💥Mains Ready By December. Smash Mains & Smash PYQ Admissions Open
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • Repealing AFSPA will strengthen Constitution

    Context

    The killing of 14 civilians in Nagaland in a security operation has sparked debate over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

    Case for repeal of AFSPA

    • The repeal of AFSPA is necessary not just for restoring constitutional sanity, but also as a way of acknowledging dark history of our conduct in Nagaland.
    • If the moral case for repealing AFSPA is strong, the political case points in the same direction as well.
    • Need for ensuring individual dignity: The political incorporation of Nagaland (and all other areas where this law applies) will be set back if the guarantees of individual dignity of the Indian Constitution are not extended.
    • Not state of exception: We often describe AFSPA in terms of a “state of exception”.
    • But this theoretical term is misleading. How can a law that has been in virtually continuous existence since 1958 be described as an “exception”.

    Why AFSPA is counterproductive to Army

    • Distortion of choice: First, giving wide immunity to the forces can distort the choice of strategy in counter insurgency operations.
    • Reduce professionalism: Second, wider immunity can often reduce rather than increase the professionalism of the forces.
    • Against federalism: Third, we are constantly in the vicious circle that leads to central dominance in a way that undermines both Indian federalism and operational efficiency.

    Powers and limits under AFSPA

    • The Act grants extraordinarily sweeping powers to the armed forces of search, seizure, arrest, the right to shoot to kill.
    • No blanket immunity: It is true that AFSPA does not grant blanket immunity.
    • The SC guidelines: The Supreme Court laid down guidelines for the use of AFSPA in 1997; and in principle, unprofessional conduct, crimes and atrocities can still be prosecuted.
    • But this will run into two difficulties.
    • Lack of accountability mechanism: As the Jeevan Reddy Committee that advocated the repeal of AFSPA pointed out, the accountability mechanisms internal to AFSPA have not worked.
    • In 2017, the Supreme Court ordered a probe into 1,528 extra-judicial killings in Manipur.
    • At the least, this order seemed to suggest the problems with AFSPA were systemic.
    • But there have apparently been no hearings in this case for three years.
    • Lack of human empathy: At the heart of AFSPA is a profound mutilation of human empathy.
    • Our discourse is a rather abstract one, balancing concepts of human rights and national security.

    Conclusion

    It is high time that all parties come together to repeal AFSPA. It will also be in the fitness of things if all parties got together to acknowledge the trauma in Nagaland and elsewhere. This will strengthen, not weaken, the comatose Indian constitutional project.

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Need for closer scrutiny of reduced out-of-pocket expenditure on health

    Context

    The National Health Accounts (NHA) report for 2017-18 is being celebrated widely as it shows that total public spending on health as a percentage of GDP has increased to a historic high of 1.35% of GDP.

    India’s total public spending on health

    • One of the lowest in the world: India’s total public spending on health as a percentage of GDP or in per capita terms has been one of the lowest in the world.
    • Majority spent by the States: The Union government traditionally spends around a third of the total government spending whereas the majority is borne by the States.
    • There has been a policy consensus for more than a decade now that public spending has to increase to at least 2.5% of GDP.
    • However, there has not been any significant increase so far.
    • Despite several pronouncements, it has continued to hover around 1%-1.2% of GDP.

    Why NHA report is being celebrated?

    • The National Health Accounts (NHA) report capture spending on health by various sources, and track the schemes through which these funds are channelised to various providers in a given time period for a given geography.
    • The National Health Accounts (NHA) report for 2017-18 is being celebrated widely as it shows that total public spending on health as a percentage of GDP has increased to a historic high of 1.35% of GDP.
    • The increase shown in NHA 2017-18 is largely due to increase in Union government expenditure.
    • Increase in Centre’s share: For 2017-18, the Centre’s share in total public spending on health has jumped to 40.8%.
    • However, if we study the spending pattern of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of AYUSH, we see that expenditure increased to 0.32% of GDP from 0.27% in 2016-17 — insufficient to explain the overall jump.

