💥UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (June Batch) + Access XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Archives: News

  • Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

    What are Question Hour and Zero Hour?

    3 September 2020 | Explained | Polity
    Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

    The Lok Sabha Secretariat officially released the schedule for the monsoon Parliament session with Question Hour being dropped. Zero Hour will also be restricted in both Houses.

    This newscard is very narrative in its form and scope.

    Q.Discuss the various instruments of Parliamentary Control in India.

    What is Question Hour, and what is its significance?

    • Question Hour is the liveliest hour in Parliament. It is during this one hour that MPs ask questions of ministers and hold them accountable for the functioning of their ministries.
    • Prior to Independence, the first question asked of government was in 1893. It was on the burden cast on village shopkeepers who had to provide supplies to touring government officers.
    • The questions that MPs ask are designed to elicit information and trigger suitable action by ministries.
    • Over the last 70 years, MPs have successfully used this parliamentary device to shine a light on government functioning.
    • Their questions have exposed financial irregularities and brought data and information regarding government functioning to the public domain.
    • With the broadcasting since 1991, Question Hour has become one of the most visible aspects of parliamentary functioning.

    And what is Zero Hour?

    • While Question Hour is strictly regulated, Zero Hour is an Indian innovation. The phrase does not find mention in the rules of procedure.
    • The concept of Zero Hour started organically in the first decade of Indian Parliament when MPs felt the need for raising important constituency and national issues.
    • During the initial days, Parliament used to break for lunch at 1 pm.
    • Therefore, the opportunity for MPs to raise national issues without an advance notice became available at 12 pm and could last for an hour until the House adjourned for lunch.
    • This led to the hour being popularly referred to as Zero Hour and the issues being raised during this time as Zero Hour submissions.
    • Its importance can be gauged from the support it receives from citizens, media, MPs and presiding officers despite not being part of the rulebook.

    How is Question Hour regulated?

    • Parliament has comprehensive rules for dealing with every aspect of Question Hour.
    • And the presiding officers of the two houses are the final authority with respect to the conduct of Question Hour.
    • For example, usually, Question Hour is the first hour of a parliamentary sitting.

    What kinds of questions are asked?

    • Parliamentary rules provide guidelines on the kind of questions that can be asked by MPs.
    • Questions have to be limited to 150 words. They have to be precise and not too general.
    • The question should also be related to an area of responsibility of the GoI.
    • Questions should not seek information about matters that are secret or are under adjudication before courts.
    • It is the presiding officers of the two Houses who finally decide whether a question raised by an MP will be admitted for answering by the government.

    How frequently is Question Hour held?

    • The process of asking and answering questions starts with identifying the days on which Question Hour will be held.
    • At the beginning of Parliament in 1952, Lok Sabha rules provided for Question Hour to be held every day. Rajya Sabha, on the other hand, had a provision for Question Hour for two days a week.
    • A few months later, this was changed to four days a week. Then from 1964, Question Hour was taking place in Rajya Sabha on every day of the session.
    • Now, Question Hour in both Houses is held on all days of the session.
    • But there are two days when an exception is made. There is no Question Hour on the day the President addresses MPs from both Houses in the Central Hall.
    • Question Hour is not scheduled either on the day the Finance Minister presents the Budget.

    How does Parliament manage to get so many questions answered?

    • To streamline the answering of questions raised by MPs, the ministries are put into five groups. Each group answers questions on the day allocated to it.
    • For example, in the last session, on Thursday the Ministries of Civil Aviation, Labour, Housing, and Youth Affairs and Sports were answering questions posed by Lok Sabha MPs.
    • MPs can specify whether they want an oral or written response to their questions.
    • They can put an asterisk against their question signifying that they want the minister to answer that question on the floor. These are referred to as starred questions.
    • After the minister’s response, the MP who asked the question and other MPs can also ask a follow-up question.
    • This is the visible part of Question Hour, where you see MPs trying to corner ministers on the functioning of their ministries on live television.

    How do ministers prepare their answers?

