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GS Paper: GS2

  • India’s fate is tied to the rest of the world

    Context

    Ever since Independence, India’s fate has been closely tied to the rest of the world.

    How global interactions and how it shaped India

    • A large, newly independent, impoverished, and diverse country required active engagement with a variety of partners for its survival, security, and development.
    • But a constantly evolving international environment presented India not just with opportunities but numerous challenges.
    • Poorly demarketed borders: Its frontiers were initially poorly demarcated and poorly integrated.
    • Nuclear-armed neighbours: India came to have two nuclear-armed neighbors with which it competed for territory.
    • Relations with the US and Russia: India’s first leaders opted for flexible and friendly relations with both the U.S. and the Soviet Union and their respective allies.
    • The Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and the Bangladesh war altered India’s relations with both superpowers and shifted the dynamics of the rivalry with Pakistan.
    • Role in global politics: India also played an activist role in the decolonizing world, extending diplomatic and (in some cases) security assistance to independence movements in Asia and Africa and sending military missions to Korea and the Congo.
    • Economic progress: There were also important economic strides made, including the Green Revolution, undertaken with considerable foreign technical and financial assistance.
    • Independent policy: India often found itself at odds with the great powers when it felt its greater interests were threatened, as on intervention in Bangladesh, nuclear non-proliferation, or trade.

    India after the Cold War

    • The 1991 Gulf war resulted in a balance of payments crisis and the liberalization of the economy.
    • India then adopted a range of reforms to liberalize the economy, but it faced more than just economic turmoil.
    • Yet, the period that followed witnessed some important developments under the prime ministership of P.V. Narasimha Rao:
    • The period saw the advent of the Look East Policy and relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
    • It also saw the establishment of diplomatic ties with Israel.
    • The signing of a border peace and tranquility agreement with China took place in the same period
    • The period also witnessed initial military contracts with the U.S., and preparations for nuclear tests.
    • The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government built further upon these developments, conducting a series of tests in 1998, negotiating a return to normal relations with most major powers within two years.
    • Economic development: These years also witnessed a rapid growth of the Indian economy, fuelled by a boom in information and communication technology companies, the services sector, and a rising consumer market.
    • After 2004, the Manmohan Singh government worked extensively to resolve the outstanding question of India’s nuclear status.
    • By eliminating barriers to ‘dual use’ technologies and equipment, as well as a host of associated export controls, India had the opportunity to establish robust defense relations with the U.S. and its allies.
    • Coupled with an economic deceleration after 2011, India’s relations with the U.S. and Europe grew more contentious over the next three years.

    Relationship with China

    • The global financial crisis in 2008-09 presaged a slight change in approach, whereby India sought to partner with China and other rising powers on institutional reform, financial lending, climate change, and sovereignty.
    • Beginning in 2013,  China began to test India on the border and undermine Indian interests in South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region.
    • With further stand-offs at Doklam and Ladakh between 2017 and 2021, India opted to boycott China’s Belt and Road Initiative, raise barriers to Chinese investment.
    • In response, India began consulting more closely with other balancing powers in the Indo-Pacific.
    • Security relations and understandings with the U.S. and its allies (Japan, France, Australia) accelerated after 2014.
    • A greater emphasis on neighborhood connectivity was adopted.

    Way forward

    • As India enters its 75th year of independence, there are plenty of reasons for cautious optimism about its place in the world.
    • COVID-19 and growing international competition also underscore the difficulties that India will likely face as it attempts to transform into a prosperous middle-income country.
    • What is certain is that India will not have the luxury to turn inwards.

    Conclusion

    India’s objectives have been broadly consistent: development, regional security, a balance of power, and the shaping of international consensus to be more amenable to Indian interests. At the same time, India’s means and the international landscape have changed, as have domestic political factors.

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  • Issue of the oath of an elected representative

    Context

    Some Cabinet Ministers in Karnataka who took oath recently stood out from the rest.  All these oaths run against the spirit of the Constitution.

