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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • Contamination of medicine: India; The Pharmacy of the world needs a relook in drug regulations

    medicine

    Context

    • Merely two months after the World Health Organisation (WHO) sounded an alert over deadly contamination in four brands of cough syrup manufactured by a Sonepat-based pharmaceutical company that were subsequently linked to the deaths of 72 children in Gambia, another Indian pharmaceutical company stands accused of a similar crime. This time, it is Uzbekistan which has accused a Noida-based pharmaceutical company of selling contaminated cough syrup that has allegedly killed 18 children in that country.

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    Thorough analysis

    • Unacceptable levels of Ethylene/ Diethylene glycol: In both cases, lab tests reportedly found unacceptable levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol (EG) or both in the cough syrups.
    • Ideally these chemicals should not be found in any medicine: Both DEG and EG are deadly chemicals that should not be found in any medicine.
    • Then how these chemicals end up in medicines: The typical reason these chemicals end up in medicine is because pharmaceutical manufacturers do not adequately test industrial solvents purchased from chemical traders and used to manufacture cough syrups despite the fact that the law mandates such testing for contamination.
    • Proximity in two cases: Given the physical proximity of the manufacturers implicated in the Gambian and Uzbekistan cases, there is a very high possibility that the same batch of contaminated industrial solvent was used by both companies.

    medicine

    Contamination of medicines in India

    • India has a tumultuous history of DEG contamination in medicines: Between 1972 and 2020, India has seen at least five mass DEG poisonings in Chennai, Mumbai, Bihar, Gurgaon and Jammu. The incident in Gurgaon led to the death of 33 children and the incident in Jammu of at least 11 children.
    • Difficult to diagnose deaths due to adulterated medicine: The final reported toll in such cases is definitely an undercount because it is notoriously difficult for doctors to diagnose such deaths and attribute them to adulterated medicine.
    • Lethargy and denial is a pattern with drug regulators in India: In August 2020, about eight months after the DEG-related deaths of the children in Jammu were first reported by PGIMER, Chandigarh, the same hospital reported that another two-year-old child from Baddi had died in its facility after consuming a different brand of cough syrup manufactured by the same company that was responsible for the deaths earlier in Jammu. This was a death that could have been easily avoided if the regulators had conducted and published a thorough root cause analysis after the Jammu incident and followed it up by a nationwide recall of all cough syrups manufactured at the same facility. This never happened.

    medicine

    Critique: Whether the Ministry of Health and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization have learnt their lessons from these previous incidents?

    • Government will handle the issue just as any other public relation crisis: The present government is likely to handle this crisis as yet another public relations crisis instead of a public health crisis. Assumption is based on the observation of the official response from the government to the tragedy in Gambia.
    • Instead of condoling, accused them for not testing before prescribing: Far from condoling the deaths of 72 Gambians, the initial press release from the Ministry of Health gaslit the Gambians by accusing them of not testing the cough syrups before prescribing them to patients.
    • False presumption that the drug regulator is doing its job well: This was an absurd allegation because nobody tests drugs that are purchased before releasing them for patient use, even in India. The presumption is that the drug regulator is doing its job to ensure quality control.
    • Government’s information czars accusing WHO: The first step of this PR strategy was to keep leaking to journalists that the WHO was not co-operating with the information requests made by an expert committee set up by the Government of India to investigate the deaths in Gambia. This despite the government fully knowing that the responsibility of investigating the deaths lay not with the WHO but with the sovereign authorities in Gambia.
    • Rare mention of sympathy: The common thread running through these events is a communications strategy aimed at denial and intimidation. There is rarely a mention of sympathy for lives lost or a commitment to protect public health.
    • Even China does better than India: An iron fist in a titanium glove is the best way to describe the government’s response to any allegations of quality issues afflicting the Indian pharmaceutical industry. In 2007, when a Chinese chemicals manufacturer was implicated in the deaths of 365 people in Panama who consumed cough syrup manufactured with an adulterated industrial solvent, the Chinese arrested the manufacturer and publicly promised to punish him.

    medicine

    What should be done immediately?

    • The immediate public health response in these cases of DEG contamination should be aimed at limiting further deaths.
    • This means tracing the origins of the contaminated industrial solvent used to manufacture the syrups.

    Conclusion

    • What India needs right at the moment is to accept the fact that there is a major quality problem with the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Allegations cannot be morphed from one to another. Perhaps the need of the hour is to have meaningful and comprehensive conversation on actual regulatory reform.

    Mains question

    Q. It is said that India has a tumultuous history of DEG contamination in medicines. The recent deaths in Gambia and Uzbekistan supports this statement. What the critique has to say over India’s response in such cases.

