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GS Paper: Population & Associated Issues

  • Quality of Life for Elderly Index

    Quality of Life for Elderly Index was released by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

    Quality of Life for Elderly Index

    The Index has been created by the Institute for Competitiveness at the request of EAC-PM and it sheds light on an issue often not mentioned- problems faced by the elderly.

    • The report identifies the regional patterns of ageing across the Indian States and assesses the overall ageing situation in India.
    • The report presents a deeper insight into how well India is doing to support the well-being of its ageing population.
    • The Index framework includes four pillars:
    1. Financial Well-being
    2. Social Well-being
    3. Health System and
    4. Income Security
    • It has eight sub-pillars: Economic Empowerment, Educational Attainment & Employment, Social Status, Physical Security, Basic Health, Psychological Wellbeing, Social Security and Enabling Environment.

    Features of the index

    • This index broadens the way we understand the needs and opportunities of the elderly population in India.
    • It goes far beyond the adequacy of pensions and other forms of income support, which, though critical, often narrows policy thinking and debate about the needs of this age group.
    • The index highlights that the best way to improve the lives of the current and future generations of older people is by investing in health, education and employment for young people today.

    Why need such an index?

    • India is often portrayed as a young society, with a consequent demographic dividend.
    • But, as with every country that goes through a fast process of demographic transition, India also has greying cum aging problem.
    • Without a proper diagnostic tool to understand the implications of its ageing population, planning for the elderly can become a challenge for policymakers.

    Key Highlights from the Report:

    • The Health System pillar observes the highest national average, 66.97 at an all-India level, followed by 62.34 in Social Well-being.
    • Financial Well-being observes a score of 44.7, which is lowered by the low performance of 21 States across the Education Attainment & Employment pillar, which showcases scope for improvement
    • States have performed particularly worse in the Income Security pillar because over half of the States have a score below the national average, i.e., 33.03 in Income Security, which is the lowest across all pillars.

    Performance of the states

    • Among all the states, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh are top-scoring regions in the aged states and relatively aged states categories.
    • Rajasthan has a score of 54.61 in the aged states category while Himachal Pradesh has a score of 61.04 in relatively aged states.
    • Mizoram has a score of 59.79 among northeastern states while Chandigarh scored 63.78 among the Union Territories.
    • Jammu and Kashmir scored the lowest 46.16 among Union Territories.
    • Arunachal Pradesh, among the northeastern states, scored the lowest score with 46.16.
    • In the aged states and relatively aged states categories, Telangana and Gujarat scored the lowest with 38.19 and 49.00, respectively.

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  • Uttar Pradesh Population Policy 2021-2030

    On World Population Day, Uttar Pradesh CM has released the state’s new population policy, which aims to reduce its growth rate to 2.1 per cent over the next 10 years.

    Why UP needs such policy?

    • Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, has a population of around 220 million.
    • In Uttar Pradesh, there are limited ecological and economic resources at hand.
    • It was necessary that the provision of basic necessities of human life, economic/livelihood opportunities and a secure living is accessible to all citizens.

    Provisions of UP Population Policy

    The provision of this legislation shall apply to a married couple where the boy is not less than 21 years of age and the girl is not less than 18.

    [A] Contraception and Abortion

    • The state population policy will focus on efforts to increase the accessibility of contraceptive measures issued under the Family Planning Programme.
    • It would provide a proper system for safe abortion
    • Focus area to include reducing the newborns and maternal mortality rate.
    • Care of the elderly, and better management of education, health, and nutrition of adolescents between 11 to 19 years has also been ensured in the policy, according to the state government

    [B] Two-child policy

    Perks

    • The state government will give promotions, increments, concessions in housing schemes and others perks to employees who adhere to population control norms, and have two or less children
    • “Public servants who adopt the two-child norm will get two additional increments during the entire service, maternity or as the case may be.

