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GS Paper: GS2

  • GARUD portal for fast-track approval to COVID-19 related drone operations

    Civil Aviation Ministry and DGCA have launched the GARUD (portal for providing fast track conditional exemptions to government agencies for COVID-19 related drone operations.

    Possible prelim question:

    The Garud Portal which sometimes finds mention in the news is related to-

    a) Air travel of defence personnel

    b) Airlifting of the stranded Indian citizens

    c) Registration of Remotely-piloted aircraft system (RPAS)

    d) None of these

    GARUD portal

    • GARUD is an acronym for ‘Government Authorisation for Relief Using Drones’.
    • The objective of the portal is to assist governmental entities in seeking exemption for COVID-19 related Remotely-piloted aircraft system (RPAS) operations.
    • The Civil Aviation Ministry has clarified that any violation of provisions will make the conditional exemption null and void and will lead to penal action.

  • Opportunity to strengthen the 73rd and 74th amendment

    The article brings to the fore untapped potential held by the panchayats and municipalities. However, there is a need for devolution in letter and spirit by the states to tap this potential. The article explains how the panchayats and municipalities could contribute effectively in the fight against Covid-19.

    Cooperative federalism amid COVID-19

    • An unintended but welcome consequence of the struggle against COVID-19 is that the “confrontational federalism” is on the decline with the revival of “cooperative federalism”.
    • There is a realisation that there is no way the COVID-19 situation can be tackled except through a measure of cooperation between the Centre and the states.
    • Consultative process: The Centre is offering flexibility to states to adopt guidelines to their respective circumstances and states are accepting guidelines from the Centre.
    • A principal reason for Kerala’s amazing performance in “flattening the curve” is their robust system of effective devolution. Such devolution helped the Kudumbashree programme to function in association with the panchayats.

    The concept of 3 tier devolution: Centre-State-Panchayats

    • Article 243G provides that state legislatures “may, by law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government”. 
    • This means state governments cannot and must not treat panchayats as extensions of the state government but as “institutions of (local) self-government”.
    • The logic of “cooperative federalism” is that states must function not as implementation arms of the central government but as autonomous units within the federation.
    • By the same logic panchayats too must be conceived not as an extension of state governments but as “units of self-government”. 
    • It is thus that panchayats need to be brought into the three-tier devolution system envisaged in the Constitution: Centre-State-Panchayats (and municipalities).

    How could devolution help in the fight against Covid-19?

    • In line with the rising cooperation between the Centre and the states, the focus should be on further devolution in keeping with the constitutional obligations under the 73rd and 74th amendments.
    • The starting point could best be Entry 23 of the Eleventh Schedule that reads, “Health, sanitation, including hospitals, primary health centres and dispensaries”
    • Entry 23 is among the list of 29 subjects illustratively set out for devolution to the panchayats, subject to conformity legislation being enacted by state legislatures.
    • All state legislation has included this subject for devolution.
    • Therefore, empowering the panchayats in this regard with functions, finances and functionaries is now a statutory obligation under state law under Article 243G.
    • With the migrant workers returning to their native villages, it is important to fully involve village panchayats and municipalities as “institutions of self-government” – 243W in the anti-COVID-19 campaign.
    • Entry 28 of the Eleventh Schedule mentions the “public distribution system” as among the subjects for devolution.
    • There are many other entries in the Schedule that are relevant to this exercise.
    • There is an army of 32 lakh elected representatives in the panchayats and about two lakh more in the municipalities to contribute in the fight against Covid-19.
    • Well over a third of them, some 10-12 lakh, are drawn from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and, therefore, in touch with the most destitute in every village and town.
    • There are some 14 lakh women who have established themselves by election as village leaders. 
    • Imagine a constructive role such women can play as “front-line workers” in the battle against the coronavirus.
    • The most important requirement is planning to receive the migrant labour influx.
    • Last-mile delivery can only be comprehensively ensured by empowered panchayats and municipalities reporting to their respective gram sabhas and ward sabhas mandated under Articles 243 A and 243 S.
    • Planning for withstanding the ingress of COVID-19 requires the full deployment of the mechanisms for district planning envisaged in Article 243 ZD.

