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  • [Burning Issue] National Language Debate

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    Context

    • With over twenty regional languages, each with its own culture and history, language was always going to be a tricky issue for India.
    • Remarks by a notable Hindi actor to the effect that Hindi is the national language of India has sparked controversy recently over the status of the language under the Constitution.
    • The trigger for the argument was when Kannada film industry celebrated the nationwide success of a blockbuster movie.
    • The actor said in its response that Hindi was no more a pan-India language.

    “The wordplay between Rajbhasha and Rashtrabhasha often spark such debate out of sheer negligence over their meanings.”

    Hindi: A Backgrounder

    ‘Hindi Hai Hum, Watan Hai Hindustan Humara…’, for most of us, an everlasting childhood memory is standing in an assembly queue and singing the couplet (Sare Jahan se achha, Hindustan hamara) written by Muhammad Iqbal.

    • At that time we never thought of the real idea behind Hindustan.
    • In the post-Westphalian or rather European conception of the nation-state, language has been the driving factor for the formation of a separate country altogether.
    • This came as a major challenge in the constituent assembly, because, unlike in Europe, it was impossible to theorize India’s linguistic diversity which ultimately accumulated under a single national identity.

    Mahatma Gandhi’s view on Hindi

    • In 2019, Home minister Amit Shah had invoked Mahatma Gandhi while backing the government’s idea that Hindi should be the identifying language of India.
    • However, researchers believed that Gandhi kept changing his position.
    • After 1942, Gandhi seemed to stress the adoption of Hindustani, a fusion of Hindi and Urdu, not Hindi, as the unifying language of the masses.

    “We need also a common language not in suppression of the vernaculars, but in addition to them. It is generally agreed that that medium should be Hindustani – a resultant of Hindi and Urdu, neither highly Sanskritized, nor highly Persianized or Arabianized.” (Young India, 1925)

    Hindi, Hindustani or English? The Constituent Assembly Debates

    • At the time, most countries defined their nationhood through a common language and so during the Constituent Assembly debates, the question of a national language was tied closely with a desire for national unity.
    • Initially, Hindustani, with its hybrid of Hindi and Urdu, was a viable option.
    • Writing in an essay in 1937, Jawaharlal Nehru termed Hindustani a “golden mean.”
    • However, after Partition, the debate changed. Instead of Hindustani, Hindi (bereft of its Urdu influence) was being put forward as a potential national language.
    • But the opposition to Hindi as a national language from representatives from southern states was fierce too.

    TA Ramalingam Chettiar representing Madras in the Constituent Assembly in September 1949, said,

    “We have got languages which are better cultivated and which have greater literature than Hindi in our areas. If we are going to accept Hindi, it is not on account of the excellence of the language. It is merely on account of the existence of a large number of people speaking Hindi.”

    What is the status of Hindi?

    • Finally, the Constituent Assembly adopted what was known as “Munshi-Ayyangar Formula.”
    • According to this, Hindi in the Devnagari script would be the official language of the Union.

    Official, not national

    • English would continue to be used for all official purposes for the next 15 years, to enable a smooth transition for non-Hindi speaking states.
    • The deadline was 26 January 1965.
    • Under Article 343 of the Constitution, the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.
    • The international form of Indian numerals will be used for official purposes.
    What is the Eighth Schedule?
    The Eighth Schedule contains a list of languages in the country. Initially, there were 14 languages in the schedule, but now there are 22 languages.There is no description of the sort of languages that are included or will be included in the Eighth Schedule.

    Evolution of the Language Debate

    • There have been some developments in the language debate since 1965.
    • In 1968, a National Policy on Education was adopted.
    • It presented a three-language formula, according to which, in non-Hindi-speaking states, Hindi should be studied optionally along with English and the regional language.
    • The 1968 NPE was ostensibly updated in the Draft New Education Policy 2019, where Hindi was proposed to be taught mandatorily in schools in non-Hindi-speaking states.
    • The proposal sparked outrage, especially in southern states like Tamil Nadu.

    What is the Three-language formula?

    • Since the 1960s, the Centre’s education policy documents speak of teaching three languages — Hindi, English and one regional language in Hindi-speaking States, and Hindi, English and the official regional language in other States.
    • In practice, however, only some States teach both their predominant language and Hindi, besides English.
    • In States where Hindi is the official language, a third language is rarely taught as a compulsory subject.

    Why has language become a sensitive issue?

    • Self-identification: A strong identification with one’s regional language and an underlying fear of homogenisation is at the heart of the national language question in India. An individual conceptualises and communicates his thoughts in a language, enabling him to be an active part of society.
    • Language defines primary group: People identify with one another based on language, thus giving them a primary group. A nation is the largest primary group that once can address.
    • Learning abilities at stake: The dangers of imposing a language are manifold. It can affect the learning ability of non-native speakers thereby affecting their self-confidence.
    • Threats to endangered languages: It can also endanger other languages and dialects and reduce diversity.
    • Threats to diversity: National integration cannot come at the cost of people’s linguistic identities. Language is integral to culture and therefore privileging Hindi over all other languages spoken in India takes away from its diversity.
    • Promises made by Constituent Assembly: Then PM Pt. Nehru had promised that Hindi would only serve as a linking language and it would not be imposed on non-Hindi speaking states as long as they were against it.

    Benefits of having a national language

    • Wide range of speakers: Hindi is still the most widely spoken language in the country with an estimated 258 million people declaring that Hindi is their native language and millions more comfortable with Hindi.
    • Language as a unifying language: A complete usage of Hindi language whilst respecting the various native languages would also ensure better coordination and cooperation among all the states and act as a strong unifying factor and eliminate all regional differences.
    • Reputation at international fora: When countries like Germany, Japan, France, Italy etc. use their respective language as a medium of communication even during International forums not only has the reputation of those countries have greatly enhanced but also those languages have gained a huge reputation worldwide.