    • Ministries receive the questions 15 days in advance so that they can prepare their ministers for Question Hour.
    • They also have to prepare for sharp follow-up questions they can expect to be asked in the House.
    • Governments’ officers are close at hand in a gallery so that they can pass notes or relevant documents to support the minister in answering a question.
    • When MPs are trying to gather data and information about government functioning, they prefer the responses to such queries in writing.
    • These questions are referred to as unstarred questions. The responses to these questions are placed on the table of Parliament.

    Are the questions only for ministers?

    • MPs usually ask questions to hold ministers accountable. But the rules also provide them with a mechanism for asking their colleagues a question.
    • Such a question should be limited to the role of an MP relating to a Bill or a resolution being piloted by them or any other matter connected with the functioning of the House for which they are responsible.
    • Should the presiding officer so allow, MPs can also ask a question to a minister at a notice period shorter than 15 days.

    Is there a limit to the number of questions that can be asked?

    • Rules on the number of questions that can be asked in a day have changed over the years.
    • In Lok Sabha, until the late 1960s, there was no limit on the number of unstarred questions that could be asked in a day.
    • Now, Parliament rules limit the number of starred and unstarred questions an MP can ask in a day.
    • The total numbers of questions asked by MPs in the starred and unstarred categories are then put in a random ballot.
    • From the ballot in Lok Sabha, 20 starred questions are picked for answering during Question Hour and 230 are picked for written answers.
    • Last year, a record was set when on a single day, after a gap of 47 years, all 20 starred questions were answered in Lok Sabha.

    Have there been previous sessions without Question Hour?

    • Parliamentary records show that during the Chinese aggression in 1962, the Winter Session was advanced.
    • The sitting of the House started at 12 pm and there was no Question Hour held. Before the session, changes were made limiting the number of questions.
    • Thereafter, following an agreement between the ruling and the Opposition parties, it was decided to suspend Question Hour.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Civil Services Reforms

    Mission Karmayogi for Civil Services Capacity Building

    3 September 2020 | Schemes | Polity
    Mains Paper 2: Civil Service

    The Union Cabinet gave its approval for Mission Karmayogi, a new national capacity building and performance evaluation programme for civil servants.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The Mission Karmayogi recently seen in news is related to:

    a) EPFO reforms

    b) Labour laws reforms

    c) Civil Services reforms

    d) Artisans and Handicrafts

    Mission Karmayogi

    • The mission is established under the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB).
    • It is aimed at building a future-ready civil service with the right attitude, skills and knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India.
    • It is meant to be a comprehensive post-recruitment reform of the Centre’s human resource development, in much the same way as the National Recruitment Agency approved last week is pre-recruitment reform.

    Why such a mission?

    • The capacity of Civil Services plays a vital role in rendering a wide variety of services, implementing welfare programs and performing core governance functions.

    Major undertakings of the scheme

    • The scheme will cover 46 lakh, Central government employees, at all levels, and involve an outlay of ₹510 crores over a five-year period, according to an official statement.
    • The programme will support a transition from “rules-based to roles-based” HR management so that work allocations can be done by matching an official’s competencies to the requirements of the post.
    • Apart from domain knowledge training, the scheme will focus on “functional and behavioural competencies” as well, and also includes a monitoring framework for performance evaluations.
    • Eventually, service matters such as confirmation after probation period, deployment, work assignments and notification of vacancies will all be integrated into the proposed framework.
    • The capacity building will be delivered through iGOT Karmayogi digital platform, with content drawn from global best practices rooted in Indian national ethos.

    Apex bodies under the mission

    • The Prime Minister’s Public Human Resource Council will be set up as the apex body to direct the reforms.
    • There will be an autonomous Capacity Building Commission to be established to manage the reformed system and harmonize training standards across the country so that there is a common understanding of India’s aspirations and development goals.
    • A wholly government-owned, not-for-profit special purpose vehicle will be set up to own and operate the digital platform and its content.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

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

    OBC categorization: findings, progress by a panel so far

    3 September 2020 | | Governance
    Mains Paper 1: Population & Associated Issues

    While the ongoing legal debate on sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for reservations is undergoing, a Commission has been examining sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) for almost three years now.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.The quota policy for OBCs needs an urgent revisit. Comment.