    Consider the question asked by the UPSC in 2018-“Assess the importance of the Panchayat system in India as a part of local government. Apart from government grants, what sources the Panchayat can look out for financing developmental projects?”

    Conclusion

    As the cooperative federalism underlines India’s fight against Covid-19, devolution to the third tier –panchayats and municipalities would give a much needed fillip to the fight against Covid-19.

    Back2Basics: 73rd and 74th Amendments

    • 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments were passed by Parliament in December, 1992.
    • Through these amendments local self-governance was introduced in rural and urban India.
    • The Acts came into force as the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 on April 24, 1993 and the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992 on June 1, 1993.
    • These amendments added two new parts to the Constitution, namely, 73rd Amendment added Part IX titled “The Panchayats” and 74th Amendment added Part IXA titled “The Municipalities”.
    • The Local bodies–‘Panchayats’ and ‘Municipalities’ came under Part IX and IXA of the Constitution after 43 years of India becoming a republic.

    Salient Features

    • Basic units of democratic system-Gram Sabhas (villages) and Ward Committees (Municipalities) comprising all the adult members registered as voters.
    • Three-tier system of panchayats at village, intermediate block/taluk/mandal and district levels except in States with population is below 20 lakhs (Article 243B).
    • Seats at all levels to be filled by direct elections [Article 243C (2)].
    • Seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and chairpersons of the Panchayats at all levels also shall be reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to their population.
    • One-third of the total number of seats to be reserved for women. Onethird of the seats reserved for SCs and STs also reserved for women. One-third offices of chairpersons at all levels reserved for women (Article 243D)
    • Uniform five year term and elections to constitute new bodies to be completed before the expiry of the term. In the event of dissolution, elections compulsorily within six months (Article 243E).

  • What is Darbar Move?

    The Jammu and Kashmir High Court asked the Centre and the Union Territory (UT) administration to take a final call on the continuation of the 148-year-old practice Darbar Move i.e. shifting of capitals between Jammu and Srinagar.

    Possible mains question:

    Discuss the feasibility, benefits and constraints caused by multiple administrative capitals in Indian states with special context to Jammu and Kashmir and the state of Andhra Pradesh. (250W)

    Darbar Move

    • Darbar Move is the name given to the bi-annual shift of the secretariat and all other government offices of Jammu and Kashmir from one capital city to another.
    • From May to October, governmental offices are housed in the state’s summer capital, Srinagar, and the other six months in its winter capital, Jammu.
    • The tradition was started during Dogra rule in 1872 by Maharaja Ranbir Singh.
    • It involved shifting of the Maharaja’s government to Jammu to escape the harsh winters of the Kashmir Valley, which, in the 19th century, used to result in the Valley being cut off from outside the world.
    • It is advocated that the continuation of the practice helped in the emotional integration between two diverse linguistic and cultural regions of Jammu and Kashmir.

    A costly practice

    • Ahead of the Darbar Move, Srinagar usually receives a facelift every year. Over 10,000 employees shift capital annually.
    • Roads around and leading to the Civil Secretariat, the seat of the government, are being renovated now.
    • Besides, the government offices and quarters have been renovated and the streetlights restored.
    • Hundreds of trucks are usually plied to carry furniture, office files, computers, and other records to the capital.
    • Over the years, there have been voices raised against the century-old practice which involves heavy funding towards ensuring the smooth conduct of the move.

    Why scrap Darbar Move?

    • If this practice is rationalized, the amount of money, resources and time which could be saved, could be utilized towards the welfare and development of the Union Territory.
    • It could be utilized for the protection and propagation of culture and heritage of the communities.
    • No reason or justification at all is available for requiring the judiciary to shift with the ‘Darbar Move’. The same negatively impact justice dispensation and impedes judicial administration.

