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GS Paper: GS2

  • Why does the deepening Indo-US friendship puzzle so many?

    The India-US ties have advanced by leaps and bounds. Yet, there is a persistent underestimation of India’s capacity to rework its great power relations. The article deals with this issue.

    Expanding partnership

    • India-US relations have been on a steady upward trajectory over the last three decades.
    • This partnership withstood significant political transitions in both countries and managed to overcome many difficult barriers.
    • The US is now India’s most comprehensive partner.
    • The Russia relationship is long on defence but short on commerce.
    • India’s commercial ties with China are large, but tilted heavily in Beijing’s favour.
    • Collective Europe is big on commerce but small on security cooperation.
    • The US has a sizeable presence in both economic and security dimensions and the political common ground with India has steadily expanded.

    So, why persistent doubt in India about the US partnership

    • One part of it is the ingrained ideological bias in the dominant foreign policy elite.
    • Delhi’s stilted debate on the US is, unfortunately, reinforced by the sad absence of investment in institutional capabilities to study American politics, economics and international relations.

    Issues with our assessment of relations with India

    • There is an enduring reluctance of India’s foreign policy community to either acknowledge or accept the unfolding transformation of India’s ties with the US.
    • There is also continuing underestimation of India’s capacity to rework its great power relations to meet India’s changing interests and circumstances.
    • It was widely held that the Indo-Pacific and the Quad will become footnotes in Biden’s foreign policy.
    • This in turn was based on the bet that Biden is likely to embrace China rather than confront it in the manner that Trump did.
    • All these assumptions turned out to be inaccurate.
    • Concern for democracy and human rights has always been part of US foreign policy ideology.
    • But no state, not even a revolutionary one, can run its foreign policy on a single-point agenda. 

    Underestimating India’s agency to shape the partnership

    • Even as it continuously misjudged the US, the Indian foreign policy elite has not appreciated India’s agency to shape the relationship with America.
    • The conviction that Delhi is perennially under US pressure to accept policies harmful for itself further distorts the discourse in the media and among the chattering classes.
    • The evidence from the 1990s — one of India’s most vulnerable moments after Independence — should have corrected this misperception.
    • The traditional discourse finds it hard to come to terms with the twin factors shaping India’s new approach.
    • One is the significant increase in India’s material capabilities.
    • India’s aggregate GDP increased ten-fold between 1990 ($270 billion) and 2020 (about $2,700 billion).
    • Equally important is the new political will in Delhi.

    Consider the question “There is a continuing underestimation of Delhi’s capacity to rework its great power relations with the US to meet India’s changing interests and circumstances. Critically examine.” 

    Conclusion

    The new India no longer wrings its hands in dealing with the US; it relishes the large room for strategic bargaining with America. Even more important, Delhi is no longer a reluctant partner to Washington.

  • Mandal 2.0 Moment: SC seeks States’ views on 50% Cap on Quota

    The Supreme Court sought responses from all states on whether the 50% ceiling limit on reservation needs to be reconsidered.

    Debate: The 50% Cap

    • The ceiling was imposed by a nine-judge Constitution Bench in the Indira Sawhney case in 1992, wherein the court strictly held that reservation cannot exceed 50%.
    • However, the bench did indicate that in exceptional circumstances, reservation could be extended.

    A case for Maratha Reservation

    • The court is set to examine whether the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission had made up a case of “extraordinary circumstances” of deprivation suffered by the Maratha community.
    • In fact, the Bombay High Court had, in June 2019, reduced the quantum of reservation for Marathas from the 16% recommended by the Gaikwad Commission to 12% in education and 13% in employment.
    • The ruling was challenged before a Supreme Court Bench, which referred it to a larger Constitution Bench.

    Challenges to the Maratha quota

    There are two main constitutional questions for the court to consider in the challenge to the Martha quota law.

    1. The first is whether states can declare a particular caste to be a socially and educationally backward class.
    2. The second is whether states can breach the 50% ceiling for “vertical quotas” set by the Supreme Court.

    What is the Indra Sawhney Case?

    • In 1979, the Second Backward Classes Commission (Mandal Commission) was set up to determine the criteria for defining the socially and educationally backward classes.
    • The Mandal report identified 52% of the population at that time as “Socially and Economically Backward Classes” (SEBCs) and recommended 27% reservation for SEBCs in addition to the previously existing 22.5% reservation for SC/STs.
    • In 1990, when the V P Singh led-government set out to implement the Mandal report, it was challenged in court amidst widespread protests against the move.
    • The case came up before a nine-judge Bench and a 6:3 verdict was delivered in 1992.

