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  • Vehicle scrapping policy will help Indian steel reduce GHG emissions

    The article explains the advantages of the vehicle scrapping policy announced in the Budget FY22.

    Greenhouse gas contribution  steel industry

    • Steel industry uses carbon as the main reducing agent as also as a fuel for steel production.
    • GHG emissions of the Indian steel industry is 2.0-2.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel, against global average of 1.8 tonne of CO2.

    Scrapping policy

    • Two seminal announcements have been made in Budget FY22, viz. introduction of vehicle scrapping policy and doubling ship-breaking capacity to 9 million tonnes per year.
    • This will minimise dependence on import of scrap and cause a reduction of the GHG footprint of iron & steel.

    Producing steel using scrap

    • Most steel-producing countries are trying to bring down emissions by shifting from iron-ore-based production to scrap-based production.
    • This route can bring CO2 emissions down to below 0.5 tonne of CO2 per tonne of steel.
    • Although most steel-producing countries are using Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) for scrap-based production, in India, both EAF and Induction Furnaces (IF) are used.
    • The main CO2 load in EAF-based steel production doesn’t come from the off-gas but from producing the electricity used in melting of the scrap.
    • Thus, this can be further reduced if renewable power is used as a source of electricity.

    Saving in forex spending

    • Availability of ferrous scrap in India is very limited—around 25 million tonnes annually from domestic sources.
    • In 2018-19 and 2019-20, the country imported nearly 6.5 million tonnes of scrap each year and thus large forex spending was incurrred.
    • With the announcement of vehicle scrapping policy, steel industry can expect enhanced indigenous availability of ferrous scrap.

    Strengthening the resource efficiency and circular economy

    • The quality of the steel produced is dependent upon the quality of input material and hence any improvement made in ensuring quality of scrap will have marked influence on the steel produced.
    • This shall strengthen the process of resource efficiency & circular economy as considerable natural resources shall be conserved with significant reduction in emission and it will help in moving towards a sustainable steel industry.

    Consider the question “Discuss the advantages of vehicle scrapping policy announced by the government in Budget FY 22.”

    Conclusion

    The announcement of the vehicle scrapping policy couldn’t have come at a better time for steel industry in India, as well since the country lacks desired quality of coking coal and natural gas is also imported.

  • Mounting counter challenge to China through Quad

    The article discusses the outcomes of the recently concluded first Quad Summit in the context of India.

    Message to China after Quad summit

    • The first Learders’ Summit of the Quadrilateral Framework was held on March 12.
    • This Summit conveyed a three-pronged message to China:
    • 1) Under the new U.S. President, “America is back” in terms of its desire to play a leading role in other regions.
    • 2) It views China as its primary challenger for that leadership.
    • 3) The Quad partnership is ready to mount a counter-challenge, albeit in “soft-power” terms at present, in order to do so.
    • For both Japan and Australia the outcomes of the summit, both in terms of the “3C’s”working groups established on COVID-19 vaccines, Climate Change and Critical Technology and in terms of this messaging to the “4th C” (China) are very welcome.

    4 Outcomes of Quad Summit for India

    • For India the outcomes of the Quad Summit need more nuanced analysis.

    1) COVID-19 Vaccine

    • India is not only the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines (by number of doses produced, it has already exported 58 million doses to nearly 71 countries.
    • It is also manufacturing a billion doses for South East Asia (under the Quad), over and above its current international commitments.
    • India has also planned to vaccinate 300 million people as originally planned by September.
    • All this comes down to total 1.8 billion doses which will require a major ramp up in capacity and funding, and will bear testimony to the power of Quad cooperation, if realised.
    • However, the effort could have been made much easier had India’s Quad partners also announced dropping their opposition to India’s plea at the World Trade Organization.
    • India had filed the plea along with South Africa in October 2020, seeking waiver from certain provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights for the prevention, containment and treatment of COVID-19.

    2) Climate change

    • On climate change, India has welcomed the return of the U.S. to the Paris accord.
    • Mr. Biden has promised to restart the U.S.’s funding of the global Green Climate Fund, which Mr. Trump ended.
    • India still awaits a large part of the $1.4 billion commitment by the U.S. to finance solar technology in 2016.
    • Mr. Biden might also consider joining the International Solar Alliance, which the other Quad members are a part of, but the U.S.