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  • NCW seeks to ensure POSH Act implementation by coaching institutes

    The National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked all States to ensure strict implementation of the sexual harassment at workplace law (POSH Act, 2013) by coaching centres and educational institutes.

    Why in news?

    • NCW is concerned over incidents of sexual harassment at coaching centres.
    • It seeks to give instructions to all coaching institutes to ensure effective steps are taken for prevention of sexual harassment of female students.

    What is the POSH Act?

    • The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in 2013.
    • It defined sexual harassment, lay down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry, and the action to be taken.
    • It broadened the Vishaka Guidelines, which were already in place.

    What are Vishakha Guidelines?

    • The Vishakha guidelines were laid down by the Supreme Court in a judgment in 1997. This was in a case filed by women’s rights groups, one of which was Vishakha.
    • In 1992, she had prevented the marriage of a one-year-old girl, leading to the alleged gangrape in an act of revenge.

    Guidelines and the law

    • The Vishakha guidelines, which were legally binding, defined sexual harassment and imposed three key obligations on institutions :
    1. Prohibition
    2. Prevention
    3. Redress
    • The Supreme Court directed that they should establish a Complaints Committee, which would look into matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.

    The POSH Act broadened these guidelines:

    • It mandated that every employer must constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.
    • It lay down procedures and defined various aspects of sexual harassment, including the aggrieved victim, who could be a woman “of any age whether employed or not”, who “alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment”.
    • This meant that the rights of all women working or visiting any workplace, in any capacity, were protected under the Act.

    Definition of Sexual Harassment

    Under the 2013 law, sexual harassment includes “any one or more” of the following “unwelcome acts or behaviour” committed directly or by implication:

    • Physical contact and advances
    • A demand or request for sexual favours
    • Sexually coloured remarks
    • Showing pornography
    • Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.

    The Ministry of Women & Child Development has published a Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace with more detailed instances of behaviour that constitutes sexual harassment at the workplace. These include, broadly:

    • Sexually suggestive remarks or innuendos; serious or repeated offensive remarks; inappropriate questions or remarks about a person’s sex life
    • Display of sexist or offensive pictures, posters, MMS, SMS, WhatsApp, or emails
    • Intimidation, threats, blackmail around sexual favours; also, threats, intimidation or retaliation against an employee who speaks up about these
    • Unwelcome social invitations with sexual overtones, commonly seen as flirting
    • Unwelcome sexual advances.

    Unwelcome behavior

    • The Handbook says “unwelcome behaviour” is experienced when the victim feels bad or powerless; it causes anger/sadness or negative self-esteem.
    • It adds unwelcome behaviour is one which is “illegal, demeaning, invading, one-sided and power based”.

    Back2Basics: National Commission for Women

    • The NCW is the statutory body generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women.
    • It was established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of the Indian Constitution as defined in the 1990 National Commission for Women Act.
    • The first head of the commission was Jayanti Patnaik.

    Constitutional provision

    • The Indian Constitution doesn’t contain any provision specifically made to favor women intrinsically.
    • Article 15 (3), Article 14 and Article 21 protect and safeguard women. They are more gender-neutral.

    Objectives

    • The objective of the NCW is to represent the rights of women in India and to provide a voice for their issues and concerns.
    • The subjects of their campaigns have included dowry, politics, religion, equal representation for women in jobs, and the exploitation of women for labor.

     

     

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  • Tamil Nadu worst performer in RTI responsiveness

    rti

    The State Information Commission of Tamil Nadu has been the worst performing as far as responsiveness under the RTI Act is concerned, furnishing only 14% of the information sought for 2021-22.

    State’s responses to RTI

    • Maharashtra was second-worst, sharing 23% of the information asked for.
    • Only 10 ICs provided full information in response to the RTI applications filed as part of this assessment.
    • These included Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and northeastern States of Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura.
    • Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh returned around 40% of the appeals or complaints received by them.

    What is the Right to Information (RTI)?

    • RTI is an act of the parliament that sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens’ right to information.
    • It replaced the former Freedom of Information Act, 2002.
    • Under the provisions of RTI Act, any citizen of India may request information from a “public authority” (a body of Government or “instrumentality of State”) which is required to reply expeditiously or within 30.
    • In case of a matter involving a petitioner’s life and liberty, the information has to be provided within 48 hours.
    • The Act also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.

    What led to the introduction of RTI in India?

    There has been a variety of internal and external pressures on governments to adopt RTI.

