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GS Paper: GS2

  • Aadhaar Card Issues

    Aadhaar Bill 2016, Hopes and Concerns 

    Basics of Aadhaar

    Aadhaar is an ambitious project that seeks to provide unique identification numbers to each individual in a country, collecting demographic and biometric information in the process. Currently, UIDAI has issued over 98 crore Aadhaar numbers.

    Need for Aadhaar: India must use technology in a transformational way to accelerate social and economic justice. It will help in expansion of opportunities for all at scale and speed.

    What is the Aadhaar Bill?

    Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, has been passed by Parliament, to provide for efficient, transparent, and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services.

    It will enable the govt. to reset the subsidy regime and deliver state benefits directly to their intended beneficiaries, plugging leakages.

    How Aadhar is linked with DBT?

    India spends nearly Rs. 4 lakh crore on subsidies, in order to complement the political democracy with socio-economic democracy.

    On January 1, 2013, the UPA govt launched the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme under which monetary benefits would be transferred directly to the beneficiaries through an Aadhaar-enabled platform.

    The effort to channelize subsidies, benefits and services to through a 12-digit number or to say its biometric alternative can help plug the leakages in the subsidy framework and give a boost to the Jan Dhan Yojna, which remains closely aligned to this scheme.

    Follow our story on Direct Benefits Transfer: The Big Reform.

    Do read the Economic Survey chapter on JAM Trinity.

    What are the concerns on Privacy front?

    There are certain provisions in the Bill, that provide avenues for surveillance of citizens. A person’s Aadhaar number can become a standard data point in all business, banking and legal transactions. Our data systems are not secure and watertight. The people who maintain these systems are vulnerable to pressures and inducements.

    • The issue of privacy vs. security is a hot subject around the world, evident in the current controversy in Apple Inc.’s refusal to break the encryption on an iPhone as demanded by FBI
    • Sceptics argue that no other country, and certainly no democratic country, has ever held its own citizens hostage to such a powerful infrastructure of surveillance
    • Govt. accepts right to privacy as a valuable right, but questions it as a fundamental right
    • In 1954, a 8-judge bench of SC had ruled that right to privacy cannot be a fundamental right. But, some judgments post-1990 noted that right to privacy can be construed as fundamental right, subject to certain restrictions and circumstances

    However, there are other concerns of exclusion, by denying the services to people who didn’t enroll for it or chose not to do it.

    Safeguards

    According to Nandan Nilekani, the Bill had incorporated several safeguards with regard to privacy as highlighted by the A.P. Shah Committee report, on privacy law.

    There are other provisions in this Bill that seem to address the concern:

    • The unique numbers will not be considered as proof of citizenship
    • The Aadhar system ensures privacy through design, as it uses a federated architecture. In other words, as banking data is wholly inside the banking system, similarly, the biometric data is never shared by UIDAI
    • The core bio-metric information cannot be shared with any person even with the consent of the Aadhaar card holder. Even, the general information cannot be unlawfully shared
    • Only a Court of the District Judge or above has been given the power to order disclosure of information excluding core biometrics
    • “National Security” is the only ground on which a Competent Authority can share this information. Every decision of the Competent Authority has to be reviewed by a Committee comprising of the Cabinet Secretary, the Law Secretary and the Secretary, Information Technology before it is given effect

    What was Supreme Court’s stand on Aadhaar?

    In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar could not be made mandatory to receive benefits. No one should be excluded from social welfare scheme, just because of a requirement of Aadhar.

    In 2015, It also prohibited the sharing the Aadhaar information with any agency. The case was referred to a larger bench to decide the question whether Aadhaar infringed the right to privacy.

    What is Aadhaar Bill versus Money Bill controversy?

    According to experts, the Bill was not a money Bill under Article 110 of the Constitution because it did not “contain ONLY provisions” dealing with the matters enumerated in that Article. Various Constitutional experts have argued that the Speaker’s decision to certify it as a money Bill was also plainly wrong.

    Do you want to know about Money Bill?

