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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • Explained: Consumer Protection Act, 2019

    The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 has come into effect from July 20, replacing the earlier Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

    Consumer Protection Act_Provisions of Consumer Protection Act 2019

    What are the Rights of the Consumers?

    Try this question from our AWE initiative 

    Compare and contrast the Consumer Protection Act 1986 with that of the Consumer Protection Bill 2018. How far do you think the changes made are consumer centric towards benefiting the consumer more? Examine. (250 W/ 15 M)

    Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Key Features

    1) Definition of consumer

    • A consumer is defined as a person who buys any good or avails a service for a consideration. 
    • It does not include a person who obtains a good for resale or a good or service for commercial purpose. 
    • It covers transactions through all modes including offline, and online through electronic means, teleshopping, multi-level marketing or direct selling.

    2) Rights of consumers

    The following consumer rights have been defined in the Act, including the right to:

    • be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property;
    • be informed of the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services;
    • be assured of access to a variety of goods or services at competitive prices; and
    • seek redressal against unfair or restrictive trade practices.
       

    3) Establishment of Central Consumer Protection Authority

    • The central government will set up a CCPA to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers. 
    • It will regulate matters related to violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and misleading advertisements. 
    • The CCPA will have an investigation wing, headed by a Director-General, which may conduct inquiry or investigation into such violations. 

    4) Penalties for misleading advertisement

    • The CCPA may impose a penalty on a manufacturer or an endorser of up to Rs 10 lakh and imprisonment for up to two years for a false or misleading advertisement. 
    • In case of a subsequent offence, the fine may extend to Rs 50 lakh and imprisonment of up to five years. 
    • CCPA can also prohibit the endorser of a misleading advertisement from endorsing that particular product or service for a period of up to one year.
    • For every subsequent offence, the period of prohibition may extend to three years.  

    5) Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

    • CDRCs will be set up at the district, state, and national levels. 
    • A consumer can file a complaint with CDRCs in relation to: unfair or restrictive trade practices; defective goods or services etc.
    • Complaints against an unfair contract can be filed with only the State and National   Appeals from a District CDRC will be heard by the State CDRC. 
    • Appeals from the State CDRC will be heard by the National CDRC.  Final appeal will lie before the Supreme Court.

    6) Jurisdiction of CDRCs

    • The District CDRC will entertain complaints where value of goods and services does not exceed Rs one crore. 
    • The State CDRC will entertain complaints when the value is more than Rs one crore but does not exceed Rs 10 crore. 
    • Complaints with value of goods and services over Rs 10 crore will be entertained by the National CDRC.
       

    7) Product liability

    • Product liability means the liability of a product manufacturer, service provider or seller to compensate a consumer for any harm or injury caused by a defective good or deficient service. 
    • To claim compensation, a consumer has to prove any one of the conditions for defect or deficiency, as given in the Act.

    With inputs from: PRS

  • [pib] Manodarpan Initiative

    The Union HRD Ministry will launch the Manodarpan Initiative, today.

    Try this question from CSP 2016:

    Q.’Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’ is a national campaign to:

    (a) rehabilitate the homeless and destitute persons and provide them with suitable sources of livelihood

    (b) release the sex workers from their practice and provide them with alternative sources of livelihood

    (c) eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and rehabilitate the manual scavengers

    (d) release the bonded labourers from their bondage and rehabilitate them

    Manodarpan Initiative

    • ‘Manodarpan’ covers a wide range of activities to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing during the COVID outbreak and beyond.
    • It contains advisory, practical tips, posters, videos, do’s and don’ts for psychosocial support, FAQs and online query system.
    • It aims to provide psychosocial support to students for their mental health and well-being.
    • It has been included in the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, as a part of strengthening human capital and increasing productivity and efficient reform and initiatives for the education sector.
    • A toll-free helpline will also be launched as part of the initiative for a country-wide outreach to students from schools, colleges and universities.
    • Through this helpline, tele-counselling will be provided to the students to address their mental health and psychosocial issues.

  • Debate around ‘One-Nation- One-Curriculum’

    The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea for a uniform and common curriculum for school students between aged six and 14 across the country rather than have diverse ones such as the CBSE, the ICSE and State Board.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.Discuss the efficacy of the One-Nation- One-Board System and its limitations.

    Background

    • Schools in India are mainly columned primarily into 4 boards of education, namely CBSE, ICSE and IB (International Baccalaureate).
    • In total, there are 41 boards of education throughout India.
    • These different boards of education have different syllabuses, which creates a knowledge gap among school students.
    • To curate this gap, syllabuses of every board for the Indian schools are being brought at par.

