient personnel with 22% vacancies.
Major contribution of Pharma Sector: Medical Diplomacy
Medical diplomacy is the state’s use of essential medicines’ trade and medical personnel’s dispatch to affected countries to improve its international relations.
India’s vaccine diplomacy during the pandemic also reaped huge praises all across the world.
India has been supplying essential drugs like hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and paracetamol to different categories of countries ranging from USA, Russia, France and UK to African and Latin American countries like Zambia, Uganda, Niger, Kenya, Colombia and Uruguay.
In the neighbourhood, the drugs are being supplied to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
While some of these countries received the drugs on a commercial basis, others received it as grants from India.
Way forward
Harnessing global value-chain: Besides the volume share, India now needs to capture value share as well.
R&D boost: India will need to make exponential investments in R&D, manufacturing and digital transformations to become a global pharmaceutical innovation hub.
Incentivization: The government needs to urgently explore mechanisms to incentivize investment in R&D and evaluate various funding mechanisms that can help co-research.
Focus on API: This is also an opportunity to bring a much larger proportion of manufacturing of APIs back into India, so that the country is not dependent on imports of critical inputs.
Rational drug pricing: India needs to rationalize drug price control. Pharma companies must not be loaded with the cost public health.
Fresh delimitation was necessary for Jammu and Kashmir since the State had been divided into two Union Territories and elections could only be held under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Issues with the report of the Delimitation Commission
The central question of why Jammu has gained six Assembly seats and the Valley only one has been brushed under general remarks on methodology with no explanation of how that methodology was applied.
Nor does it explain why Jammu’s Muslim-majority seats now comprise less than a quarter of the province’s total seats, though Muslims comprise over a third of the province’s population.
The commission’s recommendations further complicate the issue.
They propose that the President nominate Pandit migrants to two Assembly seats — why is there no reference to Pandits who remain in the Valley?
Indeed, the only overarching guideline which the report does describe in some detail is the commission’s desire to match the boundaries of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies.
Most of these questions were addressed to the commission during its consultation phase.
By choosing not to do so they lost a valuable opportunity to display transparency and dispel suspicion of bias.
Way forward
The only hope for a peace process in Jammu and Kashmir is if there is a clean election, statehood is speedily restored, and the new Assembly determines whether or in which form special status is required.
The better option is to hold elections for existing constituencies and let the new assembly approve or query the delimitation report.
In fact, the commission itself proposed that the report be placed before the legislative assembly, a recommendation that makes sense only if new delimitation comes into force after and not before elections.
Urgent as elections are, attention to fundamental freedoms is even more important.
Conclusion
The peace process in Jammu and Kashmir needs to address the concerns of the people related to the restoration of statehood, and clean elections.
In India, about 75 percent of the total number of prisoners are undertrial. More than 3.5 lakh undertrial prisoners are lodged in jails across the country and awaiting trial.
Recently, PM also raised the issue of undertrial prisoners in jails in a conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts.
Undertrials in India: A backgrounder
Who are the undertrials?
An undertrial is a person who is being held in custody by a court of law and is awaiting trial for a crime.
The 78th Report of Law Commission also includes a person who is in judicial custody on remand during investigation in the definition of an ‘undertrial’.
Constitutional protection for Prisoners/Undertrials
‘Prisons/persons detained therein’ is a State subject under Entry 4 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India.
Article 39A of the Constitution directs the State to ensure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity and shall, in particular, provide free legal etc.
Article 21 says, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”.
Vital stats
Over three-fourths of all those in jail, the undertrials amount for the highest proportion of 75% in at least a decade.
These facts emerge from data given by NCRB and analysed by India Justice Report, 2020.
High rate in Sensitive Areas: Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir reported the highest share of undertrial inmates of the total prison inmates, followed by Bihar, Punjab and Odisha and Maharashtra.
Majority belong to marginalized groups: Two in three prisoners under trial belong to SC, ST or OBC caste groups, data show. Two in five undertrial inmates were educated below grade X and more than a quarter were illiterate.
Longer spend in Jails: Nearly 2% of the undertrials in 2020 had spent over 5 years in confinement, up from 1.5% in 2019. Overall, 29% of all the undertrials had spent over a year in prison.
Young population behind bars: Among the undertrial inmates, 49% are between 18 and 30 years of age, but among convicts, only 29% fall in this age group. Further, 50% of the convicts are aged between 30 and 50 years.