    As per Article 110(1), a bill that contains only provisions dealing with the following qualifies as a money bill:

    1. The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax
    2. Regulation of borrowing or the giving of any guarantee by the govt of India, or undertaking financial obligation by the government
    3. The custody of the Consolidated Fund of India or the Contingency Fund of India, the payment of moneys into or withdrawal from them
    4. The appropriation of moneys out of the CFI
    5. Declaring any expenditure as a charged expenditure on the CFI <can you tell us the difference b/w charged expenditure and non charged expenditure? Also can you tell us one prominent constitution body whose expenditure is not charged? Answer in the comments.>
    6. The receipt of money on account of the CFI or the public account of India or the ambit of accounts of the Union or of a state <can you tell us the difference b/w consolidated fund of India and public accounts of India? Answer in the comments>
    7. Any matter incidental to the above issues

    A money bill cannot be rejected by the Rajya Sabha, which can only suggest changes, the Lok Sabha is free to reject.

    Speaker: Article 110(3) confirms finality on the speaker’s decision on the question of whether a bill is a money bill.

    What were the amendments moved by Rajya Sabha?

    • It wanted to restrict the use of Aadhaar numbers only for targeting of govt benefits or service and not for any other purpose
    • It wanted to replace the term ‘national security’ with ‘public emergency and public safety’, arguing that the term ‘national security’ is very vague
    • It wanted an Oversight Committee to review the Competent Authority’s decision, which should also comprise of either the CVC or the CAG
    • It wanted to delete a section which says that if under any other law the use of Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual is permitted, the same law is not being over-ruled

    Conclusion

    There is little doubt that India needs to streamline the way it delivers benefits, and to empower citizens with a basic identification document. But this cannot be done without ensuring the strictest protection of privacy.

    Follow our story on Aadhaar Cards: The Identity Revolution.

    Published with inputs from Pushpendra

  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Africa

     

    • India and the African countries are in news lately, however the ties between the two regions date back to the ancient civilizations. Along with geographical proximity, there are factors such as the cultural connect, colonial past and development hurdles that are more or less common to both and thus bring each other much closer.
    • In this context it can be rightly said that through cooperation if the opportunities of these two regions is utilized, then there cannot be anything bigger in the geopolitical world scenario today than this cooperation.
    • Although triggered by the unfortunate racist attacks, however in this article we would try to learn and focus on the historical ties, how this relationship moved ahead and where do we stand today. This article intends to make the learners aware about the two regions in the most comprehensive manner and build a base for future understanding and correlation with the topic.

    Backgrounder:

    • Once known as the ‘dark continent’ by the colonial exploiters due to inaccessibility into the interiors of the continent
    • The geographical proximity between the two was an important factor for building up relations during the ancient and the colonial period

    Ancient Period

    • During the ancient period, the Indian merchants were in the constant look out beyond the Arabian Sea towards the west for lucrative markets. Slowly, the increasing people-to-people contacts made them a part of ‘Indian Ocean circuit of trade’
    • They sailed regularly to the Zenj coast (Zanzibar) for palm oil, gold, copper, spices, ivory, rhino horn etc.
    • They sold cloth, metal implements, foodstuff like wheat, rice and jaggery, besides porcelain and glassware
    • Trade developed through the knowledge of favourable sea winds and the development of a suitable marine technology
    • Periplus of Erythrean Sea, a first century AD merchants’ sailor guide throws light on the thriving trade between India and the Western Indian Ocean region
    • It also stated that India’s trading contacts were spread from Egypt to coastal to northern Somalia, ancient land of Punt, kingdom of Kush (Sudan) and Axum

     

    Islamic Era 

    • Indian presence in Africa is also seen during the Islamic age. The Venetian traveller Marco Polo mentioned explicitly about the Gujarati and Saurashtrian merchants on Africa’s east coast
    • The use of Indian system of weights and measures and Cowries as currency, pointed to the fact that Indians were playing a key role in this area
    • Not only economic benefits, the trade also contributed to the development of internal links in the African continent even before the advent of Europeans
    • By seventeenth century, the nature of Indian Ocean trade underwent a radical change due to demand for captives who could be sold as slaves.

