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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • ‘Mission Antyodaya’ can help transform rural India

    Context

    This article argues that given the right momentum, the ‘Mission Antyodaya’ project bears great promise to eradicate poverty in its multiple dimensions among rural households.

    Background of Mission Antyodaya

    • The ‘Mission Antyodaya’ project was launched by the Government of India in 2017-18.
    • The Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Rural Development act as the nodal agents to take the mission forward.
    • Key goals: The main objective of ‘Mission Antyodaya’ is to ensure optimum use of resources through the convergence of various schemes that address multiple deprivations of poverty, making gram panchayat the hub of a development plan.
    • Annual survey: This planning process is supported by an annual survey that helps to assess the various development gaps at the gram panchayat level, by collecting data regarding the 29 subjects assigned to panchayats by the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
    • Also, data regarding health and nutrition, social security, good governance, water management and so on are also collected.
    • The idea of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to identify the gaps in basic needs at the local level, and integrating resources of various schemes, self-help groups, voluntary organisations and so on to finance them needs coordination and capacity-building of a high order.
    • If pursued in a genuine manner, this can foster economic development and inter-jurisdictional equity.

    Infrastructural gaps as pointed out by the Mission Antyodaya Survey

    • The ‘Mission Antyodaya’ survey in 2019-20 for the first time collected data that shed light on the infrastructural gaps from 2.67 lakh gram panchayats, comprising 6.48 lakh villages with 1.03 billion population.
    • The maximum score values assigned will add up to 100 and are presented in class intervals of 10.
    • While no State in India falls in the top score bracket of 90 to 100, 1,484 gram panchayats fall in the bottom bracket.
    • Even in the score range of 80 to 90, 10 States and all Union Territories do not appear.
    • The total number of gram panchayats for all the 18 States that have reported adds up only to 260, constituting only 0.10% of the total 2,67,466 gram panchayats in the country.
    •  If we consider a score range of 70-80 as a respectable attainment level, Kerala tops but accounts for only 34.69% of gram panchayats of the State, the corresponding all-India average is as low as 1.09%.
    • The composite index data, a sort of surrogate for human development, are also not encouraging.
    • Although only 15 gram panchayats in the country fall in the bottom range below 10 scores, more than a fifth of gram panchayats in India are below the 40 range.
    • The gap report and the composite index show in unmistakable terms that building ‘economic development and social justice’ remains a distant goal even after 30 years of the decentralisation reforms and nearly 75 years into Independence.

    Way forward

    • Converge resources: Given the ‘saturation approach’ (100% targets on select items) of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the possibilities of realising universal primary health care, literacy, drinking water supply and the like are also immense.
    • But there is no serious effort to converge resources (the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the National Rural Livelihood Mission, National Social Assistance Programme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, etc.) and save administrative expenses.
    • Deploy the data to India’s fiscal federalism: Another lapse is the failure to deploy the data to India’s fiscal federalism, particularly to improve the transfer system and horizontal equity in the delivery of public goods in India at the sub-State level.
    • The constitutional goal of planning and implementing economic development and social justice can be achieved only through strong policy interventions.

    Conclusion

    The policy history of India has been witness to the phenomenon of announcing big projects and failing to take them to their logical consequence. ‘Mission Antyodaya’ is a striking case in recent times.

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  • Settling India’s COVID-19 mortality data

    Context

    Over the last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been busy, in an unprecedented effort, to calculate the global death toll from COVID-19.

    Revision of Covid-19 death toll by WHO

    • Globally from an estimated six million reported deaths, WHO now estimates these deaths to be closer to almost triple the number.
    • The new estimates also take into account formerly uncounted deaths, but also deaths resulting from the impact of COVID-19.
    • For example, millions who could not access care, i.e., diagnosis or treatment due to COVID-19 restrictions or from COVID-19 cases overwhelming health services.
    • India’s stand: India is in serious disagreement with the WHO-prepared COVID-19 mortality estimates.
    • The argument being made by India’s health establishment through a public clarification is that this is an overestimation, and the methodology employed is incorrect.

