Hi guys,
We start this initiative as a part of Prelims Geography locations,
Our basic task is to find locations which may come in news or may part of any special activity/significant relevance around world –
For instance,
Kuril islands – In the news, for dispute between Japan and Russia
Falkland island – Argentina seeks support of Saudis for this british territory
Rohingya island – Refugees of a distinct Muslim ethnic group who are effectively stateless have been fleeing Myanmar.
Houthis – Shia rebels from north Yemen (Shia(Iran support) vs Sunni(Saudi support) conflict in Yemen – so, India’s Rahat operation) so, was in news.
Spartly islands -Territorial dispute between Brunei, China,Malaysia,the Philippines,Taiwan, and Vietnam.(Mostly Chinese dominant claim)
Taro Island (in Solomon sea) – located nearby to the northeast part Australia
(Planning to migration bcoz of rising seas/Global warming).
Same other island nations planning for migration, same reason- Kiribati island, Marshall islands,Solomon island.
In 2015 Prelims – UPSC have asked about landlocked country [Jordan] so, think of such locations, as it will come in news.
So, our intent is to have all good locations which will come for UPSC Prelims and Optional Geography paper.
Muziris port heritage project launched – so its location and history?
Let’s together Find and share all important places.
Come and have fun in Geographic locations find outs !!
As of July 2015, India has been accorded full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) along with Pakistan at its Ufa summit held in Russia.
SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and military organisation
HQ: Beijing, China
Established: 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders 6 countries viz. China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
Since 2005, India was having an Observer status of SCO and had applied for full membership in 2014. India would be finally ratified in the member list by 2016
Connecting the dots with SCO
Per Chinese and Russian scholars, creation of SCO helped address the security problems and enhance economic cooperation in the Central Asia region. The Western discourse, however, has tended to see the SCO as a mechanism to counter-balance the influence of the United States in the region. Both are correct!
SCO is considered and tagged as anti-west. Behind the veils, it is alleged that SCO is going to be a NATO like military alliance in East. You might expect a question on that line and be asked to put India’s context in place.
However, China exaggeratedly says that the SCO was founded on a principle of non-alignment and functions as an effective stabilizer for regional security and peace. China has always maintained that the focus of SCO is on combating the “three evil forces” – terrorism, separatism, and extremism – and other unconventional security menaces.
Advantage India?
There are multiple benefits for India as well as the SCO which is concerned with security and stability in the Eurasian space.
India’s presence will help moderate the anti-West bias of the grouping, which will calm Washington’s nerves to a considerable extent
Greater engagement with India will also aid the organisation’s capability to improve regional economic prosperity and security
Membership will give India an opportunity to play an active role in China’s Silk Road initiative which plans to link a new set of routes from the north and east of the country to an old network of routes in the greater Eurasian region.
Indian interest in International North-South Transport Corridor to connect Mumbai with Abbas port in Iran. This route is shorter than the existing Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea
SCO may also serve as guarantor for projects such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipelines, which are held by India due to security concerns.
India’s entry is also likely to tip the balance of power in favor of peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Challenges ahead for SCO?
It is naive to expect that India’s differences with China regarding the border or its ties with Pakistan will magically disappear. The inclusion of Pakistan in the SCO will also make it difficult for India to enjoy a level playing field.
Pakistan, which is embroiled in a domestic political crisis, may not be so willing to challenge hardliners in its country, and go along with India in promoting peace and stability in the Eurasian space. We have seen how Indo-Pak presence in SAARC makes it difficult to ink key pacts.
The clash of interests in a post – 2014 Afghanistan makes prospects of cooperation difficult. There is also a possibility that China may collude with Pakistan to suffocate India’s voice in the decision making process.
Other than that, India will have to balance the geopolitical ambitions of China and Russia to evolve a mutually beneficial framework.
Further readings:
SCO becomes a reasonably hot topic post India’s accession to the member status. If you are comfortable with IR, try these articles –
Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) have been proliferating, especially since the establishment of WTO and about 619 PTAs have been signed so far of which 413 are already in force <there are only 185 sovereign states according to UN>.