    • Corruption and scandals: The crisis was brought into force due to a lack of transparency in the working of the government.
    • Modernization and the Information Society: The expansion of the Internet into everyday life has increased the demand for more information by the public, businesses and civil society groups.
    • International pressure: The World Bank, the IMF and others have pressed countries to adopt laws to reduce corruption and to make financial systems more accountable.
    • Wider recognition of Public Interest: Public interest is a nebulous concept, not defined in any freedom of information laws, understandably so, as it is a very subjective concept.

    Governing of the RTI

    The Right to information in India is governed by two major bodies:

    1. Central Information Commission (CIC) – Chief Information commissioner who heads all the central departments and ministries- with their own public information officers (PIO)s. CICs are directly under the President of India.
    2. State Information Commissions (SIC)– State Public Information Officers or SPIOs head over all the state department and ministries. The SPIO office is directly under the corresponding State Governor.

    State and CIC are independent bodies and CIC has no jurisdiction over the SIC.

    Constitutional backing of the RTI

    • The Indian constitution has an impressive array of basic and inalienable rights termed as fundamental rights contained in part-III.
    • These include the right to equal protection of the laws and the right to equality before the law, the right to freedom of speech and expression also the right to life and personal liberty.
    • Since RTI, is implicit in the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, it is an implied FR.
    • These are backed by the right to constitutional remedies that is, the right to approach the supreme court and high court under Article 32 and 226 respectively in case of infringement of any of FRs.
    • The state is not only under an obligation to respect the FRs of the citizens but also equally under an obligation to ensure conditions under which the right can be exercised.
    • The objective of the right to information act is to protect these constitutional rights.

    Benefits of RTI

    • Greater accessibility of information: A person can seek information from any public authority in the form of copies, floppy disks, sample material etc under RTI.
    • Efficient governance: RTI Act helps us in knowing the efficiency of the government functioning.RTI has become a reality consistent with the objectives of having a stable, honest, transparent and efficient government.
    • Citizen’s participation: Information under RTI can be sought easily by requesting the public officer and assistant public officer in any public authority.
    • Government obligation: Obtaining information from any public authority is obligatory for them.
    • Maintenance of public record: Under RTI Act, it is the duty of public authorities to maintain records for easy access and to publish within 120 days the name of the particular officers who should give the information and in regard to the framing of the rules, regulations etc.
    • Empowerment of Citizens: Every citizen has been empowered to be informed about anything that affects their life directly or indirectly.

    Limitations to the RTI

    • Not an absolute right:  The RTI and Right to Privacy are not absolute rights, both the rights, one of which falls under Article 19(l)(a) and the other under Article 21 can obviously be regulated, restricted and curtailed in the larger public interest.
    • Subjected to restrictions: The RTI, being integral part of the right to freedom of speech, is subject to restrictions that can be imposed upon that right under Article 19 (2).
    • Limitations under the rules: Rule 4 of RTI Act puts word limit (No. of words needed in different language is different to express the same idea) as 250 words.  Word Limit, The Hidden power of Information Officer, is the cause of rejection of an application.
    • Only information already available on record is accessible: The RTI Act provides access only to that information that existent and is available in records of the public authorities.
    • Certain information may constitute contempt of court: Any information, the disclosure of which is expressly barred by any Court of law or tribunal or, which may constitute contempt of Court under the Contempt of Court Act, 1971, cannot be released.
    • Information causes a breach of privilege: The Constitution of India provides some privileges to the Parliament and the State Legislature, so it is clear that such information cannot be issued by the public authority.
    • Information relating to Intellectual Property and trade secrets: Any information, including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property cannot be disclosed.

    Way Forward

    • Speedy disposal: The increasing backlog of cases is exacerbated by the fact that most Commissions are functioning at reduced capacity.
    • Prioritization of cases: There should be a prioritization of cases dealing with information related to life and liberty.
    • Digitalization: Governments should put in place a mechanism for online filing of RTI applications and bring all authorities under one platform.
    • Reducing technicalities: The technicalities of filing an RTI application should be more simplified. The literacy rate of rural India is quite low and thus they find it quite difficult to comply with the procedural.
    • Protecting whistleblowers: There is an urgent need to protect the whistle blowers who are targeted or attacked so easily.

     

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  • Indian biotech investigated following deaths of Uzbek children

    The Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) are investigating Noida-based firm after the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan by drinking health syrup contaminated with Diethylene Glycol (DEG).

    India’s response to these deaths

    • It is certainly the responsibility of the importing country to test medicines before releasing them in their market.
    • After being informed about the incident, India’s apex regulatory body, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) opened investigations and lifted control samples.

    Issue: India’s credibility at stake

    • India is one of the leading exporters of medicines.
    • PM Modi recently stressed that Indian drugs had earned the world’s trust and that India could be called the ‘pharmacy to the world’.
    • However, such negative reports on the quality and safety of our medicines will be a massive blow to the country’s image as a source of cheap generic drugs to the world.