    Background of agnostic Constitution

    • The public officials who took office under the Government of India Act, 1935 had to take oath which had no mention of God.
    • During the Constituent Assembly debate, B.R. Ambedkar proposed the Preamble, “We, the people of India
”.
    •  H.V. Kamath moved an amendment to the Preamble, “In the name of God, we, the people of India
”.
    • To this proposal, another member, A. Thanu Pillai said that if this amendment is accepted it would affect the fundamental right of freedom of faith.
    • He said that a man has a right to believe in God or not, according to the Constitution.
    • H.N. Kunzru opposed Kamath’s amendment stating that in a matter that vitally concerns every man individually, the collective view should not be forced on anybody.
    • The amendment was defeated, thereby excluding ‘God’ from the Preamble.
    • Thus, our founding fathers gave us an agnostic Constitution.

    What are provisions in Consitution

    • The public officials who took office under the Government of India Act, 1935 had to take oath which had no mention of God.
    • However, the framers of the Indian Constitution rejected this conception of secularism.
    • Constitution gives office-holders an option to swear in God’s name if they so wished.
    • The Supreme Court of India observed in 2012 that the oath by an elected representative should be taken “in the name of God” if the person is a believer or should be “solemnly affirmed” if the person is a non-believer.
    • The Supreme Court said that the oath of an elected representative should be in strict compliance with the wordings of the Constitution. 

    Way forward

    • As the Republic belongs to all the citizenry, irrespective of whether he is a theist, atheist or agnostic, and irrespective of his caste or religion, a person occupying a constitutional post should take oath in the format of ‘“solemnly affirm”.
    • The Constitution should be amended accordingly.

    Conclusion

    If a person takes the oath in the name of a God affiliated to a particular religion or caste, the citizenry cannot expect the absence of affection or ill-will from him. The allegiance of a person holding a constitutional post should only be to the Constitution.

  • Analysing decline of the role of Parliament in present context

    Context

    This 75th year of India’s Independence feels like what its first year of freedom may have been like. The pandemic era defined by large-scale loss, lack of adequate state infrastructure and deep economic uncertainty — on the face of it — is reminiscent of the Partition years.

    Declining role of Parliament

    1) Low functioning

    • In 2020, Parliament sat in session for 33 days.
    • According to PRS Legislative Research (PRS), in the 2021 Monsoon Session, the Lok Sabha was scheduled to work for six hours per day for 19 days.
    • Instead, it sat for 21 hours in total or 21 per cent of what was conceived.
    • Brazil’s Parliament used an application called Infoleg during the pandemic and functioned at higher rates than in pre-pandemic times.
    • The United States Congress met physically for 113 days in 2020. In the year before, they met for 130 days.
    • In the past 10 years, the Rajya Sabha has functioned for less than 25 per cent of its scheduled time.

    2) Neglect of the role of Parliamentary Committees

    • According to PRS, none of the 15 bills introduced in this Monsoon Session 2021 has been referred to a Parliamentary Committee.
    • In this current Lok Sabha commencing 2019, only 12 per cent of the bills introduced have been referred to committee.
    • By contrast, the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019) had 27 per cent and the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014) had 71 per cent of bills referred to standing committees.
    • More significantly, fewer and fewer drafts of key legislation are being debated across the political aisle before becoming law.

    3) No discussion of supplementary budget

    • In this Lok Sabha, nine minutes were spent discussing and passing the supplementary budget that included a Rs 15,750 crore Covid-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package.
    • This is the functioning of the legislature — increasingly convened less and debates are few.