  • [pib] Saras Collection on Government e-Marketplace

    The Union Ministry for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has launched “The Saras Collection” on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.

    Possible prelim question:

    ‘The Saras Collection’ recently seen in news is a:

    a) Subsidy on beekeeping and apiculture projects

    b) Indigenous light transport aircraft

    c) Database on wetland birds

    d) Collection of products made by SHGs

     The Saras Collection

    • It is a unique initiative by the GeM, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and Ministry of Rural Development.
    • The collection showcases daily utility products made by rural Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and aims to provide SHGs in rural areas with market access to Central and State Government buyers.
    • The on-boarding of the SHGs has been initially piloted in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
    • SHGs from all the states and Union Territories (UTs) will be covered rapidly in the upcoming phases.

    It’s functioning

    • For Functionaries: They will be provided dashboards at the national, state, district and block level for real-time information about the number of products uploaded, their value and volume of orders received and fulfilled.
    • Government buyers: They will be sensitized through system-generated messages/ alerts in the Marketplace about the availability of SHG products on the portal.

    Benefits offered

    • The Saras Collection will provide SHGs with direct access to Government buyers which will do away with intermediaries in the supply chain.
    • Thus it would ensure better prices for SHGs and spurring employment opportunities at the local level.

    Back2Basics: Government e-Marketplace

    • The GeM is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs.
    • It was launched in 2016 to bring transparency and efficiency in the government buying process.
    • GEM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
    • It is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-marketplace that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.
    • It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users to achieve the best value for their money.
    • The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorized and made mandatory by the Ministry of Finance by adding a new Rule No. 149 in the General Financial Rules, 2017.
    • It has been developed by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) with technical support of National e-governance Division (MEITy).

  • Should we do away with the MPLADS?

    Since its inception in 1993, MPLADS has continued uninterrupted for 27 years. But COVID-19 came as a roadblock for MPLADS. Recently, it was suspended by the government for two years. As expected it led to huge political drama. However, as an aspirant, it is our duty to cut the drama out and focus on issues that matter. This article discusses MPLADS and argues for its abolition owing to various issues associated with it.

    Reason for suspension of MPLADS

    • The government suspended the scheme to strengthen the government’s efforts in managing the challenges and adverse impact of COVID-19 in the country.
    • It has been suspended for two years.
    • BTW scheme in short: Each MP has the choice to suggest to the District Collector for works to the tune of â‚č5 crores per annum to be taken up in his/her constituency.

    Why should MPLADS be abolished?

    1. It goes against the spirit of the Constitution

    • The scheme violates one of the cardinal principles: separation of powers.
    • Simply put, this scheme, in effect, gives an executive function to legislators or the legislature.
    • The argument that MPs only recommend projects, but the final choice and implementation rest with the district authorities is unfounded.
    • There are hardly any authorities in the district who have the courage to defy the wishes of an MP.

    2. Lacunae in implementation

    • Consider some of the observations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India:
    • Expenditure incurred by the executing agencies being less than the amount booked.
    • Utilisation of funds between 49 to 90% of the booked amount.
    • The scheme envisages that works under the scheme should be limited to asset creation, but 78% of the works recommended were for improvement of existing assets.
    • Wide variations in quantities executed against the quantities specified in the BOQ (Bills of Quantity) in 137 of the 707 works test-checked. Variations ranged from 16 to 2312%.
    • Use of lesser quantities of material than specified by contractors resulting in excess payments and sub-standard works.
    • Delays in issuing work orders ranging from 5 to 387 days in 57% of the works against the requirement of issuing the work order within 45 days.
    • Extensions of time granted to contractors without following the correct procedure.
    • Register of assets created, as required under the scheme, not maintained, therefore location and existence of assets could not be verified.