    What is the sub-categorisation of OBCs?

    • OBCs are granted 27% reservation in jobs and education under the central government.
    • The question of sub-categorisation arises out of the perception that only a few affluent communities among the over 2,600 included in the Central List of OBCs have secured a major part of this 27% reservation.
    • The argument for sub-categorisation — or creating categories within OBCs for reservation — is that it would ensure “equitable distribution” of representation among all OBC communities.

    Who is examining sub-categorisation?

    • The Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes took charge on October 11, 2017.
    • It is headed by retired Delhi High Court Chief Justice G Rohini.
    • Initially constituted with tenure of 12 weeks ending January 3, 2018, it was granted an extension recently.

    What are its terms of references?

    It was originally set up with three terms of reference:

    1. To examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with reference to such classes included in the Central List;
    2. To work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs;
    3. To take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories.

    A fourth was added on January 22, 2020, when the Cabinet granted it an extension:

    1. To study the various entries in the Central List of OBCs and recommend correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription.

    What progress has it made so far?

    • In its letter to the government on July 30, 2019, the Commission wrote that it is ready with the draft report. This could have huge political consequences and is likely to face a judicial review.
    • The current tenure of the Commission ends on January 31, 2021.
    • Its budget is being drawn from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) which was given constitutional status by the government in 2018.

    What progress has it made so far?

    • The Commission is ready with the draft report. This could have huge political consequences and is likely to face a judicial review.
    • The current tenure of the Commission ends on January 31, 2021.
    • Its budget is being drawn from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) which was given constitutional status by the government in 2018.

    How do these data compare with OBCs’ share in the population?

    • A hurdle for the Commission has been the absence of data for the population of various communities to compare with their representation in jobs and admissions.
    • Sources said the data of Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) were not considered reliable.
    • The Commission has requested for an appropriate Budget provision for a proposed all-India survey for an estimate of the caste-wise population of OBCs.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • NCRB data on Accidental Deaths and Suicides

    3 September 2020 | DOMR | Trivia
    Mains Paper 1: Population & Associated Issues

    The cases of suicide and the number of accidental deaths registered an increase across the country last year compared to 2018, according to the annual National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.

    Do you know?

    NCRB also released data on hate crimes, fake news, and anti-national activities etc.

    (1) Data on Suicides

    • Statewise data: The maximum cases of mass/family suicides were reported from Tamil Nadu (16), followed by Andhra Pradesh (14), Kerala (11) and Punjab (9) and Rajasthan (7).
    • Unemployed person: Suicides by unemployed persons amounting to 14% were in Kerala (1,963), followed by 10.8% in Maharashtra, 9.8% in Tamil Nadu, 9.2% in Karnataka and 6.1% in Odisha. Of the 97,613 male suicides, the maximum were daily wage earners (29,092), followed by self-employed persons (14,319) and the unemployed (11,599).
    • Farmer’s suicide: Majority of victims engaged in the farming sector were reported in Maharashtra (38.2% of 10,281), Karnataka (19.4%), AP (10.0%), MP (5.3%) and Chhattisgarh & Telangana (4.9% each),” said the report.
    • Rural-Urban: The suicide rate in cities (13.9%) was higher compared to the all-India average. Family problems (other than marriage related problems)’ (32.4%); ‘marriage related problems’ (5.5%); and ‘illness’ (17.1%) accounted for 55% of the total suicides.
    • Gender-specific cases: The overall male-female ratio was 70.2:29.8. Nearly 68.4% of males were married and the ratio was 62.5% for female victims. While 12.6% of the total victims were illiterate, 16.3% had studied up to primary level, 19.6% up to middle level and 23.3% up to Matriculation level. Only 3.7% were graduates and above.
    • Defence personnel: In the Central Armed Police Forces, a total of 36 personnel died by suicide, 38.9% were due to “family problems”.

