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  • Child Rights – POSCO, Child Labour Laws, NAPC, etc.

    Pendency falls in the Child Adoption cases

    7 December 2022 | Prelims Only | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections

    The pendency in the adoption of children has come down to 644 from 905 over the last two months since the new Adoption Regulations were notified.

    What is the news?

    • The Rules for the adoption of the Juvenile Justice Act were notified in September this year.

    Adoption Regulations, 2022

    • The new rules empower District Magistrates to issue adoption orders.
    • Earlier, this power was exercised by the judiciary.
    • Changes have also been made to the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) online platform for adoption.
    • In accordance with the new rules, prospective adoptive parents can now opt from their home State or region.
    • This has been mandated to ensure that the child and the family adjust well with each other, belonging to the same socio-cultural milieu.

    Adoption in India: A backgrounder

    • In 2015, the then Minister for Women and Child Development centralised the entire adoption system by empowering Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).
    • CARA is an autonomous and statutory body of Ministry of Women and Child Development set up in 2015.
    • It was empowered to maintain in various specialised adoption agencies, a registry of children, prospective adoptive parents as well as match them before adoption.
    • This was aimed at checking rampant corruption and trafficking as child care institutions and NGOs could directly give children for adoption after obtaining a no-objection certificate from CARA.

    Why is there concern over the revised rules?

    • Parents, activists, lawyers and adoption agencies will have to be transferred and the process will have to start afresh.
    • A delay in such an order can often mean that a child can’t get admission into a school because parents don’t yet have a birth certificate.
    • Parents and lawyers also state that neither judges, nor DMs are aware about the change in the JJ Act leading to confusion in the system and delays.
    • DMs don’t handle civil matters that bestow inheritance and succession rights on a child.
    • If these rights are contested when a child turns 18, a judicial order is far more tenable to ensure the child is not deprived of his or her entitlements.

    Is it such a big issue?

    • The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) says there are nearly 1,000 adoption cases pending before various courts in the country.
    • This is not such a huge burden.

    What is the adoption procedure in India?  

    • Adoptions in India are governed by two laws:
    1. Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA): It is a parent-centric law that provides son to the son-less for reasons of succession, inheritance, continuance of family name and for funeral rights and later adoption of daughters was incorporated because kanyadaan is considered an important part of dharma in Hindu tradition.
    2. Juvenile Justice Act, 2015: It handles issues of children in conflict with law as well as those who are in need of care and protection and only has a small chapter on adoptions.
    • Both laws have their separate eligibility criteria for adoptive parents.
    • Those applying under the JJ Act have to register on CARA’s portal after which a specialised adoption agency carries out a home study report.
    • After it finds the candidate eligible for adoption, a child declared legally free for adoption is referred to the applicant.
    • Under HAMA, a “dattaka hom” ceremony or an adoption deed or a court order is sufficient to obtain irrevocable adoption rights.

    Issues with child adoption in India

    • Parent-centrism: The current adoption approach is very parent-centred, but parents must make it child-centred.
    • Age of child: Most Indian parents also want a child between the ages of zero and two, believing that this is when the parent-child bond is formed.
    • Institutional issues: Because the ratio of abandoned children to children in institutionalised care is lopsided, there are not enough children available for adoption.
    • Lineage discrimination: Most Indians have a distorted view of adoption because they want their genes, blood, and lineage to be passed down to their children.
    • Red-tapism: Child adoption is also not so easy task after the Juvenile Justice Rules of 2016 and the Adoption Regulations of 2017 were launched.

    Practical issues in adoption

    • There are no rules for monitoring adoptions and verifying sourcing of children and determining whether parents are fit to adopt.
    • There are many problems with the adoption system under CARA but at the heart of it is the fact that there are very few children in its registry.
    • According to the latest figures there are only 2,188 children in the adoption pool, while there are more than 31,000 parents waiting to adopt a child.

     

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  • WTO and India

    What is Goods Trade Barometer?

    7 December 2022 | Prelims Only | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    barometer

    The World Trade Organization’s Goods Trade Barometer says the global economy, hit by strong headwinds and weakening import demand, may see trade growth slowdown in the closing months of 2022 and into 2023.

    What is Goods Trade Barometer?