    Issues highlighted by the incident

    • Smuggling of cheap drugs: Inquiry reveals that these were imported from an Indian manufacturer, not under public tender but privately.
    • Ignorance by authorities: The drug which is banned for domestic consumption has got exported and led to fatalities. This is a huge blissful mistake by Indian Authorities.
    • Lack of inspection: There are not enough drug inspectors in the country to conduct as many inspections as is ideally required in such as vast set-up.
    • Inadequacies in quality-check: Despite huge production units, there are not an adequate number of laboratories to test the samples in time if all the samples that should be lifted for testing are picked up.
    • Blot on credibility: The matter, if not properly handled, can damage the perception that Indian medicines are trustworthy for many countries and the global South.

    Possible factors behind this tragedy

    • There are rackets of counterfeit Indian medicines turning up in many countries.
    • Some of these were coming from unregistered producers in India, who would produce medicine depending on what cost was paid to them without concern for quality.
    • In some cases, competitors from other countries were known to make counterfeit medicines with Indian markings and dump them in markets where Indian pharmaceuticals were well regarded.

    Way forward

    • The pharmaceutical trade is vital and must be protected from predatory practices and violations of regulatory norms.
    • Regulatory mechanism on both sides should be strengthened.
    • Importers should be given lists of recognised Indian manufacturers.
    • Training should be provided to drug controllers to curtail the menace of counterfeit and poor-quality medicine entering from India.

    Back2Basics: Diethylene Glycol (DEG)

    • A/c to WHO, Diethylene Glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol is toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal.
    • It can cause kidney and neurological toxicity and has been associated with several cases of mass poisoning when consumed via drugs.
    • The chemical tastes sweet and is water-insoluble.
    • The toxic effects of the chemical include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury.

     

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  • In news: Jan Vishwas Bill, 2022

    bill

    Last week, the Union Government tabled the Jan Vishwas Bill, 2022, (Bill) in the Parliament with the objective of “decriminalising” 183 offences across 42 legislations and enhancing the ease of living and doing business in India.

    Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022,

    • It sought to amend 42 Acts to reduce the compliance burden on individuals and businesses and ensure ease of doing business.
    • Some Acts that are amended by the Bill include: the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

    Key provisions of the Bill

    (1) Replacing imprisonment with money penalty:

    Under the Bill, several offences with an imprisonment term in certain Acts have been decriminalised by imposing only a monetary penalty under the –

    • Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937, counterfeiting grade designation marks is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to five thousand rupees. The Bill replaces this with a penalty of eight lakh rupees.
    • Information Technology Act, 2000, disclosing personal information in breach of a lawful contract is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years, or a fine of up to five lakh rupees, or both. The Bill replaces this with a penalty of up to 25 lakh rupees.
    • Patents Act, 1970, a person selling a falsely represented article as patented in India is subject to a fine of up to one lakh rupees. The Bill replaces the fine with a penalty, which may be up to ten lakh rupees.  In case of a continuing claim, there shall be an additional penalty of one thousand rupees per day.

    (2) Revision of fines and penalties: 

    • The Bill increases the fines and penalties for various offences in the specified Acts.
    • Further, these fines and penalties will be increased by 10% of the minimum amount every three years.
    • It is a welcome move and can be viewed as an attempt to reverse the trend of overcriminalisation. However, there is much that needs to be done in order to institutionalise efforts aimed at decriminalisation.

    Why was this legislation brought up?

    • Rise in criminal cases: An unprincipled growth of criminal law has long been a cause of concern for scholars of law.
    • Political motives: The act of criminalisation often becomes a medium for governments to put across a strong image as opposed to punishing wrongful conduct.
    • Over-criminalization: Governments offer little in the way of justifications to support such decisions. This phenomenon has been termed “overcriminalisation” by scholars.
    • Increased burden on Judiciary: As per the National Judicial Data Grid, of the 4.3 crore pending cases, nearly 3.2 crore cases are in relation to criminal proceedings.
    • Overcrowding of prisons: Similarly, the rise in the prison population is also proof of this. As per the NCRB’s Prison Statistics of 2021, a total of 5.54 lakh prisoners were confined in prisons against a capacity of 4.25 lakh.

    Scope of the Bill

    • Hefty fines cannot create deterrence: The Jan Vishwas Bill either omits penal provisions or replaces them with fines in legislation. These are primarily offences which are regulatory in nature.
    • Quasi-decriminalisation: By and large, an examination of the provisions of the Bill reveals that stress has been on the replacement of imprisonment clauses with fines. This can hardly be termed as ‘decriminalisation’.