    (2) Data on Accidents

    • Accidental deaths in the country increased by 2.3%. Compared to 4,11,824 in 2018, the figure stood at 4,21,104 last year.
    • The rate (per lakh population) increased from 31.1 to 31.5. The maximum casualties of 30.9% were reported in the 30-45 years age group, followed by 26% in the 18-30 years’ age group.
    • The highest rate was reported from Puducherry (72.8), followed by Chhattisgarh (68.6), Maharashtra (57.4), Haryana (54.3), Goa (51.5) and Madhya Pradesh (51.4).
    • Maharashtra reported the highest deaths (70,329), amounting to nearly one-sixth of the total figure. UP, the most populous state, accounted for 9.6% cases, followed by MP (10.1%).
    • Maximum deaths (85.4%) were in road accidents. While 38% of the victims were two-wheeler riders, 14.6% involved trucks.
    • Dangerous/careless driving or overtaking contributed to 25.7% road accidents, claiming 42,557 lives and leaving more than 1 lakh people injured.

    (3) Deaths due to disasters

    • A total of 8,145 deaths were due to the causes attributable to forces of nature, including 35.3% due to lightning, 15.6% by heat/sunstroke and 11.6% deaths in floods.
    • Maximum deaths (400) due to lightning was reported each from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, followed by Jharkhand (334) and Uttar Pradesh (321).

    Back2Basics: NCRB

    • The NCRB is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).
    • It is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
    • It was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
    • It was set up based on the recommendation of the Task-force 1985 and National Police Commission 1977.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Renewable Energy – Wind, Tidal, Geothermal, etc.

    Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM)

    3 September 2020 | Prelims Only | Environment
    Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    As a first step towards Greening the Indian short term power market, the  Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched pan-India Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) in electricity.

    About GTAM

    • GTAM is an alternative new model introduced for selling off the power by the renewable developers in the open market without getting into long term PPAs.
    • This would promote RE merchant capacity addition and help in achieving RE capacity addition targets of the country.

    Benefits of GTAM

    • It would lessen the burden on the RE-rich States and incentivize them to develop RE capacity beyond their own RPO.
    • It will benefit buyers of RE through competitive prices and transparent and flexible procurement. It will also benefit RE sellers by providing access to the pan- India market

    Key features

    • Transactions through GTAM will be bilateral in nature with clear identification of corresponding buyers and sellers, there will not be any difficulty in accounting for RPO.
    • GTAM contracts will be segregated into Solar RPO & Non-Solar RPO as RPO targets are also segregated.
    • Further, within the two segments, GTAM contracts will have Green Intraday, Day Ahead Contingency, Daily and Weekly Contracts
    • Green Intraday Contract & Day Ahead Contingency Contract – Bidding will take place on a 15-minute time-block wise MW basis.
    • Daily & Weekly Contracts – Bidding will take place on an MWh basis.
    • Price discovery will take place on a continuous basis i.e. price-time priority basis. Subsequently, looking at the market conditions open auction can be introduced for daily & weekly contracts.
    • Energy scheduled through GTAM contract shall be considered as deemed RPO compliance of the buyer.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • e-Commerce: The New Boom

    E-commerce rules 2020

    2 September 2020 | | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    The article analyses the various restrictions under The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 to regulate all commercial transactions and issues with such restrictions.

    Context

    • The recent rules relating to e-commerce, issued by the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 needs some changes.

    What the recent rules specify

    • The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, notified on July 23, regulate all commercial transactions sold over a digital or electronic network.
    • The e-com rules currently recognise two e-commerce business models, namely, marketplace model and inventory-based model.
    • The rules have separate specified provisions for marketplace- and inventory-based entities.
    • The e-com rules require that all information on the return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment of the goods or services being sold, including their country of origin, be provided on the platform.
    • Such details enable consumers to make an informed decision.

    What the new rules seek to achieve

    • The country of origin requirement is significant as India and several other countries are currently re-negotiating their free trade agreements.
    • E-com rules prohibit unfair trade practices by entities and sellers on marketplaces and manipulation of price.
    • The entities are prohibited from manipulating the price of the goods or services to gain unreasonable profit by imposing unjustified price or charges on consumers.