India has long-standing commitment to multilateralism under WTO agreements but in line with global trends, India has made use of FTAs as a key component of its trade and foreign policy. If WTO is going nowhere, we can’t just sit and expect WTO negotiation to conclude, we also have to sign FTA or we will be left behind
So far, India has mainly focused on partnering with other Asian countries, and in goods more so than in services <with SL, Afghanistan, Thailand, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Korea, Malaysia and Japan and regional trade agreements SAFTA and ASEAN>
Outside Asia, We have signed FTAs with Chile and MERCOSUR <What is MERCOSUR, answer in comments>
But not all FTAs are same and depth of integration offered by different FTAs in different sectors are different. For instance, the India-Korea CEPA contains chapters on Origin Procedures, Telecommunication and Audio-Visual Co-production, but these are not included in the India-Japan CEPA. There are provisions in India-Japan CEPA not included in Indo-Korea CEPA <this all creates complications as number of FTAs increase and they all have different rules, regulations and procedures> <What are rules of origin? answer in the comments below>
Concept of spaghetti-bowl effect / Noodle bowl effect
Source-Worldbank blogs
Concept was propounded by world’s foremost trade economist Prof Jagdish Bhagwati is analogy between the tangling of spaghetti or noodle in a bowl with the tangling of different FTAs, He argues that so many FTAs with their differential tariff rates, rules, procedures muddy water so much that leads to discriminatory trade policy and results in often contradictory outcomes amongst bilateral and multilateral trade partners.
Let’s understand this with an example- Suppose rule of origin rule in TPP implies that Vietnam can only export textile which is made from Vietnami Yarn. Now Vietnam has an FTA with say B’desh or India and Yarn is covered under it. Indian yarn is cheaper yet Vietnam will not buy it because textile manufactured from it will not be covered under TPP. Multiply it across more than 400 FTAs and you can understand how complex it can get and more complex it gets, advantage developed and bigger countries.
Small countries don’t have resources to investigate whether US is actually following rules of origin for it’s exports. At much bigger level, it would look like this
Source-werewolf.co.nz
It’s safe to say that developing countries like India should invest their energy in successful negotiation of WTO rounds as they can negotiate them better collectively, outcomes are not very complex thus beneficial to less resourceful. But as we can not wait for that to happen indefinitely we should also sign FTAs which would be beneficial to us.
Mega-Regionalism
Until recently FTAs were signed mainly bilaterally and regionally <india-Bhutan, ASEAN ka SAFTA, North America ka NAFTA, Europe ka EU> but of late PTAs have begun to morph into mega-regional agreements, which would encompass a large share of world GDP and trade. Consider for instance:
TPP- 40% of Global GDP and 33% of trade (already sgined)
TTIP- 50% of GDP and 30% of merchandise trade, 40% trade in services (negotiations continuing) <TTIP is trans atlantic trade and investment partnership b.w EU and USA>
India is not a member of either of these two grouping but is negotiating it’s own mega regional- RCEP (regional comprehensive economic partnership) which is not as ambitious in scope as the other two agreements.
With the signing of TPP and TPIP, India will have access to these markets at higher costs <member countries will get preferential treatment; resulting in some negative impact on Indian exports and thus our GDP growth. Different studies suggest negative impact on India’s GDP from -0.1% to -.2%.
TPP/ RECP is very, very important topic for prelims/ mains/ interview. For prelims, name of countries in TPP, in RCEP, in ASEAN, in all 3 grouping, in only 2 groupings etc is very important. Look at the figure below, it will help you remember the names well
Source-asaifoundation.org
Other way to remember the names is continent wise
4 ASEAN members- Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei ,Vietnam
7 RCEP members- 4 ASEAN above + Australia, New Zealand, Japan
5 American countries Canada, Mexico, United States, Chile, Peru (3 from North and central America + 2 from South America)
Please note that China and Korea are not part of TPP
Over the years, India has signed many FTAs, have they benefited us? As number of FTAs and mega regional pacts are proliferating, should we sign more FTAs?
Any FTA will lead to increase in trade as tariff and non tariff barriers come down but if it leads to much higher imports than exports and thus negative trade balance, impact can be considered as negative.
Concept of trade creation v/s trade diversion
Another aspect of FTAS which like Spaghetti bowl effect is a criticism of FTAS wrt WTO- whether actually trade is being created or is it merely shifting to inefficient firms?