    Achieving decriminalisation in real sense

    There is much that is required for the efforts aimed at decriminalisation to fructify in any meaningful way.

    (1) Stigma of fines to create deterrence

    • In his seminal piece titled – ‘Is the Criminal Law a Lost Cause?’ Mr. Andrew Ashworth’s creates a distinction between regulatory offences and penal offences and exemplifies the same through the functional distinction between a tax and a fine.
    • While the purpose of a tax is primarily regulatory in nature, a fine carries with it an element of censure and stigma.

    (2) De-linking petty economic offences with over-criminalization

    • Secondly, the Observer Research Foundation’s report titled Jailed for Doing Business found that there are more than 26,134 imprisonment clauses in a total of 843 economic legislations, rules and regulations which seek to regulate businesses and economic activities in India.
    • In this light, the number of offences deregulated under the Bill seems to be a mere drop in India’s regulatory framework.

    (3) Regulatory offences to be considered for ‘decriminalisation’

    • This need to be prioritised not only from the point of view of the ease of doing business, but also from the points of view of the ills that plague our criminal justice system itself.
    • Debates are ongoing about the decriminalisation of several penal offences such as sedition, offences under NDPS Act & UAPA Acts, triple talaq and anti-conversion laws etc.
    • There is an urgent need to assess these offences on a principled basis.

    Conclusion

    • The intent of the Bill is merely to ensure that imprisonment is replaced with fines for as many offences as possible.
    • The extent to which it succeeds in ‘decriminalising’ offences, however, is questionable.
    • If these faults are to be rectified, it is pertinent that a more comprehensive exercise is undertaken and that the government prioritises the needs and requirements of the criminal justice system.
    • Still this legislation is a welcome move in all senses.

     

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  • City Finance Rankings, 2022

    The Centre launched City Finance Rankings 2022 and City Beauty Competition aimed at incentivising urban local bodies for improving cities’ public infrastructure and strengthening them on basis of key financial parameters.

    What is City Finance Rankings?

    • It aims to evaluate, recognise, and reward urban local bodies on the basis of their strength across key financial parameters.
    • City Finance Rankings aim to motivate city and state officials and decision makers, to implement municipal finance reforms.
    • The participating urban local bodies will be evaluated on 15 indicators across three key municipal finance assessment parameters like resource mobilisation, expenditure performance, and fiscal governance.
    • The cities will be ranked at the national level on the basis of their scores under any one of the following four population categories:
    1. Above 40 lakh
    2. Between 10-40 lakh
    3. 1 lakh to 10 lakh and
    4. Less than one lakh
    • The top three cities in each population category will be recognised and rewarded at the national level as well as within each state and state cluster

    About City Beauty Competition

    • Wards and public places of cities would be judged against the five broad pillars (i) accessibility (ii) amenities (iii) activities (iv) aesthetics and (v) ecology.
    • It would felicitate most beautiful wards and beautiful public places at the city level.
    • It aims to encourage and recognise the transformational efforts made by cities and wards in India to create beautiful, innovative and inclusive public spaces

     

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  • Making IAS officers effective in dealing with manufacturing sector

    manufacturing

    Context

    • The Make in India and Ease of Doing Business policies were framed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi correctly believed that the problems of poverty and unemployment could only be solved by the rapid growth of the manufacturing sector. Despite these efforts, manufacturing has till now not shown any significant increase in its growth. Investments in the sector remain inadequate.

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    manufacturing

    Background: Manufacturing sector in India

    • Development strategies and failures: The development of strategies and plans for implementation and their execution is done by individuals. Repeated failures in this area point to the necessity of identifying the root causes for why existing personnel charged with policy execution have been failing.
    • Reasons could be: The reasons could be inadequate knowledge and skills, lack of motivation, environmental constraints or weak supervision and monitoring.
    • Vision by political leaderships, implementation by IAS officers: While the political leadership lays down the vision, the responsibilities for translating these into ground realities are that of IAS officers.

    IAS officers in manufacturing

    • IAS officers ensures adequate skills and training: Most of the senior posts in the secretariats and districts are held by officers from the IAS. They are responsible for ensuring that subordinate civil servants are adequately trained and skilled, motivated and guided to deliver good outcomes.
    • Frame rules for implementation: They create the framework of rules that constitute the environment for implementation. Therefore, if policies are to be more effectively implemented, IAS officers need to be better equipped.

    manufacturing

    How should be the role of IAS officers in manufacturing?