    • The Goods Trade Barometer was developed by the WTO to complement conventional trade statistics and forecasts.
    • It is the world’s leading composite indicator that highlights the turning points in the global merchandise trade and provides forecasts of its likely trajectory in the near future.
    • It is released on a quarterly basis based on the availability of data.
    • It provides real-time data on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to the current trends.
    • Values higher than 100 indicates above-trend growth and the values less than 100 indicates below-trend growth.

    Key trends

    • In its recent release, it said trade growth is likely to slow down in 2022 and into 2023.
    • Reflecting a cooling demand for traded goods based on actual trade developments through the second quarter of 2022, the current reading of 96.2 is below the baseline value index and the prior reading of 100.0.
    • The downturn in the goods barometer is in line with the earlier forecast which predicted a merchandise trade volume growth of 3.5% in 2022 and a revised lower estimate of 1% for 2023.

    Impact on India’s trade balance

    • With a likely fall in export earnings, and no decrease in imports of essential items like crude oil and capital goods, India’s trade deficit is set to widen.
    • The projection is that the country’s current account trade deficit is expected to be around 3% of GDP for FY23.
    • Foreign exchange reserves which have already depleted by over $100 billion over the last year are likely to shrink further.

    What does a slowdown mean for India?

    • India is not an export-led economy. In FY22, 21.5% of Indian GDP depended on exports.
    • However, in view of the poor performance of the country’s major market destinations such as the US and China, Indian exports are bound to suffer.
    • During the subprime crisis which engulfed the entire world, India’s export-oriented sectors had to pay the price though the economy was to a large extent insulated due to a vibrant rural sector.
    • But currently rural India is not in a strong position unlike in 2008-09.

     

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

    Analyzing the Reservation system and the EWS

    6 December 2022 | op-ed snap | Polity

    system

    Context

    • Reservation was introduced as a short-term measure to give opportunities to classes of people who were socially and educationally backward and/or inadequately represented in education, employment, politics and other spheres. The intent was laudable. Reservation has increased the standard of life for many. But what was supposed to be a short-term measure got extended due to various political and sociological compulsions.

    What is the idea of reservation?

    • Based on historical injustice: Reservation is intrinsically linked to the historical injustice meted out to Shudras and Dalits.
    • Reservation for egalitarian society: It was during the anti-caste movement that the idea of reservation came up as a way for an egalitarian social order, to ensure fair representation in the socio-political order, and to mitigate and compensate for the inhuman exclusion of humans based on ascriptive status.
    • Equal participation in nation building: Reservation is implemented in politics, education and public employment so that all those in the hierarchy can participate in nation-building on equal terms.

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    system

    Is the reservation system successful in eliminating the cause?

    • Cannot claim it successful: Even after seven decades of reservation, we are not able to claim success in eliminating the cause that required reservation in the first place.
    • successive governments kept extending in a hope of a different outcome: In our personal lives and careers, if a solution to a problem doesn’t give the expected result within a reasonable time frame, we reconsider the solution and try to improve it. However, successive governments kept extending the reservation system, hoping for a different outcome.
    • Reservation system being used as a self-perpetuating mechanism: People who benefited from reservation wanted the system to continue for successive generations too. It was clear that the reservation system was being used by them as a self-perpetuating mechanism.
    • Those who really need are deprived: Since the reservation is used as perpetuating mechanism, those who really needed reservation were deprived of its benefits.

    Analysis over the outcomes of reservation system and the rising silent demands

    • Background, at the time of Independence and the family professions: At the time of Independence, the economy was primarily agrarian and based on traditional commerce. People were largely unskilled. They continued engaging in the professions that their family had practiced for generations.
    • Profession changed from caste-based to skill-based: Free school education and industrialization helped people learn new skills, which gave them scope to migrate to greener pastures. As cities became cosmopolitan, the class divide became a thing of the past. Employment in the industrial sector became largely skill-based rather than caste-based.
    • Social and educational backwardness go hand-in-hand with economic weakness: More than 70 years of reservation has brought economic prosperity to a large section of people and given them adequate representation.
    • Befitted should make a way for others and to completely oppose the demands: Ideally, families that have been brought above the poverty line through adequate employment opportunities and other benefits should make way for others who are less fortunate; instead, they oppose extending the system to the economically weaker sections (EWS) of society only because some of the beneficiaries could be from the so-called ‘forward’ communities.
    • Caste system becoming less prevalent in today’s technology cum information age: The cause for social inequality and oppression was somewhat wrongly attributed to a particular faith and the practice of caste system prevalent in those days. In this technology-cum-information age, the surging middle class population makes the caste system less prevalent.
    • Economic prosperity helps to neutralise the social injustice: The economic prosperity seen today has neutralised to a large extent the very reason for social injustice the class disparity.
    • The reservation is still kept alive: However, the caste and reservation system are still being kept alive only so that political parties and those who have benefited from the system so far can continue to milk it.