    Issues with NHA report

    • Expenditure of DMS included: Much of this increase has actually happened on account of a tripling of expenditure of the Defence Medical Services (DMS).
    • Compared to an expenditure of ₹10,485 in 2016-17, it increased to ₹32,118 crore.
    • Though the increasing spending for the health of defence personnel is a good thing, such spending does not benefit the general population. 
    •  Within government expenditure, the share of current health expenditure has come down to 71.9% compared to 77.9% a year ago.
    • Capital expenditure included: This essentially means, capital expenditure has increased, and specifically in defence.
    • There is a problem in accounting capital expenditure within the NHA framework.
    • Why capital expenditure needs to be left out: Equipment brought or a hospital that is built serves people for many years, so the expenditure incurred is used for the lifetime of the capital created and use does not get limited to that particular year in which expenditure is incurred.
    • The World Health Organization proposes to leave out capital expenditure from health accounts estimates, instead focus on current health expenditure.
    • Incomparable to other countries: In NHA estimates in India, in order to show higher public investment, capital expenditure is included; thus, Indian estimates become incomparable to other countries.
    • The NHA estimate also shows that out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of GDP has reduced to less than half of the total health expenditure.
    • NSSO 2017-18 data suggest that during this time period, utilisation of hospitalisation care has declined compared to 2014 NSSO estimates for almost all States and for various sections of society.
    • Sign of distress: The decline in out-of-pocket expenditure is essentially due to a decline in utilisation of care rather than greater financial protection.
    • Actually, the NSSO survey happened just after six months of demonetisation and almost at the same time when the Goods and Services Tax was introduced.
    • The disastrous consequences of the dual blow of demonetisation and GST on the purchasing power of people are quite well documented.
    • Another plausible explanation is linked to limitations in NSSO estimates. The NSSO fails to capture the spending pattern of the richest 5% of the population (who incur a large part of the health expenditure).
    • Thus, out-of-pocket expenditure measured from the NSSO could be an under-estimate as it fails to take into account the expenditure of the richest sections.

    Conclusion

    The reduction of out-of-pocket expenditure is a sign of distress and a result of methodological limitations of the NSSO, rather than a sign of increased financial protection.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Why India will be scrutinised at Summit for Democracy

    Context

    On December 9 and 10, US President Joe Biden will host a virtual “summit for democracy”, which will bring together leaders of 100 countries, civil society and private sector representatives.

    Challenges to India’s democratic image

    • India categorised as partly free: The US-based Freedom House’s “Freedoms of the World” index categorises India as only “partly free”; the Swedish V-Dem calls India an “electoral autocracy”.
    • Others lump India with Hungary, Turkey and the Philippines, where authoritarian leaders rule the roost.
    • Factors affecting India’s image: Rights violations in Kashmir, suspension of internet services in Kashmir, the conflation of political dissent with the colonial-era crime of sedition, the use of anti-terrorism laws to silence critics, the failure of the state to ensure freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, the anti-Muslim amendments to citizenship laws have all but shredded India’s democratic image.

    Agenda of the summit

    • The agenda of the summit holds contemporary resonance in India.
    • Three broad themes: According to the State Department, the summit will convene around three broad themes — defending democracy against authoritarianism, addressing and fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.
    • Leaders will be “encouraged” to announce “specific actions and commitments” to meaningful domestic reforms and international initiatives that advance the summit’s goals.

    Why India’s contribution to the agenda will be scrutinized closely

    • Cultural relativisms: One theme that emerges from these observations is that of cultural relativism — the “Indianness of India’s democracy”— “as India becomes ever more democratic, democracy will become ever more Indian in its sensibilities and texture”.
    • Role of civil society: A second theme is the role of civil society.
    • It has been accused of “defaming” or bringing harm to India, as espoused most recently in statements by the National Security Adviser, who also called them “the new frontier of a fourth-generation war”.
    • Ensuring democratic rights: Another noticeable theme is around the responsibility for ensuring democratic rights.