    • Officers should have adequate knowledge: Achieving global levels of cost and quality competitiveness in the sector requires that officers working in areas relevant to policy-making in the central and state governments understand how laws, regulations and procedures impact the competitiveness of industry.
    • They must know the ways of cost-efficient manufacturing: They should specifically be aware of the various ways in which these add to or reduce the costs of manufacturing.
    • They should ensure the demand and investment strategy: They need to appreciate the importance of demand creation for enabling industry to achieve economies of scale and how the stability of policies is required for companies to make long-term investments.

    What needs to be done?

    • Need to understand the resources, demand and growth: The importance of profits and the generation of internal resources for growth has to be understood.
    • Joint efforts and trust are required: This is only possible if the concerned civil servants in the ministries have good domain knowledge of the manufacturing sector and appreciate that government and entrepreneurs have to work jointly and trust each other.

    Can IAS officers do this work? What are the challenges?

    • Gap in policies and implementation: While policies are largely made in Delhi, much of the implementation is done in states.
    • More trust on public sector while a distrust on private sector: Effective implementation has become complex because of our past history of only trusting the public sector and distrusting the private sector.
    • Even laws and procedures are based on suspicion: Many of the laws and procedures were based on the suspicion of private-sector industrialists.
    • Legacy of distrust on civil servants: Equally, the system of checks and balances, inherited from the British, is based on a distrust of civil servants and leads to implementers preferring procedures and correct paperwork over producing results.
    • Civil servants are not private sector friendly in general: Civil servants are generally not private sector friendly when dealing with issues that have financial implications. This results in long delays, higher costs and loss of competitiveness.

    How to equip IAS officers to become more effective in dealing with the manufacturing sector?

    • Bringing in the best global practices: We need to reform our system of human resource development and bring it in line with the best global practices.
    • Dedicated wing to be created: A wing be created in the Department of Personnel & Training, and its counterparts in the states. This should be manned by professionals in human resource development whose function would be to select officers on the basis of aptitude from the IAS and other services, and train them to frame and implement policies relating to manufacturing and industrial development.
    • Experience must be considered: The selection of officers could be made after they have completed around 10 years of service. Thereafter, selected officers would need to be trained and given postings that would enable them to gain more knowledge and experience. This could include secondment to selected private companies so that the officers could get actual working experience. They would then be better able to understand the finer points of competing in the marketplace.
    • Periodic Capability evaluation should be made: Officers so trained should not be moved to other unrelated areas of work. Periodic evaluations could be made, again by professionals, to identify those capable of moving to the highest levels for making policies and strategies.

    The Maruti case study

    • A system that exists in Japan, and was implemented in Maruti, was to de-link salary scales from job responsibilities.
    • The most suitable person for a job is selected and his pay did not change upon assuming higher responsibilities, though his designation changed.

    Conclusion

    • IAS officers can deliver results if they are motivated, trained and allowed to work in the area of their expertise. The recruitment system for the higher civil services ensures high-quality entrants. However, that does not automatically mean good results when posted in jobs that require specialized knowledge and experience. They need to be properly equipped to work in the manufacturing sector.

    Mains Question

    Q. Despite of the efforts to boost manufacturing sector, it has till now not shown any significant increase in its growth. In this context discuss the role of  IAS officers and suggest what can be done to improve their role in manufacturing sector.

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  • Expedite categorization of DNTs: House panel

    A Parliamentary panel has pulled up the Centre over the “very slow” process to categorize over 260 Denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes (DNTs) under either the SC/ST/OBC lists.

    Why in news?

    • The government officials also pointed ‘delay’ in the approval of benefits under the SEED (Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs) scheme launched in February this year.
    • There is a scheme in place with proper budgetary outlay, but there is no whereabouts of targeted beneficiaries for it. Imagine how ironical this is.

    Who are the DNTs?

    • The term ‘De-notified Tribes’ stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between l87l and I947.
    • These Acts were repealed after Independence in l952, and these communities were “De-Notified”.
    • The DNTs (of whom most are the medieval period Banjaras) are the most neglected, marginalized, and economically and socially deprived communities.
    • Most of them have been living a life of destitution for generations and still continue to do so with an uncertain and gloomy future.
    • More than 10 crore Indians from over 1,400 communities are either denotified, nomadic or semi-nomadic.

    About SEED Scheme

    • It has been formulated for families having income from all sources of Rs.2.50 lakh or less per annum and not availing any such benefits from similar Scheme of Centre Government or the State Government.
    • The Scheme will be implemented through a portal, developed by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.
    • Post verification, the funds will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries in their account.
    • The other implementing agencies are Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Health Authority (NHA).

