The Government can rationalize the GST rate structure without losing revenues by rejigging the four major rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% with a three-rate framework of 8%, 15% and 30%, as per a National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) study.
GST Slabs
In India, almost 500+ services and over 1300 products fall under the 4 major GST slabs.
These comprise rates of 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%. The GST Council periodically revises the items under each slab rate to adjust them according to industry demands and market trends.
The updated structure ensures that the essential items fall under lower tax brackets, while luxury products and services entail higher GST rates.
The 28% rate is levied on demerit goods such as tobacco products, automobiles, and aerated drinks, along with an additional GST compensation cess.
Why harmonize GST slabs?
Multiple rate changes since the introduction of the GST regime in July 2017 have brought the effective GST rate to 11.6% from the original revenue-neutral rate of 15.5%.
Merging the 12% and 18% GST rates into any tax rate lower than 18% may result in revenue loss.
The nature of rate changes has also meant that over 40% of taxable turnover value now falls in the 18% tax slab, thus any move to dovetail that slab with a lower rate will trigger losses.
What next?
Restructuring GST rates is a timely idea to improve revenues.
It is important to sequence the transition to the new rate structure so as to minimize the costs associated with tax compliance, administration, and economic distortions.
GS-1 Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
GS-2 Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
GS-3 Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life.
GS-4 Human Values – Lessons from the Lives and Teachings of Great Leaders, Reformers and Administrators; Role of Family Society and Educational Institutions in Inculcating Values.
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In the intro, mention the approach taken to virtual currencies in announcements made by Beijing and European government.
In the body, mention the provision of the bill seeking to introduce CBDC and prohibition of cryptocurrencies. Next mention the challenges in prohibition such as decentralised nature and stifling the growth of blockchain technology etc.
Next, mention that Standing Committee on Finance, in conference with Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council, crypto exchange representatives and market experts, recently concluded that cryptocurrency ought not to be banned, but regulated instead.
Conclude by mentioning that there is need for the regulation and not the ban.
In the intro, mention NFHS4 findings indicating the prevalence of the practice of child marriage in India.
In the body, mention the figures from the NFHS survey. In the next part mention social and economic factors such as poverty, level of education, role of women in family as wife and mother etc.
In the next part suggest comprehensive approach that include legislative measure and other drivers of social change such as education and empowerment measures coupled with government actions and decentralisation of registration of birth and marriages to gram panchayats.
Conclude by mentioning the need to execute this comprehensive approach to end the child marriage.
In the introduction, briefly discuss civil society.
Explain how civil societies help in the democratization of Governance- Mention points such as to empower citizens, to keep state power in check, to promote democratic values etc.
Discuss the challenges of civil societies such as promoting private petty interests, lack of internal democracy, inadequate representation etc.
Half-way through your preparation for UPSC-CSE 2022 and feel stressed? After attending UPSC CSE 2021, do you feel the exam is highly unpredictable ? Of course, not! If you want to know what UPSC expects from its candidates every year, then continue reading.
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Listen to all their stories and strategies on our toppers talk series, Unherd.
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Dear Students,
Many say that the Prelims 2021 paper was harder than Prelims 2020, a close analysis however reveals that there are more similarities than differences. Though one did not expect questions from sports this year, we all can agree that both the papers tested the application of current affairs knowledge to all the subjects.
Trends from the last five years tell us that UPSC is keener on testing conceptual clarity of topics from the syllabus. So, it’s no longer about reading GS, Optionals and Current Affairs in isolation. If you are reading a plethora of books or watching random videos, it’s time to reconsider your way of preparation.
Avoid Common Preparation Mistakes Early On
Unlike other exams, UPSC decides your fate based on what you have studied for the last 12-15 months over 1 month before the exam. Hence, rectifying preparation mistakes at the eleventh hour will not help you.
AIR 148 UPSC 2020 topper and our Civilsdaily student Ponmani explains why answer writing with mentorship for Mains is necessary.
Last month we mentored around 3500 IAS aspirants, some of whom were beginners and others who had an experience of few attempts.
We resolved common doubts related to right sources for various topics, answer writing for mains and how to crack the personality round. We found out that almost all of these aspirants struggled in one area or the other.
If someone was excellent in scoring at prelims test series, they were not confident about mains. If someone was good at history, they were not sure about science and technology. If someone had time to revise their GS portions, they did not have time for Optionals.
But is it wise to neglect your weak areas? Toppers manage to maintain slightly above average scores in all the subjects.
How Do Our Mentors Guide You
This is where you require a mentor. A mentor helps you understand where your preparation stands as of now and what more needs to be done to fulfill the expectations of UPSC. A mentor will help you maintain your focus even when the pressure is high, instead of succumbing to it.
