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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • Ramani Judgement

     

    Why the Ramani judgement matters

    • The verdict went beyond a mere refusal to convict Ramani for criminal defamation.
    • The verdict vindicated Ramani by accepting Ramani’s truth as a defence to the charge of defamation.
    • The verdict urged society to “understand that sometimes a victim may for years not speak up due to mental trauma,” and underlined that a woman has a right to speak up about the abuse, even after decades.
    • It pointed out that since sexual harassment typically takes place in private, women’s testimonies cannot be dismissed as untrue or defamatory simply because they are unable to provide other witnesses to back their allegations.
    • Institutional mechanisms have systemically failed to protect women or provide justice, the verdict reasoned.
    • Therefore, survivors are justified in sharing their testimonies on media or social media platforms as a form of self-defence.

    Right to dignity

    • The Ramani verdict points out that sexual abuse violates the constitutionally recognised rights to dignity (Article 21) and equality (Articles 14 and 15), and that (a man’s) right to reputation cannot be protected at the cost of (a woman’s) right to dignity. 
    • The Ramani verdict is a huge moral vindication of the #MeToo movement and will serve to deter powerful men from using the defamation law to silence survivors.

    Problem of institution

    • Sexual harassment is a problem of institutions rather than of individuals alone.
    • The world over, employers deploy sexual harassment as a means to discipline and control women workers.
    • In India and Bangladesh, at least 60 per cent of garment factory workers experience harassment at work.
    • In Guangzhou, China, a survey found that 70 per cent of female factory workers had been sexually harassed at work, and 15 per cent quit their jobs as a result.
    • For factory workers, domestic workers, street vendors, sanitation and waste workers, construction workers, sex workers, labour laws or laws against sexual harassment exist only on paper.

    Conclusion

    The women who spoke were unanimous that individual complaints were not an option, they needed unions to fight collectively. Women workers fighting sexual harassment, need more support and attention.

  • Big tech regulation and problems

    Article highlights the issues with the growing dominance of social media giants and challenges involved in regulating them.

    Issues to consider

    1) Conflict of interest

    • Many of the big tech companies were not, as they claimed, mere platforms.
    • This is because they began to curate and generate their own content, creating possible conflicts of interest.

    2) Monopoly power

    • There is a suspicion that big tech companies were acquiring more monopoly power leading to lack of free competition.
    • There is a conjunction of technology and finance here.
    • The more companies were valued, the more they needed monopoly rent extraction to be able to justify those valuations.

    3) Lack of accountability in algorithms

    • There was an irony in an opaque algorithm being the instrument of a free, open and equitable society.

    4) Mixed implications for distribution of wealth

    • While the companies had immense economic impact, their distributive implications were more mixed.
    • They empowered new players, but they also seem to destroy lots of businesses.
    • These companies themselves became the symbol of inequality of economic and political power.

    5) Lack of accountability and standards in regulating free speech

    • Big tech companies set themselves up almost as a sovereign power.
    • This was most evident in the way they regulated speech, posing as arbiters of permissible speech without any real accountability or consistency of standards.
    • The prospect of a CEO exercising almost untrammelled authority over an elected president only served to highlight the inordinate power  these companies could exercise.

    6) Effects of big tech on democracy and democratisation

    •  The social legitimacy of California Libertarianism came from the promise of a new age of democratic empowerment.
    • But as democracies became more polarised, free speech more weaponised, and the information order more manipulated, greater suspicion was going to be cast on this model.
    • All democracies are grappling with this dilemma.

    Big tech in Indian context

    • India will justifiably worry about its own economic interests.
    • India will be one of the largest bases of internet and data users in the world.
    • The argument will be that this should be leveraged to create iconic Indian companies and Indian value addition.
    • India can create competition and be more self-reliant in this space.
    • Pushing back against big tech is not protectionism, because this pushback is to curb the unfair advantages they use to exploit an open Indian market.
    • India can also justifiably point out that in China keeping out tech companies did not make much of a difference to financial flows or investment in other areas.

    The real challenge

    • It will be important to distinguish between regulations that are solving some real problems created due to Big tech, and regulation that is using this larger context to exercise more control.
    • It will be easier to address those issues if the government showed a principled commitment to liberty, commitment to root out crony capitalism, an investment in science and technology commensurate with India’s challenges, and a general regulatory independence and credibility.