    Challenges for India

    • India has to reconcile the paradox inherent in submitting to international gaze at a global assembly where it is apparently required to make commitments adhering to “western” standards of democracy while claiming there is an Indian model.
    • In March this year, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar dismissed global standards and international metrics of democracy as rubbish.
    • For perspective, this is what China says too.
    • When President Biden brought up Beijing’s human rights record, President Xi Jinping told him there was no “uniform model” of democracy, and that dismissing other “forms of democracy different from one’s own is itself undemocratic.
    • The summit may intensify these differences, particularly because the host has no shining credentials either.
    •  If democracy-building was never the US goal in Afghanistan, as Biden declared, why make the unfreezing of Afghan assets overseas conditional to the Taliban turning democratic and inclusive overnight?

    Conclusion

    India’s expected participation in the summit will come against a rather bleak backdrop of relativism, misinformation, confusion, obfuscation and polarisation on issues of democracy, civil society and rights.

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • What the NFHS data reveals about inequality in India

    Context

    The release of the NFHS data (and the Niti Aayog’s study on developing a multi-dimensional index of poverty — MPI) has led to a considerable amount of discussion, and justifiably so.

    Understanding the progress and development: MPI

    • The MPI is an Oxford-based initiative that develops an exclusive broadly non-monetary living standard index of poverty.
    • MPI indices are the third in the series of global studies on poverty.
    • Global studies on poverty: Global studies started with the World Bank’s income/consumption-based measure of absolute poverty.
    • The UN expanded the monetary index adding health and education indicators via the Human Development Index (HDI).

    Evolution of poverty over time

    • Like with the other poverty indices (World Bank and HDI), most information and useful policy analysis comes via a study of the inter-temporal evolution of poverty. 
    • Regional inequality: Ajit Ranade acknowledges that regional inequality has existed for some time, but he argues that poverty incidence across Indian states even as per the MPI is astoundingly unequal.
    • T N Ninan talks about the simultaneous existence of Africa’s Sahel region and the Philippines in India.
    • He finds that the two Indias are not getting any closer.
    • Indeed, India’s development trajectory has not been uniform, but the regional imbalance of development cannot be viewed at a fixed point in time.

    Analysing the NHFS data

    • A detailed examination of the summary statistics reported in the NFHS data (large and small states of India for the two years 2015-16 and 2019-21), reveals the opposite result.
    • Convergence: The analysis reveals remarkable convergence in living standards, a convergence possibly unparalleled in Indian history and in the space of just five years.
    • NFHS reports the averages for all states, and for 131 variables, for two years 2015-16 and 2020-21.
    • Seventeen of these 131 welfare indicators are used to construct indices under four classifications.
    • Improvement in lives of girls/women: The first classification concerns itself with the improvement in the lives of girls/women (five indicators, for example, sex ratio, fertility, female education).
    • Housing conditions: The second bucket consists of housing conditions (three indicators, for example, improved sanitation, clean fuel).
    • Children’s welfare: The third list consists of children’s welfare (four indicators such as adequate diet, stunting)
    • Women’s welfare: The fourth classification includes women’s empowerment (five indicators, for example, owning a house, less spousal violence).
    • Given that Niti Aayog’s report primarily relies on the NFHS-4, these findings can be used as the baseline scenario to evaluate the delta — that is, the per cent change in indicators between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5.
    • The table reports the results for several states.

    • Seventeen indicators imply a maximum possible score of 1,700.
    • Kerala performs the best with an aggregate index of 1,300 in NFHS-5 — a very small 1.5 per cent increase from its 2015-16 value.
    • In contrast, Bihar increases its index by 56 per cent.
    • Punjab does better than Tamil Nadu and today has a higher index – 1,240 versus 1,178 in 2020-21.
    • UP (along with Rajasthan and MP) performs the best — a 60 plus per cent increase in the welfare index, more than five times the increase in the rich states.