    Contrast with functioning of Parliament when country faced partition

    •  The drafting of India’s Constitution started in December 1946, when the Constituent Assembly first met, seven months before Independence in August 1947.
    • What makes these years of our constitutional founding so dramatic, was that the backdrop to our founding was as torturous as this pandemic era.
    • As Delhi was slowly filling up with refugees, India’s dual function legislature functioned as Parliament by morning and Constituent Assembly in the afternoon.
    • The first Constituent Assembly was meant to comprise 296 members, but its initial session had only 210 members in attendance.
    •  The assembly faced a boycott by the rest of the members.
    • The Constituent Assembly caucus of the founding Congress Party included many members from outside the party.
    • These members from across the political-ideological spectrum were able to arrive at decisions using a mixture of techniques of problem-solving, persuasion, bargaining and politicking.

    Conclusion

    The functioning of the Partition era Constituent Assembly is held up as a model of nation-building. Our political class today needs to learn from the makers of our Constitution and stop the declining role of our Parliament today.

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  • Parliament is abdicating its oversight role

    Context

    The monsoon session of Parliament which ended on Wednesday was a disappointment in several ways. This was the fourth straight session that ended ahead of the original schedule.

    No scrutiny of the Bills

    •  Both Houses were frequently disrupted as the Government and Opposition parties could not agree on the topics to be debated.
    • Shrinking worktime: The Lok Sabha worked for just 19% of its originally scheduled time, and the Rajya Sabha for 26%.
    • No examination of Bills by Parliament: Of the 18 Bills passed by the Lok Sabha, only one saw discussion over 15 minutes.
    • In 15 of these Bills, not even one member of the Lok Sabha spoke; each Bill was passed after a short statement by the respective Minister.
    • Every Bill introduced during the session was passed within the session.
    • This means that there was no time for any scrutiny by members.
    • In the period of the Fifteenth Lok Sabha (2009-14), 18% of the Bills were passed within the same session.
    • This rose to 33% in the Sixteenth Lok Sabha and is at 70% halfway through the current Parliament.
    • Thus, we see that, Bills are being passed without any serious examination by parliamentarians.
    • They are most often not being referred to committees, there is hardly any discussion on the floor of the House, and in most instances, Bills are passed within a few days of introduction.

    Bills not being referred to parliamentary committees

    • None of the Bills passed in this session was referred to a parliamentary committee for examination.
    • Important role of committee: Parliamentary committees provide a forum for parliamentarians to engage with experts, stakeholders and government officials to understand the implications of Bills.
    • They deliberate on the consequences of various provisions, and recommend amendments.
    • There has been a sharp downward trend in Bills being referred to them — from 71% in the Fifteenth Lok Sabha to 27% in the Sixteenth, and 12% in the current one till date.

    Important Bills passed

    • Allowing States to identify Backward Class: The Constitution was amended to allow States to identify backward classes (i.e., Other Backward Classes) for the purpose of providing reservations.
    • That amendment also specified that the President of India shall specify the list of OBCs.
    • Recently, the Supreme Court of India had interpreted this provision to imply that the State government cannot issue the list of backward classes.
    • Repealing retrospective taxation: In 2012, the Income Tax Act was amended with retrospective effect from 1961 to cover certain transactions.
    • A Bill passed this session reversed this provision of retrospective taxation. 
    • DICGC to pay within 90 days: The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation insures all bank deposits against default (currently up to â‚č5 lakh).
    • The Act was amended to require an interim pay-out within 90 days if a bank was going through a liquidation or reconstruction.
    • The General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act was amended to enable the Government to bring its shareholding in general insurance companies below 51%.
    • The Tribunals Reforms Bill was passed: The Bill replaced an ordinance which specified the process of appointment of members and their tenure and service conditions.
    • It retained two provisions struck down last month by the Supreme Court: the four-year tenure which the Court changed to five years, and a minimum age of 50 years for judicial members which the Court revised to allow lawyers with experience of 10 years.

    Conclusion

    The reason for having a legislature separate from the executive is to have a check on executive power.But the Parliament appears to be quite ineffective in all its functions and needs a course correction.

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  • Who is a Whip?

