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GS Paper: GS2

Constituent Assembly Debate and Ideal Conduct of Governor
Context
- In recent years, there has been an erosion of constitutional provisions, constitutional morality, and constitutional ethos being witnessed among various constitutional bodies. The conduct of the Governors of some States has made a mockery of the Constitution and its limitations.
Constituent assembly debates about the Governor
- Exercise of Power according to constitution: In 1949, Prof. K.T. Shah debating Article 130 (now Article 154) said: “the Constitution should make it imperative upon the Governor to use its power in accordance with the Constitution and the Law, that is to say, on the advice of his Ministers as provided for in the subsequent clauses and in other parts of the Constitution.”
- Appointment of governor by president: It was hotly debated whether the Governor should be appointed by the President of India or should be elected. Fearing that this would create a parallel State leadership, the Assembly instead adopted appointment by the President.
- Good governor and Bad Governor: G. Kher said: “a Governor can do a great deal of good if he is a good Governor and he can do a great deal of mischief, if he is a bad Governor, in spite of the very little power given to him under the Constitution”
- Friendly intervention of the Governor: K. Sen said, “The question is whether by interfering, the Governor would be upholding the democratic idea or subverting it. It would really be a surrender of democracy. We have decided that the Governor should be a constitutional head. He would be the person really to lubricate the machinery and to see to it that all the wheels are going well by reason not of his interference, but his friendly intervention.”
- Aid and advice of cabinet: R. Ambedkar said, according to the principles of the New Constitution, Governor is required to follow the advice of his ministry in all matters. Therefore, the real issue before the House is not nomination or election, but what powers you propose to give to your Governor.
- Nomination of governor and not election: If the Governor is a purely constitutional Governor with no more powers than what we contemplate expressly to give him in the Act. I personally do not see any very fundamental objection to the principle of nomination.”
Constitutional Provision Regarding Governor
- Article 153: Provides a Governor for each State, and by virtue of Article 154, the executive power of the State shall be vested in the Governor “Shall be exercised by him directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution”.
- Article 154(2)(a): Prohibits the Governor from exercising any function “conferred by existing law on any other Authority”.
- Article 163: Categorically provides that “there shall be a council of ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor… except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his function or any of them in his discretion”.
How governor ideally supposed to conduct his duty?
- Shamsher Singh vs State of Punjab: The Supreme Court, in Shamsher Singh vs State of Punjab, decided on this issue in 1974: The Governor exercises “all his powers and functions” by making rules for the convenient transactions of the business of the government of the State in accordance with Article 166 of the Constitution. These are called Rules of Business.
- Satisfaction of governor is satisfaction of cabinet: The Court however amplified that “wherever the constitution requires satisfaction of the President or the Governor for the exercise of any power or function by the President or the Governor, as the case may be, as for example in Articles 123, 213, 311(2) proviso (c), 317, 352(1), 356 and 360. The satisfaction required by the Constitution …. is the satisfaction of the President or of the Governor in the Constitutional sense under the Cabinet system of the Government”.
- Use of discretion in harmony with council of ministers: The Court went on to hold that “the discretion conferred on the Governor means that as the Constitutional or the formal head of the State, the power is vested in him” and that it is only in the exercise of the power under Article 356 that the Governor will be justified in exercising his discretion even against the aid and advice of his council of ministers as per his discretionary power but, in all other matters where the Governor acts in his discretion, he will act in harmony with his Council of Ministers.
- No parallel administration by governor: The Constitution does not aim at providing a parallel administration. The basic philosophy is that in a democracy, the elected Ministers must accept responsibility for every executive act and that the Council of Ministers alone represents a responsible form of government in the States.
Conclusion
- Governor’s role is to assist the Chief minister of state and not creating the trouble for Chief Minister. Governor should not act in a manner that undermines the dignity of constitutional post of Governor. Governor must follow the constitutional morality while discharging his duty.
November 19, 2022
Political participation and representation of Women in India
Context
- A truly representative democracy seeks adequate representation of women in politics. India is the largest and one of the most resilient parliamentary democracies in the world. Women’s representation in India’s Parliament has improved since independence. It is an important metric to evaluate progress in bridging gender inequalities in the country.
Background: Gender Inequality in Politics
- Women historically been Politically marginalized: Women, who constitute almost one-half of the world’s population (49.58 percent), have historically been politically marginalized in both developed and developing nations.
- Beginning of social reforms: From the mid-19^thcentury onwards, however, social movements have succeeded in effecting widespread reforms.
- UN charter: The charter of the United Nations Organization (UNO, started in 1945) supported women’s rights.
- International Bill of Rights for women: With the rise of feminist movements of the 1960s and ‘70s, the UN General Assembly in 1979 adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), often considered as an International Bill of Rights for women. In the Convention, Article 7 upholds women’s right to hold political and public office.
- Millennium development goals (MDGs), included gender equality: In 2000, UN member states adopted the Millennium Declaration and outlined eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to be achieved by 2015, which included promoting gender equality.
- Empowering women under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): In January 2016 the initiative was extended to pursue 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of which Goal 5 seeks to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, ensuring “women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.”
The present status of Women representation in politics worldwide.
- Representative governments increased but women count remains low: According to UN Women, as of September 2022, there were 30 women serving as elected heads of state and/or of government in 28 countries (out of a total of 193 UN member states).
- Dichotomy in active participation: There is the dichotomy between the rapid increase of women’s participation as voters in elections and other political activities, and the slow rise of female representation in Parliament.
- Global average women representation: As of May 2022, the global average of female representation in national parliaments was 26.2 percent.
- Above average representation: The Americas, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa have women’s representation above the global average;
- Below average representation: Asia, the Pacific region, and the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region, are below average.