Trade creation -In WTO, a country reduces tariff for every other country in this world and because of this tariff decrease, outside firms can compete with domestic producers and trade increases leading to trade creation.
Trade diversion– occurs when tariff preferences offered under an FTA causes a shift of imports from firms in non FTA member countries to less efficient firms within the trade bloc, which now become competitive due to tariff reliefs.
Let’s understand this with an example-
Suppose country B is imports mangoes from country C and D, Until now, it imposed 20% tariff on both, thus major market share is captured by country D which is more efficient but now, B and C sign an FTA and now mangoes from C are imported at zero tariff. Consider this
Country
cost of production
Tariff rate
Actual landed cost before FTA
Landed cost after FTA with C
C
110
20%
132
110
D
100
20%
120
120
Now C has become more competitive and trade will get diverted from D to C, that’s another side effect of FTAs.
Source-slideshare
Impact of FTAs on India’s trade
The overall effect on trade of FTA is positive and statistically significant
With ASEAN, trade has resulted in more imports than exports, this widening our trade deficit
Impact of FTAs on different industry segments fall differently <it’s only to be expected>
Conclusion
FTAs have increased trade with FTA countries more than would have happened otherwise.
Increased trade has been more on the import than export side, most likely because India maintains relatively high tariffs and hence had larger tariff reductions than its FTA partners
The trade increases have been much greater with the ASEAN than other FTA.
What should be India’s stance towards FTAs and mega regional trade agreements?
Multilateral trade liberalisation remains the best way forward
But the WTO process seems to have been overtaken by preferential trade agreements
Against this background, India has a strategic choice to make: to play the same PTA game as everyone else or be excluded from this process
In the current context of slowing demand and excess capacity with threats of circumvention of trade rules, progress on FTAs, if pursued, must be combined with strengthening India’s ability to respond with WTO-consistent measures such as anti-dumping and conventional duties and safeguard measures.
Multiplicity of labour laws and the difficulty in their compliance has always been cited as an impediment to the industrial development
The World Bank annual report for year 2014 on Indian Labour Laws- The Indian states with flexible labour laws and easier compliance mechanism have fared better in terms of Industrial development than those where labour laws are rigid and the compliance is difficult as well
Ease of compliance has also been found to be important for the growth of organized sector
It is needed to amend the labour laws and make them flexible for the present circumstances
It is also important to ensure that the compliance is made easy as this will encourage the development of manufacturing industry particularly MSME sector in the country
#1. Shram Suvidha Portal
Aim: To create a conducive environment for industrial development Features:
Unique labour identification number (LIN) will be allotted to Units to facilitate online registration
Filing of self-certified and simplified Single Online Return by the industry Mandatory uploading of inspection Reports within 72 hours by the Labour inspectors
Timely redressal of grievances will be ensured with the help of the portal
Advantage:
Ease in compliance of provisions related to labour
A step forward in promoting the ease of doing business
The complete database will add to the informed policy process
#2. Labour Inspection
Aim: To bring in transparency in labour inspection So far, the units for inspection were selected locally without any objective criteria Features:
Serious matters are to be covered under the mandatory inspection list
A computerized list of inspections will be generated randomly based on pre-determined objective criteria
Complaints based inspections will also be determined centrally after examination based on data and evidence
There will be provision of Emergency List for inspection of serious cases in specific circumstances
Advantage: A transparent Inspection Scheme will provide a check on the arbitrariness in compliance mechanism
#3. Universal Account Number (UAN)
Under the scheme, complete information for approximately 4 crore subscribers of EPF has been centrally compiled and digitized & a UAN has been allotted to all
The UAN is being seeded with Bank account and Aadhar Card and other KYC details for financial inclusion of vulnerable section of society
Camps are being organized to facilitate opening of bank account and Aadhar card for those subscribers who have no bank account or Aadhar card
Advantage: This will ensure portability of the Social Security Benefits to the labour of organised sector across the jobs and geographic areas
#4. Recognition of Brand Ambassadors of ITIs
Need:
The Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the country are the backbone of the vocational training system, only source of supply of skilled manpower to manufacturing industry
There are 11,500 ITIs having about 16 lakh seats. But this is grossly inadequate for supplying skilled manpower to Indian industry
Only 10% of the workforce has got formal or informal technical training. Only one fourth of this is formally trained