    Paternity leaves

    •  There shall be paternity leave of 12 months, with full salary and allowances and three percent increase in the employer’s contribution fund under the National Pension Scheme.
    • Those who aren’t government employees and still adhere to two-child policy will get benefits in rebates in taxes on water, housing, home loans etc.
    • It also states that maternity centres will be set up at all primary health centres.

    Incentives for sterilization

    • As per the draft, several incentives have been provided to people, including public servants, if they adopt the norm by undergoing voluntary sterilization.
    • The incentives include a 3% increase in the employer’s contribution fund under national pension; two additional increments during the entire service; subsidy towards purchase of plot or house site or build house etc.
    • A couple living below the poverty line who have only one child and undergoes voluntary sterilisation, shall be eligible for payment of a one-time ₹80,000 if the single child is a boy and ₹1 lakh if it is a girl.

    Who will not benefit from the law?

    • According to the bill, people having more than two children in UP will be debarred from benefits of all government-sponsored welfare schemes, cannot contest local polls.
    • They shall be ineligible to apply for government jobs under the state or receiving any kind of subsidy, cannot get a promotion in a government job and his or her ration card would be limited to four members.

    How will the state implement measures?

    • The UP government plans to set up a state population fund to implement the measures.
    • The draft bill also asks the state government to introduce population control as a compulsory subject in all secondary schools.

    Back2Basics: Fertility Rate

    • Fertility rate may be defined as the number of children that would be born of a woman during her reproductive years.
    • For a country’s population to remain stable, it is the total fertility rate should be 2.1.
    • Studies suggest that India’s national fertility rate is 2.2 at the moment.

  • Draft Anti-trafficking Bill 2021

    The Ministry of Women and Child Welfare has invited suggestions and comments for its Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021 which it has released.

    A re-attempted legislation

    • A previous draft had been introduced in 2018 and had been passed by Lok Sabha despite stiff opposition from both parliamentarians as well as experts.
    • It was later never introduced in Rajya Sabha.
    • Experts say that nearly all the concerns raised in 2018 have been addressed in this new draft Bill.

    Draft Anti-trafficking Bill 2021

    The Bill has increased the scope of the nature of offences of trafficking as well as the kind of victims of these offences, with stringent penalties including life imprisonment, and even the death penalty in cases of an extreme nature.

    Types of offenders

    • The scope of the Bill vis offenders will also include defence personnel and government servants, doctors and paramedical staff or anyone in a position of authority.

    Penalty

    • In most cases of child trafficking, especially in the case of the trafficking of more than one child, the penalty is now life imprisonment.
    • While the penalty will hold a minimum of seven years which can go up to an imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
    • In certain cases, even the death penalty can be sought.

    Definition of exploitation

    • Exploitation has been defined to include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation including pornography.
    • It also includes any act of physical exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or forced removal of organs, illegal clinical drug trials or illegal bio-medical research.

    Victims covered

    • The Bill also extends beyond the protection of women and children as victims to now include transgenders as well as any person who may be a victim of trafficking.
    • It also does away with the provision that a victim necessarily needs to be transported from one place to another to be defined as a victim.

    Investigation Agency

    • The National Investigation Agency (NIA) shall act as the national investigating and coordinating agency responsible for the prevention and combating of trafficking in persons.

  • China to allow couples for third child

    China will for the first time allow couples to have a third child in a further relaxation of family planning rules five years after a “two-child policy” largely failed to boost birth rates.

    Do you think that the One-Child Policy would be effective for population control in India?

    What was the One-Child Policy?

    • China embarked upon its one-child policy in 1980 when the Communist Party was concerned that the country’s growing population, which at the time was approaching one billion, would impede economic progress.
    • The policy was implemented more effectively in urban areas.
    • It was enforced through several means, including incentivizing families financially to have one child, making contraceptives widely available, and imposing sanctions against those who violated the policy.

    How well did the policy fare?