- Varied representation within Asian countries:
- The South Asian countries faring worse than the others.
- IPU data of May 2022 showed that women’s representation in Nepal, for example, was 34 percent, in Bangladesh 21 percent, in Pakistan 20 percent, in Bhutan 17 percent and in Sri Lanka 5 percent.
- For India, women’s representation in the Lok Sabha (the Lower House) has remained slightly below 15 percent.
- The study does not include Afghanistan, but World Bank data of 2021 stated that female representation in the country’s last parliament was 27 percent.
Journey of Women’s Political Participation in India
- Before Independence: India has a history of marginalization and exploitation of women framed by patriarchal social structures and mindsets.
- Beginning of social reforms and participation in Freedom struggle: The Indian freedom movement, starting with the swadeshi in Bengal (1905-08) also witnessed the impressive participation of women, who organized political demonstrations and mobilized resources, as well as occupied leadership positions in those movements.
- Post-Independence: After India attained independence, its Constitution guaranteed equal status for men and women in all political, social and economic spheres.
- Equality guaranteed by The Constitution:
- Part III of the Constitution guarantees the fundamental rights of men and women.
- The Directive Principles of State Policy ensure economic empowerment by providing for equal pay for equal work by both men and women, humane conditions of work, and maternity relief.
- Any Indian citizen who is registered as a voter and is over 25, can contest elections to the lower house of Parliament (Lok Sabha) or the state legislative assemblies; for the upper house (Rajya Sabha) the minimum age is 30.
- Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution guarantee political equality and the right to vote.
- Reservation for women in local bodies: In 1992, the 73^rdand 74^th amendments to the Constitution provided for reservation of one-third of the total number of seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and municipal bodies.
Three main parameters to assess women’s participation in politics in India
1. Women as Voters: In the last Lok Sabha election of 2019, almost as many women voted as men a watershed in India’s progress towards gender equality in politics which has been called a “silent revolution of self-empowerment The increased participation, especially since the 1990s, is attributed to a number of factors.
2. Women as Candidates: Overall, however, while women candidates in parliamentary elections have increased over time their proportion compared to male candidates remains low. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, of the total of 8,049 candidates in the fray, less than 9 percent were women.
3. Women’s Representation in Parliament: Although women’s participation as voters in elections has increased significantly, the data on women’s representation in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha suggests that the proportion of women representatives has remained low in comparison to their male counterparts.
Just to know:
- The highest proportion of women representatives elected to the Lok Sabha so far was in the 2019 elections, and it was less than 15 percent of total
- The number of women candidates and MPs varies greatly across states and parties.
- In the present Lok Sabha (17^th), Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have the highest numbers of women MPs. In terms of percentage, Goa and Manipur had fielded the highest proportion of women candidates.
Why female representation in Parliament and state legislatures remained low?
- Inaccessibility of Institutions: Election records show that most political parties, though pledging in their constitutions to provide adequate representation to women, in practice give far too few party tickets to women candidates. A study found that a large section of women who do get party tickets have family political connections, or are ‘dynastic’ politicians. With normal routes of accessibility limited, such connections are often an entry point for women
- Notion of women less likely to win: It is still widely held in political circles that women candidates are less likely to win elections than men, which leads to political parties giving them fewer tickets.
- Challenging Structural Conditions: Election campaigns in India are extremely demanding and time-consuming. Women politicians, with family commitments and the responsibilities of child care, often find it difficult to fully participate
- Highly vulnerable: Women politicians have been constantly subjected to humiliation, inappropriate comments, abuse and threats of abuse, making participation and contesting elections extremely challenging.
- Expensive electoral system: Financing is also an obstacle as many women are financially dependent on their families. Fighting parliamentary elections can be extremely expensive, and massive financial resources are required to be able to put up a formidable contest. Absent adequate support from their parties, women candidates are compelled to arrange for their own campaign financing this is a huge challenge that deters their participation
- Internalized patriarchy: A phenomenon known as ‘internalized patriarchy’ where many women consider it their duty to priorities family and household over political ambitions.
Why women participation in law making process is so important?
- Political empowerment: Legislative representation is fundamental to political empowerment, enabling participation in the law-making process. Legislatures play a vital role in raising debates and discussions on various aspects of governance and in exacting accountability from the government.
- Shows the status of gender parity: Women’s representation in the national parliament is a key indicator of the extent of gender equality in parliamentary politics.
- Women bring different skills to politics: According to Political scientist, Anne “women bring different skills to politics and provide role models for future generations; they appeal to justice between sexes.
- Facilitates specific interests of women in policy: Their inclusion in politics facilitates representation of the specific interests of women in state policy and creates conditions for a revitalized democracy that bridges the gap between representation and participation.
- Highly effective and less likely to be criminal and corrupt: Study found that, women legislators perform better in their constituencies on economic indicators than their male counterparts also women legislators are less likely to be criminal and corrupt, more efficacious, and less vulnerable to political opportunism.
Way ahead
- It should be made legally obligatory for every registered political party to give one-third of the total number of party tickets it distributes at every election to women. The Representation of People Act, 1950, will have to be amended to enable this strategy.
- Second, if the party-level reform proves difficult, the Women’s Reservation Bill 2008 which mandated reservation of one-third of parliamentary and state assembly seats for women will have to be revived.
Notes in short: Can be used in answers, essays and debates accordingly.
1. Despite strong patriarchal norms, the country is seeing an increase in women’s political participation, parallel to higher levels of education and growing financial independence.
2. The number of women contesting parliamentary and state legislative elections remains limited.
3. Where constitutionally mandated reservation of seats for women has been provided at the local self-government level, women’s representation has increased.
