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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • [pib] E-Sanjeevani Tele-Medicine Platform

    1.5 lakh teleconsultations were recently completed on the “eSanjeevani” and “eSanjeevani OPD” tele-medicine.

    Why Telemedicine?

    Telemedicine can increase the efficiency of care delivery, reduce expenses of caring for patients or transporting to another location, and can even keep patients out of the hospital.  

    E-Sanjeevani Platform

    • E-Sanjeevani is a platform-independent, browser-based application facilitating both doctor-to-doctor and patient-to-doctor tele-consultations.
    • It provides the ease of accessing the health records at the comforts of one’s home.
    • The application is based on invite-system which restricts it to the actual beneficiaries of the application.
    • It has a user-friendly interface which facilitates both tech-savvy and novice doctors/users in the rural and urban environment to access the application.
    • This eSanjeevani platform has enabled two types of telemedicine services viz. Doctor-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani) and Patient-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani OPD) Tele-consultations.
    • The former is being implemented under the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWCs) programme.

    Services included:

    The telemedicine platform hosts speciality OPDs which include:

    • Gynaecology, Psychiatry, Dermatology, ENT, Ophthalmology, antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the AIDS/HIV patients, Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) etc

    With inputs from:

    https://www.cdac.in/index.aspx?id=hi_pr_eSanjeevani

  • Digital realities of India

    Context

    • Google has recently announced a decision to invest $10 billion in India.
    • To put that sum in context, it is over 10 times the money set aside for 100 smart cities and almost 20 times that for Digital India.
    • Purpose of that investment is stated to be digitising India.

    Digital realities of India Google must consider:

    1) Contradictions

    •  India recognises the internet as a human right, and yet, has led the world in internet shutdowns.
    • Its internet speeds can be slow and variable, but its uptake of smartphones is the world’s fastest.
    • It is second only to China in internet users, app downloads and social media users.

    2) Lack of access to internet

    • Only 21 per cent of women are mobile internet users, while the percentage for men is twice that number.
    • There are many societal factors that make it difficult for women and girls to enjoy full digital freedoms.
    • In rural India, where two-thirds of the country lives, just about a quarter of the population has internet access.
    • Differences in digital access mean differences in the quality of education.
    • The gaps are both digital and societal.

    3) Lack of access to banks

    •  India’s workforce is mostly informal.
    • Only 22 per cent of recipients of migrant remittances have access to banks within one km, according to a report by the Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion.
    • A push from Google and its competitors could make payments and financial access more inclusive.

    4) Need for special products for India

    • you mention new products for India’s unique needs, of which there are many.
    • Consider the needs in the agricultural sector alone.
    • Impac of predictive data analytics and basic artificial intelligence into Indian agriculture using readily available technologies would be huge.
    • Precision farming to improve the timing and quantity of seeding, irrigation and fertiliser usage.
    • Helping farmers get credit at lower costs and helping predict commodity prices can create $33 billion in new value annually in Indian agriculture.

    5) Lack of data governance and issues with it

    • Nandan Nilekani has said, India will be data rich before it is “economically rich”.
    • With 650 million internet users, there is a lot of data richness already.
    • But this data richness exists without a forward-looking and inclusive data governance policy.
    • The experience with Aarogya Setu, provided a perfect case study on the discomfort within India because of the absence of such governance.

    6) Prevalence of misinformation

    • It is essential to get a handle on the “infodemic” problem in India.
    • The situation was made far worse by the pandemic, where many of the prejudices, fears have converged.
    • Google-owned YouTube is a critical medium for spreading information, fact and fiction.
    • To its credit, YouTube removed over 8,20,000 videos in India in the first quarter of 2020.
    • This is a great start, but the bad guys will only find ways around it and Google must make deeper investments in both human and machine intelligence to stay ahead.

    7) Geopolitical context

    • India is inching closer to the US corner in the tech Cold War between the US and China.
    • India-China relationship has cooled this year as a fallout from the political tensions between New Delhi and Beijing.
    • India acted against Chinese ByteDance-owned video streaming app TikTok, along with 59 mobile apps.
    • Google’s role will be important as a bargaining chip against China and the partnership with Jio.
    • This important role may help Google get some domestic leverage with Indian regulators.