    Major findings from the NHFS data

    • Convergence: Higher improvement by less developed states is evidence in support of catch-up, which suggests that regional imbalances are reducing, and in some indicators, rapidly so.
    • States such as UP, Bihar and Jharkhand are fast approaching similar standards for select indicators as some of the “developed” states.
    • Result of targeted intervention: This acceleration in catch up is no coincidence, but rather an outcome of an approach that involves targeted interventions to improve developmental outcomes.
    • The approach was not just limited to sanitation, proper fuel or electricity — interventions that are targeted to an individual household — but also to the holistic development of an entire region.

    Consider the question “What does NHFS-5 data reveal about the inequality in India?”

    Conclusion

    India has been, and was, not one but several Indias. What is remarkable about its recent history is the rapid process of uneven change — where progress is considerably higher for the poorer states — the convergent, and inclusive pattern of development. That is the real story behind the NFHS-4 and NFHS-5 numbers.

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

     

  • The NIRF’s ranking of education institutions on a common scale is problematic

    Context

    The ranking of State-run higher education institutions (HEIs) together with centrally funded institutions using the National Institutional Ranking Framework, or the NIRF, is akin to comparing apples and oranges.

    Institute data

    • According to an All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20 report, there are 1,043 HEIs.
    • Of these, 48 are central universities.
    • 135 are institutions of national importance,
    • 1 is a central open university,
    • 386 are State public universities,
    • 5 are institutions under the State legislature act,
    • 14 are State open universities,
    • 327 are State private universities,
    • 1 is a State private open university,
    • 36 are government deemed universities,
    • 10 are government aided deemed universities.
    • 80 are private deemed universities.

    Comparison of financial health of State HEI with Central HEIs

    • A close study of the above data shows that 184 are centrally funded institutions (out of 1,043 HEIs in the country) to which the Government of India generously allocates its financial resources in contrast to inadequate financial support provided by State governments to their respective State public universities and colleges.
    • The Central government earmarked the sums, ₹7,686 crore and ₹7,643.26 crore to the IITs and central universities, respectively, in the Union Budget 2021.
    • Ironically, out of the total student enrolment, the number of undergraduate students is the largest (13,97,527) in State public universities followed by State open universities (9,22,944).

    How NIRF ranks the education institutions?

    • Parameters set by the core committee of experts: The NIRF outlines a methodology to rank HEIs across the country, which is based on a set of metrics for the ranking of HEIs as agreed upon by a core committee of experts set up by the then Ministry of Human Resources Development (now the Ministry of Education), Government of India
    • The NIRF ranks HEIs on five parameters: teaching, learning and resources; research and professional practice; graduation outcome; outreach and inclusivity, and perception.

    Where do State HEIs lag on NIRF parameters?

    • Teaching, learning and resources include metrics viz. student strength including doctoral students, the faculty-student ratio with an emphasis on permanent faculty, a combined metric for faculty with the qualification of PhD (or equivalent) and experience, and financial resources and their utilisation.
    • Low faculty strength in State HEIs: In the absence of adequate faculty strength, most State HEIs lag behind in this crucial NIRF parameter for ranking.
    • The depleting strength of teachers has further weakened the faculty-student ratio with an emphasis on permanent faculty in HEIs.
    • Research and professional practise encompasses a combined metric for publications, a combined metric for quality of publications, intellectual property rights/patents and the footprint of projects, professional practice and executive development programmes.
    • Need for modernisation of laboratories: As most laboratories need drastic modernisation in keeping pace with today’s market demand, it is no wonder that State HEIs fare miserably in this parameter as well while pitted against central institutions.

