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Q.1) The demand for creation of separate states in India has often been driven by lack of development. In the light of ongoing Gorakahland agitation in Darjeeling, discuss the roots and causes of current crisis. How should the government deal with the situation?

India has seen several movements demanding a separate state such as Gorkhaland, Telangana, and Nagalim etc. are often driven by lack of development. However, the Gorkha land movement has been a long standing quest of the Nepali speaking Gorkhas (in Darjeeling and Kalimpong region) for a separate state in an attempt to break free from years of continued political, cultural and socio-economic subjugation in West Bengal. While it is neither a separatist nor an anti-national movement; it is a classic case of sub nationalist movement seeking identity through a democratic framework. The narrative of this cultural and linguistic domination has many facets that can be understood from the following:

CAUSES OF THE MOVEMENT:

• Immediate Triggers:

1. Imposition of the compulsory Bengali language in all schools of the state was enough to trigger fears of linguistic imperialism among the people of hills.
2. The recent cabinet meeting in Darjeeling, a first in over 40 years without the representation of 3 local MLAs of the hills instilled fears of more political domination to come.

• Ensuing Issues:

1. Socio- Economic Marginalization:

      – Low levels of employment in addition to outsiders owning the tea estates.

      – Ethnic and racial discrimination at places of education and work (called chinkis, foreigners, outsiders) resulting in cultural alienation in their own motherland

1. Linguistic chauvinism through imposition of a different language
2. Political marginalization:

Unilateral territorial claims, denial of self-governance and political suppression over the years without any substantive historical evidence.

1. Desire for a belongingness or identity in the Indian nation state with support for the ‘native point of view’.

Reasons for the resurgence:

The all in all desire for a recognition, respect and cultural integration into the nation state is the bottom line for the recurrence of the demand.

• The stop gap arrangements have not yielded results like Creation of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (1988-2012) and the Gorkha land Territorial Administration (2012-present) has failed to provide meaningful autonomy.
• Political encroachment of the incumbent government looms large with Tribal Development Boards being created among the Gorkha conglomerate (Sherpas and Tamangs separated within the Gorkha electorate).This is perceived as a clear ‘divide and rule ‘policy undermining the already limited autonomy of the hills.
• This double bind of colonial nostalgia and neo-colonial regional domination reignites the fears that meaningful progress is out of reach.
• Carving of a Kalimpong district from within the district has also added the anxiety.

Way Forward:

The Darjeeling hills are too strategic a region to ignore where economic and regional stability is key to national interest. Regionalism is not always opposed to nationalism, as it can also help build up internal cohesion within a country.  So, it is imperative on the part of the Centre and state along with stakeholders to come along in a pragmatic manner at the earliest. Further devolution of financial and legislative powers to GTA and keeping Bengali optional plus larger agenda of cultural assimilation through ‘Ek Bharath Sreshth Bharath’ initiative will assuage the fears and resolve the issues amicably in the near term. Even creating Autonomous state of Gorkhaland within undivided Bengal through Art 244A is also within constitutional norms for a long term resolution. Dragging feet over the matter will only be a loss for both sides and detrimental to national interests.

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Q.2) Do you think the government’s recent policy of involving private players in the housing sector will enable it to meet the ‘housing for all’ target by 2022? Give arguments in support of your answer.

https://thewire.in/179973/private-investment-affordable-housing/

The ambitious scheme of providing housing for all by 2022 was announced by government in 2015.This scheme also is in line with one of the ‘sustainable development goal’. Government has announced various initiatives to fulfill its targets. Out of these initiatives, one of them is the recent decision of government to allow private sector engagement in this scheme.

The two PPP models for private investment in affordable housing on private land include extending central assistance of about Rs 2.5 lakh for each house as an interest subsidy on bank loans as upfront payment under the credit-linked subsidy component of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). Under the second option, central assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh will be given for each house to be built on private land, in case the beneficiaries do not intend to take bank loans.

With an aim of attracting private player in affordable housing scheme, government has unfolded PPP model which allows central assistance of up to 2.5 lakhs for the houses build by private player even on the private land. Government has proposed Eight PPP models out of which six includes private construction on government land while two consist of construction on private land.

The new policy would bring following benefits to the government:

• By engaging private players, government would able to timely and efficiently complete the projects.
• By allowing construction of houses on private land under PPP, government would be relived from the pressure of collecting land for building houses.
• Since most private players have experience in construction sector, they would bring more efficiency in building houses.
• Finally, given the limited resources available to the government for implementing the scheme, the engagement of private player would be an attractive option.

Thus, by this new PPP policy government would be able to complete his target of ‘Affordable housing for all by 2022’.However it must also be ensured that engagement of private players would bring in these intended benefits and benefits of private players would be ensured. Only then the benefits of PPP policy could be leveraged. Considering the reforms of a Model Tenancy Act and National Rental Housing Policy coupled with the private participation should be the imperative going forward.

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Q.3) Compost from biodegradable municipal solid waste along with cleaning up cities will also improve agricultural productivity and soil quality of our farms. Discuss.

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/swachh-bharat-mission-solid-waste-management-from-waste-to-health-4862741/

Though waste management to keep cities clean is now getting attention through Swaachh Bharat Mission, it is limited to collection and transportation. The challenge of processing and treating the different streams of solid waste, and safe disposal of the residuals in scientific landfills, is to be equally viewed from the perspective of waste to health rather than just waste to energy. The Ghazipur, Deonar and Bellandur episodes are enough to stir anybody’s conscience. With India generating 65 million tonnes of waste annually out of which only 70% is collected and only 20-30% being treated, depicts the gravity of the issue.

In the light of the above situation, the conversion of biodegradable municipal solid waste into compost will serve the dual purpose of both keeping the cities clean and improving productivity and soil quality. The benefits that entail are as follows:

• City compost from biodegradable waste provides an alternative to farmyard manure (like cow dung) which has been valued from time immemorial for its rich microbial content that helps plants to take up soil nutrients.
• Fortification of soil with organic carbon is an essential element of integrated plant nutrient management as it increases the productivity of other fertilizers.  City compost can also be blended with rock phosphate to produce phosphate-rich organic manure.
• The addition of compost or organic manure reduces nitrogen wastage, as its humus absorbs the nitrogen and acts like a slow release sponge. 
• Compost from biodegradable waste increases the water retention capacity of soil thus, making the crop draught resistant.
• By making the soil porous, it makes the roots stronger. By this, it reduces the use of pesticides for crops.
• There are also evidence that crop prepared from compost have better shelf life, size, color and flavors.
• It also helps to decrease the water pollution caused by excessive use of fertilizers. It increases the nitrogen absorption capacity of soil therefore; less nitrogen washes off and go to the water bodies.
• If city waste was composted before making it available to the farmers for applying to the soil, cities would be cleaned up and the fields around them would be much more productive. It would, however, require that delivery mechanisms be set up for the delivery of city compost to farmers.

The Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 making co-marketing of compost mandatory combined with incentive of Market Development Assistance (MDA) of Rs 1,500 per tonne on the purchase and distribution of city compost through the rural outlets are positives. Assuming 15 per cent yield of compost from the total waste generated; this would provide 10 million tonnes of city compost annually. Quite apart from cleaning up the cities of biodegradable waste, this would be a major and sustainable contribution to improving the health of our soil and a marvelous transition from waste to health.  

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Q.4) “CRISPR technology is much faster, yield better results, and is relatively easy to do.” Examine.

https://www.civilsdaily.com/crispr/

CRISPR-Cas9 a genome editing technology has been in news since 2014 after it successfully corrected a mutation in mice related to human metabolic disease called tyrosinaemia. It is cited as a revolutionary technique that mimics natural phenomenon used by bacteria to disable attacks from viruses. CRISPRs that is, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats are sections of DNA that uses CAS-9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) enzyme as scissors to cut through the DNA.

This technique is much faster and yield better results because-

1. Site specific genome engineering

In the process of genome editing the Crispr scans the genome looking for the right location and Cas9 guides the RNAs directing them to a particular sequence which needs to be edited.

1. It yields better results for a particular target because when the RNA cuts the target sequence, the cell repairs the damage by replacing the original sequence with an altered version
2. It relies on RNA–DNA base pairing, rather than the engineering of proteins that bind particular DNA sequences. This makes it cheaper and can be efficiently used for gene therapy in humans.
3. This gene editing tool appears to work in nearly every organism and in every cell type: kidney, heart and those, like T-cells, that researchers had previously found difficult to modify.

Other Applications of CRISPR-Cas9 technology

Agriculture

• It can be used to alter the DNA of important agricultural crops like rice and wheat in order to improve traits like disease and drought tolerance.

Drug Development

• Disease modeling using animals has been inefficient due to the difficulty in generating genetically modified animals that accurately recapitulate human pathology.
• But, CRISPR-Cas9 has allowed for generation of transgenic animals like rats, monkeys etc. which are more suitable for human disease modeling than mice and thus permit better drug-development tests.

