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Road and Highway Safety – National Road Safety Policy, Good Samaritans, etc.

Road safety in India

op-ed snap | Governance | : Government Scheme/Policies,Ministries & Departments Of The Government
Context
- A horrific car accident killed Cyrus Mistry and Jehangir Pandole. This tragedy got plenty of people thinking about road safety measures. Sadly, neither Mistry nor Pandole was wearing their rear-seat safety belts this highlights importance of following road safety norms.
What’s the meaning of road safety?
- Road safety means methods and measures aimed at reducing the likelihood or the risk of persons using the road network getting involved in a collision or an incident that may cause property damages, serious injuries and/or death.
What is road safety education?
- The aim of education, training and encouragement in Road Safety is to educate all road users in the proper and safe use of roads in order to change user attitudes and behaviour and to stimulate an awareness of the need for improvement in road safety.
What affects road safety?
- Several factors most notably speed, traffic density, flow, congestion, demographics (namely age gender and deprivation), driving behaviour (involving alcohol consumption, helmet or seat belt usage) and land use, such as residential or economic zones, were found to have mixed effects on road safety.
What are examples of road safety?
- Pedestrian crossing warning;
- Left turn driver assistance; and
- Approaching emergency vehicle warning.
Road Accidents in India A lookover
- In spite of several years of policymaking to improve road safety, India remains among the worst-performing countries in this area.
- Total 1,47,913 lives lost to road traffic accidents in 2017 as per Ministry of Road Transport and Highways statistics.
- The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figure for the same year is 1,50,093 road accident deaths.
Do you know?

The ‘golden hour’ has been defined as ‘the time period lasting one hour following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care.

Causes of Road Accidents in India
- Sub-standard roads: The life of roads is not good due to the substandard raw materials and potholes accidents caused.
- Traffic: The increasing traffic on roads and conditions of roads are not proportionate to each other.
- Use of mobile phone: Most of the people are on call while driving thus they drive recklessly and accidents happen as most of the Indians now have mobile phones.
- Drunk Driving: Drinking makes people lose the ability to focus and function properly. This makes it dangerous for the driver to operate the vehicle.
- Dis-obedience for traffic rules: Indian drivers are quick to learn to drive but they don’t learn traffic rules and the purpose of such rules.
- Malpractices: Malpractices such as over-speeding, triple riding, underage driving, etc are reducing the safety of road users.
- Implementation drawbacks: Police are supposed to execute the rules but, it may be a lack of workforce or lack of intention, they also fail to execute.
- Corrupt practices: Mostly police use the rules to mint money either officially by Chalan or in person.
Key data for value addition

Despite being home to only 1% of the world’s vehicles, India shoulders 11% of the global road crash fatality burden.

Various Policy Initiatives by government
- Road Safety: In the area of road safety, the Act proposes to increase penalties to act as deterrent against traffic violations. Stricter provisions are being proposed in respect of offences like juvenile driving, drunken driving, driving without licence, dangerous driving, over-speeding, overloading etc. Stricter provisions for helmets have been introduced along with provisions for electronic detection of violations.
- Vehicle Fitness: Automated fitness testing for vehicles has been made mandatory. This would reduce corruption in the transport department while improving the road worthiness of the vehicle. Penalty has been provided for deliberate violation of safety/environmental regulations as well as for body builders and spare part suppliers.
- Recall of Vehicles: The Act allows the central government to order for recall of motor vehicles if a defect in the vehicle may cause damage to the environment, or the driver, or other road users.
- Road Safety Board: A National Road Safety Board, to be created by the central government through a notification to advise the central and state governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management. This would include standards of motor vehicles, registration and licensing of vehicles, standards for road safety, and promotion of new vehicle technology.
- Protection of Good Samaritan: The Act lays down the guidelines and provides rules to prevent harassment of Good Samaritan to encourage people to help road accident victims.
- Cashless Treatment during Golden Hour: The Act provides for a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims during golden hour.
Value addition for good marks

The 4 ‘E’ Approach
- The Government of India put forth Engineering, Economy, Enforcement and Education as the fundamental areas to focus on in order to ensure road safety.
Way forward
- Road safety education from the primary level: Those already using our roads and driving or riding on it could have formed bad habits that are difficult to change or undo. So it’s important that we catch them young and start educating children on road safety and correct behaviour on the road.
- Better first aid and paramedic care: In most cases, the public and police are the first ones to reach the site of an accident. But sadly, neither has any first aid training and the police don’t even have even simple things like a first aid box or stretcher. This initial trauma care has to improve.
- Stricter criteria for driving licenses: Fortunately, the government has recognized the need for this, and getting a driving license is no longer as easy as before. Lots of the process has been digitalized and made more stringent. But it’s still far from perfect and lots more needs to be done
- Better road design, maintenance, and signage: Many of our roads are poorly designed with badly placed junctions, acute corners, uneven gradients, sudden speed-breakers, etc. And this is made worse by poor road maintenance and many accidents occur because a driver suddenly swerves to avoid a pothole.
- Heavy crackdown against non-compliance: This is one of the leading causes of road accidents in India and while we do have strict laws, the enforcement, particularly on our highways is quite lax. Consumption of drugs by truck drivers while driving is rampant, and this needs to stop completely.
- Stricter enforcement of traffic rules: The Amended Motor Vehicles Act has higher penalties and punishment to deter people from committing traffic offenses and driving rashly. It’s high time we enforced our traffic rules and imposed discipline while driving and using the road.
- Encouraging better road behaviour: The people should motivate themselves to behave in a better manner on the road. The campaigns such as “Be the Better Guy”, need to be applauded, encouraged and expanded.
Mains question