    During the medieval time the Africans came to India and were part of the muslim rule in India

    • A good example could be of ‘Malik Amber’ and the ‘Siddis’ who are still a part of the Indian population and are settled in parts of Gujarat, Karnataka and Hyderabad

     

    Advent of Colonialism

    • With the advent of European colonial powers in India and Africa, the trade pattern underwent a significant change as Indo–African relations entered a new era of ‘colonialism’
    • During the colonialism period, trade continued and also started the slave trade
    • The Indians who went to Africa as slaves and post abolition of slavery, as the indentured labourers, and the merchant class of Gujarat slowly settled down there
    • India’s link with the African continent dates back to the anti-apartheid struggle of Mahatma Gandhi with the colonial rulers in South Africa
    • India has been aggressively putting forward the issue of apartheid on multilateral forums such as UN, NAM And Commonwealth

    Post-Colonial Period

    The foundations were laid by Mahatma Gandhi. According to him, there will be a “commerce of ideas and services and not of raw materials and goods like imperialist powers”. The present government continues to take this approach as the foundation of India’s Africa Policy. According to Vice President Hamid Ansari, “ India shares Africa’s dreams and India Africa cooperation is genuine 2 way street partnership”

    Relations uptill 1960:

    Nehru talked about Afro Asian solidarity. African countries provided strength to Nehru’s NAM. The policy in this phase is described as “ideational” and “pragmatic”

    2nd phase (1970s – 1990s):

    There was neglect of Africa because of India’s attention on South Asia and India’s attention on inward looking foreign policy. Though India in this phase continued to support Africa against Apartheid.

    3rd phase (1990s onwards):

    This is the phase of reengagement with Africa. However the lead was taken by private sector, rather than government. Private sector of India should be given credit to push attention of GoI towards the region of strategic and economic importance.

    Present status of relations:

    Since 2008, India and Africa relations have been institutionalized. India has started engagement with African Union (Pan African Platform). So far 3 summits have been organized under the aegis of India Africa Forum Summit. It is to be noted that the approach of GoI is also influenced by China. China has also initiated the Forum for Africa and China cooperation in the year 2000.

    Importance of Africa:

    Geostrategic

    • Africa is critical to India’s security, especially the Horn of Africa region, because of its proximity with India. The threat of radicalism, piracy, organized crime emerge from this region

    Economic

    • Africa can help us in diversifying our energy sources, which is one of the stated objective of our Integrated Energy Policy
    • Africa also contains rich reservoir of valuable minerals, metals including gold and diamond
    • Africa provides a space for Indian investment
    • Africa has ample agricultural land which cab address India’s food security. India is looking at leasing land in Africa to overcome the land deficit that we face in terms of arable land

    Geopolitical

    • Support of African countries is important for India’s aim of gaining a permanent seat in UNSC
    • Africa provides a space for displaying both India’s soft and hard power
    • India has been actively involved in peace and stability of African countries through UN Peace keeping operations. India is involved in capacity building of African countries. Africa is also the largest beneficiary of India’s ITEC programme

    History of India Africa Relations: India Africa Relations

    Strategies adopted by Indian government:

    • Pan African level engagement
    • Partnership with regional organization
    • Development partnership through IBSA and BRICS
    • Bilateral engagement with countries
    • Involving Indian communities and Indian Diaspora

    Whether India’s relationship with Africa should be seen through Chinese prism?

    • While China has been in Africa’s infrastructure, mining, oil and natural gas sectors for many years, India, despite moving late, has worked through training, education and capacity-building programmes — which have been very well-received by the countries.
    • China is developing series of important ports in Africa on the western and eastern coast right uptill Mediterranean and building rail linkages to connect to those ports
    • Over the last 15 years, India-Africa trade has gone up 20 times, and reached, according to the government, $ 70 billion.
    • Indian investment in Africa is between $ 30 billion and $ 35 billion.
    • India has given concessional credit to the tune of $ 7.4 billion, of which $ 5 billon has been disbursed. The credit lines have helped create 137 projects in 41 countries.
    • A Pan-African e-Network for education and health is functional in 48 countries.
    • Since 2008, India has extended 40,000 scholarships to African countries under ITEC programme

    Thus it would be wrong to conclude that India’s African outreach is with a view to counter China’s expanding influencing in the region.