    3) Critical technology

    • India will welcome any assistance in reducing its dependence on Chinese telecommunication equipment and in finding new sources of rare-earth minerals.
    • India would oppose Quad partners weighing in on international rule-making on the digital economy, or data localisation.
    • Such a move had led New Delhi to walk out of the Japan-led “Osaka track declaration” at the G-20 in 2019.

    4) Dealing with China

    • On this issue, it is still unclear how India can go on the Quad’s intended outcomes.
    • While India shares the deep concerns and the tough messaging set out by the Quad on China, especially after the year-long stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the killings at Galwan that India has faced, it has demurred from any non-bilateral statement on it.
    • India is the only Quad member not a part of the military alliance that binds the other members.
    • India is also the only Quad country with a land boundary with China.
    • And it is the only Quad country which lives in a neighbourhood where China has made deep inroads.
    • Indian officials are still engaged in LAC disengagement talks and have a long way to go to de-escalation or status quo ante.

    3 long term impacts on strategic planning

    • The violence at the LAC has also left three long-term impacts on Indian strategic planning:
    • First, the government must now expend more resources, troops, infrastructure funds to the LAC and ensure no recurrence of the People’s Liberation Army April 2020 incursions.
    • Second, India’s most potent territorial threat will not be from either China or Pakistan, but from both i.e. “two-front situation”.
    • Third, that India’s continental threat perception will need to be prioritised against any maritime commitments the Quad may claim, especially further afield in the Pacific Ocean.

    Consider the question “The Quad’s ideology of a “diamond of democracies” can only succeed if it does not insist on exclusivity in India’s strategic calculations given that India shares a special place among the Quad members when it comes to its relationship with China. Comment”

    Conclusion

    Despite last week’s Quad Summit, India’s choices for its Quad strategy will continue to be guided as much by its location on land as it is by its close friendships with fellow democracies.

  • Agri Ministry questions Global Hunger reports’ methodology

    Union Minister of State for Agriculture has questioned the methodology and data accuracy of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, which has placed India at 94th (out of 107 countries) rank in 2020.

    About GHI

    • GHI is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide, an Ireland-based humanitarian group, and Welthungerhilfe, a Germany-based NGO.
    • It is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.
    • It says the aim of publishing the report is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.
    • According to the GHI website, the data for the indicators come from the United Nations and other multilateral agencies, including the World Health Organisation and the World Bank.

    Various indicators used

    1. UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient);
    2. CHILD WASTING: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition);
    3. CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition); and
    4. CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (in part, a reflection of the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).

    What is the concern?

    • India was ranked below countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar when it was among the top 10 food-producing countries in the world.

    Actual scenario

    • The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) compiled in 2017-18 showed an improvement of 4%, 3.7% and 2.3% in wasted, stunted and malnourished children respectively.
    • The first-ever CNNS was commissioned by the government in 2016 and was conducted from 2016-18, led by the Union Health Ministry, in collaboration with the UNICEF.
    • The findings were published in 2019. CNNS includes only nutrition data, whereas NFHS encompasses overall health indicators.

  • New Vehicle Scrappage Policy

    Auto majors have welcomed the new vehicle scrappage policy rolled out by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, saying it would encourage people to replace old vehicles while boosting the sector.

    Under the policy, those choosing to voluntarily scrap their old vehicles will get financial incentives from the government and the automaker.

    Vehicle Scrappage Policy: Key Highlights

    • Personal vehicles older than 20 years and commercial vehicles older than 15 years will have to undergo a fitness test at the government registered ‘Automated Fitness Centres’.
    • Vehicles that fail to pass the test will be declared as ‘end-of-life vehicles’, which would mean that the vehicle would have to be recycled.
    • This will pave the way for older vehicles to be scrapped.
    • In case, the vehicles pass the test, owners will have to pay a hefty fee for re-registration.
    • According to the new policy, the re-registration fee would be hiked around eight times for personal vehicles, and around 20 times for commercial vehicles.

    What Are Automated Fitness Centres?

    • Every vehicle will have to go under a mandatory fitness test at the automated fitness centres.
    • The government aims to have at least 718 centres across the country.
    • These centres will test the vehicle’s emission, and braking and other safety components as prescribed by Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
    • Appointments to these centres will have to be booked online and the fitness report will be electronically generated.