    The party in the opposition has appointed two members as the party’s whips in the Upper House.

    Who is a Whip?

    • A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature.
    • This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents.
    • Whips are the party’s “enforcers”.
    • They try to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party’s official policy.
    • Members who vote against party policy may “lose the whip”, effectively expelling them from the party.

    Answer this PYQ:

    Which one of the following Schedules of the Constitution of India contains provisions regarding anti-defection? (CSP 2017)

    (a) Second Schedule

    (b) Fifth Schedule

    (c) Eighth Schedule

    (d) Tenth Schedule

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”uz4tdbiarn” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    Whips in India

    • In India, the concept of the whip was inherited from colonial British rule.
    • Every major political party appoints a whip who is responsible for the party’s discipline and behaviors on the floor of the house.
    • Usually, they direct the party members to stick to the party’s stand on certain issues and directs them to vote as per the direction of senior party members.

    What happens if a whip is disobeyed?

    • A legislator may face disqualification proceedings if she/he disobeys the whip of the party unless the number of lawmakers defying the whip is 2/3rds of the party’s strength in the house.
    • Disqualification is decided by the Speaker/Chairman of the house.

    Limitations of whip

    • There are some cases such as Presidential elections where whips cannot direct a Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) to vote in a particular fashion.

    Types of whips

    There are three types of whips or instructions issued by the party

    • One-line whip: One-line whip is issued to inform members of a party about a vote. It allows a member to abstain in case they decide not to follow the party line.
    • Two-line whip: Two-line whip is issued to direct the members to be present in the House at the time of voting.
    • Three-line whip: Three-line whip is issued to members directing them to vote as per the party line.

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  • Understanding the anxieties behind Chinese aggression towards India

    Context

    Chinese President Xi Jinping made a surprise visit to Tibet on July 21, signalling the seriousness with which China continues to take its Himalayan border dispute with India.

    Understanding China’s strategic challenges and intensions

    • Demonstration of political confidence through aggression: More than a year after the clash at Galwan Valley, efforts to resolve the border crisis continue to move slowly.
    • The Chinese side has previously failed to complete troop withdrawals and revert to the status quo that the Indian side believed China agreed to.
    • China’s behaviour has been calculated to demonstrate political confidence.
    • Worsening strategic environment for China: Seen from Beijing, the strategic environment for China is beginning to worsen in South and Central Asia.
    • As the US withdraws and the Taliban advances in Afghanistan, China fears the prospect of instability and an emerging haven for terrorism directed against its policies in Xinjiang.
    • Even as China seeks to scale back the debt-laden BRI, such instability may also result in Beijing increasing its already overstretched external commitments — particularly in the security domain.
    • Re-emergence of Quad: China is deeply worried by the re-emergence and strengthening of multilateral opposition to China, and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or “Quad”) between the US, Japan, Australia and India.
    • For China, this represents a persistent threat not only economically and in foreign policy, but also militarily along its maritime periphery in the South and East China Seas, as well as the Taiwan Strait.
    • As US multilateral cooperation with its partners has increased, Beijing has come to increasingly see itself as beset by threats on all sides.

    China’s 2 possible responses to strategic challenges and its implications for India

    • 1) Wolf warrier diplomacy: So far, the response from China’s new class of “wolf warrior” diplomats to this emerging strategic challenge has been to only grow more assertive in rhetoric and behaviour.
    • China’s domestic politics: Response of wolf warrior diplomats may seem perplexing, given that it has served only to alienate other countries and isolate China further.
    •  China’s domestic politics in the lead up to the 20th Congress will mean that its leaders, diplomats and generals will be displaying maximum nationalistic fervour.
    • Implications for India: This may well mean China taking political and policy decisions, which in a normal season they would not because doing so could compromise Beijing’s longstanding diplomatic and strategic goals, including in dealings with India.
    • 2) Moderate approach to improve strategic position: But if instead of aggressive posture, China decided that it was better domestic politics to improve China’s strategic position in Asia amid its competition with Washington, Beijing’s diplomats may yet adopt a more moderate approach, including with India.
    • Implications for India: If stability can be restored to the China-India strategic relationship, this could provide a window for Asia’s two mega-economies to reopen their markets to each other.