    Moreover Chinese strategy of exporting Chinese labour as part of its push to create excess capacity abroad to counter unemployment in China is rattling the African population. There have been protests against the discriminatory employment practices of China in matters of employment in Nigeria, Kenya etc.

    Challenges India faces from the presence of countries like U.S in Africa

    • S trade with Africa initially was high because of its strategy to reduce dependence of middle East oil and hence they went for greater purchase from Africa. With shale revolution in USA, trade volume has declined.
    • USA still involved in infrastructural development, export of commodities (food stuff, refined products), export of equipments, projects for Mineral exploration. All these fields are also what India is interested in. Same is the case with china
    • USA along with China has also been offering soft loans which are being lapped up by capital starved African nations

    Shortcomings of U.S (and other developed countries) involvement

    • S products are too costly for African customers compared to Indian and Chinese products
    • Export of raw materials to USA unlikely to grow a lot because of relative stagnation of GDP growth rate of U.S economy compared to India and china
    • USA’s involvement in building transport infra etc can lead to increased sale of Indian cars etc which are cheaper
    • Development of African primary industries by these countries can lead to increased exports to India

    Shortcomings of India’s involvement in Africa

    • In terms of cheque book diplomacy, India can not compete with China or U.S. Some of the African countries, even the richer ones like Nigeria, expect India to bear gifts for them under IAFS. However India asserts for joint endeavour for better development
    • India abrogates its responsibility in terms of mid stream and down stream delivery processes, instead relying on multilateral agencies like African Union. This leads to India losing credit for a project despite the financial, technological backing it gives
    • India contributed a lot more than other countries in terms of ebola relief but did not highlight it. Indian assistance was largely through multilateral forums and in a piecemeal manner

    Impact of IAFS process so far:

    • India has committed unprecedented level of resources to Africa (in soft loans and grants). $5bn in soft loans, half a billion dollars in grants, institution building and training fellowship to Africa
    • Earlier in IAFS 1 India had offered DFQF (Duty Free Quota Free) access to LDCs of Africa
    • Increased people to people contact as observed in the increasing flow of medical tourists, students, trainees and Indian entrepreneurs and experts.
    • IAFS process has also given a boost to cultural and information contact and mutual awareness
    • Growth in India’s trade and investment activities has partially slowed down due to the effects of recession.

    SWOT analysis

    Strength

    • Indian diaspora in Africa to be leveraged for involvement in building social infra
    • Similar socio economic challenges and historical linkages
    • Indian developmental model more in line with Africa’s needs
    • Private sector involvement in Africa. India’s private sector is involved in 2x more Greenfield projects as compared to Chinese counterparts. Another advantage that India has, in any projects it employs local people thereby generating employment, earning goodwill. China exports Chinese labour.

    Weakness

    • Multiple competing interests present. China and USA are the top 2 trading partners
    • Chequebook diplomacy can not be done by India
    • Lack of emphasis on bilateral relationships instead engaging mostly through forums like IAFS

    Opportunities

    • Shift from line of credit approach to private sector involvement which would help in providing loans at cheaper interest rate, risk mitigation
    • Better organized, more coherent and faster responding mechanism accompanied by an appropriate media campaign required for highlighting India’s contribution

    Threats

    • Bureaucratic hurdle in trade expansion as we interact largely with African Union. We have focus on nations individually to take projects forward
    • No efforts by India to curb racial discrimination. Several reports in the past have highlighted that the propensity if Indians to discriminate on grounds of race is quiet high. China has undertaken educational projects to bury the African stereotype

    A Brief Analysis of the Third India-Africa Forum Summit

    ‘New Hopes, New Horizons’

    The Third India-Africa Forum Summit held recently unveiled a “dynamic and transformative agenda”. This agenda is of mutual empowerment and mutual resurgence between India and the African nations to strengthen the bond even more in the future.