    Change in Fee Structure

    • The government has increased the fee for renewal and grant of fitness certificate of older vehicles up to 20 times.
    • Here is the new fee structure for personal vehicles older than 15 years:
    1. Two-wheelers – Rs 1,000
    2. Three-wheeler/quadricycles – Rs 3,500
    3. Cars – Rs 7,500

    (Do not worry about the data. It is the state PSCs which may ask such information)

    For commercial vehicles:

    1. Passenger motor vehicles – Rs 10,000
    2. Heavy goods/large motor vehicles – Rs 12,500

    Benefits for buyers

    • In case you decide to scrap your old vehicle at the registered scrapping centres, you will get approximately 4-6 per cent of the value of the vehicle’s ex-showroom price.
    • The ex-showroom price is the cost of the vehicle, excluding the charges paid for registering the vehicle at RTO and insurance.
    • Moreover, if you buy a new vehicle you will be given a flat 5 per cent discount on presenting a scrapping certificate.
    • Registration fees will also be waived on the purchase of a new vehicle.

    Obtaining a Scrapping Certificate

    • Old vehicle owners will be able to formally scrap their registered vehicles at the automated scrapping centres.
    • These centres will be linked with the Vahan database of the transport ministry.
    • After you scrap your vehicle with the government registered agency, you will be provided with the scrapping certificate.
    • You will then be eligible for the benefits proposed under the scheme.

    Implementation

    Tentative timeline for the new rules:

    • Rules for fitness tests and government scrapping centres to come into effect – 1 October 2021
    • The scrapping of government and PSU vehicles above 15 years of age to start – 1 April 2022
    • Fitness testing for heavy commercial vehicles – 1 April 2023

  • How did inflation targeting really impact India?

    The article analyses the success of the inflation targeting mechanism in India and its impact on the growth of the economy.

    Background of the inflation targeting policy in India

    • It has been three decades since inflation targeting was first adopted in New Zealand and subsequently by 33 other countries.
    • India adopted it in 2016.
    • The primary goal of inflation targeting was to contain inflation at around 4 per cent, within the allowable range of 2 to 6 per cent.
    • The RBI has announced a formal review of the policy instrument now.
    • At the first meeting of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee in October 2016, it was also formally announced that the MPC considered a real repo rate of 1.25 per cent as the neutral real policy rate for the Indian economy.
    • By a neutral real policy rate, the RBI meant a policy rate consistent with growth at potential (i.e. growth at full employment).

    Has inflation targeting worked in India

    • The evaluation of IT must provide answers to the following two questions:
    • Did inflation decline post the adoption of inflation targeting and what was the role of IT in the decline in inflation?
    • Was the adoption of inflation targeting associated with the policy of the highest real repo rates in India — ever — for almost three years 2017-2019?
    • The answer is yes to the latter, but it also needs to be acknowledged that high real repo rates were the primary cause of the GDP growth decline in India from 8 per cent to 5 per cent.

    Need to take into account the global context of inflation

    • An interesting feature of the Indian defence of inflation targeting is that very few take into account the global context of inflation in which the decline in inflation has occurred in India.
    • A research paper by Balasubramanian, Bhalla, Bhasin and Loungani at ORF evaluates inflation targeting in a global context and separately for Advanced Economies (AEs) and Emerging Economies (EES).
    • Some facts from the paper are the following.
    • First, the annual median inflation in AEs has been consistently low, so low that many central banks have official campaigns to raise the inflation rate.
    • One conclusion might be that IT succeeded beyond anyone’s dreams in these economies.
    • But attributing this decline in inflation to IT would be erroneous.
    • Inflation is global and price-taking by millions of producers in the world means that no one producer or one country can influence the price of any item.
    • Oil has ceased to be a factor in global inflation, at least post the mid-1980s.
    • The lowest inflation in Indian history occurred during 1999-2005, averaged only 3.9 per cent.
    • The average median rate among EM targetters during 2000-04 was 4 per cent, and among the non-targeting countries was 3.8 per cent.

    Did fiscal deficit play role in inflation targeting

    • In 2003, India passed the FRBM act to control fiscal deficits and inflation.
    • There is precious little evidence, either domestically or internationally, about fiscal deficits affecting inflation.
    • For three consecutive years preceding the FRBM announcement, the consolidated Centre plus state deficits registered 10.9 per cent(in 2001), 10.4 and 10.9 per cent.
    • For the seven-year 1999-2005 period, consolidated fiscal deficits averaged 9.4 per cent of GDP.
    • Yet, that these years represented the golden period of Indian inflation — without FRBM and without IT.