Despite such advantages and wide ranging applications, this technology also comes with various concerns like-

1. It is labour intensive and high cost oriented technique than RNA interference .
2. It inhibits the RNA polymerase activity in the nucleus instead of complete gene knock down as in RNA interference, thus resulting to be less efficient.
3. This technique is still in nascent stage and requires further research on its potential drawbacks.

There is a need for more advanced research on this technology to identify and counter its potential concerns so that it can be used extensively in various sectors of socio-economic development like biomedicine, agriculture, human gene therapy, industrial microbes etc.

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Q.5) India’s choice should be more on becoming a soft power rather than a hard power.” Analyse this statement in the light of relative advantages India enjoys in Science and Technology, especially in Space Technology and suggest ways of leveraging that advantage.

https://www.civilsdaily.com/isro-soft-power/

Soft power as was defined by Joseph Nye of Harvard, as the ability to shape the preferences of others, change and influence public and social opinion through appeal that is without the use of force and coercion. On the contrary the use of military might and force is known as hard power. It uses instruments like culture, foreign policies, political values, religion, science and technology etc.

The advantages of projecting soft power through space and technology especially space programme by India are-

1. The recent launch of Chandrayan-1 by ISRO for finding water on the surface of moon, the Mars Orbiter Mission(2014) which was even cheaper than a Hollywood movie have helped India become a source of inspiration for many nations.
2. ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix has emerged as the world’s most successful satellite launching centre, till date it has launched more than 200 foreign satellites.
3. With successful launch of reusable space vehicle that is going to cut down the cost of space launches by 10 times, Antrix is expected to gain more. It also brings the much required foreign exchange.
4. Space agencies like ESA, JAXA, NASA has also collaborated with ISRO on various projects.
5. The SAARC satellite which will help SAARC countries in remote sensing and disaster management will further help India in strengthening its position of leader in South Asia.
6. India’s becoming associated member of CERN and entering global collaborations in biomedicine like CEPI has made her one of the global powers in science and technology.

Ways of leveraging these advantages-

1. Incentivising the participation of private sector in this sector through special polices and schemes. .
2. Requisite investment in infrastructure to produce new facilities and institutions all over India. For example- Niti Aayog has recommended constituting a national Science, Technology and Innovation foundation headed by a distinguished scientist to coordinate efforts on national scale and come out with a roadmap. 
3. Department of Space needs to be empowered with three F’s that is, funds, functions and functionaries.
4. Prudent and timely follow up on various MoUs and collaborations(e.g. SAARC satellite,NASA negotiations,)etc.

Science and technology as an instrument of soft power also indirectly helps India to form a security that is beyond tanks, fighter jets and nuclear deterrence. It would help India increase its influence over other states through non-military means.

Thus, it will enhance Indian influence in the global arena and would be a true epitome of India’s rising soft power.

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Q.6) Nationalism should not be imposed upon the people. It is an intrinsic value of each individual which must come from within”. Analyse this statement in the light of SC judgement on playing of national anthem in the cinema halls.

https://www.civilsdaily.com/should-national-anthem-be-made-mandatory-in-cinema-halls/

The recent judgement of the Supreme Court that all the cinema halls in India shall play the National Anthem before the feature film starts and all present in the hall are obliged to stand up to show respect to the National Anthem has raised many questions like whether nationalism should be imposed or as an intrinsic value it has to come from within.

The Rational for SC judgement–

1. It is the sacred obligation of every citizen to abide by the ideals engrafted in the Constitution
2. It is justified on the grounds of fundamental duty that is, Article 51-A (a) which states that every citizen of India should respect the National flag and National Anthem.
3. The court noted that the citizens of the country must realize that they live in a nation and are duty bound to show respect to National Anthem which is the symbol of the Constitutional Patriotism and inherent national quality.
4. The moral values and the national pride is not the obligation of only the armed forces, this is the fundamental duty of all citizens.
5. Right from the childhood the national values must be infused in the minds of the children of the contry.

Criticism of the judgement

1. Past experience: Earlier in 1960s it was mandatory for cinema halls to play the national anthem after every movie but sadly it was a common sight to see people start leaving the theatre while the national anthem was being palyed, so this practice was discontinued.
2. Judicial overreach: This is the domain of the executive and the legislature and not of the Supreme Court.
3. Under Article 142 the Supreme Court decrees and orders are enforceable throughout the country but those are in respect of a matter which comes up for the Supreme Court. There are doubts whether this particular order comes under that category.
4. Critics argue that feelings of nationalism must come from inside and can’t be forced upon and this compulsion may create adverse reaction which is not good.
5. Mere standing for the national anthem doesn’t make one fulfill his/her all the civic and national duties
6. By not playing national anthem in the cinema halls doesn’t make us less patriotic.
7. There is no empirical evidence to show that people have become less nationalistic or less patriotic. 
8. The Supreme Court used an expression “Constitutional Patriotism” but patriotism cannot be constitutional.
9. Our founding fathers of constitution also did not imposed such forced patriotism.

The recent judgement of the Madras high court regarding mandatory singing of Vande Matram further fuels the debate.

There is a need to imbibe the feelings of nationalism in the students at the school level requiring government to take the needful steps like designing curriculum and textbooks that teach lessons in nationalism. Sports, films, plays can further this goal of imbibing the spirit of one nation that the court highlighted in its judgement.

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Q.7) What is a National Court of Appeal? Do you think India needs a National Court of Appeal? What are the pros and cons of having a NCA?

https://www.civilsdaily.com/proposal-for-national-court-of-appeal/

Hints:

• National Court of Appeal is a proposal to set up regional branches of courts in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata which is meant to act as a final court of justice in dealing with appeals from the decisions of the High Courts and Tribunals within their region in civil, criminal, labour and revenue matters.
• The argument says that it will provide the Supreme Court situated in Delhi to only deal with the matter related to constitutional law and public law.

Does India need a National Court of Appeal?

• The following facts necessitates for the creation of National Court of Appeal in India:
• Burdening of SC by regular cases: Due to SC being burdened by regular matters like bail pleas, dishonoured cheques, traffic violations, etc. has reduce court’s efficiency, it is not able to perform its real mandate of a Constitutional Court.
• Give SC time to perform its mandate functions: The setting up of a NCA would take up the Supreme Court’s appeals jurisdiction and will give Supreme Court its much wanted time to perform its mandated functions efficiently.
• Reduce burden on higher judiciary: NCA would help in reducing the burden by disposing the mundane cases; and it may also help in clubbing those cases which needs clarification from the Supreme Court.

However, setting up regional branches will have its pro as well as cons also.

Pros:

• Increasing geographical proximity: Since the Supreme Court is situated only in New Delhi, it hampers the accessibility to litigants from south India. So, there is an urgent need to establish courts like NCA with regional benches.
• If a court of appeal is established, the majority of appeals from high courts can be addressed in these courts. If the Supreme Court only deals with crucial cases, the process will become streamlined and will save a lot of time and expense, for both litigants and the courts.
• It would relieve the Supreme Court of the weight of hearing regular civil and criminal appeals, allowing the court to concentrate on determining only fundamental questions of constitutional importance.

Cons:

• May curtail the powers of the Supreme Court: It is feared that attempts like this are made by the other organs of the state to curtail the constitutional powers of the Supreme Court.
• Require constitutional amendment: It is held that the establishment of NCA would require an amendment in Article 130 of the Constitution which in turn would change the constitution of the Supreme Court completely.
• May cost heavily on exchequer: The establishment of NCA would increase the burden on the exchequer and similarly the expenses and hardships of the litigants will also increase.
• Dilution of the Supreme Court and its aura as an apex court may not be in line with the concept of the Supreme Court envisioned by the architects of the Constitution. An NCA would “completely change the constitution of the Supreme Court” and establishing NCA in between the High Court and the SC would be a dilution of the judiciary.

Conclusion:

• The issues concerning the Indian Judiciary as a whole are deep rooted for the NCA to offer a solution. The focus should be made to strengthen the base of judicial edifice instead of trying to alter the core structure of the judiciary.
• The need of the hour is a more robust subordinate judiciary in the place of the feeble infrastructure to support the justice delivery system. A strong political will is needed to effect changes to ensure smooth and effective functioning of the Supreme Court rather than just making infrastructural changes.

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Q.8) Do you think a fiscal stimulus package will put the Indian economy back on track when it is witnessing low growth rates? What are the deeper and broader structural reforms that will help attain India sustainable higher growth?