    3. Wide variation in utilisation of MPLADS funds

    • A report published in IndiaSpend has some very interesting insights based on data made available to it by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
    • A year after they took office, 298 of 543 members of the 16th Lok Sabha— have not spent a rupee from the â‚č5 crore.
    • Though â‚č1,757 crore had been released for MPLADs, only â‚č281 crore had been utilised by all the 543 MPs till May 15, 2015.
    • This means only 16% of the money had been spent in one year by all the MPs put together, because the Lok Sabha was constituted in May 2014.
    • Since the MPLADS began in 1993, â‚č5,000 crore was lying unspent with various district authorities by May 15, 2015.
    • It is clear from the details above, as well as later experience, that most MPs use money under MPLADS quite haphazardly, and a significant portion of it is left unspent.

    4. Misuse of the money under MPLADS

    • There is widespread talk of money under MPLADS being used to appease or oblige two sets of people: opinion-makers or opinion-influencers, and favourite contractors.
    • There have been cases of the contractor and the MP being financially linked with each other.

    5. Legality issue

    • The constitutional validity of MPLADS was challenged in the Supreme Court of India in 1999, followed by petitions in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
    • The combined judgment for all these petitions was delivered on May 6, 2010, with the scheme being held to be constitutional.
    • The SC seems to have placed an unquestioned trust in the efficacy of the scheme of implementation of MPLADS drawn up by the government without an assessment of the situation prevalent in the field.
    • The court should pay more attention to its skewed implementation, evidence of which is available in audit reports.

    Contrast and compare the provision of MPLADS with the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. A direct question on the MPLADS could be asked by the UPSC, for instance, consider this question-“There has been the debate around the MPLADS. Discuss the issues involved in the MPLADS.”

    Conclusion

    Reports of underutilisation and misutilisation of MPLADS funds continue to surface at regular intervals but there seems to have been no serious attempt to do anything about it till now. Some concrete decisions on the future of the scheme is now inevitable.

     Back2Basics: What is MPLADS?

    • MPLAD is a central government scheme, under which MPs can recommend development programmes involving the spending of Rs 5 crore every year in their respective constituencies.
    • MPs from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated ones, can do so.
    • MPs do not receive any money under these schemes.
    • The government transfers it directly to the respective local authorities.
    • The legislators can only recommend works in their constituencies based on a set of guidelines.
    • For the MPLAD Scheme, the guidelines focus on the creation of durable community assets like roads, school buildings etc.
    • Recommendations for non-durable assets can be made only under limited circumstances.

    For example, last month, the government allowed the use of MPLAD funds for the purchase of personal protection equipment, coronavirus testing kits etc.

     

     

  • Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Virtual Summit

    PM Modi has for the first addressed the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit since assuming office in 2014.

    Possible mains question-

    Q. Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has lost its relevance in the new era of multipolar world. Comment.

    Highlights of the online summit

    • The online NAM Contact Group Summit on “United against COVID-19” was hosted by current NAM Chairman and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.
    • The NAM leaders announced the creation of a task force to identify requirements of member countries through a common database reflecting their basic medical, social and humanitarian needs in the fight against COVID-19.

    What is the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)?

    • The NAM is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
    • The group was started in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1961.
    • After the UN, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.

    Its formation

    • NAM emerged in the context of the wave of decolonization that followed World War II.
    • It was created by Yugoslavia’s President, Josip Broz Tito, India’s first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, Egypt’s second President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Ghana’s first president Kwame Nkrumah, and Indonesia’s first President, Sukarno.
    • All five leaders believed that developing countries should not help either the Western or Eastern blocs in the Cold War.
    • As a condition for membership, the states of the NAM cannot be part of a multilateral military alliance (such as the NATO) or have signed a bilateral military agreement with one of the “big powers” involved in Great Power conflicts.
    • However, its idea does not signify that a state ought to remain passive or even neutral in international politics.