    This was the third summit, which was started in 2008, since when two summits had taken place.

    However, this is the first time that 54 heads of the states out of a total of 54 in the African continent came to India together for one cause.

    There were commemorative coins that were released to mark the event. They were as shown below:

    9

     

                                                                                Source: MEA

    Development Partnership

    The ‘Delhi Declaration’ of 2015 envisages the India-Africa partnership in development. On the same lines, India would be providing a credit of $10 billion to Africa for development projects along with a grant assistance of $600 million.

    This grant includes development fund, health fund and scholarship for students in India. The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation(ITEC) programme has already laid base for knowledge sharing and has acted as a bridge to connect students from both the sides.

    10

    The Delhi Declaration is in sync with the ‘Africa’s Vision 2063’ which also focusses on growth, stability and prosperity.

    Arc of Prosperity

    India-Africa Business Forum was also held as an important segment of the summit. It is noteworthy that the India-Africa trade has exceeded $70 billion!

    Along with economic development through public private partnerships, institution building, infrastructure development and development of small and medium enterprises, the focus will also be on poverty alleviation, healthcare, education and sustainable development.

    Blue Economy

    An agenda was brought out in the summit or the development of blue economy or ocean economy which is aimed at development of marine resources sustainably for the growth and development of countries like India, on the African coast and other littoral states with coastlines.

    11

    Commemorative stamps were also issued during the summit:

    12

    Source: MEA

    Strategic Partnership

    India called for partnership with Africa in raising voice for the reform of international institutions such as the United Nations and its security council.

    It also stressed for collective action for climate change with the mantra of ‘clean and green’. It includes the invitation given by India to all the African countries to be a part of the Indian initiative and join the ‘Solar Club’ for a partnership in areas of clean energy, sustainable habitats, public transport and climate resilient agriculture.

    13

    Partners in Peace

    India is a major partner in the UN Peacekeeping missions in the African continent. The major peacekeeping missions in Africa in which India is involved are:

    1. Democratic Republic of Congo
    2. South Sudan
    3. Ivory Coast
    4. Liberia

    Till date, India has deployed about 4,500 soldiers on the ground. This includes the only fully formed Indian female police unit in Liberia.

    Cultural Bonding

    15

     

    Opportunities for India

    Apart from the immense opportunities as can be comprehended from the above analysis of  the third India-Africa Forum Summit, some of the rest can be listed as below:

    • India has the opportunity to benefit from Africa’s rich resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas reserves whereas Africa would gain from India’s world-class downstream capabilities
    • Indian banks to expand their footprint on the continent for developing Africa’s financial market
    • The huge market can serve as an alternative to ours
    • The hydrocarbon from Africa is a source of clean, energy efficient fuel which is of immense importance given India’s ambitious goals for energy production and security

    The importance of the ties between India and Africa was realized by our forefathers too for the development of both the land and the people.

    The great leader of the world in General and Africa in particular ‘Nelson Mandela’ once remarked:

    16

    Taking ahead the culture of civilization tying it with our ancient past, it can be very rightly concluded by Mahatma Gandhi’s views:

    17

    Prime Minister’s African nation visit includes Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. The visit of Prime Minister comes close on the heels of the high level visit earlier by President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari.

    kenya-tanzania

    Earlier visit of Vice president to Morocco and Tunisia covered North Africa. Later President’s visit to Ghana, Namibia and Ivory Coast covered West Africa. Now the Prime Minister’s visit covers South and East Africa. Through this our three topmost leaders have covered the whole of Africa .

    It is projected that by 2020 the collective GDP of all African nations will be $2.6 trillion.

