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GS Paper: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

  • How PFMS is ensuring transformation via digital inclusion

    The article highlights the role played by the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) in promoting the good governance.

    About PFMS

    • With the objective of bringing in transformational accountability and transparency and to further promote good governance, the Indian government envisioned Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
    • PFMS has evolved as an end to end solution for Processing, Monitoring, and reconciling financial flows of Central Govt.
    • Today, PFMS has empowered governance to become more responsive, accountable, and transparent.

    Mandate of PFMS

    • Through Cabinet decision, PFMS has been mandated the following:
    • It acts as a financial management platform for all plan schemes and allows for efficient and effective tracking of fund flow to the lowest level of implementation for the planning scheme of the Government.
    • It is mandated to provide information on fund utilization leading to better monitoring, review, and decision support system to enhance public accountability in the implementation of plan schemes.
    • To result in effectiveness and economy in Public Finance Management through better cash management for Government transparency in public expenditure and real-time information on resource availability and utilization across schemes.

    Achievements of PFMS

    • PFMS can be credited to the transformation of Direct beneficiary transfers space in financial governance in India.
    • An estimated 102 crore DBT transactions were done through PFMS in FY 19-20 amounting to about ₹2.67 lakh crore.
    • Through efficient use of technology, PFMS is estimated to have saved about ₹1 lakh crore in direct beneficiary transfers.

    4 Factors that could determine the successful evolution of PFMS in future

    • Agility in terms of Onboarding/Integrating all Govt. accounts: Only after ensuring significant coverage, the true execution of the concept will take place.
    • Effective data management capabilities: PFMS will have to add significant data management capabilities in order to ensure better monitoring/review to deliver on the idea of a decision support system for effective cash management or management of idle float in the system.
    • Constantly upgrading: Adaption to rapid changes in technology is another key area that would call for a considerable amount of focus both in terms of gradation and monitoring.
    • Collaboration with the banking system: Lastly, one of the most critical factors for the successful execution of PFMS is its integration with the banking systems.
    • The Banks and PFMS will have to actively partner to ensure faster coverage/integration of all the Govt. entities.

    Consider the question “Governance in India has long been marred with structural challenges like transparency, lack of accountability and sustainable and inclusive growth. In light of this, discuss the role played by the Public Financial Management System in tackling these challenges.” 

    Conclusion

    The PFMS has revolutionized the ways public finances are managed in the country. With constant improvement and increasing coverage, the scope of PFMS is ever-increasing. Going ahead, PFMS will not only be seen as a tool for managing planned expenditure but will also add new meanings to Direct Beneficiary transfers, data-driven cash management, and e-Governance in India.

  • Back in news: DNA Bill, 2019

    Noted Parliamentarians have filed a dissent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report on DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill 2019.

    Q. A statutory protection for private data is necessary for the enforcement of DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019. Critically analyse.

    What is the news?

    • The finalized Draft Report recognizes the potential dangers of indexing the DNA profiles of non- convicts, especially convicts and suspects, it has still retained these objectionable provisions.
    • These MPs have claimed that the Bill does not take into account public concerns over privacy violations and targets Dalit, Muslims and Adivasis by way of DNA sample collection.
    • The fear is that the law could be used for caste or community-based profiling.

    Other issues

    • The bill would not be a panacea to the problems of an inadequate criminal justice system, the MPs stressed.
    • He flagged the example of the United Kingdom, where the number of crimes solved by DNA evidence had been reducing even though the number of profiles in the system was going up.

    DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019

    • The primary intended purpose for the enactment of the bill is for expanding the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country.
    • The utility of DNA based technologies for solving crimes, and identifying missing persons, is well recognized across the world.
    • Other aims include Speedier justice delivery and an Increased conviction rate.
    • Bill’s provisions will enable the cross-matching between persons reported missing and unidentified dead bodies found in various parts of the country, and also for establishing the identity of victims in mass disasters.
    • By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure the data remain protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights of our citizens.
    • The Bill has two major components: the DNA databanks and the DNA Regulatory Board.