Q. In spite of several years of policymaking to improve road safety, India remains among the worst-performing countries in this area. Critically analyse.

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Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

India- China disengage at LAC friction points in Ladakh

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations
India and China have announced that their Armies have begun to disengage from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot springs area at LAC.

What is LAC- the Line of Actual Control?
- The LAC is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.
- India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km.
- It is divided into three sectors: the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the western sector in Ladakh.
- The LAC is only a concept – it is not agreed upon by the two countries, neither delineated on a map nor demarcated on the ground.
What is the disagreement?
- The alignment of the LAC in the eastern sector is along the 1914 McMahon Line, and there are minor disputes about the positions on the ground as per the principle of the high Himalayan watershed.
- The major disagreements are in the western sector where the LAC emerged from two letters written by Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai to PM Jawaharlal Nehru in 1959, after he had first mentioned such a ‘line’ in 1956.
When did India accept the LAC?
- The LAC was discussed during Chinese Premier Li Peng’s 1991 visit to India, where PM P V Narasimha Rao and Li reached an understanding to maintain peace and tranquillity at the LAC.
- India formally accepted the concept of the LAC when Rao paid a return visit to Beijing in 1993 and the two sides signed the Agreement to Maintain Peace and Tranquillity at the LAC.
- The reference to the LAC was unqualified to make it clear that it was not referring to the LAC of 1959 or 1962 but to the ‘LAC’ at the time when the agreement was signed.
- To reconcile the differences about some areas, the two countries agreed that the Joint Working Group on the border issue would take up the task of clarifying the alignment of the LAC.
How was the disengagement carried on?
- As per the understanding reached earlier on disengagement, a buffer zone is to be created at the friction points.
- Once troops are withdrawn by both sides, new patrolling norms are to be worked out after complete disengagement and de-escalation.
Why sudden disengagement?
- The move comes ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan next week.
- However, neither side has, so far, confirmed if the two leaders would hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit.
- The leaders have not spoken to each other since a November 2019 meeting during the BRICS Summit in Brasilia and the beginning of the stand-off in April 2020.
Significance of the disengagement
- Since the stand-off began in May 2020, the two sides have so far held 16 rounds of talks.
- Earlier, disengagement was undertaken from both sides of Pangong Tso in February 2021, and from PP-17 in the Gogra-Hot springs area in August, in addition to Galwan in 2020 after the violent clash.
- The friction points that remain now are Demchok and Depsang, which China has constantly refused to accept, maintaining that they are not a part of the current stand-off.
What was the dispute over LAC?
- In what was the worst clash between the two countries in over 40 years, the Galwan incident reverberated around the world.
- The casualties in the clash were the first in the disputed Sino-Indian border since 1975.
- The Galwan episode led to a rapid build-up of forces on both sides of the Line of Actual Control.
- This incident is being seen as major punctuation in the bilateral relations between India and China and what does the future hold for both neighbors.
Why did India change its stance on the Line of Actual Control?
- Indian and Chinese patrols were coming in more frequent contact during the mid-1980s.
- This was after the government formed a China Study Group in 1976 which revised the patrolling limits, rules of engagement and pattern of Indian presence along the border.
Is the LAC also the claim line for both countries?
- Not for India. India’s claim line is the line seen in the official boundary marked on the maps as released by the Survey of India, including both Aksai Chin and Gilgit-Baltistan.
- In China’s case, it corresponds mostly to its claim line, but in the eastern sector, it claims entire Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet.
- However, the claim lines come into question when a discussion on the final international boundaries takes place, and not when the conversation is about a working border, say the LAC.
Why are these claim lines controversial in Ladakh?
- When the Shimla Agreement on the McMahon Line was signed by British India, Aksai Chin in Ladakh province of the princely state of J&K was not part of British India, although it was a part of the British Empire.
- Thus, the eastern boundary was well defined in 1914 but in the west in Ladakh, it was not.
- India, in July 1948, had two maps: one had no boundary shown in the western sector, only a partial colour wash; the second one extended the colour wash in yellow to the entire state of J&K, but mentioned “boundary undefined”.
Way forward
- The impasse in India-China relations CANNOT be overcome by more talks through diplomatic and military channels, and possibly require the intervention of the top leadership of both countries.
- Therefore, as Dr. Jaishankar put it, the management of the fissures within Asia will require adherence to established laws, norms, and rules.
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Foreign Policy Watch: India-Pakistan

Floods in Pakistan and the pulls and pressures of India-Pak Disaster Diplomacy

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations
Pakistan

Prime Minister Modi has tweeted his condolences and hoped for an early restoration of normalcy in flood devastated Pakistan.