    Components of the scheme

    The Scheme will have the following four components:

    • Free Coaching: A component of free Coaching for DNT Students has been envisioned for the educational empowerment of these communities. It seeks to enable them to appear in competitive examinations/ admission to professional courses like medicine, engineering, MBA, etc. for obtaining an appropriate job in the Public/Private Sector.
    • Health Insurance: Members of these communities are likely to have little or no access to medical facilities and other benefits available under the mainstream health policies.This would ensure a health insurance cover of Rs.5 lakhs per family per year for families as per norms of “Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
    • Livelihood Initiatives: The decline of traditional occupations of DNT/NT/SNT communities has exacerbated their poverty. A focus to support livelihood generation for these communities was required.
    • Financial support for Housing: Considering the shortage of houses for DNTs, it has been proposed to earmark a separate outlay for PMAY to support specific importance in providing houses only for DNTs living in rural areas.

    Why was such scheme launched?

    • DNTs are ignored communities: They escaped the attention of our developmental framework and thus are deprived of the support unlike Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
    • Most deprived section: Historically, these communities never had access to private land or homeownership.
    • Ecological contribution: These tribes used forests and grazing lands for their livelihood and residential use and had “strong ecological connections.

    Status of DNT’s identification

    • Anthropological Survey of India study: AnSI had submitted reports on categorisation of 48 DNT communities so far. Further, the AnSI is finalising studies on 161 communities and is expected to finish studying the remaining communities (about 70) by the end of 2022.
    • Idate Commission: It had categorised 1,262 communities under SC/ST/OBC lists and 267 communities were left uncategorised.

    Why is there such delay?

    • Slow response from states: Officials cannot begin processing the applications for the SEED scheme unless the State and district-level reviews are completed.
    • Duplication of communities: There is inaccurate categorization/duplication of communities which leading to hiccups in the approval process.

     

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  • India’s G20 Presidency: Healthcare should be a central agenda

    Healthcare

    Context

    • Health needs to be a central agenda for the G20 2023. It has been one of the priority areas for G20 deliberations since 2017, when the first meet of health ministers of G20 countries was organised by the German presidency. The G20 now has health finance in its financial stream and health systems development in the Sherpa stream.

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    Background: Prioritizing Health

    • An annual G20 meeting of health ministers and a joint health and finance task force reflects the seriousness the subject has gained.
    • The Berlin Declaration 2017 of the G20 health ministers provided a composite approach focusing on pandemic preparedness, health system strengthening and tackling antimicrobial resistance.
    • The Covid-19 pandemic gave added urgency to pandemic preparedness and the Indonesian presidency in 2022 made it the major focus. The Indian presidency needs to advance these agendas.

    resolution

    Global community engagement to strengthen Health systems

    • Universal Health Coverage (UHC): The concept of UHC was born in the 2000s to prevent catastrophic medical expenditures due to secondary and tertiary level hospital services by universalizing health insurance coverage.
    • UHC as a strategy to ensure healthcare for all: The UHC has been the big global approach for health systems strengthening since 2010, also adopted in 2015 as the strategy for Sustainable Development Goal-3 on ensuring healthcare for all at all ages.
    • Limited impact of UHC: However, the limited impact of this narrow strategy was soon evident, with expenditures on outdoor services becoming catastrophic for poor households and preventing access to necessary healthcare and medicines, while many unnecessary/irrational medical interventions were being undertaken.

    What are the new approaches developed to strengthen healthcare system?

    • Highlighted the need to prioritise primary healthcare (PHC): In 2018, the Astana Conference organised by WHO and UNICEF put out a declaration stating that primary healthcare (PHC) is essential for fulfilling the UHC objectives.
    • Combined UHC- PHC approach: In 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted the combined UHC-PHC approach as a political declaration.
    • World bank report on benefits of PHC services during pandemic: The World Bank published a report in 2021, “Walking the Talk: Reimagining Primary Health Care After COVID-19”. The dominant hospital-centred medical system is becoming unaffordable even for the high-income countries, as apparent during the 2008 recession and subsequently.

    What is PHC-with-UHC approach?

    • It means strengthening primary level care linked to non-medical preventive action (food security and safety, safe water and air, healthy workspaces, and so on)
    • It works through whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches, and extending the “PHC principles” to secondary and tertiary care services.
    • This could be the most cost-effective systems design the comprehensive game changer that global health care requires.

    What is to be strengthened, what initiatives can be applied and how?

