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  • Status of Maternal mortality in India

    Maternal mortality

    Context

    • India has improved its maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to 97 deaths per lakh in 2018-2020 from 103 deaths per lakh in 2017-2019. This is a considerable improvement from the 130 deaths per lakh in 2014-2016, the latest data released by the office of the Registrar General of India showed.

    What is maternal mortality?

    • As per World Health Organization, Maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.

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    Maternal mortality

    Maternal mortality ratio (MMR)

    • Main indicator: Maternal mortality ratio is a Kay indicator maternal mortality ratio.
    • Definition: The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births during the same time period.
    • Shows risk of maternal death: It depicts the risk of maternal death relative to the number of live births and essentially captures the risk of death in a single pregnancy or a single live birth.
    • SDG target: Target 3.1 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations aims at reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.

    Maternal mortality

    Maternal mortality Ratio (MMR) in India: An overview of recent figures

    • North eastern states show improvement: In 2014-2016, the north-eastern state’s MMR was at a dangerously high 237 deaths per one lakh live births. This has improved significantly over the years to 229 in 2015-2017, 215 in 2016-2018 and 205 in 2017-2019, showed the data released November 28, 2022.
    • Southern states always better than national average: The southern state was always performing better than the national average and has almost consistently brought down even that figure from 46 in 2014-2016, 42 in 2015-2017, 43 in 2016-2018 and 30 in 2017-2019.
    • Kerala the best performer: Kerala continues to remain the best performer, with a low MMR of 19 per one lakh live births.
    • On regional level Assam improved but continues to have high MMR: On the regional level, Assam continues to have the highest MMR (195) but has improved its own performance over the years.
    • Better performing states: Among the better-performing states with an MMR lower than 100, barring Kerala, are Maharashtra (33), Telangana (43), Andhra Pradesh (45) and Gujarat (57).
    • Other states with high MMR: Madhya Pradesh (173), Uttar Pradesh (167), Chhattisgarh (137), Odisha (119), Bihar (118), Rajasthan (113), Haryana (110), Punjab (105) and West Bengal (105).
    • Sates with high MMR mostly belongs to socioeconomically poor regions: Most of these states belong to the Empowered Action Group (EAG) a classification of socioeconomically poor regions on whom the country’s development depends.

    The Statistics including Maternal Mortality Rate and lifetime risk

    • Maternal mortality rate: It is the maternal deaths of women in the ages 15-49 per lakh of women in that age group.
    • As defined by Registrar General of India: The Registrar General of India defines as “the probability that at least one woman of reproductive age (15-49 years) will die due to childbirth or puerperium (postpartum period), assuming that chance of death is uniformly distributed across the entire reproductive span.”

    Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) v/s Maternal Mortality Rate

    • Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR): This is derived as the proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births, reported under the Sample Registration System (SRS).
    • Maternal Mortality Rate: This is calculated as maternal deaths of women in the ages 15-49 per lakh of women in that age group, reported under SRS.

    Maternal mortality

    Maternal mortality rate in India

    • India’s maternal mortality rate is six.
    • poor-performing states include Madhya Pradesh (15.3), Uttar Pradesh (14.3), Assam (12.1), Bihar (11) and Chhattisgarh (9.9).
    • Kerala is the only state to achieve a maternal mortality rate of less than one, at 0.9.
    • Other states in the leading category include Maharashtra (1.8), Telangana (2.3), Andhra Pradesh (2.4) and Tamil Nadu (2.7).
    • The lifetime risk figures also show a similar trend, with Madhya Pradesh leading the way at 0.53 per cent, followed by Uttar Pradesh (0.50 per cent), Assam (0.42 per cent), Bihar (0.39 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (0.35 per cent).
    • At the national level, the lifetime risk of maternal mortality stands at 0.21 per cent.

    Conclusion

    • India’s performance on the maternal mortality front has been improving consistently as the country achieves its national target of reducing MMR to below 100.But it still lags behind the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals target of an MMR equivalent to 70 deaths per 100,000 live births. The country has eight years to meet this benchmark by 2030. Other indicators assessing maternal health indicate large room for improvement.