4. However, political parties, the primary vehicle of electoral politics, remain largely inaccessible for women to contest parliamentary and legislative elections even after 75 years of Indian independence.
Conclusion
- The organic shift to opening up spaces for women in Indian parliamentary politics has been slow. More women are needed in these platforms to transform the discourse on governance and policy-making, and bring India closer to becoming a truly inclusive and representative democracy.
November 19, 2022
10 years of POCSO: An analysis of India’s landmark child abuse law
Ten years after the enactment of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which deals specifically with child sexual abuse, an analysis of POCSO cases across India has found gaps in its implementation.

Why was POCSO enacted?
- The Constitution of India has incorporated several provisions to protect the rights of children and India has also been a signatory to landmark international instruments.
- However, India lacked any dedicated provision against child sexual abuse.
- Cases would be tried under different provisions of the Indian Penal Code, which was found to be ill-equipped.
Evolution of POCSO
- In the 1990s, a child sexual abuse racket was busted in Goa, following which the state government enacted a law to promote child rights in 2003.
- Also, the Special Expert Committee under Justice VR Krishna Iyer presented a draft code for child rights in India – the Children’s Code Bill, 2000.
- These two initiatives established the basis for dedicated legislation against child sexual abuse.
- In 2005, the Department of Women and Child Development prepared a draft bill to address different offences targeted against children.
- Contrary to the general perception then, the overall percentage of boys reporting experiencing sexual abuse was much higher than that of girls.
- In September 2010, the Ministry of WCD prepared a draft Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2010.
- This after several rounds of revisions came into force as the POCSO Act on Children’s Day – 14 November, 2012.
Features of the Act
- Gender neutrality: The Act is gender neutral and regards the best interests and welfare of the child. The Act calls for mandatory reporting of sexual offences. A false complaint with intent to defame a person is punishable under the Act.
- Definition of Child: The Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age.
- Definitions of sexual abuses: It defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as sexual harassment and pornography.
- Prevents child trafficking: People who traffic children for sexual purposes are also punishable under the provisions relating to abetment in the Act.
- Preventing re-victimization of child: Adequate provisions are made to avoid re-victimization of the Child at the hands of the judicial system.
- Sensitization of Police: The Act assigns a policeman in the role of child protector during the investigation process.
- Child friendly investigation: The Act stipulates that such steps must be taken which makes the investigation process as child-friendly as possible.
- Speedy disposal: The Act provides for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offences and stipulates that the case is disposed of within one year from the date of reporting of the offence.
What is the rationale behind the legislation?
- Multiple facets of crime: New forms of child abuse like online bullying, harassment and Child Pornography have emerged to a greater extent.
- Exception handling: As per the last available data from the National Crime Records Bureau of child rape cases came up before the courts under the POCSO Act read with Indian Penal Code Section 376.
- Larger conviction: Less than three per cent cases ended in convictions, pointing to the need for better access to justice for all, and not just more stringent conviction in a small percentage of cases.
- Deterrence against crime: There is the belief that harsher punishments will deter people from committing child rape.
- Zero-tolerance: Lastly, the disgust for the crime makes the perpetrator ‘deserving’ of death penalty.
Issues with the Law
- Recurrence of such crime: In the context of child rape, many preventive measures and policies do have a definitive impact on preventing child rape.
- Lower conviction: The conviction rates are low under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
- Investigation bottlenecks: There is lack of specialised investigators, prosecutors, judges, mental health professionals, doctors, forensic experts and social workers.
- Protection bottlenecks: Inadequate child protection and rehabilitation services, lack of compliance with child-friendly legal procedures are some other concerns.
- Under-reporting: A large proportion of perpetrators are family members or those close to or known to the family. This results in massive underreporting of such crimes.
- Protection of convicts: This concern will only intensify with death penalty, as the child’s family often settles a case of known person preventing him to the gallows.
- Vulnerability: The arbitrariness of the death penalty in India also arises from the discriminatory impact of the choice of what constitutes ‘rarest of rare’.
- Delay of trials: The Kathua Rape case took 16 months for the main accused to be convicted whereas the POCSO Act clearly mentions that the entire trial and conviction process has to be done in one year.
- Communal Politicization: Considering rapes on communal angles is another challenge. The Unnao rape case and Kathua rape case are some of the examples.
Study of POCSO implementation
- The analysis, titled ‘A Decade of POCSO’, was carried out by the Justice, Access and Lowering Delays in India (JALDI) Initiative.
- It was held in collaboration with the Data Evidence for Justice Reform (DE JURE) program at the World Bank.
- It analysed a total of 230,730 cases from 486 districts spanning 28 states and Union Territories, from 2012 to February 2021.
- Case laws, policy interventions and case metadata was collected from the eCourts, the digital platform which gives information on pending cases, court orders, etc.
Key findings on crimes against children
- Low conviction rate: The analysis has found that 43.44% of trials under POCSO end in acquittals while only 14.03% end in convictions. For every one conviction in a POCSO case, there are three acquittals.
- Accused were close kin: Out of 138 judgements looked at in detail by the study, only in 6% of the cases were the accused people strangers to the victim.
Quality of justice under POCSO
- Huge delay: The study has found on average, it takes 509.78 days for a POCSO case to be disposed of – whereas it has been stipulated under the Act that such cases need to be disposed of within a year.
- High pendency: Though the pendency of POCSO cases was increasing gradually over the years, there was a sharp increase in the number of pending cases between 2019 and 2020, that could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Frequent transfer of cases: A total of 22.76% of cases were disposed of by virtue of transfers from one court to another, and one-fifth of the cases in this dataset ended in transfers. Since POCSO cases are supposed to be tried by the Special Court.