    What did the verdict say?

    • The court upheld the office memorandums that essentially implemented the Mandal report.
    • The majority opinion said the executive orders mandating 27% reservation for backward castes were valid.
    • It held that the reservation was made not just on the basis of caste, even if it appears so, but on the basis of objective evaluation of social and educational backwardness of classes.
    • The inclusion in the list of Backward Classes is very much warranted by Article 15(4).

    Precedents set by the judgment

    The landmark Indra Sawhney ruling set two important precedents.

    1. The court said that the criteria for a group to qualify for reservation are “social and educational backwardness”.
    2. It also reiterated the 50% limit to vertical quotas it had set out earlier. The court said this 50% limit will apply — unless in “exceptional circumstances”.

    How does the Maratha reservation relate to the Indra Sawhney case?

    • Based on the 102nd Amendment to the Constitution, which gives the President powers to notify backward classes, the court will have to look into whether states have similar powers.
    • Also, since this power flows from the Constitution, whether the President is still required to comply with the criteria set by the Supreme Court in the Mandal case.
    • The relevance of the Indra Sawhney criteria is also under question in another case in which the validity of the 103rd Amendment has been challenged.
    • The 103rd Amendment, passed in 2019, provides for 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the economically weaker section in the unreserved category.
    • Since the Indra Sawhney verdict gives a pass to a breach of the 50% quota rule only in exceptional circumstances, the court will have to test if the Maharashtra law qualifies to be an exception.

    Rising aspirations for backwardness!

    Similar to the Maratha issue are the cases of Patels in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana, and Kapus in Andhra Pradesh.

    Have any other states breached the 50% ceiling before?

    • States have breached the 50% ceiling before and intend to bring more reservation. A notable example is in Tamil Nadu.
    • Its Act of 1993, reserves 69% of the seats in colleges and jobs in the state government.
    • However, this was done by amending the Constitution, to place the law in the Ninth Schedule after the Indra Sawhney judgment.

    How does the Ninth Schedule come to the picture?

    • The Ninth Schedule provides the law with a “safe harbour” from judicial review under Article 31B of the Constitution.
    • Laws placed in the Ninth Schedule cannot be challenged for reasons of violating any fundamental right protected under the Constitution.
    • However, when the Tamil Nadu law was challenged in 2007 (I R Coelho v State of Tamil Nadu), the Supreme Court ruled that while laws placed under Ninth Schedule cannot be challenged on the grounds of violation of fundamental rights.
    • However, they can be challenged on the ground that it violates the basic structure of the Constitution.
    • A later Bench was to decide whether the Tamil Nadu law itself (breaching the 50% ceiling) violates basic structure, based on the I R Coelho verdict. The Bench has not yet been set up.

  • Implications of increasing prices of subsidised LPG on Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).

    Price increase of subsidised LPG

    • Subsidised LPG prices have increased by a massive 50% in this financial year alone.
    • This would have a significant impact on the government’s flagship scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
    • Since 2016, PMUY has provided LPG connections to 80 million poor households to reduce women’s drudgery and indoor air pollution.
    • Providing an upfront connection subsidy of â‚č1,600, PMUY helped expand LPG coverage to more than 85% of households.

    Challenges

    • Large-scale primary surveys by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) suggest that, on average, recent PMUY beneficiaries consumed only about half the LPG compared to long-standing regular consumers.
    • Limited uptake of LPG among poor households has two main reasons.
    • First, the effective price of LPG is not affordable for such households, despite the subsidy.
    • Second, many rural consumers have access to freely available biomass, making it difficult for LPG to displace it.
    • Beyond causing indoor air pollution, biomass use for cooking contributes up to 30% to the ambient PM2.5 at the national level, more than the contribution of transport, crop residue or coal burning.

    Impact of price rise

    • The recent increases in the subsidised LPG price have made it more difficult for the poor to sustain LPG use.
    • As the pandemic set in, the LPG subsidised price began to rise, even when global LPG prices plummeted.
    • Now with LPG prices rising globally, a 50% reduction in the LPG subsidy budget for FY22 (versus FY21) does not bode well.
    • The information about LPG price build-up and subsidy has become more difficult to obtain in recent years.