This is how Civilsdaily mentorship helped Pranav Vijayvergiya clear the exam after 2 failed prelims attempts.
Watch what our Civilsdaily student and UPSC 2020 topper (AIR 42) Shreya feels about our mentoring program.
1.30 minute counselling session:Once you fill the form, our senior mentors get on a 30-40 minute call with you to understand your preparation level, study constraints, your strategy for the last 6 months, and create measurable targets for next week, next month and so on.
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The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 was listed for introduction in Parliament’s Winter Session.
About the Bill
The bill aims to create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India”.
It seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.
How are cryptocurrencies regulated in countries around the world?
The stance of countries and regulators has ranged from:
A total ban on these financial assets Ex. China
Allowing them to operate with some regulations
Allowing virtual currency trading in the absence of any guidelines Ex. El Salvador
Governments and regulators remain divided on how to categorize it as a currency or asset — and how to control it from an operational point of view.
The evolution of the policy and regulatory response has been uncharacteristically discordant, with no apparent coordination in the responses of countries.
Among the countries that haven’t issued detailed regulations, there are those that have recognized and defined these currencies.
[A] CANADA
It defines virtual currency under its Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations, as:
(a) a digital representation of value that can be used for payment or investment purposes that is not a fiat currency and that can be readily exchanged for funds or for another virtual currency that can be readily exchanged for funds; or
(b) a private key of a cryptographic system that enables a person or entity to have access to a digital representation of value referred to in paragraph (a).
The Canada Revenue Authority (CRA) generally treats cryptocurrency as a commodity for purposes of the country’s Income Tax Act.
[B] ISRAEL
Israel in its Supervision of Financial Services Law includes virtual currencies in the definition of financial assets.
The Israeli securities regulator has ruled that cryptocurrency is a security subject, while the Israel Tax Authority defines cryptocurrency as an asset and demands 25% on capital gains.
[C] GERMANY
In Germany, the Financial Supervisory Authority qualifies virtual currencies as “units of account” and therefore, “financial instruments”.
It considers Bitcoin to be a crypto token given that it does not fulfill typical functions of a currency.
However, citizens and legal entities can buy or trade crypto assets as long as they do it through exchanges and custodians licensed with the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
[D] UNITED KINGDOM
In the UK, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, do not consider crypto assets to be currency or money.
It further notes that cryptocurrencies have a unique identity and cannot, therefore, be directly compared to any other form of investment activity or payment mechanism.
[E] UNITED STATES
In US different states have different definitions and regulations for cryptocurrencies.
While the federal government does not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender, definitions issued by the states recognize the decentralized nature of virtual currencies.
[F] THAILAND
In Thailand, digital asset businesses are required to apply for a license, monitor for unfair trading practices, and are considered “financial institutions” for anti-money laundering purposes.
Conclusion
While most of these countries do not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender, they do recognize the value these digital units represent.
Almost all countries consider their functions as either a medium of exchange, unit of account, or a store of value (any asset that would normally retain purchasing power into the future).
Like India, several other countries have moved to launch a digital currency backed by their central bank.
Australian PM Scott Morrison has introduced a contentious piece of anti-discrimination legislation called the “Religious Discrimination Bill” in their parliament.
What is the Bill about?
The bill aims to eliminate discrimination on the ground of religious beliefs or activities.
It will ensure Australians are protected from discrimination on the basis of religious belief or activity.
The timing of the introduction of this bill, ahead of the federal elections is being seen as an attempt by the Morrison government to target religious voters.
What does the Religious Discrimination Bill say?
The Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of religious belief or activity in a range of areas of life including work, education, access to premises, and the provision of goods, services, and accommodation.
Discrimination is unlawful if it occurs, for example, because of a religious belief or activity that the person holds or engages in.
It is also unlawful if it occurs because of the person’s association with someone else who holds or engages in a religious belief or activity, regardless of whether or not they themselves hold or engage in a religious belief or activity.
Contentious provisions
The bill also allows faith-based organizations such as religious schools to hire and enrol people from particular faiths.
The bill states that religious bodies can give preference, “in good faith, to persons who hold or engage in a particular religious belief or activity”.
It goes on to say that a religious body does not discriminate against a person under this Act by engaging, in good faith, in conduct that a person of the same religion as the religious body could reasonably consider.
Because of this clause, the bill has alarmed some LGBTQI groups and some legal experts who say that the bill will discriminate against gay teachers and students.
Criticisms
Some critics of the bill see it as a piece of legislation that is legalizing hate.
Some are questioning the government and asking for proof that people are discriminated against on the basis of religion in the country.
Further, there are also demands to protect gay students from discrimination.