    Issues with Hindi

    • Inherent opposition to Hindi: The Constituent Assembly was bitterly divided on the question, with members from States that did not speak Hindi initially opposing the declaration of Hindi as a national language.
    • Fear of imposition: Opponents were against English being done away with, fearing that it may lead to Hindi domination in regions that did not speak the language.
    • Symbol of identity politics: The approach towards linguistic policy seems to be driven more by the politics of identity than values of aspiration or accommodation.
    • Favour for majoritarianism: The primary argument in favour of Hindi has been reduced to assertions of slim majoritarianism.
    • Few speakers, still dominant: Even then, there are concerns about the claim based on mere numerical strength, as only 25 per cent of Indians seem to recognise Hindi as their mother tongue (Census 2011).
    • Demographic barriers: Today nearly 35% of people are migrating daily for work. In such a situation, we have to conceptualise a new form of language identity for our states.
    • Economic barriers: Any idea of one link language, whether Hindi or English, will be economically disastrous for India. It will slow down migration and reduce the ease of capital flow.
    • Multiple dialects: Only five states in India have Hindi as their’ native language’. However, in those states, too, the dialects of Hindi are associated with locals and their communities.

    Why Hindi cannot be the national language?

    • Multiple dialects: Hindi has largely been influenced by Persian — and then English, among other languages. Also, when the languages were enumerated, Hindi subsumed Bhojpuri, which is spoken by a little over five crore people.  
    • Inefficacy of Sanskrit: There were demands to make Sanskrit the official language, while some argued in favour of ‘Hindustani’.
    • Issue over Script: There were differences of opinion over the script too. When opinion veered towards accepting Hindi, proponents of the language wanted the ‘Devanagari’ script to be adopted both for words and numerals.

    Why this issue needs a rational consideration?

    • Linguistic chauvinism: Various policies on language have been framed both by the central and state governments that have been termed as forms of linguistic chauvinism.  Ex. Obsession for Marathi in Mumbai
    • Secular fabric under threat: The states’ fear of the central government’s ideology of monopolising faith, education, and language will adversely affect the Indian political system, which is based on pluralism and accommodation.
    • Monolingualism can prove disastrous: If there is a mechanical and monolithic idea of unity followed by any entity, such an entity generally generates great hostility beyond its immediate borders.  In neighbouring Bangladesh – then East Pakistan – the language movement against the imposition of Urdu on Bengali speakers was a key driver of Pakistan splitting into two nations.

    Way forward

    • Language as a skill: Language should be looked at as an important skill to operate in a world which is more connected today than at any other point in time.
    • Language not a cultural burden: A united nation has to have space for diversity. India is united in its diversity. Diversity is a great philosophical idea and should never be seen as a cultural burden.
    • Linguistic heritage needs priority: This is not to contend that our linguistic heritage should be neglected or trivialised. Our metropolises must be recognised as multilingual entities.

    Conclusion

    • National integration in a multilingual country does not require the imposition of one official language.
    • At the same time, the convenience, in fact the necessity, of having one or more languages as the official language for centre-state and inter-state communication for political, economic, legal and even social reasons cannot be disputed.
    • Politics over language would never end until India truly attains the ideal federal structure.

  • Absence of Roe v Wade won’t just impact the US

    Context

    The leak of an initial draft majority opinion of the US Supreme Court voting to overturn the decision in Roe v Wade has sent shockwaves across liberal and conservative quarters alike, globally.

    Background of the Roe v Wade case

    • Right to abortion: While locating the right of privacy within the guarantee of personal liberty enshrined in the fourteenth amendment of the American constitution, Roe embodies a supervening constitutional right to abortion emanating from this right of privacy.
    • The right to abort was held to be a constitutionally protected right within the right of privacy.
    • Roe, the 1973 outcome of an unmarried woman’s crusade for bodily autonomy, had declared overbroad, and consequently unconstitutional, a provision of the Texas Penal Code which permitted only those abortions that were “procured or attempted by medical advice to save the life of the mother”.
    • The decision simultaneously recognised the state’s interest in protecting the life of the foetus as also the life of the mother. 
    • Roe is not only relevant as a progressive trailblazer for reproductive rights in the United States but is also fundamental to constitutional jurisprudence globally for the interpretative tools it employed.

    Implications of overturning Roe v Wade

    • Political considerations vs judicial responsibility: The overturning of Roe is more than the mere abdication of the judicial responsibility to protect individual rights — it signals a dangerous trend of courts making long-standing determinations of legal rights based on transient political considerations.
    • Incursion into women’s right to abort: It would also mean legitimisation of state incursions into women’s right to abort and consequently their right to bodily autonomy and liberty, in addition to forcing them to move to states with enabling laws to procure abortions, leading to issues of access and affordability of abortions.
    • While the impact of Roe’s absence would most profoundly be felt in the US, it is likely to embolden conservative anti-abortion voices across the world.
    • Limits of judicial activism: It will inevitably also raise fundamental questions on the limits of judicial activism aimed at protecting the rights of persons and classes, which do not find explicit mention within a country’s constitutional framework.
    • Possibility of a conservative approach to abortion cases: In 2021, the abortion laws in India underwent substantial changes, with the introduction of the Medical Termination for Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021 which, in addition to destigmatising pregnancies outside marriage by introducing the nomenclature of “any woman or her partner”, also increased the upper gestational limits within which pregnancies are legally terminable.
    • The Act, however, carries ambiguities and leaves room for both judicial and executive interpretation.
    • As cases of subjective determination arise, the Indian judiciary will be called upon to reconcile the right to privacy recognised in Puttaswamy with the permissible limits of abortion in the Act.

