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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • World University Rankings by Subject 2020

     

     

    Indian higher-education institutes have improved their performance on the global stage, with a greater number getting ranked in the top-100 programs, according to the latest edition of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject 2020.

    Major findings of the report

    • IIT Bombay (44), IIT Delhi (47), IIT Kharagpur (86), IIT Madras (88) and IIT Kanpur (96) found place in top 100 of this category.
    • In the Natural Sciences category, three Indian institutions made it to the top 200: IIT-Bombay at 108th rank closely followed by the IISc, Bangalore at the 111th position, while IIT-Madras scraped in at the 195th rank.
    • Jawaharlal Nehru University remained the country’s top institution in the Arts and Humanities category, with a global ranking of 162, followed at a distance by Delhi University at 231.
    • Delhi University topped the Social Sciences and Management category, with a global ranking of 160, followed by IIT-Delhi at 183.
    • There are no Indian institutions in the world’s top 200 when it comes to Life Sciences and Medicine.
    • The top institution in the country is the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, which had a global ranking of 231.
    • Other top subjects included physics & astronomy with 18 Indian institutes, biological sciences (16), electrical engineering (15), chemical engineering (14) and mechanical engineering (14).
    • MIT, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge has secured top three positions in the Engineering and Technology category.

  • Skill her, skill India

    Context

    On March 8, we honour and celebrate women on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. Women in our country are making strides in social, financial and political fields.

    Women breaking the barriers

    • Women working for the development of the country: Be it the 1857 mutiny for India’s freedom or the struggle for Independence, our women have always made India proud.
      • Even today, women are performing their duties with full devotion for the development of the country and upliftment of society.
      • They are working efficiently in various fields, such as academics, literature, music and dance, sports, media, business, information technology, science and technology, politics and social development.
    • Breaking barriers in various fields: Indian women from metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai are breaking barriers in fields ranging from politics to the corporate sector.
    • Giving society a new direction: Women are giving society a new direction through their leadership and critical participation in panchayat elections.
      • Increasing awareness and clear intentions are the reason behind women strengthening economic, social and cultural establishments.
      • This is very important for a democratic system.

    Female participation in the corporate sector

    • IT sector participation: There is a constant evolution of female participation in the corporate sector. Female participation is constantly increasing in the Information Technology sector.
    • Presence in other areas: Along with the IT sector, the presence of women is also increasing in the banking and finance sector.
      • Last year, the Indian Space Research Organisation decided to hand over the command of Chandrayaan-2 to two women, and these women also played a key role in the mission.

    Government schemes for women empowerment

    • Our government is running many schemes for women’s empowerment such as the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Mahila E-haat Scheme, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, Sakhi Yojana, Ladli Yojana, Digital Laado and the Swachh Bharat Mission.
    • Government is also working extensively on women’s nutrition.
    • Multiple ministries working on the same: The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Women and Child Empowerment, and Human Resource Development are working closely in this regard.
    • Identification of skill set: We know that every person has a unique skill-set. What is needed is a mechanism to ensure that that skill-set is identified and honed in the best possible way.
      • The government need to ensure that all women in our country from different occupations are trained in their respective skill-sets and are employable.
    • Government need to put to best use their skill-set to become self-employed entrepreneurs and progress.
    • Around 68.12 lakh women in India have been trained under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikaas Yojana 2.0.
    • Under the Jan Shikshan Sansthan Scheme, around 08 lakh women have been trained in the 2018-2020 period, while 38.72 lakh women have been trained in Industrial Training Institutes (ITI).
      • At present, there are 18 National Skill Training Institutes across the country to train women. Special batches are being conducted to provide basic, theoretical and advanced training to women.
    • Making progress in non-traditional skills: It is a matter of joy and pride that while women in India are studying electronics, fashion design, technology and business management, there are also those who hone their new-age skills in artificial intelligence, data analytics, 3D printing, etc.
      • Along with traditional skills like beauty, wellness and healthcare, women are also progressing quickly in non-traditional skills such as electronics and hardware.

    The role of various missions in strengthening women’s skill

    • The National Rural Livelihood Mission has strengthened women’s skills and prepared them for employment.
    • Training for self-employed tailors, beauty therapists, customer care executives, hairstylists, yoga trainers, etc. are being carried out in the Prime Minister Skill Centres.
    • Women playing a significant role in various missions: Very soon, one will get to see women playing significant roles in central government schemes such as the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission and Smart City Mission.
      • By joining these missions, women will make a huge contribution in giving a new shape to society.
      • In fact, in the creation of a New India, women’s education and skill development are going to be critical.
    • In the last few years, the central government has rolled out various schemes that have emboldened the women of our country and taken them on the path of self-reliance and security.