    Terms of summits

    • Unlike the UN or the Organization of American States, the NAM has no formal constitution or permanent secretariat.
    • All members of the NAM have equal weight within its organization.
    • The movement’s positions are reached by consensus in the Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government, which usually convenes every three years.
    • The administration of the organization is the responsibility of the country holding the chair, a position that rotates at every summit.
    • The ministers of foreign affairs of the member states meet more regularly in order to discuss common challenges, notably at the opening of each regular session of the UN General Assembly.

    Its relevance today

    • One of the challenges of the NAM in the 21st century has been to reassess its identity and purpose in the post-Cold War era.
    • The movement has continued to advocate for international cooperation, multilateralism, and national self-determination, but it has also been increasingly vocal against the inequities of the world economic order.
    • On the contrary, from the founding of the NAM, its stated aim has been to give a voice to developing countries and to encourage their concerted action in world affairs.

  • Foreign Policy Watch: United Nations

  • BRICS’ fight against COVID

    “BRICS” is an acronym coined by Jim O’Neill in 2001. In the start of the 21st century, BRICS seemed like the future economic powerhouse. Somehow this picture faded a little with time. This article shows the resilience and potential demonstrated by BRICS in times of Covid-19. It throws light on the latest initiatives of BRICS like New Development Bank. Finally what lies in the future for BRICS?

    The “I” in BRICS

    • India has reinforced its reputation as a rapidly emerging pharmacy of the world.

    • As the world’s largest producer of hydroxychloroquine, India has exported the drug to many countries like Russia, Brazil, Israel, U.S,  SAARC and Gulf nations.

    • Pharma-alliance: The above developments have set the stage for India to forge an inclusive BRICS-driven pharma alliance, which could also actively explore the production of vaccines.

    The “C” in BRICS

    • Despite allegations, China has responded strongly in containing the pandemic, leveraging its position as the workshop of the world.

    • China, using it’s manufacturing capabilities, responded to the disease by providing the “hardware” — masks, gloves, coveralls, shoe covers and testing kits — to hotspots across the globe.

    • Under its Health Silk Road doctrine, the Chinese are reaching out to two of the worst global hotspots, Italy and Iran.

    • China has also rolled out a medical air bridge for Europe.

    The “R” in BRICS

    • Despite fighting the virus at home, Russia too has sent its doctors and virologists overseas including an air mission to Italy.

    • At the request of U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia offered help in the form of medical experts and supplies.

    The “S” in BRICS

    • South Africa, the current rotating head of the African Union, is engaged in framing a pan-African response to COVID-19.

    The “B” in BRICS

    • Only Brazil’s response may need a course correction.

    • In Brazil’s case resistance to breaking the infection chains through travel bans, lockdowns, isolation and testing appear to have led to an infection surge.

    Where does the NDB’s model fit in this picture?

    • The New Development Bank of the BRICS has already demonstrated the way forward to allocate financial resources to combat COVID-19.

    • In April, NDB announced that it is going to disburse a $1 billion emergency loan to China, and subsequently to India, South Africa and Brazil.

    • The NDB had the financial heft to provide $10 billion in “crisis-related assistance” to BRICS member countries.

    The next step for BRICS –  COORDINATION

    • BRICS has demonstrated their comparative strengths as providers of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).

    • BRICS countries now need to pool and coordinate their efforts, in partnership with the WHO, and Europe and North America, as part of a global assault on the virus.

    • BRICS countries also need to earmark resources and assets to combat a whole range of natural disasters, with special focus on the emerging economies and the global south.

    • The NDB’s financial model demonstrated to address the pandemic, can now become a template to address natural disasters.

    Bodies like BRICS have remained the favourite child of UPSC. Be it questions in prelims or mains. A question based on the regional grouping could be asked by the UPSC, for ex- “BRICS nations have proved to be more than merely an economic grouping. In light of the above statement, discuss the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) potential of the BRICS countries.”

    Conclusion

    BRICS in future can leverage the coordination among them to work on finding the vaccine and also build on the experience gathered from the pandemic to form a disaster response policy in the future.