Get Started with Environment & Ecology by Retired Indian Forest Service Officer Dr. Sukhdev Singh Date & Time: Nov 26, 2021 @10:30 AM (please login by 10:15 AM) India
If there was one visible change in UPSC CSE 2021, then its the high weightage of questions from Enviornment and Ecology. Most of the current affairs questions from Environment and Ecology are not from the last one year and one had to know about conventions and conferences held long time back. About 25-30% of the questions in GS Paper 3 in UPSC Mains are from this subject.
Many aspirants make the mistake of assuming that Enviornment and Ecology is an easy subject as it tends to overlap with Geography and Science. Post 2013, with the introduction of separate Indian Forest Service Exams, the weightage for this subject has increased as well. Topics such as Biodiversity, Wildlife conservation, Pollution, Sustainable Development, Climate Change and International Organisations have the maximum questions asked.
Free Open for All Webinar by Retired Indian Forest Officer Dr. Sukhdev Singh
If as a UPSC aspirant, you also want to appear for Indian Forest Exams and score better in Prelims and GS Paper 3, then this webinar is for you. Dr. Sukhdev Singh will discuss both his work experiences on field and also on important topics that appear in these examinations.
Dr. Sukhdev Singh has nearly 35 years of experience and served mainly in the Uttarakhand cadre. He retired as the Chief Conservator Forest Officer.
What will you learn from Dr. Sukhdev Singh in this webinar?
1. Issues concerning wildlife in the past ten years. What are the practical solutions Dr. Sukhdev Singh implemented as an IFoS officer?
2. Forest and administration. Important conventions and clauses from exam point of view will be discussed.
3. Issues of Climate Change. What are the important protocols passed by International Organisations?
4. Current Affairs of Past One year related to Environment. What is happening in India with respect to this?
5. Biodiversity and Conservation. What are the important wildlife sanctuaries and biodiversity reserves?
6. Implementing government policy as an Indian Forest Officer. Dr. Sukhdev Singh will speak from his own experiences and also experiences of his colleagues.
Everything you need to know about IFoS. Why choose IFoS over IAS?
This live webinar for all students will also be interactive in nature with a Q&A session.
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 26th November 2021 (Tomorrow)
Time – 10:30 AM
Limited slots are available. So please register by today.
If there was one visible change in UPSC CSE 2021, then its the high weightage of questions from Enviornment and Ecology. Most of the current affairs questions from Environment and Ecology are not from the last one year and one had to know about conventions and conferences held long time back. About 25-30% of the questions in GS Paper 3 in UPSC Mains are from this subject.
Many aspirants make the mistake of assuming that Enviornment and Ecology is an easy subject as it tends to overlap with Geography and Science. Post 2013, with the introduction of separate Indian Forest Service Exams, the weightage for this subject has increased as well. Topics such as Biodiversity, Wildlife conservation, Pollution, Sustainable Development, Climate Change and International Organisations have the maximum questions asked.
Free Open for All Webinar by Retired Indian Forest Officer Dr. Sukhdev Singh
If as a UPSC aspirant, you also want to appear for Indian Forest Exams and score better in Prelims and GS Paper 3, then this webinar is for you. Dr. Sukhdev Singh will discuss both his work experiences on field and also on important topics that appear in these examinations.
Dr. Sukhdev Singh has nearly 35 years of experience and served mainly in the Uttarakhand cadre. He retired as the Chief Conservator Forest Officer.
What will you learn from Dr. Sukhdev Singh in this webinar?
1. Issues concerning wildlife in the past ten years. What are the practical solutions Dr. Sukhdev Singh implemented as an IFoS officer?
2. Forest and administration. Important conventions and clauses from exam point of view will be discussed.
3. Issues of Climate Change. What are the important protocols passed by International Organisations?
4. Current Affairs of Past One year related to Environment. What is happening in India with respect to this?
5. Biodiversity and Conservation. What are the important wildlife sanctuaries and biodiversity reserves?
6. Implementing government policy as an Indian Forest Officer. Dr. Sukhdev Singh will speak from his own experiences and also experiences of his colleagues.
Everything you need to know about IFoS. Why choose IFoS over IAS?
This live webinar for all students will also be interactive in nature with a Q&A session.
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 26th November 2021 (Tomorrow)
Time – 10:30 AM
Limited slots are available. So please register by today.
The third Sunday of November every year is observed as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
Globally, over 3500 people die every day on the roads, which amounts to nearly 1.3 million preventable deaths and an estimated 50 million injuries each year – making it the leading killer of people worldwide.
Road Accidents in India
India recorded 3,74,397 accidental deaths in 2020 with road crashes constituting over 35 per cent of such fatalities, according to government data.