    India’s Covid response

    • India’s COVID-19 response has been replete with delays and denials.
    • For instance, for the longest time that India’s COVID-19 number rose, the health establishment continued to insist that community transmission was not under way.
    • It took months and several lakh cases before they agreed that COVID-19 was finally in community transmission.
    • The devastation of the second wave showed how unprepared we were to combat the deadly Delta variant.
    •  By the time the wave subsided, India’s population was devastated, and helpless, seeing dignity neither in disease nor in death.

    Conclusion

    The figures ratchet up not only issues of administrative but also moral accountability for governments that they have been previously side stepped.

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  • Anatomy of communal violence in India

    Context

    Communal violence, a complex phenomenon, has been over-simplified to suit a convenient political narrative.

    India’s syncretic traditions and impact of invasions

    • For aeons, India has had syncretic traditions inspired by the Vedic aphorism, “Ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti” (there is only one truth and learned persons call it by many names).
    •  Because of this underpinning, Indian society has never insisted on uniformity in any facet of life.
    • This equanimity of Indian society was, however, disrupted by invading creeds.
    • The first such incursion came in 712, when Muhammad bin Qasim vanquished Sindh, and as Chach Nama, a contemporary Arab chronicle states, introduced the practice of treating local Hindus as zimmis, forcing them to pay jizya (a poll tax), as a penalty to live by their beliefs.
    • In the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni, while receiving the caliphate honours on his accession to the throne, took a vow to wage jihad every year against Indian idolaters.
    • The fact is, ties between the two communities were seldom cordial.
    • There were intermittent skirmishes, wars and occasional short-lived opportunistic alliances.
    • When Pakistan declared itself an Islamic Republic in 1947, it would have been natural for India to identify itself as a Hindu state.
    • It didn’t, and couldn’t have — because of its Hindu ethos of pluralism.
    • India, is, and will always be, catholic, plural, myriad and a vibrant democracy.

    Conclusion

    It’s relevant to recall what Lester Pearson (14th PM of Canada) said: “Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.”

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  • Rape laws are being misused today: Justice BN Srikrishna

    Retired Supreme Court judge Justice BN Srikrishna has said that there is a blatant misuse of rape laws in the country.

    What did Justice BN Srikrishna say?

    • Lesser convictions: Statistics show that even after the amendment of rape laws, there have been less number of convictions.
    • Need for objective analysis: It is time that rape cases be looked at in a very objective manner.
    • Authencity of women’s claims needs to be checked: We need to question — is the woman really subjected to cruelty and atrocities? Otherwise, in the general course of things, the accused is presumed to be innocent unless proven guilty should apply.
    • Tilt of such laws is always against the men: However, in rape cases, whatever the woman says is treated as the gospel truth. But that is not the intention of the law. It is not the way to empower women.

    Various laws for the protection of women

    • Various special laws relating to women include:
    1. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
    2. Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
    3. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
    4. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
    5. Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

     Alleged rape cases these days

    • False accusations: Justice BN Srikrishna said that, sometimes some innocent men are being falsely accused of rape and later getting acquitted.
    • Consensual sex is later cried as rape: There are many cases either in a consensual relationship or in co-habitation for a long time, there is a disagreement and the woman cries rape.
    • Tool to preserve honour: There are instances where a secret affair is going on, people get to know of it and in order to come out of the ignominy of it, she cries rape, Justice Srikrishna said.

    Issues with such alleged rape cases

    • Whenever the man is accused of rape, he gets arrested, newspapers carry it on the front page.
    • But when there is an acquittal, it is not carried in the same way. This is terrible.
    • The balance is always tilted in favour of women in such cases.

    Various sexual crimes in India

    • Sexual Abuse/ Molestation/ Rape: Rape is one of the most common crimes in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in India.
    • Marital Crimes: In India, marital rape is not a criminal offense.  India is one of fifty countries that have not yet outlawed marital rape.
    • Forced Marriage: Girls are vulnerable to being forced into marriage at young ages, suffering from a double vulnerability: both for being a child and for being female.
    • Trafficking and forced prostitution: Human trafficking, especially of girls and women, often leads to forced prostitution and sexual slavery.
    • Online abuse: Women are regularly subject to online rape threats, online harassment, cyber-stalking, blackmail, trolling, slut-shaming and more.
    • Harassment at the workplace: Sexual harassment at workplace, mostly comprising of indecent remarks, unwanted touches, demands for sex, and the dissemination of pornography.