    Way forward

    • The central government tread should balance between LPG subsidies and sustained clean fuel consumption in poorer households by better targeting of subsidy.
    • One approach for such targeting is to rely on the existing LPG consumption patterns of consumers. 
    • Provide households exhibiting low consumption or a decline in LPG consumption over time with greater subsidy per cylinder to sustain health gains.
    • Further, the subsidy levels could be dynamic with different slabs reflecting the previous year’s consumption.
    • Alongside, the de-duplication efforts must continue to avoid subsidy leakages.

    Consider the question “What is the social impact of the Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY)? What are the challenges in its success.”

    Conclusion

    In the post-pandemic rebuilding, the continued support to the economically poor for sustaining LPG use is not merely a fiscal subsidy but also a social investment to free-up women’s productive time and reduce India’s public health burden.

  • What we must consider before digitising India’s healthcare

    As India seeks to create digital health infrastructure, it must consider several issues.

    Integrated digital health infrastructure

    • The National Digital Health Mission aims to develop the backbone needed for the integrated digital health infrastructure of India.
    • This can help not only with diagnostics and management of health episodes, but also with broader public health monitoring, socio-economic studies, epidemiology, research, prioritising resource allocation and policy interventions. 
    • However, before we start designing databases and APIs and drafting laws, we must be mindful of certain considerations for design choices and policies to achieve the desired social objectives.

    Factors to be considered

    1) Carefully developing pathway to public good

    • There must be a careful examination of how exactly digitisation may facilitate better diagnosis and management, and an understanding of the data structures required for effective epidemiology.
    • We must articulate how we may use digitisation and data to understand and alleviate health problems such as malnutrition and child stunting.
    • We need the precise data we require to better understand crucial maternal- and childcare-related problems.

    2) Balancing between public good and individual rights

    • The potential tensions between public good and individual rights must be examined, as must the suitable ways to navigate them.
    • Moreover, for the balancing to be sound and for determining the level of due diligence required, it is imperative to clearly define the operational standards for privacy management.
    • Conflating privacy with security, as is typical in careless approaches, will invariably lead to problematic solutions.
    • In fact, most attempts at building health data infrastructures worldwide — including in the UK, Sweden, Australia, the US and several other countries — have led to serious privacy-related controversies and have not yet been completely successful.

    3) Managing the sector specific identities

    • Even if we define and use a sector-specific identity, the question of when and how to link it with that of other sectors remains.
    • For example, with banking or insurance for financial transactions, or with welfare and education for transactions and analytics.
    • Indiscriminate linking may break silos and create a digital panopticon, whereas not linking at all will result in not realising the full powers of data analytics and inference.

    4) Working out the operational requirement of data infrastructure

    • We need to work out the operational requirements of the data infrastructure in ways that are informed by, and consonant with, the previous points.
    • In other words, the design of the operationalisation elements must follow the deliberations on above points, and not run ahead of them.
    • This requires identifying the diverse data sources and their complexity — which may include immunisation records, birth and death records, informal health care workers, dispensaries etc.
    • It also requires an understanding of their frequency of generation, error models, access rights, interoperability, sharing and other operational requirements.
    • There also are the complex issues of research and non-profit uses of data, and of data economics for private sector medical research.

    5) Issue of due process

    • Finally, “due process” has always been a weak point in India, particularly for technological interventions.
    • Building an effective system that can engender people’s trust not only requires managing the floor of the Parliament and passing a just and proportional law, but also building a transparent process of design and refinement through openness and public consultations.
    • In particular, technologists and technocrats should take care to not define “public good” as what they can conveniently deliver, and instead understand what is actually required.
    • While we can understand the urge to move forward quickly, given the urgent need to improve health outcomes in the country, deliberate care is needed.

    Consider the question “While seeking to develop digital health infrastructure through the National Digital Health Mission, we should be mindful of certain considerations for design choices and policies to achieve the desired social objectives. Comment.”

    Conclusion

    Developing a comprehensive understanding of the considerations related to health data infrastructure may also inform the general concerns of e-governance and administrative digitisation in India, which have not been all smooth sailing.

  • Clustering educational institutes and research centres

    National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) envisions establishing large multidisciplinary universities to promote research directed to solve contemporary national problems, and provides the option of setting up clusters of higher education institutes.