    Back2Basics: BRICS

    • BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
    • Originally the first four were grouped as “BRIC” (or “the BRICs”), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
    • The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs; all are members of G20.
    • Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits. China hosted the 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen on September 2017, while Brazil hosted the most recent 11th BRICS summit on 13-14 November 2019.

    New Development Bank and the Fortaleza Declaration

    • During the sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (2014), the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB).
    • In the Fortaleza Declaration, the leaders stressed that the NDB will strengthen cooperation among BRICS and will supplement the efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global development, thus contributing to collective commitments for achieving the goal of strong, sustainable and balanced growth.
    • The bank was established in July 2015 by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
    • The aim of the bank is to mobilize funding for infrastructure and sustainable development.
    • Its ownership structure is unique, as the BRICS countries each have an equal share and no country has any veto power.
    • In this sense, the bank is a physical expression of the desire of emerging markets to play a bigger role in global governance.
    • NDB was created to help fill the funding gap in the BRICS economies and was intended to grow its global scope over time.
    • The bank, with its subscribed capital base of US$50bn, is now poised to become a meaningful additional source of long-term finance for infrastructure in its member countries.

  • Significance of UK labor party’s remarks on Kashmir

    The UK Labour party’s newly appointed leader Keir Starmer said Kashmir was a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve peacefully. These remarks were seen as an attempt to re-position his party’s stance on Kashmir and reach out to the Indian community in Britain.

    What was the Labour party’s stance before?

    • The party’s relations with the Indian diaspora have been strained, especially after its delegates passed an emergency policy motion in September 2019 criticizing India’s decision to revoke Article 370.
    • It maintained that the people of Kashmir should have self-determination rights.

    Why is the Labour Party’s relationship with the Indian diaspora important?

    • Indians are the largest ethnic community in the UK, numbering over 1.5 million people or accounting for over 2.3 per cent of the country’s population.
    • Therefore, they form a significant vote share for any party.
    • In the 2017 general elections, 50 per cent of the Indians living in the UK had voted for Labour.

    India in Labour Party (UK) manifestos

    Over the years, issues relating to India have found various mention in many election manifestos in the UK:

    • 1945: India’s freedom had been a campaign promise of the Labour party, its manifesto pledging “the advancement of India to responsible self-government”.
    • 1947: The Indian Independence Act, 1947, was passed when Attlee was Prime Minister.
    • 1949: all the Commonwealth Prime Ministers welcomed the free choice of India, Pakistan and Ceylon to join the Commonwealth as full and equal members.
    • 2019: Issue a formal apology for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

  • Strategy for calibrated opening of economy

    The article discusses the performance of India so far and the strategy for reopening of the economy. Dividing the districts based on the number of cases and adopting a suitable approach for opening the economy there while keeping the spread of the virus in control is suggested in the article.

    India performing better

    • While the OECD countries are reeling under the COVID-19 impact, India is clearly ahead of the curve.
    • This is not merely in terms of the confirmed cases in the country but is also strongly reflected in very low mortality numbers (8.5 deaths per lakh population) compared to other nations (4,040 in the UK and 1,930 in the US).
    • While the first cases were reported in most hotspot countries and India around the same time (last week of January), today, the outbreak is far more manageable in India than in most other countries.
    • It was pragmatic for a resource-poor country to be pre-emptive and declare a national lockdown when the total number of cases were still low at 500.
    • The subsequent growth of the pandemic clearly shows a perceptible decline in the number of cases due to the lockdown.
    • Though stringent, this was much-needed and a timely policy intervention by the government.
    • It is important, however, to appreciate the high and growing opportunity costs that are involved during a lockdown.
    • We must brace ourselves for long-term pandemic management (18 to 24 months) with significant economic impact on our lives.