    What was the plea before the Supreme Court?

    • The petition asked considering the setting up of a National Education Council/Commission and following a “one-nation-one-board” system in which the ICSE is merged with the CBSE.
    • It urged a standard textbook with chapters on fundamental rights, duties, directive principles and the golden goals set out in the Preamble.
    • It asked to make the study compulsory for all the children aged 6-14 years throughout the territory of India.

    Why did the court refuse?

    • Uniform curriculum was a “matter of policy” and the judiciary could not “command” the government said the Supreme Court bench.

    Pros of common curriculum

    • The Article 21A of the Constitution has the RTE (Right to Education) Act says that every child in the age of 4 to 16 should be given free and compulsory education.
    • To keep a check on that, a common syllabus throughout the country is required. This will help all the students to be on par with education.
    • With a common syllabus throughout the country, no student will lag behind in education and hence, this will help them prepare better for competitive examinations or admission tests beyond school level for the outside world.
    • Politics, in some cases, influence the education system which is very unfair for the students. Some state boards prefer the admission of students from their own region and willingly keep the seats of colleges and universities occupied for students passing their 12th standard from their state boards.
    • A common syllabus would also mean that there would be no discrimination regarding quality education on the basis of caste, creed, social, religious beliefs or economic backgrounds.
    • It will provide an unbiased ground of learning and development of the young ones, which may turn out to be very beneficial in future.
    • At present, some of the state boards are not updating their syllabus frequently as per the changes in society. This loophole will be eliminated with the introduction of the uniform syllabus in India.

    Limitations

    • Students may miss learning things specific to their region and their culture. This can be a threat to diversity.
    • Current school students might get affected or stressed out on a sudden change of syllabus.
    • An abrupt change in the syllabus may hamper the stability of a student with the academics which will not be a good turn.
    • A new set of the syllabus will bring in more workload on teachers and parents too.

    Conclusion

    • Uniform education system having common syllabus and common curriculum would achieve the code of a common culture, removal of disparity and depletion of discriminatory values in human relations.
    • It would enhance virtues and improve the quality of life, elevate the thoughts, which advance the constitutional philosophy of equal society.
    • Though the government has been trying to put up with equality in education, the barriers have been inevitable to date.
    • A common syllabus seems to be a wise option, but it is yet to be implemented over the entire country.

    With inputs from:

    https://www.groupdiscussionideas.com/common-syllabus-throughout-indian-schools-pros-cons/

  • Centralisation in decision making in education

    The article tracks the evolution of the India education system after Independence. While the decentralisation and active encouragement underscores the initial years, recent trends shows a growing emphasis on centralisation.

    How Government support contributed to rise of educational institutions

    • In the initial decades after Independence, the government was conscious of various social, economic and financial challenges.
    • So, the government strongly supported universities, encouraging them to further develop an academic .
    • The IITs and IIM along with institutions of academic excellence like the IISc, Indian Statistical Institute, and JNU emerged as model institutions.
    • The institutional and academic autonomy offered was central to their emerging as premier institutions.
    • Other universities revised curricula and set about the task of reforming the university as a space for healthy academic engagement.

    Rise of decentralisation in collective decision making

    • The above changes were marked by the growing importance of various large representative institutional bodies.
    • For example, institutional bodies like faculty committees, committees of courses, board of studies, university senates, academic councils and executive councils grew in importance.
    • These bodies oversaw the administrative and academic functioning of the university and ensured collective decision-making.
    • Debate over ideological positions, scholarly beliefs shaped the process of nation-building in independent India.

    Policy changes and its impact (2005-15)

    • The constitution of the National Knowledge Commission and privatisation of education undermined the deliberative and independent character of these institutions of higher education.
    • Administrative and academic decisions were imposed from above.
    • Discussions within various academic bodies were discouraged.
    • The imposition of the semester system and a four-year undergraduate programme in many public and private universities were hallmarks of this new era of bureaucratic centralisation.
    • The academic achievements of scholars from Indian universities were undermined.
    • Those in positions of authority within the universities were encouraged to undermine academic bodies and limit their role.

    New government intervention after 2015

    • Futher changes were introduced starting from 2015.
    • Choice Based Credit System was introduced and there were renewed attempts to privatise higher education linked to an emphasis on rankings.
    • The government started to look into minute details pertaining to academic curricula, the teaching-learning process and the parameters that governed academic research within the university.