Gaps in implementation
- Support persons are not being appointed in most cases: The Supreme Court had also noted that in 96% of cases, a support person was not provided to the victim.
- POCSO courts have not been designated in all districts: As of 2022, 408 POCSO courts have been set up in 28 States as part of the Government’s Fast Track Special Court’s Scheme.
- There is a lack of Special Public Prosecutors: They should be appointed specifically to handle POCSO cases, and even when they are appointed they are often employed for non-POCSO cases.
Way forward
- The social menace of child rape requires sustained planning, engagement, and investment of resources by the government.
- The need of the hour is to prioritise prevention activities against abuse, creating safe (physical and online) environments for children.
- Developing a comprehensive outreach system to engage parents, schools, communities, NGOs partners and local governments as well as police and lawyers is needed.
- This will ensure better implementation of the legal framework, policies, national strategies and standards.
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November 19, 2022
SC refuses to direct Centre to create independent Indian Environment Service
The Supreme Court has refused to intervene and direct the government to create an independent Indian Environment Service within the All India Service cadre. A specialized environment service was recommended in the T.S.R. Subramanian Committee report in 2014.

TSR Subramanian Committee Report on Environment
- The Subramanian committee was set up in August 2014 to review the country’s green laws and the procedures followed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
- It suggested several amendments to align with the Government’s economic development agenda.
- The report had suggested amendments to almost all green laws, including those relating to the environment, forest, wildlife and coastal zone clearances.
- The committee suggested that another committee, with more expertise and time, be constituted to review the environmental laws.
Key recommendations

(a) Establishment of Environment Management Authorities
- The report proposed an ‘Environmental Laws (Management) Act’ (ELMA), that envisioned full-time expert bodies to be constituted at the Central and State levels respectively:
1. National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA)
2. State Environmental Management Authority (SEMA)
(b) Project clearances
- These authorities evaluate project clearance (using technology and expertise), in a time bound manner, providing for single-window clearance.
- It suggested a “fast track” procedure for “linear” projects (roads, railways and transmission lines), power and mining projects and for “projects of national importance.”
- It also suggested an appellate mechanism against the decisions of NEMA/SEMA or MoEF&CC, in respect of project clearance, prescribing a three-month deadline to dispose appeals.
(c) Expanding Environment Protection Act
- The Air Act and the Water Act is to be subsumed within the EP Act.
- The existing Central Pollution Control Board and the State PCBs, which monitor and regulate the conditions imposed on the industries to safeguard environment be integrated into NEMA and SEMA.
(d) Evaluating Environmental Reconstruction Cost (ERC)
- The report also recommends that an “ERC” should be assessed for each project on the basis of the damage caused by it to the environment and this should be added into the cost of the project.
- This cost has to be recovered as a cess or duty from the project proponent during the life of the project.
(e) Research and Development
- It proposed the establishment of a National Environment Research institute “on the lines of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education”.
- It would bring in the application of high-end technology in environment governance.
(f) Establishment of Indian Environment Service (IES)
- Finally, an Indian Environment Service should be established to recruit qualified and skilled human resource in the environment sector.
Status of these recommendations
- The Centre never formally accepted this report and neither constituted a new committee as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
- However, many of these recommendations are implicitly making their way into the process of environmental regulation.
Why was IES proposed?
- Environmental governance in India involves several clearances.
- Currently, officers from all India civil services, conducted by UPSC, deals with environment clearances and policies.
Do we really need IES?
- The IAS were founded on the colonial government’s Council of India’s law member T.B. Macaulay’s notion of generalised work done by one official.
- However, the modern era, based on a socio-economic model of high specialization, cannot survive on this.
- The IAS is filled with people without the requisite specialized skills and qualifications to successfully accomplish their tasks.
- This was lamented by the PM when he posed the question “Can babusdo everything?” (babu is a euphemism for bureaucrats).
- There was a proposed functional field for specialization that was recommended in 1970 by India’s first Administrative Reforms Commission, but like the Subramaniam Committee suggestions, it was never implemented in its full.
Way forward
- There is need of an active bureaucracy for the implementation of environment policy.
- These administrators need to be aware of their responsibility, which can be made effective if a service dedicated to the environment is created.
- The challenge of climate change would then be able to be effectively approached through the bureaucracy.
Conclusion
- Policymakers must build on the exercise of reforming environmental governance.
- The process must involve reforming our laws, strengthening our institutions and streamlining the processes.
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November 19, 2022
Is India a Diabetes capital of the world?
Context
- India is often referred to as the ‘Diabetes Capital of the World as it accounts for 17%percent of the total number of diabetes patients in the world. There are currently close to 80 million people with diabetes in India and this number is expected to increase to 135 million by 2045. World Diabetes day is observed on 14 November.
What is Diabetes?
- Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how our body turns food into energy.
- Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body has high sugar levels for prolonged periods of time.
- The lack of insulin causes a form of diabetes.
- Type-I Diabetes: It is a medical condition that is caused due to insufficient production and secretion of insulin from the pancreas. Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake). This reaction stops your body from making insulin. Approximately 5-10% of the people who have diabetes have type 1
- Type-2 diabetes: With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. About 90-95% of people with diabetes have type 2.
Type-2 diabetes in brief
- Long term Condition: It is long-term (chronic) condition which results in too much sugar circulating in the bloodstreams and poor response of insulin. Eventually, high blood sugar levels can lead to disorders of the circulatory, nervous and immune systems. Type 2 diabetes is an impairment in the way the body regulates and uses sugar (glucose) as a fuel. It is a defective response of Insulin
- More common in adults: Type 2 is more common in older adults, but the increase in the number of children with obesity has led to more cases of type 2 diabetes in younger people.