    • Chinese authorities have long hailed the policy as a success, claiming that it helped the country avert severe food and water shortages by preventing up to 40 crore people from being born.
    • However, the policy was also a source of discontent, as the state used brutal tactics such as forced abortions and sterilizations.
    • It also met criticism and remained controversial for violating human rights, and for being unfair to poorer Chinese since the richer ones could afford to pay economic sanctions if they violated the policy.
    • Additionally, China’s rulers have been accused of enforcing reproductive limits as a tool for social control.
    • The Uighur Muslim ethnic minority, for example, has been forced to have fewer children to restrict the growth of their population.

    Demographic changes due to the policy

    • Due to the policy, while the birth rate fell, the sex ratio became skewed towards males.
    • This happened because of a traditional preference for male children in the country, due to which abortion of female fetuses rose and so did the number of girls who were placed in orphanages or abandoned.
    • Experts have also blamed the policy for making China’s population age faster than other countries, impacting the country’s growth potential.
    • It is also suggested that because of the long-lingering impact of the policy, China would be unable to reap the full benefits of its economic growth and will need other ways to support it.

    Skeptics of the new move

    • Experts say relaxing limits on reproductive rights alone cannot go a long way in averting an unwanted demographic shift.
    • The main factors behind fewer children being born, they say, are rising costs of living, education, and supporting aging parents.
    • The problem is made worse by the country’s pervasive culture of long working hours.
    • There has also been a cultural shift during the decades in which the one-child policy remained in force, with many couples believing that one child is enough, and some expressing no interest in having children.

  • What India needs for population stabilisation

    Achieving replacement levels of fertility

    • The National Population Policy 2000 affirmed a commitment to achieve replacement levels of fertility (total fertility rate of 2.1) by 2010.
    • Ten states — Karnataka, Punjab, Gujarat, Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — and Jammu and Kashmir, have achieved this goal.
    • This fertility decline over half of India has cut across all sections of society — the privileged and the poor, those educated or not, and the high and low caste.
    • The National Family Health Survey-4 has shown how TFR has reduced even among illiterate women from all religions in the southern states.

    Growing gap between North-South

    • The difference between the progressive South and the Central- North is becoming disproportionately skewed.
    • UP and Bihar are 23 per cent of India’s population and are projected to grow by over 12 per cent and 20 per cent in the next 15 years.
    • Their high TFR pervades all religious groups.
    • Action to prevent unwanted pregnancies particularly in these two Hindi belt states is urgently required.
    • For decades UP has had a dedicated agency — SIFPSA (State Innovations in Family Planning Services Agency). But its website gives dated information.
    • Women in rural UP are still giving birth to four or more children.
    • In some districts, the contraceptive prevalence rate is less than 10 per cent.
    • In many districts neither Hindus nor Muslims use modern family planning methods.
    • In such a scenario, demographics will eclipse economic growth and destroy the gains from a young populace.
    • UP’s over-reliance on traditional methods of contraception needs to be swiftly replaced with reliable and easy alternatives.
    • Bihar has the highest fertility rate in the country and also the highest outmigration.

    Which method  should be used

    • While national and state policies emphasise male vasectomy, politicians never champion its adoption.
    • No other country in the world uses female sterilisation as excessively as India.
    • Indonesia and Bangladesh introduced injectables right from the late 1980s but India only did so in 2016.
    • Executed properly, one jab renders protection from pregnancy for three months.
    • This method needs greater impetus given the helplessness of women who carry the burden of unwanted pregnancies.

