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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • Tribes in news: Bondas

    The COVID-19 pandemic has reached the Bondas, a PVTGs community residing in the hill ranges of Malkangiri district in Odisha.

    Try this PYQ:

    Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:

    1. PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.
    2. A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.
    3. There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.
    4. Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.

    Which of the statements given above are correct?(CSP 2019)

    (a) 1, 2 and 3

    (b) 2, 3 and 4

    (c) 1, 2 and 4

    (d) 1, 3 and 4

    Who are the Bondas?

    • The Bondas are Munda ethnic group who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwestern Odisha near the junction of the three states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
    • They are a scheduled tribe of India and are also known as the Remo (meaning “people” in the Bonda language).
    • The tribe is one of the oldest and most primitive in mainland India; their culture has changed little for more than a thousand years.
    • Their isolation and known aggressiveness continue to preserve their culture despite the pressures of an expanding Indian population.

    Back2Basics: Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

    • There are certain tribal communities who have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward.
    • They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.
    • These groups are among the most vulnerable section of our society as they are few in numbers, have not attained any significant level of social and economic development.
    • 75 such groups have been identified and categorized as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

  • Increasing the age of marriage for girls and related issues

    The article analyses the issues with objectives of increasing the age of marriage for girls.

    Poverty of mother: Important factor

    • Raising the age of marriage is the could be the way to improve the health and nutritional status of mothers and their infants.
    • An article published in the journal The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health analyses data on stunting in children and thinness in mothers in the latest round of the National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16).
    •  The authors examine the strength of the association between many different causal factors.
    •  As it turns out, the poverty of the mother plays the greatest role of all by far.
    • Instead of early pregnancy causing malnourishment, they may both be the consequences of poverty.
    • The best way to go about breaking such a cycle would be to pick the factors perpetuating it, it would be the poverty of the mother in this case.

    Declining fertility rate in India

    • India’s fertility rates have been declining to well below replacement levels in many States, including those with higher levels of child marriage.
    • This could be the reason for the shift from fuelling fears about booming populations to expressing concern for the undernourishment of children.
    • So, the problem of “populations explosion” is not the real problem as the demographic data suggests.

    Concern

    • The change in the marriage age will leave the vast majority of Indian women who marry before they are 21 without the legal protections.

    Conclusion

    The proposal and the objective to be achieved through raising the age of marriage needs reconsideration for the reasons cited above.

  • [pib] Highlights of the Swachh Survekshan 2020

    Image Source: TH

    Indore was declared the cleanest city in India for the fourth consecutive time in the Swachh Survekshan, 2020 — India’s annual survey on cleanliness.

    Note the following things about Swachh Survekshan:

    1) Nodal Ministry (It is Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs)

    2) Authority carrying out the survey

    3) Various parameters of the survey

    Swachh Survekshan

    • It is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India.
    • It ranks India’s cities, towns and states based on sanitation, waste management and overall cleanliness.
    • It was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aimed to make India clean and free of open defecation by 2 October 2019.
    • The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities; by 2019 the survey had grown to cover 4237 cities and was said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world.

    Survey methodology

    • The surveys are carried out by the Quality Council of India. The criteria and weightage for different components of sanitation-related aspects used for the survey were:

    a) Municipal documentation (solid waste management including door-to-door collection, processing, and disposal, and open defecation free status. These carried 45 per cent of the total 2,000 marks.

    b) Citizen feedback – 30 per cent (450 + 150 marks)

    c) Independent observation – 25 per cent (500 marks)

    Highlights of the 2020 Rankings

    • Surat in Gujarat and Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra bagged the second and third spot respectively among the cleanest cities with more than a million populations.
    • Maharashtra’s Karad, Saswad and Lonavala bagged the first three positions for cities having a population less than one lakh.
    • Among the cities with a population between one and 10 lakh, Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur was declared the cleanest, followed by Mysore in Karnataka.
    • In fact, Chhattisgarh has ranked the cleanest state in the category of states having more than 100 Urban Local Bodies (ULB). It was followed by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
    • In 2019, Chhattisgarh was in the third position in the category. The survey found that Chhattisgarh is the first and only state where every city achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF)++ status.