    Cost of inflation targeting in India

    • There are also costs to inflation targeting in India.
    • It led to higher real policy rates, in the mistaken belief that high policy rates affect the price of food, oil, or anything else.
    • But high real rates affect economic growth, by affecting the cost of domestic capital in this ultra-competitive world.
    • It is very likely not a coincidence that potential GDP growth, as acknowledged by RBI, was reached just before the MPC took over decision making in September 2016. 
    •  Since then there was a steady increase in real policy rates, and a steady decline in GDP growth.

    Consider the question “How far has the inflation targeting mechanism been successful in India? Give reasons in support of your argument.” 

    Conclusion

    So, in the inflation targeting mechanism has not been successful in containing the inflation though there had a cost associated with it which we paid in the form of growth.

  • Jharkhand’s SAAMAR campaign to fight malnutrition

    The Jharkhand government has announced the launch of the SAAMAR campaign to tackle malnutrition in the state.

    We can expect an MCQ like:

    Q.SAAMAR campaign sometimes seen in news is related to:

    () Bovine health

    () Mother and Child Health

    () Non-communicable diseases

    () None of these

    SAAMAR

    • SAAMAR is an acronym for Strategic Action for Alleviation of Malnutrition and Anemia Reduction.
    • The campaign aims to identify anaemic women and malnourished children and converge various departments to effectively deal with the problem in a state where malnutrition has been a major problem.
    • Every second child in the state is stunted and underweight and every third child is affected by stunting and every 10th child is affected by severe wasting and around 70% of children are anaemic NFHS-4 data.

    Features of the scheme

    • Although existing schemes are there, seeing the current situation, the intervention was required with a ‘different approach to reduce malnutrition.
    • SAAMAR has been launched with a 1000 days target, under which annual surveys will be conducted to track the progress.
    • It talks of convergence of various departments such as the Rural Development Department and Food and Civil Supplies and engagement with school management committees, gram sabhas among others and making them aware of nutritional behaviour.
    • Most importantly, the campaign, as per the note, also tries to target Primarily Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

    Outlined strategy under the scheme

    • To tackle severe acute malnutrition children, every Anganwadi Centres will be engaged to identify these children and subsequently will be treated at the Malnutrition Treatment Centres.
    • In the same process, the anaemic women will also be listed and will be referred to health centres in serious cases.
    • All of these will be done by measuring Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) of women and children through MUAC tapes and Edema levels.
    • Angawadi’s Sahayia and Sevika will take them to the nearest Health Centre where they will be checked again and then registered on the portal of State Nutrition Mission.

    Why need such a scheme?

    • The state government runs various schemes under Child Development Schemes, National Nutrition Mission among others to deal with the situation, but it is not enough.
    • Dealing with malnutrition in the state monitoring has been an important concern due to the lack of doctors or health care workers.

  • What are the Diatoms?

    The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has relied on a forensic test known as diatom tests for leads in an alleged murder case of a person inviting high stage political drama.

    What are Diatoms?

    • Diatoms are photosynthesizing algae that are found in almost every aquatic environment including fresh and marine waters, soils, in fact, almost anywhere moist.
    • Diatoms have cell walls made of silica, each species has a distinct pattern of tiny holes in the cell wall (frustule) through which they absorb nutrients and get rid of waste.
    • A diatom is a photosynthetic, single-celled organism which means they manufacture their own food in the same way plants do.

    Diatoms are important as they:

    • provide the basis of the food chain for both marine and freshwater micro-organisms and animal larvae
    • are a major source of atmospheric oxygen responsible for 20-30% of all carbon fixation on the planet
    • can act as environmental indicators of climate change
    • form the basis of some household goods such as pest/mite prevention and mild abrasive

    Never underestimate UPSC. Try this PYQ before you reach any conclusion.

    Q.Which one of the following is the correct sequence of a food chain?

    (a) Diatoms-Crustaceans-Herrings

    (b) Crustaceans-Diatoms-Herrings

    (c) Diatoms-Herrings-Crustaceans

    (d) Crustaceans-Herrings-Diatoms

    What is a diatom test?