    Way forward

    • Three things are needed:
    • 1) Incentivise later marriages and child births.
    • 2) Make contraception easy for women.
    • 3) Promote women’s labour force participation.
    •  Some other disturbing nationwide trends must also be counteracted without delay because stabilisation isn’t only about controlling population growth.
    • A balanced sex ratio is essential to secure social cohesion.
    • The inheritance law favouring women’s rights to ancestral property is far from being implemented.
    • And then there is ageing. Paradoxically, it is the Southern states that will face problems in future.
    • Having largely redeemed their demographic dividend, the cohort of the elderly will start outstripping the working age population.
    • The theoretical possibility that younger people from the Central-Northern states may fill the growing gap in services will need strong political support.
    • The freeze on the state-wise allocation of seats in Parliament until 2026 was extended through the Constitutional (84th Amendment) Act, 2002, to serve “as a motivational measure to pursue population stabilisation”.
    • This goal has not been achieved.
    • In the absence of further extension, it will be politically destabilising.

    Consider the question “India’s efforts at populations stabilisation still remains work in progress, as the Northern states fail to achieve the targets. Suggest the ways to deal with the issue.”

    Conclusion

    The population momentum, if managed properly in the Hindi belt, will remain India’s biggest asset until 2055. By 2040, India will be the undisputed king of human capital.

  • No need for a Two-Child Policy

    The latest data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) proves that the country’s population is stabilizing and fears over a “population explosion” and calls for a “two-child policy” is misguided.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Economic growth in country X will necessarily have to occur if

    (a) There is technical progress in the world economy

    (b) There is population growth in X

    (c) There is capital formation in X

    (d) The volume of trade grows in the world economy

    Two-Child Policy

    • The two-child policy is a state-imposed limit of two children allowed per family or the payment of government subsidies only to the first two children.
    • A two-child policy has previously been used in several countries including Iran, Singapore, and Vietnam.
    • In British Hong Kong in the 1970s, citizens were also highly encouraged to have two children as a limit (although it was not mandated by law), and it was used as part of the region’s family planning strategies.
    • Since 2016, it has been re-implemented in China replacing the country’s previous one-child policy.

    Present status in India

    • There is no national policy mandating two children per family.
    • A parliamentarian had tabled a Bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2019 on the matter, proposing incentives for smaller families.
    • PM in 2019 had appealed to the country that population control was a form of patriotism.
    • Months later, the NITI Aayog called various stakeholders for a national-level consultation on the issue, which was subsequently cancelled following media glare on it.
    • In 2020, the PM spoke about a likely decision on revising the age of marriage for women, which many stakeholders view as an indirect attempt at controlling the population size.

    Why doesn’t India need it?

    • The survey provides evidence of uptake in the use of modern contraceptives in rural and urban areas.
    • It gives an improvement in family planning demands being met and a decline in the average number of children borne by a woman.
    • The report stated that most States have attained replacement level fertility, i.e., the average number of children born per woman at whom a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.

  • Converting waste to energy

    The new plant at Bidadi has several advantages but also some operational challenges.

    Practice Question: Discuss the various benefits of waste to energy plants and challenges in running them successfully.

    The prospectus of new plant

    • The new 5 MW waste-to-energy plant is going to set up near Bidadi, Karnataka.
    • This plant is expected to process 600 tonnes per day of inorganic waste.
    • The inorganic waste, which consists of bad quality plastics and used cloth pieces, can be processed as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). This material has a calorific value of more than 2,500 kJ/kg.
    • This can be used to generate steam energy, which can be converted into electric energy.

    A well-planned plant

    • The waste-to-energy plants usually accept the RDF material generated in organic composting plants.
    • They also segregate the wet and inorganic material near the plant, convert organic waste to compost, and inorganic waste to energy.
    • About 50 tonnes of RDF generate 1 MW of power, which indicates that the plant at Bidadi has been appropriately designed.

    A permanent solution

    • Handling inorganic waste that is not fit for recycling has always been a challenge.
    • At present, these high-calorific materials are landfilled or left unhandled in waste plants and cause fire accidents.
    • Attempts to send this material to cement kilns have not fructified.
    • The proposed plant can source 600 tonnes per day of this RDF and generate 11.5 MW of power equivalent to 2.4 lakh units of power per day.
    • This will reduce the dependence on unscientific landfills, reduce fire accidents, and provide a permanent solution to recover value from inorganic waste.