    Issues with the rules

    • It remains unclear as to what would constitute price manipulation.
    • It also remain unclear how the e-commerce entities and sellers are expected to navigate these roadblocks without falling foul of such provisions.
    • Both the marketplace entity and sellers are now required to set up a grievance redressal mechanism, small businesses may not be in a position to comply.
    • The rules also prohibit an e-commerce entity from levying a charge for cancellation post confirmation.
    • While the provisions may be intended as safeguards that ensure a level-playing field, some of these conditions are impractical.
    • Applying identical rules does not convey a business-friendly approach.

    Investment restrictions

    • The Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 currently recognise the marketplace and inventory model.
    • It permit 100% FDI under the automatic route to marketplace entities as also to those engaged in single-brand retail.
    • Foreign investments, up to 51%, are permitted in multi-brand retail with prior government approval.
    • As per the non-debt rules, entities engaged in single-brand retail are permitted to undertake retail trading through e-commerce.
    • However, single-brand retail trading through e-commerce has to open a brick-and-mortar store within two years from the date it commences online retail.
    • Retail trading, in any form, by means of e-commerce, is not permissible for entities engaged in inventory-based multi-brand retail trading and having foreign investment.

    Consider the question “What are the objectives sought to be achieved through The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 to regulate commercial transactions? What are the issues with the rules?”

    Conclusion

    The commercial sector is anxious for India to consider relaxing some of these requirements, or extending the time period for compliance, given that brick-and-mortar operations may not be possible in the foreseeable future.

    Source-

    https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/e-commerce-rules-a-one-size-fits-all-approach-some-need-to-be-relaxed/2071953/

    Back2Basics: Invenetory model and marketplace model

    • Marketplace model of e-commerce means providing of an information technology platform by an e-commerce entity on a digital and electronic network to act as a facilitator between buyer and seller.
    • The main feature of the market place model is that the e-commerce firm like flipkart, snapdeal, amazon etc. will be providing a platform for customers to interact with a selected number of sellers.
    • Inventory model of ecommerce means an ecommerce activity where inventory of goods and services is owned by e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly.
    • The main feature of inventory model is that the customer buys the product from the ecommerce firm.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Higher Education – RUSA, NIRF, HEFA, etc.

    Economics of education

    2 September 2020 | op-ed snap | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    The article delineates the challenges academic institutions in India faces in the wake of Covid disruption and suggests some measures to deal with the challenges.

    Context

    Disruption in the wake of pandemic raised the spectre of educational institutions shuttering their doors completely or taking unprecedented steps that have invariably affected jobs and livelihoods.

    Economics of the academics

    • Economics has always been a part of academics; it is only in the present circumstances that it has become all the more apparent.
    • Management in private institutions, is going to meet demands on the one hand and availability of resources on the other.
    • One may call this new phenomenon “acadonomics”.
    • “Acadonomics” would imply a careful allocation of resources keeping in mind the transient nature of the issue of how long it is going to take to come back to the steady state of affairs that it once was.
    • ‘Acadonomics’ will also involve seeing the economics of moving on to an online mode of the teaching-learning process.

    Comparison with the West

    • The academic choices are not the same for all countries across the world.
    • In the United States the elite private and state subsidised universities have endowments that can be used for a range of academic activities.
    • Top 10 of the U.S. have a cushion of anywhere between $10 billion to $40 billion.
    • By contrast, private academic institutions in India do not have any such buffers.
    • None of the institutions in India possesses big corpuses from alumni or industry.
    • Their survival, for the most part, is on the annual income that comes from tuition and the assortment of other fees collected.

    Private education in India

    • Private institutions in India are hardly in a position to meet an eventuality such as COVID-19.
    •  In an educational set-up in India, nothing can be reduced — the norms cannot be lowered nor can the infrastructure be dismantled.
    •  For the most part, the fixed and operational costs remain the same, and infrastructure once created cannot be shrunk.
    • The downside to self-financed institutions is that in the time of the pandemic and loss of jobs, students plead inability to pay the requisite fee.
    • Which places additional burden on the management which feels already stretched because of existing commitments.