    How does Roe v Wade apply in the Indian context?

    • In KS Puttaswamy v Union of India, Justice Chandrachud referred to Roe and Planned Parenthood while reading the right to privacy into the existing framework of constitutionally protected fundamental rights subject to “just, reasonable and fair” restrictions.
    • Recognising derivative rights: In the lifetime of the Indian Supreme Court, recognising derivative rights within the existing framework of fundamental rights has been regularly witnessed — be it rights during arrest and detention, the right to express one’s sexual and gender identity, or rights against harassment at the workplace, to cite a few.
    • Setback to transformative constitutionalism: In the Indian context, the overturning could be seen as a setback to the celebrated doctrine of transformative constitutionalism, which sees the Indian Constitution as a “living document” that moulds, adapts and responds to changing times and circumstances.

    Conclusion

    The likelihood of the overturning of Roe leading to more conservative approaches to judicial interpretation in abortion rights cases, cannot be ruled out.

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  • Overwhelmed by UPSC material- online PDFs, yellow books and whatnot? | Fill Samanvaya (FREE) for best Sources, personalized Timetable and mentors’ advice

    Overwhelmed by UPSC material- online PDFs, yellow books and whatnot? | Fill Samanvaya (FREE) for best Sources, personalized Timetable and mentors’ advice

    “It is better to know one book intimately than a hundred superficially.”– Every UPSC topper and senior IAS mentor echoed this sentiment.

    We believe it and that’s why Top rank-seeking aspirants always get in touch with us.

    click and Fill up the form for most relevant sources + Mentors’ pieces of Advice

    Unfortunately, the internet is flooded with countless UPSC videos, coaching material e-books, and PDFs, etc. But, have you ever considered that if just by following material one could become an IAS, only the children of bookshop owners would have cracked this exam!

    Not surprisingly, For prelims, knowing the most appropriate sources for GS without CSAT is just meaningless.

    What to do?

    1. Cover as widely as possible – revise regularly what has been covered
    2. Maintain a proper balance between memorization and understanding – both are needed
    3. Quality of coverage is more important than the quantity of material covered.

    Many fail to understand the importance of experienced Mentors and jump into reaching the destination by any means in every walk of life. This however can be misleading in preparation for UPSC-CSE.

    The more you think of the results independently, the more you miss in fine-tuning and adhering to a sustainable resource & routine. A mentor’s guide is the key to reaching your goal.

    Do you want an authentic source list? Fill out this form & Our experienced mentors will share with you the same.

    How Much Content Should You Refer To For UPSC Preparation? 

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    Apart from NCERT books, be mentally prepared to spend in at least 15-20 standard textbooks for various topics. This is since the UPSC-CSE Prelims and Mains both include at least 15 subjects/topics. To cover each subject in-depth, you’ll probably need to read several volumes.

    Even though you should prioritize what you learn, you should never limit your reading. Your reading should be extensive and in-depth. Advanced books can be used as supplements to your internet preparation and can greatly aid self-study.

    Most of the essential books will be covered automatically as per the timetable if you use Civilsdaily Test-based strategy to clear UPSC Prelims.

    If you only have a limited amount of time to complete the syllabus before the exam, compact books are preferable to bulky ones. There’s no need to read all of the books in order. Concentrate on the most crucial parts of each book.

    Facing time & stress management Problems? Register for Toppers’ Timetable by Civilsdaily Senior Mentors

    How Civilsdaily helps thousands of UPSC Aspirants in PDFs + Online video content selection?

    Most of the topics for UPSC-CSE will be covered in class lectures and coaching notes if you are pursuing a UPSC-CSE online/offline foundation course.

    To save aspirants from being misled, Civilsdaily has been conducting these from time to time:

    However, if you are preparing for the UPSC totally on your own, you may not have access to a few of these tools. In this scenario, books are your most influential UPSC companions.

    Fill out this form & Civilsdaily will reach you with the best IAS mentorship

    Bottom Line:

    Yet, even with so extensive list of books published on the various websites, they cannot cover the syllabi of UPSC comprehensively. There are some portions, which need to be picked up from periodic sources.

    Now, the question surfaces, as it does for many new aspirants: if such well-known sources are widely available, what do successful candidates do in addition to getting an advantage over their competitors? What are the additional resources that should be utilized to overcome the large influx of aspirants? Are there any hidden or secret materials that only a select few have access to?

    Such resources, to be honest, do not exist. Honestly, the books and sources mentioned here only cover a small portion of the material available in bookshops and markets. In reality, a lesser number of sources than those mentioned above will suffice.

    Remember: despite having all the books, toppers couldn’t have become toppers without mentors’ guidance. Their meticulous preparation, consistency in studies, self-belief, thirst for success, zeal to achieve their goals, and patience are what set them apart. 

    All the best.

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  • Let’s make GST a good and simple tax

    Context

    The GST has been a remarkable achievement and a unique experiment in cooperative federalism. In this, both the Union and the state governments gave up their tax autonomy in favour of harmonising domestic trade taxes.