    Consider the question “What are the challenges posed by the dominance of social media giants? Suggest the measures to deal with these challenges.”

    Conclusion

    We should not assume that just because big tech is being made to kneel, the alternative will be any better.

  • Mission ‘Lal Lakir’

    The Punjab state cabinet has approved the implementation of mission ‘Lal Lakir’.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The SVAMITVA Scheme sometimes seen in the news is related to:

    Urban Employment/ Land records management/ Child Adoption/ None of these

    Mission ‘Lal Lakir’

    • ‘Lal Lakir’ refers to land that is part of the village ‘abaadi’ (habitation) and is used for non-agriculture purposes only.
    • The mission is aimed at facilitating villagers to monetize property rights and availing benefits provided by government departments, institutions and banks in all villages across the state.
    • As no record of rights is available for such properties within the ‘Lal Lakir’, the same cannot currently be monetized as per the real value of the property and no mortgages can be created on such properties.
    • There are households within the ‘Lal Lakir’, which do not own property other than the areas within the ‘Lal Lakir’, and are thus at a disadvantage.

    An extension to SVAMITVA

    • Under the mission, the right of record of properties within ‘Lal Lakir’ in the villages of the state will be prepared with the cooperation of the government of India under the SVAMITVA scheme.
    • SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas.
    • This will enable mapping the land, households, habitation and all other areas falling within ‘Lal Lakir’.
    • It will go a long way in improving the living standard of villagers and boosting their self-esteem.

    Back2Basics: SVAMITVA

    • SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas.
    • Under the scheme, the latest surveying technology such as drones will be used for measuring the inhabited land in villages and rural areas.
    • The mapping and survey will be conducted in collaboration with the Survey of India, State Revenue Department and State Panchayati Raj Department under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
    • The drones will draw the digital map of every property falling in the geographical limit of each Indian village.
    • Property Cards will be prepared and given to the respective owners.

  • Reform lessons for education

    The article deals with state of the education and its relation with employment in India.

    Improving higher education system

    • Improving India’s higher education justice and worker productivity needs the broadening of our education ambition.
    • Our focus on Gross Enrollment Ratio should also be anchored to Employed Learner Ratio -proportion of our 55 crore labour force in formal learning.
    • For enrolling five crore new employed learners, India needs five regulatory changes.

    Reflecting on global and domestic education experience

    • Multi-decade structural changes include  organisations that are less hierarchical, lower longevity, shorter employee tenures, higher competition.
    • There is also change in the form of work: capitalism without capital, soft skills valued more than hard skills, 30 per cent working from home etc.
    • There change in the form of education in which Google knows everything, so tacit knowledge is more valuable than codified or embedded knowledge.
    • These shifts are complicated by a new world of politics, third-party financing viability, and fee inflation.

    India faces financing failure in skill

    • We have 3.8 crore students in 1,000-plus universities and 50,000-plus colleges.
    • We confront a financing failure in skills:
    • Employers are not willing to pay for training of candidates but a premium for trained candidates.
    • Candidates are not willing to pay for training but for jobs.
    • Financiers are unwilling to lend unless a job is guaranteed, and training institutions can’t fill their classrooms.

    Steps need to be taken

    • For many people the income support of learning-while-earning is crucial to raising enrollment.
    • Many students lack employability and workers lack productivity because learning is supply-driven.
    • Learning-by-doing ensures demand-driven learning.
    • The de facto ban on online degree learning with only seven of our 1,000-plus universities licensed for online offerings.
    • That needs to be changed.
    • High regulatory hurdles creates an adverse selection among entrepreneurs running educational institutions.

    Five regulatory changes

    • First, modify Part 3 of the UGC Act 1956 and Part 8 of the UGC Act to include skill universities.
    • Second, remove clauses 3(A), 3(B), and clause 5 of UGC ODL and Online Regulations 2020 and replace them with a blanket and automatic approval for all accredited universities to design, develop and deliver their online programmes.
    • Third, modify clause 4(C)(ii) of UGC online regulations 2020 to allow innovation, flexibility, and relevance in an online curriculum as prescribed in Annex 1-(V)-3-i) that allows universities to work closely with industry on their list of courses.
    • Fourth, modify clauses 13(C)(3), 13(C)(5), 13(C)(7), 18(2) of UGC online regulations 2020 to permit universities to create partner ecosystems for world-class online learning services, platforms, and experience.
    • Fifth, introduce Universities in clause 2 of the Apprentices Act 1961 to enable all accredited universities to introduce, administer and scale all aspects of degree apprenticeship programs.
    • These five changes would enable enrolling five crore incremental employed learner.