The number of accidental deaths in 2020 was, however, lower than 2019 when the figure stood at 4,21,104, the annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed.
The rate of ‘accidental deaths’ per lakh population stood at 27.7 in 2020, down from 31.4 the previous year.
Road traffic accident casualties bring about a great deal of human suffering in terms of social, medical, and economic costs, and it is crucial we mitigate them.
A global panacea
Recognizing the enormity of the problem and the need to act, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in September 2020, proclaiming the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.
It set a ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.
This year marks the beginning of the Second Decade for Action for Road Safety.
The Global Plan on Improving Road Safety was launched by the United Nations last month, calling on countries to deliver on the resolution’s target by make roads safer.
Causes of Road Accidents in India
There are multiple reasons for road accidents:
Sub-standard roads: The life of roads is not good due to the substandard raw materials and potholes accidents caused.
Traffic: The increasing traffic on roads and conditions of roads are not proportionate to each other.
Use of mobile phone: Most of the people are on call while driving thus they drive recklessly and accidents happen as most of the Indians now have mobile phones.
Drunk Driving: Drinking makes people lose the ability to focus and function properly. This makes it dangerous for the driver to operate the vehicle.
Dis-obedience for traffic rules: Indian drivers are quick to learn to drive but they don’t learn traffic rules and the purpose of such rules.
Malpractices: Malpractices such as over-speeding, triple riding, underage driving, etc are reducing the safety of road users.
Implementation drawbacks: Police are supposed to execute the rules but, it may be a lack of workforce or lack of intention, they also fail to execute.
Corrupt practices: Mostly police use the rules to mint money either officially by Chalan or in person.
Issue of non-Conviction
According to the report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway, in 79% of all accidents, the driver was found to be at fault.
Though this did not mean the person behind the wheel was punished for the crime.
Conviction rates for urban road accidents typically hover between 5% and 10%.
In hit-and-run cases, lack of eyewitnesses and surveillance typically leads to a “blind” close of the case if the victim does not note the licence plate number of the vehicle.
Various Policy Initiatives
[A] Motor Vehicles Amendment Act 2019
Some of the important areas of the amendment are as follows
(1) Road Safety
In the area of road safety, the Act proposes to increase penalties to act as deterrent against traffic violations.
Stricter provisions are being proposed in respect of offences like juvenile driving, drunken driving, driving without licence, dangerous driving, over-speeding, overloading etc.
Stricter provisions for helmets have been introduced along with provisions for electronic detection of violations.
(2) Vehicle Fitness
Automated fitness testing for vehicles has been made mandatory.
This would reduce corruption in the transport department while improving the road worthiness of the vehicle.
Penalty has been provided for deliberate violation of safety/environmental regulations as well as for body builders and spare part suppliers.
(3) Recall of Vehicles
The Act allows the central government to order for recall of motor vehicles if a defect in the vehicle may cause damage to the environment, or the driver, or other road users.
The manufacturer of the recalled vehicle will be required to:
reimburse the buyers for the full cost of the vehicle, or
replace the defective vehicle with another vehicle with similar or better specifications.
(4) Road Safety Board
A National Road Safety Board, to be created by the central government through a notification to advise the central and state governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management.
This would include standards of motor vehicles, registration and licensing of vehicles, standards for road safety, and promotion of new vehicle technology.
(5) Protection of Good Samaritan
The Act lays down the guidelines and provides rules to prevent harassment of Good Samaritan to encourage people to help road accident victims.
(6) Cashless Treatment during Golden Hour
The Act provides for a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims during golden hour
[B] Old Vehicle Scrappage Policy
The non-maintenance of old non-compliant vehicles has been a leading cause of road accident.
With the scrappage policy, there will be some relief from the high risk of road accidents due to old vehicles and old technology.
[C] The 4 ‘E’ Approach
The Government of India put forth Engineering, Economy, Enforcement and Education as the fundamental areas to focus on in order to ensure road safety.
The black spot in every state, district and city shall be identified and removed.
The World Bank and Asian Development Bank have funded to assist the National Highways Authority to remove the black spots and improve the road conditions.
[D] Sadak Suraksha – Jeevan Raksha Initiative
The MoRTH has started a campaign to establish road safety involving the participation of citizens by promoting several activities like the Road Safety Hackathon, Article writing competition on Road Safety, movie-making on road safety.
This will bring mass awareness about road safety and educate the citizens.
[E] iRAD Mobile and Web Application
This is an Integrated Road Accident Database Project initiated by the MoRTH, GOI and funded by World Bank.
The database would enable the analysis of road accidents and provide the output through data analytics techniques.
This aims to assure a safe road for all.