    Mains question

    Q. What is Maternal mortality. What is the difference between Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and Maternal mortality rate. Evaluate India’s progress in reducing MMR.

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  • Why climate action needs women?

    climate

    Context

    • Women have historically been underrepresented at the UN’s global conference on climate change, and this year’s COP 27 congregation in Egypt, was no exception. A photo of the heads of state and government representatives participating in the event which went viral across social media, at the beginning of the summit, in fact, showcased the presence of only seven women leaders among the grand total of 110 attendees.

    Women participation in climate negotiations

    • Analysis by BBC percentage of women is very less: As per an analysis conducted by the BBC, women accounted for a mere 34 percent of the committee members in negotiations rooms with some country teams having more than 90 percent men.
    • Participation women at recent COP27 was one of the lowest: According to the Women’s Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO), which tracks women’s participation in climate forum, the recent COP27 numbers represented one of the lowest concentrations of women seen at the UN climate summit.
    • Despite of collective pledge to increase women participation, number fallen: These number have in fact, fallen from a peak of 40 percent women’s participation during COP24 in 2018 and despite the countries collective pledge to increase female representation at these talks as early as 2011.
    • Skewed gender ration in negotiations on key climate issues: This skewed gender ratio, however, reflected the broader trend across delegation teams, which participated in negotiations on key climate issues such as funding, limiting the use of fossil fuels, carbon emissions, etc.

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    climate

    Why climate action needs women?

    • Women are most disproportionately affected by disasters: Females are in fact, most disproportionately affected when disasters hit as they suffer greater economic repercussions, bear an additional burden of unpaid care and domestic work, have lesser access to resources, and are pushed to drop out of school or marry early to help manage the family’s financial stress.
    • Domestic household responsibilities become more worse in disasters: Their responsibility to secure water, food, and fuel for their families becomes much more difficult during floods, droughts, or other climate-related crises, forcing them to travel to longer distances, putting their own health at risk.
    • Climate change also increases women’s vulnerability: As per new research published by ActionAid, climate change also increases women’s vulnerability to gender-based violence, further bringing about damaging consequences for their reproductive as well as psychological health.
    • Sustainable development and gender equality are intrinsically linked: The goal of pursuing sustainable development and bringing about gender equality are intrinsically linked, and one cannot be achieved without the attainment of the other.
    • Considering the various roles women play in the management of natural resources: Women just like any other member impact the overall management of natural resources through the various roles that they play including in the economy, in households, and the society. Their inclusion in climate negotiations is thus, crucial to ensure the development and implementation of a balanced approach to the diverse dimensions of sustainable development such as the economic, social and environmental.
    • Women have been at the forefront on environment related movements: Women and girls in all their diversity for centuries have played a transformative role in climate change adaptation as well as mitigation, and have been at the forefront of movements related to environmental and climate justice, putting forth some of the most creative and effective approaches for the promotion of sustainable energy transitions that help in the protection of local systems and are based on indigenous knowledge.
    • Gender diverse corporate boardrooms resulted in the adoption of more climate-friendly policies: There exists a growing body of evidence that shows the association between women’s participation and leadership in climate action, and better resource governance, conversation outcomes, and disaster readiness. This stands true, even for the private sector, where diversifying corporate boardrooms on the basis of gender have resulted in the adoption of more climate-friendly policies. For instance, according to a working paper series by the European Central Bank, “a 1 percent increase in the share of female firm managers leads to a 0.5 percent decrease in CO2 emissions
    • Comprise nearly half of the world’s population: The question, which therefore needs to be raised, is whether climate change mitigation, disaster reduction, and adaptation strategies can really be holistically developed without the inclusion of women who comprise of nearly half of the world’s population.
    • Women with their strong body of knowledge and expertise should, thus, be recognised as co-owners and agenda-settlers of the climate process with their skills, knowledge and experience being utilised to improve climate governance outcomes at the local and national levels as well as in multilateral climate forums and the private sector.

    climate

    What can be done to increase women participation in climate change negotiations?