    Issues with comparing State HEIs with Central HEIs

    • The difference in financial allocations diregarded: The financial health of State-sponsored HEIs is an open secret with salary and pension liabilities barely being managed.
    • Hence, rating such institutions vis-à-vis centrally funded institutions does not make any sense.
    • No cost-benefit analysis carried out: No agency carries out a cost-benefit analysis of State versus centrally funded HEIs on economic indicators such as return on investment the Government made into them vis-à-vis the contribution of their students in nation building parameters such as the number of students who passed out serving in rural areas, and bringing relief to common man.
    • While students who pass out of elite institutions generally prefer to move abroad in search of higher studies and better career prospects, a majority of State HEIs contribute immensely in building the local economy.
    • Issues in embracing technologies: State HEIs are struggling to embrace emerging technologies involving artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chains, smart boards, handheld computing devices, adaptive computer testing for student development.

    Consider the question “What are the challenges in the ranking of Higher Education Institutions in India? What are the issues faced by State HEI?”

    Conclusion

    Ranking HEIs on a common scale purely based on strengths without taking note of the challenges and the weaknesses they face is not justified. It is time the NIRF plans an appropriate mechanism to rate the output and the performance of institutes in light of their constraints and the resources available to them.

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Demand for Greater Tipraland in Tripura

    Several tribal outfits in Tripura have joined hands to push their demand for a separate state called Greater Tipraland for indigenous communities in the region.

    Demand for Greater Tipraland

    • The Protestants are demanding a separate state of ‘Greater Tipraland’ for the indigenous communities of the north-eastern state.
    • They want the Centre to carve out a separate state under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
    • Greater Tipraland envisages a situation in which the entire Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) area will be a separate state.
    • It also proposes dedicated bodies to secure the rights of the Tripuris and other aboriginal communities living outside Tripura.

    What does the Constitution say?

    • Article 2 of the Indian Constitution deals with the admission or establishment of new states.
    • Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions, as it thinks fit,” it states.
    • Article 3 comes into play in the case of “formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States” by the Parliament.

    How did the demand originate?

    • Accessed state: Tripura was a kingdom ruled by the Manikya dynasty from the late 13th century until the signing of the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on October 15, 1949.
    • Demographic changes: There is an anxiety among the indigenous communities in connection with the change in the demographics of the state due to the displacements from the erstwhile East Pakistan.
    • Existential threats: From 63.77 per cent in 1881, the population of the tribals in Tripura was down to 31.80 per cent by 2011.
    • Ethnic conflicts: In the intervening decades, ethnic conflict and insurgency gripped the state, which shares a nearly 860-km long boundary with Bangladesh.

    What has been done to address the grievances of indigenous communities?

    • The TTADC was formed under the sixth schedule to ensure development and secure the rights and cultural heritage of the tribal communities.
    • The TTADC, which has legislative and executive powers, covers nearly two-third of the state’s geographical area.

    Back2Basics: Autonomous District Council

    • The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India allows for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions which have been given autonomy within their respective states.
    • Most of these autonomous district councils are located in North East India but two are in Ladakh, a region administered by India as a union territory.
    • Presently, 10 Autonomous Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are formed by virtue of the Sixth Schedule with the rest being formed as a result of other legislation.

    Powers and competencies

    Under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule, autonomous district councils can make laws, rules and regulations in the following areas:

    • Land management
    • Forest management
    • Water resources
    • Agriculture and cultivation
    • Formation of village councils
    • Public health
    • Sanitation
    • Village and town level policing
    • Appointment of traditional chiefs and headmen
    • Inheritance of property
    • Marriage and divorce
    • Social customs
    • Money lending and trading
    • Mining and minerals

    Judicial powers

    • Autonomous district councils have powers to form courts to hear cases where both parties are members of Scheduled Tribes and the maximum sentence is less than 5 years in prison.

    Taxation and revenue

    • Autonomous district councils have powers to levy taxes, fees and tolls on; building and land, animals, vehicles, boats, entry of goods into the area, roads, ferries, bridges, employment and income and general taxes for the maintenance of schools and roads.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • What the latest NFHS data says about the New Welfarism

    Context

    The second and final phase of NFHS-5 was released which covered 11 states (including Uttar Pradesh (UP), Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Jharkhand, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh) and about 49 per cent of the population.