    system

    What are the Misconceptions clarification and the judgement over EWS

    • Misunderstanding that the basic structure of the constitution may violet: Most objections to this come from a misunderstanding that the basic structure of the Constitution has been violated by the EWS amendment, which seeks to empower the privileged sections of society who are neither socially and educationally backward nor inadequately represented.
    • Misconception that it will reduce the availability of seats: Another misconception is that the 10% quota in the open category in favour of ‘forward’ communities reduces the availability of seats in the open category for other classes and communities.
    • What the government clarified: The government has clarified that this 10% is in addition to the existing reservation in favour of SEBCs. This means it does not in any way affect reservation up to 50% for SEBCs, OBCs, SCs and STs.
    • The egalitarian judgement: The judgment that sets the basis for this 10% quota said, “If an egalitarian socio-economic order is the goal, the deprivations arising from economic disadvantages, including those of discrimination and exclusion, need to be addressed to by the State; and for that matter, every affirmative action has the sanction of our Constitution.”

    system

    Conclusion

    • The government has a constitutional and moral duty to achieve the goal of “social, economic and political justice,” mentioned in the Preamble. The 10% quota for the EWS aims to correct an anomaly in the system that is depriving deserving and qualified people. We need to accept that reservation on the basis of economic criteria is the need of the hour and the stepping stone to achieving economic and social justice.

     

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  • Police Reforms – SC directives, NPC, other committees reports

    There should be uniformity in the rules for granting parole

    6 December 2022 | op-ed snap | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: Civil Service

    rules

    Context

    • There was a huge uproar in the media when Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a convict serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two disciples, was seen organising an online ‘satsang’ while on a 40-day parole in October. On the other hand, S. Nalini, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who was serving life imprisonment, was given several extensions of parole from December 2021 until her release. Lack of uniformity in parole rules does not bode well for the criminal justice system.

    What is Parole and furlough?

    • Short term release: Furlough and parole envisage a short-term release from custody, both aimed as reformative steps towards prisoners.
    • Not a Right but a case of Specific exigency: Parole is granted to meet a “specific exigency” and cannot be claimed as a matter of right.
    • Circumstances considered: Both provisions are subject to the circumstances of the prisoner, such as jail behaviour, the gravity of offences, sentence period and public interest.

    Is there any specific provision pertaining to parole and/or furlough?

    • No specific provision: The Prisons Act, 1894, and the Prisoners Act, 1900, did not contain any specific provision pertaining to parole and/or furlough.
    • State are empowered to make such rules: Section 59 of the Prisons Act empowers States to make rules inter alia “for the shortening of sentences” and “for rewards for good conduct”.

    You must know

    • Since “prisons, reformatories” fall in the State List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, States are well within their reach to legislate on issues related to prisons.

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    rules

    Parole rules are different for different states and on different case

    • Suspension of sentence in Uttar Pradesh: The Uttar Pradesh rules provide for the ‘suspension of sentence’ (without mentioning the term parole or furlough or leave) by the government generally up to one month. However, the period of suspension may exceed even 12 months with prior approval of the Governor.
    • Maharashtra rules: Maharashtra’s rules permit release of a convict on ‘furlough’ for 21 or 28 days (depending upon the term of sentence), on ‘emergency parole’ for 14 days, and on ‘regular parole’ for 45 to 60 days.
    • Revised rules in Haryana: The recently revised rules of Haryana (April 2022) permit ‘regular parole’ to a convict up to 10 weeks (in two parts), ‘furlough’ for three to four weeks in a calendar year, and ‘emergency parole’ up to four weeks. Ram Rahim is on his regular parole.
    • Rules of leaves and its extension in Tamin Nadu and the Nalini case: Though the Tamil Nadu rules of 1982 permit ‘ordinary leave’ for a period of 21 to 40 days, ‘emergency leave’ is permitted up to 15 days (to be spread over four spells). However, in exceptional circumstances, the government may extend the period of emergency leave. Till recently, Nalini was on extended emergency leave owing to her mother’s illness.
    • Unlike TN, rules in Andhra Pradesh prohibit extension: Surprisingly, the Andhra Pradesh rules specifically prohibit such extension (Nalini extension) on account of the continued illness of a relative of a prisoner. They permit ‘furlough’ and parole/emergency leave up to two weeks, except that the government may extend parole/emergency leave in special circumstances.
    • Odisha: Similarly, Odisha rules permit ‘furlough’ for up to four weeks, ‘parole leave’ up to 30 days and ‘special leave’ up to 12 days.
    • West Bengal: West Bengal provides for releasing a convict on ‘parole’ for a maximum period of one month and up to five days in case of any ‘emergency’.
    • Kerala: Kerala provides for 60 days of ‘ordinary leave’ in four spells, and up to 15 days ‘emergency leave’ at a time.