  • Namath Basai Programme

    Namath Basai, the State government’s unique programme of teaching tribal children in their mother tongue, has become a runaway hit in Kerala’s tribal districts.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q. The Namath Basai Programme recently seen in news is related to:

    Tribal Education/ Women SHGs/ Forest Produce/ Tribal Health

    Namath Basai Programme

    • The NBP is implemented by the Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK).
    • It has succeeded in retaining hundreds of tribal children in their online classes by making them feel at home with the language of instruction.
    • The SSK has distributed some 50 laptops exclusively for Namath Basai. Pre-recorded classes are offered through a YouTube channel.

  • Issues with the graded autonomy

    The article analyses the issues the graded with the graded autonomy to the Higher Education Institutes.

    Background

    • NEP 2020 provided for phasing out of the system of affiliated colleges and the grant of greater autonomy in academic, administrative and financial matters to premium colleges.

    Concerns with the autonomy

    • The move has raised concerns about the politico-bureaucratic interference in the internal functioning of universities.
    • It has also raised concerns about the substantial burden on universities which have to regulate admissions, set curricula and conduct examinations for a large number of undergraduate colleges.
    • Concerns have long existed about over-centralisation, due to constraints imposed on the potential for premium affiliated colleges to innovate and evolve.
    • These apprehensions about the autonomy came to be used by successive governments to build a case for the model of graded autonomy.

    The push towards graded autonomy

    • Successive governments have pushed through measures that have largely allowed for greater penetration of private capital in higher education.
    • Recommendations of recent education commissions have promoted the unequal structure of funding for higher education.
    • Under this, hierarchy in higher education was created: Central government-funded universities, provincial Central government-funded universities, regional universities and colleges funded by State governments, etc.
    • The National Knowledge Commission (2005) stated that good undergraduate colleges are constrained by their affiliated status… the problem is particularly acute for undergraduate colleges which are subjected to the ‘convoy problem’ as they are forced to move at the speed of the slowest.
    • In turn, the dominant policy discourse vocally propagates “graded autonomy” for better performing Higher Educational Institutions.
    • Under which academic excellence can be supported through a grant of special funds and allowing greater power to such institutions.
    • This basis has been gradually enforced with the UGC in 2018 granting public-funded universities the right to apply for autonomy based on whether they are ranked among top 500 of reputed world rankings or have National Assessment and Accreditation (NAAC) scores above 3.26.

    NEP 2020: Centralisation and autonomy

    • NEP 2020  is a combination of enhanced centralising features and specific features of autonomy.
    • Deeper centralisation is indicative in the constitution of the government nominated umbrella institution, Higher Education Council of India (HECI); Board of Governors, the National Education Commission etc.

    Concerns

    • The model of graded autonomy will encourage hierarchy that exists between different colleges within a public-funded university, and between different universities across the country.
    • While the best colleges gain the autonomy to bring in their own rules and regulations, affiliated colleges with lower rankings and less than 3,000 students face the threat of mergers and even closure.
    • A shrinking of the number of public-funded colleges will only further push out marginalised sections.
    • Autonomy could lead to more inaccessibility as the independent rules and regulations of autonomous colleges and universities shall curtail transparent admission procedures.
    • Graded autonomy can be expected to trigger a massive spurt in expensive self-financed courses as premium colleges, which will lead to exclusion.

    Conclusion “Examine the issues with the autonomy of Higher Education Institutes in the NEP 2020.”

    Conclusion

    More than deliverance, autonomy represents the via media for greater privatisation and enhanced hierarchization in higher education.

    Sources: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/privatisation-via-graded-autonomy/article32396753.ece

  • Setting up of National Recruitment Agency

    The Union Cabinet has approved the creation of a National Recruitment Agency (NRA) for conducting a Common Eligibility Test (CET) for various government jobs.

    Try this question:

    Q.Discuss the role and function of the newly setup National Recruitment Agency.

    National Recruitment Agency

    • NRA will be a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, headed by a Chairman of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India.
    • It will have representatives of the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB and IBPS.
    • It is envisioned that the NRA would be a specialist body bringing the state-of-the-art technology and best practices to the field of Central Government recruitment.
    • The NRA will conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for recruitment to non-gazetted posts in government and public sector banks.
    • This test aims to replace multiple examinations conducted by different recruiting agencies for selection to government jobs advertised each year, with a single online test.