    Conclusion

    Reforming education requires thinking horizontally, holistically, and imaginatively. The reforms suggested here should be carried out considering these aspects.

  • Proposed amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015

    The Union Cabinet has approved a slew of amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

    What are the key features of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015? Discuss the proposed amendments by the WCD ministry.

    Juvenile Justice Act, 2015

    • The JJ Act, 2015 replaced the Indian juvenile delinquency law, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
    • It allows for juveniles in conflict with Law in the age group of 16–18, involved in Heinous Offences, to be tried as adults.
    • The Act also sought to create a universally accessible adoption law for India.
    • The Act came into force from 15 January 2016.

    Key features

    • Change in nomenclature from ‘juvenile’ to ‘child’ or ‘child in conflict with law’, across the Act to remove the negative connotation associated with the word “juvenile”
    • Inclusion of several new definitions such as orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children; and petty, serious and heinous offences committed by children;
    • The Act mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees in every district. Both must have at least one woman member each.
    • Special provisions for heinous offences committed by children above the age of sixteen years – Under Section 15, special provisions have been made to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age group of 16-18 years (in response to the juvenile convict in Nirbhaya Case).
    • Separate new chapter on Adoption to streamline adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children – To streamline adoption procedures for orphan, abandoned and surrendered children, the existing Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is given the status of a statutory body.
    • Inclusion of new offences committed against children – Sale and procurement of children for any purpose including illegal adoption, corporal punishment in child care institutions, use of child by militant groups, offences against disabled children and, kidnapping and abduction of children.
    • Penalties for cruelty against a child– offering a narcotic substance to a child, and abduction or selling a child has been prescribed.
    • Mandatory registration of Child Care Institutions

    What are the news amendments?

    The amendments are aimed at strengthening the Child Protection set-up to ensure the best interest of children.

    (A) More powers to the DM

    • These include empowering the DMs and the additional DMs to monitor the functioning of agencies responsible for implementing the JJ Act.
    • The District Child Protection Units will function under the DMs.

    (B) Evaluating shelter homes

    • Before someone sets up a shelter home for children and sends their proposal for registration under the JJ Act to the State, a DM will have to assess their capacity and conduct a background check.
    • A DM could also independently evaluate the functioning of the Child Welfare Committee, Special Juvenile Protection Units and registered childcare institutes, the Minister stated.

    (C) Members of committees

    • The proposed amendments also define the eligibility parameters for the appointment of members of the Child Welfare Committees.
    • These committees are tasked to decide on children in need of care and protection and mandate their background checks.

    (D) Definition of Children

    • It is also proposed to expand the definition of children in need of care and protection and include those children who have been victims of trafficking or drug abuse or child labour.
    • It would also include those children who have been abandoned by their guardians.

  • vaccine hesitancy

    Reluctance to take the vaccine has several implications. The misinformation around the vaccines needs to be fought through several measures. 

    Understanding vaccine hesitancy

    • According to the World Health Organization, vaccine hesitancy is defined as a reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccine services.
    • To date, two vaccines have been approved for inoculation in India: Pune-based Serum Institute’s Covishield and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
    • An adequate supply of vaccines is in place at least for the first phase, but the trickier part is to persuade the population for vaccination.
    • Like Western nations, vaccine hesitancy has been a cause of concern in the past in India as well.
    • Social media has seen a rising number of self-proclaimed experts who have been making unsubstantiated claims.
    • The debates around hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccines include concerns over safety, efficacy, and side effects due to the record-breaking timelines of the vaccines, competition among several companies, misinformation, and religious taboos.

    Need to adopt libertarian paternalism

    • It is suggested that we adopt the idea of libertarian paternalism, which says it is possible and legitimate to steer people’s behaviour towards vaccination while still respecting their freedom of choice.
    • Vaccine hesitancy has a different manifestation in India, unlike in the West.
    • According to the World Economic Forum/Ipsos global survey, COVID-19 vaccination intent in India, at 87%, exceeds the global 15-country average of 73%.