    Provision of ‘Custody parole’

    • Custody parole: Release of a prisoner, who is ineligible for a leave under the police escort for some hours for extreme emergency cases.
    • Custody parole In Haryana: A hardcore convict, who is ineligible for any parole or furlough, may be released for attending the funeral or marriage of a close relative under police escort for a period not exceeding six hours. Haryana has a long list of ‘hardcore’ prisoners who are not entitled to be released except on ‘custody parole’ under certain conditions.
    • In Tamil Nadu: In Tamil Nadu, police escort is given to a prisoner who is released on emergency leave and is dangerous to the community.
    • Kerala: Similarly, in Kerala, prisoners who are not eligible for emergency leave may be granted permission for visit under police escort for a maximum period of 24 hours.
    • States that do not permit such provision: Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and West Bengal do not permit release of habitual criminals and convicts, who are dangerous to society, under Sections 392 to 402 of the Indian Penal Code.

    rules

    The rules of set by the states vary in scope and content

    • Furlough is as incentive: While ‘furlough’ is considered as an incentive for good conduct in prison and is counted as a sentence served.
    • Parole: parole or leave is mostly a suspension of sentence. Emergency parole or leave is granted for specified emergencies such as a death, serious illness or marriage in the family. While most States consider only close relatives such as spouse, parents, son, daughter, brother and sister as close family, Kerala has a long list of more than 24 relatives in case of death and 10 in case of marriage.
    • Different circumstances in different states: Though regular parole or leave is granted after serving minimum sentence (varying from one year to four years) in prison, some States include other familial and social obligations such as sowing or harvesting of agricultural crops, essential repair of house, and settling family disputes. In Kerala, a convict becomes eligible for ordinary leave after serving one-third of a year in prison if he is sentenced for one year.
    • Concern raised: Despite the fact that temporary release cannot be availed of as a matter of right, the above provisions demonstrate that each State has its own set of rules which not only vary in scope and content, but may also be flouted to give favours to a few.

    Conclusion

    • Without any common legal framework in place to guide the States and check misuse, arbitrariness is likely to creep in, endangering the entire criminal justice system. With ‘prisons’ in the State List, this task is not feasible unless at least half of the States come together to request the Central government to legislate a common law for the country on parole and furlough.

    Mains question

    Q. What is parole or furlough? The entire criminal justice system in the country is in jeopardy due to lack of uniformity in rules. Discuss.

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  • Climate Change Negotiations – UNFCCC, COP, Other Conventions and Protocols

    Shortcomings in the climate justice negotiations

    6 December 2022 | op-ed snap | Environment
    Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    climate

    Context

    • In the climate negotiations, areas of interest to developing countries are not covered or sparsely covered, while other areas are over-regulated. Equitable sustainable development is not even discussed. At COP27, the policy debate was no longer legitimized by science.

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    Problems with the current negotiating process

    • Developed countries’ national emissions of C02 from consumption: citizens in developed countries are not even aware that two-thirds of their national emissions of carbon dioxide come from their diet, transport, and residential and commercial sectors, which together constitute the major share of their GDP; the consumption sectors are not independent silos but reflect their urban lifestyles.
    • Ignores urbanization and requirement of fossil fuels for developing countries: the process ignores that global well-being will also follow urbanisation of the developing country’s population, requiring fossil fuels for infrastructure and energy to achieve comparable levels.
    • Requirement of Infrastructure development in developing countries: the need for vast quantities of cement and steel in developing countries for infrastructure, constituting essential emissions, as they urbanise, is not being considered.

    climate

    Discussion missing on developing countries to pace up decarbonization

    • Late urbanization: As late urbanisers, developing countries account for more than half the annual emissions and most emissions growth.
    • Cannot afford new technologies: They cannot affordably access many of the new technologies to decarbonise quickly.
    • Not having a comparable level playing field: The result is a shrinking of their policy space and human rights, endangering efforts to achieve comparable levels of well-being with those who developed earlier without any constraints.