    Multiple rates: A major shortcoming in the structure of GST

    •  One of the most important shortcomings in the structure of GST is multiple rates.
    • The committee headed by the Chief Economic Adviser estimated the tax rate at 15-15.5 per cent.
    • It further recommended that in keeping with growing international practice, India should strive towards a single rate in the medium-term to facilitate administrative simplicity and compliance, but in the immediate context, it should have a three-tier structure (excluding zero).
    • The structure finally adopted was to have four rates of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent besides zero, though almost 75 per cent of the revenues accrue from the 12 and 18 per cent slabs.
    • Why single rate structure? The reasons for adopting a single rate structure in most countries are to have a simple tax system, prevent misclassifications and litigations arising therefrom, and to avoid an inverted duty structure of taxes on inputs exceeding those on outputs requiring detailed scrutiny and refunds.
    • Why multiple rates? The main reason for rate differentiation is equity.
    • But it is argued that this is an inefficient way of targeting benefits for the poor. 
    • Although the exempted and low-rated items are consumed relatively more by the poor, in absolute terms, the consumption may be more by the rich. 

    Suggestions

    • Focus on the expenditure side: The ideal way of targeting the benefits to the poor is on the expenditure side, through targeted cash transfers to vulnerable groups and providing quality education and healthcare.
    • Of course, unprocessed food items have to be exempted for reasons of administrative difficulty, but the list should be kept small.
    • Right time to rationalise the rates: Now, in fact, is the opportune time to rationalise the rate structure.
    • The economy is in recovery mode and more importantly, GST revenues have shown reasonably high buoyancy with collections of over Rs 1 lakh crore in the last 10 months and touching a record of Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April 2022.
    • Role of e-invoicing: The revenue increase has not come about only due to the economic recovery.
    •  The more important reason seems to be that at last, the GSTN has been able to stabilise the technology platform.
    • Mandating the issue of e-invoicing for all businesses above Rs 100 crore has enabled better invoice matching and detection of fake invoices that were used to claim the input tax credit.
    • This has helped to improve tax compliance and has also enabled better enforcement.
    • With time, the GSTN should be able to enforce e-invoice requirements on all businesses above Rs 10 crore, which will cover more than 95 per cent of taxpayers.
    • Dealing with the excessive rate differentiation: The GST council is concerned about the problems arising from excessive rate differentiation and has set up a seven-member ministerial panel .
    • But it has been widely reported that the committee is thinking of increasing the lower tax rate from 5 per cent to 8 per cent and moving some essential items from the 5 per cent category to the 3 per cent slab.
    • This will be retrograde because a rate category will be added. The need of the hour is to reduce the rate categories.
    • Merge 12 and 18 per cent categories: It would be preferable to merge the 12 per cent and 18 per cent categories into a 15-16 per cent slab and move the items in the 5 per cent category to the 8 per cent slab and remove the 28 per cent category altogether. 

    Conclusion

    The merger of 12 and 18 per cent categories will result in the GST structure with two rates and as the cesses will cease after 2026 when the compensation requirement is over, it will really become a “good and simple tax”.

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  • The challenge for Middle Powers like India, France and Germany

    Context

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to European capitals should help both sides acquire a better understanding of each other’s security concerns. Whether it will fundamentally alter equations remains to be seen.

    New India-EU equation

    • As “Middle Powers”, countries like France, Germany and India should seek policy space for themselves and not be forced into taking positions by the Big Powers — the United States, China and Russia.
    • The EU is understandably concerned about Russian aggressiveness in Europe.
    •  ndia is equally concerned about Chinese aggressiveness in Asia. 
    • Even after Russia has sought to tear down the post-Cold War security structure in Europe, India has stayed the course in its equations both with Russia and the European Union.

    Division of national and group agenda and its implications for India

    • While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the context in which Modi visited Europe and the head of the European Union visited India, the fact is that the agenda at bilateral meetings with individual European countries has generally been very different from the agenda that the EU prefers to focus on.
    • While individual European nations, especially Germany and France, focus on their own strategic and business interests, including defence equipment sales, the EU retains the remit for negotiating trade and investment rules.
    • Problem for India: This division of national and group agendas has often posed a problem for India because individual countries cannot offer bilateral market access in exchange for bilateral defence deals.
    • So the French will sell Rafale jets in the name of strategic partnership but they cannot offer a trade and investment deal that Brussels will not allow Paris to strike with India.
    • While the EU and G7 may now wish to derisk, if not decouple, from aggressively rising China, how much they would be able to do in this regard and what they would be willing to do to help a slowly rising India remains to be seen.

    Way forward

    • For India’s part, it is not clear at the moment how much and what it can unilaterally offer Europe beyond the promise of standing up to China or reducing dependence on Russia.
    • Challenge for the three middle powers lies in combine their “strength and stability” to ensure “peace and tranquillity” in their respective neighbourhoods.
    • If middle powers like Brazil, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa and others can work together they may well be able to impose some discipline on the three big powers — China, Russia and the US.

    Conclusion

    At a time when big powers lurking behind in seeking to stabilise and shape the global order middle powers need to act to balance the influence exerted by the big powers.

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  • 7th May 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 995]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 995]

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  • 6th May 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 994]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 994]

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  • Panel notifies new J&K Assembly Constituencies

    The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission has notified the new boundaries, names and number of Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, paving the way for the first-ever Assembly election in the Union Territory.

    What is Delimitation and why is it needed?

    • Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of an Assembly or Lok Sabha seat to represent changes in population over time.
    • The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
    • This exercise is carried out by a Delimitation Commission, whose orders have the force of law and cannot be questioned before any court.
    • The objective is to redraw boundaries (based on the data of the last Census) in a way so that the population of all seats, as far as practicable, be the same throughout the State.
    • Aside from changing the limits of a constituency, the process may result in a change in the number of seats in a state.

    How is it carried out?

    • Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
    • Article 170 provides that States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.
    • Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission.
    • The first delimitation exercise was carried out by the President (with the help of the Election Commission) in 1950-51.
    • The Delimitation Commission Act was enacted in 1952.
    • Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
    • There was no delimitation after the 1981 and 1991 Censuses.

    Delimitation in J&K

    • Assembly seats in J&K were delimited in 1963, 1973 and 1995.
    • Prior to August 5, 2019, carving out of J&K’s Assembly seats was carried out under the J&K Constitution and Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957.
    • Until then, the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats in J&K was governed by the Constitution of India.
    • However, the delimitation of the state’s Assembly was governed by the J&K Constitution and J&K Representation of the People Act, 1957.
    • There was no census in the state in 1991 and hence no Delimitation Commission was set up by the state until 2001 census.

    Why is it in the news again?

    • After the abrogation of J&K’s special status in 2019, the delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in the newly-created UT would be as per the provisions of the Indian Constitution.
    • On March 6, 2020, the government set up the Delimitation Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, which was tasked with winding up delimitation in J&K in a year.
    • As per the J&K Reorganization Bill, the number of Assembly seats in J&K would increase from 107 to 114, which is expected to benefit the Jammu region.

    Next step: Assembly polls

    • With the final order now notified, all eyes will be on the EC and the Union government regarding the timing of Assembly elections.
    • Though mainstream parties in the Valley have criticised the report, it is likely that this will make space for political engagement in the UT.

    What changes have been made?

    • ASSEMBLY: The Commission has increased seven Assembly seats — six in Jammu (now 43 seats) and one in Kashmir (now 47). It has also made massive changes in the structure of the existing Assembly seats.
    • LOK SABHA: The Commission has redrawn the boundaries of Anantnag and Jammu seats. Jammu’s Pir Panjal region, comprising Poonch and Rajouri districts and formerly part of Jammu parliamentary seat, has now been added to Anantnag seat in Kashmir. Also, a Shia-dominated region of Srinagar parliamentary constituency has been transferred to Baramulla constituency, also in the Valley.
    • KASHMIRI PANDITS: The Commission has recommended provision of at least two members from the community of Kashmiri Migrants (Kashmiri Hindus) in the Legislative Assembly.
    • Seats for POK migrants: It has also recommended that Centre should consider giving representation in the J&K Legislative Assembly to the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, who migrated to Jammu after Partition.

    Why has the exercise been controversial?

    • Jammu vs. Kashmir: Concerns had been expressed over how the delimitation process may end up favoring the Jammu region over Kashmir in terms of the seats.
    • Under-representation of Ladakh: Arguments have been made on how Ladakh has been underrepresented, with demands for statehood/sixth schedule.
    • Non-proportionate reservations: It is argued that seats for STs should’ve been divided in both Jammu province & Kashmir province, as the ST population is almost equal.
    • Frozen till 2026: Constituency boundaries are being redrawn only in J&K when delimitation for the rest of the country has been frozen until 2026. The last delimitation exercise in J&K was carried out in 1995.
    • Issue over reorganization: Again, political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have been pointing out that the Delimitation Commission is mandated by the Reorganisation Act, which is sub judice.

     

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  • How India’s new VPN rules change the Status Quo?

    Recently, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) issued new directives that require Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers to store user data for five years.

    What is VPN?

    • VPN describes the opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks.
    • It encrypts internet traffic and disguise a user’s online identity.
    • This makes it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data.
    • The encryption takes place in real time.

    How does a VPN work?

    • A VPN hides your IP address by letting the network redirect it through a specially configured remote server run by a VPN host.
    • This means that if you surf online with a VPN, the VPN server becomes the source of your data.
    • This means your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and other third parties cannot see which websites you visit or what data you send and receive online.
    • A VPN works like a filter that turns all your data into “gibberish”. Even if someone were to get their hands on your data, it would be useless.

    Why do people use VPN?

    • Secure encryption: A VPN connection disguises your data traffic online and protects it from external access. Unencrypted data can be viewed by anyone who has network access and wants to see it. With a VPN, hackers and cyber criminals can’t decipher this data.
    • Disguising whereabouts: VPN servers essentially act as your proxies on the internet. Because the demographic location data comes from a server in another country, your actual location cannot be determined.
    • Data privacy is held: Most VPN services do not store logs of your activities. Some providers, on the other hand, record your behaviour, but do not pass this information on to third parties. This means that any potential record of your user behaviour remains permanently hidden.
    • Access to regional content: Regional web content is not always accessible from everywhere. Services and websites often contain content that can only be accessed from certain parts of the world.
    • Secure data transfer: If you work remotely, you may need to access important files on your company’s network. For security reasons, this kind of information requires a secure connection. To gain access to the network, a VPN connection is often required.

    What does the new CERT-IN directive say?

    • VPN providers will need to store validated customer names, their physical addresses, email ids, phone numbers, and the reason they are using the service, along with the dates they use it and their “ownership pattern”.
    • In addition, Cert is also asking VPN providers to keep a record of the IP and email addresses that the customer uses to register the service, along with the timestamp of registration.
    • Most importantly, however, VPN providers will have to store all IP addresses issued to a customer and a list of IP addresses that its customers generally use.

    What does this mean for VPN providers?

    • VPN services are in violation of Cert’s rules by simply operating in India.
    • That said, it is worth noting that ‘no logs’ does not mean zero logs.
    • VPN services still need to maintain some logs to run their service efficiently.

    Does this mean VPNs will become useless?

    • The Indian government has not banned VPNs yet, so they can still be used to access content that is blocked in an area, which is the most common usage of these services.
    • However, journalists, activists, and others who use such services to hide their internet footprint will have to think twice about them.