Whereas in South Korea, Japan, Germany, the percentage of workforce having received skills training is 96, 80 and 75 respectively
Therefore we need to rapidly expand certificate level vocational training if we have to succeed in our mission of ‘Make in India’
Also, blue collar work is not respected and regarded in the society
Features:
Over 60 years of existence ITIs have given excellent technician, mechanics, entrepreneurs and professional leaders & manufacturing sector is reservoir of this success
They have brought name and fame in the country and abroad It is proposed to compile these success stories and publish in print and electronic form
These success stories shall be used for motivating youngsters and their parents
Such successful ITI graduates will be showcased as National Brand Ambassadors of Vocational Training
Advantages:
It will serve as communicator and catalyst, taking the message of ITI vocational training to every section of society
Improve the brand image as well as social acceptance of the vocational training
#5. All India Skill Competition
Aim: To foster the healthy spirit of competitiveness among the trainee Craftsmen/ Apprentices Competitions:
All India Skill Competition for Craftsmen among trainees admitted under Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS)
All India Competition for Apprentices among trainees admitted under Apprenticeship Training Scheme (ATS)
#6. Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojna
The Apprentices Act 1961 was enacted for regulating the Apprenticeship Training Scheme in the industry for imparting on-the-job training to apprentices Need:
Presently, there are only 2.82 lakh apprentices undergoing training against 4.9 lakh seats
Present framework tightly regulates the number of apprentices trade-wise, and is not attractive to youth because of low rate of stipend
Also, the industry is averse to participate because the scheme is not viable for the small industries
There are a large number of establishments including MSMEs where training facilities are available but could not be utilized so far
Aim: To revamp the apprenticeship Scheme in India with the vision of increasing apprenticeship seats to more than 20 lakhs in next few years Components:
Making the legal framework friendly to both, industry and youth
Enhancing the rate of stipend and indexing it to minimum wages of semi-skilled workers
Support manufacturing units mainly and other establishments by reimbursing 50% of the stipend paid to apprentices during first two years of their training
Basic training component (mainly class room training part) of the curricula is being restructured on scientific principles to make it more effective, and MSMEs will be supported financially by govt
Advantage:
Apprenticeship Scheme has huge potential for training the large number of young person’s to make them employable
Similar schemes have been highly successful in countries like Germany, China and Japan where the number of apprentices are stated to be 30, 20 & 10 million respectively
If properly revamped, it could also significantly contribute to ‘Make in India’ Mission
Let’s end this article with a nice summary from The Hindu
SourceThehindu
Follow this story for updates on labour reforms- Labour reforms in India Suggested readings:
PM Modi- ‘By the time the Nation completes 75 years of its Independence, every family will have a pucca house with water connection, toilet facilities, 24×7 electricity supply and access’
To achieve this objective, Govt has launched a comprehensive mission ‘Housing for All by 2022’
The programme is launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA)
Features
It will be implemented during 2015-2022
Will provide central assistance to implementing agencies through States and UTs for providing houses to all eligible families/beneficiaries by 2022
Will be implemented as Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) except for the component of credit linked subsidy which will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme <what’s the difference b/w centrally sponsored and central sector schemes? Answer in comments>
Mission with all its component has become effective from 17 June, 2015 and will be implemented upto 31 March, 2022
All 4041 statutory towns as per Census 2011 with focus on 500 Class I cities would be covered in three phases:Answer in comments>
Phase I (April 2015 – March 2017) to cover 100 Cities selected from States/ UTs as per their willingness
Phase II (April 2017 – March 2019) to cover additional 200 Cities
Phase III (April 2019 – March 2022) to cover all other remaining Cities
Ministry, however, will have flexibility regarding inclusion of additional cities in earlier phases in case there is a resource backed demand from States/ UTs
The mission will support construction of houses upto 30 square meter carpet area with basic civic infrastructure
The minimum size of houses constructed under the mission under each component should conform to the standards provided in National Building Code (NBC)
The houses should be designed and constructed to meet the requirements of structural safety against earthquake, flood, cyclone, landslides etc. conforming to the National Building Code and other relevant Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) codes
The houses should be in the name of the female head of the household or in the joint name of the male head of the household and his wife, and only in cases when there is no adult female member in the family, the house can be in the name of male member of the household