    8) Job creation

    • Digital technologies can create jobs.
    • For this to happen India must streamline the regulations to enhancing the country’s digital and physical foundations.
    • There is also need for developing more progressive data accessibility laws.
    • To translate into productive work, the government must invest in skill-building and education at all levels.

    Consider the question “Digitising India could accelerate its progress toward development but there are certain factors which must be addressed before India could reap benefits of digitising. Examine such factors and suggest the ways to deal with the issues in digitising the country.”

    Conclusion

    There is a lot Google can take while working on the task of digitising India. But the above-mentioned factors will help Google chart out its journey well.

    Original articles:

    https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/sundar-pichai-google-education-digital-india-6544793/

  • [pib] Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel

    Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has launched the Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel, a new initiative by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

    Note: Article 19 states that the Right to form co-operative societies is a Fundamental Right and DPSP Article 43-B provides for the promotion of co-operative societies.

    Sahakar Cooptube

    • The Sahakar Cooptube Channel aims to facilitate the involvement of the youth in the cooperative movement.
    • Cooperatives lend strength to farmers to minimize risks in agriculture and allied sectors and act as a shield against exploitation.
    • The channel will give a boost to Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan under which the government has announced a series of transformative measures and sector-specific financial packages to help agriculture.
    • The initiatives are steps towards One Nation One Market with the objective for India to become a food factory of the world.

    Back2Basics: NCDC

    • The NCDC is a statutory Corporation set up under an Act of Parliament on 13 March 1963.
    • The objectives of NCDC are:

    planning and promoting programmes for production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, foodstuffs, industrial goods, livestock and certain other notified commodities and services on cooperative principles and for matters concerned therewith or incidental thereto

    • NCDC Act has been further amended which will broad-base the area of operation of the Corporation to assist different types of cooperatives and to expand its financial base.
    • NCDC will now be able to finance projects in the rural industrial cooperative sectors and for certain notified services in rural areas like water conservation, irrigation and micro-irrigation, agri-insurance, agro-credit, rural sanitation, animal health, etc.

  • What is Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP)?

    Haryana CM Manohar Khattar has distributed ‘Parivar Pehchan Patra’ to the eligible families and announced that welfare schemes of all departments would be linked with the PPP within the next three months.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.What is Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) recently rolled out by Haryana Govt.? How it is beneficial compared to the Aadhaar?

    What is Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP)?

    • It is an 8-digit Unique Identity Card number meant for each family to enable smooth and automatic delivery of several citizen-centric services.
    • The government will establish the scheme-wise eligibility of a particular family using this 8-digit code according to the information available in the PPP of the family.
    • The benefits, according to the schemes, shall automatically be transferred to the family using the same code.
    • PPP will ensure that not a single beneficiary is left out from the government benefits that they are entitled to.

    How is PPP different from the Aadhaar card?

    • The PPP, mathematically, is an integral number of Aadhaar.
    • While Aadhaar represents an individual as a unit, a PPP represents a family as a unit. Most of our government schemes are structured around the family.
    • It is not structured around an individual.
    • For example, ration eligibility is there for the family but the family can split it into various members as long as they are above 18 years and say they are separating entitlements for all individuals.

    Will it be mandatory for every family of Haryana to get PPP?

    • No, it will not be mandatory for every family of the state to obtain a PPP.
    • But, PPP is mandatory for families availing benefits under government schemes.
    • Also, whenever a family wants to avail any government scheme, it will have to first get a PPP to be eligible.

    The logic behind

    • Haryana officials said although there is a union government’s Aadhaar card, it contains individual’s details and does not cater to the entire family as a unit.
    • In certain circumstances, it may not be possible for a state government to keep track of all the families residing in the state.
    • Although the ration card system is there, it is not updated and does not contain adequate family records.
    • With the PPP, it will be easier for the state government to maintain a complete database of all the state dwellers.

    How would it work?

    • To begin with, the government has already linked PPP with three social security schemes – old age Samman allowance, divyang pension, and the widow and destitute women pension scheme.
    • For instance, when a family member turns 60, they will automatically get a message through the software and will automatically start getting benefits of the old-age pension if they meet the required criteria.
    • Similarly, the teenagers will get messages on turning 18 years old and shall become eligible for various government schemes that will be notified to them through the software.

  • Who are the Bru Tribals?