    Conclusion

    The efforts of our government have created a milieu of trust in the women of our country. They are confident that the country’s government machinery is standing by them by creating an atmosphere of respect and development for women. In the past few years, our government has made massive advancements in providing education and honing skill-sets. We pledge to make sure that these efforts reach each and every Indian woman.

     

  • A disconnected pedagogy

    Context

    The gap between jobs, needs and knowledge, and the absence of role models, could be turning India’s demographic dividend into a nightmare.

    National curriculum and problems with it

    • What is in our national curriculum? It is a fixed set of topics prescribed in all subjects — from physics to geography, and engineering to planning.
      • And it is taught in English at our elite MHRD institutions.
    • Designed by professionals: It has not been designed by politicians but by our elite professors and bureaucrats: It is what they believe the nation really needs to know.
    • Issue of imposition: It is imposed on ordinary students and parents through competitive exams and on colleges and universities through various central regulatory agencies, most egregiously, through the UGC-NET, an objective-type multiple-choice (!) exam that decides who is fit to be a college teacher.

    Issues with the engineering curriculum

    • Doesn’t address the regional needs: We already know that the national engineering curriculum fails miserably in meeting regional needs.
      • No regional variation accounted for: Engineering for Himachal Pradesh needs to be different from that in Maharashtra or Kerala.
    • Not in sync with the demands of the industry: It must address the needs of core industries, local enterprises, the provisioning of basic amenities such as water and energy.
      • None of this is in our national curricula or practised at the IITs.
      • Moreover, there is no mechanism for engineering colleges to work with their communities.

    Issue with the social science curriculum

    • No interdisciplinary courses: Let us look at the UGC-NET curricula, which is largely what is taught in our elite institutions.
      • At the BA level, it is divided into several disciplines — for instance, political science, sociology and economics.
      • This is unfortunate since much of life in India is interdisciplinary.
      • As a result, many activities such as preparing the balance sheet for a farmer, or analysing public transport needs, and development concerns such as drinking water or even city governance, are given a miss.
    • Example of economics curriculum: The UGC-NET curricula in economics has 10 units, the very last unit is Indian Economics. Unit 8 is on Growth and Development Economics, where the student must know Keynes, Marx, Kaldor, and others.
      • There are various mathematical models, for example, the IS-LM macroeconomic model, whose validity in the Indian scenario is questionable.
      • Absence of important sectors: The study of sectors such as small enterprises or basic economic services such as transportation is absent. The District Economic Survey, an important document prepared regularly by every state for each district, is not even mentioned.

    Sociology curriculum and issues involved

    • Absence of certain important items: There is no preamble nor a list of textbooks or case studies.
      • Under “Social Institutions”, we have a list of timeless words such as culture, marriage, family and kinship.
      • Peasant occurs two times, but there is no farmer. Here is a sample question: “Who uses the phrase ‘fetishism of commodities’ while analysing social conditions?” followed by four names.
    • No mention of important data: There is also no mention of important data sets such as the census or developmental programmes including MGNREGA in either curriculum.

    Conclusion

    • National curricula divorced from the community: The training at our elite institutions, and consequently, in the national curricula, is not to empower ordinary students to probe their lived reality. Or to contribute professionally and constructively to the development problems around us. Rather, it is to perpetuate a peculiar intellectualism which is divorced from the community in which these institutions are embedded.
    • Need to rethink the one-nation-one curriculum: One-nation-one-curriculum certainly has some advantages in enabling mobility of some jobs, especially in the national bureaucracy and a multinational economy.
      • Cost to the developmental needs: But one-nation-one-curriculum comes at the cost of the developmental needs of the states and the emergence of good jobs there.
    • Turning demographic dividend into a nightmare: The above-stated asymmetry is behind the aspirational dysfunction in higher education. It is this disconnect between jobs, needs and knowledge and the absence of role models, which is slowly turning our demographic dividend into a nightmare on the streets.

     

     

     

  • Teaching the teacher

    Context

    Our teacher education system must be aligned with global standards.