    Challenges

    • Needed a good demonstration model – Over the last decade, several Indian cities have been trying to set up such plants but a good demonstration model is yet to be established.
    • Nature of waste – Technology suppliers are international organizations who struggle with the change in quality and nature of waste generated in Indian cities. A few plants in India have stopped operations for this reason.
    • The plants require fine inorganic material with less than 5% moisture and less than 5% silt and soil contents, whereas the moisture and inert content in the mixed waste generated is more than 15%-20%.
    • The sticky silt and soil particles can also reduce the calorific value.
    • Economic cost per unit of electricity – The other big challenge for this plant is the power tariff which is around ₹7-8 KwH which is higher than the ₹3-4 per KwH generated through coal and other means.

    Way forward

    • For the successful running, the plant needs to ease the challenge of handling inorganic waste, the efficiency of organic waste processing/ composting plants.
    • With the increasing waste generation in the coming years, there is a need for more such plants which are environment friendly. 

    Back2Basics: Refuse-derived fuel (RDF)

    • Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is a fuel produced from various types of waste such as municipal solid waste (MSW), industrial waste or commercial waste.
    • It is selected waste and by-products with recoverable calorific value can be used as fuels in a cement kiln, replacing a portion of conventional fossil fuels, like coal, if they meet strict specifications.
    • Sometimes they can only be used after pre-processing to provide ‘tailor-made’ fuels for the cement process.
    • RDF consists largely of combustible components of such waste, as non-recyclable plastics (not including PVC), paper cardboard, labels, and other corrugated materials.
    • These fractions are separated by different processing steps, such as screening, air classification, ballistic separation, separation of ferrous and non-ferrous materials, glass, stones and other foreign materials and shredding into a uniform grain size, or also pelletized.
    • This produces a homogeneous material which can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels in e.g. cement plants, lime plants, coal-fired power plants or as a reduction agent in steel furnaces.

  • Human Development Index (HDI) 2019

    India dropped two ranks in the United Nations’ Human Development Index this year, standing at 131 out of 189 countries.

    Try this PYQ:

    Which one of the following is not a sub-index of the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’?

    (a) Maintenance of law and order

    (b) Paying taxes

    (c) Registering property

    (d) Dealing with construction permits

    Human Development Index (HDI)

    • HDI is a statistical tool used to measure a country’s overall achievement in its social and economic dimensions.
    • It is one of the best tools to keep track of the level of development of a country, as it combines all major social and economic indicators that are responsible for economic development.
    • Pakistani economist Mahbub-ul-Haq created HDI in 1990 which was further used to measure the country’s development by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
    • Every year UNDP ranks countries based on the HDI report released in their annual report.

    Various indicators under HDI

    • Calculation of the index combines four major indicators: life expectancy for health, expected years of schooling, mean of years of schooling for education and GNI per capita for the standard of living.

    For the first time: PHDI

    • For the first time, the UNDP introduced a new metric to reflect the impact caused by each country’s per-capita carbon emissions and its material footprint.
    • This is Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI or PHDI.
    • It measured the amount of fossil fuels, metals and other resources used to make the goods and services it consumes.
    • The report found that no country has yet been able to achieve a very high level of development without putting a huge strain on natural resources.

    Highlights of the 2019 Report

    • Norway, which tops the HDI, falls 15 places if this metric is used, leaving Ireland at the top of the table.
    • In fact, 50 countries would drop entirely out of the “very high human development group” category, using this new metric PHDI.
    • Australia falls 72 places in the ranking, while the US and Canada would fall 45 and 40 places respectively, reflecting their disproportionate impact on natural resources.
    • The oil and the gas-rich Gulf States also fell steeply. China would drop 16 places from its current ranking of 85.

