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GS Paper: GS2-13.Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

  • Hunger and Nutrition Issues – GHI, GNI, etc.

  • Surrogacy in India

  • Mother and Child Health – Immunization Program, BPBB, PMJSY, PMMSY, etc.

     

    • Aim: To generate awareness and improve efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for women
    • Launched on 22 January 2015 with an initial corpus of Rs. 100 crore
    • Joint initiative of Ministries of Women & Child Development, Health & Human Resource Development

    Districts Identified

    The three criteria for selection of districts:

    1. Districts below the national average (87 districts/23 states);
    2. Districts above national average but shown declining trend (8 districts/8 states)
    3. Districts above national average and shown increasing trend (5 districts/5 states- selected so that these CSR levels can be maintained and other districts can emulate and learn from their experiences)
    • First Phase:

    100 districts have been identified on the basis of low Child Sex Ratio as per Census 2011 covering all States/UTs as a pilot With at least one district in each state

    • Second Phase

    The scheme has further been expanded to 61 additional districts selected from 11 States/UT having CSR below 918

     

    Strategies:

    • Implement a sustained Social Mobilization and Communication Campaign to create equal value for the girl child & promote her education
    • Focus on Gender Critical Districts and Cities low on CSR for intensive & integrated action
    • Mobilize & Train Panchayati Raj Institutions/ Urban local bodies/ Grassroot workers as catalysts for social change
    • Ensure service delivery structures/ schemes & programmes are sufficiently responsive to issues Of gender and children’s rights
    • Enable Inter-sectoral and inter-institutional convergence at District/ Block/ Grassroot levels

    Implementation:

    1. Centre: A National Task Force (NTF) headed by Secretary WCD
      State: A State Task Force (STF)
    2. District: District Task Force (DTF) headed by the District Collector/ Deputy Commissioner with representation of concerned departments
    3. Block: A Block Level Committee headed by SDM/ SDO/ BDO
    4. Gram Panchayat/ Municipality: Respective Panchayat Samiti/ Ward Samiti
    5. Village: Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees
    Published with inputs from Swapnil

  • Primary and Secondary Education – RTE, Education Policy, SEQI, RMSA, Committee Reports, etc.

  • Swachh Bharat Mission

    Lets get to the basics of Cess, before we explore more about Swachh Bharat Cess.

    cess-head-for-blog

    What is a Cess?

    Cess is a tax on tax, temporary levied by the govt. to achieve a specific objective. Generally, it is expected to be levied till the time the govt. gets enough money for that purpose.

    For instance, the education cess, that is levied currently, is meant to finance basic education in the country.

    What is the quantum of revenue generated through Cess?

    • The education and higher education cesses are budgeted to bring approx. Rs 30,000 crore this year.
    • The road cess on petroleum is budgeted to net just under Rs 50,000 crore.
    • There is also a cess on exports, clean energy, etc.

    The total amount from cesses is Rs 1.16 lakh crore.

    What is the criticism against Cesses?

    • The problem with cesses is that it becomes permanent in nature.
    • These levies are back door entry instead of levying taxes.

    How Cess is different from Surcharge?

    Surcharge is also a tax on tax, which is imposed on incomes above a certain level with a view to reduce the inequalities further.

    • There is a surcharge of 12% on individuals whose taxable income exceeds Rs. 1 crore.
    • Similarly, there is also a surcharge of 10% on the domestic companies whose taxable income exceeds Rs.10 crore, and also a surcharge of 5% on the foreign companies whose taxable income exceeds Rs.10 crore.

    Now, let’s now come to the core of the topic

    cess-infograph

    What is Swachh Bharat Cess?

    The resources generated from the cess will be utilised for financing and promoting initiatives towards Swachh Bharat. It is a step towards involving each and every citizen in making contribution to Swachh Bharat.

    • Govt. has introduced a cess of 0.5% on all services and 2% on air services.
    • The revenue department is preparing a list of services which will attract the additional 2% cess provided for in the Budget 2015-16, over and above the proposed 14%.

    Where does the proceeds of the Swachh Bharat Cess go?

    The proceeds of the Swachh Bharat cess would be first credited to the Consolidated Fund of India. The govt. would be able to utilise it after due appropriation is made by Parliament by law. This will later go to Swachh Bharat Kosh.

    The Government expects to collect around Rs 10,000 crore from Swachh Bharat cess for full year

    Why does it goes against the principle of fiscal federalism?

    • The central divisible pool excludes levies classified as surcharges and cess for specific purpose.
    • The entire proceeds would remain with the Centre and need not be compulsorily shared with the states.
    • Swachh Bharat cess, to some extent, is a vague pretext for a cess, unlike the ones for national highways or high-speed rail corridors, which can be more effectively implemented at the Central level.

    What will be the impact of GST on the cess?

    There is no input credit available on this cess, which goes against the very principle of the GST and thereby weakens the Centre’s case for pushing through GST.

    The cesses and surcharges would be subsumed once the GST is rolled out. So both for tax payers and states, this is for the time being.

     

    Published with inputs from Pushpendra

  • Transition From MDG to SDG: Issues & Concern

    193 Countries Agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Why?

    After 3 years of negotiations and debate, 193 countries agreed to a set of 17 development goals more bold and ambitious than anything that has come before them.

    But what are Sustainable Development Goals? Where have they evolved from?

    These 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – part of a wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    There were 8 MDGs and they are going to expire by the end of this year (2015).

     

    But why didn’t we just renew them? Why was there a need to re-evaluate and re-program the development goals?

    1. The MDGs as you can see were very focus, concrete, target oriented which was a good thing to begin with, right?
    2. Wrong – The structures and 8 categorisation metrics ended up being so rigid that we left out other more important areas.

    A 2015 UN assessment of the MDGs found they fell short for many people:

    “The assessment of progress towards the MDGs has repeatedly shown that the poorest and those disadvantaged because of gender, age, disability or ethnicity are often bypassed.”

    Okay, fair point. So what do these SDGs look like? What went into the process of coming up with these 17 blocks of SDGs?

    In response to the accusation that the MDGs were too narrow in focus, the SDGs set out to tackle a whole range of issues, from gender inequality to climate change.

    The unifying thread throughout the 17 goals and their 169 targets is the commitment to ending poverty.

    Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. 

     

     

    The consultation process to arrive at these 17 SDGs was one of the most transparent exercise ever to be undertaken in the UN history.

    A million voices formed the part of the process.

    Very quickly then, listing down the goals:

    1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere

    2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

    3) Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages

    4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

    5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

    6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

    7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

    8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all

    9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation

    10) Reduce inequality within and among countries

    11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

    12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

    13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (taking note of agreements made by the UNFCCC forum)

    14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

    15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

    16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

    17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development

    Published with inputs from Sumer

     

  • Higher Education – RUSA, NIRF, HEFA, etc.

  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.