    Q. Discuss the salient features of Cluster Universities as propounded by the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP).

    What are Education Clusters?

    • This new concept is dedicated to students who want to discover & learn new things regardless of the field/branch/discipline they’re in.
    • Currently, higher educational institutions (HEIs) follow the structure of single-stream education.
    • Generally, what happens is that a student who has taken a major is allowed to study relevant subjects. He/she can’t opt for subjects from other majors.
    • This may restrict students to widen their thinking & learning capability.
    • With the introduction of Cluster University, the single-stream approach of teaching-learning will be ruled out.
    • All the institutions including the ones that are offering professional degrees will be transformed into a rationalized architecture that is popularly being referred to as- multidisciplinary clusters.

    What are the Key Benefits of Cluster Universities?

    More Space for Student-Teacher Collaboration

    • With HEIs getting merged to form a large unit, there would be more space for better student-teacher collaboration.
    • Students that are genuinely interested in learning a particular course would come together helping faculties to achieve better student learning outcomes.

    Inculcating Leadership Qualities in Students

    • Students would be more confident as they pursue their choice of subjects. They would get an open field to polish their skills and also develop new ones.
    • Thus, the process would ultimately lead to the inculcation of leadership qualities in students.

    Accelerate Institutional Networking

    • Since the Cluster University concept of the new education policy speaks of merging multidisciplinary HEIs, institutional networking would obviously go uphill.

    Fewer Resources & More Expertise

    • Many students would be able to learn under a single entity. It is bound to increase the outcomes with comparatively fewer resources.
    • Such universities would increase faculty strength, both in terms of numbers and diversity of disciplines, and facilitate the conduct of research on real-life problems.

    Way forward

    • For moving away from single-discipline institutions to multi-disciplinary universities, clustering is a promising model to achieve a critical mass in a university to invigorate research.
    • Many industry associations have established research centres and more could be encouraged to do.
    • India needs to earnestly pursue this model.

  • What changes after COVID-19 vaccination?

    As the vaccination drive gains momentum, questions have emerged about appropriate behaviour after being vaccinated.

    What does being vaccinated mean?

    • Being fully vaccinated means a period of two weeks or more following the receipt of the second dose in a two-dose series, or two weeks or more following the receipt of a single-dose vaccine.
    • In India, currently, both vaccines being used — Covishield and Covaxin — follow a two-dose regimen.
    • Typically, the immune response takes a while to build up after a vaccine shot.
    • After the first jab of a two-dose vaccine, a good immune response kicks in within about two weeks. It is the second dose that boosts the immune response.

    Is the COVID threat averted?

    • It is still unclear how long immunity lasts from the vaccines at hand now.
    • Whether or not the immune response is durable, how it performs with the passage of time, and how long it lasts can be found out only by monitoring people who have already been vaccinated over a period.
    • If the vaccinated individual is still carrying the virus, the vaccine may provide immunity from severe disease for him or her, but the individual could still transmit the virus.

    What changes after you get a vaccine shot?

    • After vaccination, one risk of severe disease from COVID-19 goes down dramatically.
    • There is not enough evidence yet of vaccine response for some age groups, and vaccines are in short supply in the community.

  • [pib] Maitri Setu between India and Bangladesh

    PM will inaugurate ‘Maitri Setu’ between India and Bangladesh tomorrow.

    Maitri Setu

    • The bridge ‘Maitri Setu’ has been built over the Feni River which flows between the Indian boundary in Tripura State and Bangladesh.
    • The 1.9 Km long bridge joins Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh.
    • The construction was taken up by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Recently, which of the following States has explored the possibility of constructing an artificial inland port to be connected to the sea by a long navigational channel?

    (a) Andhra Pradesh

    (b) Chhattisgarh

    (c) Karnataka

    (d) Rajasthan

    Significance of the bridge

    • With this inauguration, Tripura is set to become the ‘Gateway of North East’ with access to Chittagong Port of Bangladesh, which is just 80 kms from Sabroom.
    • The name ‘Maitri Setu’ symbolizes growing bilateral relations and friendly ties between India and Bangladesh.

    About Feni River

    • Feni is a river in southeastern Bangladesh and Tripura.
    • It is a trans-boundary river with an ongoing dispute about water rights.
    • It originates in the South Tripura district and flows through Sabroom town and then enters Bangladesh.
    • The question of sharing the waters of the river between India and Pakistan was first discussed in 1958.