    Conclusion

    Indeed, the choice China makes between these two alternatives will have implications for India and the rest of the world in their dealing with China.

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  • Bringing Minority Schools under RTE

    The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has recommended that Minority Schools be brought under Right to Education and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

    What is the report?

    • The report is titled “Impact of Exemption under Article 15 (5) with regards to Article 21A of the Constitution of India on Education of Children in Minority Communities”.
    • It has assessed minority schools (schools run by minority organizations) in the country.

    Key recommendations of the report

    • Minority schools are exempt from implementing The Right to Education policy and do not fall under the government’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
    • Through this report, the NCPCR has recommended that these schools be brought under both RTE and SSA, amongst a host of other recommendations.

    Developments in RTE

    (1) 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002):

    • In 2002, the 86th Amendment to the Constitution provided the Right to Education as a fundamental right.
    • The same amendment inserted Article 21A, which made the RTE a fundamental right for children aged between six and 14 years.
    • The passage of the amendment was followed by the launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) that aimed to provide “useful and relevant, elementary education’’ to all children between six and 14 years.

    (2) 93rd Constitutional Amendment (2006):

    • In 2006, the 93rd CAA inserted Clause (5) in Article 15.
    • This enabled the State to create special provisions, such as reservations for the advancement of any backward classes of citizens like SCs and STs, in all aided or unaided educational institutes, except minority educational institutes.

    (3) RTE Act (2009):

    • The government subsequently brought the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which centers around inclusive education for all, making it mandatory to include underprivileged children in schools.
    • Specifically, Section 12(1)(c) of the Act provided for a 25 percent reservation of seats in unaided schools for admission of children from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups.

    How are minority schools exempt from RTE and SSA?

    • Article 30 of the Constitution states the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.
    • This article aims to provide opportunities to children from different religious and linguistic minority communities to have and conserve a distinct culture, script, and language.
    • Subsequently, in 2012, through an amendment, the institutions imparting religious education were exempted from following the RTE Act.
    • Later on, in 2014 (Pramati judgment), while discussing the validity of exemption under Article 15 (5), the Supreme Court declared the RTE Act inapplicable to schools with minority status.
    • This was in the view that the Act should not interfere with the right of minorities to establish and administer institutions of their choice.

    Why has the NCPCR carried out the study?

    • The Commission’s objective was to assess the impact of this exemption of minority educational institutions from various guidelines that are mandatory for non-minority institutions.
    • It opined that the different sets of rules under Article 21A, Article 30, and Article 15 (5) act as creating a conflicting picture between the fundamental rights of children and the rights of minority communities.

    What are the findings of the report?

    The Commission has observed in the report that many children who are enrolled in these institutions or schools were not able to enjoy the entitlements that other children are enjoying.

    (1) Missionaries schools are elite cocoons

    • It has been said that there have been certain detrimental effects of the exemption – on the one hand, there are schools, mostly Christian Missionary schools.
    • Such schools are admitting only a certain class of students and leaving underprivileged children out of the system, thus becoming what the Commission has called “cocoons populated by elites’’.

    (2) Minorities schools become overcrowded without facilities

    • As opposed to this, other types of minority schools, in particular madrasas, have become “ghettos of underprivileged students languishing in backwardness’’ says the Commission.
    • The Commission has said that students in madrasas that do not offer a secular course along with religious studies – such as the sciences – have fallen behind and feel a sense of alienation and “inferiority’’ when they leave school.

    What are the findings with regards to madrasas?