    Centralisation in Covid-19 pandemic

    • The centralisation trend intensified with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • The Central government and the University Grants Commission have imposed themselves on the daily functioning of all higher educational institutions.
    • This represents a new government-oriented bureaucratic centralisation.
    • Decisions about the conclusion of academic term, the modalities for evaluation and the conduct of the teaching-learning process have become exclusive government prerogatives.
    • The various academic bodies that had original jurisdiction over these matters have been made redundant.
    • How and whether examinations are to be conducted has become an issue of contention between State and Central governments.

    Consider the question “Centralisation of the decision making instead of at institutional level in educational institutions and universities lies at many woes of the higher education in India. Comment.”

    Conclusion

    The time has come for institutions of higher education in India to recover their lost voice and restore the fertile academic space where ideas are discussed and debated rather than suppressed and dismissed.

    Original article:

    https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-lost-voice-of-the-indian-university/article32105945.ece

  • [pib] NISHTHA Programme

    The first on-line NISHTHA programme for 1200 Key Resources Persons in Andhra Pradesh was launched by Union HRD Ministry.

    There are various web/portals/apps with peculiar names such as YUKTI, DISHA, SWAYAM etc. Their core purpose is similar with slight differences. Pen them down on a separate sheet under the title various digital HRD initiatives.

     

    Add one more to this list.

    NISHTHA Programme

    • NISHTHA is an acronym for National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement.
    • It is the largest teachers’ training programme of its kind in the world.
    • The basic objective of this massive training programme ‘NISHTHA’ is to motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students.
    • The initiative is first of its kind wherein standardized training modules are developed at national level for all States and UTs.
    • The States and UTs can also contextualize the training modules and use their own material and resource persons also, keeping in view the core topics and expected outcomes of NISHTHA.

    Progress till date

    • Around 23,000 Key Resource Persons and 17.5 lakh teachers and school heads have been covered under this NISHTHA face to face mode till date.
    • It has been customized for online mode to be conducted through DIKSHA and NISHTHA portals by the NCERT.

  • What is Non-Personal Data?

    A government committee headed by Infosys co-founder has suggested that non-personal data generated in the country be allowed to be harnessed by various domestic companies and entities.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.What is Non-Personal Data? Discuss its utility and various privacy concerns associated with it.

    What is non-personal data?

    • In its most basic form, non-personal data is any set of data which does not contain personally identifiable information.
    • This, in essence, means that no individual or living person can be identified by looking at such data.
    • For example, while order details collected by a food delivery service will become non-personal data if the identifiers such as name and contact information are taken out.
    • The government committee, which submitted its report, has classified non-personal data into three main categories, namely public non-personal data, community non-personal data and private non-personal data.

    Types of non-personal data

    Depending on the source of the data and whether it is anonymised in a way that no individual can be re-identified from the data set, the three categories have been divided:

    1) Public

    All the data collected by government and its agencies such as census, data collected by municipal corporations on the total tax receipts in a particular period or any information collected during execution of all publicly funded works have been kept under the umbrella of public non-personal data.

    2) Community

    Any data identifiers about a set of people who have the same geographic location, religion, job, or other common social interests will form the community non-personal data. For example, the metadata collected by ride-hailing apps, telecom companies, electricity distribution companies among others have been put under the community non-personal data category by the committee.

    3) Private

    Private non-personal data can be defined as those which are produced by individuals which can be derived from the application of proprietary software or knowledge.

    How sensitive can non-personal data be?

    • Unlike personal data, which contains explicit information about a person’s name, age, gender, sexual orientation, biometrics and other genetic details, non-personal data is more likely to be in an anonymised form.
    • However, in certain categories such as data related to national security or strategic interests such as locations of government laboratories or research facilities, even if provided in anonymised form can be dangerous.
    • Similarly, even if the data is about the health of a community or a group of communities, though it may be in anonymised form, it can still be dangerous, the committee opined.
    • Possibilities of such harm are obviously much higher if the original personal data is of a sensitive nature.
    • Therefore, the non-personal data arising from such sensitive personal data may be considered as sensitive non-personal data.

    What are the global standards on non-personal data?

    • In May 2019, the EU came out with a regulatory framework for the free flow of non-personal data.
    • It suggested that member states of the union would cooperate with each other when it came to data sharing.
    • Such data, the EU had then ruled would be shared by member states without any hindrances.
    • The authorities must inform the commission of any draft act which introduces a new data localisation requirement or makes changes to an existing data localisation requirement.
    • The regulation, however, had not defined what non-personal data constituted of and had simply said all data which is not personal would be under its category.