    Salient features of NRA

    • The Common Eligibility Test will be held twice a year.
    • There will be different CETs for graduate level, 12th Pass level and 10th pass level to facilitate recruitment to vacancies at various levels.
    • The CET will be conducted in 12 major Indian languages. This is a major change, as hitherto examinations for recruitment to Central Government jobs were held only in English and Hindi.
    • To begin with, CET will cover recruitments made by three agencies: viz. Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection.  This will be expanded in a phased manner.
    • CET will be held in 1,000 centres across India to bid remove the currently prevalent urban bias. There will be an examination centre in every district of the country.  There will be a special thrust on creating examination infrastructure in the 117 aspirational districts.
    • CET will be a first level test to shortlist candidates and the score will be valid for three years.
    • There shall be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit.
    • Age relaxation for SC/ST and OBC candidates as per existing rules will apply.

    Advantages for students

    • Removes the hassle of appearing in multiple examinations.
    • Single examination fee would reduce the financial burden that multiple exams imposed.
    • Since exams will be held in every district, it would substantially save travel and lodging cost for the candidates. Examination in their own district would encourage more and more women candidates also to apply for government jobs.
    • Applicants are required to register on a single Registration portal.
    • No need to worry about clashing of examination dates.

    Advantages for Institutions

    • Removes the hassle of conducting preliminary / screening test of candidates.
    • Drastically reduces the recruitment cycle.
    • Brings standardization in the examination pattern.
    • Reduces costs for different recruiting agencies. Rs 600 crore savings expected.

  • [pib] Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020

    The Vice-President has released the Atal ranking ‘ARIIA 2020’.

    Note the indicators on which the ARIIA ranking is based.  Also try this PYQ:

    Q. Which one of the following is not a sub-index of the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’? (CSP 2019)

    (a) Maintenance of law and order

    (b) Paying taxes

    (c) Registering property

    (d) Dealing with construction permits

    Highlights of the ARIIA 2020

    • The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has topped the ARIIA 2020 under the ‘Best Centrally Funded Institution’ category.
    • Last year too, the institute emerged as the top innovative institution in the country.
    • IIT Bombay and Delhi have secured the second and third spots, respectively.

    About ARIIA

    • ARIIA is an initiative of erstwhile Ministry of HRD, implemented by AICTE and Ministry’s Innovation Cell.
    • It systematically ranks all major higher educational institutions and universities in India on indicators related to “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development” amongst students and faculties.
    • ARIIA 2020 will have six categories which also includes special category for women only higher educational institutions to encourage women and bringing gender parity in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship.
    • The other five categories are 1) Centrally Funded Institutions 2) State-funded universities 3) State-funded autonomous institutions 4) Private/Deemed Universities and 5) Private Institutions.

    Major Indicators for consideration

    • Budget & Funding Support.
    • Infrastructure & Facilities.
    • Awareness, Promotions & support for Idea Generation & Innovation.
    • Promotion & Support for Entrepreneurship Development.
    • Innovative Learning Methods & Courses.
    • Intellectual Property Generation, Technology Transfer & Commercialization.
    • Innovation in Governance of the Institution.

  • PCPNDT Act and rule changes during pandemic

    The article deals with the issues of suspension of some requirements under PCPNDT Act. It also discusses the role judiciary played in 25-years jurisprudence around the Act.

    Context

    • Last week, the Supreme Court deferred a pronouncement on the legality of the Centre’s now-lapsed controversial notification relating to the rules of the law banning sex-selective abortions.
    • The apex court similarly erred on the side of caution in June, choosing not to stay the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s gazette notification.

    What were the changes

    • One of the rules requires a five-yearly renewal of registration of genetic laboratories, ultrasound clinics and imaging centres, subject to the fulfilment of eligibility criteria.
    • Another mandate to submit monthly records on the conduct of pregnancy-related procedures to the designated authority.
    • State governments and Union Territories are required to furnish quarterly reports to the Centre on the implementation of the law.
    • The Union Health Ministry had maintained that various procedural deadlines were relaxed in the wake of the public health crisis and that such flexibility would in no way jeopardise the larger objectives of the law.

