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GS Paper: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

  • BARC ratings for news channels to resume soon

    Ratings by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) for the news channels will resume, after the organisation revised its procedures and protocols.

    The ratings were suspended after the Mumbai police busted a racket involving a private channel’s efforts to tamper the TRPs.

    Try this question:

    Q.What do you mean by “TRP Journalism”? Discuss the loopholes in the present system of self-regulation in Indian media.

    What is TRP?

    • In simple terms, anyone who watches television for more than a minute is considered a viewer.
    • The TRP or Target Rating Point is the metric used by the marketing and advertising agencies to evaluate this viewership.
    • In India, the TRP is recorded by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) using Bar-O-Meters that are installed in televisions in selected households.
    • As on date, the BARC has installed these meters in 44,000 households across the country. Audio watermarks are embedded in video content prior to broadcast.
    • These watermarks are not audible to the human ear, but can easily be detected and decoded using dedicated hardware and software.
    • As viewing details are recorded by the Bar-O-Meters, so are the watermarks.

    What is BARC?

    • It is an industry body jointly owned by advertisers, ad agencies, and broadcasting companies, represented by The Indian Society of Advertisers, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the Advertising Agencies Association of India.
    • Though it was created in 2010, the I&B Ministry notified the Policy Guidelines for Television Rating Agencies in India on January 10, 2014, and registered BARC in July 2015 under these guidelines, to carry out television ratings in India.

    How are the households selected?

    • Selection of households where Bar-O-Meters are installed is a two-stage process.
    • The first step is the Establishment Survey, a large-scale face-to-face survey of a sample of approximately 3 lakh households from the target population. This is done annually.
    • Out of these, the households which will have Bar-O-Meters or what the BARC calls the Recruitment Sample are randomly selected. The fieldwork to recruit households is not done directly by BARC.
    • The BARC on its website has said that the viewing behaviour of panel homes is reported to BARC India daily. Coincidental checks either physically or telephonically are done regularly.

    Vigilance activities by BARC

    • Certain suspicious outliers are also checked directly by BARC India.
    • BARC India also involves a separate vigilance agency to check on outliers that it considers highly suspicious.
    • And as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, these households rotate every year.
    • This rotation is in such a manner that older panel homes are removed first while maintaining the representativeness of the panel.
    • The Ministry guidelines further say that the secrecy and privacy of the panel homes must be maintained, and asked the BARC to follow a voluntary code of conduct.

    What are the loopholes in the process?

    • Several doubts have been raised on many previous occasions about the working of the TRP.
    • As per several reports, about 70% of the revenue for television channels comes from advertising and only 30% from subscriptions.
    • It is claimed that households were being paid to manipulate the TRP.

     

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  • Govt releases revised guidelines for Universal Accessibility

    From the design plan to the implementation, various aspects of the built environment have been covered under the new guidelines for universal accessibility recently drafted by the Centre.

    What is Universal Accessibility?

    • Universal Accessibility can be defined as the conditions for easy access.
    • It would allow any individual (even those whose mobility, communicative ability, or understanding is reduced) to access and enjoy a place, product, or service, and to do so freely and independently.

    Why is universal accessibility important?

    • Universal design is so important because if a space is accessible, usable, and convenient for everyone regardless of age or ability, it’s inclusive for all.
    • An accessible school, library, community centre, govt office or park means everyone can participate fully in their community.

    What are the new guidelines?

    • The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) released the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021.
    • Drafted by a team of the IIT-Roorkee and the National Institute of Urban Affairs of the MoHUA, the revised guidelines aim to give a holistic approach.
    • Earlier, the guidelines were for creating a barrier-free environment, but now they are focusing on universal accessibility.

    Key highlights

    • Ramps: The guidelines provide the gradient and length of ramps — for example, for a length of six metres, the gradient should be 1:12. The minimum clear width of a ramp should be 1,200 mm.
    • Beyond PwDs: While making public buildings and transport fully accessible for wheelchair users is covered in the guidelines, other users who may experience temporary problems have also been considered. For instance, a parent pushing a child’s pram while carrying groceries or other bags, and women wearing saris.
    • Women friendly: Built environment needs for accessibility for women should consider diverse age groups, diverse cultural contexts and diverse life situations in which women operate. Diverse forms of clothing (saris, salwar-kameez, etc.) and footwear (heels, kolhapuri chappals, etc.) require a certain orientations.
    • Accessibility symbols: The guidelines call for accessibility symbols for PwD, family-friendly facilities and transgender to be inclusively incorporated among the symbols for other user groups.
    • Targeted authorities: The guidelines are meant for State governments, government departments and the private sector, as well as for reference by architecture and planning institutes.