    • Making health central to development in all sectors: Health in all policies, one health (linking animal and human health for tackling antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases), planetary health, pandemic preparedness.
    • Health systems strengthening: Designing PHC-with-UHC for diverse contexts. Conceptualised as a continuum of care from self-care in households to community services, to primary level para-medical services and first contact with a doctor, services provided as close to homes as possible, affordable and easily deliverable.
    • Appropriate technologies to be adopted as a norm: By strengthening health technology assessment, ethics of healthcare, equitable access to pharmaceutical products and vaccines, integrative health systems using plural knowledge systems rationally.
    • Health and healthcare from the perspective of the marginalised: Gendered health care needs, Health care of indigenous peoples globally, occupational health, mental health and wellbeing, healthy ageing.
    • Easy access to health knowledge for all: decolonization and democratization of health knowledge, with interests and perspectives of low-middle-income countries (LMICs), prevention and patient-centred healthcare.

    Healthcare

    India’s G20 Presidency: An opportunity to contribute and make inclusive healthcare system

    • India has several pioneering initiatives that can contribute to the PHC-with-UHC discussion:
    • National Health mission and dedicated health facilities: Lessons from the National Health Mission for strengthening public health delivery; the HIV-control programme’s successful involvement of affected persons/communities and a complex well-managed service structure.
    • Democratized health knowledge: Pluralism of health knowledge systems, each independently supported within the national health system.
    • Certified Health personnel: Health personnel such as the ASHAs, mid-level health providers and wellness centres, traditional community healthcare providers with voluntary quality certification;
    • R&D and widely acknowledged pharmaceutical capacity: Research designed for validation of traditional systems; pharmaceutical and vaccines production capacity;
    • Digital health as an example: Developments in digital health; social insurance schemes and people’s hospital models by civil society.

    resolution

    Conclusion

    • What is required is the drafting of PHC-with-UHC (a PHC 2.0) with a broad global consensus and commitment to a more sustainable and people-empowering health system. Pursuing such an agenda would involve much dialogue within countries, regions and globally. India should use its presidency to draft a model policy focusing on primary healthcare that commits to a universal, affordable, inclusive and just healthcare system

    Mains Question

    Q. What is Primary HealthCare and Universal healthcare integrated approach? What steps are necessary to further strengthen sustainable healthcare system? Discuss how India can contribute to it under its G20 presidency?

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  • Divyang Friendly Physical and Digital Interface of buildings

    Friendly

    Context

    • Among the various disadvantages we poorly equipped to support people with disabilities about access to parliament. It is time to make the physical and digital interface of parliament and other buildings more disabled-friendly.

    What are the common suggestions about disabled friendly parliament?

    • Accessibility Committee: To attend to the access needs of the disabled.
    • Providing sign language: For interpretation for Parliamentary proceedings.
    • Audit of website: Ordering an accessibility audit of Parliament’s websites.

    Friendly

    What is the accessible India campaign?

    • Disable friendly facilities: In December 2015, the Government of India launched the Accessible India Campaign (AIC) to make the built environment, ICT ecosystem and transport facilities more disabled-friendly.
    • Lack of enforcement: A strong enforcement mechanism is unfortunately absent in the AIC, led by people with disabilities and accessibility professionals, to ensure that ambitious milestones are set and pursued to their meaningful conclusion.

    Recommendations of report by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

    • Make every building accessible: A report by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, titled “Beyond Reasonable Accommodation” points out, the requirement to make every new building accessible before it is granted an Occupancy Certificate.
    • Integration of laws: The relevant provisions of the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India, 2021 must be integrated into local bye-laws and state planning laws.
    • Sensitivity about compliance: Municipal authorities must have the know-how and sensitivity to gauge compliance with the norms to make the built environment accessible and access to competent accessibility professionals who can provide appropriate inputs at every stage.
    • Professions to enforce compliance: The list of empanelled professionals maintained by municipal authorities must also consist of accessibility professionals, and this requirement must be codified in model building bye-laws and the National Building Code.

    Digital

    What parliament can do?

    • Accessibility committee: Parliament must set up an accessibility committee urgently that must be tasked with delivering recommendations in a time-bound fashion on making every aspect of the Parliamentary process more disabled-friendly.
    • Taking cue from supreme court: The constitution of an Accessibility Committee by the Supreme Court recently may be a good reference point for Parliament.

    What can centre and states do?

    • Accessibility criteria in procurement: Central and state level procurement laws and policies must incorporate accessibility criteria in public procurement of physical, digital and transport infrastructure.
    • Accessible tenders and documents: These must be replicated in agreements between procurement agencies and bidders/contractors. In addition, tender documents must set out applicable accessibility standards.

    Conclusion

    • Disable people suffers from structural disadvantage at every stage of governance including building infrastructure. Parliament should start from itself to give larger message of about sensitivity towards disabled friendly buildings.

    Mains Question

    Q. Explain the limitations of accessible India campaign? Suggest the way towards more disable friendly buildings in India.

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