    Other associated projects

    Sabroom Check Post

    • PM will lay the foundation stone for setting up an Integrated Check Post at Sabroom.
    • It will help ease the movement of goods and passengers between the two countries provide new market opportunities for products of North-East states and assist the seamless movement of passengers to and from India and Bangladesh.
    • The project is being taken up by the Land Ports Authority of India.

  • Women’s needs are key to Swachh Bharat success

    The article highlights the central role of women in the success of the Swacch Bharat Mission.

    Recognising the gender dimensions of sanitation in India

    • The Swachh Bharat Grameen Phase I guidelines (2017) state that requirements and sensitivities related to gender are to be taken into account at all stages of sanitation programmes.
    • Planning, procurement, infrastructure creation, and monitoring are the basic tenets of implementation in Swachh Bharat and the guidelines for the first phase of the mission called for strengthening the role of women.
    • The states were accordingly expected to ensure adequate representation of women in the village water and sanitation committees (VWSCs), leading to optimal gender outcomes.
    • The department of Drinking Water and Sanitation released the guidelines, recognising the gender dimensions of sanitation in India.
    • Swachh Bharat Mission 2 .0 speaks of sustained behavioural change while embarking on the newer agendas of sustainable solid waste management and safe disposal of wastewater and reuse.
    • Besides the government, the role of non-state actors like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Unicef and several NGOs, must be lauded as we pursue sustainable sanitation using a powerful gender lens.

    Challenges and solutions

    • There were inevitably cases where women were fronts for spouses.
    • This capturing has happened in panchayat seats as well but research has shown that over time, women do pick up the challenge, and if voted back are likely to assume charge.
    • The government has also very effectively used over 8 lakh swachhagrahis, mainly women, who for small honorariums work to push through behavioural change at the community level.
    • There are no quick solutions other than adopting concerted approaches to ensure the survival and protection of the girl child through good health from sanitation and nutrition.
    • Information, education, and communication, which aims at behaviour change of the masses, is key to the success of the swachhta mission 2.0.
    • Changes in SBM messaging reflects major transformations attempting to popularise and portray stories of women groups and successful women swachhta champions.

    Need for monitoring and evaluation system

    • A national monitoring and evaluation system to track and measure gender outcomes in SBM is necessary.
    • Several researchers in this space have commented that gender analysis frameworks have a long history in development practice.
    • We can learn from these frameworks to support design, implementation, and measurement.

    Conclusion

    There is no doubt that women can help to drive change and bring about lasting change as the jan andolan for swachhta, health and sanitation gains momentum.

  • [pib] India’s rebuttal to Freedom House Report

    The Freedom House report titled “Democracy under Siege” in which it has been claimed that India’s status as a free country has declined to “partly free”, is misleading, incorrect, and misplaced.

    The US who claims to be the champion of Human Rights has turned another sermon to India through its Freedom House Report. This report presents an inherently flawed and biased analysis of Indian democracy.

    Rebuttal to specific points

    (1) Discriminatory policies against Minorities

    • The GoI treats all its citizens with equality as enshrined under the Constitution of the country and all laws are applied without discrimination.
    • Due process of law is followed in matters relating to law and order, irrespective of the identity of the alleged instigator.
    • With specific reference to the North East Delhi riots in February 2020, the law enforcement machinery acted swiftly in an impartial and fair manner.
    • Proportionate and appropriate actions were taken to control the situation.
    • Necessary legal and preventive actions were taken by the law enforcement machinery on all complaints/calls received, as per law and procedures.

    (2) Use of Sedition Law

    • “Public Order’ and ‘Police’ are State subjects under India’s federal structure of governance.
    • The responsibility of maintaining law and order, including investigation, registration, and prosecution of crimes, protection of life and property, etc., rests primarily with the concerned State governments.
    • Therefore, measures as deemed fit are taken by law enforcement authorities to preserve public order.

    (3) Government response to COVID-19 through Lockdown

    • Between March 16 to 23, most State governments/UT resorted to partial or full Lockdown in their respective State/ UT based on their assessment of the COVID-19 situation.
    • Any mass movement of people would have spread the disease rapidly throughout the country.
    • The government was fully conscious that during the period of an inevitable Lockdown, people should not face undue distress.
    • India has, on a per capita basis, registered one of the lowest rates of active COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 related deaths globally.