    Learning crisis and teacher vacancies in India

    • Teacher education as a status check on schooling education: Comparable to the role of a thermometer in diagnosing fever, an assessment of the quality of teacher education can be a status check on the schooling system.
      • Teachers remain at the heart of the issue, and translating schooling into learning is a critical challenge.
    • The gravity of learning crisis: The learning crisis is evident in the fact that almost half of the children in grade 5 in rural India cannot solve a simple two-digit subtraction problem,
      • While 67 per cent of children in grade 8 in public schools score less than 50 per cent in competency-based assessments in mathematics.
    • Teacher vacancies: India is dealing with a scenario of significant teacher vacancies, which are to the tune of almost 60-70 per cent in some states.
    • In fact, there are over one lakh single-teacher schools present across the country.
    • Excess teachers produced by TEIs: On the other hand, there are 17,000-odd Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) that are responsible for preparing teachers through programmes such as the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), and Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed).
      • 19 lakh teachers every year: Taking their sanctioned intake into account, at full operation, these TEIs could generate over 19 lakh freshly trained teachers every year as against the estimated annual requirement of 3 lakh teachers.
      • To put things in perspective, currently, there are about 94 lakh teachers across all schools in India.
      • Every year, the teacher education system could, therefore, be producing one-fifth of the total number of school teachers.

    The quality aspect of the teachers

    • Poor quality teachers: Not only are these TEIs generating a surplus supply of teachers, but they are also producing poor-quality teachers.
    • Pass percentage in eligibility test below 25%: Besides it being reflected in the dismal state of learning across schools, the pass-percentage in central teacher eligibility tests that stipulate eligibility for appointments as teachers has not exceeded 25 per cent in recent years.
      • This begs a pertinent question — how did we get here?

    What are the reasons for such problems?

    • The answers lie in:  The inadequacies of planning, regulation, policy and organisational structures.
    • The role and issues in NCTE: The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and its four regional committees (north, south, east and west), established by statute, are responsible for teacher education in India.
      • Toothless in terms of powers: The Act assigns disproportionate power to the regional committees which grant programme affiliation while the Council has been rendered toothless.
    • Proliferation of sus-standard TEIs: Perverted incentives, widespread corruption and commercialisation have resulted in a massive proliferation of sub-standard TEIs.
      • In fact, while most of these TEIs are financially unviable, some function out of tiny rooms with duplicate addresses, and a few could even be selling degrees at a fixed price.
      • No system to ensure the entry of meritorious: These institutes function in isolation from the rest of the higher education system, and there is no system to assess and accredit them. Consequently, there is no systemic sieve to ensure the entry of only motivated and meritorious individuals into the teacher education space.
    • Disparity regional spread of TEIs: A more granular look reveals disparities across regions and programmes offered.
      • One-third in UP: Almost one-third of the TEIs are concentrated in Uttar Pradesh.
      • In fact, Ghazipur, a district in UP with a population of around one lakh, has a whopping 300 TEIs.
      • Approximately half of the total TEIs are in the northern region with Rajasthan having the second-largest number of institutes.
    • Poor planning: While there are about 17 recognised teacher education programmes, a majority of TEIs offer only B.Ed and D.El.Ed programmes.
      • This reinforces the point of poor planning as the country is actually facing a shortage of subject teachers in secondary schools and teacher-educators for whom a Master of Education (M.Ed) degree is a requisite (offered in less than 10 per cent of the TEIs).
    • Outdated curriculum: Adding to the mix of challenges is an outdated teacher preparation curriculum framework that was last updated over a decade ago.
    • Regulation by multiple agencies: On the governance front, multiple agencies have oversight on teacher education.

    Way forward

    • Collect the credible data: Any reform initiative must be built on credible data.
      • No data available: To date, there is no accurate real-time database of the number and details of teacher education institutes, students enrolled and programmes offered.
      • How the data can be helpful? Such data could be used to create a comprehensive plan for the sector, devising the optimal number of TEIs, their regional spread and programme-wise intake.
      • One cannot but underscore the significance of proper planning. The teachers will concur.
    • Develop the system of assessment and accreditation: An accurate system of assessment and accreditation must be developed to ensure high-quality teacher education.
      • The National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), responsible for quality-standards in higher education, has only covered 30 per cent of all institutes since its establishment back in 1994.
      • Given the extensive landscape of the teacher education sector alone and current capacity constraints, it is necessary that multiple accreditation agencies be empanelled.
      • A common accreditation framework should be designed through a consultative process including all relevant stakeholders to facilitate its wider acceptability.
      • A transparent and credible system of accreditation could form the bedrock for weeding out substandard TEIs and propelling quality improvements in the rest.
    • The curriculum of global quality: Core determinant of quality is the curriculum which must be regularly revamped and revised to ensure that our teacher education system is aligned to global standards.
      • Ideally, given that teacher education requires a good mix of curricular inputs and good-quality pedagogy, experts are rightly advocating for a shift towards integrated four-year subject-specific programmes to be housed in multidisciplinary colleges and universities.
      • In the first phase, these may be initiated in select central and state universities.
      • Potential to outsource teachers: This could also potentially serve as an avenue for India to outsource its surplus high-quality teachers to over 70 countries that face a teacher shortage.
    • Administrative will and execution: Finally, reforms must be driven by administrative will and executed through a well-established governance mechanism, clearly establishing ownership and accountability for set work streams across multiple agencies.
      • The draft National Education Policy presents a ray of hope.
      • Its vision to restore integrity and credibility to the teacher education system needs to be translated into effective action.

