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  • Primary and Secondary Education – RTE, Education Policy, SEQI, RMSA, Committee Reports, etc.

    Debate over Coding for Kids

    | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Various edutech startups have been in the news for the past several months over the debate on the right age for children to start learning to code.

    Q.The National Education Policy, 2020 proposal for “coding activities” reads like Macaulay’s minute for English education in the early 19th century. Examine.

    What is Coding?

    • Computers have their own language called programming language which tells them what to do.
    • Coding is the process of using a programming language to get a computer to behave how you want it to.
    • In a broader sense, it is the process of designing and building an executable computer program to accomplish a specific computing result or to perform a specific task.

    In today’s digital age, most toddlers in their diapers, learn to swipe and click before they can speak apparently or walk. What an irony!

    Coding for children

    • In the age of digital revolution, India was able to produce a huge army of coders and programmers —essentially people who could create computer software.
    • As computing devices have taken over every aspect of life, the need for good programmers and coders has been increasing relentlessly.
    • This led to a trend to teach coding and programming to young students since their school ages.
    • In recent years, platforms and companies have started to claim that kids as young as those in elementary school must begin to learn to code.

    Proponents for coding

    • Leaders of technology companies around the world have pushed for coding to be included as a subject in middle or higher secondary school for students who may be interested to learn.
    • In 2018, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates wrote in a blog post that everyone could benefit from learning the basics of computer science.
    • The idea was to make coding as simple and accessible as the new age “mother tongue” for young children.

    Why should children learn to code?

    • Coding is a basic literacy in the digital age, and it is important for kids to understand and be able to work with and understand the technology around them.
    • It fosters creativity. By experimenting, children learn and strengthen their creativity. It enhances their problem-solving capability.
    • It helps children to be able to visualize abstract concepts, lets them apply math to real-world situations, and makes math fun and creative. Coding is present in many of today’s STEM programs.
    • Children who learn to code understand how to plan and organize thoughts.  This can lead to better writing skills that can be built upon as coding skills develop over time.

    Criticisms of early age coding

    • A metaphor that is often used is that children are being made to ride a bicycle before they have even learnt to walk.
    • There’s a reason why in mathematics addition is taught first, then subtraction, then multiplication, and then division.
    • It is necessary to learn several elements of mathematics and logical thinking before one can code.

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2020

    IOCR | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    India ranked high along with the European Union and the United Kingdom in the latest edition of the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2020 released by non-profit Germanwatch.

    It’s a very rare feat that India has performed so better in any climate-related index. We can use this data to highlight India’s dedicated efforts for Paris Agreement.

    Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)

    • The CCPI is an independent monitoring tool for tracking countries’ climate protection performance. It has been published annually since 2005.
    • It evaluates 57 countries and the European Union, which together generate 90%+ of global greenhouse gas emissions.
    • Using standardised criteria, the CCPI looks at four categories, with 14 indicators: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (40% of the overall score), Renewable Energy (20%), Energy Use (20%), and Climate Policy (20%).
    • The CCPI’s unique climate policy section evaluates countries’ progress in implementing policies working towards achieving the Paris Agreement goals.

    Global scenario

    • No country was doing enough to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to the index.
    • Six G20 countries were ranked among very low performers. The United States, with a rank of 61, was the worst performer.

    India’s performance

    • India, for the second time in a row, continued to remain in the top 10. The country scored 63.98 points out of 100.
    • It received high ratings on all CCPI indicators except ‘renewable energy’, where it was categorised as having a ‘medium’ performance.
    • Last year, India had been ranked at the ninth position, with an overall score of 66.02.
    • India needed to focus more on renewable energy, both, as a mitigation strategy and for its post-novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) green recovery, the report said.

    Renewable energy

    • No country was rated very high on indicators defining the ‘renewable energy’ category.
    • India has been ranked at 27th out of 57 countries under the category this time. Last year, it was ranked at 26th.
    • India’s performance has been rated as ‘medium’ for its current share of renewable energy. Its performance for the development of renewable energy supply during the last year was rated as ‘high’.

    A positive sign for India

    • India’s improved policy framework has been responsible for the country’s good performance in this global index. However, the report underlined the need for long-term planning.
    • Unlike the other two ‘BASIC’ countries of China and South Africa, India is yet to announce its mitigation strategy.

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  • Skilling India – Skill India Mission,PMKVY, NSDC, etc.