    There are four kinds of madrasas in India:

    1. Madrasas recognized by the government, which usually impart both religious as well as secular Courses, including the sciences has four percent Mulsim students (15.3 lakh) said the Sachar Committee report.
    2. There are 10,064 such madrasas in India and the Commission points out that these were the ones taken into consideration by the Sachar Committee when it said four percent of Mulsim students (15.3 lakh) studied in madrasas.
    3. There are unrecognized madrasas, which the government hasn’t recognized because they do not impart secular education or lack physical infrastructure, including the number and quality of teachers.
    4. Then, there are unmapped madrasas that have never applied for recognition and function in a more informal setup – there is no data on how many such madrasas exist and how many students study there.

    Why bring them under RTE?

    • The Commission believes this took place as schools wanted to operate outside the legal mandate to reserve seats for backward classes.
    • RTE provides for norms pertaining to basic minimum infrastructure, a number of teachers, books, uniforms, Mid-day Meal, etc., that benefits students in minority schools have not been receiving.

  • [pib] Income Limit of OBCs and Creamy Layer

    A proposal for revision of the income criteria for determining the Creamy Layer amongst the OBCs is under consideration of the Government.

    What is the Creamy Layer?

    • Creamy Layer is a concept that sets a threshold within which OBC reservation benefits are applicable.
    • While there is a 27% quota for OBCs in government jobs and higher educational institutions, those falling within the “creamy layer” cannot get the benefits of this quota.

    Basis of Creamy Layer

    • It is based on the recommendation of the Second Backward Classes Commission (Mandal Commission).
    • The government in 1990 had notified 27% reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) in vacancies in civil posts and services that are to be filled on direct recruitment.
    • After this was challenged, the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney case (1992) upheld 27% reservation for OBCs, subject to exclusion of the creamy layer.

    How is it determined?

    • Following the order in Indra Sawhney, an expert committee headed by Justice (retired) R N Prasad was constituted for fixing the criteria for determining the creamy layer.
    • In 1993, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) listed out various categories of people of certain rank/status/income whose children cannot avail the benefit of OBC reservation.
    1. For those not in government, the current threshold is an income of Rs 8 lakh per year.
    2. For children of government employees, the threshold is based on their parents’ rank and not income.
    3. For instance, an individual is considered to fall within the creamy layer if either of his or her parents is in a constitutional post; if either parent has been directly recruited in Group-A; or if both parents are in Group-B services.
    4. If the parents enter Group-A through promotion before the age of 40, their children will be in the creamy layer.
    5. Children of a Colonel or higher-ranked officer in the Army, and children of officers of similar ranks in the Navy and Air Force, too, come under the creamy layer.
    6. Income from salaries or agricultural land is not clubbed while determining the creamy layer (2004).

    What is happening now?

    • MPs have raised questions about the pending proposal for revising the criteria.
    • They have asked whether the provision of a creamy layer for government services only for OBC candidates is rational and justified.

    Has it ever been revised?

    • Other than the income limit, the current definition of the creamy layer remains the same as the DoPT had spelled out in 1993 and 2004.
    • The income limit has been revised over the years.
    • No other orders for the definition of the creamy layer have been issued.
    • While the DoPT had stipulated that it would be revised every three years, the first revision since 1993 (Rs 1 lakh per year) happened only in 2004 (Rs 2.50 lakh), 2008 (Rs 4.50 lakh), 2013 (Rs 6 lakh), and 2017 (Rs 8 lakh).
    • It is now more than three years since the last revision.

    What does the government propose to do about the revision?

    • A draft Cabinet note has stated that the creamy layer will be determined on all income, including salary calculated for income tax, but not agriculture income.
    • The government is considering a consensus on Rs 12 lakh but salary and agriculture income are also being added to the gross annual income.

  • [pib] Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA)

    The Election Commission of India has handed over the Chair of FEMBoSA to the Election Commission of Bhutan for 2021-22.

    What is FEMBoSA?

    • Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) was established at the 3rd Conference of Heads of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of SAARC Countries in 2012.
    • The forum aims to increase mutual cooperation with respect to the common interests of the SAARC’s EMBs.
    • The Forum has eight Member Election Management Bodies from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
    • The Election Commission of India was the latest Chair of the Forum (now Bhutan).

    Its establishment

    • The first meeting of the representatives of Election Management Bodies of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in the year 2010.
    • It was then decided at the conclusion that an organization representing those countries should be established.
    • Consequently, annual meets were held in the member countries and the charter for the organization also was adopted with the aim of fulfilling the objectives of the organization.
    • Since the creation of FEMBoSA, Annual Meetings were held in Pakistan (2011), in India (2012), in Bhutan (2013), in Nepal (2014),  in Sri Lanka (2015), in Maldives (2016), in Afghanistan (2017) and in Bangladesh(2018).

    Objectives of FEMBOSA

    • Promote contact among the Election Management Bodies of SAARC countries
    • Facilitate the appropriate exchange of experience and expertise among members
    • Share experiences with a view to learning from each other
    • Foster efficiency and effectiveness in conducting the free, fair, transparent, and participative election

    Significant activities under FEMBoSA

    • Member organizations celebrate National Voter’s Day in a calendar year in their respective countries
    • An initiative of establishing South Asia Institute for Democracy and Electoral Studies (SAIDES) in Nepal
    • In order to increase knowledge related to elections, take initiatives to include voter education in the school-level textbooks of their respective countries
    • Implementation of recommendations of South Asian Disabilities Organizations for the inclusion of disabled people in the electoral system and the creation of a suitable election environment

    Back2Basics: SAARC

    •  In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, leaders of South Asian nations — namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka — created a regional forum.
    • The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the goal of contributing “to mutual trust, understanding, and appreciation of one another’s problems.”
    • Afghanistan was admitted as a member in 2007.

  • Issues related to Judicial appointment in India

    Context

    Recommendations of some judges for appointment by the collegium raises the issue of changes in the collegium system.

    Background of the collegium system

    • During the 1970s, the political leaning of a candidate had become a major consideration in the matter of appointment of judges.
    • Therefore, it was felt that the role of the state in the appointment of judges in terms of Article 124 (2) and 217 needed to be reconsidered.
    • But then, in 1982 in S P Gupta’s case, the Supreme Court bench of five judges gave its approval to the primacy of the state in the matter of appointment of judges.
    • However, that judgment was overturned subsequently by a bench of nine judges.
    • Primacy of CJI:  It held that the provisions for consultation with the Chief Justice of India, and the Chief Justices of the high courts in Articles 124 (2) and 217 of the Constitution were introduced because of the realisation that the Chief Justice is best equipped to know and assess the worth of a candidate, and his/her suitability for appointment as a superior judge.
    • Initiation of proposal by CJI: It also held that the initiation of the proposal for appointment of a judge to the SC must be made by the CJI after wider consultation with senior judges, and likewise in the case of high courts.
    • Confirmation of CJI: It was also held that no appointment of any judge to the SC or any high court can be made unless it conforms with the opinion of the CJI.
    • Thus, what is known as the “collegium system” was born.
    • Striking down of NJAC: In 2014, the government tried to make changes to the collegium system by introducing Article 124 (A) by a constitutional amendment, and by enacting National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014.
    • The SC has struck down both the amendment and the Act.

    Has the collegium system succeeded?

    • Nepotism: There have been cases where the nearest relative of Supreme Court judges has been appointed as a high court judge, ignoring merit.
    • Ignoring the merit: Judges far lower in the combined All India Seniority of High Court judges were appointed to SC, and the reason assigned was that those selected were found more meritorious.

    Conclusion

    The collegium system is still the best, but it needs to weed out what is wrong in its actual working. It is hoped that the system will make course corrections in deserving cases.