    • Quotas can be provided not only to increase participation but also to address inequalities: To begin with, measures, including quotas can be put in place to not only increase women’s meaningful participation and leadership at all levels of climate action decision-making but also to address persisting inequalities including in terms of their access and control of resources such as land, technology, and finance.
    • Integrating a gender perspective across spectrums: Secondly, a conscious effort needs to be made by the policy makers to integrate a gender perspective across spectrums, ranging from design, monitoring and evaluation, implementation and funding of all national climate policies, plans and actions to ensure that the needs and concerns of women are being adequately addressed.
    • Expanding gender responsive finance and services: The member states must expand gender-responsive finance as well as gender-responsive public services, healthcare systems, universal social protections, combining measures both to eliminate gender-based violence in climate policies and to promote a care economy, thereby, guaranteeing the provision and access to justice for women.
    • Implementing the ways to multiply gender equality, thereby empowering women to harness their skills: Heads of states must identify and implement ways to multiply gender equality, empowering women and young girls. To put it simply, global investments, especially for women and girls belonging to marginalise communities must be focused on directly amplifying and fostering their skills, resilience and knowledge, thereby, removing critical barriers that hinder their participation in decision-making positions.

    climate

    Way ahead

    • There remains no doubt that climate change inevitably results in the exacerbation of gender inequalities.
    • The world leaders, therefore, need to pay attention to the voices of women who continue to bear a differential impact with mitigations strategies and negations being specifically tailored to the gender issues that women are confronted with during a climate-related crisis.

    Conclusion

    • Climate change is a complex global phenomenon, which requires comprehensive global action that includes each and every individual. The UN Climate Change Conference, one of the biggest summits instead of excluding women, should therefore, serve as an opportunity to recognise and augment the innovative climate actions that are being brought by women. It should also provide a platform for understanding how existing structures prevent women’s engagement and subsequently, develop response mechanisms with policy measures that take into account the immediate as well as long-term gendered impacts of environmental calamities.

    Mains Question

    Q. Women have historically been underrepresented at the UN’s global conference on climate change and COP 27 have been no exception. Why climate action needs women? What can be done? Discuss.

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  • [EPW] Healthcare as a Right

    [EPW] Healthcare as a Right

    Context

    • In September this year, the Rajasthan State government introduced the Rajasthan Right to Health Bill, 2022 in the state legislative assembly.
    • As it is still being debated in the legislative assembly and has become a major part of public discourse among health care providers as well as different interest groups.
    • It becomes important to understand its legal dimensions, and more importantly, the short term and long term implications of its implementation.

    What is Right to Health?

    • The right to health is the economic, social, and cultural right to a universal minimum standard of health to which all individuals are entitled.
    • It was first articulated in the WHO Constitution (1946).
    • It states that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being.
    • It defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

    Features of this Right

    The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights mentioned health as part of the right to an adequate standard of living (article 25). It covers-

    1. Highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
    2. Reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality
    3. Healthy development of the child
    4. Environmental and industrial hygiene
    5. Prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases
    6. Assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness

    Locating right to health in India

    • Fundamental rights: Article 21 of the Constitution protects and upholds the right to life and liberty.  Courts have often taken a progressive stance in expanding the scope of the right to life to include the right to health.
    • Directive Principles: Articles 38, 39, 42, 43, & 47 of the DPSP put the obligation on the state in order to ensure the effective realization of the right to health.
    • Judicial observations: In State of Punjab and Ors versus Mohinder Singh Chawla (1996), the Supreme Court proclaimed the right to life includes within its fold the right to health.

    What is the Rajasthan Bill about?

    • In bringing forth the right to health bill, the Rajasthan government has acted on its constitutional mandate by providing health care services to residents of the state.
    • Falling under Item 6 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the state governments have the duty to ensure the promotion of public health and provision of medical services.

    What are the rights and duties prescribed in the Bill?