    Investing in India’s youth

    op-ed snap | | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Significant progress has been made in India on the skill development front. However, there are many challenges that are needed to be tackled through policy measures and their effective implementation. The article deals with the issue.

    Progress in skill development in India

    • Evidence shows that many people develop 21st-century skills on the job, or from courses that focus on practical application of skills, rather than in schools.
    • India has laid the foundation for delivering on the vision of making quality skills development programmes available to the youth.
    • Vocational education can be a route for many to gain specific skillsets, such education formats are referred to as Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
    • The National Skill Development Policy was launched in 2009 and revamped in 2015, recognising the challenge of skilling with speed and high standards.
    • The Skill India Mission was launched soon after, with the vision for making India the “skill capital” of the world.

    Key finding and recommendations of the UNESCO’s State of the Education Report for India

    • The report focuses on vocational education and training and showcases the growth of the skills development sector.
    • It also provides practical recommendations to ensure that policy is effectively implemented.
    • One of the biggest challenges for expanding the reach of TVET-related courses has been the lack of aspiration and stigma attached to jobs such as carpentry and tailoring.
    • Considerable effort, including information campaigns involving youth role models, would help in improving the image of vocational education.
    • At the same time, common myths around TVET need to be debunked.
    • Research is now proving that TVET graduates for entry level jobs can get paid as much as university graduates.
    • Moreover, students from vocational streams typically take less time to find jobs as compared to university graduates.
    • The report emphasises the need for expanding evidence-based research.
    • High-quality research based on careful data-gathering and analytics can add value to all aspects of TVET planning and delivery.

    Emphasis on vocational education in NEP

    • The new National Education Policy (NEP) aims to provide vocational education to 50% of all learners by 2025.
    • Schools are encouraged to provide students access to vocational education from Grade 6 onwards and to offer courses that are aligned to the local economies and can benefit local communities.
    • For the vision of the NEP to be fulfilled, a robust coordination mechanism for inter-ministerial cooperation is necessary for bringing the skills development and vocational education systems together.

    Conclusion

    Effective implementation of the policies for skill development is essential for capitalising on the country’s demographic dividend.

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    Eco-ducts or Eco-bridges and their significance

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Ramnagar Forest Division in Nainital district, Uttarakhand, recently built its first eco-bridge for reptiles and smaller mammals.

    Q.Discuss how Eco-ducts or eco-bridges provide the best alternative for wildlife connectivity which is disrupted because of manmade highways. Also, discuss various challenges in building such bridges.

    What are Eco-bridges?

    • Eco-ducts or eco-bridges aim to enhance wildlife connectivity that can be disrupted because of highways or logging.
    • These include canopy bridges (usually for monkeys, squirrels and other arboreal species); concrete underpasses or overpass tunnels or viaducts (usually for larger animals); and amphibian tunnels or culverts.
    • Usually, these bridges are overlaid with planting from the area to give it a contiguous look with the landscape.

    Why need such bridges?

    • There are many roadkills on this route, especially of reptiles such as the monitor lizard.
    • The bridge is an awareness-building mechanism for this very congested tourist route.
    • These bridges are a way to see how we can preserve the ecosystem necessary for reptiles that feed on insects, for snakes that feed on reptiles, and for eagles that feed on snakes.

    Need of the hour

    • A 2020 study by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) noted that nearly 50,000 km of road projects have been identified for construction over the next five to six years.
    • Many highways are being upgraded to four lanes.
    • The National Tiger Conservation Authority had identified three major sites that were cutting across animal corridors.
    • These including National Highway 37 through the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape in Assam, and State Highway 33 through the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.

    Some considerations

    • The span and distribution of eco-bridges should depend on animal movement patterns.
    • The bigger bridges will see sambar, spotted deer, nilgai, wild pig using them, while for tigers or leopards if the bridge is 5m or 500 m, it doesn’t bother them.
    • But some animals like the deers, which prefer closed habitats, need smaller bridges.

    Some successes

    • The observation on NH 44, which intersects Kanha-Pench and Pench-Navegaon-Nagzira corridors in various sections, is a success.
    • With five animal underpasses and four minor bridges on the 6.6-km road within the forests, it’s one of India’s success stories.

    Such bridges in news

    • One of the largest underpasses – 1.4km – for animal conservation in India is being built along the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border.
    • Other proposals include the Chennai-Bangalore National Highway, in the Hosur-Krishnagiri segment, near reserve forests for elephant crossings, and in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur, Maharashtra.

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  • Tribes in News

    Who are the Tharu Tribals?

    Prelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections

    The Uttar Pradesh government has recently embarked upon a scheme to take the unique culture of its ethnic Tharu tribe across the world.

    The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in northern India and southern Nepal that lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterized by tall grasslands, scrub savannah, sal forests and clay rich swamps.

    Tharu Tribals

    • The community belongs to the Terai lowlands, amid the Shivaliks of lower Himalayas. Most of them are forest dwellers and some practised agriculture.
    • The word Tharu is believed to be derived from their, meaning followers of Theravada Buddhism.
    • The Tharus live in both India and Nepal. In the Indian Terai, they live mostly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
    • According to the 2011 census, the Scheduled Tribe population in Uttar Pradesh was more than 11 lakh; this number is estimated to have crossed 20 lakh now.
    • The biggest chunk of this tribal population is made up of Tharus.
    • Members of the tribe survive on wheat, corn and vegetables are grown close to their homes. A majority still lives off the forest.

    Tharu language, food, and culture

    • They speak various dialects of Tharu, a language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup, and variants of Hindi, Urdu, and Awadhi.
    • In central Nepal, they speak a variant of Bhojpuri, while in eastern Nepal, they speak a variant of Maithili.
    • Tharus worship Lord Shiva as Mahadev and call their supreme being “Narayan”, who they believe is the provider of sunshine, rain, and harvests.
    • Tharu women have stronger property rights than is allowed to women in mainstream North Indian Hindu custom.
    • Standard items on the Tharu plate are bagiya or dhikri – which is a steamed dish of rice flour that is eaten with chutney or curry – and ghonghi, an edible snail that is cooked in a curry made of coriander, chili, garlic, and onion.

    What is this scheme about?

    • The UP government is working to connect Tharu villages in the districts of Balrampur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur and Pilibhit bordering Nepal, with the homestay scheme of the UP Forest Department.
    • The idea is to offer tourists an experience of living in the natural Tharu habitat, in traditional huts made of grass collected mainly from the forests.
    • Tharu homeowners will be able to charge tourists directly for the accommodation and home-cooked meals.
    • The government expects both domestic and international tourists to avail of the opportunity to obtain a taste of the special Tharu culture by staying with them, observing their lifestyle, food habits, and attire.

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  • Nuclear Diplomacy and Disarmament

    What is Havana Syndrome?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Nearly four years after a mysterious neurological illness started to affect American diplomats in Cuba, China, and other countries, a report has found “directed” microwave radiation to be its “plausible” cause.

    Q.Microwave warfare is the new nuke. Discuss.

    The ‘Havana syndrome’

    • In late 2016, US diplomats in Havana reported feeling ill after hearing strange sounds and experiencing odd physical sensations in their hotel rooms or homes.
    • The symptoms included nausea, severe headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleep problems, and hearing loss, which have since come to be known as “Havana Syndrome”.
    • Cuba had denied any knowledge of the illnesses even though the US had accused it of carrying out “sonic attacks”, leading to an increase in tensions.

    Possible factor: Microwave Weapons

    • “Microwave weapons” are supposed to be a type of direct energy weapons, which aim highly focused energy in the form of sonic, laser, or microwaves, at a target.
    • People exposed to high-intensity microwave pulses have reported a clicking or buzzing sound as if seeming to be coming from within your head.
    • It can have both acute and long-term effects — without leaving signs of physical damage.
    • These weapons are considered to be the cause of the “syndrome” whose symptoms include nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties.

    How did researchers deduce that?

    • The researchers have examined four possibilities to explain the symptoms — infection, chemicals, psychological factors and microwave energy.
    • The experts examined the symptoms of about 40 government employees.
    • The report concluded that directed pulsed RF (radio frequency) energy appears to be the most plausible mechanism in explaining these cases among those that the committee considered.

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  • Policy Wise: India’s Power Sector

    How should India navigate future energy transition?

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    The article is based on the book by Daniel Yergin, titled ” The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations”. The book throws some questions to countries dependent on oil and suggests the framework for their transition to renewable.

    Six broad themes underlying the energy transition

    • The first is the US shale revolution, which transformed the US from a major importer of oil and gas to a significant exporter.
    • The second is the leveraging by Russia of its gas exports to compel former members of the Soviet Union to stay within its sphere of influence and to embrace China into an energy partnership.
    • The third is China’s assertion of its rights over the South China Seas — a critical maritime route for its energy imports and the Belt and Road initiative;
    • The fourth is sectarian strife (Sunni/Shia) in the Middle East which, compounded by volatile and falling oil prices, has brought the region to the edge;
    • The fifth is the Paris climate summit and its impact on public sentiment, investment decisions, corporate governance and regulatory norms.
    • Sixth is the consequential impact of the manifold and impressive advancement of clean energy technologies.

