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GS Paper: GS2

  • Questioning the Safety of Aadhaar

    Two days after issuing an advisory asking people to refrain from sharing photocopies of their Aadhaar Card, the Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) opted to withdraw the notification.

    UIDAI Advisory

    • The withdrawn notice had suggested holders use a masked Aadhaar card instead of the conventional photocopy.
    • It added that the document must not be downloaded from a cybercafe or public computer and if done for some reason, must be permanently deleted from the system.
    • Private entities like hotels or film halls cannot collect or keep copies of the identification document.

    What is Masked Aadhaar?

    • ‘Masked Aadhaar’ veils the first eight digits of the twelve-digit ID with ‘XXXX’ characters.
    • The notice informed that only entities possessing a ‘User Licence’ are permitted to seek Aadhaar for authentication purposes.

    Why in news now?

    • In July 2018, Telecom Regulatory of India’s Chairman tweeted his Aadhaar number challenging users to “cause him any harm”.
    • In response, users dug up his mobile number, PAN number, photographs, residential address and date of birth.
    • UIDAI dismissed assertions of any data leak, arguing that most of the data was publicly available.
    • It did however caution users from publicly sharing their Aadhaar numbers.

    Security of Aadhaar: What does the law say?

    • The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 makes it clear.
    • Aadhaar authentication is necessary for availing subsidies, benefits and services that are financed from the Consolidated Fund of India.
    • In the absence of Aadhaar, the individual is to be offered an alternate and viable means of identification to ensure she/he is not deprived of the same.
    • Separately, Aadhaar has been described as a preferred KYC (Know Your Customer) document but not mandatory for opening bank accounts, acquiring a new SIM or school admissions.
    • The requesting entity would have to obtain the consent of the individual before collecting his/her identity.
    • The entity must ensure that the information is only used for authentication purposes on the Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR).

    What is CIDR?

    • This centralised database contains all Aadhaar numbers and holder’s corresponding demographic and biometric information.
    • UIDAI responds to authentication queries with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
    • In some cases, basic KYC details (as name, address, photograph etc.) accompany the verification answer ‘Yes’.
    • The regulator does not receive or collect the holder’s bank, investment or insurance details.

    Protection of confidentiality

    • The Act makes it clear that confidentiality needs to be maintained and the authenticated information cannot be used for anything other than the specified purpose.
    • More importantly, no Aadhaar number (or enclosed personal information) collected from the holder can be published, displayed or posted publicly.
    • Identity information or authentication records would only be liable to be produced pursuant to an order of the High Court or Supreme Court, or by someone of the Secretary rank or above in the interest of national security.

    Is identity theft via Aadhaar possible?

    • As per the National Payment Corporation of India’s (NCPI) data, ₹6.48 crore worth of financial frauds through 8,739 transactions involving 2,391 unique users took place in FY 2021-22.
    • Since the inception of the UID project, institutions and organisations have endowed greater focus on linking their databases with Aadhaar numbers.
    • This include bank accounts especially in light of the compulsory linkage for direct benefit transfer schemes.

    Structural problems with UIDAI

    • The Aadhaar Data Vault is where all numbers collected by authentication agencies are centrally stored.
    • Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG) latest report stipulated that UIDAI has not specified any encryption algorithm (as of October 2020) to secure the same.
    • There is no mechanism to illustrate that the entities were adhering to appropriate procedures.
    • Further, UIDAI’s unstable record with biometric authentication has not helped it with de-duplication efforts, the process that ensures that each Aadhaar Number generated is unique.
    • The CAG’s reported stated that apart from the issue of multiple Aadhaars to the same resident, there have been instances of the same biometric data being accorded to multiple residents.

    Conclusion

    • The CAG concluded it was “not effective enough” in detecting the leakages and plugging them.
    • Biometric authentications can be a cause of worry, especially for disabled and senior citizens with both the iris and fingerprints dilapidating.
    • Though the UIDAI has assured that no one would be deprived of any benefits due to biometric authentication failures.
    • The absence of an efficient technology could serve as poignant premise for frauds to make use of their ‘databases’.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. Aadhaar metadata cannot be stored for more than three months.
    2. State cannot enter into any contract with private corporations for sharing of Aadhaar data.
    3. Aadhaar is mandatory for obtaining insurance products.
    4. Aadhaar is mandatory for getting benefits funded out of the Consolidated Fund of India.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 4 only

    (b) 2 and 4 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3 only

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”m9l8xajnd2″ question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • India Bangladesh Relations

    Two years after they were stopped due to the onset of the pandemic, passenger train services between India and Bangladesh resumed with the Bandhan Express setting off from Kolkata for Khulna and the Maitree Express starting its run from Dhaka for Kolkata.