Why in news?
- The statement by the PM last month came as a surprise to many.
- This is on the grounds of steady deterioration of ties over the last eight years since Modi came to power.
PM Modi and Pakistan

(A) Early failure
- PM Modi had famously begun his tenure with an invitation to Pakistan’s then PM Nawaz Sharif for the swearing-in ceremony in May 2014.
- Sharif had come to India, along with the leaders of other SAARC nations.
- This gesture promised a new beginning for the bilateral relationship that had suffered a severe setback after the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008.
- However, a string of incidents followed, the terrorist attacks in Pathankot and Uri — impacted the relationship negatively, and New Delhi made it clear that “talks and terror can’t go together”.
(B) India strengthens resolute
- Ties have been hit further over the last few years, especially after the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019, and the abrogation of Article 370 in August that year.
- That led to the downsizing of the High Commissions in both capitals; there are no full-time High Commissioners in either country now.
Change of PM in Pak
- After the ouster of Imran Khan, and the coming to power of the new coalition government led by PM Shehbaz Sharif, some positive noises have emanated from Islamabad.
- India however reiterated the desired peace and stability in a region free of terrorism.
- New Pak PM criticized his predecessor, Imran Khan, for not making “serious and diplomatic efforts” when India abrogated Article 370 in August 2019.
Responses to disasters

In the past, when natural disasters struck India and Pakistan, the two countries at times reached out to each other with offers of help.
- Bhuj earthquake: For example, in January-February 2001, after the earthquake hit Bhuj in Gujarat, Pakistan had reached out with help, and had sent tents and blankets for the survivors.
- 2005 earthquake: A powerful earthquake struck both India and Pakistan, India sent aircraft with relief supplies to Pakistan and pledged $ 25 million through the United Nations to support Pakistan’s relief efforts.
In 2010, when a “superflood” — the worst in recent decades until the deluge of 2022 — hit Pakistan, India offered $ 5 million in help, but Islamabad declined to accept it.

The case for help now
- Though there has not been much follow-up activity, the PM Modi’s outreach by way of a message created a potential opening for “disaster diplomacy”.
- Pakistan’s Finance Minister said that the government can consider importing vegetables and other edible items from India following the destruction of standing crops due to the floods.
- Prices of vegetables and fruit have gone through the roof as supplies from Balochistan, Sindh, and south Punjab especially, have been badly affected.
Why should India respond?
- For the Indian government, the case for extending humanitarian help ties in well with its desire to project itself as the “first responder” in times of disaster and crisis in the neighbourhood.
- In recent months and years, India has extended its hand of help and cooperation to the Maldives, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, and Afghanistan.
- Trucks filled with Indian grain have travelled to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan via Pakistan.
What is Pakistan’s position?
- Pakistan’s establishment (none other but Pak Army) has discussed the possibility of getting food grains through international organisations, who want to send relief material from India.
- The help from India can be at the micro and short-term level: food, fuel, tents, medicines, and emergency essential supplies.
- At the macro and medium-to-long-term, it could involve help in the reconstruction of damaged homes and properties, and the archaeological site of Mohenjo Daro, part of the cultural heritage of both countries.
- India’s healthcare can be of help in the post-floods scenario — dengue is already on the rise, and diseases such as typhoid are expected to spike sharply.
Issues in re-engagement
- Some in the Indian establishment believe that the government’s stated policy of talks and terror can’t go together, and the extending of help to Pakistan are at odds with each other.
- For New Delhi, the decision is as much about projecting power as a global responder as with managing the ruling party’s domestic political base.
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Human Development Report by UNDP

India ranks 132 in HDI as score drops

IOCR | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Issues relating growth and development, employment
hdi

India ranks 132 out of 191 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) 2021, after registering a decline in its score over two consecutive years for the first time in three decades.

What is Human Development Index (HDI)?
- The HDI combines indicators of life expectancy, education or access to knowledge and income or standard of living, and captures the level and changes to the quality of life.
- The index initially launched as an alternative measure to the gross domestic product, is the making of two acclaimed economists from Pakistan and India, namely Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen.
- It stresses the centrality of human development in the growth process and was first rolled out by the United Nations Development Programme in 1990.
Dimensions of the Human Development Index – HDI
- The idea that progress should be conceived as a process of enlarging people’s choices and enhancing their capabilities is the central premise of the HDI.
- Since its launch, the HDI has been an important marker of attempts to broaden measures of progress.
- The HDI considers three main dimensions to evaluate the development of a country:
1. Long and healthy life
2. Education
3. Standard of living
Limitations of HDI

HDR has been always disputable and has caught the public-eye, whenever it was published. It has many reasons.