    Way forward

    • Instead of anti-vaxxers, the target audience must be the swing population i.e., people who are sceptical but can be persuaded through scientific facts and proper communication.
    • The second measure is to pause before you share any ‘news’ from social media.
    • It becomes crucial to inculcate the habit of inquisitive temper to fact-check any news related to COVID-19 vaccines.
    • The third measure is to use the celebrity effect — the ability of prominent personalities to influence others to take vaccines.
    • Celebrities can add glamour and an element of credibility to mass vaccinations both on the ground and on social media.

    Consider the question “What is vaccine hesitancy? Suggest the measures to deal with it”

    Conclusion

    The infodemic around vaccines can be tackled only by actively debunking myths, misinformation and fake news on COVID-19 vaccines.

  • Protecting freedom in era of technological transformation

    The article discusses the issue of growing influence of social media companies and response of the governments.

    Issues with the growing influence of social media companies

    • In the US the last two general elections in 2016 and 2020 have seen strong charges of political manipulation by social media companies.
    • But influence of social media companies is not limited ot elections, it envelops a range of domestic and international issues.
    • These issuesincludes: the concentration of economic power, individual rights against the state as well as the corporation, disinformation, the rise of digital geopolitics, and global digital governance.

    How governments are responding

    •  Democratic forces need to consult each other and collaborate in developing new norms for managing the digital world.
    • In the US, both the left and right are demanding that digital behemoths like Amazon, Google, Facebook and Twitter are brought under greater control if not broken up.
    • Last December, the European Commission proposed new rules to promote competition and fairness in digital markets.
    • The EU is likely to approve a Digital Markets Act next year.
    • Australia has decreed that Google must work out an arrangement with Australian newspapers to pay for the use of their content.
    • The current digital giants, however, are not easily amenable to political attack.
    • They are bigger than the biggest we have known.

    3 Issues with business practices of social media companies

    • Governments are now questioning the sharp business practices of the tech giants especially labour rights, taxes and politics.
    • While the tech giants have created a lot of new wealth, some of them have sharply squeezed the labour.
    • In California, trade unions are battling against the success of Uber and Lyft to turn employees into “contract workers” to deny them multiple benefits.
    • Digital giants have been aggressive tax evaders.
    • On the political front recently,Twitter and Facebook shut down President Donald Trump’s accounts.
    • European leaders raised important questions about social media’s actions against Trump.

    Way forward

    • Answer to deal with social media on political front lies in laying down a clear set of obligations and responsibilities for the digital giants.
    • This move will help in building digital sovereignty.
    • The world’s democracies must get together to discuss global digital governance.

    Consider the question “What are the challenges posed by the growing influence of social media companies in the democratic countries?” 

    Conclusion

    As governments push back against big tech, a new challenge presents itself — reining in the growing power of the state in the digital age. The answer lies in democracies modernising their laws to protect freedoms in the era of technological transformation.

  • Sharpening educational divide

    The article highlights the issue of the decrease in allocation for education and two ways in which the government seeks to plug this gap.

    Decrease in allocation to education: Two paradoxical axes

    • The government allocated Rs 6,000 crore less on education in Budget 2021 as compared to last year.
    • It’s strange that this year’s budget makes no reference to the pandemic and the multiple challenges it has thrown up for the poor.
    • Parents who depend on the lowest rung of free government schools are the ones who need maximum state support.
    • More recently, the state’s position with regard to the provision of education in general and budgetary allocations to education in particular hinges on two paradoxical axes.

    1) Supporting community volunteer

    • On one axis, is its appreciation of the commitment and passion of the community volunteers to reach out to children who may not be learning for multiple reasons.
    • Acknowledging the contribution of such people, the NEP proposes ideas of “peer-tutoring and trained volunteers” to support teachers to impart foundational literacy and numeracy skills to children in need of such skills.
    • While such efforts need to be applauded, they cannot be regarded as substitutes of the formal state apparatus.
    • Such a view also de-legitimises the teaching profession-associated qualifications and the training mandated by the state for people to become teachers.
    • Salaries and working conditions of the local community, most of whom are unemployed youth and women, are often compromised.
    • This is exploitation and needless to say, it also impacts the quality of education for the poor.