    Non-Brus of Tripura has proposed six places for settling the displaced Brus from Mizoram and set a limit for the number of families to be accommodated in two subdivisions that have borne the brunt of the 23-year-old refugee crisis.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. With reference to ‘Changpa’ community of India, consider the following statement:

    1. They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand.
    2. They rear the Pashmina goats that yield fine wool.
    3. They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2014)

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Who are the Brus?

    • Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram.
    • Their exodus in 1997 was spurred by violent clashes in Mamith subdivision, a Reang-dominated area when they demanded the creation of an autonomous council that was vehemently opposed by Mizo groups.
    • Around 34,000 people were forced to live in sub-human conditions in tents in Tripura. No solution could be reached all these years.
    • These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur, in North Tripura.

    Read the complete thread here:

    [Burning Issue] Bru– Reang Repatriation Agreement

  • National Education Policy and current status of education

    The article contrasts the targets set in the National Education Polity with the present state of education in the country.

    Key recommendations

    • Redesigning the school curriculum to accommodate early childhood care and education.
    • Ensuring universal access to education.
    • Increasing gross enrolment in higher education to 50% by 2035.
    • Improving research in higher education institutes by setting up a Research Foundation.

    Let’s take stock of the current situation on the above-suggested parameters.

    1) Universal Access to Education

    • Despite the Right to Education Act-2009 retaining children remains a challenge for the schooling system.
    • As of 2015-16, Gross Enrolment Ratio was 56.2% at senior secondary level as compared to 99.2% at primary level.
    • Data for all groups indicates a decline in GER as we move from primary to senior secondary for all groups.
    • This decline is particularly high in case of Scheduled Tribes.

    NEP 2020 recommendations

    • The NEP recommends strengthening of existing schemes and policies which are targeted for such socio-economically disadvantaged groups.
    • Further, it recommends setting up special education zones in areas with a significant proportion of such disadvantaged groups.
    • A gender inclusion fund should also be setup to assist female and transgender students in getting access to education.

    2) GER to 50% in higher education

    • The NEP aims to increase the GER in higher education to 50% by 2035.  
    • As of 2018-19, the GER in higher education in the country stood at 26.3%.
    • The annual growth rate of GER in higher education in the last few years has been around 2%.

    NEP 2020 recommendations

    • The NEP recommends increasing capacity of existing higher education institutes by restructuring and expanding existing institutes.
    • It recommends that all institutes should aim to be large multidisciplinary institutes, and there should be one such institution in or near every district by 2030.
    • Further, institutions should have the option to run open distance learning and online programmes to improve access to higher education.

    3) Restructuring of Higher Education Institutes

    • The NEP notes that the higher education ecosystem in the country is severely fragmented.
    • At present, there is complex nomenclature of higher education institutes (HEIs) in the country such as ‘deemed to be university’, ‘affiliating university’, ‘affiliating technical university’, ‘unitary university’.
    • These shall be replaced simply by ‘university’.

    NEP 2020 recommendations

    • The NEP recommends that all HEIs should be restructured into three categories:
    • 1)  research universities focusing equally on research and teaching.
    • 2)  teaching universities focusing primarily on teaching.
    • 3) degree-granting colleges primarily focused on undergraduate teaching.
    •  All such institutions will gradually move towards full autonomy – academic, administrative, and financial.

    4) National research foundation to boost research

    • The NEP states that investment on research and innovation in India, at only 0.69% of GDP, lags behind several other countries.
    • The total investment on R&D in India as a proportion of GDP has been stagnant at around 0.7% of GDP.
    • Of which 58% of expenditure was by government, and the remaining 42% was by private industry.

    NEP 2020 recommendation

    • To boost research, the NEP recommends setting up an independent National Research Foundation (NRF).
    • The Foundation will act as a liaison between researchers and relevant branches of government as well as industry.
    • Specialised institutions which currently fund research, such as the Department of Science and Technology, and the Indian Council of Medical Research, will continue to fund independent projects.
    • The Foundation will collaborate with such agencies to avoid duplication.

    5) Digital Education

    • The NEP states that alternative modes of quality education should be developed when in-person education is not possible.
    • But let’s look into the accessibility of such mode.
    • As of 2017-18, only 4.4% of rural households have access to a computer (excludes smartphones).
    • Nearly 15% have access to internet facility.  Amongst urban households, 42% have access to the internet.