One of them is that the concept of human development is much deeper and richer than what can be caught in any index or set of indicators. Another argument is that its concept has not changed since 1990 when it was also defined in the first.

(1) An incomplete indicator
- Human development is incomplete without human freedom and that while the need for qualities judgement is clear; there is no simple quantitative measure available yet to capture the many aspects of human freedom.
- HDI also does not specifically reflect quality of life factors, such as empowerment movements or overall feelings of security or happiness.
(2) Limited idea of development
- The HDI is not reflecting the human development idea accurately.
- It is an index restricted to the socio-economic sphere of life; the political and civil spheres are in the most part kept separate.
- Hence there is a sub-estimation of inequality among countries, which means that this dimension is not being taken into consideration appropriately.
(3) A vague concept
- Concerning data quality and the exact construction of the index HDI is conceptually weak and empirically unsound.
- This strong critic comes from the idea that both components of HDI are problematic. The GNP in developing countries suffers from incomplete coverage, measurement errors and biases.
- The definition and measurement of literacy are different among countries and also, this data has not been available since 1970 in a significant number of countries.
(4) Data quality issues
- The HDI, as a combination of only four relatively simple indicators, doesn’t only raise a questions what other indicators should be included, but also how to ensure quality and comparable input data.
- It is logical that the UNDP try to collect their data from international organizations concentrating in collecting data in specific fields.
- Quality and trustworthiness of those data is disputable, especially when we get the information from UN non-democratic members, as for example Cuba or China.
(5) A tool for mere comparison
- The concept of HDI was set up mainly for relative comparison of countries in one particular time.
- HDI is much better when distinguishing between countries with low and middle human development, instead of countries at the top of the ranking.
- Therefore, the original notion was not to set up an absolute ranking, but let’s quite free hands in comparison of the results.
(6) Development has to be greener
- The human development approach has not adequately incorporated environmental conditions which may threaten long-term achievements on human development. The most pervasive failure was on environmental sustainability.
- However, for the first time in 2020, the UNDP introduced a new metric to reflect the impact caused by each country’s per-capita carbon emissions and its material footprint.
- This is Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI or PHDI. It measured the amount of fossil fuels, metals and other resources used to make the goods and services it consumes.
(7) Wealth can never equate welfare
- Higher national wealth does not indicate welfare. GNI may not necessarily increase economic welfare; it depends on how it is spent.
- For example, if a country spends more on military spending – this is reflected in higher GNI, but welfare could actually be lower.
Significance of HDI
- It is one of the few multidimensional indices as it includes indicators such as literacy rate, enrollment ratio, life expectancy rate, infant mortality rate, etc.
- It acts as a true yardstick to measure development in real sense.
- Unlike per capital income, which only indicates that a rise in per capital income implies economic development; HDI considers many other vital social indicators and helps in measuring a nation’s well-being.
- It helps as a differentiating factor to distinguish and classify different nations on the basis of their HDI ranks.
Way forward
- Both sustainable development and poverty eradication are both long-term and urgent endeavours, requiring not only the gradual and substantial redirection of country policies but a rapid response to pressing problems.
- Ideally, sustainable development could provide an overarching framework within which all sub-goals (eg poverty eradication, social equality, ecosystem maintenance, climate compatibility) are framed.
- It is not a subset of development; it is development (in a modern world of resource limits).
- Environmental issues are not one factor among many but the meta-context within which poverty and other goals are sought.
- Investing more in public research could lead to technological solutions to poverty and sustainability problems becoming more rapidly and openly available.
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Primary and Secondary Education – RTE, Education Policy, SEQI, RMSA, Committee Reports, etc.