    2) Public-Private partnership and issues with it

    • On the second axis, is the position advocating partnerships between public and private bodies.
    • Not that the involvement of private individuals/organisations/schools in education is anything new in India.
    • However, in the past, private schools catered to the relatively better-off but now the poor are being targeted for profit.
    • This narrative is based on two sources: Poor learning outcomes of children, particularly those studying in government schools as reported by large scale assessment surveys, and large-scale absenteeism/dereliction of duty on the part of government school teachers.
    • Reasons for these are attributed to government school teachers having no accountability.
    • NEP 2020 also states that the non-governmental philanthropic organisations will be supported to build schools and alternative models of education will be encouraged by making their requirements for schools as mandated in the RTE less restrictive.
    • This is clearly problematic but convenient as the justification underlying this position is that one needs to shift focus from inputs to outputs.
    • This also indicate that schools can do with lesser financial resources, and compromised inputs may not necessarily lead to compromised outputs.
    • The nature of the partnership between public and private has also changed from the private supporting the public to private jostling for space with the public, even replacing them.
    • It’s a win-win situation for both — the state gets to spend less and private players make profit.

    Consider the question “Examine the impact of a covid pandemic on the education of the poor. Suggest the measure need to be taken by the government to mitigate the impact.”

    Conclusion

    While money may not ensure quality education, lack of adequate resources will only deepen the social divide between people.

  • [pib] National Creche Scheme

    The Union Minister of Women and Child Development have given information about the National Creche Scheme to the Lok Sabha.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017?

    1. Pregnant women are entitled to three months pre-delivery and three months post-delivery paid leave.
    2. Enterprises with creches must allow the mother a minimum of six crèche visits daily.
    3. Women with two children get reduced entitlements.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    National Creche Scheme

    • The Ministry of WCD implements the NCS for the children of working mothers as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through States/ UTs with effect from 01.01.2017.
    • It aims to provide daycare facilities to children (age group of 6 months to 6 years) of working mothers.

    The Scheme provides an integrated package of the following services:

    • Daycare facilities including sleeping facilities.
    • Early stimulation for children below 3 years and pre-school education for 3 to 6 years old children
    • Supplementary nutrition (to be locally sourced)
    • Growth monitoring
    • Health check-up and immunization

  • Contours of Twitter-government faceoff

    What is the faceoff about

    • Recently, Indian government issued direction to Twitter, ordering it to shut down user accounts connected with farmers’ protests.
    • The government has to exercise powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to block user accounts critical of the farm bills.
    • The accounts which were sought to be censored are back online.
    • This is due to Twitter’s evident refusal to comply with the directions after a constitutional appraisal.
    • It has, as per press statements, cited the doctrine of proportionality in its defence.

    Concerns with the directive

    • This direction presents a clear breach of fundamental rights but also reveals a complex relationship between the government and large platforms on the understanding of the Constitution of India.
    • The specific legal order issued is secret.
    • This brings into focus the condition of secrecy that is threshold objection to multiple strands of our fundamental rights.
    • It conflicts against the rights of the users who are denied reasons for the censorship.
    • Secrecy also undermines the public’s right to receive information, which is a core component of the fundamental freedom to speech and expression.
    • This is an anti-democratic practice that results in an unchecked growth of irrational censorship but also leads to speculation that fractures trust.
    • The other glaring deficiency is the complete absence of any prior show-cause notice to the actual users of these accounts by the government.
    • This is contrary to the principles of natural justice.
    • This again goes back to the vagueness and the design faults in the process of how directions under Section 69A are issued.

    Constitutionality of Section 69A of IT Act

    • The secrecy clause represents a failure on the part of the Union executive, which framed the process for blocking websites in 2009.
    • he Supreme Court also failed to substantively examine the clause.
    • This is despite the opportunity offered by its celebrated judgment Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, when it struck down Section 66A of the IT Act as unconstitutional.
    • At the same time, the court stated in Shreya Singhal, that an aggrieved party could approach a court for remedy if their website or user account was blocked under Section 69A.
    • More recently, the court, when adjudicating the constitutional permissibility of the telecommunications shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir by its judgment in Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India directed pro-active publication of all orders for internet shutdowns.
    • After this, a decent argument may be made that directions for blocking now need to be made public. 
    • However, several state governments are actively refusing compliance on the publication of orders on internet shutdowns.

    Consider the question “Use of Section 69 of the IT Act to suspend the account of the users on a social media platform has raised concern. Examine these concerns.”

    Conclusion

    The episode leaves a sense of confusion and wonder about why our own government formed under the Constitution may be failing to fulfil its obligations when strangers who trade in our data for profit are seemingly more eager.