    Why the foundation of the Climate Treaty in international environmental law is questionable?

    • US interpretation in Stockholm Conference on the Environment (1972):  In the run-up to the Stockholm Conference, the United States Secretary of States stated that “urbanization has changed the nation with seventy five percent of its people living in the urban area. we must see ourselves not only as victims of environmental degradation but as environmental aggressors and change our patterns of consumption and production accordingly”.
    • Conclusion by scientific committee set up by the US: A scientific committee concluded that “long range planning to cope with global environmental problems must take account of the total ecological burden, controlling that burden by systematic reduction in per-capita production of goods and services would be politically unacceptable. A concerted effort is needed to orient technology toward making human demands upon the environment less severe”.
    • Power play on risk management but not on the technology transfer: Power play framed natural resource use around risk management rather than technology transfer and the well-being of all within ecological limits.

    climate

    Why climate negotiations are seen as Differentiated common responsibility?

    • Missing the objective: The objective of the Climate Treaty is to avoid a concentration of cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide, prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system and enable sustainable economic development.
    • Climate agreements and initiatives: The Paris Agreement (2015) agreed to a 1.5°C global temperature goal. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018 recommended that net emissions needed to zero out around 2050. In Glasgow, in 2021, negotiators zeroed in on coal to reduce future emissions.
    • Ignored the key findings of the IPCC report: This initiative was not based on science and it ignored the key finding of the IPCC on the centrality of the carbon budget, i.e., cumulative emissions associated with a specific amount of global warming that scientifically links the temperature goal to national action.
    • Carbon budget and the developing countries: Carbon budgets are robust as they can be estimated accurately from climate models. And, they are the most useful for policy as they couple the climate to the economy consistent with the science of both. The IPCC, in 2018, estimated the budget for a 50% chance of avoiding more than 1.5°C of warming to be 2,890 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (now, it is less than 400bn tonnes), raising the question on how late developers will attain comparable levels of wellbeing.

    Shortcomings in Climate justice

    • Climate injustice flows from the negotiations and not from the text of the Climate Treaty.
    • Rejected historical responsibility and shifted the burden: The process adopted the structure of international law in a manner that rejected historical responsibility for a continuing problem, and steadily shifted the burden to China and India.
    • The flaw in set agenda: The agenda was set around globalised material flows described as global warming (the symptom), and not wasteful use of energy.
    • Public finance is not materialised for actual objective: Public finance is used as a means to secure a political objective, and not to solve the problem itself. The $100 billion promised at Paris along with pre-2020 commitments constituting the incentive for developing countries to agree to a global temperature goal has not materialised. And, new funding for ‘Loss and Damage’ will be from a “mosaic of solutions”, constituting a breach of trust.
    • Longer term trend has been ignored: With one-sixth of the global population, the developed country share in 2035 will still be 30%. Asia’s emissions with half the world’s population will rise to 40% remaining within its carbon budget. Pressures to further reduce emissions displace their human rights.

    Conclusion

    • India’s thrust on LiFE (or “Lifestyle for Environment”), with the individual shifting from wasteful consumption of natural resources goes back to the original science. Consumption-based framing challenges the ‘universalism’ that has dominated the negotiations and its common path of reductions based on single models. The carbon budget formalizes a ‘diversity’ of solutions. For example, in developed countries, exchanging overconsumption of red meat for poultry can meet half the global emissions reduction required by the end of the century.

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

    SC offers to find solution to ‘deceitful conversions’

    6 December 2022 | | Indian Society
    Mains Paper 1: Communalism, Secularism, Regionalism

    The Supreme Court said that- acts of charity or good work to help a community or the poor should not cloak an intention to religiously convert them as payback.

    What did the SC say?

    • Conversion on the basis of a voluntarily felt belief in the deity of a different faith is different from belief gained through allurement.
    • The court said it would examine such veiled intentions behind religious conversions through allurement by offering food, medicines, treatment, etc.