    NEP 2020 recommendations

    • Several interventions are recommended-
    • (i) developing two-way audio and video interfaces for holding online classes.
    • (ii) use of other channels such as television, radio, mass media in multiple languages to ensure the reach of digital content where digital infrastructure is lacking.

    6) Increasing public spending on education to 6% of GDP

    • Public spending of 6% of GDP was first made by the National Policy on Education 1968 and reiterated by the 1986 Policy.
    • NEP 2020 reaffirms the recommendation of increasing public spending on education to 6% of GDP.
    •  In 2017-18, the public spending on education-includes spending by centre and states-was budgeted at 4.43% of GDP.
    •  In 2020-21, states in India have allocated 15.7% of their budgeted expenditure towards education.
    • States such as Delhi, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra have allocated more than 18% of their expenditure on Education for the year 2020-21.
    • On the other hand, Telangana (7.4%), Andhra Pradesh (12.1%) and Punjab (12.3%) lack in spending on education, as compared to the average of states.

    Consider the question “Examine the provision with regard to increasing research in the country in the National Education Policy 2020.”

    Conclusion

    The National Education Policy is an ambitious document with the potential to transform. What is required is the zeal to implement and assess the progress by analysing the outcomes.

    Source-

    https://www.prsindia.org/theprsblog/national-education-policy-recommendations-and-current-scenario

  • Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA)

    The JNU has got approval for a fund from the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) for the construction of new infrastructure.

    Try this PYQ:

    What is the aim of the programme ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’? (CSP 2017)

    (a) Achieving 100% literacy by promoting collaboration between voluntary organizations and government’s education system and local communities.

    (b) Connecting institutions of higher education with local communities to address development challenges through appropriate technologies.

    (c) Strengthening India’s scientific research institutions in order to make India a scientific and technological power.

    (d) Developing human capital by allocating special funds for health care and education of rural and urban poor, and organizing skill development programmes and vocational training for them.

    About HEFA

    • HEFA is a joint venture company of Canara Bank and Ministry of Human Resource Development.
    • It provides financial assistance for the creation of educational infrastructure and R&D in India’s premier educational institutions.
    • All the Centrally Funded Higher Educational Institutions will be eligible to join as members of the HEFA.
    • For joining as members, the educational institution must agree to escrow a specific amount from their internal accruals for a period of 10 years to the HEFA.

    Funding pattern of HEFA

    • HEFA will have an authorized capital of 2,000 crore rupees and the government equity would be 1,000 crore
    • It also mobilizes CSR funds from Corporates/PSUs which will, in turn, be released for promoting research and innovation in these institutions on a grant basis.
    • The principal portion of the loan will be repaid through the ‘internal accruals’ of the institutions earned through the fee receipts, research earnings etc.

  • In news: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

    • One-third of the way through the financial year, government data shows that the MGNREGA scheme has used up almost half its allocated funds.
    • Its spending has been more than ₹48,500 crores out of the expanded ₹1 lakh crore allocations announced following the COVID-19 outbreak.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.Discuss how the MGNREG Scheme has been providing a minimum basic income since the Covid pandemic. Also discuss how it can prove to be a game-changer if coupled with Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

    About MGNREGA

    • The MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.
    • This is labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘Right to Work’.
    • The act was first proposed in 1991 by P.V. Narasimha Rao.

    Its objectives

    • To enhance the livelihood security of the rural poor by generating wage employment opportunities.
    • To create a rural asset base which would enhance productive ways of employment, augment and sustain a rural household income.

    Features of the Scheme

    • MGNREGA is unique in not only ensuring at least 100 days of employment to the willing unskilled workers, but also in ensuring an enforceable commitment on the implementing machinery i.e., the State Governments, and providing a bargaining power to the labourers.
    • The failure of provision for employment within 15 days of the receipt of job application from a prospective household will result in the payment of unemployment allowance to the job seekers.
    • Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid.
    • Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Reorienting MGNREGA in times of COVID

  • [pib] Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN)

    The eVIN has reached 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) and will soon be rolled out in the remaining States and UTs of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh and Sikkim.