    • Diagnosis of death by drowning is deemed as a difficult task in forensic pathology.
    • A number of tests have been developed to confirm the cause of such deaths with the diatom test emerging as one of the most important tests.
    • The test entails findings if there are diatoms in the body being tested.

    The science behind

    • A body recovered from a water body does not necessarily imply that the death was due to drowning.
    • If the person is alive when he enters the water, the diatoms will enter the lungs when the person inhales water while drowning.
    • These diatoms then get carried to various parts of the body, including the brain, kidneys, lungs and bone marrow by blood circulation.
    • If a person is dead when is thrown in the water, then there is no circulation and there is no transport of diatom cells to various organs.

  • Places on PM Modi’s Bangladesh Visit

    PM Modi will be on a two-day visit to Bangladesh where he will take part in commemorations of some epochal events there.

    Bangabandhu shrine in Tungipara

    • Located about 420 kilometres from Dhaka, Tungipara was the place of birth of Rahman, the architect of the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence.
    • This is also the place where he lies buried inside a grand tomb called the ‘Bangabandhu mausoleum’.
    • Millions of people gather here every year on August 15, to observe the day when Rahman was assassinated by a group of disgruntled army officers.

    Harichand Thakur’s shrine in Orakandi

    • Thakur was the founder of the Matua Mahasangha, which was a religious reformation movement that originated in Orakandi in about 1860 CE.
    • At a very early age, Thakur experienced spiritual revelation, following which he founded a sect of Vaishnava Hinduism called Matua.
    • Members of the sect were the namasudras who were considered to be untouchables.
    • The objective of Thakur’s religious reform was to uplift the community through educational and other social initiatives.
    • Members of the community consider Thakur as God and an avatar of Vishnu or Krishna.
    • After the 1947 Partition, many of the Matuas migrated to West Bengal.

    ‘Sugandha Shaktipith’ (Satipith) temple in Shikarpur

    • Modi is also scheduled to visit the Sugandha Shaktipeeth which is located in Shikarpur, close to Barisal.
    • The temple, dedicated to Goddess Sunanda is of immense religious significance to Hinduism.
    • It is one of the 51 Shakti Pith temples.
    • The Shakti Pith shrines are pilgrimage destinations associated with the Shakti (Goddess worship) sect of Hinduism.

    Rabindra Kuthi Bari in Kushtia

    • The Kuthi Bari is a country house built by Dwarkanath Tagore, the grandfather of Nobel laureate and Bengali poetic giant Rabindranath Tagore.
    • The latter stayed in the house for over a decade in irregular intervals between 1891 and 1901.
    • In this house Tagore composed some of his masterpieces like Sonar Tari, Katha o Kahini, Chaitali etc. He also wrote a large number of songs and poems for Gitanjali here.
    • It was also in this house that Tagore began translating the Gitanjali to English in 1912, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

    Ancestral home of Bagha Jatin in Kushtia

    • Jatindranath Mukherjee, better known as ‘Bagha Jatin’ (tiger Jatin) was a revolutionary freedom fighter.
    • He was born in Kayagram, a village in Kushtia district, where his ancestral home is located.
    • Jatin acquired the epithet ‘Bagha’ after he fought a Royal Bengal Tiger all by himself and killed it with a dagger.
    • Jatin was the first commander-in-chief of the ‘Jugantar Party’ which was formed in 1906 as a central association dedicated to train revolutionary freedom fighters in Bengal.
    • This was the period when Bengal was seething with nationalist furore against Lord Curzon’s declaration of Partition of the province.
    • Inspired by Jatin’s clarion call, “amra morbo, jagat jagbe” (we shall die to awaken the nation), many young revolutionaries joined the brand of the freedom struggle that the Jugantar Party represented.

    His legend:

    • Jatin is most remembered for an armed encounter he engaged in with the British police at Balasore in Orissa.
    • They were expecting a consignment of arms and funds from Germany to lead an armed struggle when the British found out about the plot and raided the spot where the revolutionaries were hiding. A
    • lthough Jatin lost his life in the Battle of Balasore, his activities did have an impact on the British forces.
    • The colonial police officer Charles Augustus Tegart wrote about Jatin: “If Bagha Jatin was an Englishman, then the English people would have built his statue next to Nelson’s at Trafalgar Square.”
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  • [Burning Issue] Domicile Reservations in Private Sector

    Two weeks back, the Haryana Governor gave his assent to the Bill providing 75% reservation in the private sector to job seekers from the state. And much recently Jharkhand government announced 75% reservation in private sector jobs with a salary of up to Rs 30,000 for locals.

    Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had sought responses from all states on whether the 50% ceiling limit on reservation needs to be reconsidered.

    In this edition of Burning Issues, we shall dive into what and how reservation for Private Sector would be; its repercussions on the principle of equality in our country and ultimately the performance of the private sector.

    Reservation: A backgrounder

    • Reservations are an affirmative action against social discrimination prevalent in society.
    • They have had a place in India for over a century, much before they were written into the Constitution as a leg up for socially and educationally backward sections.

    Private Sector: Diluting Reservation to the point of irrelevance

    • The issue of extending reservations to the private sector was occasionally mentioned in political circles whenever the issue of inadequate employment opportunities for the unprivileged in the public sector was discussed.
    • But it was never seriously debated.
    • The issue got trans-formed into demand after the country introduced structural reforms and after the acceptance of the globalisation process.

    LPG era concept

    • Economic liberalisation brought in its wake a shift in emphasis from the public to the private sector.
    • It was decided to prune the size of the public sector by disinvesting capital and allowing not only Indian but also foreign private investors to invest in those areas of economic activity like power generation and distribution which were once reserved exclusively for the public sector.

    Why is the demand gaining momentum?

    • There is an implicit assumption in this demand that employment opportunities are increasing in the private sector merely because it is expanding.

    (1) LPG reforms

    • The policy of LPG reduced the number of employment opportunities in the public sector, which, in turn, reduced the job opportunities for backward communities.
    • A revelation of the reduction of employment opportunities in the public sector made some political parties and their leaden advance the demand for extending reservations to the expanding private sector.

    (2) Populist impulse

    • The demand- jobs for locals only are bound to go down well with the electorate.
    • The leadership has been supporting the general cause of SC/STs and OBCs have only been repeating their support for the demand for extending reservations to the private sector.
    • While the political facet is a purely opportunistic political game plan.

    (3) Rising unemployment

    • Given India’s population growth, each year there are close to 20 million (or 2 crore) people who enter the working-age population of 15 to 59 years. But not everyone seeks a job.
    • Just after last year’s lockdown, the unemployment rate has shot up to more than 30 percent, with 122 million people losing their jobs.

    (4) Agrarian stress

    • The agrarian sector is under tremendous stress across the country, and young people are desperate to move out of the sector.
    • But there is a serious dearth of jobs (private and government).

    (5) Inter-state migration

    • Every campaign for a sons-of-soil policy, for job reservation, whips up this anti “outsider” sentiment.
    • In the case of Haryana, one of the reasons given for justifying reservations was the proliferation of slums, presumably attributed to “outsiders” shifting to the State for work.

    (6) Corporate preferences are biased

    • The Centre and many state governments probably doubt the robustness in the industry’s efforts when it comes to affirmative action.
    • Several reports — for instance, the State of Working India 2018 released by the Centre for Sustainable Employment of the Azim Premji University.
    • It has shown that discrimination is one of the reasons for under-representation of Dalits and Muslims in the corporate sector.

    (7) Xenophobia

    • Another major reason for the appeal of jobs for locals is inherent xenophobia. This is not unique to India or Indian States, but is universal.
    • It was spectacularly manifest in the Brexit vote, when Britons thought that foreigners were taking away local jobs, and hence voted to secede from the European Union.
    • The actual facts were much less damaging. If anything, the so-called foreign workers contributed to the local economy through their productivity, and by paying both consumption and income taxes.

    Why it is a bad idea?

    It is worth examining why this idea is ultimately infructuous or irrelevant.

    (1) Against Equality as well as meritocracy

    • It goes against the Constitution of India.
    • In fact, it violates several fundamental rights, such as freedom to move anywhere, the right not to be discriminated on the basis of place of birth, the right to be treated equally before laws and the right to pursue one’s livelihood.
    • These are enshrined variously in Articles 14, 15, 16 and 19 of the constitution.