    History of Rail Connectivity

    • The Bandhan Express was resumed by rebooting a long-forgotten rail link between Kolkata and the industrial hub of Khulna, the third-largest city of Bangladesh.
    • In 1965, this route was served by the Barisal Express, which was stopped due to the India-Pakistan war.
    • The Modi government along with the Sheikh Hasina regime restarted that with Bandhan in 2017.
    • The Bandhan Express was the second train to be flagged off after the introduction of Maitree Express between Kolkata and Dhaka Cantonment in April, 2008.
    • It covers the distance between Kolkata and Khulna via Petrapole and Benapole border route to cater to the demands of the people from both the countries.
    • The Bandhan Express was resumed in 2017 by rebooting a long-forgotten rail link between Kolkata and the industrial hub of Khulna.

    Beyond passenger travel

    • The governments of both the countries have been working towards strengthening the rail link between them, and not just through passenger trains.
    • In August 2021, the two sides started regular movement of freight trains between the newly-restored link between Haldibari in India and Chilahati in Bangladesh.
    • The Haldibari-Chilahati rail link between India and the then East Pakistan was also operational till 1965 and stopped due to the war.
    • This was part of the broad gauge main route from Kolkata to Siliguri at the time of Partition.
    • The two sides envisage at least 20 freight trains to cross the border per month on this link.

    Rail infrastructure

    • Once part of a single, seamless railway network under British rule, trains continued to pass between the two countries even after the Partition.
    • The infrastructure to connect the two sides through railways was, therefore, largely present.
    • Policymakers on both sides viewed this as an opportunity to deepen diplomatic ties using cross-border movements of goods and passengers.
    • Five rail links have so far been rebooted between India and Bangladesh:

    Petrapole (India)-Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede (India)- Darshana (Bangladesh), Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh), Radhikapur (India)-Birol (Bangladesh) and the Haldibari-Chilahati link

     

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  • The sedition law must go

    Context

    By order dated May 11, 2022, a Bench presided over by the Chief Justice of India, has directed that the petitions challenging the Section 124A be listed for final determination in the third week of July 2022; and that in the meantime suspend the use of Section 124A IPC.

    Historical background of Section 124A

    • With effect from 1870, (as amended in 1955), Section 124A of the Penal Code read:

    “Whoever by words, spoken or written, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection, towards the Government established by law in India shall be punished with imprisonment for life…”.

    • “Sedition” is the vaguest of all offences known to the criminal law.
    •  In colonial times, it was defined expansively in order to uphold the majesty of British power in India.
    • Before 1950, there were several Court decisions in operation on Section 124A; amongst them was Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s case (1897).
    • Absence of affection: In Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s case the Privy Council declined to grant leave to appeal, affirming that “disaffection” only meant “absence of affection in any degree towards the British rule or its administration or representatives”, and that exciting of mutiny or rebellion or actual disturbance of any sort was “absolutely immaterial”.
    • With the establishment of a Federal Court by the Government of India Act, 1935, in Niharendu Dutt Majumdar And Ors. vs Emperor the Federal Court held that if the language of Section 124A were to be read literally “it would make a surprising number of persons in India guilty of sedition and that no one, however, supposes that it is to be read in this literal sense”
    • However, in 1947 it was precisely in this literal sense that the interpretation of Section 124A was reiterated by a Bench of five judges of the Privy Council (AIR 1947 P.C. 82) in which it was declared that: “If the Federal Court had given their attention to Tilak’s case (1897) they should have recognised it as an authority… by which they were bound”.
    • With the advent of the Constitution of India on January 26, 1950, this interpretation of Section 124A became “the law in force immediately before the commencement of the Constitution”.

    Section 124A after 1950

    • Article 372: It stated that all laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of the Constitution shall continue in force therein until altered or repealed or amended by a competent legislature or other competent authority.
    • Protected due to Article 19(2): In 1962, in criminal appeals arising from the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that though Section 124A “clearly violated” the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression in Article 19(1)(a), it was not unconstitutional only because it was protected from challenge by the words “in the interests of public order” in Article 19(2).