    Major findings

    [1] Success of New Welfarism

    • Figure one plots household access to improved sanitation, cooking gas and bank accounts used by women.
    • The improvements are as striking as they were based on the performance of the phase 1 states.
    • In all cases, access has increased significantly, although claims of India being 100 per cent open defecation-free still remain excessive.

    [2] Child-related outcomes

    • India-wide, stunting has declined although the pace of improvement has slowed down post-2015 compared with the previous decade.
    • For example, stunting improved by 0.7 percentage points per year between 2005 and 2015 compared to 0.3 percentage points between 2015 and 2021.
    • On diarrhoea too, adding the new data reverses the earlier finding.
    • However, on anaemia and acute respiratory illness, there seems to have been deterioration.
    • The new child stunting results are significant but also surprising because of the sharply divergent outcomes between the phase 1 and phase 2 states.
    •  The interesting pattern is that nearly all the phase 2 states show large improvements, whereas most of the phase 1 states exhibited a deterioration in performance.

    [3] Catch up by the laggard states

    • If the new child stunting numbers are right, a different picture of India emerges.
    • Apparently, Madhya Pradesh now has fewer stunted children than Gujarat; Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand are almost at par with Gujarat; Chhattisgarh fares better than Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra; and Rajasthan and Odisha fare better than Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh!
    • On child stunting, the old BIMARU states (excepting Bihar) are no longer the laggards; the laggards are Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, and to a lesser extent, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
    • Indeed, the decline in stunting achieved by the poorer states such as UP, MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan would be all the more remarkable given the overall weakness in the economy between 2015 and 2021.

    Conclusion

    When commentators speak of two Indias, it is now important to ask: Which ones and on what metrics.

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021

    The Lok Sabha has passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology- ART (Regulation) Bill,, 2020 that proposes the establishment of a national registry and registration authority for all clinics and medical professionals serving in the field.

    Key highlights of the Bill:

    Definition of ART

    • The Bill defines ART to include all techniques that seek to obtain a pregnancy by handling the sperm or the oocyte (immature egg cell) outside the human body and transferring the gamete or the embryo into the reproductive system of a woman.
    • Examples of ART services include gamete (sperm or oocyte) donation, in-vitro-fertilisation (fertilising an egg in the lab), and gestational surrogacy (the child is not biologically related to surrogate mother).
    • ART services will be provided through: (i) ART clinics, which offer ART related treatments and procedures, and (ii) ART banks, which store and supply gametes.

    Regulation of ART clinics and banks

    • The bill provides that every ART clinic and bank must be registered under the National Registry of Banks and Clinics of India.
    • It will act as a central database with details of all ART clinics and banks in the country.
    • State governments will appoint registration authorities for facilitating the registration process.
    • Clinics and banks will be registered only if they adhere to certain standards (specialised manpower, physical infrastructure, and diagnostic facilities).
    • The registration will be valid for five years and can be renewed for a further five years.

    Conditions for gamete donation and supply

    • Screening of gamete donors, collection and storage of semen, and provision of oocyte donor can only be done by a registered ART bank.
    • A bank can obtain semen from males between 21 and 55 years of age, and oocytes from females between 23 and 35 years of age.
    • An oocyte donor should be an ever-married woman having at least one alive child of her own (minimum three years of age).
    • The woman can donate oocyte only once in her life and not more than seven oocytes can be retrieved from her.
    • A bank cannot supply gamete of a single donor to more than one commissioning couple (couple seeking services).

    Conditions for offering ART services:

    • ART procedures can only be carried out with the written informed consent of both the party seeking ART services as well as the donor.
    • The party seeking ART services will be required to provide insurance coverage in the favour of the oocyte donor (for any loss, damage, or death of the donor).
    • The Bill also requires checking for genetic diseases before the embryo implantation.

    Rights of a child born through ART

    • A child born through ART will be deemed to be a biological child of the commissioning couple and will be entitled to the rights and privileges available to a natural child of the commissioning couple.
    • A donor will not have any parental rights over the child.