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/HMUPXtW4vAN6BwbJMDf7lJ/Going-beyond-the-idea-of-fiscal-stimulus.html

Hints:

• Fiscal Stimulus Package is an Economic Measures put together by the government to stimulate a floundering economy. The objective of a stimulus package is to reinvigorate the economy and prevent or reverse a recession by boosting employment and spending. 
• The Indian Economy has shown slipping growth to a modest rate of 5.7% in the first quarter of the current fiscal 2017-18. This decelerating growth trend has been because of lingering impact of demonetisation and destocking before the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• The idea behind this stimulus is that in the absence of sufficient investment demand from the private sector, higher government expenditure will help boost gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

Analysis:

• When demand in an economy stays weak for long, businesses stop investing in new projects, unemployment rises, income shrinks and consumer confidence wanes. This prompts consumers to retreat further into their shells.
• But if the Government can step in with a fiscal stimulus, to deliver a small steroid shot to consumer spending, it revives business confidence, restarts projects, creates jobs and sets off a virtuous cycle of feel-good, demand and growth.
• But in order to increase spending the government has to borrow money, since its tax revenues cannot meet the shortfall. This borrowing will further raise the interest costs. Further, deficit spending by the government increases inflation, which in turn hurts the economy.
• Expanding the deficit can complicate policy choices for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as it can affect RBI’s target of keeping inflation around 4% on a durable basis.
• Also there is no guarantee that expanding the deficit will take India to a higher sustainable growth path. Expanding the deficit by another half a percentage point, for instance, is unlikely to affect the private investment and can change things materially on the ground. 
• Economic growth has slowed considerably and the economy needs policy intervention that goes beyond running a bigger deficit. Also, as India learned the hard way a few years ago, it is never easy to cut the budget deficit. 
• India’s scenarios of low growth rate started in the last fiscal year mainly due to a rolling off the windfall from the drop in global oil process and fall in credit appetite due to the de-leveraging of bank balance sheets. The impact of such slowdown will peter out and output affected by these events does not need fiscal support. But since growth started decelerating before these shocks, policy intervention needs to go beyond fiscal stimulus.

Need for sustainable higher growth:

• Reduce corporate tax to 10 per cent. Cutting tax rates stimulates the economy which in turn increases revenue collection. Research shows that when tax rates are reduced tax revenues increase and inversely when rates are raised government revenue falls.
• Eliminate the capital gains tax. This tax is a huge impediment to capital turnover and abolishing it will release billions in locked up capital.
• Simplify GST with a single tax rate across all products and services and quarterly filing of returns.
• Raise capital by selling the government’s share in public sector companies. The existing market value of all 240 or so Public Sector Companies is about Rs 19 lakh crore. Plus trillions of rupees are locked in real estate assets owned by government undertakings. This value can be unlocked and invested in infrastructure, education and skill development.
• In order to boost the functioning of banking sectors burdened by bad loans, the government should think of privatizing all banking in India. This will infuse efficiency and will sustain the shock of economy.
• Develop a vibrant corporate bond market as an alternative source of funding for the private sector. Competition from the bond market will bring market discipline to interest rates and allows companies with good business models but weak collaterals to get capital for their growth.
• Remove all capital account restrictions on the rupee and make it fully convertible. This, along with the elimination of capital gains tax, will enhance liquidity in India’s capital markets and attract significant foreign capital.
• Order all government agencies to slash in half regulations that are crippling businesses. This will reassure the private sector that the government is serious about reform.
• Minimize attempts at coercive tax collection as this has the tendency to further demoralize the businesses.

Conclusion:

• India’s own experience from the liberalisation of 1991 suggests that reducing the role of government in matters of economics and commerce and incentivising private sector investment is the key to economic growth.

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Q.9) The scale of the NPA problem at public sector Indian banks is much larger than was thought, and the downturn in the Indian economy has made the need for corrective measures more urgent. Do you think a ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ solution for PSU banks will help to solve this problem? Critically comment.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/w59G4qmA8NUxIm5l2ziBUK/A-Sudarshan-Chakra-solutionfor-PSU-banks.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=news_rec

Hints:

• • Indian banks are in deteriorating condition in its performance due to ever increasing of their Non Performing Assets since past few years and the worst sufferer is Public sector banks. This rising NPA of Banks has serious concern in India’s economic development as the credit flow will impact the business opportunities most.
  • To reverse the effect of mounting NPA, the Government of India has taken various initiatives including Indradhanush scheme, setting up ARCs and SARFAESI Act. However, these initiatives have not worked at par with in order to tackle the growing NPA. Now the Government has come up with new scheme called Sudarshan Chakra Solution to solve the rising problem of NPA. This Sudarshan Chakra Solution includes 4 R’s, viz Recognition, Resolution, Recapitalization and Reform.
  • Recognition: RBI’s annually done Asset Quality Review will recognize the bad loans and NPA which is at present at about 12% and suggest the banks to take appropriate action. However, this is an underestimate, because it does not include assets that are stressed but not NPAs. The market assessment is that when these stressed assets will increase, may increase the percentage of NPA by up to 6%.

 

• Resolution: The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is a major reform with some Sudarshan Chakra like qualities. Once an account is referred by a creditor under the IBC to the National Company Law Tribunal, and is admitted, the powers of the management and the board are transferred to an independent insolvency professional (IP). The IP then looks for someone willing to take over the project on suitable terms, including a write-down of the debt.

• The extent of the debt write-down needed will vary from project to project. However, this depends on the investors will and capacity to deal with the project. Also the process needs to be completed within 180 extendable by another 90 days after which if not resolved, liquidation will take place which is even worse than haircut which will further impact and lead to erosion of capital.

• Recapitalization: Fitch Ratings has estimated that Indian PSU banks will need as much as Rs4 trillion of capital by end of March 2019 to meet the capital requirements under Basel III. This mandates to bring more private investment.

 

• However, the scope for using public funds to recapitalize the PSU banks can only be judged on the basis of a holistic view of the many other demands for government expenditure. We cannot keep talking of stimulating the economy through increased government expenditure, without a clear view of how much of the capital requirement of the PSU banks has to be met from the budget. 
• Reforms: Reforms in PSU banks are expected to make the banks more efficient and the need for reform is therefore independent of whether public resources are being used to recapitalize them. Reforms like improving governance, upgrading the skill set, improve the quality of risk management within PSU banks apart from merging strong banks with other banks etc. can play a crucial role. The most important reform will be to reduce the government’s equity to 33% in selected PSU banks.
• Apart from these initiatives, effective implementation of GST, Banking Regulation Act-2017 along with implementation of various regulations of RBI is the need of the hour. Bringing efficiency and transparency in decision making and giving more power to Bank Board Bureau with caution of accountability on them for power and money they held is also needed.
• Considering the ever rising problems of NPA, there is a need of long term solution which Sudarshan Chakra along with various other concerns may effectively deal with NPA and save the banking sector.

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Q.10) Donald Trump’s new assertive policy in Afghanistan opens up many opportunities for India. How can India seize the opportunity opened up by this new policy to raise India’s profile in Afghanistan?

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-trump-discontinuity-us-president-policy-on-afghanistan-4810529/

Hints:

• The new policy of Donald Trump recognized Pakistan as a safe heaven for terrorist groups and asserted India’s role in developmental activities taken in Afghanistan. On Trump’s affirmation that India ought to do more, Delhi pointed to India’s significant past efforts to promote economic reconstruction in Afghanistan. India added that “it will continue these efforts, including in partnership with other countries”. This new policy is significant as it provides more opportunity for India in comparison of other old policies which were restricted India’s role in Afghanistan.

How can India seize the opportunity?

• While India must prepare for the possibility of the US slipping back to its old ways on Pakistan, India’s current emphasis must be on taking advantage of the Trump discontinuity in the American policy towards the Subcontinent. A positive Indian approach would involve three elements — economic, security and diplomatic.
• For economic, India must ramp up its economic diplomacy in Afghanistan to bring immediate benefits to Kabul amidst the deteriorating conditions in the country. For security, Delhi must step up security cooperation with Afghanistan, especially in the training of its police and armed forces and intelligence sharing. On the diplomatic front, India must counter the emerging argument that Trump’s new approach will intensify the “Indo-Pak rivalry” in Afghanistan and the old one that Kashmir holds the key to peace in Afghanistan.
• Though India has actively participated in developing Afghan’s infrastructure such as constructing new parliament house, Zarang-delaram highway, various hydro-electrical projects etc. The new opportunity provides ground for India to further increase the pace of development in the region.
• India can get involved in developing more Dams and Hydro-electrical projects which can fulfill India’s energy needs by importing the energy from Afghanistan and in return Afghanistan’s will gain some economic benefits.
• India has multipronged interests in the region such as Afghanistan as a gateway to central Asia, TAPI project, importing energy etc. it need to play more active engagement role such as creating positive environment for Indian businesses opportunities, countering other nations’ interests, developing pro-India sentiments among Afghan People by providing peaceful environment etc.

Conclusion:

• Trump’s new Afghan strategy could be a potential game-changer for South Asia or a brief exception to the familiar pattern of US-Pak relations. While recognising the potential shadow between Trump’s words and deeds, Delhi must bet on its own activism that can influence future outcomes in Afghanistan.