- Slow signs and symptoms: Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly. Symptoms include, Increased thirst, Frequent urination, Increased hunger, Unintended weight loss, Fatigue, Blurred vision, Slow-healing sores, Frequent infections etc. It develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (but more and more in children, teens, and young adults).
- Cure for Type-2: There’s no cure for type 2 diabetes, but losing weight, eating well and exercising can help you manage the disease. If diet and exercise aren’t enough to manage your blood sugar, you may also need diabetes medications or insulin therapy.
What is insulin?
- Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas.
- Insulin regulates the movement of sugar into your cells.
- Blood glucose levels tightly controlled by insulin.
- When the blood glucose elevates (for example, after eating food), insulin is released from the pancreas to normalize the glucose level
The prevalence of diabetes in India
- People living with Diabetes in India: There are an estimated 77 million people with diabetes in India. Which means one in every 10 adults in India has diabetes. Half of those who have high blood sugar levels are unaware. Even among those who have been diagnosed with diabetes, only half of them have their blood sugar level under control.
- Rapid increase in younger population: According ICMR report, the prevalence of diabetes in India has increased by 64 percent over the quarter-century. prevalence among the younger population has also increased above 10%.
- Children impacting more: Worryingly, in India, a large number of children are also impacted by diabetes. Children are developing obesity and metabolic syndrome early because of the change in diets to more processed and fast foods.
- Projected Estimation: About 98 million Indians could have diabetes by 2030, these projections come from the International Diabetes Federation and the Global Burden of Disease project.
- Children impacting more: Worryingly, in India, a large number of children are also impacted by diabetes. Children are developing obesity and metabolic syndrome early because of the change in diets to more processed and fast foods.
Why Indians are more prone to diabetes?
- Lifestyle changes: The current exponential rise of diabetes in India is mainly attributed to lifestyle changes. The rapid change in dietary patterns, physical inactivity, and increased body weight, especially the accumulation of abdominal fat, are some of the primary reasons for increased prevalence.
- Ethnically more prone: Ethnically, Indians seem to be more prone to diabetes as compared to the Caucasians, although the precise mechanisms are not well known. we Indians have a greater degree of insulin resistance which means our cells do not respond to the hormone insulin. And when compared to Europeans, our blood insulin levels also tend to rise higher and more persistently when we eat carbohydrates.
- Greater genetic predisposition: The epidemic increase in diabetes in India along with various studies on migrant and native Indians clearly indicate that Indians have an increased predilection to diabetes which could well be due to a greater genetic predisposition to diabetes in Indians.
- Decrease in traditional diets: At the same time, the increased ‘westernization’, especially in the metros and the larger cities, has led to a drastic change in our dietary pattens. Indian diets have always been carbohydrate-heavy and now the reliance on refined sugars, processed food in the form of quick bites and fuss-free cooking and trans fatty acids are creating havoc.
- Mechanization of day-to-day work: With the increasing availability of machines to do our work, there’s also a substantial drop in day-to-day activities.
- Consumption of high calorie food and lack of physical activities: Obesity, especially central obesity and increased visceral fat due to physical inactivity, and consumption of a high-calorie/high-fat and high sugar diets, thus become major contributing factors.
- Rapid urbanization: Currently, India is undergoing a rapid epidemiological transition with increased urbanization. The current urbanization rate is 35% compared to 15% in the 1950’s and this could have major implications on the present and future disease patterns in India with particular reference to diabetes and coronary artery disease.
- Rural-urban migration: The rural migration to urban areas and associated stress plays a significant role in lifestyle change.
Ways to manage Increasing Diabetes in India
- Aggressive Screening procedures: Indians need an upstream approach or prioritizing protection of the population as a whole, beginning with women and children. This can be done with aggressive screening procedures. “Anybody above 18, with a clear-cut risk like family history, weight issues and young women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) should be tested. All Indians above 30 should be screened.
- Timely diagnosis and right management: Medical experts feel that timely detection and right management can go a long way in helping patients lead a normal life.
- Diet discipline for children: For children, Doctors recommends a serious diet discipline. “Only healthy meals are the option that remains. Tutor the tastebuds of the young and stop their access to fast foods. There can be supportive policy measures making healthy fruits and vegetables accessible in a cost-effective manner to all instead of plain carbs. The mid-day meal or tiffin needs to be looked at thoughtfully and to make it healthy.
- Promoting physical activities: “The overall decline in physical activity has had devastating impacts on our metabolism,” while agreeing with the 30-minute a day exercise and activity schedule, sounds a note of caution. The recent scientific evidence suggests even five minutes of walk after any meal provides some protection.
- Adopting healthy Lifestyle: Though a chronic medical condition, Diabetes can be curbed at the initial level by introducing lifestyle changes. Experts suggests, reduce stress; sleep on time and for minimum of seven hours, maintaining ideal body weight, regular physical activity stop smoking, stopping/ minimum alcohol intake and get early treatment for any pre-existing or co-morbid health condition such as hypertension.
- Regular check-ups: Regular visits to the doctor are important to assess sugar control and assessment/ prevention of complications related to the disease.
Conclusion
- With the country having the highest number of diabetic patients in the world, the sugar disease is posing an enormous health problem to our country today. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet on diabetes, an estimated 3.4 million deaths are caused due to high blood sugar in the world.
Mains Question

Q. Diabetes is increasing alarmingly across all age groups in India. Discuss the reasons and suggest measures to manage epidemic of diabetes if it is not curable?

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November 18, 2022
What is a Narco Test?
A court in Saket, New Delhi, has allowed Delhi Police to conduct a narco test on a psychopath accused of raping and killing his live-in partner.

What is a Narco Test?