    Strategic significance of Prime Minister’s visit

    • The Prime Minister’s focus of the African tour is on deepening cooperation in areas of hydrocarbons, maritime security, trade and investment, agriculture and food. Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya are very important and all are littoral states. They had very close connection with India.
    • India-Kenya ties have stood the test of time. Both our nations have had very strong people-to-people ties and both nations have successfully fought colonialism in the previous century.
    • Mozambique was a Portuguese colony earlier. Till 1750 the country was managed from Goa. There are large numbers of Goans in Mozambique.
    • Prime Minister addressed the Indian Diaspora at Nairobi. Terrorism and Global Warming are the two major global challenges faced by all the nations. No country is immune to the state of terrorism. Concerted action is required by the global community through UN frame work.
    • India and Tanzania have agreed to deepen overall defense and security partnership, especially in the maritime domain.

    India’s strengths

    • India had age old cultural, historic and civilization ties with Africa and around 16th century India’s indentured labor had come here and now they have all prospered and helped in the progress of these countries.
    • India and Africa are neighbors which are connected by Indian Ocean. Maritime security, counter terrorism operation, utilization of the Blue Economy is the important element between India and Africa.
    • There are opportunities for Indian private companies and Public sector entities to invest in Africa. India is interested in securing energy needs, renewable and non conventional sources of energy where Africa is rich in all these resources.
    • Energy security is a significant element of our partnership with Africa. 25% of India’s total investment in Africa is in Mozambique that is $8 billion. Around 10% of total investment is in Tanzania that is $3 billion. These investments are in the field of Energy.
    • India will grow and India will need Energy. Large numbers of countries of Africa are members of International Solar Alliance. Prime Minister also met ‘Solar Mamas’, a group of rural women solar engineers from Africa who have been trained under Government of India-supported programme to fabricate, install, use, repair and maintain solar lanterns and household solar lighting systems in their villages

    Difference in India and China approach in Africa

    • India is different from other large investors in Africa. China is considered to be exploitative in terms of exploitation of Natural resources and there is not much benefit to the local people of Africa.
    • China has acquired land for agriculture which has got its own work force and this has not benefited Africa.
    • India wants African nation to get equal benefits from India’s economic development in Africa. India wants a win-win situation for both the countries.
    • There are concerns that India has been very slow on delivery. It makes promises and commitments, but it doesn’t have the wherewithal. There was a tangential comparison with china where china was able to deliver. India in the last 2 years has demonstrated through certain projects that now India will deliver on its promises.
    • India is interested in improving the living standards of the common people. Whether it is energy, renewable energy, agriculture, food processing etc. The strength India has in terms of Human Resource Development, capacity building, education, health care and large numbers of African students are in India.
    • $92 million line of credit that has been agreed to is for water distribution and purification systems. India has long term agreement with Mozambique for the purchase of pulses.

  • Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

  • OBOR Initiative

  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Time and again, many electoral reforms have been proposed by various committees, Law Commission and ECI itself. A discussion on these crops up during every election. We’ve tried to comprehensively list the proposed reforms under various sub-headings. A brute-force memorization of all this information is not required. Go through this list so that you have a background while reading news items on Electoral Reforms and ECI.
    I.Amendment to the Constitution of India
    1. Constitutional protection for all members of the Commission.
    2. Budget of the Commission to be ‘charged’ on the CFI.
    3. Independent Secretariat for the Commission.
    II.Electoral Roll Matters
    While Army personnel are allowed to vote, Navy and Airforce are not.
    There are no provisions for overseas electors to vote despite being eligible to do so. Amendments proposed provide the option of proxy voting or postal ballot voting.
    At present, the Electoral Rolls prepared by the Election Commission are not used by the State Election Commissions leading to duplication of effort and errors costing both in terms of time and money. Common Electoral Rolls to be used in local elections was a recommendation endorsed by the Law Commission.
    III.Election Management Issues
    At present, filing false declarations about the background of the candidate attracts penalty under Section 125A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951. The offence is punishable by up to 6 months, or with fine, or with both.
    The Commission has proposed that the punishment under section 125A should be increased to 2 years’ imprisonment without the alternative clause of  fine, and also that the offence should be included in the list of offences listed in sub-section (1) of section 8 which would attract disqualification on conviction irrespective of the term if sentence. The Commission also proposed that furnishing of false affidavit or suspension of material information in the affidavit should also be specified as ground for challenging the election under section 100 (1) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951.
    In S. Subramaniam Balaji vs Govt. Of T.Nadu & Ors, the SC observed that “although, the law is obvious that the promises in the election manifesto cannot be construed as ‘corrupt practice’ under section 123 of The Representation of the People Act, the reality cannot be ruled out that distribution of freebies of any kind, undoubtedly, influences all people. It shakes the root of free and fair elections to a large degree. In this regard the EC has proposed an amendment to RPA, 1951 allowing Adjournment of poll or countermanding of elections on ground of bribery.
    IV.Election Officials and Logistics
    Use of Totalizer Machines
    EVM totalizer can count votes of multiple Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) simultaneously. This way the results of votes in a group of EVMs can be taken without ascertaining the result in individual EVM corresponding to polling booth.
    As per the present provisions in The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, votes in the EVMs are to be counted polling station wise, which leads to situations where voting pattern in various localities/pockets become known to everyone. There is a view that this can result in victimization and/or discrimination and intimidation of electors of particular localities. This issue can be addressed by use of totalizer that can be used for taking out the results of voting in a group of 14 EVMs without revealing the votes in individual EVMs.
    V.Nomination of Candidates
    Contesting the elections from 2 seats  – At present as per RPA 1951, a person is allowed to contest from 2 seats. However it is imperative that he has to vacate one of the two seats should he win both. This leads to holding by-elections which causes inconvenience to voters and financial expenditure. The amendment to RPA 1951 calls for removal of this provision of contesting from 2 seats.
    VI.De- Criminalization of politics
    2. Misuse of religion for electoral gain
    3. Making bribery in elections a cognizable offence
    VII.Reforms relating to Political Parties
    1. De-registration of political parties
    2. Tax Relief for Political Parties
    3. Compulsory Maintenance of Accounts by Political Parties
    4. Accounting and Auditing Report of Political Parties
    5. Form 24A under Rule 85B of The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961
    6. Prohibition on Anonymous Donations
    7. Sale of Coupons
    8. Maintenance of separate bank accounts by each contesting candidate for poll expenses
    9. Cap on Expenditure by Political Party on a Candidate for election campaign
    10. Ceiling of campaign expenditure by political parties
    11. Limit the Number of Star Campaigners
    12. Time period for maintaining books of account under section 77 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951
    VIII.Election campaign and advertisements
    1. Ban on exit polls and opinion polls
    2. Ban on Government Sponsored Advertisement before elections
    3. Section 126 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951
    4. Paid news in connection with elections
    5. Section 125A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951
    IX.Election Expenses and Election Petitions
    1. Ceiling on Election Expenditure to legislature from Local Authorities’, Graduates’ and Teachers’ Constituencies
    2. Election expenditure in case of adjournment of poll under section 52 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951
    3. Appointment of additional judges in the High Courts
    PDF for proposed electoral reforms –  PROPOSED ELECTORAL REFORMS

  • Foreign Policy Watch: India – Germany

  • Nepal’s Constitution & Emerging Developments

  • NITI Aayog’s Assessment

  • Swachh Bharat Mission

    Lets get to the basics of Cess, before we explore more about Swachh Bharat Cess.

    cess-head-for-blog

    What is a Cess?

    Cess is a tax on tax, temporary levied by the govt. to achieve a specific objective. Generally, it is expected to be levied till the time the govt. gets enough money for that purpose.

    For instance, the education cess, that is levied currently, is meant to finance basic education in the country.

    What is the quantum of revenue generated through Cess?

    • The education and higher education cesses are budgeted to bring approx. Rs 30,000 crore this year.
    • The road cess on petroleum is budgeted to net just under Rs 50,000 crore.
    • There is also a cess on exports, clean energy, etc.