    Indian scenario

    • If the Index were adjusted to assess the planetary pressures caused by each nation’s development, India would move up eight places in the rankings.
    • China’s net emissions (8 gigatonnes) are 34% below its territorial emissions (12.5 gigatonnes) compared with 19% in India and 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  • India’s Population with Disabilities

    December 3 is marked by the UN as International Day of Persons with Disabilities in a bid to promote a more inclusive and accessible world for the differently-abled and to raise awareness for their rights.

    Try this question from our AWE initiative:

    What are the legal provisions and policy initiatives in India for the welfare of persons with disabilities? What are the challenges faced by persons with disabilities in India? 10 marks

    Disability in India

    • About 2.2% of India’s population lives with some kind of physical or mental disability, as per the National Statistics Office report on disability released last year.

    How are the disabled identified?

    • Until the 2011 census, there were questions on seven kinds of disabilities in the questionnaire.
    • This list of disabilities was expanded to 21 when the Rights of People with Disabilities was introduced in 2016.
    • Accordingly, the 2019 report included questions to identify people with temporary loss of ability as well as neurological and blood disorders in addition.
    • The earlier definition included mental retardation and permanent inability to move, speak, hear and see.
    • Significantly, the revised definition recognizes deformities and injuries of acid attack victims as disabilities, entitling them to various relief measures.

    Who are disabled and in what way?

    • Rural men had the highest prevalence of disability in India, according to the NSO report.
    • A higher proportion of men were disabled in India compared with women, and disability was more prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas.
    • Inability to move without assistance was the most common disability. More men experienced locomotor disability than women.
    • These numbers were self-reported. In other words, the respondents were asked if they experienced any difficulty in performing tasks like moving, talking, etc.

    Are these measures in line with those from other surveys?

    • The 2011 census estimated that the number of people with disabilities in India is close to 2.68 crore (or 2.2% of the population) — that is more than the entire population of Australia.
    • This number was based on the older definition of disability, yet the proportion of disabled people in the population is not different from the 2019 NSO report, which used the expanded definition of disability.
    • Other metrics for evaluating disability have provided different estimates.
    • A group of doctors from AIIMS found that alternate questionnaires like the Rapid Assessment of Disability have resulted in a prevalence ranging from 1.6%-43.3%.

    How can the range be so wide?

    • The proportion of population facing disability becomes bigger as one move from a narrow definition to a broader one.
    • For instance, if one defines disability as the difficulty in accessing public services for all kinds of reasons, even social or economic, then the proportion goes up.

    Why is it important to map disabled people?

    • Like other disadvantaged groups, the disabled in India are entitled to some benefits, ranging from reservation in educational institutes to concessions on railway tickets.
    • To claim these benefits, they have to furnish certificates as proof of disability.
    • At the macro level, data on the prevalence and type of disability is useful while making allocations for welfare schemes.

  • Brus’ resettlement in Tripura

    People erupted in violent protests against the planned resettlement of thousands of Bru migrants permanently at Kanchanpur sub-division of North Tripura.

    Try this PYQ:

     

    Q. With reference to ‘Changpa’ community of India, consider the following statement:

    1. They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand.
    2. They rear the Pashmina goats that yield fine wool.
    3. They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2014)

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Who are the Brus?

    • Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram.
    • Their exodus in 1997 was spurred by violent clashes in Mamith subdivision, a Reang-dominated area when they demanded the creation of an autonomous council that was vehemently opposed by Mizo groups.
    • Around 34,000 people were forced to live in sub-human conditions in tents in Tripura. No solution could be reached all these years.
    • These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur, in North Tripura.

    Why have there been violent protests?

    • Twenty-three years after ethnic clashes in Mizoram forced 37,000 people of the Bru (or Reang) community to flee their homes to neighbouring Tripura.
    • The news was not welcomed by the Bengali and Mizo communities in Tripura.
    • They fear a demographic imbalance, which would exert pressure on local resources and potentially lead to law and order problems.

    Also read

    [Burning Issue] Bru– Reang Repatriation Agreement