    Criticisms of the Bill

    Matter of Consent

    • Written consent is required from everyone for their DNA samples to be collected, processed, and included in the database except for those who have committed crimes with a punishment of 7+ years or death.
    • However, similarly, specific instruction is missing for the collection of DNA samples for civil matters.
    • Such matters include parentage disputes, emigration or immigration, and transplantation of human organs.
    • The Bill also doesn’t state that the consent has to be voluntary.

    Civil Disputes

    • It is not clear if DNA samples collected to resolve civil disputes will also be stored in the databank (regional or national), although there is no index specific for the same.
    • If they will be stored, then the problem cascades because the Bill also does not provide for information, consent, and appeals.
    • If a person’s DNA data has entered the databank, there is no process specified by which they can have it removed.
    • All of these issues together could violate the right to privacy.

    The authenticity of DNA Labs

    • There’s also the question of whether the DNA labs accredited by the Regulatory Board are allowed to store copies of the samples they analyze.
    • And if so, how the owners of those samples can ensure the data is safe or needs to be removed from their own indices.
    • It’s unclear if the Regulatory Board will oversee other tests performed at the accredited labs.
    • This could become necessary because, unlike one’s biometric data or PAN number, the human genome contains lots of information about every individual.

    Overreaching access to identity

    • So a test undertaken to ascertain a person’s identity by analyzing her DNA will in the process also reveal a lot of other things about that person, including information about their ancestry i.e. information that the individual has a right to keep private.
    • The Bill does not specify which parts of an individual’s DNA can be analyzed to ascertain their identity.
    • The more parts are subjected to analysis, the more conclusively a person’s identity can be established.
    • But this can’t be used as a license to parse more than is necessary because then the DNA lab is also likely to reveal more information than it has the right to seek.

    The way forward: Data protection

    • The bill can become oppressive without a robust data protection law.
    • Statutory protection for private data is critical because it provides a mechanism for enforcement of rights, grievance redressal, and independent oversight.
    • When the data being collected is as sensitive as DNA, it requires additional protection.

  • Leveraging government-private thought partnerships

    Thought partnership between government and the external players can aid in informed policymaking. The article deals with these issues and suggest forging of more of such partnerships. 

    Government working together with external partners

    • Policymaking requires multiple rounds of consultations and co-working with different entities, including collaboration between the government and external partners.
    • Over the last few years, there has been increasing evidence of the government and external partners working together on complex policy problems.
    • The government has formalized the induction of private individuals into the system by opening up lateral entry.
    • Several central government ministries and entities, such as NITI Aayog, routinely recruit private individuals as consultants, officers on special duty, or young professionals.
    • Given the staggering vacancies in the central government, such support is critical since civil servants are generally overburdened and under-resourced.

    What is thought partnership and how it works

    • Thought partnerships are a structured mechanism for private entities to lend relevant strategic expertise to the government on policy design, evaluation, and implementation.
    • It is also not always feasible for the government itself to fund projects involving private partners, more so when such projects are unconventional thought partnerships.
    • Several domestic and international philanthropies and impact investing firms are already investing in critical sectors in developing countries including India.
    • However, much of this funding goes into supporting projects or interventions that work in limited, contextual settings rather than systemic or sectoral transformation programs.
    • It is here that philanthropies and impact investing firms can make a huge difference.

    Past thought partnerships

    • In 2005, the Ashok Lahiri Committee report stated that there was not enough knowledge about external capital flows and controls in India.
    • The committee’s recommendation resulted in the establishment of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Department of Economic Affairs research program.
    • The program led to the creation of a rich body of world-class research on capital controls and flows in India that was used to inform government policy on the matter.
    • In 2015, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs constituted a research secretariat headed by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, to support the Companies Law Committee to make “informed decisions”.
    • The National Institute of Financial Management is working with the Department of Economic Affairs to provide legal research and technical assistance on Indian and foreign financial markets, policy analysis, formulation as well as the conduct of impact assessment studies on decisions taken by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

    Consider the question “What is thought partnership and how it could help in making informed policymaking? What are the challenges in forging thought partnerships?”

    Conclusion

    It is in the public interest that more thought partnerships are forged and funded to channel external expertise and skills towards finding scalable solutions to the pressing policy challenges the country faces.

  • A new framework around caste and the census

    The article suggests the ways to make the most of the data collected through Census and the SECC.