    The total amount from cesses is Rs 1.16 lakh crore.

    What is the criticism against Cesses?

    • The problem with cesses is that it becomes permanent in nature.
    • These levies are back door entry instead of levying taxes.

    How Cess is different from Surcharge?

    Surcharge is also a tax on tax, which is imposed on incomes above a certain level with a view to reduce the inequalities further.

    • There is a surcharge of 12% on individuals whose taxable income exceeds Rs. 1 crore.
    • Similarly, there is also a surcharge of 10% on the domestic companies whose taxable income exceeds Rs.10 crore, and also a surcharge of 5% on the foreign companies whose taxable income exceeds Rs.10 crore.

    Now, let’s now come to the core of the topic

    cess-infograph

    What is Swachh Bharat Cess?

    The resources generated from the cess will be utilised for financing and promoting initiatives towards Swachh Bharat. It is a step towards involving each and every citizen in making contribution to Swachh Bharat.

    • Govt. has introduced a cess of 0.5% on all services and 2% on air services.
    • The revenue department is preparing a list of services which will attract the additional 2% cess provided for in the Budget 2015-16, over and above the proposed 14%.

    Where does the proceeds of the Swachh Bharat Cess go?

    The proceeds of the Swachh Bharat cess would be first credited to the Consolidated Fund of India. The govt. would be able to utilise it after due appropriation is made by Parliament by law. This will later go to Swachh Bharat Kosh.

    The Government expects to collect around Rs 10,000 crore from Swachh Bharat cess for full year

    Why does it goes against the principle of fiscal federalism?

    • The central divisible pool excludes levies classified as surcharges and cess for specific purpose.
    • The entire proceeds would remain with the Centre and need not be compulsorily shared with the states.
    • Swachh Bharat cess, to some extent, is a vague pretext for a cess, unlike the ones for national highways or high-speed rail corridors, which can be more effectively implemented at the Central level.

    What will be the impact of GST on the cess?

    There is no input credit available on this cess, which goes against the very principle of the GST and thereby weakens the Centre’s case for pushing through GST.

    The cesses and surcharges would be subsumed once the GST is rolled out. So both for tax payers and states, this is for the time being.

     

    Published with inputs from Pushpendra

  • Transition From MDG to SDG: Issues & Concern

    193 Countries Agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Why?

    After 3 years of negotiations and debate, 193 countries agreed to a set of 17 development goals more bold and ambitious than anything that has come before them.

    But what are Sustainable Development Goals? Where have they evolved from?

    These 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – part of a wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    There were 8 MDGs and they are going to expire by the end of this year (2015).

     

    But why didn’t we just renew them? Why was there a need to re-evaluate and re-program the development goals?

    1. The MDGs as you can see were very focus, concrete, target oriented which was a good thing to begin with, right?
    2. Wrong – The structures and 8 categorisation metrics ended up being so rigid that we left out other more important areas.

    A 2015 UN assessment of the MDGs found they fell short for many people:

    “The assessment of progress towards the MDGs has repeatedly shown that the poorest and those disadvantaged because of gender, age, disability or ethnicity are often bypassed.”

    Okay, fair point. So what do these SDGs look like? What went into the process of coming up with these 17 blocks of SDGs?

    In response to the accusation that the MDGs were too narrow in focus, the SDGs set out to tackle a whole range of issues, from gender inequality to climate change.

    The unifying thread throughout the 17 goals and their 169 targets is the commitment to ending poverty.

    Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. 

     

     

    The consultation process to arrive at these 17 SDGs was one of the most transparent exercise ever to be undertaken in the UN history.

    A million voices formed the part of the process.

    Very quickly then, listing down the goals:

    1) End poverty in all its forms everywhere

    2) End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture

    3) Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages

    4) Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

    5) Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

    6) Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

    7) Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

    8) Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all

    9) Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation

    10) Reduce inequality within and among countries

    11) Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

    12) Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

    13) Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (taking note of agreements made by the UNFCCC forum)

    14) Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

    15) Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

    16) Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

    17) Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development

    Published with inputs from Sumer