    Questions for India

    • The ongoing transition in the energy world raises several questions for India.
    • How might they impact its objective to provide reliable, affordable, clean and universal access to energy?
    • Who will bear the costs of the transition — in particular, the costs of retrofitting industrial infrastructure and upgrading the power grids.
    • How can it prevent the “perfect storm” of high unemployment due to laid-off coal workers and stranded assets thermal power plants, slowed economic growth and environmental degradation?
    • How realistic is a green transition for an economy almost totally dependent on fossil fuels?

    Three policy initiatives for the government

    1) Securing favourable terms with oil suppliers

    • The government leverage its buyer strength to secure “most favoured” terms of trade for crude supplies.
    • In this regard, they bring out one development that plays to India’s advantage — the onset of “peak oil demand” (that is, demand will plateau before supply depletes).
    • However, there is no consensus on the timing of peak demand.

    2) Develop own systems for photovoltaics (PVs) and batteries

    • India must develop its own world-scale, competitive, manufacturing systems for photovoltaics (PVs) and battery storage.
    • Otherwise, India will not be able to provide affordable solar units unless it accepts the further deepening of dependence on Chinese imports.
    • Currently, China manufactures 75 per cent of the world’s lithium batteries; 70 per cent of solar cells; 95 per cent of solar wafers and it controls 60 per cent of the production of poly silica.
    • China is also looking to secure a chokehold over several strategic minerals (cobalt, nickel).

    3) Prepare a clean energy technology strategy

    • Technology is the answer to the energy transition.
    • That is what will bring the system to the tipping point of radical change.
    • China has placed clean energy R&D at the forefront of its “Plan 2025”.
    • The India strategy should identify relevant “breakthrough technologies”, establish the funding mechanisms and create the ecosystem for partnerships (domestic and international).

    Conclusion

    As an economy which is energy import-dependent, fossil-fuel-based India must balance between the rising demand for energy and an unhealthily strong linkage between this demand and environmental pollution.

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  • Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

    Diversification of output to overcome the MSP trap

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Major Crops & Cropping Patterns,PDS, Buffer Stock & Food Security,Transport & Marketing Of Agricultural Produce

    The article analyses the state of agriculture in Punjab and the its dependace on the MSP regime and suggest the diversification as a solution to the MSP trap.

    Punjab’s role in Green Revolution

    • India was desperately short of grains in 1965, and heavily dependent on PL 480 imports from the US against rupee payments, as the country did not have enough foreign exchange to buy wheat at global markets.
    • The entire foreign exchange reserves of the country at the time could not help it purchase more than 7 MMT of grains.
    • It is against this backdrop that the minimum support price (MSP) system was devised in 1965.

     India’s current grains management system: Issue of excess grains

    • Today, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) stocks grains touched 97 MMT in June this year against a buffer stock norm of 41.2 MMT.
    • The economic cost of that excess grain, beyond the buffer stock norm, was more than Rs 1,80,000 crore, a dead capital locked in without much purpose.
    • That’s the situation of the current grain management system based on MSP and open ended procurement.

    Decline in Punjab’s economic level

    •  In 1966 Punjab had the highest per capita income.
    • Punjab’s position fell to 13th in 2018-19.
    • There are several reasons behind this deterioration, ranging from lack of industrialisation to not catching up even with respect to the modern services sector like IT, financial services.

    What explains Punjab’s prosperity

    • Punjab’s agriculture is blessed with almost 99 per cent irrigation against an all-India average of little less than 50 per cent.
    • The average landholding in Punjab is 3.62 hectare (ha) as against an all-India average of 1.08 ha.
    • Punjab’s fertiliser consumption per ha is about 212 kg vis-à-vis an all-India level of 135 kg/ha.
    • The productivity levels of wheat and rice in Punjab stand at 5 tonnes/ha and 4 tonnes/ha respectively, against an all-India average of 3.5t/ha and 2.6t/ha.