    Conclusion

    This background has now become pertinent and relevant, because in a fresh batch of writ petitions filed in 2021, the constitutionality of Section 124A (IPC) has been once again challenged in the Supreme Court.

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  • Pak delegation in India for Indus Water Treaty talks

    A five-member Pakistani delegation has arrived in India for talks over the ongoing water dispute under the Indus Water Commission between the two countries.

    Why in news?

    • India is building 10 hydro plant projects to cut excess water into Pakistan.
    • Pakistan is expected to raise the projects being constructed by India under the Indus treaty.

    What is Indus Water Treaty?

    • The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank signed in Karachi in 1960.
    • According to this agreement, control over the water flowing in three “eastern” rivers of India — the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej was given to India
    • The control over the water flowing in three “western” rivers of India — the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum was given to Pakistan.

    Basis of the treaty: Equitable water-sharing

    • Back in time, partitioning the Indus rivers system was inevitable after the Partition of India in 1947.
    • The sharing formula devised after prolonged negotiations sliced the Indus system into two halves.
    • Equitable it may have seemed, but the fact remained that India conceded 80.52 percent of the aggregate water flows in the Indus system to Pakistan.
    • It also gave Rs 83 crore in pounds sterling to Pakistan to help build replacement canals from the western rivers.
    • Such generosity is unusual of an upper riparian.
    • India conceded its upper riparian position on the western rivers for the complete rights on the eastern rivers.
    • Water was critical for India’s development plans.

    What were the rights accorded to India?

    • The treaty allowed India to use western rivers water for limited irrigation use and unrestricted use for power generation, domestic industrial and non-consumptive uses such as navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc.
    • It lays down precise regulations to build any water or hydel projects.
    • India has been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through run-of-the-river projects on the western rivers subject to specific criteria for design and operation.
    • The pact also gives the right to Pakistan to raise objections to designs of Indian hydroelectric projects on the western rivers.

    Significance of the treaty

    • It is a treaty that is often cited as an example of the possibilities of peaceful coexistence that exist despite the troubled relationship.
    • It has survived 3 crucial wars.
    • It may be listed among the most successful international treaties as it has withstood the test of time.

    Why has the treaty survived?

    • It is for India’s generosity on Pakistan for sharing waters of its own rivers.
    • India has refrained from weaponizing waters. Pakistan cannot survive without this treaty.
    • About 80% of Pakistan’s agriculture depends on Indus and the riparian rivers waters.
    • Backtracking on the treaty could affect India’s stand as global reliable partner who disrespects bilateral agreements.

    A tacit nerve of terroristan

    • Responding to state sponsor of terrorism by Pakistan, India can escalate a water war , which can kill the crippling economy of Pakistan.
    • If India wants, it can either flood or drought-starve Pakistan by not obligating to this treaty.

    Need for a rethink

    • But PM Modi’s words equally hold relevance that “Blood and waters cannot flow together”.
    • There is no reason to believe that India could start a water war with Pakistan on humanitarian grounds.
    • Floods and droughts will starve ordinary Pakistanis while their politicians would still live in luxury.

    Way forward

    • The role of India, as a responsible upper riparian abiding by the provisions of the treaty, has been remarkable.
    • However, India needs to rethink or re-negotiate this treaty.
    • Just like water affects ordinary Pakistanis, so does terrorism affects Indians.

     

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  • Pacific Nations reject China Security Pact

    China has suffered a big diplomatic humiliation in the pacific. 10 island nations in the region rejected China’s proposed security pact.

    Why in news?

    • Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi has returned empty-handed in a highly decorated visit to the Pacific Nations.
    • The secret deal that was to be brokered got leaked in public media, caused huge embarrassment to the Chinese.

    Conspicuous features of the Pact

    • China has had offered to radically ramp up its activities in the South Pacific, directly challenging the influence of the US and its allies in the strategically vital region.
    • The failed deal saw Beijing to:
    1. Train Pacific island police,
    2. Become involved in cybersecurity,
    3. Expand political ties,
    4. Conduct sensitive marine mapping and
    5. Gain greater access to natural resources on land and in the water
    • As an enticement, Beijing is offering millions of dollars in financial aid, the prospect of a potentially lucrative China-Pacific islands free trade agreement and access to China’s vast market.

    Why Pacific Nations rejected this lollipop?