    Dual mode of learning and issues

    • 1) Cost for persisting with a dual mode of the teaching-learning process is going to be quite prohibitive for the next few years.
    • The scaling of operations that would include the dual modes of online and offline is going to be expensive.
    • 2) The online teaching mode brings with it increased costs of IT infrastructure such as network bandwidth, servers, cloud resources and software licensing fees.
    • 3) Online teaching means new hiring in the IT sector and increased costs due to engagements with Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, and other online platforms.
    • 4) Online teaching means setting up multiple studios and educational technology centres which translate into investments in high technology.
    • 5) Creation of virtual laboratories across all domains of studies and examination centres, etc. would add to the woes in terms of already depleted finances.
    • 6) Additional funds have to be allocated to train faculty for online teaching.

    Way forward

    • The Centre and State governments should provide soft loans to students to stay with the educational course.
    • Students looking at online instruction would be disinclined to pay the same fee charged for offline instruction.
    • It would seem prudent for the government and regulatory bodies to not interfere in the fee structure, and, for the future, even consider a measure of higher degree of financial autonomy.
    • It is high time institutions in India are allowed to create coffers or corpuses for a rainy day.
    • Educational institutions could come to be treated like any other corporate body, with an allowable small margin of profit.

    Consider the question “What are the challenges faced by the education system in the aftermath of the pandemic. Suggest ways to mitigate the impact.”

    Conclusion

    ‘Acadonomics’ of the future will not only decide the fate of the academic sector in India but also its quality, ranking, research, innovation potential and its collective impact on our country’s economy.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

    Aiming for wider consumer base and directing public spending accordingly

    2 September 2020 | op-ed snap | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

    The article suggests the widening of consumer base rather than increasing consumption. To augment that, the government should also direct the spending towards such sectors which would help in broadening of the base.

    Prescription for long term growth: Broadening the consumer base

    • India entered the pandemic with declining growth and limited scope for a conventional and large fiscal stimulus.
    • The NSS 68th round consumption survey indicates that in urban India, the top 20 per cent of the population accounted for nearly 55 per cent of discretionary consumption and 45 per cent of all consumption.
    •  The narrow consumption base coupled with uncertainty over the demographic dividend could belie India’s long-term investment attractiveness.
    • With or without the pandemic, the prescriptions for long-term growth remain the same — broaden the consumer base.
    • This broadening of the consumer base should happen through empowering the low and middle-income consumers.

    Why can’t the government just spend to revive growth

    • 1) Temporary incomes coupled with job/income uncertainty will induce precautionary savings without any impact on growth.
    • 2) With revenues declined, funding of additional expenditure is through higher borrowings.
    • Any incremental debt should be seen in the context of future investments being hampered due to current consumption.
    • India’s public debt/GDP will likely reach around 85 per cent and the consolidated gross fiscal deficit to GDP ratio could be around 12.5 per cent this year. 

    Way forward

    • India needs to broaden its consumer base beyond the top 10-20 per cent of the population to improve long-term growth prospects.
    • To achieve this we will need well-paid employment for the bottom and middle segments.
    • The “safe” group of India’s workforce is extremely small.
    • The PLFS 2018-19 report places around 24 per cent of the workforce in the regular wage/salary category.
    • Within this segment, around 40 per cent do not have a written contract, paid leaves, or security while 70 per cent do not have any written contract.
    • These sharp skews in consumption and labour become a substantial risk for a consumption-led growth in the aftermath of a crisis.
    • The PLFS 2018-19 report indicates that around 50 per cent of the rural non-agriculture workforce.
    • 35 per cent of the urban workforce is engaged in the construction and manufacturing sectors.
    • The rebuild and recover phase should aim for a wider consumer base with infrastructure and manufacturing as the two pillars.
    • To make manufacturing easier, the focus should be on labour reforms, fewer/quicker approvals, reducing the compliance burden, and promoting export-oriented sectors.
    • Policies should not become too inward-looking such that export promotion becomes difficult.

    Directing public spending and policies appropriately

    • Most public spending should be directed towards roads, railways, infrastructure, healthcare and educational facilities.
    • To promote infrastructure creation along with private sector participation, the government needs to charge an economic price for goods and services such as power, irrigation, and public utilities.
    • Establish the rule of law with minimal interference in pricing, streamline processes for quick approvals and ensure timely payments to private operators.
    • The government should also signal its vision along with a financing strategy through sharper expenditure management, enhanced market borrowings, setting up of a Development Financing Institution, and an asset monetisation programme.