    Assesing Punjab’s real contribution to income and agriculture

    • In Punjab, the total farm families are just 1.09 million, a fraction of the all-India total of 146.45 million.
    •  The overall subsidy, from just power and fertilisers would amount to roughly Rs 13,275 crores.
    • That means each farm household in Punjab got a subsidy of about Rs 1.22 lakh in 2019-20.
    • This is the highest subsidy for a farm household in India.
    • Let’s not forget that the average income of the Punjab farm household is the highest in India.[2.5 time’s the India’s average].
    • But to assess the real contribution of farmers/states to agriculture and incomes, the metric is the agri-GDP per ha of gross cropped area of the state in question.
    • This is an important catch-all indicator, as it captures the impact of productivity, diversification, prices of outputs and inputs and subsidies.
    • On that indicator, unfortunately, Punjab has the 11th rank amongst major agri-states.

    Way forward: Diversification of crops

    • States in south India like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have a much more diversified crop pattern tending towards high-value crops/livestock — poultry, dairy, fruits, vegetables, spices, fisheries.
    •  If Punjab farmers want to increase their incomes significantly, double or even triple, they need to gradually move away from MSP-based wheat and rice to high-value crops and livestock, the demand for which is increasing at three to five times that of cereals.
    • Punjab needs a package to diversify its agriculture — say a Rs 10,000 crore package spread over five years.

    Conclusion

    Once farmers diversify their farm output and double their incomes, they will not be stuck in the MSP trap.

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  • Medical Education Governance in India

    Surgery as part of Ayurveda

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Last month, a government notification listed out specific surgical procedures that a postgraduate medical student of Ayurveda must be “practically trained to acquaint with, as well as to independently perform”.

    Q.Allowing modern surgeries to Ayurveda professionals is a mixopathy and an encroachment into the jurisdiction and competencies of modern medicine. Critically analyse.

    What is the notification?

    • The notification mentions 58 surgical procedures that postgraduate students must train themselves in and acquires skills to perform independently.
    • These include procedures in general surgery, urology, surgical gastroenterology, and ophthalmology.

    The issue

    • The notification has invited sharp criticism from the Indian Medical Association, which questioned the competence of Ayurveda practitioners to carry out these procedures.
    • They have called the notification as an attempt at “mixopathy”.
    • The IMA has planned nationwide protests against this notification and has threatened to withdraw all non-essential and non-Covid services.

    Surgery as a part of Ayurveda

    • It is not that Ayurveda practitioners are not trained in surgeries, or do not perform them.
    • In fact, they take pride in the fact that their methods and practices trace their origins to Sushruta, an ancient Indian sage and physician.
    • The comprehensive medical treatise Sushruta Samhita has, apart from descriptions of illnesses and cures, detailed accounts of surgical procedures and instruments.
    • There are two branches of surgery in Ayurveda — Shalya Tantra, which refers to general surgery, and Shalakya Tantra which pertains to surgeries related to the eyes, ears, nose, throat and teeth.
    • All postgraduate students of Ayurveda have to study these courses, and some go on to specialize in these and become Ayurveda surgeons.

    Distinctions in surgical procedures

    • For several surgeries Ayurvedic procedures almost exactly match those of modern medicine about how or where to make a cut or incision, and how to perform the operation.
    • There are significant divergences in post-operative care, however.
    • The only thing that Ayurveda does not do is super-speciality surgeries, like neurosurgery or open-heart surgeries.
    • For most other needs, there are surgical procedures in Ayurveda. It is not very different from allopathic medicine.

    Ayurvedic surgeries before the notification

    • PG education in Ayurveda is guided by the Indian Medical Central Council (Post Graduate Education) Regulations framed from time to time.
    • Currently, the regulations formulated in 2016 are in force. The latest notification of last month is an amendment to the 2016 regulations.
    • The 2016 regulations allow postgraduate students to specialise in Shalya Tantra, Shalakya Tantra, and Prasuti evam Stree Roga (Obstetrics and Gynecology), the three disciplines involving major surgical interventions.
    • Students of these three disciplines are granted MS (Master in Surgery in Ayurveda) degrees.

    Arguments in favour

    • Ayurveda practitioners point out that students enrolling in Ayurveda courses have to pass the same NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test).
    • Ayurveda institutions prescribe textbooks from modern medicine, or that they carry out surgeries with the help of practitioners of modern medicine.
    • Their course, internship and practice also run parallel to the MBBS courses.
    • Postgraduate courses require another three years of study. They also have to undergo clinical postings in the outpatient and In-patient departments at hospitals apart from getting hands-on training.
    • Medico-legal issues, surgical ethics and informed consent is also part of the course apart from teaching Sushruta’s surgical principles and practices.