    Census and issues with it

    • The synchronous decennial Census has evolved over time and has been used by the government, policymakers, academics, and others.
    • Though Census is both a data collection effort and a technique of governance, it is criticized for not being useful enough for a detailed and comprehensive understanding of a complex society.
    •  There is a lack of depth in the Census where some issues are concerned.

    The debate around full-scale Caste Census

    • Since Independence, aggregated Census data on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on certain parameters such as education have been collected.
    • There is a growing demand for a full-scale caste census to capture contemporary Indian society and to understand and remedy inequalities.
    • While others believe that this large administrative exercise of capturing caste and its complexities is not only difficult but also socially untenable.
    • There have been concerns that counting caste may help solidify or harden identities, or that caste may be context-specific, and thus difficult to measure.
    • The other concern is whether an institution such as a caste can even be captured completely by the Census.

    Socio-Economic Caste Census: how it is different from Census

    • Following debate over full-scale caste census, the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) was conducted in 2011.
    • The SECC, which collected the first figures on caste in Census operations since 1931, is the largest exercise of the enumeration of caste.
    • Questions remain on whether the SECC is able to cover the effects of caste as an aspect of Indian social structure.
    • This was a distinct exercise from the Census of 2011.
    • The Census and the SECC have different purposes.
    • Since the Census falls under the Census Act of 1948, all data are considered confidential, whereas the SECC data is open for use by Government departments to grant and/or restrict benefits to households.
    • The Census thus provides a portrait of the Indian population, while the SECC is a tool to identify beneficiaries of state support.

    Way forward

    • What is needed is a discussion on the caste data that already exists, how it has been used and understood by the government.
    • Linking and syncing aggregated Census data to other large datasets such as the National Sample Surveys or the National Family Health Surveys that cover issues that the Census exercises do not, such as maternal health, would be significant for a more comprehensive analysis.
    • This linking of the Census with the National Sample Survey data has been suggested in the past by scholars such as Mamta Murthi and colleagues.
    • Census operations across the world are going through significant changes, employing methods that are precise, faster, and cost-effective, involving coordination between different data sources.
    • Care must however be taken to ensure that digital alternatives and linking of data sources involving Census operations are inclusive and non-discriminatory, especially given the sensitive nature of the data being collected.
    • Delay in the release of data needs to be reduced.
    • There needs to be a closer and continuous engagement between functionaries of the Census and SECC, along with academics and other stakeholders concerned.

    Consider the question “How Socio-Economic and Caste Census is different from the Census? How linking and syncing of  these data with other databases could help in the governance?”

    Conclusion

    Data collected through both the exercises serve an important purpose in the governance of the country, however, there is scope to widen the use of data if the steps suggested here are implemented.

  • Impact of RERA on real estate sector

    The article highlights the various provision of RERA and its overall impact on the sector.

    How it changed the real estate sector

    • Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) was enacted in 2016 and it had been in the works for more than a decade.
    • RERA has infused governance in a hitherto unregulated sector.
    • Along with demonetization and GST, it has, to a large extent, cleansed the real estate sector of black money.
    • It has transformational provisions, conscientiously addressing issues that have been a constant bane for the sector.

    Important provisions of RERA

    • The Act stipulates that no project can be sold without project plans being approved by the competent authority and the project is registered with the regulatory authority.
    • This provision ended the practice of selling on the basis of deceitful advertisements.
    • Promoters are required to maintain “project-based separate bank accounts” to prevent fund diversion.
    • The mandatory disclosure of unit sizes based on “carpet area” strikes at the root of unfair trade practices.
    • The provision for payment of “equal rate of interest” by the promoter or the buyer in case of default reinforces equity.
    • These and many other provisions have empowered consumers, rectifying the power asymmetry prevalent in the sector.

    How RERA is an effort in cooperative federalism

    • Though the Act has been piloted by the Central government, the rules are to be notified by state governments.
    • The regulatory authorities and the appellate tribunals are also to be appointed by them.
    • The regulatory authorities are required to manage the day-to-day operations, resolve disputes, and run an active and informative website for project information.
    • Since RERA came into full force, 34 states and Union territories have notified the rules, 30 states and Union territories have set up real estate regulatory authorities and 26 have set up appellate tribunals.
    • The operationalization of a web-portal for project information, which is at the heart of ensuring full project transparency, has been operationalized by 26 regulatory authorities.
    • Around 60,000 projects and 45,723 real estate agents have been registered with regulatory authorities.
    • Twenty-two independent judicial officers have been appointed to redress consumer disputes, and 59,649 complaints have been disposed-off.