Way forward
Road safety education from the primary level: Those already using our roads and driving or riding on it could have formed bad habits that are difficult to change or undo. So it’s important that we catch them young and start educating children on road safety and correct behavior on the road.
Better first aid and paramedic care: In most cases, the public and police are the first ones to reach the site of an accident. But sadly, neither has any first aid training and the police don’t even have even simple things like a first aid box or stretcher. This initial trauma care has to improve.
Stricter criteria for driving licenses: Fortunately, the government has recognized the need for this, and getting a driving license is no longer as easy as before. Lots of the process has been digitalized and made more stringent. But it’s still far from perfect and lots more needs to be done
Better road design, maintenance, and signage: Many of our roads are poorly designed with badly placed junctions, acute corners, uneven gradients, sudden speed-breakers, etc. And this is made worse by poor road maintenance and many accidents occur because a driver suddenly swerves to avoid a pothole.
Heavy crackdown against non-compliance: This is one of the leading causes of road accidents in India and while we do have strict laws, the enforcement, particularly on our highways is quite lax. Consumption of drugs by truck drivers while driving is rampant, and this needs to stop completely.
Stricter enforcement of traffic rules: The Amended Motor Vehicles Act has higher penalties and punishment to deter people from committing traffic offenses and driving rashly. It’s high time we enforced our traffic rules and imposed discipline while driving and using the road.
Encouraging better road behavior: The people should motivate themselves to behave in a better manner on the road. The campaigns such as “Be the Better Guy”, need to be applauded, encouraged and expanded.
If there was one visible change in UPSC CSE 2021, then its the high weightage of questions from Enviornment and Ecology. Most of the current affairs questions from Environment and Ecology are not from the last one year and one had to know about conventions and conferences held long time back. About 25-30% of the questions in GS Paper 3 in UPSC Mains are from this subject.
Many aspirants make the mistake of assuming that Enviornment and Ecology is an easy subject as it tends to overlap with Geography and Science. Post 2013, with the introduction of separate Indian Forest Service Exams, the weightage for this subject has increased as well. Topics such as Biodiversity, Wildlife conservation, Pollution, Sustainable Development, Climate Change and International Organisations have the maximum questions asked.
Free Open for All Webinar by Retired Indian Forest Officer Dr. Sukhdev Singh
If as a UPSC aspirant, you also want to appear for Indian Forest Exams and score better in Prelims and GS Paper 3, then this webinar is for you. Dr. Sukhdev Singh will discuss both his work experiences on field and also on important topics that appear in these examinations.
Dr. Sukhdev Singh has nearly 35 years of experience and served mainly in the Uttarakhand cadre. He retired as the Chief Conservator Forest Officer.
What will you learn from Dr. Sukhdev Singh in this webinar?
1. Issues concerning wildlife in the past ten years. What are the practical solutions Dr. Sukhdev Singh implemented as an IFoS officer?
2. Forest and administration. Important conventions and clauses from exam point of view will be discussed.
3. Issues of Climate Change. What are the important protocols passed by International Organisations?
4. Current Affairs of Past One year related to Environment. What is happening in India with respect to this?
5. Biodiversity and Conservation. What are the important wildlife sanctuaries and biodiversity reserves?
6. Implementing government policy as an Indian Forest Officer. Dr. Sukhdev Singh will speak from his own experiences and also experiences of his colleagues.
Everything you need to know about IFoS. Why choose IFoS over IAS?
This live webinar for all students will also be interactive in nature with a Q&A session.
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 26th November 2021 (Tomorrow)
Time – 10:30 AM
Limited slots are available. So please register by today.
The Union Government has listed 29 Bills (26 new and three pending) to be tabled in the winter session of Parliament.
What is Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy?
In 2014, the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy was adopted, mandating a host of rules, including that whenever the Government makes any law, it must place a draft version of it in the public domain for at least 30 days.
This policy provides a forum for citizens and relevant stakeholders to interact with policymakers.
The policy also says that along with the draft, a note explaining the law in simple language and justifying the proposal, its financial implication, impact on the environment and fundamental rights, a study on the social and financial costs of the bill, etc. should be uploaded.
The respective departments should also upload the summary of all the feedback that they receive on the circulated draft.
Why in news?
Since the inception of the policy, 227 of the 301 bills introduced in Parliament have been presented without any prior consultation.
Of the 74 placed in the public domain for comment, at least 40 did not adhere to the 30-day deadline.
The inception of the PLCP
The PLCP was formulated based on the broad recommendations of the National Advisory Council in 2013 and the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2002).
It aimed to create an institutionalized space for public participation in lawmaking processes.
Empowerment through Pre legislative consultation policy
A Pre legislative consultation policy has numerous merits and can help nudge our country in the right direction.