    Conclusion

    To achieve economic growth of 7-8 per cent the government needs to start addressing large infrastructure deficit, the weak financial sector, archaic land and labour laws, and the administrative and judicial hurdles.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Telecom and Postal Sector – Spectrum Allocation, Call Drops, Predatory Pricing, etc

    AGR dues issue in Telecom Sector

    2 September 2020 | | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    The Supreme Court has held that telecom firms will get 10 years to clear their adjusted gross revenue or AGR dues and that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) should decide whether or not spectrum can be sold under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. In India, which of the following review the independent regulators in sectors like telecommunications, insurance, electricity, etc.?

    1. Ad Hoc Committees set up by the Parliament
    2. Parliamentary Department Related Standing Committees
    3. Finance Commission
    4. Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission
    5. NITI Aayog

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 2

    (b) 1, 3 and 4

    (c) 3, 4 and 5

    (d) 2 and 5

    Supreme Court rule on AGR dues

    • In its judgment, the SC gave all telcos a 10-year timeline to complete the payments of AGR dues, instead of the old 20-year schedule suggested by the DoT.
    • It also directed telcos to pay 10 per cent of the total AGR dues by March 31, 2020, following which they can make payments in annual instalments between 2021 and 2031.
    • The non-payment of dues in any year would lead to the accrual of interest and invite contempt of court proceedings against such companies.
    • A crucial issue of whether the spectrum could be sold under IBC will now be decided by the National Company Law Tribunal.

    What is AGR?

    • Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) is the usage and licensing fee that telecom operators are charged by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
    • It is divided into spectrum usage charges and licensing fees, pegged between 3-5 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

    What is the issue about?

    • All the telecom companies that operate in India pay a part of their revenues as licence fee and spectrum charges to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for using the spectrum owned by the government.
    • In its definition of AGR, the DoT had said that telcos must cover all the revenue earned by them, including from non-telecom sources such as deposit interests and sale of assets.
    • The telecom companies were opposed to this and had challenged this definition of AGR in several forums, including the Supreme Court.
    • On October 24, 2019, the SC had upheld the DoT’s definition of AGR.
    • Though the telcos sought a review of the judgment, it was dismissed by the top court which had then insisted that telcos clear all the dues by January 23, 2020.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

  • Indian Army Updates

    Special Frontier Force: The Vikas Battalion

    2 September 2020 | Prelims Only | Internal Security
    Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

    There have been reports that a Special Frontier Force (SFF) unit, referred to as Vikas Battalion, has been instrumental in occupying some key heights on the LAC.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.“It cannot be business as usual with China after the border clash.” Critically comment.

    What is the Special Frontier Force (SFF)?

    • SFF was raised in the immediate aftermath of the 1962 Sino-India war.
    • It was a covert outfit which recruited Tibetans (now it has a mixture of Tibetans and Gorkhas) and initially went by the name of Establishment 22.
    • It was named so because it was raised by Major General Sujan Singh Uban, an Artillery officer who had commanded 22 Mountain Regiment.
    • He, therefore, named the new covert group after his regiment. Subsequently, the group was renamed as Special Frontier Force.
    • SFF now falls under the purview of the Cabinet Secretariat where it is headed by an Inspector General who is an Army officer of the rank of Major General.

    Is SFF a part of the Army?

    • Strictly speaking, the SFF units are not part of the Army but they function under the operational control of the Army.
    • The units have their own rank structures which have equivalent status with Army ranks.
    • However, they are highly trained Special Forces personnel who can undertake a variety of tasks which would normally be performed by any Special Forces unit.
    • The SFF units, therefore, function virtually as any other Army unit in operational areas despite having a separate charter and history.

    Major operations conducted

    • There are several overt and covert operations in which SFF units have taken part over the years.
    • They took part in operations in the 1971 war, Operation Blue Star in Golden Temple Amritsar, Kargil conflict and in counter-insurgency operations in the country.
    • There are several other operations too in which the SFF has participated but the details are classified.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

Join the Community

Join us across Social Media platforms.