    Why such move?

    • Crime control: For law enforcement agencies, a move like this will make it easier to track criminals who use VPNs to hide their internet footprint.
    • Curbing dark-net activities: Users these days are shifting towards the dark and deep web, which are much tougher to police than VPN services.

    Back2Basics: Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)

    • CERT-IN is an office within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
    • It is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. It strengthens the security-related defense of the Indian Internet domain.
    • It was formed in 2004 by the Government of India under the Information Technology Act, 2000 Section (70B) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

     

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  • Imp: UPSC Prelims 2022 || Schemes Regarding Agriculture & Allied Sectors

    6th May 2022

    Dear Aspirants,

    This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2022

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    1.1 Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

    Objective

    • To achieve convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level.
    • To enhance the recharge of aquifers and introduce sustainable water conservation practices.
    • To explore the feasibility of reusing treated municipal wastewater for peri-urban agriculture.
    • To attract greater private investments in irrigation.
    • To promote extension activities relating to water harvesting, water management and crop alignment for farmers and grass root level field functionaries.

    Salient features

    • Decentralized State level planning and projectized execution’ structure, in order to allow States to draw up a District Irrigation Plan (DIP) and a State Irrigation Plan (SIP). These plans need to be prepared in order to access the PMKSY fund.
    • It will be supervised and monitored by the Inter-Ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) under PM with Union Ministers of all concerned Ministries. A National Executive Committee (NEC) is to be constituted under the Chairmanship of the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog to oversee programme implementation.
    • PMKSY has been formulated amalgamation ongoing schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP); Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP); and On-Farm Water Management (OFWM) component of National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
    • Water budgeting is done for all sectors namely, household, agriculture and industries.
    • Investments will happen at farm level. So, farmers know what is happening and can provide valuable feedback.
    • Recently, the Long Term Irrigation Fund has been instituted under PMKSY in NABARD for funding and fast-tracking the implementation of incomplete major and medium irrigation projects.

    1.2 Large Area Certification Scheme

    Background

       Despite deep inroads of modern agricultural practices, still, there are large contiguous areas in hills, tribal districts, desert and rained areas in India that continue to remain free from chemical input usage. With little efforts, such traditional/ default organic areas can be brought under organic certification almost immediately.
      Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under its flagship scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY) has launched a unique quick certification programme “Large Area Certification” (LAC) to harness these potential areas under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yajana.

     Salient features

    • LAC is a Quick certification process that is cost-effective and farmers do not have to wait for 2-3 years for marketing PGS(Participatory Guarantee System) organic certified products. Whereas As per the established norm of organic production systems, the areas having chemical input usage history are required to undergo a transition period of minimum 2-3 years to qualify as organic. 

    • Under LAC, each village in the area is considered as one cluster/group.  
    • Documentations are simple and maintained village-wise.
    • Plan based on agro-climatic conditions, availability of appropriate technology and natural priorities.
    • All farmers with their farmland and livestock need to adhere to the standard requirements and on being verified get certified en-mass without the need to go under conversion period. Certification is renewed on annual basis through annual verification by a process of peer appraisals as per the process of PGS-India.

    1.3 NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY MISSION

    Objective

    • Increasing production of rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals and commercial crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner.
    • Restore soil fertility and productivity at the individual farm level.
    • Enhancing farm level economy.

    Salient features

    • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme which was launched in 2007.
    • The approach of the scheme is to bridge the yield gap in respect of these crops through dissemination of improved technologies and farm management practices while focusing on districts which have high potential but relatively low level of productivity at present.
    • Major Components – National Food Security Mission – Rice, National Food Security Mission – Wheat, National Food Security Mission – Pulses,
    • National Food Security Mission – Coarse Cereals and National Food Security Mission –Commercial Crops.

    1.4 GRAMIN BHANDARAN YOJANA

    Objective of this Scheme:

    • Create scientific storage capacity with allied facilities in rural areas.
    • To meet the requirements of farmers for storing farm produce, processed farm produce and agricultural inputs.
    • Promotion of grading, standardization and quality control of agricultural produce to improve their marketability.
    • Prevent distress sale immediately after harvest by providing the facility of pledge financing and marketing credit by strengthening agricultural marketing infrastructure in the country.

     

    1.5 SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME

    Objective

    • To issue soil health cards every 3 years, to all farmers of the country, so as to provide a basis to address nutrient deficiencies in fertilization practices.
    • To strengthen the functioning of Soil Testing Laboratories (STLs) through capacity building, the involvement of agriculture students and effective linkage with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) / State Agricultural Universities (SAUs).
    • To diagnose soil fertility related constraints with standardized procedures for sampling uniformly across states.
    • To build capacities of district and state level staff and of progressive farmers for promotion of nutrient management practices.

    Salient features

    • It is a centrally sponsored scheme launched by the Government of India in 2015.
    • It is being implemented through the Department of Agriculture of all the State and Union Territory Governments.
    • Assistance is provided to the State Government to issue Soil Health Card and also develop a database to improve service delivery.
    • Soil Health Card issued to farmers carry crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilizers required for the individual farms.
    • The experts will analyze the strength and weaknesses (micronutrients deficiency) of the soil collected from farms and suggest measures to deal with it.
    • It will contain the status of his soil with respect to 12 parameters, namely N,P,K (Macronutrients); S (Secondary nutrient); Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (Micro – nutrients); and pH, EC, OC (Physical parameters).

    1.6 PM FASAL BIMA YOJANA

    Objective

    • To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
    • To stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
    • To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
    • To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.
    • Intended beneficiary – All farmers including sharecroppers and tenant farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.