    • OOP Expenditure control: The preamble of the Bill at the outset makes the intentions of the government clear -promoting health care without causing catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure.
    • Free checkups: The Bill provides for free and affordable health check-ups, and surgery in both private and public hospitals.
    • Special provisions for residents: It makes it a matter of right for the residents to avail free services as laid down in various insurance schemes.
    • Right to medical information: The Bill goes one step further in in tackling another thorny issue of the right to medical information in medical establishments.
    • Rights to healthcare providers: The Bill has also provided rights for health care providers such as exemption from liability in bona fide acts, a safe working environment, and access to protective gears.

    Key feature: Balancing the burden of rights

    • While the residents have enough incentives and protection to seek medical care and information about the same, health care providers would not be at a disadvantage in doing their duty.
    • If followed in other states, this balance of rights and duties can help in creating a robust health infrastructure and improving overall public health levels.

    Obligations on the state government

    With rights, come duties.  The government would be obligated to-

    1. Provide funds
    2. Set up institutions
    3. Set up grievance redressal systems
    4. Coordinate among different departments and offices for adequate and
    5. Safe drinking water and sanitation

    Issues in the realization of Right to Health

    • Poor Infrastructure:  There is a dearth of hospitals in India.
    • Fewer doctors per thousand: The WHO mandates that the doctor-to-population ratio should be 1:1,000, while India had a 1:1,404 ratio as of February 2020.
    • Lack of primary healthcare services: The existing public primary health care model is not adequate for existing healthcare burden.
    • Lack of funding: Expenditure on public health funding has been consistently low in India (approximately 1.3% of GDP).
    • Burden of NCDs: Heart ailments are rising like anything in India. It is challenging to tackle Non-communicable Diseases, which is all about prevention and early detection.

    Major policy move: Ayushman Bharat

    The Ayushman Bharat Yojana, now called the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), aims to be one of the world’s largest health insurance schemes. It covers-

    • Healthcare cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family
    • All families listed in the SECC database to be covered
    • Priority to the girl child, women and senior citizens
    • Secondary and tertiary care
    • Cashless and paperless registration and administration
    • Private sector participation in helping to achieve public health goals

    Way forward

    • Universal health coverage: As part of the SDGs, all countries have pledged to deliver universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030.
    • Increasing healthcare professionals in numbers: India has handled the COVID-19 pandemic exceptionally well. However, considering the rise in the number of infections, India is in dire need of more medical staff and amenities.
    • More funding: Public funding on health should be increased to at least 2.5% of GDP as envisaged in the National Health Policy, 2017.
    • Revamping medical education: The government needs to rapidly build medical institutions and increase the number of doctors.
    • Enhancing pandemic preparedness: With COVID-19 we risk once again falling into the trap of a narrow vertical disease-specific approach.
    • Use of technology: There is a growing use of mobile apps, online consultations, e-pharmacies, and other tools. These are all welcome and must be leveraged.

    Conclusion

    • The Bill appears to be an ideal starting point for making the right to health a more attainable and tangible fundamental right.

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  • RS clears Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022

    wild

    The Rajya Sabha has passed the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022.

    Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022

    • The Bill amends the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 by increasing the species protected under the law.
    • There are 50 amendments to the Act proposed in the Bill.
    • Substituting the definition of ‘Tiger and other Endangered Species’ to ‘Wild Life’, this Bill includes flora, fauna and aqua under its protection.
    • The Bill also regulates wild life trade as per the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

    Key propositions

    (1) Implementing CITES

    • The Bill aims to implement CITES — which was signed in Washington D.C. on March 3, 1973, and later amended in 1979 — to trade plant and animal specimens with other governments.
    • Regulating the possession of specimens, the Bill defines ‘specimen’ as any animal or plant (dead or alive).
    • It also constitutes a Management authority which will issue permits for the trade of scheduled specimens in accordance with CITES.
    • The Centre can designate a management authority to grant export or import permits for the trade of specimens and a scientific authority to give advice on the trade impact on the survival of the specimens, as per the Bill.