Mother Tongue as a medium of instruction

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education
Context
- English should be taught effectively not as the medium, but as a second language
What is the debate?
- Over the years, there has been a raging debate over the need for children to have their mother tongue as the medium of instruction in schools.
- While educationists have emphasised the importance of learning in the mother tongue to enhance a child’s learning and overcome glaring inequities, there has been an equally steady demand for English-medium schools in several States.
Historic context to this debate
- Orientalist: Orientalists were the group of people who wanted to give education to Indian people in the Indian language. The emphasis was on the knowledge of the East. They wanted Indians to learn about Indian philosophy, science, and literature. In the Initial stage, company officials favoured oriental learning.
- Anglicist: Anglicists were those people who supported the teaching of modern western education to Indian people in the English language. People who favoured Anglicists were Thomas Babington, Macaulay, James’s mill, Charles wood, Charles Trevelyan, and Elphinstone. The Anglicists were supported by the most advanced Indians like Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
Why mother tongue is important?
- Suitability to child: There is an almost-complete consensus among educationists, linguistic experts and psychologists that the mother tongue, or the language of the region where the child lives, is the only appropriate language of learning for the child.
- Incomprehension: A child can be taught any number of languages, particularly later in life, but the medium of learning should be the mother tongue. As a number of classrooms today are stalked by the curse of incomprehension.
- Pressure of English language: There are a growing number of schools, mostly private, that teach in English. Government schools too in States like Tamil Nadu, unable to bear the pressure from parents and to stop students from migrating to private schools, are switching to English medium.
- Development in every way: The mother tongue, home language or the first language educationally means the language which the child is using to connect to the world, to people, to nature, to the environment, and to make sense of everything that’s going on. This is the language which helps the child to build, grow and develop in every way.
- Inability to learn: English medium education is a profound tragedy in Indian education today. Millions are languishing because of their inability to learn in English not English as a language but as a medium through which they acquire any knowledge of any subject.
Why English Should Be the Medium of Instruction in Schools, Colleges?
- Connectivity with The Rest of the World: To communicate and be on par with the world, the first language that stands common is English. With English, a student can remain on par with what is happening across the globe. Lack of English knowledge or alone mother tongue does not allow children to progress with the rest of the world.
- Technologies Can Be Used Only With English Instruction: Most of the modern technologies are invented, reinvented and modernized in foreign shores. The inventors keep the English language for the instruction manual of the technological gadget so that the gadget can be used worldwide.
- Higher Education Emphasizes on The English language: The main focus of teaching medium in higher secondary as well as in graduation and post-graduation colleges in India. There is no doubt that lecturers also teach in Hindi or other regional languages. However, question design comes in both English and regional language. But most of the classes are taught in English.
How multilingual approach helps
- Firstly, multilingualism gives equal status to all languages and there’s enough work, history and research on this.
- Second, children come from different backgrounds, and in some cases, they are first-generation learners with not much support at home.
- The multilingual approach thus, is much more flexible, closer to the child, and inclusive. It is democratic, and it accepts that the teacher is not coming from a place of authority and is only correcting spellings and pronunciations.
Conclusion
- This myth must be broken that our education system is class and caste neutral. A powerful political movement will have to take place to make the language of learning a choice that is made democratically.
Mains question

Q. Should the mother tongue or English be the medium of instruction? Critically explain.

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Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

Global pandemic treaty to avert future mishap

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Effect Of Policies & Politics Of World On India’S Interests
Context
- The outline of an essential global pandemic treaty.
Purpose of the treaty
- A pandemic treaty under the umbrella of the World Health Organization would build coherence and avoid fragmentation of response.
Severity of this pandemic demands such treaty
- COVID-19 would count as being among some of the most severe pandemics the world has seen in the last 100 years. An estimated 18 million people may have died from COVID-19, according various credible estimates, a scale of loss not seen since the Second World War.
- Further, with over 120 million people pushed into extreme poverty, and a massive global recession, no single government or institution has been able to address this emergency singlehandedly.
- This has given us a larger perspective of how nobody is safe until everybody is safe.
Catchy line for value addition

Nobody is safe until everybody is safe

There is widespread inequity in healthcare
- Gross inequity in distribution: Health-care systems have been stretched beyond their capacity and gross health inequity has been observed in the distribution of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics across the world.
- Irreversible consequences: While high-income economies are still recovering from the aftereffects, the socioeconomic consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic are irreversible in low and low middle-income countries.
- The monopolies: Held by pharma majors such as Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna created at least nine new billionaires since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and made over $1,000 a second in profits, even as fewer of their vaccines reached people in low-income countries.
- Skewed distribution: As of March 2022, only 3% of people in low-income countries had been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 60.18% in high-income countries. The international target to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population against COVID-19 by mid-2022 was missed because poorer countries were at the “back of the queue” when vaccines were rolled out.
India’s lead role
- Dynamic response: India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reinstating global equity by leveraging its own potential has set an example to legislators worldwide.
- Vaccine diplomacy: India produces nearly 60% of the world’s vaccines and is said to account for 60%-80% of the United Nations’ annual vaccine procurement “vaccine diplomacy” or “vaccine maitri” with a commitment against health inequity.
- We lead by example: India was unfettered in its resolve to continue the shipment of vaccines and other diagnostics even when it was experiencing a vaccine shortage for domestic use. There was only a brief period of weeks during the peak of the second wave in India when the vaccine mission was halted.
- A classic example of global cooperation: As of 2021, India shipped 594.35 lakh doses of ‘Made-in-India’ COVID-19 vaccines to 72 countries a classic example of global cooperation. Among these, 81.25 lakh doses were gifts, 339.67 lakh doses were commercially distributed and 173.43 lakh doses were delivered via the Covax programme under the aegis of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Why the treaty is needed for?
- Data sharing: A treaty should cover crucial aspects such as data sharing and genome sequencing of emerging viruses.
- Rapid response mechanism: It should formally commit governments and parliaments to implement an early warning system and a properly funded rapid response mechanism.
- Health investments: Further, it should mobilise nation states to agree on a set of common metrics that are related to health investments and a return on those investments. These investments should aim to reduce the public-private sector gap.
Conclusion
- A global pandemic treaty will not only reduce socioeconomic inequalities across nation states but also enhance a global pandemic preparedness for future health emergencies. India must take the lead in this.
Mains question