    Various initiative to protect women

    The Government has taken a number of initiatives for the safety of women and girls, which are given below:

    • Nirbhaya Fund for projects for the safety and security of women
    • One-Stop Centre Scheme to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces under one roof
    • Online analytic tool for police called “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.
    • National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO) to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies.

    Way ahead

    • Breaking the cycle of abuse will require concerted collaboration and action between governmental and non-governmental actors including educators, health-care authorities, legislators, the judiciary and the mass media.
    • Gender-based violence, an especially violent crime like rape, is a multifaceted problem.
    • Although the incorporation of stringent laws and stricter punishments are important to deter people from committing such crimes, the solution to this is much more than just promulgation.
    • Education of both men and women will lead to change in attitudes and perceptions.
    • It is a mammoth task. We are just doing bits and pieces. A way ahead is obscure but in our sphere with concrete and pronounced steps.

     

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  • What is different now in communal violence in India

    Context

    India has a long history of communal violence. Just how similar or different are the recent episodes? And what kind of dangers do they pose to the polity and society?

    What is different this time?

    • Religious processions: It should first be noted that such processions have historically been some of the largest triggers for communal riots.
    • Such processions can be, and have been, intensely political, often morphing from the religious to the communal.
    • Communalism Vs. Religiosity: Communalism in South Asia has always been distinguished from religiosity.
    • Religiosity may be about deeper meanings of life, but communalism is about a coercive assertion of power or a bloody search for retribution, often historically construed and presented.
    • Thus, it is not the coexistence of religious processions and riots that is surprising today.
    • What is different this time? Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti are not the principal religious processions touching off riots.
    • Eroding neutrality of state: The second difference that in the past, processions might have caused riots, but the state rarely gave up the principle of neutrality in dealing with them.
    • When a state either explicitly favours a community or looks away when a particular community is hounded, intimidated and attacked, it is no longer a riot, but a pogrom.
    • The rapidly eroding religious neutrality of the government in several states is one of the most alarming political developments.
    • In recent months, there have been spectacles of calls to murder in Dharam Sansads (religious assemblies).
    • Such speech is criminally liable. India’s Constitution prohibits speech that endangers “public order”.
    • In the past, it was invariably hard to find clear evidence of who led the riots.
    • The riot leaders now openly proclaim call for violence.
    • Such leaders are either not punished, or are merely given a slap on the wrist and some of them are even celebrated as heroes and rewarded with high office.
    • New research on vigilantism makes it clear that vigilantism, especially lynchings, cannot flourish unless the state provides impunity to vigilante groups.

    Conclusion

    Even though India has a long history of communal violence the recent episodes of violence are different and pose grave dangers to the polity and society.

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  • NITI Aayog gets a new Vice-Chairman

    The government has appointed Suman K. Bery as the vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog following the resignation of Rajiv Kumar.

    What is NITI Aayog?

    • The NITI Aayog serves as the apex public policy think tank of the GoI.
    • It was established in 2015, by the NDA government, to replace the Planning Commission which followed a top-down model.
    • It advises both the centre and states on social and economic issues.
    • It is neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body but the outcome of an executive resolution. It was not created by the act of parliament.

    Composition of NITI Aayog

    • The Prime Minister of India is the chairperson/chairman of the NITI Aayog.
    • The PM appoints one Vice-Chairperson, who holds the rank of a cabinet minister.
    • It includes the Chief Ministers of all the states and Union territories.
    • It has Regional Councils for looking after contingencies in regional areas. It is convened and chaired by the Prime Minister of India and includes concerned chief ministers and Lt. Governors.
    • The Prime Minister nominates Personalities with skilled knowledge, who are experts in particular domains as special invitees.
    • There are full-time members who hold the rank of ministers.
    • There is a maximum of two Part-time members who are invited from leading organisations, universities, and research centres.
    • The Prime Minister also appoints one Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who holds the rank of a Secretary.