    Salient features

    • It replaced all other existing insurance schemes except the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (uses weather parameters as proxy for crop yield in compensating the cultivators for deemed crop loses).
    • A uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.
    • In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.
    • There is no upper limit on Government subsidy so farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.
    • The difference between the premium paid by farmers and the actuarial premium charged was paid by the Centre and state government in the ratio of 50:50.
    • It is compulsory for loanee farmers availing crop loans for notified crops in notified areas and voluntary for non-loanee farmers.
    • Yield Losses: due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado.
    • Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.
    • Post-harvest losses are also covered.
    • Mandatory use of technology: Smart phones, drones etc., will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
    • The Scheme shall be implemented on an ‘Area Approach basis’. Defined Area (i.e., unit area of insurance) is Village or above. It can be a Geo-Fenced/Geo-mapped region having homogenous Risk Profile for the notified crop.
    • Presently, 5 public sector insurers (Agriculture Insurance Company of India, United India Insurance Company etc.) and 13 private insurance companies are empanelled for implementation of the scheme.
    • Recently, states have been allowed to set up their own insurance companies for implementing the scheme.

    1.7 National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

    National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) has been formulated for enhancing agricultural productivity especially in rainfed areas focusing on integrated farming, water use efficiency, soil health management and synergizing resource conservation.

    Objectives

    • To make agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific Integrated/Composite Farming Systems
    • To conserve natural resources through appropriate soil and moisture conservation measures
    • To adopt comprehensive soil health management practices based on soil fertility maps, soil test based application of macro & micro nutrients, judicious use of fertilizers etc.
    • To optimize utilization of water resources through efficient water management to expand coverage for achieving ‘more crop per drop’.
    • To develop capacity of farmers & stakeholders, in conjunction with other on going missions e.g. National Mission on Agriculture Extension & Technology, National Food Security Mission, National Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) etc., in the domain of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.
    • To pilot models in select blocks for improving productivity of rainfed farming by mainstreaming rainfed technologies refined through NICRA and by leveraging resources  from other schemes/Missions like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), RKVY etc.; and
    • To establish an effective inter and intra Departmental/Ministerial coordination for accomplishing key deliverables of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture under the aegis of National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

    1.8 PARAMPARAGAT KRISHI VIKAS YOJANA

    Objective

    • Promotion of commercial organic production through certified organic farming.
    • pesticide residue free produce and improved health of consumer
    • Raise farmer’s income and create potential markets for traders.
    • Motivate the farmers for natural resource mobilization for input production.
    • Increase domestic production and certification of organic produce by involving farmers.

    Intended beneficiary

    • Farmers doing organic farming
    • Farmers from NE India such as Sikkim
    • Food processing industries
    • Organic foods – export industry

    Salient features

    • “Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) under National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
    • Cluster Approach: Fifty or more farmers form a cluster having 50 acre land to take organic farming. Each farmer will be provided Rs. 20000 per acre in three years for seed to harvesting crops and to transport them to market.
    • Government plans to form around 10 thousand clusters in three years and cover an area of 5 Lakh hectares under organic farming.

    Components –

    • Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification through cluster approach – mobilization of farmers, form clusters, identification of land resources and training on organic farming and PGS Certification and quality control.
    • Adoption of organic village for manure management and biological nitrogen harvesting through cluster approach –action plan for Organic Farming, Integrated Manure Management, Packing, Labelling and Branding of organic products of cluster.

    1.9 NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL MARKET (NAM)

    Objective

    • To promote genuine price discovery
    • Increases farmers’ options for sale and access to markets
    • Liberal licensing of traders / buyers and commission agents. One license for a trader valid across all markets in the State
    • Harmonisation of quality standards of agricultural produce
    • Single point levy of market fees, i.e on the first wholesale purchase from the farmer.
    • Provision of Soil Testing Laboratories in/ or near the selected mandi to facilitate visiting farmers to access this facility in the mandi itself

    Intended beneficiary

    • 585 regulated wholesale markets in states/union territories (UTs).
    • Farmers
    • Local traders
    • Bulk buyers, processors
    • Farm produce exporters
    • Overall economy of the nation

    Salient features

    • NAM is a pan-India electronic trading portal which seeks to network the existing APMCs and other market yards to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
    • Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) has been selected as the lead agency to implement it.
    • Central government will provide the software free of cost to the states and in addition, a grant of up to Rs. 30 lakhs per mandi or market or private mandis will be given for related equipment and infrastructure requirements.
    • New Features added to the scheme such as E-NAM Mobile App, BHIM Payment facility, MIS dashboard for better analysis and insights, grievance redressal mechanism for Mandi Secretaries and integration with Farmer Database to ease the registration and identification process will further strengthen e-NAM.
    • Fund Allocation – The Scheme is being funded through AgriTech Infrastructure Fund (AITF).

    1.10 Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

    Objective

    • ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.
    • Subhash Palekar perfected it during the 1990s at his farm in Amravati district in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Vidarbha region.
    • According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.
    • Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy — are already present in nature.
    • The remaining 1.5-2% are taken from the soil,

    Four wheels of ZBNF

    The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.

    • Jiwamrita is a fermented mixture of cow dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery, pulses flour, water and soil from the farm bund.
    • This isn’t a fertilizer, but just a source of some 500 crore micro-organisms that can convert all the necessary “non-available” nutrients into “available” form.
    • Bijamrita is a mix of desi cow dung and urine, water, bund soil and lime that is used as a seed treatment solution prior to sowing.
    • Mulching, or covering the plants with a layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is meant to conserve soil moisture and keep the temperature around the roots at 25-32 degrees Celsius, which allows the microorganisms to do their job.
    • Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain the required moisture-air balance, also achieves the same objective.