Q. Nobody is safe until everybody is safe. What do you understand by this? Why there is need of global pandemic treaty?.

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Waste Management – SWM Rules, EWM Rules, etc

Ban on Single-Use Plastics

Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Since July 1, 2022, India has banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of single-use plastics (SUP) items with low utility and high littering potential.

What are single-use plastics?
- Single-use plastics, often also referred to as disposable plastics, are commonly used for plastic packaging and include items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled.
- These include, among other items, grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups and cutlery.
Why are single-use plastics harmful?
- The purpose of single-use plastics is to use them once or for a short period of time before disposing of them. Plastic waste has drastic impacts on the environment and human health.
- There is a greater likelihood of single-use plastic products ending up in the sea than reusable ones.
SUP ban in India
- India has taken resolute steps to mitigate pollution caused by littered single-use plastics.
- A number of items are banned, including earbuds with plastic sticks, balloon sticks, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol) for decorations, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straws etc.
- India has also banned plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers, etc.
What is the impact on the environment?

[A] Solid Waste generation
- The disposal of plastics is one of the least recognized and most highly problematic areas of plastic’s ecological impact.
- Ironically, one of plastic’s most desirable traits: its durability and resistance to decomposition, is also the source of one of its greatest liabilities when it comes to the disposal of plastics.
- A very small amount of total plastic production (less than 10%) is effectively recycled; the remaining plastic is sent to landfills.
- It is destined to remain entombed.
[B] Ecological Impact

(i) Groundwater and soil pollution
- Plastic is a material made to last forever, and due to the same chemical composition, plastic cannot biodegrade; it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces.
- When buried in a landfill, plastic lies untreated for years.
- In the process, toxic chemicals from plastics drain out and seep into groundwater, flowing downstream into lakes and rivers.
- The seeping of plastic also causes soil pollution and have now started resulting in presence of micro plastics in soil.
(ii) Water Pollution
- The increased presence of plastic on the ocean surface has resulted in more serious problems.
- Since most of the plastic debris that reaches the ocean remains floating for years as it does not decompose quickly, it leads to the dropping of oxygen level in the water.
- It has severely affected the survival of marine species.
- When oceanic creatures and even birds consume plastic inadvertently, they choke on it which causes a steady decline in their population.
- In addition to suffocation, ingestion, and other macro-particulate causes of death in larger birds, fish, and mammals.
[C] Health Hazards
- Burning of plastic results into formation of a class of flame retardants called as Halogens.
- Collectively, these harmful chemicals are known to cause the following severe health problems: cancer, neurological damage, endocrine disruption, birth defects and child developmental disorders etc.
Ban elsewhere
- India is not the first country to ban single-use plastics.
- Bangladesh became the first country to ban thin plastic bags in 2002; New Zealand banned plastic bags in July 2019.
- China had issued a ban on plastic bags in 2020 with a phased implementation.
- As of July 2019, 68 countries have plastic bag bans with varying degrees of enforcement.
What are the plastic waste management rules in India?
- With effect from September 30, 2021 India has the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021.
- It prohibited the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of plastic carry bags whose thickness is less than 75 microns.
- From December 31, 2022, plastic carry bags whose thickness is less than 120 microns will be banned.
- It means that the ban does not cover all plastic bags; however, it requires the manufacturers to produce plastic bags thicker than 75 microns which was earlier 50 microns.
- As per the notification, the standard shall be increased to 120 microns in December this year.
What is the role of the manufacturer?
- In addition, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2022 on February 16, 2022.
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is the responsibility of a producer for the environmentally sound management of the product until the end of its life.
- The guidelines provide a framework to strengthen the circular economy of plastic packaging waste, promote the development of new alternatives to plastic packaging and provide the next steps for moving towards sustainable plastic packaging by businesses.
Various steps taken
- The Indian government has taken steps to promote innovation and create an ecosystem for accelerated adoption and availability of alternatives across the country.
- To ensure the effective enforcement of the ban, national and State-level control rooms will be established, as well as special enforcement teams for the purpose of checking the illegal sale and use of single-use plastics.
- To prevent the movement of banned single-use plastic items between States and Union Territories, border checkpoints have been established.
- In an effort to empower citizens to help curb the plastic menace, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has launched a grievance redressal application.
What are the challenges?
- The ban will succeed only if all stakeholders participate enthusiastically and engage in effective engagement and concerted actions.
- However, if we look back at our past, almost 25 Indian States previously banned plastic at the state level.
- However, these bans had a very limited impact in reality because of the widespread use of these items.
- Now the challenge is to see how the local level authorities will enforce the ban in accordance with the guidelines.
- Banned items such as earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, etc., are non-branded items and it is difficult to find out who the manufacturer is and who is accountable.
Way forward
- The consumer needs to be informed about the ban through advertisements, newspaper or TV commercials, or on social media.
- In order to find sustainable alternatives, companies need to invest in research and development.
- The solution to the plastic pollution problem is not the responsibility of the government alone, but of industries, brands, manufacturers and most importantly consumers.
- Finding alternatives to plastic seems a little difficult, however, greener alternatives to plastic may be considered a sustainable option.
- For example, compostable and bio-degradable plastic, etc., may be considered as an option.
- While the total ban on the use of plastic sounds a great idea, its feasibility seems difficult at this hour, especially in the absence of workable alternatives.
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Minority Issues – SC, ST, Dalits, OBC, Reservations, etc.