    • The offer is perceived was “disingenuous” and would “ensure Chinese influence in government” and “economic control” of key industries.
    • The nations also cited a lack of regional consensus.

    Pls make observations about Pacific Island Nations:

     

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  • The return of the great power rivalries

    Context

    The post-Cold War period of peace in Europe is more an aberration than norm in the continent’s history of conflicts.

    Background of the First World War

    • The Russian power had collapsed in its far east after the war with Japan in 1904-05.
    • Faced with the erosion of Russian influence and the rise of Wilhelmine Germany, which together threatened to alter Europe’s balance of power, France and Britain, competing colonial powers, came together. 
    • France had already reached an alliance with Russia.
    • The three would later form the Triple Entente, triggering a dangerous security competition in Europe with the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy), which would eventually lead to the First World War in 1914.
    • What triggered the great power security competition in the run-up to the First World War was the phenomenal rise of Wilhelmine Germany as a military and industrial power and the regional hegemons’ response to it.

    Similarities with the past

    • When Otto von Bismarck became the Minister-President of Prussia in September 1862, there was no unified German state.
    •  Bismarck adopted an aggressive foreign policy, fought and won three wars — with Denmark, Austria and France — destroyed the confederation, established a stronger and larger German Reich that replaced Prussia.
    • Bismarck stayed focused on transforming Germany internally in his last two decades.
    • It was on the foundation Bismarck built that Wilhelmine Germany turned to weltpolitik in the early 20 century, seeking global domination.
    • If Bismarck inherited a weak, loosely connected group of German speaking entities in 1862, Russian President Vladimir Putin got a Russia in 2000 that was a pale shadow of what was the Soviet Union.
    • Bismarck spent his years in power expanding the borders of Germany and building a stronger state and economy.
    • The post-Cold War Russia initially stayed focused on the restoration of the state and the economy, and then sought to expand its borders and challenge the continent’s balance of power — first the Crimean annexation and now the Ukraine invasion.
    • While NATO’s expansion deepened Russia’s security concerns, driving it into aggressive moves, Russia’s aggression has strengthened NATO’s resolve to expand further into Russia’s neighbourhood.

    Offensive realism

    • Offensive realists argue that “revisionist powers” tend to use force to rewrite the balance of power if they find the circumstances are favourable, while the status quo powers, or the existing regional hegemons, would seek to thwart any new country attaining more power at their expense.
    • The result of this type of competition is permanent rivalry and conflict.
    • One major difference between the era of Wilhelmine Germany and modern Russia is that there were no well-defined international laws in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
    • The international system has evolved ever since.
    • But its basic instincts, as realists would argue, have not changed much.
    • Mr. Putin’s Russia is not the first country that violated the sovereignty of a weaker power and flouted international laws in the “rules-based” order.

    Future of Europe’s security

    • Russia apparently had two strategic objectives in Ukraine —
    • One, to expand Russian borders and create a buffer.
    • And two, to reinforce Russia’s deterrence against NATO.
    • While Russia has succeeded, though slowly, in expanding its borders by capturing almost all of Ukraine’s east, the war has backfired on its second objective.
    • Russia’s inability to clinch a quick outright victory in Ukraine and the tactical retreats it has already made have invariably dealt a blow to the perception of Russian power that existed before the war.
    • This has strengthened NATO, driving even Sweden and Finland into its arms. Besides, the economic sanctions would leave a long-term hole in Russia’s economy.
    • But a Russia that is bogged down in Ukraine and encircled by NATO need not enhance Europe’s security.
    • As Henry Kissinger said at Davos, Russia had been and would remain an important element in the European state system.

    Conclusion

    The prospects are bleak. There will not be peace in Europe unless either Russia accepts its diminished role and goes into another spell of strategic retreat or Europe and the West in general accommodate Russia’s security concerns. Both look unrealistic as of today.

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  • E-governance

    Context

    There are several reforms and governance initiatives that have successfully steered India to its current strength.