    Policy measures for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

    • India is a signatory to the UN Convention the Right of Persons with Disabilities, which came into force in 2007.
    • The ‘Accessible India Campaign’ (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) was launched in 2015 to enable Persons with disabilities to gain universal access, equal opportunity for development.
    • The Union Minister for Social justice and Empowerment has also launched the “Sugamya Bharat App” to complain for ease accessibility for PwDs.
    • India has its dedicated the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which is the principal and comprehensive legislation concerning persons with disabilities.

    Back2Basics: Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan

    • Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is a program that is set to be launched to serve the differently-able community of the country.
    • The flagship program has been launched on 3 December 2015, the International Day of People with Disabilities.
    • The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly buildings and human resource policies.
    • The initiative also in line with Article 9 of the (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) which India is a signatory since 2007.
    • The scheme also comes under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 for equal Opportunities and protection of rights which provides non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with Disabilities.

     

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  • Hate speech in the time of free speech

    Context

    The growing incidence of hate speeches, especially those targeting minorities, in combination with the judicial ambiguity has provided an opportunity to chart legislative reforms.

    Current legal provisions to deal with hate speech

    • Not defined in legal framework: Hate speech is neither defined in the Indian legal framework nor can it be easily reduced to a standard definition due to the myriad forms it can take.
    • The Supreme Court, in Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan v. Union of India (2014), described hate speech as “an effort to marginalise individuals based on their membership in a group” and one that “seeks to delegitimise group members in the eyes of the majority, reducing their social standing and acceptance within society.”
    • The Indian Penal Code illegalises speeches that are intended to promote enmity or prejudice the maintenance of harmony between different classes.
    • Specifically, sections of the IPC, such as 153A, which penalises promotion of enmity between different groups;
    • 153B, which punishes imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration;
    • 505, which punishes rumours and news intended to promote communal enmity, and
    • 295A, which criminalises insults to the religious beliefs of a class by words with deliberate or malicious intention.
    • Summing up various legal principles, in Amish Devgan v. Union of India (2020), the Supreme Court held that “hate speech has no redeeming or legitimate purpose other than hatred towards a particular group”.
    • Lack of established legal standard: Divergent decisions from constitutional courts expose the lack of established legal standards in defining hate speech, especially those propagated via the digital medium.

    Suggestions

    • The Law Commission of India, in its 267th report, recommended the insertion of two new provisions to criminalise and punish the propagation of hate speech.
    • The 189th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in 2015, recommended the incorporation of separate and specific provisions in the Information Technology Act to deal with online hate speech.
    • Specialised legislation for social media: Much of the existing penal provisions deal with hate speech belong to the pre-Internet era.
    • The need of the hour is specialised legislation that will govern hate speech propagated via the Internet and, especially, social media.
    • Recognise hate speech as reasonable restriction to free speech: Taking cue from best international standards, it is important that specific and durable legislative provisions that combat hate speech, especially that which is propagated online and through social media.
    • Ultimately, this would be possible only when hate speech is recognised as a reasonable restriction to free speech.

    Consider the question “What is hate speech? What are the challenges in dealing with hate speech? Suggest a way forward.”

    Conclusion

    It is important that specific and durable legislative provisions be enacted to combat hate speech.

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  • The Mediation Bill, 2021

    Context

    The Mediation Bill, 2021 was introduced in Parliament in December 2021. It seeks to ‘promote mediation (including online), and provide for enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from mediation’.

    Need to popularise mediation

    • The Chief Justice of India (CJI), N.V. Ramana, had said that mediation should be made mandatory as a first step in dispute resolution and that a law should be framed in this regard.
    • He emphasised the point that a movement needs to be launched to popularise mediation as it was a cheaper and faster dispute resolution mechanism.
    • He said that courts should be the last resort for dispute resolution; therefore, one should explore the options of alternate dispute resolution.
    • The Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, an initiative of the Madras High Court and India’s first court-annexed facility with a mediation centre in every district, has significantly reduced the pendency of referred cases.