    Consider the question “What were the various problems faced by the consumers in real estate sector? How various provisions in RERA helped in the protection of consumers’ interests?” 

    Conclusion

    RERA is to the real estate sector what SEBI is to the securities market. It helped consumers from the various malpractices in the real estate sector.

     

  • Issues with Harsher Punitive measures for the sexual violence

    Harsher punishment for sexual violence

    • Recently, the Maharashtra cabinet approved the Shakti Bill, enlarging the scope of harsher and mandatory sentences — including the death penalty — for non-homicidal rape.
    • The Shakti Bill comes amid the recent legislative trend to invoke the death penalty for sexual offences.
    • In 2020, the Andhra Pradesh government passed the Disha Bill, pending presidential assent, that provides the death penalty for the rape of adult women.

    Issues with the Bills

    1) Focus on reporting of police complaint

    • The most severe gaps in the justice delivery system are related to reporting a police complaint.
    • The focus of the criminal justice system needs to shift from sentencing and punishment to the stages of reporting, investigation and victim-support mechanisms.
    • The bill does not address these concerns.

    2) Impact on rate of conviction

    • Harsh penalties often have the consequence of reducing the rate of conviction for the offence.
    • A study published in the Indian Law Review based on rape judgments in Delhi shows a lower rate of conviction after the removal of judicial discretion in 2013.
    • Introducing harsher penalties does not remove systemic prejudices from the minds of judges and the police.

    3) Harsher punishment would deter complainants

    • Studies on child sexual abuse have shown that in the few cases of convictions, the minimum sentence was the norm and the award of the maximum punishment was an exception.
    • Crime data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that in 93.6 per cent of these cases, the perpetrators were known to the victims.
    • Introducing capital punishment would deter complainants from registering complaints.
    • The Shakti Bill ignores crucial empirical evidence on these cases.

    4) Moving away from standard of affirmative consent

    • An affirmative standard of consent is rooted in unequivocal voluntary agreement by women through words, gestures or any form of verbal or non-verbal communication.
    • In a sharp departure, the bill stipulates that valid consent can be presumed from the “conduct of the parties” and the “circumstances surrounding it”.
    • The vaguely worded explanation in the bill holds dangerous possibilities of expecting survivors to respond only in a certain manner, thus creating the stereotype of an “ideal” victim.
    • It also overlooks the fact that perpetrators are known to the survivors in nearly 94 per cent of rapes, which often do not involve any brutal violence.

    Conclusion

    Punitive responses to sexual violence need serious rethinking, given the multitude of perverse consequences and their negligible role in addressing the actual needs of rape survivors.

  • Personal Data Protection Bill 2019

    The Personal Data Protection Bill (2019) has several provisions which could have implications for the privacy of an individual. The article examines such provisions and highlights the need for further debate on the Bill.

    Evolution of privacy as a fundamental right

    • The Supreme Court in MP Sharma v. Satish Chandra (1954) and Kharak Singh v. Uttar Pradesh (1962) had declared that while in certain circumstances the privacy of individuals was to be protected, there was no constitutional right to privacy in and of itself.
    • However, in Puttuswamy v India (2017) the Supreme Court accepted privacy as a fundamental right.
    • This was an important development.

    Rising importance of data

    • The rising importance of data has pushed over 80 countries to pass national laws protecting the collection and use of their citizens’ data by companies and the government.
    • The DPB will have huge commercial and political consequences for India.
    • In India, the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 (DPB) is currently under consideration by a parliamentary committee.
    • According to Ernst and Young, emerging technologies in India will create $1 trillion in economic value by 2025.
    • Much of this value will be founded on the creation, use, and sale of data, and the DPB will have immense implications as firms scramble to meet new privacy regulations.