    (2) Classification of specimens

    • Classifying animals into two specially protected schedules, the Bill prohibits their trade by anyone, barring certain exceptions.
    • The Bill removes the present schedule for vermin species and inserts a new schedule for specimens listed for extinction under CITES.
    • The Bill also lists 131 mammals, 112 birds, 43 birds, 26 fishes, 63 insects, 388 corals under schedule I and 41 mammals, 864 birds, 12 reptiles, 58 insects, molluscs, and sponges under schedule II.
    • A separate schedule for plants is also listed.

    (3) Prohibitions

    • The Bill seeks to empower the Centre to regulate or prohibit the import, trade, possession or proliferation of plant or animal species not native to India – invasive alien species.
    • Apart from states, the Centre too can notify a conservation reserve — an area adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries.
    • Any person can voluntarily surrender any captive animals or animal products to the Chief Wild Life Warden (an appointee of state governments).
    • However, no compensation will be paid to the person for it and the surrendered items become the property of the state government.
    • Under the Bill, the fine for General violation is up to Rs 1,00,000 and for specially protected animals is at least Rs 25,000.

    Concerns raised

    (1) Elephants transportation

    • The amendment has given huge discretion for the transportation of live elephants and expressed concern on protecting the animal.
    • The elephant is a national heritage animal for India.
    • The Standing Committee accepted the religious significance of the elephant, but the Minister has also included the words ‘any other purpose’

    (2) Vermins

    • The damage to the national economy due to crop depredation by wild animals has never been computed.
    • Since 1972, the WLPA has identified a few species — fruit bats, common crows and rats — as vermin.
    • Killing animals outside this list was allowed under two circumstances:
    1. Under Section 62 of WLPA, given sufficient reasons, any species other than those accorded the highest legal protection (such as tigers and elephants but not wild boars or nilgais) can be declared vermin at a certain place for a certain time.
    2. Under Section 11 of WLPA, the chief wildlife warden of a state can allow the killing of an animal, irrespective of its status in the Schedules, if it becomes “dangerous to human life”.
    • The issue of the declaration of Vermins has since entered the realm of centre-state politics.

    Back2Basics:  Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

    • WPA provides for the protection of the country’s wild animals, birds and plant species, in order to ensure environmental and ecological security.
    • It provides for the protection of a listed species of animals, birds and plants, and also for the establishment of a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.
    • It provides for various types of protected areas such as Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks etc.

    There are six schedules provided in the WPA for the protection of wildlife species which can be concisely summarized as under:

    Schedule I: These species need rigorous protection and therefore, the harshest penalties for violation of the law are for species under this Schedule.
    Schedule II: Animals under this list are accorded high protection. They cannot be hunted except under threat to human life.
    Schedule III & IV: This list is for species that are not endangered. This includes protected species but the penalty for any violation is less compared to the first two schedules.
    Schedule V: This schedule contains animals which can be hunted.
    Schedule VI: This list contains plants that are forbidden from cultivation.

     

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  • Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 introduced in RS

    The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has introduced the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha.

    Highlights of the Bill

    • The Bill amends the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 to empower the central government to specify a carbon credit trading scheme.
    • Designated consumers may be required to meet a proportion of their energy needs from non-fossil sources.

    Why was this Bill introduced?

    • During the COP-26 summit in 2021, India made commitments relevant for energy efficiency efforts.
    • Against this backdrop, the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was introduced in Lok Sabha in August 2022.