    Issues with the suspension

    • Activists saw no rationale behind the suspension of rules, since the operation of diagnostic laboratories had been declared essential services.
    • They were understandably apprehensive that the freeze would result in large-scale violations.
    • It is one thing to offer relaxation for delays in the completion of formalities via an administrative order, but altogether another to declare a freeze via a gazette notification, they argued.

    Court judgements on PCPNDT Act

    • The 25-year jurisprudence around the PCPNDT legislation does not justify a casual approach on the enforcement of its various provisions.
    • The Court last year ruled that the non-maintenance of medical records as per Section 23 of the PCPNDT Act could serve as a conduit in the grave offence of foeticide.
    • In its 2016 judgment, the Supreme Court authorised the seizure of illegal equipment from clinics and the suspension of their registration as well as speedy disposal of relevant cases by the States.

    Consider the question “How far has the PCPNDT Act been successful in dealing with the menace of sex-selective abortion? What are the shortcomings in the Act?”

    Conclusion

    Crucially, the alarming decline witnessed in recent decades in India’s sex ratio at birth calls for uncompromising adherence to public policy, more than is evident from evolving case law.

  • Resurrecting the right to know

    This article analyses the importance of peoples’ right to know and instrumental role judiciary played in harmonising it with the Official Secrets Act 1923.

    Context

    • A High Level Committee (HLC) chaired by a retired judge of the Gauhati High Court was constituted by the Home Ministry through a gazette notification.
    • Its mandate was, among others, to recommend measures to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord and define “Assamese People”.
    • The HLC finalised its report by mid-February 2020 and submitted it to the Assam Chief Minister and through him to the Central government.
    • With the Central government apparently “sitting idle” over the report, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which was represented in the HLC, released the report.

    The right to know

    • The right to know was recognised nearly 50 years ago and is the foundational basis or the direct emanation for the right to information.
    • In State of U.P. v. Raj Narain (1975), the Supreme Court carved out a class of documents that demand protection even though their contents may not be damaging to the national interest.
    • Court held that “the people of this country are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing”.
    • This view was endorsed in S.P. Gupta v. President of India (1981) and a few other decisions.
    • In Yashwant Sinha v. Central Bureau of Investigation (2019), the Supreme Court referred to the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in New York Times v. United States (1971) wherein court declined to recognise the right of the government to restrain publication of the Pentagon Papers.
    • Our Supreme Court held that a review petition based on three documents published by The Hindu was maintainable since the provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 had not been violated.
    • The SC held that there is no provision by which Parliament had vested power in the government either to restrain the publication of documents marked as secret or from placing such documents before a court.
    • Section 8(2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 provides that a citizen can get a certified copy of a document even if the matter pertains to security or relationship with a foreign nation if a case is made out.
    • Therefore, it is clear that the right to know can be curtailed only in limited circumstances and if there is an overriding public interest.

    Consider the question “Analyse the importance of citizens’ right to know and how the judiciary harmonised the peoples right to know with the Official Secrets Act 1923? “

    Conclusion

    We must keep in mind observation made by the Supreme Court in S.P. Gupta: “If secrecy were to be observed in the functioning of government and the processes of government were to be kept hidden from public scrutiny, it would tend to promote and encourage oppression, corruption and misuse or abuse of authority, for it would all be shrouded in the veil of secrecy without any public accountability.”

    B2BASICS

    Official secrets act

    • OSA has its roots in the British colonial era and was originally known as The Indian Official Secrets Act (Act XIV), 1889.
    • The act was primarily mandated to gag the voice of a large number of newspapers that came up in several languages, and were opposing the Raj’s policies, building political consciousness and facing police crackdowns and prison terms.
    • The act was amended and made more stringent in the form of The Indian Official Secrets Act, 1904, during Lord Curzon’s tenure as Viceroy of India.
    • In 1923, a newer version was notified. The Indian Official Secrets Act (Act No XIX of 1923) was extended to all matters of secrecy and confidentiality in governance in the country.
    • It was further amended after India got independence in 1951 and 1967. The act in its present form deals with two aspects — spying or espionage and disclosure of other secret information of the government.
    • Secret information can be any official code, password, sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or information. Under the act both the person communicating the information, and the person receiving the information, can be punished.