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 Q.11)     “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality”. Discuss leadership as a quality in civil services. Why is it important for a civil servant to display effective leadership for turning visions into reality?                  

 (10 marks 150 words)

Leadership is the action of leading people in an organization towards achieving goals and thus realizing the aims set for the organization. Leaders do this by influencing their colleagues, setting a clear vision for the organization, motivating and guiding the individuals through the work process and builds morale. 

Leadership is an essential quality in civil services. Without effective leadership, it is arguably virtually impossible to achieve and to sustain effective administration, to achieve goals, to sustain quality and deliver good quality services to the public. Leadership plays a predominant role as civil services is all about the collective efforts. It is the team work that yield results. A good leader must know how to motivate his team members and achieve the set goals with cooperation and his effective leadership ability. A team working under an effective leader with quality leadership will always perform the best and set an example for members from other organization’s practices.

In present times, it has become important for a civil servant to display effective leadership for turning visions into reality. The increasing complexities and requirements arising from the constant change in society, coupled with the constant push for higher levels of productivity, require effective and ethical leadership. It is necessary the leader adopts and changes himself as per the needs of the society.

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Q.12) An applicant filed a RTI application on a plain paper in regional language and handed over to PIO who rejected the application saying that it should be on pre-printed format available outside the office at the cost of Rs 25/-. When applicant insisted, PIO ultimately agreed to accept the application. The request was regarding certain information consisting of 52 pages and one sample of brick for the construction on the premises of office. The cost of information sample etc came out to be Rs 2200, which the applicant deposited immediately and got the necessary information in 52 pages. The PIO intimated the date for inspection at the construction site. The applicant went to the site of construction, and finalized the sample and ultimately, got the sample tested and report obtained.

(a) Do you justify the action and conduct of PIO?

(b) What should be done by applicant to punish corrupt construction agency?

(c) How RTI could be useful to expose corruption in construction industry.

• According to section 6(1) of the RTI, the applicant who desires to obtain any information has to merely make a request either in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area and such request is to be only accompanied by requisite fee.
• The PIO was duty bound to provide all reasonable assistance to the applicant making the request.
• Thus act does not specify any requisite format for application form. Hence to advice the applicant to purchase application form outside the office is unreasonable and illegal.

(b) Since the applicant is already in procession of the certified sample of the brick from the construction site, he should take following steps to punish the corrupt constructions agency.

• The applicant should ask for the certified photocopy of the plan and estimate which should be available in the office of the public authority who has been assigned with the work of construction.
•  After getting the above copy, he can make a comparison as to what should have been the quality and pricing of the brick. If the brick is of the substandard quality he can attach the two informations which have been provided by public authority and may insist for an independent enquiry to be done by some one senior to the officer who is incharge of construction.
•  Enquiry will establish the guilt and accountability will be fixed up on corrupt one.

(c) RTI could be useful in exposing Corruption in following ways in construction industry.

• Public authorities should be insisted to make suo-moto disclosure of plan and estimate and all developmental schemes.
•  A copy of the above documents should be made available at construction site for general people to see themselves.
•  People in turn should be made educated to make them understand the cost of project and qualities of materials etc.
•  Money/ways paid to labourers and skilled people should also be displayed.
•  In some selected cases people should ask for the sample and get them tested in laboratories.

I HAVE NOT RECIEVED JULY CIVILS DIGEST

Q.1) Which of the following countries was recently struck by a powerful earthquake with epicenter in Atencingo?

a) Chile

b) Guatemala

c) Mexico

d) Nicaragua

 

Q.2) Agoratoli Range, famous for migratory birds, is located in

a) Bhutan

b) India

c) Nepal

d) Myanmar

 

Q.3) Eastern Ghats are spread over which of the following states?

1. Odisha
2. Andhra Pradesh
3. Telagana
4. Tamil Nadu
5. Karnataka

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

a) 1, 2 and 3

b) 1, 2, 4 and 5

c) 1, 2, 3 and 4

d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

 

Q.4) ‘Newton’, the official Indian entry to the Oscars 2018 under the Best Foreign Film Category has been directed by

a) Amit Masurkar

b) Anjali Patil

c) Raghubir Yadav

d) Pankaj Tripathi

 

Q.5) During which of the following movements Tileswari Barua was shot at the age of 12 by the British while trying to unfurl the Tricolour atop a police station?

a) Civil Disobedience Movement

b) Non-Cooperation Movement

c) Swadesi Movement

d) Quit India Movement

 

Q.6) Which of the following statements about the  Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is not correct?

a) CITES is legally binding on states party to the Convention

b) It is administered through UNEP

c) It regulates the worldwide commercial trade in wild animals and plant species

d) Its secretariat is located in Zurich

 

Q.7) Operation Thunder Bird and Operation Save Kurma, which were recently in news, were related to

a) child trafficking

b) wildlife protection

c) preservation of tribal dialects

d) checking illegal migration

 

Q.8) Which of the following concepts was expounded in a thesis book by the Club of Rome in 1972?

a) Sustainable Development

b) Carrying Capacity

c) Limits to Growth

d) Biodiversity Hotspots

 

Q.9) The strength of the High Court of a State is determined by the

a) Parliament

b) President

c) Governor of that State

d) Legislature of that State

 

Q.10) Which of the following statement is correct about ‘Zealandia’ which is sometimes in news?

a) It is a recently discovered oceanic ridge connection Indian subcontinent with New Zealand

b) It is a recently discovered submerged continent in the Pacific Ocean

c) It is a recently discovered array of canyons along the eastern coast of New Zealand

d) It is a recently discovered submerged peak in the Pacific Ocean

 

Q.11) Narmada river does not have many tributaries because

a) it flows through a rift valley

b) it flows through dry regions

c) it carries heavy suspended load

d) it flows through rough terrain

 

Q.12) ‘Saubhagya’ scheme was recently launched to

a) encourage entrepreneurship among the youth

b) connect every village by all weather roads

c) educate every girl child

d) electrify every household

 

Q.13) Who administers the oath of office and secrecy to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India?

a) Senior most Judge of the Supreme Court

b) Chief Justice of India

c) President of India

d) Union Law Minister

 

Q.14) Who the following has been recently chosen for awarding the Von Hippel Award?

a) G Madhavan Nair

b) H R Krishnamurthy

c) C N R Rao

d) K S Chandrasekharan

 

Q.15) Let n be the number of sides in a regular polygon. Consider the following statements:

1. The measure of every exterior angle is (n-2)×180°
2. The number of diagonals in the polygon shall be n×(n-3)

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

 

Q.16) If one travels from Brasilia to Santiago along the shortest route then one shall also pass through

a) Paraguay and Argentina

b) Uruguay and Argentina

c) Bolivia and Paraguay

d) Argentina and Bolivia

 

Q.17) With reference to the ecological studies, endemicity refers to the

a) phenomenon of adaptation to the local environment by an exotic species

b) phenomenon of being present only in a specific area

c) phenomenon of belonging to an undocumented species

d) phenomenon of being on the verge of extinction in the wild

 

Q.18) Darfur region which is sometimes in news lies

a) to the south of Equator

b) to the north of Tropic of Cancer

c) to the north of Equator

d) to the south of Tropic of Capricorn

 

Q.19) Which of the following universities has identified a black dot on a third-century Indian manuscript as the first recorded use of the mathematical symbol for zero, 500 years earlier than previously thought?

a) Stanford University

b) Yale University

c) Oxford University

d) Harvard University

 

Q.20) The natural habitat of Snow Leopard in India is spread across

1. Sikkim
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Himachal Pradesh
4. Uttarakhand

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

a) 1, 2 and 3 only

b) 3 and 4 only

c) 1 and 2 only

d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

 

Q.21) Which of the following schedules lists the official languages as recognised by the Indian Constitution?

a) Tenth Schedule

b) Sixth Schedule

c) Eighth Schedule

d) Ninth Schedule

 

Q.22) Which one of the following countries has officially recognized Bitcoin as a legal payment method since 1^st April 2017?

a) Japan

b) China

c) USA

d) India

 

Q.23) Let M be the smallest natural number which can be represented as a perfect square as well as a perfect cube. Which one of the following is the digit at the unit place of the  number (M+11)×(M+13)×(M+17)×(M+19)?

a) 7

b) 3

c) 5

d) 1

 

Q.24) If p and q are distinct prime number and p > q, then which of the following statements is/are definitely true?

1. p×q is a prime number
2. p+q is an odd number
3. p-q is an even number

Select the correct alternative using the codes given below.