    Which laws in India allow mediation?

    • Mediation finds legitimacy in some specific laws such as:
    • The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996,
    • The Companies Act, 2013,
    • The Commercial Courts Act, 2015,
    • The Consumer Protection Act, 2019,
    • However, there is no standalone legislation as yet.

    How the provisions of Mediation Bill 2021 will help in improving the law and order situation

    • The bill seeks to promote mediation (including online), and provide for enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from mediation’.
    • In case of civil or commercial disputes, a person must try to settle the dispute by mediation before approaching a court or tribunal.
    • Improving the law and order situation: There are certain provisions in the Bill which may help in improving the law and order situation in a locality and/or encourage compounding of criminal offences.
    • First, Section 7 of the Bill says that courts will be competent to refer any dispute to mediation relating to compoundable offences or matrimonial offences connected with or arising out of civil proceedings between the parties.
    • Second, Section 44 of the Bill provides for ‘any dispute likely to affect peace, harmony and tranquillity amongst the residents or families of any area or locality, to be settled through community mediation.
    •  Third, the provisions of the Act shall not have the overriding effect, inter alia, on the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act, 2007 and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
    • Promote friendliness: Section 320 in the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides for the compounding of certain criminal offences which shall have the effect of acquittal of the accused.
    • Here, the policy of the law is to promote friendliness between the parties so that peace between them is restored.
    • Relieving the pressure on the police: Many criminal offences are a result of the fact that civil or commercial disputes could not be resolved amicably and in time.
    • The police at times take minor cases lightly or reduce the seriousness of crime by converting a cognisable offence into a non-cognisable one.
    • Therefore, the proposed law of mediation, that has the mechanism of not only preventing the breakdown of law and order through community intervention but also the competence to smoothen the route to compounding of certain criminal offences, may ultimately relieve some of the pressure on the police also.

    Some laws are left out of the scope of Mediation Bill 2021

    • Law to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplace: The law to prevent the sexual harassment of women at the workplace has probably been kept out of its scope so that an internal or local complaint committee is able to take up conciliation and close the case locally without involving a third party and detailed procedure.
    • Law on welfare of parents and senior citizens: The law on the maintenance and the welfare of parents and senior citizens has also been kept out of its scope as offences under it are cognisable offences.

    Way forward

    • The Supreme Court’s view: The Supreme Court of India has held that if there is a composition of an offence during investigation, the parties can either approach the court or the police.
    • Increasing the compoundable offences: The number of offences that can be compounded may also be increased — particularly property offences.
    • Keeping in view the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 243rd report, Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, relating to cruelty by the husband or his relatives, can also be made compoundable.
    • It may have far-reaching consequences in resolving matrimonial disputes.

    Consider the question “What are the provisions of the Mediation Bill 2021 that could help relieve some of the pressure on law enforcement agencies?”

    Conclusion

    Though the proposed law primarily intends to resolve civil and commercial disputes through mediation, it has ample scope to relieve some of the pressure on law enforcement agencies.

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    Back2Basics: What is a Compoundable and Non Compoundable offence in India

    • Compoundable offences are those offences where, the complainant (one who has filed the case, i.e. the victim), enter into a compromise, and agrees to have the charges dropped against the accused.
    • However, such a compromise should be a “Bonafide,” and not for any consideration to which the complainant is not entitled to.
    • Compoundable offences are less serious criminal offences and are of two different types mentioned in tables in Section 320 of the Criminal Procedure Code, as follows:
    • Court permission is not required: These are the offences, compounding of which do not require prior permission of the court.
    •  Court permission is required: These are the offences, compounding of which require prior permission of the court.

  • Challenges facing the Civil Society Organisations

    Context

    Recently, the Missionaries of Charity established by Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa was in the news for the cancellation of its permission under the FCRA.