    What is Religious Conversions?

    • Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others.
    • It is one of the most heated issues in the society and politics which can be defined as the adoption of any other religion or of a set of beliefs by the exclusion of other i.e. renouncing one religion and adopting another.
    • There are various reasons for which people do convert their religion like:
    1. Voluntary Conversions i.e. conversions by free choice or because of change of beliefs.
    2. Forceful Conversions i.e. conversions by coercion, undue influence or inducement.
    3. Marital Conversions i.e. conversions due to marriage.
    4. Conversion for convenience i.e. social mobility

    Constitutional ambiguity over conversions

    • The question whether ‘right to convert’ comes under the ambit of ‘right to propagate any religion’ holds fundamental importance to determine the constitutionality of anti-conversion laws.
    • Article 25 talks about the term “propagate” which means to promote or transmit or merely a freedom of expression.

    Why is this getting prominence in India?

    Selective persecution and religious marginalization is often debated in India due to religious conversions for:

    1. Ghar Wapsi
    2. Inter-faith Marriages (often termed as Love Jihad)

    What about Incentivised Conversions?

    • There are many cases of incentivized conversions for the poor sections of society in exchange for a dignified social life.

    For them, the solution lies in addressing the root issues:

    1. Ending discrimination
    2. Providing high-quality and free education to the poor and disenfranchised
    3. Improving access and quality of free health facilities and medicines
    4. Improving nourishment and
    5. Providing adequate employment opportunities to all

    How has Parliament handled anti-conversion bills?

    After independence, Parliament introduced a number of anti-conversion bills which were not enacted for want of majority approval.

    • In post-Independent India, the first Indian Conversion (Regulation and Registration) Bill, 1954, which sought to enforce “licensing of missionaries and the registration of conversion.”
    • This was followed by the introduction of the Backward Communities (Religious Protection) Bill, 1960, “which aimed at checking conversion of Hindus to ‘non-Indian religions’.
    • Non-India religions included Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism,.
    • The Freedom of Religion Bill in 1979, which sought “official curbs on inter-religious conversion.”

    Conclusion

    • Religious conversion gives new identity to the communities converted which in turn leads to social mobility.
    • Hence, anti-conversion amount to discrimination and a violation of the right to equality.
    • However, inter-faith marriages should not be pre-conditioned with religious conversion.
    • This certainly raises concerns for the majority of society.
    • Also mass conversions for the sake of revivalism should also not be promoted in any ways.

     

     

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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Exit Polls and their Regulation in India

    6 December 2022 | | Polity
    Mains Paper 2: Representation Of People’s Act

    poll

    As voting for Gujarat elections ended, exit polls are out on the news channels.

    What are Exit Polls?

    • An exit poll asks voters which political party they are supporting after they have cast their votes in an election.
    • In this, it differs from an opinion poll, which is held before the elections.
    • An exit poll is supposed to give an indication of which way the winds are blowing in an election, along with the issues, personalities, and loyalties that have influenced voters.
    • Today, exit polls in India are conducted by a number of organisations, often in tie-ups with media organisations.
    • The surveys can be conducted face to face or online.

    Issues with exit polls

    • Accuracy: Some common parameters for a good, or accurate, opinion poll would be a sample size that is both large and diverse, and a clearly constructed questionnaire without an overt bias.
    • Politicization: Political parties often allege that these polls are motivated, or financed by a rival party.
    • Manipulation for popularity: Critics also say that the results gathered in exit polls can be influenced by the choice, wording and timing of the questions, and by the nature of the sample drawn.

    History of exit polls in India

    • In 1957, during the second Lok Sabha elections, the Indian Institute of Public Opinion had conducted such a poll.

    Rules governing exit polls in India

    • In India, results of exit polls for a particular election are not allowed to be published till the last vote has been cast.
    • The issue of when exit polls should be allowed to be published has gone to the Supreme Court thrice in various forms.
    • Currently, exit polls can’t be telecast from before voting begins till the last phase concludes.

    Need of such polls

    • Popular opinion: Polls are simply a measurement tool that tells us how a population thinks and feels about any given topic.
    • Specific viewpoint: Polls tell us what proportion of a population has a specific viewpoint.
    • Opportunity to express: Opinion polling gives people who do not usually have access to the media an opportunity to be heard.