    Key features of the bill

    • Carbon credit trading:The Bill empowers the central government to specify a carbon credit trading scheme.   Carbon credit implies a tradable permit to produce a specified amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse emissions.
    • Obligation to use non-fossil sources of energy:The Act empowers the central government to specify energy consumption standards for designated consumers to meet a minimum share of energy consumption from non-fossil sources.  Designated consumers include: (i) industries such as mining, steel, cement, textile, chemicals, and petrochemicals, (ii) transport sector including Railways, and (iii) commercial buildings, as specified in the schedule.
    • Energy conservation code for buildings: The bill empowers the central government to specify norms for energy efficiency and conservation, use of renewable energy, and other requirements for green buildings.   Under the Act, the energy conservation code applies to commercial buildings: (i) erected after the notification of the Code, and (ii) having a minimum connected load of 100 kilowatt (kW) or contract load of 120 kilo volt ampere (kVA).
    • Standards for vehicles and vessels: Under the bill, the energy consumption standards may be specified for equipment and appliances which consume, generate, transmit, or supply energy.  The Bill expands the scope to include vehicles (as defined under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988), and vessels (includes ships and boats).
    • Composition of the governing council of BEE: The Act provides for the setting up of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).  The Bureau has a governing council with members between 20 and 26 in number.

    Concerns raised

    • Carbon credit trading aims to reduce carbon emissions, and hence, address climate change.  The question is whether the Ministry of Power is the appropriate Ministry to regulate this scheme.
    • A further question is whether the market regulator for carbon credit trading should be specified in the Act.
    • Same activity may be eligible for renewable energy, energy savings, and carbon credit certificates.
    • The Bill does not specify whether these certificates will be interchangeable.
    • Designated consumers must meet certain non-fossil energy use obligation.  Given the limited competition among discoms in any area, consumers may not have a choice in the energy mix.

     

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  • Election Security Deposit and its symbolic significance

    A political party based in New Delhi lost its election deposit for most of its candidates in the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

    Do you know?

    In the first Lok Sabha elections in 1951-52, almost 40 per cent of the total candidates lost their deposits. Nearly 86 per cent of the candidates contesting Lok Sabha elections in 2019 lost deposits, according to a report released by the Election Commission of India.

    What is an Election Security Deposit?

    • An election security deposit is an amount that is to be deposited with the Returning Officer when a candidate files their nomination.
    • This is to be submitted either in cash, or a receipt must be enclosed with the nomination paper.
    • It mentions that the said sum has been deposited on the candidate’s behalf in the Reserve Bank of India or in a Government Treasury.
    • The main purpose of this practice is to ensure that only genuinely intending candidates end up filing the nomination to be a part of the electoral process.

    Is the amount same for all elections?

    • No, it depends on the particular election being conducted, and the Representation of the People Act of 1951 mentions different amounts depending on the level of election:
    1. In the case of an election from a Parliamentary constituency, meaning a Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seat, the amount is Rs 25,000 and Rs 12,500 for a Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidate.
    2. In the case of an election from an Assembly or Council constituency, meaning at the level of legislative bodies in the states, it is Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 for an SC/ST candidate.
    3. Even in the case of Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, a deposit of Rs 15,000 is to be made.

    Losing the deposits

    • As per the same Act, the deposit has to be forfeited at an election if the number of valid votes polled by the candidate is less than 1/6th of the total number of valid votes polled.
    • Or, in the case of the election of more than one member, it would be 1/6th of the total number of valid votes so polled divided by the number of members to be elected.
    • This refers to elections by proportional representation method, as is the case in Rajya Sabha.
    • If the candidate does meet the threshold, “the deposit shall be returned as soon as practicable after the result of the election is declared.”
    • If a candidate withdraws their nomination or passes away before the polls, the amount is returned.

     

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  • What it takes to become a ‘National Party’ in India?

    A political party (revived from the anti-corruption movement) is on track to be recognized as a 9th national party by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

    What is a national party?

    • The name suggests that a national party would be one that has a presence ‘nationally’, as opposed to a regional party whose presence is restricted to only a particular state or region.
    • National parties are usually India’s bigger parties.
    • However, some smaller parties, like the communist parties, are also recognised as national parties.
    • A certain stature is sometimes associated with being a national party, but this does not necessarily translate into having a lot of national political clout.

    So how is a political party defined?

    The ECI’s Political Parties and Election Symbols, 2019 handbook species following criteria:

    For recognition as a NATIONAL PARTY, the conditions specified are:

    1. a 6% vote share in the last Assembly polls in each of any four states, as well as four seats in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
    2. 2% of all Lok Sabha seats in the last such election, with MPs elected from at least three states; or
    3. recognition as a state party in at least four states.