- In a ‘narco’ or narcoanalysis test, a drug called sodium pentothal is injected into the body of the accused.
- This transports the accused to a hypnotic or sedated state, in which their imagination is neutralised.
- In this hypnotic state, the accused is understood as being incapable of lying, and is expected to divulge information that is true.
- Sodium pentothal or sodium thiopental is a fast-acting, short duration anaesthetic, which is used in larger doses to sedate patients during surgery.
- It belongs to the barbiturate class of drugs that act on the central nervous system as depressants.
History of its use
- Because the drug is believed to weaken the subject’s resolve to lie, it is sometimes referred to as a “truth serum”.
- It is said to have been used by intelligence operatives during World War II.
Reasons to use such tests
- In recent decades, investigating agencies have sought to employ these tests in investigation, which are sometimes seen as being a “softer alternative” to torture or “third degree” to extract the truth from suspects.
- However, neither method has been proven scientifically to have a 100% success rate, and remain contentious in the medical field as well.
Restrictions on these tests
- No self-incrimination: The Bench took into consideration international norms on human rights, the right to a fair trial, and the right against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) of the Constitution.
- Consent of the accused: In ‘Selvi & Ors vs. State of Karnataka & Anr’ (2010), a Supreme Court Bench comprising then CJI ruled that no lie detector tests should be administered “except on the basis of consent of the accused”. The subject’s consent should be recorded before a judicial magistrate, the court said.
- Legal assistance to such convicts: Those who volunteer must have access to a lawyer, and have the physical, emotional, and legal implications of the test explained to them by police and the lawyer.
- Guidelines at place: It said that the ‘Guidelines for the Administration of Polygraph Test on an Accused’ published by the National Human Rights Commission in 2000, must be strictly followed.
Can the results of these tests be considered as “confessions”?
- Not a confession: Because those in a drugged-induced state cannot exercise a choice in answering questions that are put to them.
- Assumed as evidence: However, any information or material subsequently discovered with the help of such a voluntarily-taken test can be admitted as evidence.
- Supports investigation: It reveals the location of, say, a physical piece of evidence (which is often something like a murder weapon) in the course of the test.
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November 18, 2022
Moscow Format to Engage with the Talibans
The Moscow Format of Consultations on Afghanistan was recently held in the Russian capital.

What is the Moscow Format?
- The Moscow format was introduced in 2017 on the basis of the six-party mechanism for consultations between special representatives from Russia, Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran and India.
- The present meeting includes a group of 10 nations including India, China, Pakistan, Iran and the Central Asian republics with Taliban officials.
- Russia had previously convened a new meeting of the ‘Extended Troika’ on Afghanistan which included Russia, the United States, China and Pakistan.
- The US pulled out of the last meeting.
- Taliban did not participate in the talks but, welcomed the discussion and declared that it will not allow Afghan territory to be used against “stability of the region”.
Key outcomes of the meet
- The dialogue called for respect for all Afghan ethnic groups and minorities in a bid to create national reconciliation in the war torn country.
- The Russian hosts, presented a White Book on the civilian losses in Afghanistan due to the actions of the NATO forces during the past two decades.
- The representatives at the talks also called for “complete unfreezing” of Afghanistan’s assets by Washington.
Urging the Taliban Govt.
- Prevent poppy cultivation: Participating countries called upon the Taliban setup to “fulfil its commitments to eradicate terrorism and drug trafficking” that continue to emanate from the Afghan territory.
- Stop atrocities: The return of the Taliban has been followed by a series of attacks on Shia Hazaras and growing atrocities against women and political opponents.
- Inclusive govt. formation: The participants underscored the importance of forming a “truly inclusive government in Afghanistan, reflecting the interests of all major ethno-political groups of the country.”
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November 18, 2022
Role of Private Sector in Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
Context
- On 27 September, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the rollout of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission with the aim of integrating the different and disparate digital health systems that exist into a National Digital Health Ecosystem.
What is Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)?
- The ABDM currently has five main components:
- Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number: A unique health identification number,
- Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR): A repository of healthcare professionals across both modern and traditional systems of medicine,
- Health Facility Registry (HFR): A repository of both public and private health facilities, including hospitals, clinics, diagnostic laboratories, and pharmacies,
- Unified Health Interface (UHI): An open protocol for digital health services linking patients with healthcare providers,
- ABHA Mobile App: An app allowing an individual to carry electronic health records.
Analyzing the future of India’s health care system
- Digitization push of Government: To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of universal health coverage, the Indian government has expended significant efforts to promote the digitization of the healthcare sector to make health accessible, affordable, and equitably distributed.
- Citizens and doctors can access the health registry: The two registries would ostensibly create a database of India’s healthcare institutions and professionals that citizens would be able to access.
- Digital health card: The ABHA number and the application allow citizens to securely identify themselves and carry their health records to any healthcare facility.
- Targeted health care services: And lastly, the UHI would facilitate greater access to and delivery of healthcare services.
- Huge data for research: All of this activity has and will generate a tremendous quantity of data, which will be crucial for research, innovation, and policymaking.
Importance of private sector in health sector
- Mixed health care system: India has a mixed healthcare system, which means that it has both public and private healthcare providers. Without significant participation from the private healthcare providers, the ABDM’s ability to achieve its objectives will be limited.
- 81% doctors are private: This is because private healthcare infrastructure accounts for nearly 62 per cent of all of India’s health infrastructure and the private sector also provides 81 per cent of the doctors in India.
- Preference to private healthcare: Both rural and urban population in India seem to prefer seeking treatment from the private sector. Only 33 per cent of the rural and 26 per cent of the urban population depend on the public sector for healthcare.
Why Private health care are opting out of ABDM?