Given how diverse this nation is, it is crucial that we have a means for citizens to get directly involved in the formulation of policy decisions, especially those that have a direct stake in the bill and its nature.
If we fail to do so we will risk falling behind the times. Countries like Britain and South Africa and even the state of Kerala already have already set up effective PLP processes.
If anything, Kerala’s effective model is proof of how effective this process can be at home.
Furthermore, this policy has the capacity to make historically marginalized groups feel more included and cared for.
Significance of the policy
This policy provides a forum for citizens and relevant stakeholders to interact with the policymakers in the executive during the initial stages of lawmaking.
Protests in the recent past over laws such as the farm laws, the RTI Amendment Act, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, etc. have all highlighted that there is discontent among relevant stakeholders and the public at large since they were not looped in while framing such laws.
Public consultations enhance transparency, increase accountability, and could result in the building of an informed Government where citizens are treated as partners and not as subjects.
Status of its implementation
During the 16th Lok Sabha (May 2014 to May 2019) 186 bills were introduced in Parliament, of which 142 saw no consultation prior to introduction.
From the 44 bills placed in the public domain for receipt of comments, 24 did not adhere to the 30-day deadline.
During the 17th Lok Sabha (June 2019 to present), 115 bills were introduced in Parliament, of which 85 saw no consultation prior to introduction.
From the 30 bills placed in the public domain for receipt of comment, 16 of them did not adhere to the 30-day deadline.
The tentative schedule for the winter session indicates that a total of 29 bills are listed for introduction and passing. Of these, 17 saw no prior consultation while from the 12 that were placed in the public domain, only six adhered to the 30-day deadline.
Why is implementation difficult?
Though it is required that the mandates of an approved policy be heeded by all Government departments, the absence of a statutory or constitutional right has watered down its effect.
The effective implementation of the policy requires subsequent amendments in executive procedural guidelines like the Manual of Parliamentary Procedures and Handbook on Writing Cabinet Notes.
However, during a subsequent amendment to the Manual of Parliamentary Procedures, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs ignored the Ministry of Law and Justice when it requested them to incorporate PLCP provisions in the manual.
Conclusion
Incorporation of pre-legislative consultation in the procedures of the Cabinet, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha etc. should be prioritized.
Similarly, it must be required of ministers while introducing the bill to place an addendum note on the details of the pre-legislative consultation.
Empowering citizens with a right to participate in pre-legislative consultations through a statutory and constitutional commitment could be a gamechanger.
If there was one visible change in UPSC CSE 2021, then its the high weightage of questions from Enviornment and Ecology. Most of the current affairs questions from Environment and Ecology are not from the last one year and one had to know about conventions and conferences held long time back. About 25-30% of the questions in GS Paper 3 in UPSC Mains are from this subject.
Many aspirants make the mistake of assuming that Enviornment and Ecology is an easy subject as it tends to overlap with Geography and Science. Post 2013, with the introduction of separate Indian Forest Service Exams, the weightage for this subject has increased as well. Topics such as Biodiversity, Wildlife conservation, Pollution, Sustainable Development, Climate Change and International Organisations have the maximum questions asked.
Free Open for All Webinar by Retired Indian Forest Officer Dr. Sukhdev Singh
If as a UPSC aspirant, you also want to appear for Indian Forest Exams and score better in Prelims and GS Paper 3, then this webinar is for you. Dr. Sukhdev Singh will discuss both his work experiences on field and also on important topics that appear in these examinations.
Dr. Sukhdev Singh has nearly 35 years of experience and served mainly in the Uttarakhand cadre. He retired as the Chief Conservator Forest Officer.
What will you learn from Dr. Sukhdev Singh in this webinar?
1. Issues concerning wildlife in the past ten years. What are the practical solutions Dr. Sukhdev Singh implemented as an IFoS officer?
2. Forest and administration. Important conventions and clauses from exam point of view will be discussed.
3. Issues of Climate Change. What are the important protocols passed by International Organisations?
4. Current Affairs of Past One year related to Environment. What is happening in India with respect to this?
5. Biodiversity and Conservation. What are the important wildlife sanctuaries and biodiversity reserves?
6. Implementing government policy as an Indian Forest Officer. Dr. Sukhdev Singh will speak from his own experiences and also experiences of his colleagues.
Everything you need to know about IFoS. Why choose IFoS over IAS?
This live webinar for all students will also be interactive in nature with a Q&A session.
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 26th November 2021 (Tomorrow)
Time – 10:30 AM
Limited slots are available. So please register by today.
The 15th edition of the biennial trilateral coast guard exercise ‘Dosti’ involving India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka is underway in the Maldives.