    Detailed scrutiny delaying permission for grant

    • The levels of due diligence and the information sought on the one hand and the annual declarations to be given by the board members of civil society organisations on the other have increased significantly.
    • The mandatory opening of bank accounts for foreign contributions has been centralised in one branch of the State Bank of India.
    • The linking of Permanent Account Number (PAN), Aadhaar number and mapping it with the bank account/s of the individual board members are happening.
    • The registrations under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) have been long necessitated in order to undertake due diligence of the causes for which the organisation is working for and also to have a handle on the traceability of funds.
    • The dashboard shows a little under 17,000 active organisations — which have either got permission or will know their fate by March 2022, while around 33,000 organisations have either lost their permission or it has expired.

    Various restrictions

    • Restriction on sub-grant: In the past, the amendments in the FCRA that restricted the ability to sub-grant, killed many of the niche organisations working in very remote areas which had no direct access to international funding but were doing it through larger non-governmental organisations.
    • Restriction on administrative expenses: The other amendment restricting the proportion of expenses on administration almost choked organisations that worked for the rights of the disposed.
    • The increasing level of surveillance type of data sought has resulted in many organisations losing people on their governance structure and resulting in problems in funding.

    Why do we need Civil Society Organisations?

    • We need them because they usually work on what can be called an unreasonable agenda.
    • This unreasonableness falls in three large verticals.
    • [1] Ensuring efficiency and accountability from state: The first is that they ask for greater efficiency, delivery and accountability from the state.
    • Whether is it about rehabilitation and compensation in the case of land acquisition or setting up a great accountability framework as was done through the movement led by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan for the Right to Information.
    • [2] Correcting extractive nature of market: The second vertical is in correcting the extractive nature of markets.
    • The groups asking for environmental accountability are looking at inter-generational justice on a matter that is not very precisely measurable but is palpable.
    • [3] Picking up niche causes: The third is basically picking up causes that are so niche that it is beyond the capability of the state to come up with such initiatives.
    • For example, a drama school set up in a village called Heggodu, Karnataka, or an idea of distributing clothing for work as done by Goonj.
    • These initiatives cannot be put into specific business plans, spreadsheets or government schemes.
    • They, therefore, need a grant-based, cause-based revenue stream model.

    Should these organisations accept foreign funding?

    • Causes have no boundaries: “Causes” have no boundaries and funding for such socially desirable belief systems could come from beyond borders.
    • Some causes carried out by organisations such as Doctors Without Borders, or Reporters Without Borders are by definition international in nature.
    • Similar is the case with the Jaipur foot provided by the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti.
    • The humanitarian work by the Missionaries of Charity is beyond the capability of a state.
    • Such causes do not have a rational basis to be explained in terms of a financial model; how do you put a price tag to press freedom?
    • The niche funding will happen from agencies that may be beyond the borders.
    • The duality of welcoming foreign investments (which takes away capital gains and dividends) while actively discouraging foreign aid to charities is staring us in the face.

    Conclusion

    The government needs to ensure that the regulations do not create hurdles for the civil society organisations in their functioning and receiving fundings.

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  • Aiding in governance

    Context

    The collaborative effort of markets and the Government are key to the development of a country.

    How CSR law aids citizenry-private partnerships

    • Section 135 of the Companies Act mandates corporates who are beyond a certain level of profits and turnover to pay at least 2% of their net profits before tax to the development space.
    • Scope for collaboration with Non-state actors: This law gives corporates the necessary impetus to collaborate with non-state actors like Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). 
    • Using the depth of engagement of non-state actors: Non-state actors, because of their depth of engagement with communities, bring patient capital to corporate board rooms and help the state, too, by engaging in welfare activities.
    • Role of NGOs: A key pillar of democratic governance is citizens’ power to question the state.
    • NGOs and voluntary groups/organisations have played a significant role in building capacities of citizens to hold governments accountable.
    • Hence, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) grants, have assumed importance to provide the much-needed sustenance to NGOs and CSOs as key players in non-state governance.