    Conclusion

    India is estimated to have the largest workforce within the next decade. This means that a population bulge is on the cusp of entering the higher education ecosystem now. The pressing need of the hour is to focus on providing the best quality teacher education to those who aspire to build the future of this country.

     

  • [pib] Regulating Content of Trans-Fat in Oils and Fats

     

     

    The limit of trans-fats to be not more than 5% is prescribed under Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 for vanaspati, bakery shortenings, bakery and industrial margarine and interesterified vegetable fats/oils.

    What are Trans Fats?

    • Artificial Trans fats are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid.
    • Since they are easy to use, inexpensive to produce and last a long time, and give foods a desirable taste and texture, they are still widely used despite their harmful effects being well-known.

    Why this move?

    • Studies have recently shown that 60,000 deaths occur every year due to cardiovascular diseases, which in turn are caused due to high consumption of trans fats.
    • Since the impact of trans fats on human health is increasing exponentially, it is very important to create awareness about them.

    Standards for Trans-fats

    • A draft notification to limit trans-fat to be not more than 2% by weight of the total oils/fats present in the processed food products in which edible oils and fats are used as an ingredient on and from 1st January, 2022 was issued on 28.08.2019. 
    • Standards prescribed under various regulations of FSSAI are enforced to check that they comply with the standards laid down under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and the rules and regulations made thereunder.
    • In cases where the food samples are found to be non-conforming, recourse is taken to penal provisions under Chapter IX of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

  • Students Suicides in India

     

     

    Between 2016 and 2018, nearly 10,000 students committed suicide every year in India, data tabled by the Human Resource Development Ministry in Parliament show.

    About the Report

    • HRD Ministry sourced its data from ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India’.
    • The report is based on data provided by the states and UTs.

    Highlights of the Report

    • Maharashtra accounted for 1 in every 7 student suicides in the country — 4,235 out of 29,542 in the three years combined, or about 1,400 a year.
    • Maharashtra had over 1,300 student suicides in each of the three years, while West Bengal was the only other state with over 1,000 in any single year — 1,147 in 2016.
    • In the overall three-year totals, Maharashtra was followed by Tamil Nadu (2,744), Madhya Pradesh (2,658) and West Bengal (2,535).
    • Eight more states totalled over 1,000 student suicides in the three years, with Karnataka the highest among these at almost 2,000.
    • Among the Union Territories, Delhi had 626 student suicides — 211, 212 and 203 in the three successive years.

  • Whither tribunal independence?

    Context

    The reframed Tribunal rules are in contempt of several Constitution Bench decisions of the Supreme Court.

    What the SC said in Rojer Mathew case

    • Rules being unconstitutional: In November 2019, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in Rojer Mathew, declared the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualification, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017 as unconstitutional.
      • Why it was declared unconstitutional? It was declared unconstitutional for being violative of principles of independence of the judiciary and contrary to earlier decisions of the Supreme Court in the Madras Bar Association 
    • Direction to the Central government: In Rojer Mathew, there was also a direction to the Central government to reformulate the rules strictly in accordance with principles delineated by the Court in its earlier decisions.
      • The reframed rules, notified by the Ministry of Finance, however, suffer from the same vices.