Exercise Dosti
The aim of this exercise is to further fortify the friendship, enhance mutual operational capability, and exercise interoperability and to build cooperation.
Both the Maldives and Sri Lanka are of strategic importance to New Delhi and to its maritime security interests.
2021 marks 30 years since these exercises were first launched.
Significance of the exercise
These exercises help during joint operations and missions undertaken by countries and also help enhance interoperability.
Although piracy is not a major issue in this part of the Indian ocean, these kinds of exercises also help coast guards with training for possibilities.
These exercises help develop a better understanding of the other nation’s coast guard operations and how to enhance coordination during different kinds of missions.
What it involves
The scope of these exercises are wide-ranging.
India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have agreed to work on what they called the “four pillars” of security cooperation.
These involved the areas of marine security, human trafficking, counter-terrorism and cyber security.
Reports suggest that more child marriages have been noticed during the Covid pandemic.
Covid-19 and Girls
Socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 are gendered, evident in the form of educational inequality, sexual violence, and increased household burden.
Increased domestic violence: In India, the National Commission for Women reported 2.5 times to increase in domestic violence during the initial months of nationwide lockdown.
Abuse & Trafficking: Closure of schools and pandemic induced poverty has increased the vulnerability of children especially the girl child to abuse and trafficking
School dropout: UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report (2021) throws light on increased educational inequalities for adolescent girls during the Covid-19 crisis. UNESCO estimates that around 11 million girls may not return to school.
School Closures pushed Children into Labour: In 2021, says UNESCO, 24 million children may not find their way back to schools after the pandemic. Any child who is not in school is a potential child laborer.
Child Marriages: India witnessed an increase in the number of child marriages since 2020. Girls are further at risk – married off early, these child brides are also often child laborers.
Reduced Education Budget: Despite knowing the impact of the Pandemic on the education system & thus on Children’s future, the Union budget has Rs 5,000 crore less to spend on education for children this year.
Digital gender gap: The digital gender gap deters girls’ remote education and access to information.
Child Marriage
It is defined as a marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 and refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with a partner as if married.
UNICEF estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India, which makes it home to the largest number of child brides in the world – accounting for a third of the global total.
A recent study by the Lancet shows that up to 2.5 million more girls (below the age of 18) around the world are at risk of marriage in the next 5 yearsbecause of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prevalence of child marriage in India
Data from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS4) in 2015-16 shows that even before Covid, one in four girls in India was being married before 18.
Around 8 percent of women aged 15-19 years were mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey.
The first phase findings of NFHS5 (2019-20) show that the needle has not moved substantially on ending child marriage.
Why did Child Marriages have increased during Lockdowns?
Lack of Alert Mechanism: Earlier, when child marriages happened at wedding halls, temples, etc, there were people who would alert the relevant authorities or activists who would be able to reach on time to stop it.
But now, with marriages happening at homes, we may get fewer alerts and our going there could be treated as trespass.
Pandemic Induced Pressures: Economic pressures due to the pandemic have pushed poor parents to marry off girls early.
With no schools, the safety of children, particularly girls, was a major reason for the increase in violence against children and child marriages.
Causes for Child Marriages
Age Factor: Some parents consider the age period of 15-18 as unproductive, especially for girls, so they start finding a match for their child during this age period.
Further, the Right To Education Act makes education free and compulsory up to the age of 14 only.
Insecurity: Law and Order are still not able to provide a secure environment for the girls in adolescent age, so some parents get their girl child married at a young age.
Other Reasons:
Poverty,
Political and financial reasons,
Lack of education,
Patriarchy and gender inequalities, etc.
Consequences of child marriage
Violation of human rights: Child marriage violates girls’ human rights. It makes them almost invisible to policy.
Impact on education and health: It cuts short their education, harms their health, and limits their ability to fulfill themselves as productive individuals participating fully in society.
The low domestic status of teenage wives typically condemns them to long hours of domestic labor; poor nutrition and anemia; social isolation; domestic violence; early childbearing; and few decision-making powers within the home.
Malnutrition: Poor education, malnutrition, and early pregnancy lead to low birth weight of babies, perpetuating the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition.
The costs of child marriage include teenage pregnancy, population growth, child stunting, poor learning outcomes for children, and the loss of women’s participation in the workforce.
What should be the policy interventions to end child marriage?
CCTs:Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have been the main policy instrument introduced by most states in the last two decades to end child marriage.
CCTs alone cannot change social norms. We need a comprehensive approach.
Legislative measures: Legislation is one part of the approach.
Karnataka amended the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in 2017, declaring every child marriage, making it a cognizable offense.