    (2) Migration criteria not justified

    • The actual data on inter-State migration shows that inter-State migration is relatively low in India.
    • While the country may have an estimated 100 million migrants, most of them are intra-state not inter-state. As per 2011 census, India had only 5.6 crore inter-state migrants.
    • They often bring skills, motivation, energy which may be in short supply or lacking locally.

    (3) Free movement of labour

    • A more analytical aspect to highlight is that free movement of labour partly compensates for the uneven economic progress of different States.
    • The idea also goes against the established fact that migration of labour is good for the economy.
    • Many Indian states, Punjab, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, to name a few, have benefited from migrant labour.

    (4) Un-ease of doing business

    • Local reservation in the private sector may not be the ideal solution to tackle the unemployment crisis.
    • In fact, it can deter the corporate sector from investing in states that come up with such a rule.
    • A better way to engage with the private sector would be to make the youth of a state employable with proper investments in education, health and skill development.

    (5) Scapegoating the private sector

    • What distinguishes the private sector from the public sector is the inherent competition and a hunger for improvement.
    • Today, in the post-Covid era, India has a once in a lifetime opportunity to become the next manufacturing hub of the world.
    • In such a scenario, chief ministers should do well to engage with the private sector in a much more holistic manner, and not burden it with unfeasible rules.

    (6) MSMEs to be hit harder

    • MSMEs could be the hardest hit.
    • They do not have the necessary capital to relocate and many studies have shown that more than 50 per cent of employees are not residents of the state.
    • Entrepreneurs worry that the reservation declared by backward states like Jharkhand could limit the scope of recruitment and have an adverse impact on productivity and competition based on merit.

    Arguments in favour of quota in private

    • Often the privileged castes (or groups) use nefarious arguments to protect their interests.
    • Reservations once accepted in the constitutional framework are not a charity that is to be kept away from the ‘meritocracy’ of ‘private’ operations.
    • Like all other constitutional guarantees, one may feel the necessity to get ensured of equal opportunity in all spaces.
    • Giving preference and quotas for socially and educationally deprived sections in the private space is, therefore, in keeping with this fundamental tenet.
    • As the NCBC argues, with the number of jobs generated in the state sector shrinking steadily, for the promise of quotas in the Constitution to have any real meaning, it may be inevitable to extend it to the private sector.

    How have the companies received this move?

    • Most companies have slammed the new local job quota law and asked the government to focus on training and skilling local youth.
    • Several experts have explained that Haryana is facing immense competition from other states that have now started attracting industrial investment.
    • Those states, however, are offering liberal policies and employment-incentive schemes. The new local job law could severely reduce new investments in Haryana.
    • Reservation affects productivity and industry competitiveness.

    Way forward

    The government is not an employment guaranteeing agency rather an authority which should create an environment through its policies which minimizes inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities.

    • India has already suffered a huge brain drain to the West because professionals do not get the same support here.
    • Our dependence on the government for everything and lack of individual self-reliance has promoted incompetent people and strengthened the bureaucracy, which has hurt India immensely in the long-run.
    • Recently, with rapid technological innovations taking over, the government has finally understood that they are not made for business and had to embrace private sector with open arms.
    • A better way to engage with the private sector would be to make the youth of a state employable with proper investments in education, health and skill development
    • States like Kerala have instituted enlightened policies of training migrant workers in the local language and also offering good education for their children.
    • In the medium to long term there is no option but for a big national focus on education, skilling, training and enhancement of human capital, which can get us out of this scarcity mindset of rationing jobs for locals.

    Conclusion

    • The politics of identity and polarization on region/religious lines seems inadequate for the elections.
    • The philosophy and pragmatism of universal excellence through equality of opportunity for education and advancement across the nation is part of our founding faith and constitutional creed.
    • Clearly, this is not the appropriate domain of being “vocal for local”.
    • Although some reservations may still be necessary for the socio-political condition in India, reservation on the basis of domicile or residence within a State would be highly discriminatory.
    • It is more likely that such politically motivated steps would be overturned by the judiciary as has been done several times in the past.

    References:

    https://www.jstor.org/stable/4416239?seq=1

    https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/states-rush-in-to-reserve-jobs-for-locals-and-prevent-inter-state-migration-of-labour

    https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/why-local-quota-in-private-sector-is-not-a-good-idea/story-L4NEcekdviQUw5gZYnxktL.html

    https://theprint.in/campus-voice/reservation-in-private-sector-will-barricade-indias-march-into-future/623054/

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