    Contribution of Digital India program

    • A report carding of Digital India’s performance shows impressive progress.
    • Thus far, the government has transferred more than Rs 17 lakh crore through DBT while saving Rs 2.2 lakh crore.
    • Today, India has the world’s fastest-growing and most vibrant startup ecosystem with close to 70,000 registered startups and around 100 unicorns, with a unicorn coming up every week.
    • GST regime: Thanks to the most significant reform in indirect taxation through the GST and tax compliance, India has registered its highest ever collections.
    • Revenue increased from Rs 22 lakh crore in FY 21 to Rs 27 lakh crore in FY 22 — a whopping 22 per cent growth.
    • Role in India’s response to pandemic: Digital India played a significant role in India’s response to the pandemic.
    • It ensured that the government could reach people in remote parts of the country.
    • Health, education and other essential services migrated swiftly to the online mode.

    Use of technology for governance amid pandemic

    • Digital India played a significant role in India’s response to the pandemic.
    • It ensured that the government could reach people in remote parts of the country.
    • Health, education and other essential services migrated swiftly to the online mode.
    • It would not be an aberration to say that post-Covid, India emerged as a preeminent nation in the use of technology for governance.

    Conclusion

    The rapid digitalisation of the world along with a new focus on trust in the global supply chains for digital products and services presents tremendous opportunities for India and its youth.  It is now up to all of us to engage in a collective “sabka prayas” to realise New India’s economic potential.

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  • Reservation in Public Employment: Key Events

    This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in the TH.

    Reservation in Promotion

    • The jurisprudence of reservation relies on the symbiotic coexistence of constitutionally guaranteed equality of opportunity in public employment under Article 16 (1) of the Constitution of India.
    • The classifications were various clauses of the same article, especially Article 16(4) and Article 16 (4 A).
    • It specifically aimed to provide reservation in promotion to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, respectively.
    • These articles vested a discretion on the government to consider providing reservations for the socially and educationally backward sections of the society.

    Reservation not a fundamental Right

    • It is a settled law, time and again reiterated by the Supreme Court, that there is no fundamental right to reservation or promotion under Article 16(4) or Article 16(4 A) of the Constitution.
    • Rather they are enabling provisions for providing reservation, if the circumstances so warrant (Mukesh Kumar and Another vs State of Uttarakhand & Ors. 2020).
    • However, these pronouncements no way understate the constitutional directive under Article 46.
    • Article 46 mandates that the state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and in particular SCs and STs.
    • However such provisions resulted in the ever-evolving jurisprudence of affirmative action in public employment.

    Major events

    (1) Mandal storm

    • Reservation in employment which was otherwise confined to SC and STs got extended to new section called the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
    • This was the basis of the recommendations of the Second Backward Class Commission as constituted, headed by B.P. Mandal.
    • The Mandal Commission (1980) provided for 27% reservation to OBC in central services and public sector undertakings.
    • This was over and above the existing 22.5% reservation for SCs and STs, was sought to be implemented by the V.P. Singh Government in 1990.
    • The same was assailed in the Supreme Court resulting in the historic Indra Sawhney Judgment.

    (2) Indra Sawhney Judgment (1992)

    • In the judgment, a nine-judge bench presided by CJI MH Kania upheld the constitutionality of the 27% reservation.
    • But it put a ceiling of 50% unless exceptional circumstances warranting the breach, so that the constitutionally guaranteed right to equality under Article 14 would remain secured.
    • While Article 16(1) is a fundamental right, Article 16(4) is an enabling provision and not an exception.
    • Further, the Court directed the exclusion of creamy layer by way of horizontal division of every other backward class into creamy layer and non-creamy layer.

    (3) The Constitution (Seventy-seventh Amendment) Act, 1995

    • In Indra Sawhney Case, the Supreme Court had held that Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India does not authorise reservation in the matter of promotions.
    • However, the judgment was not to affect the promotions already made and hence only prospective in operation, it was ruled.
    • By the Constitution (Seventy-seventh Amendment) Act, 1995, which, Article 16(4-A), was inserted.
    • It aimed to provide the State for making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State.
    • This was to be in favour of the SCs and the STs which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State.
    • Later, two more amendments were brought, one to ensure consequential seniority and another to secure carry forward of unfilled vacancies of a year.

    (4) M. Nagaraj (2006) Case

    • A five-judge bench of Supreme Court declared the 1995 amendment as not vocative of basic structure of the Constitution.
    • It laid down ceratin conditions which included the collection of quantifiable data showing backwardness of the class and inadequacy of representation of that class in public employment.
    • The bench held that the creamy layer among SCs and STs is to be excluded from reservation.