Plight of under-trials: Various challenges faced
(1) Abuses faced in jail
Prison violence: Prisons are often dangerous places for those they hold. Group violence is also endemic and riots are common.
Physical mishandling: Physical mishandling by jail officials is no rare phenomena in India.
Extra-judicial torture: No conduct of the prison authority is criminalised and it grants them immunity and presumes their good faith in acts of extreme neglect that could and do result in the death of inmates.
(2) Criminalizing impacts
Impact of inmates: Circumstantial and young offenders often turn into full-fledged criminals when subjected to prison conditions.
Criminalization by labelling: It is an often given quote, ‘prisons are Universities of crime where people go in as under-graduates and come out with PhDs. in crime.’ Ex. Drug abuse in Jails
(3) Health problems
Prevalent un-hygiene: Most of the prisons face problems of overcrowding and shortage of adequate space to lodge prisoners in safe and healthy conditions.
Medical history gets ignored: People are cramped in with each other in unhealthy conditions, infectious and communicable diseases spread easily. Ex. Spread of TB
(4) Human rights violation
Taboo over mental illness: Though miniscule, mentally ill prisoners constitute another percentage of population, which is largely ignored and forgotten by both the outside world and those inside.
Delayed family planning: Undertrials also faces physical separation with their spouses resulting into delayed family planning.
(5) Suffering of the families
Livelihood crisis: In the absence of the main bread winner, the family is many a time forced into destitution with children going astray.
Social stigma and boycott: This combined with the social stigmatization that they face, leads to circumstances propelling family towards delinquency and exploitation by others.
Exploitation: The dominant class often take advantage of this situation to exploit the remaining family members to the fullest possible extent. This can take the form of rape or forced prostitution.
Social aspects of the issue
Hostility from the law: Criminal Law of India is a replica of colonial times. It is hostile to the poor and the weaker sections of society.
Caste prejudices and over-policing: This exists for certain communities due to important social factors behind the significant presence of marginalized caste groups in jails.
Rich vs. poor divide: This has resulted in rich people escaping law and the jail is more often full of the unprivileged class of society.
Justice delayed: Undertrial prisoners often get neglected in jail for many years, in many cases it exceeded the maximum sentence for the crime which they had committed.
Specific problems faced by under-trial prisoners:
No Right to Speedy Trial : It is recognised by the Supreme Court in Hussainara Khatoon vs. Home Secretary, Bihar. This is violated due to protracted delays due to:
Systemic delays.
Grossly inadequate number of judges and prosecutors.
Absence or belated service of summons on witnesses.
Presiding judges proceeding on leave.
Remands being extended mechanically due to lack of time and patience with the presiding judge.
Inadequacy of police personnel and vehicles which prevents the production of all prisoners on their due dates.
Right to bail is denied even in genuine cases: Even in cases where the prisoner was charged with bailable offence, they are found to rot in prisons due to exorbitantly high bail amount.
Non-compliance by the officials: Undertrials become prisoners of the whims and fancies of individuals’ official’s attitude.
Politicization of trial: Prisoners right to effective Legal Aid is also violated due to politicisation of as many lawyers are hired on political consideration.
Way forward
Separation prisons: Undertrial prisoners should be lodged in separate institutions away from convicted prisoners.
Non-branding as criminals: There should be proper and scientific classification even among undertrial prisoners to ensure that contamination of first time and petty offenders into full-fledged and hard-core criminals.
Separate courts for certain offences: Institutions meant for lodging undertrial prisoners should be as close to the courts as possible.
Limited extension of remands: This has to stop which are also given merely for the sake of the convenience of the authorities.
Investigation reforms: Police functions should be separated into investigation and law and order duties and sufficient strength be provided to complete investigations on time and avoid delays.
Decriminalization of certain offences: There should be a progressive and massive decriminalization so that many of the wrongs, which are given the status of crimes. Ex. Sedition Law
Going digital: Computerise the handling of criminal cases and with the help of the National Informatics Centre, develop programmes that would help in managing pendency and delay of different types of cases.
Associated judicial reforms: There should be an immediate increase in the number of judges and magistrates in some reasonable proportion to the general population.
Conclusion
Justice Krishna Iyer in the Constitutional Bench judgment in Sunil Batra (I) v. Delhi Administration (1978), held the humane thread of jail jurisprudence.
This principle now seems long due in India’s case.