Implementing Agencies should encourage formation of associations of beneficiaries under the scheme like Resident Welfare Association etc. to take care of maintenance of houses being built under the mission
Components
The Mission will be implemented through four verticals giving option to beneficiaries, ULBs and State Governments
Beneficiaries
The mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers
What is a slum? It is defined as a compact area of at least 300 people or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities
Beneficiaries include Economically weaker section (EWS) and low-income groups (LIGs)
The annual income cap is up to Rs 3 lakh for EWS and Rs 3-6 lakh for LIG. EWS category of beneficiaries is eligible for assistance in all four verticals of the Missions whereas LIG category is eligible under only Credit linked subsidy scheme (CLSS) component of the Mission
A beneficiary family will comprise husband, wife, unmarried sons and/ or unmarried daughters
The beneficiary family should not own a pucca house either in his/ her name or in the name of any member of his/ her family in any part of India to be eligible to receive central assistance under the mission
The total housing shortage envisaged to be addressed through the new mission is 20 millionAnswer in comments>
#11. Obscene language cannot be allowed against historically respected personalities
Devidas vs. State of Maharashtra
Summary:
The Apex Court in a significant judgment rendered held that in the name of artistic freedom or critical thinking or generating the idea of creativity, a poet or a writer cannot put into the voice or image of a “historically respected personality” like Mahatma Gandhi, such language, which may be obscene.
Background:
A Bench of the Supreme Court comprising of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant was considering the appeal preferred by a bank employee
He was alleged for publishing a “vulgar and obscene” poem- ‘Gandhi Mala Bhetala Hota’ (‘I Met Gandhi’) using the name of Mahatma Gandhi in an in-house magazine of the Bank of Maharashtra Employees Union in 1994
SC observations:
The freedom of speech and expression “has to be given a broad canvas, but it has to have inherent limitations which are permissible within the constitutional parameters
The Supreme Court refused to express any opinion on whether freedom of speech included the freedom to offend
In determining ‘obscenity’ under Section 292 IPC, the test evolved by the Apex Court is the ‘contemporary community standards test’
The counter view:
The poem does not use obscene words and it does not come within the ambit and sweep of Section 292 IPC
The poet has expressed himself as he has a right to express his own thoughts in words
The poem actually expresses the prevalent situation in certain arenas and the agony and anguish expressed by the poet through Gandhi and thus, the poem is surrealistic presentation
Section 292, IPC:
An object is deemed to be obscene if- It is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect tends to deprave and corrupt person
Objects covered- A book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation, figure or any other object
You may like to read the critical analysis of the judgement here.
#12. Appointment of Archakas to be made in accordance with Agamas
Adi Saiva Sivachariyargal Nala Sanga vs. Government of Tamil Nadu
The Constitutional legitimacy, naturally, must supersede all religious beliefs or practices: Supreme Court
Summary:
The Supreme Court of India, in, has held that appointments of Archakas in temples will have to be made in accordance with the Agamas, subject to their due identification as well as their conformity with the Constitutional mandates and principles. Apex Court bench comprising of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana made this observation while disposing of a batch of Writ petitions filed against Tamil Nadu Government order regarding appointment of Archakas in temple.
SC observations:
The exclusion of some and inclusion of a particular segment or denomination for appointment as Archakas would not violate Article 14 so long such inclusion/ exclusion is not based on the criteria of caste, birth or any other constitutionally unacceptable parameter
If the appointment as Archakas is not on the basis of caste or class, the sanctity of Article 17 or any other provision of Part III of the Constitution or even the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 will not be violated
If any prescription with regard to appointment of Archakas is made by the Agamas, Section 28 of the Tamil Nadu Act mandates the Trustee to conduct the temple affairs in accordance with such custom or usage
The requirement of Constitutional conformity is inbuilt and if a custom is outside the protective umbrella of Articles 25 and 26, the law would certainly take its own course
The constitutional legitimacy, naturally, must supersede all religious beliefs or practices
We are consolidating all the factiods, opportunities, criticisms and updates on the schemes by government of India in the last year or so under this collection –
Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is a flagship scheme of Government of India to enable a small enterprise come into the formal financial system and get affordable credit to run his/ her business.