    Aims, Agenda, and Objectives of NITI Aayog

    The purpose with which NITI Aayog was formed in place of the Planning Commission was a far-sighted vision. It was important to boost the development of India in the emerging global scenario. The objectives are:

    • To generate a platform for national development, sectors and strategies with the collaboration of states and centre.
    • To boost the factor of cooperative federalism between the centre and the states. For national development, it is necessary for both wings to work in synergy.
    • To develop such mechanisms which work at the ground root level for progressive growth. A nation develops when its regions and states develop.
    • To work on long term policies and strategies for long-term development. To set up a system for monitoring progress so that it can be used for analysing and improving methods.
    • To provide a platform for resolving inter-departmental issues amicably.
    • To make it a platform where the programmes, strategies, and schemes can be monitored on a day to day basis, and it could be understood which sector needs more resources to develop.
    • To upgrade technological advancements in such a manner that focus can be made on iNITIatives and programmes.
    • To ensure India’s level and ranking at the worldwide level and to make India an actively participating nation.
    • To progress from food security towards nutrition and standardised meals and focus on agricultural production.
    • To make use of more technology to avoid misadventures and corruption in governance.
    • To make the working system more transparent and accountable.

    NITI Aayog – Seven Pillars of Effective Governance

    • NITI Aayog works on principles like Antyodaya (upliftment of poor), inclusion (to include all sections under one head), people participation, and so on.
    • NITI Aayog is a body that follows seven pillars of governance. They are:
    1. To look after pro-people agenda so that the aspirations and desires of no one are compromised.
    2. To respond and work on the needs of citizens.
    3. Make citizens of the nation involve and participate in various streams.
    4. To empower women in all fields, be it social, technical, economic, or other.
    5. To include all sects and classes under one head. To give special attention to marginalised and minority groups.
    6. To provide equal opportunity for the young generation.
    7. To make the working of government more accountable and transparent. It will ensure less chance of corruption and malpractices.

     

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Niti Ayog – A critical Analysis

     

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  • Freebies model of Governance

    Context

    Against the backdrop of promises of freebies in Punjab, this article deals with the harm caused by such freebies to the economy, life quality and social cohesion in the long run.

    Macroeconomic stability of the Union and the States

    • India is a Union of states. It is not a confederation of states.
    • The Union is indestructible.
    • The Union, therefore, is integral to both the Centre and the states.
    • The strength of the Centre lies in the strength of the states.
    • Therefore, the macroeconomic stability of the Union is contingent on the macroeconomic stability of both the Centre and states.

    The complex issue of freebies

    • There is great ambiguity in what “freebies” mean.
    • Merit goods Vs. Public goods: We need to distinguish between the concept of merit goods and public goods on which expenditure outlays have overall benefits.
    • Examples of this are the strengthening and deepening of the public distribution system, employment guarantee schemes, support to education and enhanced outlays for health, particularly during the pandemic.
    • All over the world, these are considered to be desirable expenditures.
    • Freebies could be expensive? It’s not about how cheap the freebies are but how expensive they are for the economy, life quality and social cohesion in the long run.

    Issues with the culture of competitive freebie politics

    1] It affects macroeconomic stability

    • Freebies undercut the basic framework of macroeconomic stability.
    • The politics of freebies distorts expenditure priorities.
    • Outlays are being concentrated on subsidies of one kind or the other.
    • Illustratively, in the case of Punjab, while estimates vary, some have speculated that the promise of freebies might cost around Rs 17,000 crore.
    • As we know, the debt-to-GDP ratio of Punjab is already at 53.3 per cent for 2021-22, which would worsen on account of these new measures.

    2] Distortion of expenditure priorities

    • Take, for instance, the change to the new contributory pension scheme from the old scheme, which had a fixed return.
    • Rajasthan announced that it would revert to the old pension scheme.
    • This decision is regressive as the move away from the old scheme was based on the fact that it was inherently inequitable.
    • The pension and salary revenues of Rajasthan amount to 56 per cent of its tax and non-tax revenues.
    • Thus, 6 per cent of the population, which is made up of civil servants, stands to benefit from 56 per cent of the state’s revenues.
    • Intergenerational inequality: This is fraught with dangers not only of intergenerational inequality, but also affects the broader principles of equity and morality.

    3] Increases social inequality

    • The issue of intergenerational equity leads to greater social inequalities because of expenditure priorities being distorted away from growth-enhancing items.

    4]  It affects the environment

    • When we talk of freebies, it is in the context of providing, for example, free power, or a certain quantum of free power, water and other kinds of consumption goods.
    • This distracts outlays from environmental and sustainable growth, renewable energy and more efficient public transport systems.