    What areas does India’s non-personal data draft miss?

    • Though the non-personal data draft is a pioneer in identifying the power, role, and usage of anonymised data, there are certain aspects such as community non-personal data, where the draft could have been clearer.
    • Non-personal data often constitute protected trade secrets and often raises significant privacy concerns.
    • The paper proposes the nebulous concept of community data while failing to adequately provide for community rights.
    • Other experts also believe that the final draft of the non-personal data governance framework must clearly define the roles for all participants, such as the data principal, the data custodian, and data trustees.

    Conclusion

    • Regulation must be clear, and concise to provide certainty to its market participants, and must demarcate the roles and responsibilities of participants in the regulatory framework.
    • The report is unclear on these counts and requires public consultation and more deliberation.

  • No medical examination for Trans Persons

    After facing flak from the transgender community, the Centre has done away with the requirement of a medical examination for trans persons applying for a certificate of identity in its latest draft rules framed under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.What are the salient features of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019? Also, discuss the loopholes.

    What are the new rules?

    • The draft of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020, published stated that a District Magistrate would issue a transgender identity certificate and card based on an affidavit by the applicant, but without any medical examination.

    Issue with the earlier draft

    • An earlier draft of the rules had mandated a report from a psychologist along with the affidavit for the application.
    • The transgender rights movement had opposed this, as it was seen as going against a trans person’s right to self-identification, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014.

    Change of gender is permissible

    • In case of change of gender, the application for new identification would require a certificate from the medical superintendent or chief medical officer of the medical institution where the applicant the surgery.
    • For this, the Centre has proposed a series of welfare schemes, including making at least one hospital in each State equipped to provide safe and free gender-affirming surgery and counselling and hormone replacement therapy among others.

    Back2Basics: The 2014 Judgement on Trans-persons Rights

    • The Supreme Court in 2014 recognized transgenders as the third gender in a landmark ruling, saying it was addressing a “human rights issue”.
    • The ruling came after it heard a PIL filed by National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) demanding equal rights.
    • The judgements said that non-recognition of gender identity amounts to discrimination under Article 15, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.
    • The spirit of the constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender said justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri in their ruling.
    • Self-identification as man or woman, irrespective of sexual reassignment surgery, was now protected by law.
    • The judges said rights such as the right to vote, own property, marry and to “claim a formal identity” would be made available “more meaningfully” to the transgender community as a result of the ruling.

    Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019

    The Parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019.

    Key Features

    • Definition of a transgender person: The Bill defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth. It includes transmen and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as kinnar and hijra.
    • Certificate of identity: A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’.
    • Prohibition against discrimination: The Bill prohibits discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to:
      • Education, employment, healthcare.
      • Access to or enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public.
      • Right to movement, right to reside, rent, or otherwise occupy property.
      • Opportunity to hold public or private office.
      • Access to a government or private establishment in whose care or custody a transgender person is.
    • Health care
      • The Bill also seeks to provide rights of health facilities to transgender persons including separate HIV surveillance centres, and sex reassignment surgeries.
      • It also states that the government shall review medical curriculum to address health issues of transgender persons, and provide comprehensive medical insurance schemes for them.
    • It calls for establishing a National Council for Transgender persons (NCT).
    • Punishment: It states that the offences against transgender persons will attract imprisonment between six months and two years, in addition to a fine.

  • [pib] PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education

    Union HRD Ministry has released PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education through online medium.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.Discuss the impact of the COVID induced lockdowns on the education system in India. Give some solutions for it.

    PRAGYATA guidelines

    • The guidelines include eight steps of online/ digital learning that is, Plan- Review- Arrange- Guide- Yak(talk)- Assign- Track- Appreciate.
    • These guidelines have been developed from the perspective of learners, with a focus on online/blended/digital education for students who are presently at home due to lockdown.
    • It provides a roadmap or pointers for carrying forward online education to enhance the quality of education.
    • The guidelines will be relevant and useful for a diverse set of stakeholders including school heads, teachers, parents, teacher educators and students.
    • It stresses upon the use of an alternative academic calendar of NCERT, for both, learners having access to digital devices and learners having limited or no access.