    Conditions for access to data and issues

    • The bill establishes a number of conditions for companies to follow.
    • For one, it would require digital firms to obtain permission from users before collecting their data.
    • It also declares that users who provide data are, in effect, the owners of their own data.
    • So that the users will be able to control the data their online selves produce, and may request firms to delete it, just as European internet-users’ “right to be forgotten”.
    • But the bill stipulates that critical or sensitive personal data, related to information such as religion, or to matters of national security, must be accessible to the government if needed to protect national interest.
    • Critics have suggested that such open-ended access could lead to misuse.
    • Even B N Srikrishna, who chaired the committee that drafted the original bill has also expressed concerns about this provision.
    • Other major concern is about Data Protection Authority (DPA).

    Concerns about Data Protection Authority

    • The bill outlines the establishment of a Data Protection Authority (DPA).
    • The DPA will be charged with managing data collected by the Aadhaar programme.
    • It will be led by a chairperson and six committee members, appointed by the central government on the recommendation of a selection committee.
    • But this selection committee will be composed of senior civil servants, raising questions about the board’s independence.
    • The government’s power to appoint and remove members at its discretion also stokes fears about its ability to influence this independent agency.
    • Unlike similar institutions, such as the Reserve Bank of India or the Securities and Exchange Board, the DPA will not have an independent expert or member of the judiciary on its governing committee.

    Consider the question “Discuss the various provision of Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 for the protection of individual’s privacy. What are the concerns over the various provisions of the Bill?”

    Conclusion

    The DPB is a unique opportunity for India, a country with some 740 million internet users, to forge a pathbreaking agenda that will act as a standard-setter in the still-developing field of national data protection legislation.

  • Issues with U.P. religious conversion ordinance

    The article examines the provision of U.P. governments religious conversion ordinance and issues with these provision.

    Power to promulgate an ordinance

    • As per Article 213(1) of the Constitution of India, there are three pre-conditions to be satisfied before the Governor promulgates an ordinance, these are:
    • 1) The State Legislature should not be in session.
    • 2) Circumstances should exist for promulgating an ordinance and importantly.
    • 3) Those circumstances must warrant immediate action.

    Scrutiny of the circumstances

    • There is no established practice requiring the Governor (or the President under Article 123) to state the circumstances for promulgating the Ordinance.
    • The reason for immediate action is, as yet, not justiciable.
    • But the Supreme Court of India has held that the existence of circumstances leading to the satisfaction of the Governor can be inquired into.
    • A healthy convention should develop and the preamble to any ordinance should state the immediacy for promulgating it when the Legislature is not in session.
    • This would greatly enhance transparency in legislation.
    • This would also help legislators to understand why they are by-passed and why a procedures in the Legislature could not be awaited.

    Issues with the U.P. ordinance

    • The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance records the satisfaction of the Governor of the existence of circumstances and the necessity for “him/her to take immediate action.
    • If one fraudulent or coercive inter-faith marriage is taking place, the police can certainly prevent it.
    • An ordinance is not required for it.
    • Section 3 prohibits conversion or attempt to convert any person from one religion to another by coercion or fraud etc. or by marriage.
    • But, nobody gets converted by marriage.
    • The offense of attempting to convert poses a bigger rights issue.
    • Under Section 7, on receiving the information a police officer is authorized to arrest a person without orders from Magistrate or warrant.
    • The nature of information includes an allegation of allurement which includes an offer of any temptation in the form of a gift or gratification.
    • Under Section 8, if someone genuinely desires to convert but not get married, that person would have to inform the District Magistrate (DM) two months in advance of the plan through a declaration.
    • Assuming conversion is not objected to, even thereafter the DM must be informed by the converted through a declaration under Section 9.
    • Section 12 provides that the burden to prove the conversion was not on account of coercion, fraud, etc., or by marriage will be on the person who has caused the conversion.
    • But, how the person causing the conversion expected to know the mind of the converted?

    Conclusion

    The ordinance vilifies all inter-faith marriages and places unreasonable obstacles on consenting adults in exercising their personal choice of a partner, mocks the right to privacy and violates the right to life, liberty, and dignity. In short, it is unconstitutional.

  • Give adequate time for investigation

    Andhra Pradesh’s Disha Bill of 2019 seeks to reduce the time period for investigation of some crimes to seven days. Such a move could have several consequences. The article deals with that issue.