Positive Secularism is allowed: Student to SC in hijab case

| Indian Society | : Communalism, Secularism, Regionalism
India believes in ‘positive secularism’ based on tolerance of all religious faiths and not ‘negative secularism’ followed in countries like France which holds that display of religion in public is offensive, said a student from Karnataka who has challenged the ban on wearing hijab to school.

What is Positive Secularism?
- Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civic affairs and the state.
- It may be broadened to a similar position seeking to remove or to minimize the role of religion in any public sphere.
- Positive secularism is where the state plays an enabler role in the exercise of fundamental rights and the religious freedoms of all communities.
What did the petitioner argue?
- The petitioner replied that the Constitution itself says that all religions have to be treated with equal respect.
- It said that the Supreme Court has also held in the Aruna Roy Judgment that there should be no discrimination on the ground of any religion.
- It went on to say that the State should show ‘reasonable accommodation’ of Muslim students’ right to wear hijab to school as a part of her right to expression, religion and dignity.
Circumstances where hijab can be prohibited in school

The State can only restrict her right in three circumstances, the petition highlighted.
1. One, to protect public order, morality and health.
2. Two, to protect another fundamental right.
3. Three, if such a restriction is authorised by a law made to regulate or restrict any economic, financial, political or secular activity which may be associated with religious practice or to provide for social welfare and reform.
What was the judgment announced by Karnataka HC?
- The HC held that wearing hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam and is not, therefore, protected under by the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution.
- The court said it was a reasonable restriction that was constitutionally permissible.
- The Bench also upheld the legality of the order prescribing guidelines for uniforms in schools and pre-university colleges under the provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983.
- The court said that school uniform will cease to be a uniform if hijab is also allowed.
Also read

[Burning Issue] Freedom of religion and attire

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Food Processing Industry: Issues and Developments

Mandatory requirements for Packaged Commodities

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Food Processing & Related Industries In India
The Department of Consumer Affairs, Legal Metrology Division has notified a draft amendment to the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011 making some compulsions.

Discrepancies over Packaged Commodities
- The Division has observed that many manufacturers/packagers/importers do not clearly label necessary declarations or prime constituents on the front of packaged commodities.
- It is common for consumers to assume that brands’ claims are accurate, but such claims are usually misleading.
- Such disclosure are deemed essential in order to protect consumer rights.
What are the mandatory provisions under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011?
- It is mandatory under the Rules, to ensure a number of declarations, such as the:
1. Name and address of the manufacturer/packer/importer,
2. Country of origin,
3. Common or generic name of the commodity,
4. Net quantity,
5. Month and year of manufacture
6. Maximum Retail Price (MRP) and
7. Consumer care information.
- As a consumer-oriented policy, all pre-packaged commodities should also be inspected.
- Rule 9(1)(a) provides that the declaration on the package must be legible and prominent.
- The consumers’ ‘right to be informed’ is violated when important declarations are not prominently displayed on the package.
What are the proposed amendments?
- As many blended food and cosmetic products are sold on the market, the key constituents need to be mentioned on the product packaging.
- Additionally, the front side of the package must contain the percentage of the composition of the unique selling proposition (USP).
- Also, packages displaying key constituents must display a percentage of the content used to make the product.
- The new amendments has suggested that at least two prime components should be declared on the package’s front side along with the brand name.
- Currently, manufacturers list the ingredients and nutritional information only on the back of the packaging.
- This declaration must also include the percentage/quantity of the USPs of the product in the same font size as the declaration of the USPs. However, mechanical or electrical commodities are excluded from this sub-rule.
Back2Basics: Consumer Rights

Consumer right is an insight into what rights consumer holds when it comes to the seller who provides the goods.