     Major highlights

    The guidelines highlight 3 modes of online education:

    The guidelines outline suggestions for administrators, school heads, teachers, parents and students in the following areas:

    • Need assessment
    • Concerns while planning online and digital education like duration, screen time, inclusiveness, balanced online and offline activities etc level-wise
    • Modalities of intervention including resource curation, level-wise delivery etc.
    • Physical, mental health and wellbeing during digital education
    • Cyber safety and ethical practices including precautions and measures for maintaining cyber safety
    • Collaboration and convergence with various initiatives

    Recommended screen time

    Class Recommendation
    Pre Primary Not more than 30 minutes.
    Classes 1 to 12 Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT
    Classes 1 to 8 Not more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days
    Classes 9 to 12 Not more than four sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days

    Guidelines for parents

    • For parents, the guideline helps to understand the need for physical, mental health and wellbeing along with the cyber safety measures for children at home.
    • Guidelines for physical health and mental wellness is stressed so that children do not get overly stretched or stressed, or get affected owing to prolonged use of digital devices.
    • Also, it provides sufficient Dos and Don’ts regarding ergonomics and cyber safety.

  • [pib] India’s Voluntary National Review (VNR) of SDGs

    The NITI Aayog has recently presented India’s second Voluntary National Review at the UN’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, 2020.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.Discuss the institutional approach adopted by NITI Aayog for the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

    About the UN Forum on SDGs

    • The HLPF is the foremost international platform for follow-up and review of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
    • The HLPF meets annually in July for eight days under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN.
    • The VNRs presented by the Member States at the HLPF are a critical component of the review of progress and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
    • The reviews are voluntary and state-led and are aimed at facilitating the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.

    India VNR 2020

    • NITI Aayog prepared and presented India’s first VNR in 2017.
    • The report is a comprehensive account of the adoption and implementation of the 2030 Agenda in India.
    • India’s VNR this year has undertaken a paradigm shift in terms of embodying a “whole-of-society” approach in letter and spirit.
    • Apart from presenting a review of progress on the 17 SDGs, the report discusses at length the policy and enabling environment, India’s approach to localizing SDGs, and strengthening means of implementation.
    • Leveraging science, technology and innovation for SDGs, and costing and financing of SDGs are the two levers of strengthening means of implementation which have been introduced this year.

    Consultations made for the VNR 2020

    From Global to Local -key steps of localisation of SDGs in India

     

  • Breaking the politicians-criminals-bureaucrats nexus

    The root cause of impunity with which police perpetrated crimes lies in the in a nexus. The nexus between politicians, criminals and government functionaries needs to be broken down. This article suggests the ways to do that.

    The context

    • The recent custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu and encounter of a criminal by the UP police showed the police in a bad light.
    • However, when we dig deeper into the problem we realise that its root lies in the nexus of politicians, criminals and the government functionaries.

    Past attempt to break the nexus

    • In 1993, the Vohra Committee had submitted a report on the nexus between the criminals, politicians and government functionaries.
    • DIB suggested that an institution be set up to effectively deal with the menace.
    • There were discussions in parliament, but the matter ended there.
    • There was hardly any follow-up action.

    Criminalisation of politics

    • The number of members of parliament with criminal background has been going up with every successive election.
    • It was, according to the Association of Democratic Reforms, 30 per cent in 2009, 34 per cent in 2014 and 43 per cent in 2019.
    • The present UP Assembly has 36 per cent or 143 MLAs with criminal cases against them.
    • This lead to the administration turning a blind eye to the illegal activities of the criminals.
    • The nexus has proliferated and grown in strength down the years.
    • It creates an environment where the criminals who are part of the nexus are able to dodge the due processes of law.

    Suggestions

    • 1) We must have a law which debars persons with serious criminal cases from entering the assemblies and the Parliament.
    • 2) The criminal justice system must be revamped as recommended by the Malimath Committee.
    • 3) The Supreme Court’s directions on police reforms must be implemented.
    • 4) An institution comprising representatives of the police/CBI/NIA, IB, IT department, Revenue Intelligence and Enforcement Directorate should be set up to monitor the activities of the mafia and criminal syndicates in the country.
    • 5) A Central act on the lines of MCOCA should be enacted to curb the activities of organised criminal gangs.
    • 6) The concept of federal crime, as recommended by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, should be accepted.
    • Crimes with all-India ramifications or are trans-national in character, like those of terrorism and organised crimes, should be brought within the ambit of federal crimes.

    Consider the question “The nexus of criminals, politicians and government functionaries is at the root of many problems the country faces today. Examine the problems created by the nexus and suggest ways to deal with the problem.”

    Conclusion

    We must, without further delay, build an environment where police become an instrument of service to the people, where monsters like Dubey do not thrive and become a menace to society.