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) 1 only

d) None

 

Q.25) a, b and c are positive numbers such that:

a + (1/b) = 5; b + (1/c) = 1 and c + (1/a) = 2, then which of the following is not correct?

a) a > 1

b) b < 1/2

c) c > 2

d) a×b×c = 1

---

Download solutions here- Click2download

• Role of NGOs and Civil Society
• Self Help Groups

Self-Help Groups are informal associations of people who choose to come together to find ways to improve their living conditions. They help to build Social Capital among the poor, especially women. The most important functions of a Self-Help Groups are:

1. To encourage and motivate its members to save
2. To persuade them to make a collective plan for generation of additional income
3. To act as a conduit for formal banking services to reach them

Such groups work as a collective guarantee system for members who propose to borrow from organised sources. Consequently, Self-Help Groups have emerged as the most effective mechanism for delivery of micro-finance services to the poor. The range of financial services may include products such as deposits, loans, money transfer and insurance.

 

Evolution of the SHG movement in India

The first organised initiative in this direction was taken in Gujarat in 1954 when the Textile Labour Association (TLA) of Ahmedabad formed its women’s wing to organise the women belonging to households of mill workers in order to train them in primary skills like sewing, knitting embroidery, typesetting and stenography etc.

In 1972, it was given a more systematized structure when Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was formed as a Trade Union under the leadership of Ela Bhatt. She organised women workers such as hawkers, vendors, home based operators like weavers, potters, papad / agarbatti makers, manual labourers, service providers and small producers like cattle rearers, salt workers, gum collectors, cooks and vendors with the primary objective of

1. increasing their income and assets;
2. enhancing their food and nutritional standards; and
3. increasing their organisational and leadership strength.

The overall intention was to organise women for full employment. In order to broaden their access to market and technical inputs, these primary associations were encouraged to form federations like the Gujarat State Mahila SEWA Cooperative Federation, Banaskantha DWCRA, Mahila SEWA Association etc. Currently, SEWA has a membership strength of 9,59,000 which is predominantly urban.

In the 1980s, MYRADA – a Karnataka based non-governmental organisation, promoted several locally formed groups to enable the members to secure credit collectively and use it along with their own savings for activities which could provide them economically gainful employment.

Major experiments in small group formation at the local level were initiated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala about two decades ago through the Tamil Nadu Women in Agriculture Programme (TANWA) 1986, Participatory Poverty Reduction Programme of Kerala, (Kudumbashree) 1995 and Tamil Nadu Women’s Development Project (TNWDP) 1989. These initiatives gave a firm footing to SHG movement in these states. Today, around 44% of the total Bank- linked SHGs of the country are in the four southern States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

The positive experience gained from the above programmes has led to the emergence of a very strong consensus that the twin concepts of (a) small group organisation and (b) self-management are potent tools for economic and social empowerment of the rural poor. Efforts have been made almost in all parts of the country to adopt this model as a necessary component of the poverty alleviation programmes.

Forming small groups and linking them to bank branches for credit delivery has been the most important feature of the growth of the SHG movement in our country. The SHG-Bank linkage programme was started as a test project in 1989 when NABARD, the Apex Rural Development Bank in the country, sanctioned Rs.10.0 lakhs to MYRADA as seed money assistance for forming credit management groups.

In the same year, the Ministry of Rural Development provided financial support to PRADAN to establish Self-Help Groups in some rural pockets of Rajasthan. On the basis of these experiences, a full-fledged project involving a partnership among SHGs, Banks and NGOs was launched by NABARD in 1992.

In 1995, acting on the report of a working group, the RBI streamlined the credit delivery procedure by issuing a set of guidelines to Commercial Banks. It enabled SHGs to open Bank Accounts based on a simple inter-se agreement. The scheme was further strengthened by a standing commitment given by NABARD to provide refinance and promotional support to Banks for credit disbursement under the SHG – Bank linkage programme. NABARD’s corporate mission was to make available microfinance services to 20 million poor households, or one-third of the poor in the country, by the end of 2008.

In the initial years, the progress in the programme was a slow; only 33000 groups could be credit linked during the period 1992-99. But, thereafter, the programme grew rapidly and the number of SHGs financed increased from 82000 in 1999-2000 to more than 6.20 lakhs in 2005-06 and 6.87 lakhs in 2006-07. Cumulatively, 33 million poor households in the country have been able to secure access to micro-finance from the formal banking system.

 

Agencies involved in the SHG movement

Apart from NABARD, there are four other major organisations in the public sector which too provide loans to financial intermediaries for onward lending to SHGs. They are (a) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), (b)RashtriyaMahilaKosh (RMK), (c) Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and(d) then, there are public sector/other commercial banks which are free to take up any lending as per their policy and RBI guidelines.

 

RashtriyaMahilaKosh

The RashtriyaMahilaKosh was set up by the Government of India in March 1993 as an Autonomous Body registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860 under the Department (now Ministry) of Women and Child Development. The objective was to facilitate credit support to poor women for their socio-economic upliftment. It was felt that the credit needs of poor women, especially those in the unorganized sector, were not adequately addressed by the formal financial institutions of the country. Thus RMK was established to provide loans in a quasi-formal credit delivery mechanism, which is client-friendly, has simple and minimal procedure, disburses quickly and repeatedly, has flexible repayment schedules, links thrifts and savings with credit and has relatively low transaction costs both for the borrower and the lender. The Kosh lends with a unique credit delivery model “RMK – NGO-SHG- Beneficiaries”. The support is extended through NGO’s, Women Development Corporations, State Government agencies like DRDA’s, Dairy Federations, and Municipal Councils etc.

 

SIDBI

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) launched its micro finance programme on a pilot basis in 1994 using the NGO / MFI model of credit delivery wherein such institutions were used as financial intermediaries for delivering credit to the poor and unreached, mainly women. Learning from the experience of the pilot phase, SIDBI reoriented and upscaled its micro finance programme in 1999. A specialised department viz. ‘SIDBI Foundation for Micro Credit’ (SFMC) was set up with the mission to create a national network of strong, viable and sustainable Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) from the informal and formal financial sectors. SFMC serves as an apex wholesaler for micro finance in India providing a complete range of financial and non-financial services to the MFIs so as to facilitate their development into financially sustainable entities, besides developing a network of service providers and advocating for appropriate policy framework for the sector. SFMC is implementing the National Micro Finance Support Programme (NMFSP). The overall goal of NMFSP is to bring about substantial poverty elimination and reduced vulnerability in India amongst users of micro-finance services, particularly women.

 

Private Initiatives:

Though, government efforts have played a major role in advancing the SHG movement in the country, there has been a large number of voluntary organisations (NGOs) which too have facilitated and assisted SHGs in organizing savings and credit in different parts of India. SEWA in Ahmedabad, MYRADA in Karnataka, Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra and Ramakrishna Mission in Jharkhand, and ADITHI in Bihar are some of the names which took the lead in promoting Self-Help Groups (mostly of women) around income generation activities using local skills. From organizing villagers into groups which could work on viable activities, to making a project and securing funds (own contribution or through a tie-up with the financial institution), these VOs have worked with involvement and dedication. PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action), DHAN Foundation, ASSEFA (Association of SarvaSeva Farms, MALAR (Mahalir Association for Literacy, Awareness and Rights), SKS, Janodaya, Cohesion Foundation and Jan ChetnaSansthan are some of the other major non-governmental institutions which are promoting and nurturing a large number of SHGs of poor people, mostly women into effective organisations which could leverage credit from formal sources, and develop local resources and skills to increase productivity and income. It is thus, due to the combined efforts of the government and these private voluntary agencies that the SHGs have come to occupy a place of prominence in the socio-economic fabric of rural India.

 

Impact of SHGs on rural life

A random impact evaluation study covering 560 members of 223 SHGs linked to Banks located in 11 States was carried out by NABARD. A three year period was selected for this study. The results of this survey released in 200018 indicated that

1. 1. 58% of the households covered under SHGs reported an increase in assets;
   2. the average value of assets per household increased by 72% from Rs.6,843 to Rs.11,793;
   3. majority of the members developed savings habit against 23% earlier;
   4. there was a threefold increase in savings and a doubling of borrowings per household;
   5. the share of consumption loan in the borrowing went down from 50% to 25%;
   6. 70% of the loans taken in post-SHG period went towards income generation ventures;
   7. employment expanded by 18%;
   8. the average net income per household before joining a SHG was Rs.20,177 which rose by 33% to 26,889; and
   9. about 41.5% of the household studied were below their state specific poverty line in the pre-SHG enrolment stage; it came down to 22%.

Participation in group activity significantly contributed to improvement of self-confidence among the members. In general, group members and particularly women became more vocal and assertive on social and family issues. The structure of the SHG is meant to provide mutual support to the participants in saving money, preparing a common plan for additional income generation and opening bank accounts that would help them in developing credit relationship with a lending institution. It ultimately supports them in setting up micro-enterprises e.g. personalized business ventures like tailoring, grocery, and tool repair shops. It promotes the concept of group accountability ensuring that the loans are paid back. It provides a platform to the community where the members can discuss and resolve important issues of mutual concern.