    How Non-state actors differ from Governments

    • Risk-averse nature of bureaucracy: The Indian bureaucratic elite have little appetite for risk-taking and innovation because of the constant changing goalposts of their politician-bosses or because the quantum of work is more than what they can efficiently handle.
    • Bureaucrats, therefore, often take recourse to the status quo even if it is to at least get some work done and not stall everything by campaigning for change, especially in the realm of governance.
    • Fear of failure: There is also the fear of failure, with its deep-rooted consequence of non-risk-takers smoothly sailing to the top posts.
    • In such contexts, it is the non-state actor who innovates and creates breakthrough models of community engagement.
    • They also become the vehicle to carry the demands of people to formal institutions.
    • We saw this in the case of the Right to Information (RTI) campaign, which became a law after decades-long efforts by NGOs.
    • It is common knowledge that the District Collector calls on vetted NGOs/CSOs to implement various schemes during the normal course of the day or to step in at short notice when calamities strike.
    • When non-state actors take a large load off the state’s shoulder, the state can focus more on governance.
    • Research shows that it is the synergy of NGOs, Government and corporates which is the key to the development.

    Conclusion

    The CSR law has made the corporate world not only clean its own mess but has also created a legal framework for corporates to work with NGOs and CSOs. NGOs and CSOs in India, will play a major role in mobilising citizen action to right various wrongs.

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  • Centre notifies new rules for Consumer Panels

    The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution has notified monetary jurisdiction for various Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (CDRC) under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

    What are the new changes?

    • The Centre has notified new rules to revise pecuniary jurisdiction for entertaining consumer complaints at district, state and national level commissions, a move aimed at fast disposal of cases.
    • The NCDRC will now have jurisdiction to entertain consumers’ complaints where the value of the goods or services exceeds Rs 2 crore as against the earlier limit of over Rs 10 crore.
    • The state commissions will have jurisdiction to similar complaints with value of goods or services between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore, and the National Commission over Rs 2 crore.
    • District commissions have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where value of goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed Rs 1 crore.

    Legal basis of these changes

    • The Act provides a “three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism” for redress of consumer disputes: district commissions, state commissions, and the national commission.
    • The law also provides pecuniary jurisdiction of each tier of consumer commission.

    Benefits of the move

    • Fast-track disposal of cases: Reduction of limit of pecuniary jurisdiction of district and state commissions will reduce workload at these two tiers of dispute resolution system, and thereby reduce pendency at these two levels.
    • Easy litigation: Besides, with E-Dakhil in place, consumers can take their complaints to a state or national commission without visiting the commission physically.

    Back2Basics: Features of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019

    [1] Definition of consumer

    • A consumer is defined as a person who buys any good or avails a service for a consideration.
    • It does not include a person who obtains a good for resale or a good or service for commercial purpose.
    • It covers transactions through all modes including offline, and online through electronic means, teleshopping, multi-level marketing or direct selling.

    [2] Rights of consumers

    Six consumer rights have been defined in the Bill, including the right to:

    • be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property
    • be informed of the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services
    • be assured of access to a variety of goods or services at competitive prices and
    • seek redressal against unfair or restrictive trade practices

    [3] Central Consumer Protection Authority

    • The central government will set up a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers.
    • It will regulate matters related to violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and misleading advertisements.
    • The CCPA will have an investigation wing, headed by a Director-General, which may conduct inquiry or investigation into such violations.

    [4] Penalties for misleading advertisement

    • The CCPA may impose a penalty on a manufacturer or an endorser of up to Rs 10 lakh and imprisonment for up to two years for a false or misleading advertisement.
    • In case of a subsequent offence, the fine may extend to Rs 50 lakh and imprisonment of up to five years.
    • CCPA can also prohibit the endorser of a misleading advertisement from endorsing that particular product or service for a period of up to one year.

     [5] Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

    • CDRCs will be set up at the district, state, and national levels.
    • A consumer can file a complaint with CDRCs in relation to: (i) unfair or restrictive trade practices; (ii) defective goods or services; (iii) overcharging or deceptive charging; and (iv) the offering of goods or services for sale which may be hazardous to life and safety.
    • Complaints against an unfair contract can be filed with only the State and National Appeals from a District CDRC will be heard by the State CDRC.
    • Appeals from the State CDRC will be heard by the National CDRC.
    • Final appeal will lie before the Supreme Court.

    [6] Jurisdiction of CDRCs

    • The District CDRC will entertain complaints where value of goods and services does not exceed Rs one crore.
    • The State CDRC will entertain complaints when the value is more than Rs one crore but does not exceed Rs 10 crore.
    • Complaints with value of goods and services over Rs 10 crore will be entertained by the National CDRC.