    Try this question from CSP 2016:

    Q.‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched by the Government of India pertains to:

    (a) Immunization of children and pregnant women

    (b) Construction of smart cities across the country

    (c) India’s own search for the Earth-like planets in outer space

    (d) New Educational Policy

    About eVIN

    • The eVIN is an innovative technological solution aimed at strengthening immunization supply chain systems across the country.
    • This is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
    • It aims to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in the country.
    • This system has been used during the COVID pandemic for ensuring the continuation of the essential immunization services and protecting our children and pregnant mothers against vaccine-preventable diseases.

    Components of eVIN

    • eVIN combines state-of-the-art technology, a strong IT infrastructure and trained human resource to enable real-time monitoring of stock and storage temperature of the vaccines kept in multiple locations across the country.
    • At present, 23,507 cold chain points across 585 districts of 22 States and 2 UTs routinely use the eVIN technology for efficient vaccine logistics management.

    Benefits of eVIN

    • It has helped create a big data architecture that generates actionable analytics encouraging data-driven decision-making and consumption-based planning.
    • It helps in maintaining optimum stocks of vaccines leading to cost savings. Vaccine availability at all times has increased to 99% in most health centres in India.
    • While instances of stock-outs have reduced by 80%, the time taken to replenish stocks has also decreased by more than half, on an average.
    • This has ensured that every child who reaches the immunization session site is immunized, and not turned back due to unavailability of vaccines.

  • Understanding text and context of National Education Policy

    The article critically examines the various aspects of the National Education Policy 2020 and the issue of flexibility and exams has been analysed closely.

    Context of scepticism

    • The New Education Policy is a forward-looking framework for transforming Indian education.
    • But the past record on implementation of polity raises the concern that the New Education Policy should not turn out to be just “another document”.
    • Also, the emphasis in the document on critical thinking and free inquiry is entirely well placed.
    • But universities are being intimidated into political and cultural conformity.
    • The document lays down objectives; the strategy has yet to come.

    Walking the tightrope

    • On the language issue it prefers the long-standing recommendation of primary education in the mother tongue.
    • But does not categorically recommend curb English.
    • On the basic architecture of delivery, policy does not show an inclination towards public or private education both in school and higher education.

    School education: Most promising part

    • The policy focus on early child development, learning outcomes, different forms of assessment, holistic education, and,  recognises the centrality of teacher and teacher education.
    • The document recognises that “the very highest priority of the education system will be to achieve universal foundational numeracy and literacy.”
    • The suggestions for school education are ambitious, centred on the students, cater to their pedagogical diversity, and take on board the world of knowledge as it is now emerging.

    Multidisciplinary education

    • The document mentions the word multidisciplinary a bit too much, without explicating what it means.
    • One way of thinking about this is not in terms of multiple subjects.
    • It is reorienting education from disciplinary content to modes of inquiry that allow students to access a wide variety of disciplines.

    Two concerns

    1) Flexibility issue

    • Under the policy, students might need different exit options.
    • But it is unclear if the diploma or early exit options all be made available within a single institution, or different institutions.
    • If it is within single institutions, this will be a disaster.
    • Because structuring a curriculum for a classroom that has both one-year diploma and four-year degree students takes away from the identity of the institution.
    • There is also a risk that without adequate financial support, the exercising of exit options will be determined by the financial circumstances of the student.
    • The flexibility offered through multidisciplinary education is against the principle that different institutions have a different characters and strengths.
    • A healthy education system will comprise of a diversity of institutions, not a forced multi-disciplinarity.

    2) Issue of exams conundrum

    • The document rightly emphasises that focus needs to shift from exams to learning. But it contradicts itself.
    • Exams are burdon because of competition and cost in terms of opportunities.
    • So the answer to the exam conundrum lies in the structure of opportunity.
    • This will require a less unequal society both in terms of access to quality institutions.
    • Exams are also necessary because in a low trust system people want objective measures of commensuration.
    • So the policy reintroduces exams back into the picture by recommending a national aptitude test.
    • But the idea that this will reduce coaching is wishful thinking, as all the evidence from the US and China is showing.

    Consider the question “The National Education Policy 2020 moves away from rigidity and offers flexibility in many ways. In light of this examine the flexible dimensions offered in the policy and issues with it.”

    Conclusion

    The policy is commendable for focussing on the right questions. But the hope is that with this our education policy can be transformed into a treat, not another trick.