    5]  The distortion of agricultural priorities

    • The depleting supply of groundwater is an important issue to consider when speaking of freebies pertaining to free consumption goods and resources.

    6] Effect on the future of manufacturing

    • Lower the quality of competitiveness: Freebies lower the quality and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector by detracting from efficient and competitive infrastructure enabling high-factor efficiencies in the manufacturing sector.

    7] Subnational bankruptcy

    • Freebies bring into question market differentiation between profligate and non-profligate states and whether we can have a recourse mechanism for subnational bankruptcy.

    Way forward

    • The race to the bottom implies government deregulation of markets and business.
    • We must strive instead for a race to efficiency through laboratories of democracy and sanguine federalism where states use their authority to harness innovative ideas and solutions to common problems which other states can emulate.

    Consider the question “What are the challenges in dealing with the competitive freebies politics? What are its drawbacks?”

    Conclusion

    The economics of freebies is invariably wrong. It is a race to the bottom. Indeed, it is not the road to efficiency or prosperity, but a quick passport to fiscal disaster.

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  • [pib] UDAN Scheme awarded PM Award for Excellence in Public Administration

    The Ministry of Civil Aviation’s flagship Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) has been awarded Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration this year.

    What is UDAN Scheme?

    • The Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme is a low-cost flying scheme launched with the aim of taking flying to the masses.
    • The first flight under UDAN was launched by the PM in April 2017.
    • It is also known as the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) as it seeks to improve air connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities through revival of unused and underused airports.

    Working of the Scheme

    • Airlines are awarded routes under the programme through a bidding process and are required to offer airfares at the rate of ₹2,500 per hour of flight.
    • At least 50% of the total seats on an aircraft have to be offered at cheaper rates.
    • In order to enable airlines to offer affordable fares they are given a subsidy from the govt. for a period of three years.

    Success of the scheme

    • In a short span of 5 years, today 419 UDAN routes connect 67 underserved/unserved airports, including heliports and water aerodromes, and over 92 lakh people have benefited from it.
    • More than 1 lakh 79 thousand flights have flown under this scheme.
    • UDAN scheme has immensely benefitted several sectors pan-India including Hilly States, North-Eastern region, and Islands.
    • The scheme also led to development of new Greenfield Airports such as Pakyong near Gangtok in Sikkim, Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh.
    • Krishi UDAN Scheme launched in August 2020, on international and national routes has assisted farmers in transporting agricultural products.

    Issues with the working

    • Discontinuance: In reality, some of the routes launched have been discontinued as most of the routes awarded under UDAN are not active.
    • On-paper Ambitions: UDAN was expanded to provide improved connectivity to hilly regions and islands through helicopters and seaplanes. However, they mostly remain on paper.
    • The reasons include:
    1. Failure to set up airports or heliports due to lack of availability of land
    2. Airlines unable to start flights on routes awarded to them or finding the routes difficult to sustain
    3. Adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

    Various challenges

    • Lack of funds: Many small airlines await infusion of funds, to be able to undertake maintenance of aircraft, pay rentals to lessors, give salaries to its staff, etc.
    • Maintenance issue: Many players don’t have more than one or two planes and they are often poorly maintained. New planes are too expensive for these smaller players.
    • Availability of pilots: Often, they also have problems with the availability of pilots and are forced to hire foreign pilots which costs them a lot of money and makes the business unviable.
    • Competition: Only those routes that have been bagged by bigger domestic players such as IndiGo and SpiceJet have seen a better success rate.

    Way forward

    • The govt offers subsidies for a route for a period of three years and expects the airline to develop the route during this time so that it becomes self-sufficient.
    • Airlines need an extension of the subsidy period for their operational continuity.
    • Due to the rise in COVID cases, travel restrictions and passenger safety too needs to be taken into consideration in the loss-making of such airlines.

     

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  • Explained: Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs)

    The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister has announced that 80 Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs), an integral component of the Smart Cities Mission, have already been set up.

    What is the Smart Cities Mission?

    • The Smart Cities Mission aims at developing 100 cities, which were shortlisted, into self-sustainable urban settlements.
    • The mission was launched on June 25, 2015 and was projected as one aimed at transforming the process of urban development in the country.
    • Among its strategic components is ‘area-based development’, which includes city improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (greenfield development), plus a pan-city initiative in which ‘smart solutions’ are applied covering larger parts of the city.