In general, the consumer rights in India are listed below:

(1) Right to Safety
- Means right to be protected against the marketing of goods and services, which are hazardous to life and property.
- The purchased goods and services should not only meet their immediate needs, but also fulfil long term interests.
- Before purchasing, consumers should insist on the quality of the products as well as on the guarantee of the products and services. They should preferably purchase quality marked products such as ISI, AGMARK, etc.
(2) Right to be Informed
- Means right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices.
- Consumer should insist on getting all the information about the product or service before making a choice or a decision.
- This will enable him to act wisely and responsibly and also enable him to desist from falling prey to high pressure selling techniques.
(3) Right to Choose
- Means right to be assured, wherever possible of access to variety of goods and services at competitive price. In case of monopolies, it means right to be assured of satisfactory quality and service at a fair price.
- It also includes right to basic goods and services. This is because unrestricted right of the minority to choose can mean a denial for the majority of its fair share.
(4) Right to be Heard
- Means that consumer’s interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums. It also includes right to be represented in various forums formed to consider the consumer’s welfare.
(5) Right to Seek redressal
- Means right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers. It also includes right to fair settlement of the genuine grievances of the consumer.
- Consumers must make complaint for their genuine grievances. Many a times their complaint may be of small value but its impact on the society as a whole may be very large.
(6) Right to Consumer Education
- Means the right to acquire the knowledge and skill to be an informed consumer throughout life.
- Ignorance of consumers, particularly of rural consumers, is mainly responsible for their exploitation.
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Food Procurement and Distribution – PDS & NFSA, Shanta Kumar Committee, FCI restructuring, Buffer stock, etc.

Agriculture Supply Chain

op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Agriculture and related issues
Context
- Disruption of supply chains due to Ukraine war has implications for India’s food security
What is supply chain in simple words?
- A supply chain is the network of all the individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technology involved in the creation and sale of a product.
Is supply chain management related to agriculture?
- Agribusiness, supply chain management (SCM) implies managing the relationships between the businesses responsible for the efficient production and supply of products from the farm level to the consumers to meet consumers’ requirements reliably in terms of quantity, quality and price.
What are two types of food chain?
- Agriculture food supply chains for fresh agricultural products: (such as fresh vegetables, flowers, fruit). In general, these chains may comprise growers, auctions, wholesalers, importers and exporters, retailers and speciality shops and their input and service suppliers. Basically, all of these stages leave the intrinsic characteristics of the product grown or produced untouched. The main processes are the handling, conditioned storing, packing, transportation and especially trading of these goods.
- Agriculture food supply chains for processed food products: (such as portioned meats, snacks, juices, desserts, canned food products). In these chains, agricultural products are used as raw materials for producing consumer products with higher added value. In most cases, conservation and conditioning processes extend the shelf-life of the products.
Supply chain issues
- Shelf-life constraints for raw materials, intermediates and finished products and changes in product quality level while progressing the supply chain (decay).
- High volume, low variety (although the variety is increasing) production systems.
- Importance of production planning and scheduling focusing on high capacity utilization.
- Highly sophisticated capital-intensive machinery leading to the need to maintain capacity utilization.
- Variable process yield in quantity and quality due to biological variations, seasonality, random factors connected with weather, pests and other biological hazards.
What should we do to ensure nutritional security?
- Strengthening and shortening food supply chains: reinforcing regional food systems, food processing, agricultural resilience and sustainability in a climate-changing world will require prioritising research and investments along these lines.
- Infrastructure: Lastly, infrastructure and institutions supporting producers, agripreneurs and agricultural micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in their production value chain are central to the transition.
- Potential for crop diversification: Data compiled in the agro-climatic zones reports of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the erstwhile Planning Commission of India reveal enormous potential for crop diversification and precision for enhanced crop productivity based on soil type, climate (temperature and rainfall), and captive water resources.
- Holistic policy approach: In the context of the intensifying economic, environmental and climate challenges and crisis, the need of the hour is a good theory of transition encompassing the spatial, social and scientific dimensions, supported by policy incentives and mechanisms for achieving a sustainable, resilient and food secure agriculture.
- Agro-climatic approach: An agro-climatic approach to agricultural development is important for sustainability and better nutrition.
Way forward
- Transparency: The Indian government could ensure more transparency on food stocks and regulate the private sector.
- Set restriction on hoarding: For that, there is a need to set restrictions on the reserves that the private sector can hold, as they often tend to hoard food stocks to later sell at a profit.
- Speculation should be regulated: This will help prevent the opaqueness of private sector reserves, which often fuels speculation by large international financial actors.
- Positional limits: Internationally, positional limits could be set on speculators but that would require a multilateral accord, a topic which should be on the agenda at the next G-20 meeting.
Mains question

Q. What role supply chain play in nutritional security? Discuss the constraints in supply chain along with way forward.

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