    National and State Boards:

    • The Bill provides that the National and State Boards for Surrogacy constituted and will for the regulation of ART services.
    • Key powers and functions of the National Board include:
    1. Advising the central government on ART related policy matters
    2. Reviewing and monitoring the implementation of the Bill
    3. Formulating code of conduct and standards for ART clinics and banks
    4. Overseeing various bodies to be constituted under the Bill
    5. State Boards will coordinate enforcement of the policies and guidelines for ART as per the recommendations, policies, and regulations of the National Board

    Offences and penalties

    Offences under the Bill include:

    1. Abandoning, or exploiting children born through ART,
    2. Selling, purchasing, trading, or importing human embryos or gametes,
    3. Using intermediates to obtain donors,
    4. Exploiting commissioning couple, woman, or the gamete donor in any form, and
    5. Transferring the human embryo into a male or an animal
    • These offences will be punishable with a fine between 5 and 10 lakh rupees for the first contravention.
    • For subsequent contraventions, these offences will be punishable with imprisonment for a term between eight and 12 years, and a fine between 10 and 20 lakh rupees.
    • Any clinic or bank advertising or offering sex-selective ART will be punishable with imprisonment between five and ten years, or fine between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, or both.
    • No court will take cognisance of offences under the Bill, except on a complaint made by the National or State Board or any officer authorised by the Boards.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Dam Safety Bill, 2021 introduced in RS

    The Dam Safety Bill 2021 was moved in the Rajya Sabha but the debate could not be held because of disruptions from the Opposition parties.

    Dam Safety Bill, 2021

    • The Bill provides for surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of dams to prevent disasters, and institutional mechanisms to ensure safety.
    • It applies to over 5,000 dams across the country, many of which are currently in poor conditions.
    • It has been met with significant opposition, particularly from several states that claim the bill oversteps the Centre’s mandate.

    Which dams are covered?

    • All dams in India with a height above 15 metres come under the purview of the bill.
    • Dams between 10 to 15 metres of height are also covered but only if they meet certain other specifications in terms of design and structural conditions.

    National Committee on Dam Safety

    • The Bill provides for the constitution of a National Committee on Dam Safety (NCDS) which is to be chaired by the Central Water Commissioner (CWC).
    • The other members of the NCDS will be nominated by the Centre and will include up to 10 representatives of the Centre, 7 state government representatives, and 3 experts on dam safety.
    • The NCDS is to formulate policies for dam safety and to prevent dam failures.
    • In the event of a dam failure, the NCDS will analyse why the failure occurred, and suggest changes in dam safety practices to ensure there aren’t any repetitions.

    National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA)

    • The bill provides for the formation of a NDSA which will be responsible for implementing the policies of the NCDS, and will resolve issues between State Dam Safety Organisations (or SDSOs) and dam owners.
    • The NDSA will also specify regulations for the inspection of dams and will provide accreditation to the various agencies working on the structure of dams and their alteration.

    State Dam Safety Organisations (SDSOs)

    • The bill will also result in the establishment of SDSOs, and State Committees on Dam Safety (SCDSs).
    • The jurisdiction of the SDSOs will extend to all dams in that specific state.

    Cross jurisdictions

    • The NDSA will, in some cases, possess this jurisdiction, for example, if a dam owned by one state is situated in another or crosses multiple states, or if a dam is owned by a central public sector undertaking.
    • SDSOs will be in charge of scrutinizing dams under their jurisdiction and maintaining a database of the same.
    • The SCDS will review the work of the SDSO, and will also have to assess the impact of dam-related projects on upstream and downstream states.
    • The bill gives the Central government the power to amend the functions of any of the above bodies through a notification, whenever it is deemed necessary to do so.

    How does Bill change the functioning of dams?

    • If the bill is made into a law, then dam owners will have to provide a dam safety unit in each dam.
    • The dam safety unit will be required to inspect the dam before and after the monsoon session, and also during and after natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.
    • The bill requires dam owners to prepare emergency action plans. Risk-assessment studies will also have to be undertaken by owners, regularly.
    • At specified, regular intervals, and in the event of either a modification to the dam’s structure or a natural event that may impact the structure, dam owners will have to produce a comprehensive safety evaluation by experts.