    For recognition as a STATE PARTY, any one of five conditions needs to be satisfied:

    1. two seats plus a 6% vote share in the last Assembly election in that state; or
    2. one seat plus a 6% vote share in the last Lok Sabha election from that state; or
    3. 3% of the total Assembly seats or 3 seats, whichever is more; or
    4. one of every 25 Lok Sabha seats (or an equivalent fraction) from a state; or
    5. an 8% state-wide vote share in either the last Lok Sabha or the last Assembly polls.

    Benefits for recognized parties

    • This is subject to the fulfillment of the conditions prescribed by the Commission in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

    (a) Reserved Sybol

    • If a party is recognised as a ‘state party’, it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it in the state in which it is so recognised.
    • If a party is recognised as a ‘national party’ it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it throughout India.

    (b) Proposer for nomination

    • Recognised ‘state’ and ‘national’ parties need only one proposer for filing the nomination.

    (c) Campaigning benefits

    • They are also entitled for two sets of electoral rolls free of cost and broadcast/telecast facilities over state-owned Akashvani/Doordarshan during the general elections.

     

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  • Delhi HC seeks Centre’s response against cancellation of OCI card

    The Delhi High Court has sought a response from the central government on a petition against the cancellation of a person’s Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card.

    Who is an Overseas Citizen?

    • An OCI is a category introduced by the government in 2005.
    • Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) of certain categories as specified in the Citizenship Act, 1955 are eligible for being OCI cardholders.
    • Some of the benefits for PIO and OCI cardholders were different until 2015 when the government merged these two categories.
    • The MHA defines an OCI as a person who was a citizen of India on or after January 26, 1950; or was eligible to become a citizen of India on that date; or who is a child or grandchild of such a person, among other eligibility criteria.
    • According to Section 7A of the OCI card rules, an applicant is not eligible for the OCI card if he, his parents or grandparents have ever been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh.

    Privileges to an OCI

    • OCI cardholders can enter India multiple times, get a multipurpose lifelong visa to visit India, and are exempt from registering with Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) no matter how long their stay.
    • If an individual is registered as an OCI for a period of five years, he/she are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship.
    • At all Indian international airports, OCI cardholders are provided with special immigration counters.
    • OCI cardholders can open special bank accounts in India, they can buy the non-farm property and exercise ownership rights and can also apply for a driver’s license and PAN card.
    • However, OCI cardholders do not get voting rights, cannot hold a government job and purchase agricultural or farmland.
    • They cannot run for public office either, nor can they travel to restricted areas without government permission.

     

     

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  • Discussing the Indian Economy’s pressing problems

    Economy

    Context

    • Several agencies, including the IMF and the World Bank have projected lower growth rates for the Indian economy in FY23, than the 7.2 per cent estimated by the RBI in April. The Central bank has now lowered its forecast to 6.8 per cent. Given the current situation, with the Q2 FY 2023.

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    Economy

    Current economic growth estimation

    • Economy is likely to grow at 6.5-7.0 per cent: Given the current situation, with the Q2 FY 2023 GDP growth clocking in at 6.3 per cent, the economy is likely to grow at 6.5-7.0 per cent in this fiscal year.
    • Considering economic uncertainties it is difficult to arrive at precise estimate: It is difficult to arrive at a precise estimate for growth this year with unprecedented economic uncertainty worldwide, including high global inflation, synchronized monetary tightening, and the impact of the Ukraine war.

    Positive signs in the Indian Economy

    • Positive medium-term growth prospects: Company and bank balance sheets are healthier, credit growth is rising, and capacity utilisation has increased, all of which augur well for investment activity.
    • Positive impact on tourism: The waning of Covid-19 should hopefully have a positive impact on travel, transport and tourism. Construction activity should pick up further with the reduction in housing inventory and almost stable prices over the last decade.
    • On inflation India is doing better: On the inflation front, India is doing better than many advanced economies and emerging markets.