- Voluntary participation in ABDM: The voluntary nature of participation in the ABDM has led to a significant portion of private healthcare providers opting to not participate in the universal programme nor integrate into the UHI.
- High cost for digital records: Small healthcare providers like charitable hospitals, clinics, diagnostic labs, pharmacies, or nursing homes are less inclined to participate because of the significant costs involved.
- Requirement of manpower for digitization: The cost to these healthcare providers, who are most likely in various stages of digitisation, is the number of man hours required to digitise their health records and other data.
- Financial cost of digitization: The actual financial cost of upgrading or altering their digital health systems to meet basic required standards to participate in the ABDM and the UHI.
Impact of non-participation by private players
- A lack of participation from the private sector will negatively impact the objectives of the ABDM in major way:
- Limited success for UHI: Considering the concentration of private healthcare providers in urban areas, a lack of their participation and integration would limit the UHI’s ability to bring previously inaccessible services to the rural population who would otherwise have to travel to access them.
- Incomplete data and ineffective policy: The data generated by the ABDM and use of the UHI would be incomplete, which in turn would significantly limit the effectiveness of policy planning and programme delivery.
Conclusion
- It is unclear whether the government intends to achieve private sector participation through incentives or mandates. Without either approach, it seems that the ABDM will see little participation from smaller private healthcare providers, though how this will play out remains to be seen.
Mains Question

Q. What is the significance of Private Players in health care system of India? Explain the crucial role of Private health care in Ayushman Bharat digital Mission.

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November 17, 2022
The case of India-UK Free Trade Agreement
Context
- To achieve the export target of $2 trillion by 2030, India is going the whole hog on free trade agreements (FTAs). India is negotiating FTAs with countries such as the European Union, Canada, the U.K., and Israel.
Importance of FTA
- FTA include multiple trade aspects: FTAs cover a wide array of topics such as tariff reduction impacting the entire manufacturing and the agricultural sector; rules on services trade; digital issues such as data localization; intellectual property rights that may have an impact on the accessibility of drugs; and investment promotion, facilitation, and protection.
- Great impact on economy and society: Consequently, an FTA has a far-reaching impact on the economy and society. Given this, one legitimately expects transparency and greater scrutiny of the FTA process both during and after the negotiations.
What are the problems with Indian FTA negotiations?
- Lack of transparency in negotiations: India negotiates most FTAs behind closed doors with very little information about the objectives and processes followed and negligible scrutiny.
- No robust framework for FTA negotiations: This is not the case in other countries with whom India is negotiating such an FTA. In the U.K., for example, there are several robust mechanisms that foster a certain degree of transparency in the FTA negotiations. Furthermore, there are institutional apparatuses that enable the scrutiny of the actions of the executive, during and after the signing of the FTA.
Case study of FTA framework in U.K
- Detailed information on FTA’s: Department of International Trade (DFIT), U.K., publishes a policy paper laying down the strategic objectives behind negotiating an FTA and why it is important for the U.K. to have an FTA with a particular country. This policy paper is fairly detailed listing the specific advantages of signing an FTA such as the economic gains expected, distributional impacts, the environmental impact, and the labour and human rights dimensions of the FTA.
- Inputs from stakeholders: The policy paper that the DFIT publishes also contains the inputs and responses received by various stakeholders such as businesses, non-governmental organizations, and others. Furthermore, the policy paper also explains the government view on specific suggestions
- FTA scrutiny by parliament: In the U.K., the strategic objectives identified by the government for signing an FTA are scrutinized by the U.K. Parliament. This job is performed by the International Agreements Committee (IAC) of the British Parliament. The IAC hears expert witnesses on the FTA, critically examines the government’s strategic objectives for each FTA under negotiation, and offers key recommendations wherever it finds gaps in the government’s approach. The U.K. government then responds to these recommendations.
- Parliament has to ratify the FTA: In the U.K, under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, 2010, the executive has to lay down a treaty before the British Parliament for 21 sitting days with an explanatory memorandum before ratifying it. This allows Parliament to be apprised of the treaty the executive is going to ratify.
The contrast case of India’s FTA
- No publicly produced document in India: In India, no such document is produced publicly that makes a case for signing an FTA and assessing its impact on the environment and society at large. The Commerce Ministry the nodal body dealing with FTAs on its website provides the bare minimum information about FTA negotiations.
- No record of discussion with the stakeholders: Seemingly, the Commerce Ministry also undertakes stakeholder consultations and inter-ministerial meetings but there is no public record of these discussions and the government’s response to the concerns of stakeholders.
- No parliamentary scrutiny: In India, there is no mechanism for such parliamentary scrutiny of the executive’s actions during the FTA negotiations. India’s parliamentary system allows for department-related parliamentary committees that discuss various topics of importance and offer recommendations. However, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce (PSCC) rarely scrutinises the Indian government’s objectives behind negotiating and signing an FTA.
- No role for parliament to ratify the FTA: In India, there is no mechanism for any role of Parliament in the ratification of treaties including FTAs. Entering into treaties and matters incidental to it such as negotiations, signing and ratification are within the constitutional competence of Parliament. But, Parliament in the last seven-plus decades has not exercised its power on this issue, thus giving the executive unfettered freedom in negotiating, signing, and ratifying treaties including FTAs.
Recommendations for Improving the India’s FTA framework
- Publicise the objectives of FTA: India should take a leaf out of the U.K. book and develop a law on entering treaties including FTAs. This law should have the following parts. The executive should make a clear economic case outlining its strategic objectives publicly for entering into negotiations for a treaty such as an FTA.
- Mandatory consultation with all stakeholders: The executive should be under an obligation to consult all stakeholders, respond to their concerns and make this information publicly available.