    Issues with such polls (in context of elections)

    • Authenticity: Critics have often questioned their authenticity.
    • Manipulation of voters: This largely manipulates voting behavior.
    • Sensationalization by media: The media, on the other hand, invariably opposes the idea of a ban as seat forecasts attract primetime viewership.
    • Ridiculing the public mandate: The exit polls largely disrespect public opinions inciting confusion regarding the election mandate.

    Why does it persist in India?

    Ans. Exercise of Free Speech

    • The opposition to the ban in India is mainly on the ground that freedom of speech and expression is granted by the Constitution (Article 19).
    • What is conveniently forgotten is that this freedom is not absolute and allows for “reasonable restrictions” in the same article.

    Limited restrictions that we have in India

    • RP Act: The Indian Penal Code and Representation of the People Act, 1951 do contain certain restrictions against disinformation.
    • Restrictions on A19: While the Constitution allows for reasonable restrictions on freedom of expression, its mandate to the ECI for free and fair elections is absolute.
    • Supreme Court interpretations: The Supreme Court (SC), in a series of judgments, has emphasized this requirement.
    • Basic structure doctrine: It considers free and fair elections is the basic structure of the Constitution (PUCL vs Union of India, 2003; NOTA judgment, 2013).

    How does it impact the election process?

    • Prevalence of paid news in India: Having seen “paid news” in action, it apprehends that some opinion polls may be sponsored, motivated and biased.
    • Opacity: Almost all polls are non-transparent, providing little information on the methodology.
    • Propaganda: Subtle propaganda on casteist, religious and ethnic basis as well as by the use of sophisticated means like the alleged poll surveys create public distrust in poll process.
    • Disinformation: With such infirmities, many “polls” amount to misinformation that can result in “undue influence”, which is an “electoral offense” under IPC Section 171 (C). It is a “corrupt practice” under section 123 (2) of the RP Act.
    • Betting: The polling agencies manipulate the margin of error, victory margin for candidates, seat projections for a party or hide negative findings.

    Way forward

    • Independent regulator: Ideally a body like the British Polling Council would be a viable option. India could set up its own professional, self-regulated body on the same lines say Indian Polling Council.
    • Mandatory disclosure: All polling agencies must disclose for scrutiny the sponsor, besides sample size, methodology, time frame, quality of training of research staff, etc.

     

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

    OBC Sub-Categorization Panel’s Report in ‘Final Stages’

    6 December 2022 | | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections

    After more than five years of its formation, the commission for the sub-categorization under Justice Rohini of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) is now in the final stages of finishing its task.

    Why in news?

    • The commission is expected to come up with a formula to further classify the nearly 3,000 caste groups and preparing a report on it.
    • This is perceived as crucial development before next Lok Sabha elections.

    OBCs and their sub-categorization

    • OBCs are granted 27% reservation in jobs and education under the central government.
    • In September 20202, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court reopened the legal debate on the sub-categorization of SCs and STs for reservations.
    • The debate arises out of the perception that only a few affluent communities among over 2,600 included in the Central List of OBCs have secured a major part of this 27% reservation.

    Need for sub-categorization

    • The argument for sub-categorization — or creating categories within OBCs for reservation — is that it would ensure “equitable distribution” of representation among all OBC communities.
    • To examine this, the Rohini Commission was constituted on October 2, 2017.
    • At that time, it was given 12 weeks to submit its report but has been given several extensions since, the latest one being the 10th.
    • Before the Rohini Commission was set up, the Centre had granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

    What are the Commission’s terms of reference?

    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-categorization 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.

    The fourth term of reference 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.

    Why so many extensions are being given?

    • This was added following a letter to the government from the Commission on July 30, 2019.
    • In process of preparing the sub-categorized central list of OBCs, the Commission has noted several ambiguities in the list as it stands now.
    • The Commission is of the opinion that these have to be clarified/rectified before the sub-categorized central list is prepared.

    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 (on sub-categorization).
    • Following the latest term of reference given (on January 22, 2020) to the Commission, it is studying the list of communities in the central list.

    How smooth has its work been?

    • 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.
    • On August 31, 2018, then Home Minister had announced that in Census 2021, data of OBCs will also be collected, but since then the government has been silent on this.
    • Many groups of OBCs have been demanding the enumeration of OBCs in the Census.

    What have its findings been so far?