    (4) Government response on human rights organizations

    • The Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes, including the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 for ensuring the protection of human rights.
    • This Act provides for the constitution of an NHRC and SHRC in the States for better protection of human rights and for matters connected to this subject.

    (5) Intimidation of academics and journalists and crackdown on expressions of dissent by media

    • The Indian Constitution provides for freedom of expression under Article 19. Discussion, debate, and dissent are a part of Indian democracy.
    • The GoI attaches the highest importance to the safety and security of all residents of the country, including journalists.
    • It has issued a special advisory to States and UTs on the safety of journalists requesting them to strictly enforce the law to ensure the safety and security of media persons.

    (6) Internet shutdowns

    • Temporary suspension of the telecom services, including the internet, is governed under the provisions of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017.
    • Hence, the temporary suspension of telecom/internet services is resorted to with the over-arching objective of maintaining law and order under strict safeguards.

    (7) FCRA amendment leading to freezing of Amnesty International’s assets has led to declining in ranking

    • Amnesty International had received permission under the FCRA Act only once and that too 20 years ago.
    • Since then Amnesty International, despite its repeated applications, has been denied FCRA approval by successive governments since as per law it is not eligible to get such approval.
    • However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty U.K. remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India, by misclassifying the remittance as FDI.
    • A significant amount of foreign money was also remitted to Amnesty India without MHA’s approval under FCRA.
    • This malafide rerouting of money was in contravention of extant legal provisions.
    • Owing to these illegal practices of Amnesty, the previous government had also rejected the repeated applications of Amnesty to receive funds from overseas.

  • The perils of domicile-based preferential policies

    The Haryana government is considering a Bill that provides for 75 per cent reservation to the residents of the state. This article discusses the challenge such policies poses.

    Domicile-based preferential policies on rise

    • The Haryana government’s State Employment of Local Candidates Bill 2020 reserves 75 per cent of new jobs in private establishments for Haryana residents.
    • Andhra Pradesh has mandated 75 per cent reservation for locals.
    • Karnataka is considering reserving all blue-collar jobs for locals.
    • Madhya Pradesh has announced that public employment in the state be reserved for state residents.

    Constitutionality of such policies

    • The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on place of birth.
    • The right to move freely in the country and reside and settle in any part of it, the right to carry out any trade or profession, are all established rights.
    • Article 16(3) does, in principle, enable Parliament [ not state legislature] to provide for domicile-based preferential treatment in public employment.

    Judicial scrutiny

    • The constitutionality of domicile-based employment preferences (unlike preferences in education) has never been frontally tested.
    • But almost all the existing case law that impinges on the matter clearly indicates such laws are unconstitutional.
    • In Pradeep Jain vs Union of India, the court had indicated this direction; in Kailash Chandra Sharma vs State of Rajasthan, the court had warned against parochialism.
    • The Andhra Pradesh Bill is sub judice in the high court.

    Issues with the policies

    • The Supreme Court will hopefully rule on the constitutionality of the  Haryana government’s Bill.
    • But the Bill has ramifications beyond constitutionality.
    • First, because this kind of constitutional cynicism is now not an exception but has become a contagion.
    • Second, even if the Bill is struck down, such a high wire act is meant to fuel the flames of localism.
    • Third, the Bill now exposes the bad faith of political parties on private sector reservation more generally.
    • Fourth, these bills will open up a new form of competitive ethnic politics.
    • It is odd that a state like Haryana which has benefitted from being part of a cosmopolitan zone like NCR should unilaterally impose reservations.
    • Fifth, there is patent class discrimination: If you are rich, privileged or highly skilled, there are no entry barriers in accessing any labour market.
    • But we shall put entry barriers on lower skilled migrants; our own internal version of an H-1B visa.
    • The greatest damage the Bill does is to increase the discretionary power of the state, almost taking us back to a license permit raj, where companies will have to bargain, or worse, bribe the state for exemptions.
    • This is the antithesis of regulatory reform.

    Consider the question “There have been growing tendencies among the states to pursue domicile-based preferential policies. What are the issues related to such policies?”

    Conclusion

    But the fact that states feel the need to enact these bills is an indictment of the economy as a whole: They suggest a pessimism about both education and job creation. So we have returned to a world of zero sum thinking.