    (5) Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta (2018)

    • It was authored by Justice Rohinton Nariman and indicates a critical turn in the jurisprudence of reservation.
    • In this case, a constitution bench of Supreme Court was called on to examine wisdom of the 2006 judgment.
    • This task was to examine the constitutionally recognised socio-economic backwardness of the SCs and STs which may not require any further substantiation.
    • It was also contended that the requirement to identify creamy lawyer among SC and STs fell foul of Indra Sawhney decision.
    • The constitution bench invalidated the requirement to collect quantifiable data in relation to SCs and STs.
    • It upheld the principle of applicability of creamy lawyer in relation to SCs and STs.

    (6) The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019

    • The 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) other SCs, STs and backward classes for government jobs and admission in educational institutions.
    • This is currently under challenge before the Supreme Court which has referred the same to a constitution bench.
    • This was a critical milestone to specifically include economic backwardness without social backwardness as is traditionally seen.

    (7) Dr. Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil vs Chief Minister (2021)

    • Despite the Indra Sawhney ruling, there have been attempts on the part of many States to breach the rule by way of expanding the reservation coverage.
    • The Maharashtra Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act 2018, (Maratha reservation law) came under challenge before the Supreme Court.
    • This case was referred to a bench of five judges to question whether the 1992 judgment needs a relook.
    • Interestingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the Indra Sawhney decision, and struck down Section 4(1)(a) and Section 4(1)(b) of the Act which provided 12% reservation for Marathas in educational institutions and 13% reservation in public employment respectively.
    • This judgment gave out a strong message that some State governments blatantly disregard the stipulated ceiling on electoral gains rather than any exceptional circumstances.

     

     

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  • Allow Surrogacy For Single Men, Mothers: Delhi HC

    The Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Union government on a petition challenging some provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act and the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act.

    Issues raised by the petition

    • Currently, the laws does not allow single men to have child through surrogacy.
    • Married women can only avail surrogacy services if they are unable to produce a child due to medical conditions.
    • Otherwise, for women to avail of surrogacy services, they must be aged between 35 and 45 and widowed or divorced.
    • Women can only offer surrogacy if they are aged between 25 and 35 and married with at least one biological child.
    • The laws also require a surrogate to be genetically related to the couple who intend to have a child through this method, their petition said.

    Basis of the Petition

    • The personal decision of a single person about the birth of a baby through surrogacy, i.e., the right of reproductive autonomy is a facet of the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
    • Thus, the right to privacy of every citizen or person affecting a decision to bear or beget a child through surrogacy cannot be taken away.

    Distinct features of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021

    • Definition of surrogacy: It defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the intending couple.
    • Regulation of surrogacy: It prohibits commercial surrogacy, but allows altruistic surrogacy which involves no monetary compensation to the surrogate mother other than the medical expenses and insurance.
    • Purposes for which surrogacy is permitted: Surrogacy is permitted when it is: (i) for intending couples who suffer from proven infertility; (ii) altruistic; (iii) not for commercial purposes; (iv) not for producing children for sale, prostitution or other forms of exploitation; and (v) for any condition or disease specified through regulations.
    • Eligibility criteria: The intending couple should have a ‘certificate of essentiality’ and a ‘certificate of eligibility’ issued by the appropriate authority ex. District Medical Board.

    Eligibility criteria for surrogate mother:

    • To obtain a certificate of eligibility from the appropriate authority, the surrogate mother has to be:
    1. A close relative of the intending couple;
    2. A married woman having a child of her own;
    3. 25 to 35 years old;
    4. A surrogate only once in her lifetime; and
    5. Possess a certificate of medical and psychological fitness for surrogacy.
    • Further, the surrogate mother cannot provide her own gametes for surrogacy.

    Also read

    [Burning Issue] Surrogacy in India

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  • AKRUTI Program to start in Kudankulam

    The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited is all set to launch AKRUTI programme in the villages surrounding Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).

    AKRUTI Program

    • The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited is assisting unemployed youth living near the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) through AKRUTI.
    • AKRUTI stands for Advanced Knowledge and Rural Technology Implementation (AKRUTI) program.
    • Areas of water, food processing, agriculture and waste management in rural areas are covered under the AKRUTI program.
    • The scheme aims at empowering villages through implementing different technologies for usage.
    • This scheme will lead to sustainable growth of the rural sector across the country.

    What is the objective?

    • To provide information and mechanism for implementation of BARC technologies in rural areas thereby aiming at overall rural development.

     

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