- Dedicated parliamentary committee to scrutinize the FTA: The Indian Parliament should constitute a committee on the lines of the U.K.’s IAC that will scrutinise the strategic objectives behind entering into an FTA.
- Mechanism to ratify the FTA by parliament: The executive should place the FTA on the floor of Parliament for a certain duration, allowing Parliament to debate it, before ratifying it.
Conclusion
- While the executive’s constitutional prerogative of entering into an FTA or international treaties, in general, is indisputable, this power should be exercised in a manner that makes the executive answerable. After all, an integral facet of democracy is to hold the executive to account for its actions. It should be no different for negotiating international treaties including FTAs.
November 17, 2022
Vice-Chancellor Appointment, New Chapter in Centre-State Relations
Context
- Recent judgments of the Supreme Court of India on the appointment of vice chancellors (VC) in State universities in violation of the regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) are significant in the context of higher education in a federal country such as India.
What are the recent judgements of Supreme Court?
- Gambhirdan K. Gadhvi vs The State of Gujarat (March 3, 2022): In the case, Gambhirdan K. Gadhvi vs The State of Gujarat (March 3, 2022), from Sardar Patel University, Gujarat, the Court (Justices M.R. Shah and B.V. Nagarathna) quashed the appointment of the incumbent Vice Chancellor on the ground that the search committee did not form a panel for the appointment of VC, and, therefore, was not in accordance with the UGC Regulations of 2018.
- UGC regulations will prevail over state law: It was held that since the State law was repugnant to the UGC regulations, the latter would prevail and the appointment under the State law had become void ab initio.
- Professor (Dr) Sreejith P.S vs Dr. Rajasree M.S. (October 21, 2022): In the second case, from Kerala, i.e., Professor (Dr) Sreejith P.S vs Dr. Rajasree M.S. (October 21, 2022), with the Bench of Justices M.R. Shah and M.M. Sundresh, the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, was challenged on the ground that the search committee recommended only one name, which is against the UGC Regulations.
- Supreme court quashed the appointment of VCs: The Court quashed the appointment of the VC on the ground that the provision relating to the search committee in the University Act is repugnant to the UGC Regulations, and was therefore void.
Implications of the recent judgement
- Many VCs asked to resigned by Governor: Decision of the Supreme Court triggered unprecedented developments in Kerala with the State Governor, who is the Chancellor of all the universities in Kerala, asking as many as 11 VCs of other universities of the State to resign immediately on the ground that their appointments too had become void after the Supreme Court’s judgment.
- Tussle between governor and state: No VC has resigned as per the direction of the Governor. This development has intensified an already raging battle between the state government and the Governor, which is likely to become fiercer with the Kerala High Court quashing the appointment of the VC of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies on November 14 on the ground that this appointment was in violation of the UGC Regulations.
What are the legal and constitutional issues with judgement?
- UGC regulations vs state university Act: In both these cases, the issue framed by the Supreme Court is about whether the appointment of VCs should be made as per the UGC Regulations or the provisions of the State University Act.
- Education in concurrent list, Centre and state can make a legislation: As education is a subject on the Concurrent list, this question needs to be addressed seriously. A VC is appointed by the Chancellor under the relevant University Act, but the Supreme Court has brought in Article 254 of the Constitution to rule that if provisions of the State law are repugnant to the provisions of the Union law, the State law will become void.
- State law declared void over UGC violations: In the cases mentioned above, the top court found that the search committee recommended only one name for the appointment of VC which violates the UGC Regulations which require three to five names, and, therefore, the provision of the State law is void.
- Subordinate regulations prevailed over state law: Thus, the Court’s conclusion is that if any provision in the State university law is repugnant to the UGC Regulations, the latter will prevail and the former will become void. So, on the one side we have an Act passed by a legislature and on the other we have regulations made by a subordinate body such as the UGC.
Opinion of experts
- State laws are subordinate to the act of parliament: A careful reading of Article 254 would show that the repugnancy under this Article relates to a state law and a substantive law made by Parliament. It impliedly excludes rules, regulations, etc. Rules and regulations are made by subordinate authorities in this case the UGC whereas the substantive law is made by the superior authority, namely Parliament.
- State laws are not subordinate to UGC regulations: The repugnancy can arise only between the provisions of the University Acts and the UGC Act, and not the regulations of the UGC.
- UGC regulations are inferior to state assembly: The rules and regulations made by the subordinate authority, though laid in Parliament, do not go through the same process as a law. Normally these do not require the approval of Parliament. The rules and regulations have an inferior status as compared to an Act. The Constitution cannot be assumed to equate the Act with the rules.
- Article 254 does not include regulations: The Constitution does not, in general terms, define the term law. The inclusive definition of law given in Article 13(2) is applicable only to that Article. It has no application to other Articles, which means the term law does not include the rules, regulations, etc. for the purpose of Article 254.
- Violation of federal principle: The regulations made by a subordinate authority of the Union overriding a law made by a state legislature will amount to a violation of federal principles and a negation of the concurrent legislative power granted to the State by the Constitution.
- UGC regulations are Not part of UGC act: The UGC Regulations on the appointment of VCs are outside the scope of the main provisions of the UGC Act as none of its provisions refers to the appointment of VCs.
Conclusion
- Issue of appointment of vice-chancellor has opened the new conflicting chapter between Centre-state relations. Supreme court’s decision has further added the confusion rather than clarity to the issue. Supreme court need to review the judgements for harmonious relations between Centre and states.
Mains Question

Q. Explain the article 254 about Centre-state legislative relations? How the issue of vice-chancellor appointment is problematic for Centre-state relationship?

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November 17, 2022