Expansion of education: These include expansion of secondary education, access to safe and affordable public transport, and support for young women to apply their education to earn a livelihood.
Expansion of education goes beyond access. Girls must be able to attend school regularly, remain there, and achieve.
States can leverage their network of residential schools, girls’ hostels, and public transport, especially in underserved areas, to ensure that teenage girls do not get pushed out of education.
Teachers should hold regular gender equality conversations with high school girls and boys to shape progressive attitudes that will sustain them into adulthood.
Empowerment measures: Empowerment measures, too, are required to end child marriage, such as community engagement through programs like Mahila Samakhya.
Children’s village assemblies in the 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across India can provide a platform for children to voice their concerns.
Government actions driving social change: Field bureaucrats across multiple departments, including teachers, Anganwadi supervisors, panchayat, and revenue staff, all of whom interact with rural communities, should be notified as child marriage prohibition officers.
Decentralizing birth and marriage registration: Most important of all, decentralizing birth and marriage registration to gram panchayats will protect women and girls with essential age and marriage documents, thus better enabling them to claim their rights.
Consider the question “What are the consequence of child marriage? Suggest the measures to deal with the issue.”
Conclusion
We need to adopt a comprehensive approach to deal with the problem of child marriage. The approach should include a focus on education and legal measures.
Shortly after the Cabinet announced nine structural and procedural reforms in September to address the deep financial woes of telcos, Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel hiked their tariff.
About the package for telecom sector
The telecom relief package announced by the government in September supports proposals that have been repeatedly presented to the government by the regulator, industry associations and think tanks.
Risk of duopoly: With the risk of a duopoly looming large, the government was pushed to take up these long-pending decisions that included nine key changes.
Provisions in the package: Besides providing immediate relief on payment of licence fee and penalties due to the government, the package increased FDI limits, extended licence tenure to 30 years from 20, removed charges on spectrum-sharing and proposed timelines for spectrum auctions.
The package will undoubtedly have a positive short-term impact and perhaps safeguard competition in the future.
Reforms and challenge of addressing the inequality
From socialist to market-oriented economy: In July this year, we celebrated three decades of India’s 1991 reforms, one that catapulted India from being a socialist economy with a heart but no trickle-down, to a market-oriented economy with a mind but also very little trickle-down.
Inequality has been a feature of both models.
The 2018 Oxfam report showed that 10 per cent of the richest Indians took home 77.4 per cent of wealth (compared to 73 per cent the year before).
Moreover, 58 per cent of India’s wealth was in the hands of 1 per cent of the country’s population.
Changes in the modes of distribution: In the pre-1991 period, the principal modes of redistribution were taxation and public sector operations.
In the post-1991 period, it has been a combination of taxation, technology, smartphones and the associated direct benefit transfers.
Role of telecom sector in addressing the challenge of achieving growth and inclusion
High growth dividend of telecom sector: Every 10 per cent increase in investment in telecom, for example, leads to a 3.2 per cent increase in GDP growth for India.
Not only is the growth dividend positive, it is large.
Mobile as a mean of financial integration: At the same time, the mobile phone has become a means for sophisticated financial integration, as shown by the expanding usage of pre-paid payment instruments and mobile banking.
The Jan-Dhan Yojana (JDY) attempts to include the marginalised and unbanked through technology.
As of October 2021, a total of 440 million bank accounts have been opened and more than 310 million RuPay cards have been issued under the latter, indicating the large unmet demand for banking services.
Making transfers predictable and targeted: The Jan-Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity ties the Aadhaar number to an active bank account, making income transfers predictable and targeted.
There is already evidence that payments through Aadhaar-linked bank accounts have increased efficiency and reduced leakages.
Way forward
Predictable and less erratic telecom policy: The benefits of digitalisation could have been much larger and more widespread had telecom policy been more predictable and less erratic.
That Indian reforms more often than not happen on the back of a crisis is true for the telecom sector.
The principal motive of the New Telecom Policy of 1999 was to rescue the deeply indebted sector of its own reckless bidding by replacing the fixed licence fee system with a revenue-sharing regime.
In hindsight, it was the right thing to do since it threatened business continuity.
The move to auction spectrum “for all times to come” in 2008 was necessitated by the administrative bungling in spectrum assignment.
Quick adaptation: A question we pose is why did it take a crisis — a grave one at that — to push the needle on policy change?
It is a a reasonable expectation of policy to adapt quickly and not wait for a crisis to emerge.
Consider the question “Telecom sector could play an important role in achieving the growth with inclusion. In context of this, examine the challenges facing the sector and suggest the measures to deal with these challenges.”
Conclusion
The seemingly naïve question about the adaptation in policies may not be as credulous for the intensely dynamic digital markets. For there is no point shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