    Economy

    What is Indian economy’s pressing problems specifically in terms of Labour-intensive growth?

    • Employment a biggest concern: Employment, an issue that has persisted over the last two decades. In brief, we have not generated enough good jobs to match the scale at which the economy has grown, especially in the organised sector. As a result, we have very high under-employment and poor-quality employment, which have hampered a much-needed move away from agriculture.
    • Lack of precise data on people living in poverty: We do not have a precise estimate of the current levels of poverty, as there has been no household consumption survey since 2011-12, and the 2017-18 survey was abandoned due to technical issues. But there is reasonable consensus that poverty could be around 10 per cent of the country’s population, A low number compared to the past, but as many as 140 million people could still be living in poverty.
    • Lack of non-agricultural jobs: The rising demand for the MGNREGA, and the importance of food distribution schemes and other welfare programmes for the poor are indicators of the lack of non-agriculture jobs being generated.
    • Lowest rate of women participation in labour force: An alarming aspect of the employment problem in India is the low participation rate of women in the labour force, which is among the lowest in the world. This loops back to the importance of labour-intensive manufacturing. For example, much of Bangladesh’s success, and that of Southeast Asian countries, in exports and manufacturing stems from the large number of women working in their factories.
    • Women literacy is rising but increasing number of educated women are not working: A positive trend in India has been the growing trend in girls attending schools and college in the last 20 years, but this also means that an increasing number of educated women are not working.
    • Despite of 1991 reforms still remains an untapped opportunity: With the LPG reforms, the expectation was that, as the economy opened up to global competition, India’s low wage levels would attract private investment into labour-intensive manufacturing, thus generating jobs. This was the path followed by the East Asian economies that experienced high growth and rapid development. But for India this remains an untapped opportunity.
    • Manufacturing is shifting to countries other than India: Even with rising wage levels in China, manufacturing is shifting to countries other than India. The PLI (production-linked incentives) scheme has been rolled out to encourage manufacturing. It may need some tweaking to be biased towards labour-intensive manufacturing as China vacates space in this area. This may seem at odds with the more popular view that it is small and medium enterprises which promote employment.
    • Country’s real exchange rate is not healthy: An overvalued rupee has discouraged the export of labour-intensive manufacturing goods, which are very price-sensitive in global markets. It has also had a dampening effect on domestic production as our currency has depreciated at a lower rate than other emerging economies like China and Indonesia.
    • Depreciated rupee impacting domestic producers by inflow of cheaper imports: Domestic producers of goods that compete with imports into our markets have been impacted by the inflow of cheaper imports. This has disincentivised them from expanding production and generating employment.
    • Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are severally hit: Problems that have come to the fore post-pandemic include the health of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Accurate information on this is somewhat scarce but anecdotal evidence suggests that they have been more severely hit than the formal sector.

    Economy

    Way ahead

    • The rupee has been overvalued for long and needs to be allowed to depreciate, though in a calibrated way, ensuring external and financial stability.
    • Job growth is crucial if we are to reduce the still high levels of poverty in the country
    • Incentivizing the domestic producers so that they can compete with the cheaper inflow of imports and expands their manufacturing thereby generating employment in the economy
    • The continued recovery of the formal sector, as indicated by various metrics, in terms of the improved health of corporates and banks should effectively pull up the MSMEs through supply chains linkages, among others.
    • We still have a negative real interest rate (that is, the difference between the RBI’s policy rate and inflation). Hence, the policy rate needs to rise further, providing a push to financial savings, which are needed to generate higher investment for growth.
    • Inflation need to be contained through supply-side measures as well, such as an improvement in the supply of food products.

    Conclusion

    • High under-employment and poor-quality employment have hampered a much-needed move away from agriculture. A focus on labour-intensive formal manufacturing is the need of the hour.

    Mains Question

    Q. India is showing positive signs of economic recovery however the economy still has a hangover from the past and some are exacerbated by Covid. Discuss.

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