    State governments reducing the period of investigation

    • The proposed Maharashtra Shakti Act of 2020 will have a provision to complete the investigation within 15 days.
    • Maharashtra has taken cur from the Andhra Pradesh’s Disha Bill of 2019.
    • Disha mandated completion of investigation within seven working days for offenses such as harassment of women, sexual assault on children, and rape, where “adequate conclusive evidence” is available.
    • The interpretation of “adequate conclusive evidence” by the police shall remain a problem.

    What are the CrPC provisions?

    • The Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) provides that investigations relating to offenses punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years must be completed within 60 days.
    • For offenses with higher punishment (including rape) the time limit is of 90 days of detaining the accused, else he or she shall be released on bail.
    • To speed up the process, the CrPC was amended in 2018 and the period of investigation was reduced from 90 to 60 days for all cases of rape.

    Factors that decide the time required

    • Generally, the time of investigation depends on several factors like the severity of the crime, the number of accused persons and agencies involved.
    • This is besides the fact that in many cases of rape, the victim remains under trauma for some time and is not able to narrate the incident in detail.
    • The speed and quality of investigation also depend on whether a police station has separate units of investigation and law and order.[ a long-pending police reform]
    • It also depends on the number of available IOs and women police officers, and the size and growth of the FSL and its DNA unit.

    Consider the question “Examine the reasons for the high crime rate in India? Recently, some state governments have reduced the duration for the investigation of crime. How such move could impact the investigation?” 

    Conclusion

    Setting narrow timelines for investigation creates scope for procedural loopholes that may be exploited during the trial. Therefore, instead of fixing unrealistic timelines, the police should be given additional resources so that they can deliver efficiently.

  • Dealing with the challenges India faces

    The article deals with the challeges India has to deal with in 2021 on the various front like foreign policy and economy.

    Major challenge of 2020

    • The COVID-19 pandemic, which embraced every segment of Indian society was the most insidious threat.
    • Since April, India has confronted an unprecedented situation on the border with China in eastern Ladakh.
    • Ever since, the border has remained live; as of now there is no end in sight.
    • Chinese behaviour at the border has led to a grave hiatus in India-China relations.
    • Internal problems such as Naxalite violence and Jammu and Kashmir endured during much of 2020.
    • The economy is in recession. India has slipped further down the scale in the Human Development Index.
    • Slippages have occurred in the Global Economic Freedom Index.

    How India should deal with the challenges ahead

    1) China challenge and foreign policy

    • In foreign policy India must not remain content or satisfied with the current stand-off with China in the Ladakh sector.
    • The conflict with China is enabling many of its neighbours to play China against India.
    • So, India should think of what better options are available to it to resolve that conflict
    • To tackle China, India must come up with a whole new paradigm of ideas on which further actions can be formulated.

    2) State of the economy

    • India must seek to enhance its competitive advantage vis-a-vis other nations.
    • India should focus on export-oriented economic strategy instead of looking inward to enlarge its economy.
    • India should enhance its export capacity.
    • India’s strength lies in its diversity, and its ability to utilise all available opportunities.
    • The other pressing challenge in 2021 would be job creation for the youth, who are India’s most abiding asset.
    • The government must take urgent steps to set right the disruptions in the labour market caused by the pandemic.
    • Creating new jobs in new industries should be a critical requirement.
    • Stimulating demand would ensure growth in job opportunities, and this should go hand in hand with this task.
    • The importance of such measures must not be underestimated.

    3) Restoring confidence in constitutional practices

    • The government to restore confidence in constitutional proprieties, practices and principles.
    • There is a crisis of confidence which is affecting the body politic.
    • The starting point would be effecting an improvement in Centre-State relations, particularly between Centre and States.
    • As digital technology advances, concerns that an unduly centralised Central government could use this to further reduce the independent authority of States will again need to be dispelled.
    • Effective cooperation between the Centre and the States must be restored as early as possible to instil confidence about India’s democratic future.

    Consider the question “What are the challenges ahead for Indian economy in the wake of economic disruption caused by the pandemic? Suggest the way to deal with these challenges.”

    Conclusion

    As 2020 comes to a close, it might be worthwhile to take a hard look at these issues to ensure that 2021 does not become another wasted year.