    1.11 MERA GAON-MERA GAURAV

    Objective

    • To promote direct interface of scientists withthe farmers and hasten the land to lab process.
    • To imbibe a sense of ownership among the agricultural scientists
    • To provide farmers with required information, knowledge and advisories on regular basis by adopting villages.

    Intended beneficiary

    • Scientists with ground level experience
    • Farmers

     Salient features

    • This scheme involves scientists of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and state agricultural universities.
    • Groups of four multidisciplinary scientists each will be constituted at these institutes and universities. Each group will “adopt” five villages within a radius of maximum 100 km.

    1.12 Price Stabilization Fund

    Objective: to safeguard the interest of the growers and provide them financial relief when prices fall below a specified level.

    Scheme:

    • Central Sector Scheme.
    • To support market interventions for price control of perishable agri-horticultural commodities.
    • PSF will be used to advance interest free loan to State Governments and Central agencies to support their working capital and other expenses on procurement and distribution interventions for such commodities.
    • Procurement of the commodities will be undertaken directly from farmers or farmers’ organizations at farm gate/mandi and made available at a more reasonable price to the consumers.
    • Initially the fund is proposed to be used for onion and potato only. Losses incurred, if any, in the operations will be shared between the Centre and the States.

    Framework and Funding:

    • States will set up a revolving fund to which theCentre and State will contribute equally, i.e. 50:50.
    • The ratio of Centre-State contribution to the State-level corpus in respect of Northeast States will, however, be 75:25.

    1.13 Mission Fingerling

    • It is a programme to enable holistic development and management of the fisheries sector in India.
    • The mission aims to achieve the target to enhance fisheries production from 10.79 mmt (2014-15) to 15 mmt by 2020-21 under the Blue Revolution.

    Programme:

    • Government has identified 20 States based ontheir potential and other relevant factors to strengthen the Fish Fingerling production and Fish Seed infrastructure in the country.
    • This program will facilitate the establishment of Fingerling rearing pond and hatcheries.
    • This will converge in the production of 20 lakh tonnes of fish annually, which will in turn benefit about 4 million families.
    • The implementation of this program will supplement the requirement of stocking materials in the country up to a large extent, which is a much needed input to achieve the enhanced fish production.

    1.14 Umbrella Scheme Green Revolution — Krishonnati Yojana

    Aim

    These schemes look to develop the agriculture and allied sector in a holistic and scientific manner to increase the income of farmers by enhancing production, productivity and better returns on produce.

    The Schemes that are part of the Umbrella Schemes are :-

    1. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
    2. National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
    3. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
    4. Submission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE)
    5. Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP)
    6. Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM)
    7. Sub Mission on Plant Protection and Plan Quarantine (SMPPQ)
    8. Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics (ISACES)
    9. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation (ISAC)
    10. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM)
    11. National e-Governance Plan (NeGP-A) The Schemes/Missions focus on creating/strengthening of infrastructure of production, reducing production cost and marketing of agriculture and allied produce.

    1.15 Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)

    1. The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018.
    2. It is expected that the increase in MSP will be translated to farmers’ income by way of robust procurement mechanism in coordination with the State Governments.

    The three schemes that are part of AASHA are:

    1. the Price Support Scheme (PSS)
    2. the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS)
    3. the Pilot of Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPPS)
    • These three components will complement the existing schemes of the Department of Food and Public Distribution.
    • They relate to paddy, wheat and other cereals and coarse grains where procurement is at MSP now.
    • PSS – Under the PSS, physical procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra will be done by Central Nodal Agencies.
    • Besides, NAFED and Food Corporation of India will also take up procurement of crops under PSS.
    • The expenditure and losses due to procurement will be borne by the Centre.
    • PDPS – Under the PDPS, the Centre proposes to cover all oilseeds.
    • The difference between the MSP and actual selling/modal price will be directly paid into the farmer’s bank account.
    • Farmers who sell their crops in recognised mandis within the notified period can benefit from it.
    • PPSS – In the case of oilseeds, States will have the option to roll out PPSS in select districts.
    • Under this, a private player can procure crops at MSP when market prices drop below MSP.
    • The private player will then be compensated through a service charge up to a maximum of 15% of the MSP.

    1.16 Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)

    What is the news:

    • The Central Government notified a decision to extend the benefit of ₹6,000 per year under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme to all 14.5 crore farmers in the country, irrespective of the size of their landholding.
    • Central sector scheme

    Objective

    ○ To provide income support to all farmer families having cultivable land.

    ○ To supplement the financial needs of the farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income.

    Salient Features:

    • The revised Scheme is expected to coveraround 2 crore more farmers, increasing the coverage of PM-KISAN to around 14.5 crore beneficiaries.
    • Responsibility of identifying the landholder farmer family eligible for benefit under the scheme shall be of the State/UT Government.
    • The lists of eligible beneficiaries would be published at the village level to ensure transparency.
    • Exclusions: Certain categories of beneficiaries of higher economic status such as institutional landholders, former and present holder of constitutional posts, persons who paid income tax in the last assessment year etc. shall not be eligible for benefit under the scheme.
      • Professionals like doctors, engineers and lawyers as well as retired pensioners with a monthly pension of over ₹10,000 and those who paid income tax in the last assessment year are also not eligible for the benefits.
      • For the purpose of exclusion State/UT Government can certify the eligibility of the beneficiary based on self-declaration by the beneficiaries.
    • A dedicated PM Kisan Portal will be launched for the implementation of the scheme.
    • This is a Central Sector Scheme and will be funded fully by the Government of India

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