    [7] Product liability

    • Product liability means the liability of a product manufacturer, service provider or seller to compensate a consumer for any harm or injury caused by a defective good or deficient service.
    • To claim compensation, a consumer has to prove any one of the conditions for defect or deficiency, as given in the Bill.

     

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  • [pib] Electoral Bonds Scheme

    The 19th phase of sale of Electoral Bonds will commence ahead of elections is some states.

    What are Electoral Bonds?

    • Electoral bonds are banking instruments that can be purchased by any citizen or company to make donations to political parties, without the donor’s identity being disclosed.
    • It is like a promissory note that can be bought by any Indian citizen or company incorporated in India from select branches of State Bank of India.
    • The citizen or corporate can then donate the same to any eligible political party of his/her choice.
    • An individual or party will be allowed to purchase these bonds digitally or through cheque.

    About the scheme

    • A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond
    • Such bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, ₹10 lakh, and ₹1 crore from any of the specified branches of the State Bank of India
    • The purchaser will be allowed to buy electoral bonds only on due fulfillment of all the extant KYC norms and by making payment from a bank account
    • The bonds will have a life of 15 days (15 days time has been prescribed for the bonds to ensure that they do not become a parallel currency)

    Objective of the scheme

    • Transparency in political funding: To ensure that the funds being collected by the political parties is accounted money or clean money.

    Who can redeem such bonds?

    • The Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank.
    • Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last General Election to the Lok Sabha or the State Legislative Assembly, shall be eligible to receive the Electoral Bonds.

    Restrictions that are done away

    • Earlier, no foreign company could donate to any political party under the Companies Act
    • A firm could donate a maximum of 7.5 per cent of its average three year net profit as political donations according to Section 182 of the Companies Act.
    • As per the same section of the Act, companies had to disclose details of their political donations in their annual statement of accounts.
    • The government moved an amendment in the Finance Bill to ensure that this proviso would not be applicable to companies in case of electoral bonds.
    • Thus, Indian, foreign and even shell companies can now donate to political parties without having to inform anyone of the contribution.

    Issues with the Scheme

    • Opaque funding: While the identity of the donor is captured, it is not revealed to the party or public. So transparency is not enhanced for the voter.
    • No IT break: Also income tax breaks may not be available for donations through electoral bonds. This pushes the donor to choose between remaining anonymous and saving on taxes.
    • No anonymity for donors: The privacy of the donor is compromised as the bank will know their identity.
    • Differential benefits: These bonds will help any party that is in power because the government can know who donated what money and to whom.

     

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  • Put out the data, boost the dose of transparency

    Context

    The Government must make COVID-19 data including that for vaccine regulatory approvals and policy available.

    Kay decisions

    • On December 25, the Prime Minister of India announced two key decisions.
    • Vaccination of children: All children in the 15-17 age bracket will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines from January 3, 2022.
    • Third shot: All health-care workers, frontline workers and the people aged 60 years and above (with co-morbidities and on the advice of a medical doctor) can get a third shot, or ‘precaution dose’.
    •  The eligibility for the precaution dose will be on the completion of nine months or 39 weeks after the second dose.
    • Teenage children whose birth year is 2007 or before will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
    • Children will receive Covaxin, the reason being (according to the note) it is the only emergency use listed (EUL) World Health Organization vaccine available for use in this age group in India.

    Issues with the decision

    • Lack of scientific evidence: The decision is said to be based on ‘advice of the scientific community’.
    • A few members of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) in India,  have written or spoken publicly about not having enough scientific evidence to administer booster doses and vaccinate children in India.
    • Successive national and State-level sero-surveys have reported that a majority of children in India had got natural infection, while staying at home and thus developed antibodies.
    • The studies have shown that children rarely develop moderate to severe COVID-19 disease.
    • Targeted vaccination approach not adopted: Most public health and vaccine experts favour a ‘targeted vaccination approach’ by prioritising high-risk children for COVID-19 vaccination.
    • However, such an approach is likely to face an operational challenge in the identification of the eligible children.
    • Consultation cost:  A majority of the elderly have one or other comorbidities. Of the 14 crore elderly population in India, an estimated 7 to 10 crore people could have co-morbidities.
    •  If they have to seek advice from a physician, in order to get vaccinated, this essentially means that there would be up to 10 crore of medical consultations, which would come at a cost —  all of which is avoidable.