    So, what is new?

    • Ayurveda practitioners say the latest notification just brings clarity to the skills that an Ayurveda practitioner possesses.
    • The surgeries that have been mentioned in the notification are all that are already part of the Ayurveda course. But there is little awareness about these.
    • A patient is usually not clear whether an Ayurvedic practitioner has the necessary skill to perform one of these operations.
    • Now, they know exactly what an Ayurveda doctor is capable of. The skill sets have been defined. This will remove question marks on the ability of an Ayurveda practitioner.

    What are the IMA’s objections?

    • IMA doctors insist that they are not opposed to the practitioners of the ancient system of medicine.
    • But they say the new notification somehow gives the impression that the skills or training of the Ayurveda doctor in performing modern surgeries are the same as those practising modern medicine.
    • This, they say, is misleading, and an “encroachment into the jurisdiction and competencies of modern medicine”.
    • The IMA has condemned the move calling it predatory poaching on modern medicine and its surgical disciplines.
    • The IMA has demanded that the notification, as well as the NITI Aayog, move towards ‘One Nation One System’ (of AYUSH) be withdrawn.

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  • Minority Issues – SC, ST, Dalits, OBC, Reservations, etc.

    Caste Census and associated issues

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections

    The Tamil Nadu government has decided to appoint a commission to formulate a methodology to collect caste-wise particulars of its population and use that to come up with a report.

    Q.India’s caste system is perhaps the world’s longest surviving social hierarchy. Critically analyse.

    The issue

    • The Centre conducted a ‘Socio-Economic Caste Census’ (SECC) in 2011 throughout the country, but it did not make public the caste component of the findings.
    • In Karnataka, the outcome of a similar exercise has not been disclosed to the public.

    Caste details as a part of the census

    • Caste was among the details collected by enumerators during the decennial Census of India until 1931.
    • It was given up in 1941, a year in which the census operation was partially affected by World War II.
    • In his report on the 1941 exercise, then Census Commissioner of India, M.W.M. Yeatts, indicated that tabulation of caste details separately involved additional costs.
    • However, at the time of sorting the details, some provinces or States that wanted a caste record for administrative reasons were given some data on payment.

    Issues with caste in the census

    • H. Hutton, the Census Commissioner in 1931, notes that on the occasion of each successive census since 1901, some criticism had been raised about taking any note of the fact of caste.
    • It has been alleged that the mere act of labelling persons as belonging to a caste tends to perpetuate the system.
    • Some argue that there is nothing wrong in recording a fact and ignoring its existence.

    View after Independence

    • The 1951 census did not concern itself with questions regarding castes, races and tribes, except insofar as the necessary statistical material related to ‘special groups’.
    • It created certain other material relating to backward classes collected and made over to the Backward Classes Commission.
    • ‘Special Groups’ has been explained as referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Anglo-Indians and certain castes treated provisionally as ‘backward’ for the purposes of the census.
    • This implies that BC data were collected, but not compiled or published.

    How have caste details been collected so far?

    • While SC/ST details are collected as part of the census, details of other castes are not collected by the enumerators.
    • The main method is by self-declaration to the enumerator.
    • So far, backward classes commissions in various States have been conducting their own counts to ascertain the population of backward castes.
    • The methodology may vary from State to State.

    What about SECC 2011?

    • The Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011 was a major exercise to obtain data about the socio-economic status of various communities.
    • It had two components: a survey of the rural and urban households and ranking of these households based on pre-set parameters, and a caste census.
    • However, only the details of the economic conditions of the people in rural and urban households were released. The caste data have not been released till now.
    • While a precise reason is yet to be disclosed, it is surmised that the data were considered too politically sensitive.
    • Fear of antagonizing dominant and powerful castes that may find that their projected strength in the population is not as high as claimed may be an important reason.

    Legal imperative for a caste count

    • The Supreme Court has been raising questions about the basis for reservation levels being high in various States.
    • In particular, it has laid down that there should be quantifiable data to justify the presence of a caste in the backward class list, as well as evidence of its under-representation in services.
    • It has also called for periodical review of community-wise lists so that the benefits do not perpetually go in favour of a few castes.

    Caste data for reservations

    • Legislators argue that knowing the precise number of the population of each caste would help tailor the reservation policy to ensure equitable representation of all of them.
    • While obtaining relevant and accurate data may be the major gain from a caste census, the possibility that it will lead to heartburn among some sections and spawn demands for larger or separate quotas.

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