While some of the SHGs have been initiated by the local communities themselves, many of them have come through the help of a mentor Body (either government or an NGO) which provided initial information and guidance to them.

Such support often consists of training people on how to manage Bank accounts, how to assess small business potential of the local markets and how to upgrade their skills. In the end, it creates a local team of resource persons.

Group formation becomes a convenient vehicle for credit delivery in rural areas. Commercial Banks and other institutions which are otherwise not receptive to the demands of marginalized individuals, start considering such groups as their potential customers. Overall such Joint-Liability Groups expand the outreach of the micro-finance programme in an effective way, reaching out to the excluded segments e.g. landless, sharecroppers, small and marginal farmers, women, SCs/STs etc.

The majority of Self-Help Groups comprise of women members. There is evidence in this country as well as elsewhere that formation of Self-Help Groups has a multiplier effect in improving women’s status in society as well as in the family. Their active involvement in micro-finance and related entrepreneurial activities not only leads to improvement in their socio-economic condition but also enhances their self-esteem.

Women in a group environment become more articulate in voicing their concerns and a change occurs in their self-perception. They start to see themselves not only as beneficiaries but also as clients / informed citizens seeking better services. On the home front, their new found awareness and the confidence generated out of their entrepreneurial skills make them more confident vis-à-vis their menfolk.

The SHG programme has contributed to a reduced dependency on informal money lenders and other non- institutional sources. It has enabled the participating households to spend more on education than non- client households. Families participating in the programme have reported better school attendance and lower drop-out rates.

The financial inclusion attained through SHGs has led to reduced child mortality, improved maternal health and the ability of the poor to combat disease through better nutrition, housing and health – especially among women and children.

Weaknesses of the SHG movement

But the SHG movement has certain weaknesses as well:

1. 1. Contrary to the vision for SHG development, members of a group do not come necessarily from the poorest families;
   2. the SHG model has led to definite social empowerment of the poor but whether the economic gains are adequate to bring a qualitative change in their life is a matter of debate;
   3. many of the activities undertaken by the SHGs are still based on primitive skills related mostly to primary sector enterprises. With poor value addition per worker and prevalence of subsistence level wages, such activities often do not lead to any substantial increase in the income of group members.
   4. There is lack of qualified resource personnel in the rural areas who could help in skill upgradation/acquisition of new skills by group members.

 

Key issues facing SHGs today

Though, during a short span of fifteen years the SHG movement has recorded remarkable progress much still remains to be done. The movement shows steep territorial variations. Many areas of the country lack adequate banking structure. Urban and semi-urban areas, to a large extent, stand excluded from this mode of credit delivery. Further growth of this movement faces threat from inadequacy of skills in the rural areas. And finally the pace of the movement needs to be accelerated. The following eight issues of this sector deserve priority attention:

1. 1. Maintaining the participatory character: We saw the cooperative sector became a springboard for political aspirants. Though the SHG movement is relatively new, government interventions and subsidies have already started showing negative results. The patronage and subsidies provided to the SHGs by government and the Panchayats often lead to their politicization. Therefore, due care must be taken to ensure that government initiatives do not erode the fundamental principles of self-help and empowerment of the poor.

Need to expand the SHG movement to States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and in the North-East (where the SHG movement and micro-finance entrepreneurship is weak):

Overall 73% of the farmer household (in rural areas) have no access to any formal source of credit. In March, 2001, 71% of the total linked SHGs of the country were in just four States of the southern region viz. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The figure went down to 58% in 2005, 54% in 2006 and to 44% in 2007. But even the current figure is a cause of concern when one talks of financial inclusion for the whole country.

1. Need to extend small group organisations (SHGs) to peri-urban and urban areas:

According to the 2001 census, 314.54 million persons changed their place of residence (vis-à-vis the situation in the 1991 census) within the country and out of this 29.90 million or 9% changed their place of residence in search of better prospects elsewhere.

Since issue of any form of identity card is invariably linked with the possession of an immovable property, such migrant workers do not have any formal document to prove their domicile in the city. But the overall economic and social well-being of the city is closely linked with the condition of this section of the city dwellers. In the absence of any documentary proof, it appears that this class of people do not have access to organised financial services.

As per the existing statutory provisions, NABARD’s mandate is to provide micro-finance facilities only to rural and semi-urban areas. Branches of the mainstream Banks too, though, equipped with manpower and technology, are not keen to service this sector. Even money lenders are reluctant to lend to them.

The net result is that this segment of the urban population e.g. pavement sellers, street hawkers, construction workers etc. remains financially excluded.

 

Mode of SHG development and financial intermediation:

Establishing stable linkage between a SHG and a local financial institution is one of the key elements of the SHG movement. Currently, four distinct models of financial intermediation are in operation in various parts of the country namely:

1. 1. SHG-Bank linkage promoted by a mentor institute
   2. SHG-Bank direct linkage
   3. SHG-Mentor Institution linkage; and
   4. SHG-Federation model

Since the borrowing SHGs consist mainly of low income members who cannot afford to miss even a day’s wages, a hassle-free transaction with a Bank which is ready to come to their doorsteps with appropriate credit products is of great value to them. The SHG – Bank Linkage Model with a mentor SHPI in tow (Model I above) would be the most appropriate one for delivery of financial services to the SHGs.

 

Self-Help Groups and Regional Rural Banks:

As on 1st April, 2007, out of a total of 622 districts in the country, 535 have a network of Regional Rural Banks; the rest 87 districts have no RRB presence. These branches have been created by the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 primarily for providing institutional credit to the marginalized sector of the rural economy (small, marginal farmers, landless labour and rural artisans). Theextension of the RRB network to the remaining 87 districts would considerably speed up the process of inclusive banking and help in extending micro- finance to local SHGs.

 

Issues of sustainability:

The institutional sustainability and the quality of operations of the SHGs are matters of considerable debate. It is generally held that only a minority of the Self-Help Groups are able to raise themselves from a level of micro-finance to that of micro-entrepreneurship. Neither do such Bank linkages lead to sanction of larger individual loans under the Bank’s normal lending programmes. The ultimate objective of such a tie-up is to impart financial strength to the SHGs so that they can enter into a stable relationship with the local financial institutions – without any external support. Even after many years of existence, by and large, SHGs are heavily dependent on their promoter NGOs or government agencies

 

Financial assistance to SHPIs and other support institutions:

Forty-five per cent of the total numbers of women SHGs of the country are located in Andhra Pradesh. This enviable position of the State is primarily due to the initiative shown by promoter NGOs often known as Self-Help Promoting Institutions (SHPIs) / mentor organisations. If the SHG movement is to spread across the entire country, there is need to provide major incentives to SHPIs / promoter NGOs. Currently, the financial support to SHPIs comes from the Micro Finance Development and Equity Fund (MFDEF) of NABARD. It is limited to an amount of Rs.1500 per SHG (formed and activated). To attract more and more SHPIs to the rural areas, this quantum of support needs to be revised.

 

Role of Micro-Finance Institutions:

Micro-credit is defined as provision of thrift, credit, and other financial services (such as deposits, loans, payment services, money transfer, insurance and related products) of very small amounts to the poor in rural, semi-urban and urban areas for enabling them to raise their income levels and improve living standards. Micro-finance institutions are those which provide such micro-credit facilities. Micro-credit is an instrument of both social as well as economic policy. It opens up integral development processes such as use of financial and technical resources, basic services and training opportunities to the unprivileged. Access to savings, credit, money- transfer, payment, and insurance can help poor people take control of their financial life. It also empowers them to make critical choices about investing in business, sending children to school, improving health care of the family, covering the cost of key social obligations and unforeseen situations. But the most important of all, an access to finance generates self- esteem among them.

ARC-2 has made the following recommendations and the Micro Finance Sector (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2007 needs to be amended to include the following suggestions:-

1. 1. The scope of Micro-finance Services should be substantially widened to cover credit / savings, insurance, pension services, money transfer, issue / discount of warehouse receipts and future / option contracts for agricultural commodities and forest produce.
   2. The activities of Section 25 Companies to the extent they concern micro-financial services as described under the proposed Bill should also be brought under the purview of this legislation. However, for their management and other functions, they will continue to be governed by the provisions of the Companies Act.
   3. The issue of interest rate charged by the MFIs should be left to the Regulatory Authority which is being created under the proposed Bill.
   4. It should be ensured that if MFIs are allowed to handle thrift / savings and money transfer services, they would do so only as business correspondents of commercial Banks.

 

To be considered part of the non-profit sector the entity must be

• Organisational – an institution with some meaningful structure and permanence;
• Non-governmental – not part of the apparatus of government;
• Non-profit-distributing – not permitted to distribute profits to its owners or directors. They are required to be ploughed back in the organisation
• Self-governing – not controlled by some entity outside the organisation; and
• Supportive of some public purpose.

While all organisations that meet these five criteria are part of the generic non-profit sector, they may formally be placed into two distinct categories.