    Suggestions

    • Do away with prescription: The conditionality of comorbidities and the need for advice/prescription by a doctor for ‘the precaution shot’ in the elderly should be done away with.
    • Third dose to all immunocompromised adults: There is scientific evidence and consensus on administering the third dose for immunocompromised adults.
    • The Indian government should urgently consider administering a third dose for all immunocompromised adults, irrespective of age.
    • Third dose on a different vaccine platform: Studies have found that a heterologous prime-boost approach — third shot on a different vaccine platform — is a better approach.
    • Identify policy questions: Various pending policy questions on COVID-19 vaccine need to be identified urgently.
    • The technical expert should be given complete access to COVID-19 data for analysis and to find answers to those scientific and policy questions.
    • Vaccine supply and stock management: Vaccination for teenage children, exclusively with Covaxin (which means 15 crore doses for this sub-group) has other implications.
    • Covaxin will also be needed for people coming for their first shot, returning for their second shot, and then for their ‘precaution dose’ if a third shot of the same vaccine is allowed.
    • Focus on primary vaccination: The precaution dose and vaccination for children should not divert attention from the task of primary vaccination, which continues to be an unfinished task in India; 46 crore doses are still needed for the first and second shots.
    • Make data public: It is time the Union and State governments in India make COVID-19 data — this includes clinical outcomes, testing, genomic sequencing as well as vaccination — available in the public domain.
    • This would help in formulating and updating COVID-19 policy and strategies and also assess the impact of ‘precaution dose’ as well as vaccination of children.

    Conclusion

    The Indian government urgently needs to make COVID-19 data available, including the one used for regulatory approvals of vaccines and for vaccine policy decisions. This will bring transparency in decision making and increase the trust of the citizen in the process.

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  • [pib] Good Governance Index 2021

    The Centre has released the Good Governance Index 2021 prepared by DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances) on Good Governance Day.

    Try this question from CS Mains 2016:

     

    Q. What do you understand by the terms ‘governance’, ‘good governance’ and ‘ethical governance’?

    What do you mean by Good Governance?

    • It is the process of measuring how public institution conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for the rule of law.

    12 Principles of Good Governance:

    1. Participation, Representation, Fair Conduct of Elections
    2. Responsiveness
    3. Efficiency and Effectiveness
    4. Openness and Transparency
    5. Rule of Law
    6. Ethical Conduct
    7. Competence and Capacity
    8. Innovation and Openness to Change
    9. Sustainability and Long-term Orientation
    10. Sound Financial Management
    11. Human rights, Cultural Diversity and Social Cohesion
    12. Accountability

    About Good Governance Index (GGI)

    • The GGI is a uniform tool across States to assess the Status of Governance and the impact of various interventions taken up by the State Government and UTs.
    • The objectives are:
    1. To provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all states and UTs, enable states and UTs
    2. To formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result-oriented approaches and administration

    Components of GGI

    • GGI 2021 Framework covered ten sectors and 58 indicators.
    • These ten Governance Sectors are measured on total 50 indicators:
    1. Agriculture and Allied Sectors
    2. Commerce & Industries
    3. Human Resource Development
    4. Public Health
    5. Public Infrastructure & Utilities
    6. Economic Governance
    7. Social Welfare & Development
    8. Judicial & Public Security
    9. Environment
    10. Citizen-Centric Governance

    Categorization of States and UTs

    The GGI 2020-21 categorizes States and UTs into four categories, i.e.

    1. Other States – Group A
    2. Other States – Group B
    3. North-East and Hill States and
    4. Union Territories

    Top performers in 2021

    • Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa top the composite rank score covering 10 sectors.
    • GGI 2021 says that Gujarat registered 12.3 percent increase and Goa registered 24.7 percent increase over GGI 2019 indicators.
    • Rajasthan has topped the Other States (Group B) category in Judiciary and Public Safety, Environment & Citizen Centric Governance.
    • GGI 2021 says that in the North-East and Hill States category, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir have registered an overall increase of 10.4% and 3.7% respectively over GGI 2019.
    • In the UTs category, Delhi tops the composite rank registering a 14 percent increase over the GGI 2019 indicators.

     

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