    Do you know?

    The point of contention are four dams — Mullaperiyar, Parambikulam, Thunakkadavu and Peruvaripallam — located in Kerala but owned, operated and maintained by the Tamil Nadu Government.

    Issues with bill

    • The primary objection to the bill is that is unconstitutional, as water is one of the items on the State List.
    • Tamil Nadu, which currently possesses four dams situated in Kerala, is opposed to the Bill as it would result in the four dams falling under the NDSA.
    • This will be doing away with Tamil Nadu’s rights over the maintenance of the dam.
    • The Bill states that the NCDS will be chaired by the Central Water Commissioner.
    • However the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that such a scenario is prohibited, as it involves the CWC, an advisor, functioning both as a regulator and the head of the NCDS.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • National Health Accounts Estimates: 2017-18

    Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a share of total health expenditure and foreign aid for health has both come down as per the findings of the National Health Accounts (NHA) estimates for India for 2017-18.

    What is National Health Accounts (NHA)?

    • The NHA estimates are prepared by using an accounting framework based on internationally accepted System of Health Accounts 2011, provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).
    • It is released by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
    • It describes health expenditures and flow of funds in the country’s health system over a financial year of India.
    • It answers important policy questions such as what are the sources of healthcare expenditures, who manages these, who provides health care services, and which services are utilized.
    • It is a practice to describe the health expenditure estimates according to a global standard framework, System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011), to facilitate comparison of estimates across countries.

    Objective of the NHA

    • To describe the Current Health Expenditures (CHE).

    The details of CHE are presented according to

    • Revenues of healthcare financing schemes: – entities that provide resources to spend for health goods and services in the health system;
    • Healthcare financing schemes: entities receiving and managing funds from financing sources to pay for or to purchase health goods and services;
    • Healthcare providers: entities receiving finances to produce/ provide health goods and services;
    • Healthcare functions: It describes the use of funds across various health care services.

    About NHA (2017-2018)

    • The 2017-18 NHA estimates shows government expenditure on health exhibiting an increasing trend and growing trust in public health care system.
    • With the present estimate of NHA 2017-18, India has a continuous Time Series on NHA estimates for both government and private sources for five years since 2013-14.
    • These estimates are not only comparable internationally, but also enable the policy makers to monitor progress towards universal health coverage as envisaged in the National Health Policy, 2017.

    Key Highlights

    Increase in GDP share: The NHA estimates for 2017-18 clearly show that there has been an increase in the share of government health expenditure in the total GDP from 1.15% in 2013-14 to 1.35% in 2017-18.

    Increase in govt share in expenditures: In 2017-18, the share of government expenditure was 40.8%, which is much higher than 28.6% in 2013-14.

    Per-Capita increase in expenditure: In per capita terms, the government health expenditure has increased from Rs 1042 to Rs.1753 between 2013-14 to 2017-18.

    Focus on total healthcare: The primary and secondary care accounts for more than 80% of the current Government health expenditure.

    Social security expenditure: The share of social security expenditure on health, which includes the social health insurance program, Government financed health insurance schemes, and medical reimbursements made to Government employees, has increased.

    Decline in foreign aid: The findings also depict that the foreign aid for health has come down to 0.5%, showcasing India’s economic self-reliance.

    Decline in OOPE: The government’s efforts to improve public health care are evident with out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a share of total health expenditure coming down to 48.8% in 2017-18 from 64.2% in 2013-14.

    Way forward

    • After 18 months of Covid-19, financial year 2017-18 appears to be from another era.
    • However, learnings from that year’s NHA help us to plan for health system strengthening in the post-Covid years.
    • The special financing packages for Covid emergency response, announced by the central government in 2020 and 2021, represent an extraordinary situation.
    • The resolve to increase public financing for health must remain strong even after Covid.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)