• First category consists of pure member-centric Bodies. While serving some public purpose, they primarily exist for taking care of the interests, needs and desires of their own members.

The examples are social / welfare clubs, business associations, labour unions, Professional bodies and political parties.

• Second category consists of public-serving organisations which are formed to serve the needs of the general public.

The examples are charitable grant-making institutions, religious formations, and a wide range of educational, scientific and other related service organisations whose activities may range from running orphanages and old age homes to managing advocacy groups on current issues.

 

The Indian Constitution provides a distinct legal space to social capital / civil society institutions:

• through its Article on the right to form associations or unions – Article 19 (1)(c);
• through Article 43 which talks of States making endeavor to promote cooperatives in rural areas;
• through explicit mention in entries made in Schedule 7.

 

Civil Society as a Major Economic Force

With liberalisation of the economy and globalisation, there has been a phenomenal growth in the number of non-governmental organisations across the world in the last few decades. They are further supported by a large number of unpaid volunteers who have strong individual initiative and commitment to social responsibility.

 

The presence of NGOs ensures

• depth and resilience in civil society
• expression to citizens’ voices
• enables them to take responsibility for how their society is performing
• allows them to talk to their government in organised ways.

 

There are more than two million such organisations registered under the Societies / Trusts Acts in the country. This includes a wide diversity of local youth clubs, mahila mandals, private schools, old age homes and hospitals. In recent years, even government organisations like DRDA and District Health Society have been registered as Societies. Such a vast network of socio-economic institutions has the potential to play an important role in many key governmental policy objectives:

• It can help to scale up productivity and competitiveness.
• It can contribute to inclusive wealth creation.
• Enhance the people centricity of the government.

Civil society organisations promote cooperation between two or more individuals through mutual cohesion, common approach and networking. Democracies inherently encourage such cooperative behaviour. In the current model of economic growth, the voluntary/ civil society sector has been recognized as a key player in achieving equitable, sustainable and inclusive development goals.

Both the State as well as the market-led models of development has been found to be inadequate and there is an increasing realisation that active involvement of the voluntary sector is needed in the process of nation building. They are now viewed as partners in progress.

Civil society organisations function outside the conventional space of both State and Market, but they have the potential to negotiate, persuade and pressurise both these institutions to make them more responsive to the needs and rights of the citizens. Voluntary Organisations can offer:

• alternative perspectives
• committed expertise
• an understanding of the local opportunities and constraints
• capacity to conduct a meaningful dialogue with communities, particularly those that are disadvantaged.

It is therefore essential that the Government and the Voluntary Sector work together. Based on the law under which they operate and the kind of activities they take up, civil society groups in our country can be classified into following broad categories:-

• Registered Societies formed for specific purposes
• Charitable Organisations and Trusts
• Local Stakeholders Groups, Microcredit and Thrift Enterprises, SHGs
• Professional Self-Regulatory Bodies
• Cooperatives
• Bodies without having any formal organisational structure
• Government promoted Third Sector Organisations

The voluntary sector has contributed significantly to finding innovative solutions to poverty, deprivation, discrimination and exclusion, through means such as awareness raising, social mobilization, service delivery, training, research, and advocacy. The voluntary sector has been serving as an effective non-political link between the people and the Government.

 

National Policy on Voluntary Sector 

Encourage, enable and empower an independent, creative and effective voluntary sector, with diversity in form and function, so that it can contribute to the social, cultural and economic advancement of the people of India. Objectives of the policy are:

• To create an enabling environment for VOs that stimulates their enterprise and effectiveness, and safeguards their autonomy;
• To enable VOs to legitimately mobilize necessary financial resources from India and abroad;
• To identify systems by which the Government may work together with VOs, on the basis of the principles of mutual trust and respect, and with shared responsibility
• To encourage VOs to adopt transparent and accountable systems of governance and management.

 

Different types of civil society organizations

1. Civil rights advocacy organizations: to promote human rights of specific social groups e.g. women, migrants, disabled, HIV, sex workers, Dalit people, tribal people, and the likes.
2. Civil liberties advocacy organizations: to promote individual civil liberties and human rights of all citizens, rather than focusing on particular social group.
3. Community based organizations, citizens’ groups, farmers’ cooperatives: to increase citizen’s participation on public policy issues so as to improve the quality of life in a particular community.
4. Business and industry chambers of commerce: to promotion policies and practices on business.
5. Labour unions: to promote the rights of employees and workers.
6. International peace and human rights organizations: to promote peace and human rights.
7. Media, communication organization: to produce, disseminate, or provide production facilities in one or more media forms; it includes television, printing and radio.
8. National resources conservation and protection organizations: to promote conservation of natural resources, including land, water, energy, wildlife and plant resources, for public use.
9. Private and public foundations: to promote development through grant- making and partnership.
10. Also the Civil society includes – Political Parties; Religious Organizations; Housing cooperatives, slum dwellers and resident welfare associations.

 

Non-Government Organisation

NGOs are legally constituted organizations, operate independently from the government and are generally considered to be “non-state, non-profit oriented groups who pursue purposes of public interest”. The primary objective of NGOs is to provide social justice, development and human rights. NGOs are generally funded totally or partly by governments and they maintain their non-governmental status by excluding government representatives from membership in the organization.

In a democratic society, it is the state that has the ultimate responsibility for ushering development to its citizens. In India, through the progressive interpretation of the Constitution and its laws and policies, the scope of development has been significantly broadened to include not just economic progress for citizens, but also promotion of social justice, gender equity, inclusion, citizen’s awareness, empowerment and improved quality of life. To achieve this holistic vision of development, the state requires the constructive and collaborative engagement of the civil society in its various developmental activities and programs. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as the operational arm of the civil society therefore have an important role in the development processes.

 

Interaction and relationship between the Indian state and NGOs

In India the state policies have significantly influenced the formation of NGOs and their activities. The government sponsored and aided programmes provided financial assistance to NGOs either as grants or as matching grants to support the implementation of social development projects. The need for the involvement of voluntary organizations has been acknowledged by a number of official committees dealing with development.

1. Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, 1957: Today in the implementation of the various schemes of community development, more and more emphasis is laid on NGOs and workers and on the principle that ultimately people’s own local organisations should take over the entire work.
2. Rural-Urban Relationship Committee, 1966: Local voluntary organisations can be very helpful in mobilizing popular support and assistance of the people in the activities of local body. It is possible to maintain constant and close contact with the people through these organizations.
3. Ashok Mehta Committee: Of the several voluntary organisations engaged in rural welfare, a few have helped the PRIs in preparation of area development plans, conduct feasibility studies and cost/benefit analysis, explore ways and means to induce local participation in planning and implementation.
4. In the Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-1985), the government identified new areas in which NGOs as new actors could participate in development.
5. The Seventh Five Year Plan (1985- 1990), envisioned a more active role for NGOs as primary actors in the efforts towards self-reliant communities. This was in tune with the participatory and empowerment ideologies, which was gaining currency in the developmental discourse at that time.
6. Government support and encouragement for NGOs continued in the Eighth Five- year plan, where a nation-wide network of NGOs was sought to be created.
7. The Ninth Five-year plan proposed that NGOs should play a role in development on the public-private partnership model. Also, the agricultural development policies of the government and its implementation mechanisms provided scope and space for NGOs. A case in point is the watershed development program, which has led to the growth of NGOs working for rural development.
8. In March 2000, the Government declared Planning Commission as the nodal agency for GO-NGO interface. The message was clear- government has to and will work with the voluntary sector. A ‘Civil Society Window’ was started in 2004, in the hope that it would enable people to engage with the Planning Commission and offer the benefit of their field experiences.
9. During the 11th Five Year Plan process a regional consultation was organised to get civil society feedback. Participation of Civil Society (CS) had thus already become a strong and robust element in the preparation of the Plan Consultations with citizens on the Approach Paper to the 12th Plan began on many platforms, including the internet.

Members of Planning Commission travelled across the country attending Public Meetings called by CS around various sectoral issues to gather inputs for the 12 Five Year Plan National Policy on the Voluntary Sector, 2007:

Recognizes the contribution of the voluntary sector and the need for Government- Voluntary Sector partnership and that project grants are a useful means for both the Government to promote its activities without its direct involvement and a valuable source of support to small and medium Voluntary Organizations.

It highlights the need for Government to encourage all Central and State Government agencies to introduce pre-service and in-service training modules on constructive relations with voluntary organizations.

It recognizes the difficulties faced by the voluntary sector in accessing government schemes and suggests ways to tackle this.

The main objective of the National Policy on the Voluntary Sector is to identify systems by which the Government may work together with the Voluntary Organizations on the basis of the principles of mutual trust, respect and shared responsibility. It also recognizes the importance of independence of voluntary organizations, which allows them to explore alternative models of development. The National Policy on the Voluntary Sector is just the beginning of the process to evolve a new working relationship between the government and the voluntary sector without affecting its autonomy and identity. There are many areas in which help of the voluntary sector is sought- for social audits, behaviour change, good governance and increasingly even for better service delivery.