    Focus areas

    • Key focus areas of the scheme include the construction of walkways, pedestrian crossings, cycling tracks, efficient waste-management systems, integrated traffic management and assessment.
    • The scheme also assesses various indices to track urban development such as the Ease of Living Index, Municipal Performance Index, City GDP framework, Climate-Smart Cities assessment framework, etc.

    What is an Integrated Command and Control Centre?

    • The Smart Cities Mission includes setting up ICCCs for each such city as a vital step.
    • These ICCCs are designed to enable authorities to monitor the status of various amenities in real time.
    • Initially aimed at controlling and monitoring water and power supply, sanitation, traffic movement, integrated building management, city connectivity and Internet infrastructure, these centres have since evolved to monitor various other parameters.
    • The ICCCs are now also linked to the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems) network under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
    • The ICCC acts of a smart city acts as a “nerve centre” for operations management. It processes a complex and large pool of data sets at an aggregated level.
    • It is the nodal point of availability of all online data and information relating to smart services included in a smart city, such as like LED street lighting, CCTV surveillance cameras, air quality sensors, etc.

    How did the ICCCs help in management of Covid-19?

    • During the pandemic, they also served as war-rooms for Covid-19 management.
    • During the peak of the first wave, when countries were struggling to figure out ways of combating the virus, the government used the ICCCs as war-rooms for managing the outbreak, with real-time surveillance and monitoring of districts across the country.
    • Converted into war-rooms, the smart cities’ ICCCs used the central data dashboard and provided information about the status of Covid-positive cases in various administrative zones of these cities, officials aware of the exercise said.
    • The war-rooms were also used for tracking people under quarantine and suspected Covid-19 cases.

    What is the current status of the Smarts Cities Mission?

    • The ambitious project, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, had an initial deadline of 2021 for the first lot of 20 smart cities out of the 100 selected.
    • Although the project was announced in 2015, the cities were selected over a period of two years between 2016 and 2018, each with a deadline of completion within five years from the time of their selection.
    • On the recommendation of NITI Aayog, the timeline was extended last year until 2023 due to delays caused by the pandemic.
    • According to current Ministry data, the SCM has so far covered over 140 public-private partnerships), 340 ‘smart roads’, 78 ‘vibrant public places’, 118 ‘smart water’ projects and over 63 solar projects.

    What next?

    • The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has begun work to finalise its recommendation for providing ICCCs as a service to states and smaller cities.
    • The Ministry aims to finalise an ICCC model and implement a pilot project across six major states — Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

     

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  • Demolition drives violate international law

    Context

    Communal clashes broke out during Ram Navami processions in several parts of the country including at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh. Subsequently, the Madhya Pradesh government bulldozed the houses of those who were allegedly involved in rioting.

    Right to housing

    • Fundamental right under Article 21: The right to housing is not only a fundamental right recognised under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, it is also a well-documented right under the international human rights law framework, which is binding on India.
    • Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care.
    • Likewise, Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) recognises “the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living condition.
    • The rights recognised under ICESCR, according to Article 4, can be restricted by States only if the limitations are determined by law in a manner compatible with the nature of these rights and solely to promote society’s general welfare.
    • Besides, international law also prohibits arbitrary interference in an individual’s right to property.
    • For instance, Article 12 of the UDHR states that “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation”.
    • Article 12 also stipulates that “everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks”.
    • This same right is also provided under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

    Protection against Forced eviction

    • According to the UN Human Rights Office, an integral element of the right to adequate housing is ‘protection against forced evictions’.
    • The UN Human Rights Office defines ‘forced evictions’ as ‘permanent or temporary removal against the will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection’.

    Way forward

    • The apex court in cases like Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab, Vishaka vs State of Rajasthan, and recently in the famous Puttaswamy vs Union of India has laid down the principle that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution must be read and interpreted in a manner which would enhance their conformity with international human rights law.
    • It is high time that the judiciary acted and imposed necessary checks on the unbridled exercise of power by the executive.

    Conclusion

    The bulldozing of the houses of the alleged rioters amounts to forced eviction and arbitrary interference with an individual’s home.

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