    Policy interventions by government and two major concerns

    • The immediate costs of the lockdown are borne by the most economically vulnerable people in society.
    • This perhaps was the rationale behind the first round of economic policy interventions announced by the finance minister within a few days of the lockdown.
    • They targeted front-loading of cash transfers through PM-Kisan, support to construction workers, self-help groups, food distribution through the public distribution system, among others.
    • Two major concerns: Beyond welfare concerns, there are significant growth concerns that are mounting with every day of economic inactivity in the country.
    • Companies are struggling to honour payroll and maintain their workforce against cancelling orders and declining demand for their goods and services.
    • These in turn will lead to greater delays and defaults in loan repayments, thereby further weakening the fragile banking sector and struggling credit markets.

    The RBI’s intervention and increasing damage to the economy

    • The Reserve Bank of India stepped in for some timely monetary interventions.
    • However, the longstanding climate of risk aversion within the banking sector will mean that transmission of these monetary interventions is unlikely to be timely or adequate.
    • All eyes are set expectantly in one direction.
    • Historically, when economies are faced with major calamities, governments step in to stabilise the environment and boost confidence within the business community.
    • We have seen this response from all major economies disrupted by COVID-19 over the last several weeks.
    • India will not be an exception to this as the government fine-tunes its strategy to support and kickstart our immobilised economy.
    • The opportunity cost of time, however, is ballooning with each passing day.
    • Just like the spread of the virus, we are up against the full force and power of compounding.
    • Mindful policy interventions, when timed well, can cut growing losses and the misfortune of many.

    How the states are performing against Covid-19?

    • While we have succeeded in slowing the growth of the virus at the national level, the true gains and pains are at the state and local level.
    • As the data reveals, currently we have three states that have made remarkable gains and “flattened the curve” of COVID cases.
    • These are Kerala, Haryana and Tamil Nadu where recoveries are growing and active cases are rapidly declining.
    • States like Karnataka and Telangana are improving their recovery rates consistently, despite fluctuations.
    • Every state and local administration has to keep eternal vigil and double down on containment and testing.
    • They have to aggressively improve their contact tracing efforts with the help of their police who are trained in debriefing, call record mapping and have more manpower than public health departments of local administrations.

    The article contains the policy and governance aspects which are important from Mains Paper-2, and economic issues such as the size of the package and opportunity cost of time involved are important from the Mains Paper-3 perspective. Take note of these issues.

    What should be the strategy?

    • Given the scale and variation in infection control across the country, our national strategy needs to be informed and calibrated.
    • Currently, there are more than 300 districts in the country which have reported zero COVID-19 cases.
    • This can be confirmed quickly with some random testing and the lockdown can be lifted effective immediately.
    • Then there are about 225 districts which have reported less than 10 cases each.
    • With adequate ring-fencing at the level of the block where these cases are reported, these districts too can afford to lift their lockdowns.
    • There are, however, approximately 30 districts across the country which have reported large numbers of confirmed cases and are identified as “hotspots”.
    • The lockdown in these places needs to continue with some relaxations for basic trade and essential services.
    • Not surprisingly, these “hotspots” are also important economic centres of the country.
    • The capacity of the local administration to develop and enforce appropriate strategies of containment, contact tracing and testing, should determine their decisions to ring-fence and isolate blocks while allowing other parts of the district/city to resume economic activity.

    Way forward

    • Given the uncertainty of the virus, we seem prepared for large hospitalisation and care if the need arises.
    • The efforts now must be to further contain the growth of the infection.
    • Acting against the power of compounding: If the current rate persists, we will reach over lakh cases within three weeks. That is the power of compounding we are against.
    • Public health support team: Beyond knowledge sharing across states and adopting successful containment strategies from each other, there is a role for the central government in providing “NSG-like” public health support teams to states that need them.
    • Economic package: On the economy front similarly, the central government’s timely economic package should flatten the curve of exponentially rising opportunity costs across the sectors.

    Conclusion

    Given the relative scale and virulence of the COVID-19 virus in India, the odds seem stacked in favour of a calibrated opening of the economy.