 

Benefits of India from NGOs

India has a long history of civil society based on the concepts of “daana” means giving and “seva” means service. Voluntary organizations were active in cultural promotion, education, health, and natural disaster relief as early as the medieval period. During the second half of the 19th century, nationalist consciousness spread across India and self-help emerged as the primary focus of socio-political movements. The early examples of such attempts are Friend-in-Need Society (1858), Prathana Samaj (1864), Satya Shodhan Samaj (1873), Arya Samaj (1875), the National Council for Women in India (1875), the Indian National Conference (1887) etc. The Society’s Registration Act (SRA) was approved in 1860 to confirm the legal status of the growing body of non-governmental organizations.

1. The NGOs focus on the search for alternatives to development thinking and practice
2. it creates an atmosphere of participatory research, community capacity building and creation of demonstrable models.
3. Many NGOs have worked hard to include children with disability in schools, end caste- based stigma and discrimination, prevent child labour and promote gender equality resulting in women receiving equal wages for the same work compared to men.
4. During natural calamities they have played an active role in relief and rehabilitation efforts, in particular, providing psycho-social care and support to the disaster affected children, women and men.
5. NGOs have been instrumental in the formation and capacity building of farmers and producers’ cooperatives and women’s self- help groups.
6. NGOs have implemented the Jeevan Dhara programme for creation of wells for safe drinking water; promoted community toilets for total sanitation, and supported the public health programs on immunisation and for eliminating tuberculosis and malaria.
7. NGOs have significantly influenced the development of laws and policies on several important social and developmental issues such as the right to information, juvenile justice, ending corporal punishment in schools, anti-trafficking, forests and environment, wildlife conservation, women, elderly people, people with disability, rehabilitation and resettlement of development induced displaced people to name a few.
8. NGOs can and should play the “game changer” to pro-poor development through leadership on participatory research, community empowerment and search for development alternatives.
9. Further, the industrial policies have influenced the formation and relations between the businesses and NGOs.
10. The emphasis of industrial policies on the promotion and development of small, cottage and village industries has also lead to the formation of agencies such as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Small Industries Associations and likes.

 

Profiling NGOs:

India has possibly the largest number of active non-government, non-profit organizations in the world. There has been a sharp increase in the number of new NGOs in the past decade in India.

According to a government study, there were only 1.44 lakh registered societies till 1970. The maximum increase in the number of registrations happened after 2000. A recent study commissioned by the government showed that there are about 3.3 million NGOs in India by the end of 2009 i.e., one NGO for less than an average of 400 Indians. Even this staggering number may be less than the actual number of NGOs active in the country.

This is because the study, commissioned in 2008, took into consideration only those entities which were registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 or the Mumbai Public Trust Act and its variants in other states.

It can be noted that a great majority of the NGOs are small and about three-fourths of all NGOs are run entirely by volunteers. About 13 percent of the NGOs have between 2 to 5 employees; about 5 percent have between 6 to 10 employees and only about 8.5 percent NGOs employ more than 10 people.

According to a survey conducted by society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 73.4 percent of NGOs have one or no paid staff, although across the country, more than 19 million persons work as volunteers or paid staff at an NGO.

More often NGOs are registered as trusts, societies, or as private limited non-profit companies, under Section- 25 of Indian Companies Act, 1956. They also enjoy income tax exemption. Foreign contributions to non-profits are governed by Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 1976.

 

Challenges facing NGOs

In view of the emergence of a new paradigm of scaling up, in which NGOs are seen as catalysts of policy innovations and social capital; as creators of programmatic knowledge that can be spun off and integrated into government and market institutions; and as builders of vibrant and diverse civil societies, it’s imperative to critically analyze the role of NGOs in the process of development and understanding the challenges facing the sector.

1. Transparency and accountability are key ingredients of Governance in the NGO Sector as these determine operational efficiencies and risk mitigation. Over the years, corporate sector has been able to recognize and implement best governance practices through appropriate institutional framework. However, the NGO sector is yet to evolve any institutionalized framework, which could potentially play an important role in overall development of the nation.
2. Of late, some of the local and national NGOs have been found involved in malpractices and acting irresponsibly, thus undermining the credibility of civil society. It’s a huge concern and poses a great challenge to the development movement spearheaded by NGOs in the country.
3. There is a huge flow of funds into the non-government organization sector and this requires prudence and good practices to maintain accountability and transparency to the benefit of all stakeholders.
4. Although NGOs do internal auditing but for more accountability and transparency, it is advisable to go through external auditing also, especially where public funds are involved. Hence, issues of internal control mechanisms, professionalism, accountability, transparency and financial management must be given impetus.
5. The challenge is multidimensional, and is compounded by the ‘unorganised’ nature of the sector, lack of regulatory frameworks and the fact that India boasts of more than a million NGOs of different roles, structures and sizes.
6. In particular, the Indian voluntary sector urgently needs self-regulatory guidelines and transparency mechanisms to increase the trust and awareness as to how the philanthropic funds are being utilised.
7. The general lack of transparency in the functioning of a large proportion of NGOs leads to aversion in donating funds for charitable causes since the general public is largely cynical about the ‘genuineness’ of the non-profit spirit of the sector.
8. The stringent governance standards of an NGO will facilitate the effective management and increase the accountability to its stakeholders including donors, the government and the community.
9. It is in the self-interest of the NGOs to realize the fact that to implement a structure of ‘corporate governance’ principles would provide the real value to the stakeholders. Also, this would enable to track the potentially dubious sources of funding coming in for the voluntary sector – an aspect which has gained impetus in the wake of the increased number of terror attacks and extremist activities.
10. Recently, the Union Home Ministry has identified some NGOs as security threat to the country. Such security considerations have underscored the rising need of improving the governance practices in the Indian NGOs and exercising better regulatory mechanisms, disclosure norms, and management processes including financial management and budgeting systems as well.

Suggestions

1. The implementation of a strategic framework is essentially important in the management of an NGO. The endorsement of such a framework brings in professionalism and internal control mechanisms, which further makes the organization’s performance more effective.
2. Developing strategies also include establishing a mechanism of consistent monitoring of whether they are being implemented and linking the results to the organization’s goals.
3. There is need to bolster public confidence in the voluntary sector by opening it up to greater public scrutiny.
4. The Government should encourage Central and State level agencies to introduce norms for filing basic documents in respect of NGOs, which have been receiving funding by Government agencies and placing them in the public domain (with easy access through the internet) in order to inculcate a spirit of public oversight.
5. Public donation is an important source of funds for the NGO sector and one that can and must increase substantially. Tax incentives play a positive role in this process. The Government could simplify and streamline the system for granting income tax exemption status to charitable projects under the Income Tax Act.
6. The Government may consider tightening administrative and penal procedures to ensure that these incentives are not misused by paper charities for private financial gain.
7. The Government should encourage all relevant Central and State Government agencies to introduce pre-service and in-service training modules on constructive relations with the voluntary sector. Such agencies need to introduce time bound procedures for dealing with the VOs. These could cover registration, income tax clearances, financial assistance, etc.
8. There must be a formal system for registering complaints and for redressing grievances of NGOs.
9. The Government should encourage setting up of Joint Consultative Groups / Forums or Joint Machineries of government and voluntary sector representatives, by relevant Central Departments and State Governments.
10. It also needs to encourage district administrations, district planning bodies, district rural development agencies, zila parishads and local governments to do so. These groups could be permanent forums with the explicit mandate to share ideas, views and information and to identify opportunities and mechanisms of working together.
11. The Government also might introduce suitable mechanisms for involving a wide cross-section of the voluntary sector in these Groups/Forums.

Conclusion

We are entering into an important phase where there are many targets that the government intends to achieve with the active collaboration of VOs, in the 12th plan. Therefore, it is important to conduct an effective review or report card of the National Policy with specific recommendations.

These recommendations could become an agenda for all Voluntary Organizations, Planning Commission, state governments and national Ministries. Efforts are also needed to further disseminate the information about the policy and its intentions with small VOs as well as government functionaries.

There is a need to solicit commitment from state governments and national ministries. A systematic intervention is also needed to get National Policy approved and adopted by the Indian Parliament. The most serious challenge faced by India today is the conflict between violent and non-violent approach of development.

Needless to say that majority of population of India is still deprived of basic fruits of development, but rather than adopting the approach which is more inclusive and look for solutions within the constitution, India is faced by disturbances in many parts of the country. This not only hampers the development projects but also shrink the space for people’s participation to achieve their goals through peaceful means.

The voluntary sector being present in such locations faces the challenge of delivering the services and even mobilizing people on the development agenda. The need of the hour is to work closely with each other for the benefit of the marginalized people, as even today the dream of Mahatma Gandhi has not been achieved.