  • Debate: Minimum age of marriage for women

    PM in his I-Day speech has announced that the central government has set up a committee to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women during his address to the nation on the 74th Independence Day.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.The different minimum age of marriage for women and men is a discriminatory provision. Analyse.

    Back in debate

    • The minimum age of marriage, especially for women, has been a contentious issue.
    • The law evolved in the face of much resistance from religious and social conservatives.
    • Currently, the law prescribes that the minimum age of marriage is 21 years and 18 years for men and women respectively.

    Issue over majority

    • The minimum age of marriage is distinct from the age of majority which is gender-neutral.
    • An individual attains the age of majority at 18 as per the Indian Majority Act, 1875.
    • The law prescribes a minimum age of marriage to essentially outlaw child marriages and prevents the abuse of minors.

    What is the committee that the PM mentioned?

    • The Union Ministry for WCD had set up a task force to examine matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women.
    • The task force would examine the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with health, medical well-being, and nutritional status of the mother and neonate, infant or child, during pregnancy, birth and thereafter.
    • It will also examine the possibility of increasing the age of marriage for women from the present 18 years to 21 years.

    How common are child marriages in India?

    • UNICEF estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under the age of 18 are married in India.
    • It makes our country home to the largest number of child brides in the world — accounting for a third of the global total.
    • Nearly 16 per cent adolescent girls aged 15-19 are currently married.

    Provisions for the minimum age for marriage

    • Personal laws of various religions that deal with marriage have their own standards, often reflecting custom.
    • For Hindus, Section 5(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.
    • However, child marriages are not illegal — even though they can be declared void at the request of the minor in the marriage.
    • In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.
    • The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.
    • Additionally, sexual intercourse with a minor is rape, and the ‘consent’ of a minor is regarded as invalid since she is deemed incapable of giving consent at that age.

    Evolution of the law

    • The IPC enacted in 1860 criminalised sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 10.
    • The provision of rape was amended in 1927 through The Age of Consent Bill, 1927, which declared that marriage with a girl under 12 would be invalid.
    • The law faced opposition from conservative leaders of the Indian National Movement, who saw the British intervention as an attack on Hindu customs.
    • A legal framework for the age of consent for marriage in India only began in the 1880s.

    Comes in: The Sarda Act

    • In 1929, The Child Marriage Restraint Act set 16 and 18 years as the minimum age of marriage for girls and boys respectively.
    • The law, popularly known as the Sarda Act after its sponsor Harbilas Sarda, a judge and a member of Arya Samaj, was eventually amended in 1978 to prescribe 18 and 21 years as the age of marriage for a woman and a man respectively.

    Contention over different legal standards

    • There is no reasoning in the law for having different legal standards of age for men and women to marry. The laws are a codification of custom and religious practices.
    • The Law Commission consultation paper has argued that having different legal standards “contributes to the stereotype that wives must be younger than their husbands”.
    • Women’s rights activists have argued that the law also perpetuates the stereotype that women are more mature than men of the same age and, therefore, can be allowed to marry sooner.
    • The international treaty Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), also calls for the abolition of laws that assume women have a different physical or intellectual rate of growth than men.

    Why is the law being relooked at?

    • Despite laws mandating minimum age and criminalizing sexual intercourse with a minor, child marriages are very prevalent in the country.
    • From bringing in gender-neutrality to reduce the risks of early pregnancy among women, there are many arguments in favour of increasing the minimum age of marriage of women.
    • Early pregnancy is associated with increased child mortality rates and affects the health of the mother.

    Upholding the Constitution

    • Petitioners, in this case, had challenged the law on the grounds of discrimination.
    • It is argued that Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, which guarantee the right to equality and the right to live with dignity, were violated by having different legal ages for men and women to marry.
    • Two significant Supreme Court rulings can act as precedents to support the petitioner’s claim.
    • In 2014, in the ‘NALSA v Union of India’ case, the Supreme Court, while recognising transgenders as the third gender, said that justice is delivered with the “assumption that humans have equal value and should, therefore, be treated as equal, as well as by equal laws”.
    • In 2019, in ‘Joseph Shine v Union of India’, the Supreme Court decriminalized adultery, and said that “a law that treats women differently based on gender stereotypes is an affront to women’s dignity”.