Who? Any Indian Citizen who has a business plan for a non-farm sector income generating activity
Credit need? Less than Rs 10 lakh
Possible Creditors? Banks, MFI, or NBFC
Types of Loans provided
Under the aegis of Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, MUDRA has already created the following products / schemes.
Shishu : covering loans upto 50,000/-
Kishor : covering loans above 50,000/- and upto 5 lakh
Note that there is no subsidy for the loan given under PMMY. However, if the loan proposal is linked some Government scheme, wherein the Government is providing capital subsidy, it will be eligible under PMMY also.
What is MUDRA Bank and what is its role in the MUDRA Yojna?
MUDRA Bank = Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank
The Rs 20,000 crore MUDRA Bank aims to provide refinancing to small and medium enterprises, particularly those from SC & ST
The idea is to refinance micro-finance institutions through Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
This bank would be responsible for regulating and refinancing all MFIs which are in the business of lending to MSME
Are there any concerns regarding the structure or establishment of MUDRA bank?
The bank will be financially challenged since inception, if it is funded through non-budgetary support
The funds for the bank would be sourced from shortfall in the achievements of the priority sector lending (PSL) targets
Currently, the shortfall in the PSL targets of the domestic scheduled commercial banks are deposited in Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) and for foreign banks in Small Enterprises Development Fund
The fact of the matter is that banks have been surpassing the targets in all years, since 2002, except for the last three years
The shortfall lies only in agricultural loans, but it would be unfair to divert the target for agriculture from RIDF to micro units
What are some of the positive points which go in favour of such a scheme?
Informal sector accounts for 90% of our non-agricultural workforce, 50% of the GDP & 40% of the non-farm GDP
Analysts point that the Indian GDP can be raised by almost 15% if the informal sector data is incorporated in the GDP series
The MUDRA bank aims to boost loans and cut borrowing costs for the cash-starved domestic small businesses
But has a direct intervention from government (to facilitate loans) worked in past?
What are some of the prominent concerns in this area?
There is always a case for direct government intervention to solve any one of our many chronic problems, to justify the need for MUDRA bank
The govt. is trying to ensure equity through determined government action that previously drove the govt. to nationalise banks and bring priority sector lending
However, such ‘directed credit’ has not worked successfully in the past
The govt. control over banks had led to large-scale corruption and repeated recapitalisation through taxpayers’ money
MUDRA bank has been over-burdened with many conflicting objectives and too-many roles, viz. a lender, consultant, regulator, think tank and an agent of social change
Mission Indradhanush was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India on December 25, 2014.
Source: Min. of I&B
Objective
Aims to cover all those children by 2020 who are either unvaccinated, or are partially vaccinated against 7 vaccine preventable diseases
The diseases are – diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B
How is the government going about the implementation?
Implementation will be done in phases in a “catch up” mode – the aim is to cover all the children who have been left out or missed out for immunization
Technically supported by WHO, UNICEF, Rotary International and other donor partners
The first round of the first phase started from 7 April 2015-World Health Day
What’s interesting about the Phase 1 districts? These 201 high focus districts in the country have nearly 50% of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children!
Out of the 201 districts, 82 districts are in just four states of UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
What are the 4 pillars of strategy for Mission Indradhanush?
#1. Meticulous planning of campaigns/sessions at all levels
Within the districts, the Mission will focus on the 400,000 high risk settlements identified by the polio eradication programme
400,000 high risk settlements include urban slums, construction sites, brick kilns, nomadic sites and hard-to-reach areas
Such a planning needs a timely revision of micro plans in all blocks and urban areas in each district to ensure availability of sufficient vaccinators & vaccines
#2. Effective communication and social mobilization efforts
Generate awareness and demand for immunization services through need-based communication strategies and social mobilization activities
Use of mass media, mid media, interpersonal communication (IPC), school and youth networks and corporates
#3. Intensive training of the health officials and frontline workers
Capacity building has been the core of any social sector scheme and this just reinforces the point #1
#4. Establish accountability framework through task forces
Strengthening the district task forces for immunization in all districts
Ensuring the use of concurrent session monitoring data to plug the gaps in implementation on a real time basis
Collaboration with other Ministries, ongoing programmes and international partners to promote a coordinated and synergistic approach