    • In 2018, the Commission analyzed the data of 1.3 lakh central jobs given under OBC quota over the preceding five years and OBC admissions to central higher education institutions.
    • The findings were: 97% of all jobs and educational seats have gone to just 25% of all sub-castes classified as OBCs; 24.95% of these jobs and seats have gone to just 10 OBC communities.
    • 983 OBC communities — 37% of the total — have zero representation in jobs and educational institutions; 994 OBC sub-castes have a total representation of only 2.68% in recruitment and admissions.

     

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    What Ambedkar said about Buddhism ‘being better than Marxism’

    6 December 2022 | Prelims Only | History
    Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

    While his views on Buddhism being superior to other religions are well-known, Ambedkar also believed the Buddha’s path to be superior to the popular religion-rejecting philosophy, Marxism.

    Marxist view of religion

    • Marx saw religion as a conservative force that prevented social change by creating false consciousness.
    • Marx once said- “Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions.”
    • The end goal of Marxism is to achieve a classless society throughout the world.

    How Dr. Ambedkar compared Buddhism to Marxism?

    • Ambedkar has compared Buddhism with Marxism, saying that while both strive for the same end of a just and happy society.
    • The means propounded by Buddha are superior to those of Marx.
    • It is just simple that Marx was modern and Buddha ancient.
    • If the Marxists keep back their prejudices and study the Buddha and understand what he stood for I feel sure that they will change their attitude, Ambedkar writes.

    Similarities between the two

    • In showing the similarities between Buddhism and Marxism, Ambedkar first condenses the basic philosophy of both into neat bullet points.
    • For Buddhism, Dr. Ambedkar lists key points:
    1. The function of Religion is to reconstruct the world and to make it happy and not to explain its origin or its end;
    2. That private ownership of property brings power to one class and sorrow to another;
    3. That it is necessary for the good of Society that this sorrow be removed by removing its cause; and
    4. All human beings are equal.
    • Of Marx, he says all that is left “is a residue of fire”:
    1. The function of philosophy is to reconstruct the world and not to waste its time in explaining the origin of the world;
    2. That private ownership of property brings power to one class and sorrow to another through exploitation;
    3. That it is necessary for the good of society that the sorrow be removed by the abolition of private property.”

    How abolition of private property works under Buddhism?

    • Dr Ambedkar says Buddhism’s commitment to abolishment of private property is apparent in how its ‘Bhikshus’ give up all worldly goods.
    • He says the rules for Bhikhshus owning property or possessions are “far more rigorous than are to be found in communism in Russia.”
    • To establish a happy and fair society, the Buddha had laid down a path for believers.
    • The means adopted by the Buddha were to convert a man by changing his moral disposition to follow the path voluntarily.

    Key difference: Violent means

    • The means adopted by the Communists are equally clear, short and swift. They are (1) Violence and (2) Dictatorship of the Proletariat.
    • It is now clear what are the similarities and differences between Buddha and Karl Marx.
    • The differences are about the means. The end is common to both.
    • The driving force of India’s Constitution also says Buddha was a democrat.
    • As to Dictatorship, the Buddha would have none of it. He was born a democrat and he died a democrat, Ambedkar writes.

     

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Karl Marx explained the process of class struggle with the help of which one of the following theories?

    (a) Empirical liberalism.

    (b) Existentialism.

    (c) Darwin’s theory of evolution.

    (d) Dialectical materialism.

     

    Post your answers here.

     

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  • NPA Crisis

    What is First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG) System?

    6 December 2022 | Prelims Only | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Two months after the RBI issued guidelines on digital lending, banks, NBFCs and fintech players are still awaiting clarity on many aspects, including the First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG) system.

    What is FLDG System?

    • FLDG is an arrangement between a fintech company and regulated entity (RE), including banks and non-banking finance companies, wherein the fintech compensates the RE to a certain extent if the borrower defaults.
    • Under this, the fintech originates a loan and promises to compensate the partners up to a pre-decided percentage in case customers fail to repay.
    • The bank/NBFC partners lend through the fintech but from their own books.
    • FLDG helps expand the customer base of traditional lenders but relies on the fintechs underwriting capabilities.
    • FLDG is also seen as a validation of the fintechs underwriting capabilities for loans disbursed.

    Issues with FLDGs

    • A report by an RBI-constituted working group on digital lending has laid down risks of FLDG agreements with unregulated entities.
    • The other concern is that FLDG costs are often passed on to customers.

     

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