    What were the issues in the Finance Act, 2017

    • What was prescribed in the Finance Act, 2017: The Finance Act, 2017, around 26 Central statutes were amended.
      • Excessive rule-making powers to the Centre government: The power to prescribe eligibility criteria, selection process, removal, salaries, tenure and other service conditions pertaining to various members of 19 tribunals were sub-delegated to the rule-making powers of the Central government.
    • Attempt to keep the judiciary away: Describing the search-cum-selection-committee as an attempt to keep the judiciary away from the process of selection and appointment of members, vice-chairman and chairman of tribunals.
      • Executive litigant in most cases: The Court held that the executive is a litigating party in most of the litigation and hence cannot be allowed to be a dominant participant in tribunal appointments.
      • Selection committee issue: Barring the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), the selection committee for all other tribunals was made up either entirely from personnel within or nominated by the Central government or comprised a majority of personnel from the Central government.
      • While the selection committee for NCLAT consisted of two judges and two secretaries to the Government of India, all other committees comprised only one judge and three secretaries to the Government of India. Now, in the 2020 rules, by default, all committees consist of a judge, the president/chairman/chairperson of the tribunal concerned and two secretaries to the Government of India
    • 3 years tenure injurious to the efficiency: Reiterating its previous decision in Madras Bar Association (2010), the Court held that the tenure of three years for members will “preclude cultivation of adjudicatory experience and is thus injurious to the efficiency of the Tribunals”.

     An equal say for the judiciary

    • 2 Judges in 4 member committee: The common thread in the Madras Bar Association series and Rojer Mathew decisions is that judiciary must have an equal say in the appointment of members of the tribunals.
      • To deny the executive an upper hand in appointing members to tribunals, the court ordered to have two judges of the Supreme Court to be a part of the four-member selection committee.
      • In Madras Bar Association(2010), held that the selection committee should comprise the Chief Justice of India or his nominee (chairperson, with a casting vote), a senior judge of the Supreme Court or Chief Justice of the High Court, and secretaries in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Law and Justice respectively.
    • Decision applicable to all tribunals: Subsequent Constitution Bench decisions in Madras Bar Association (2014), Rojer Mathew and the decision of the Madras High Court in Shamnad Basheer have repeatedly held that the principles of the Madras Bar Association (2010) are applicable to the selection process and constitution of all tribunals in India.
    • What are the provisions dealing with appointment in 2020 rules? Under the 2020 rules, the inclusion of the president/ chairman/chairperson of the tribunal as a member in the selection committee is in the teeth of previous decisions of the Supreme Court.
      • Non-judicial member can become a chairman: For instance, now, in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT), etc. a non-judicial member can become the president/chairman/chairperson, as the case may be.
      • Therefore, when a non-judicial member becomes a member in the selection committee, the Supreme Court judge will be in minority, giving primacy to the executive, which is impermissible.
    • Only judges and advocates can be judicial members: In Madras Bar Association (2010), the Court explicitly held that only judges and advocates can be considered for appointment as a judicial member of the tribunal and that persons from the Indian Legal Service cannot be considered for appointment as judicial member.
      • Recently, in Revenue Bar Association (2019), the Madras High Court declared Section 110(1)(b)(iii) of the CGST Act, 2017 as unconstitutional for allowing members of Indian Legal Service to be judicial members in GSTAT.

    Violation of the SC directives

    • What the SC said on tenure: Based on Madras Bar Association (2010), in Rojer Mathew, the Court held that the term of three years is too short, and by the time members achieve a refined knowledge, expertise and efficiency, one term will be over.
      • What are the provisions in 2020 rules? In the 2020 rules, the tenure of members has been increased from three years to four years, thereby blatantly violating the directions of the Supreme Court.
    • Since the Madras Bar Association (2010), the government has repeatedly violated the directions of the Supreme Court.
      • One by one, the traditional courts, including the High Courts, have been divested of their jurisdictions and several tribunals have been set up.

    Conclusion

    The 2020 rules are, thus, in contempt of several Constitution Bench decisions of the Supreme Court. Unless the Court comes down heavily on the Central government, we will see these encroachments over and over again.

     

  • Tracking the big three

    Context

    The article focuses on the top three Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, namely poverty elimination, zero hunger, and good health and well-being by 2030.

    India’s record on extreme poverty, hunger and health

    • Decline in extreme poverty: The World Bank’s estimates of extreme poverty- measured as $1.9/per capita/per day at purchasing power parity of 2011- show a secular decline in India from 45.9 per cent to 13.4 per cent between 1993 and 2015.
    • Elimination of extreme poverty 2030: If the overall growth process continues as has been the case since, say, 2000 onwards, India may succeed in eliminating extreme poverty by 2030, if not earlier.
    • Zero hunger by 2030: Given the overflowing stock of food grains with the government, and a National Food Security Act (NFSA) that subsidises grains to the tune of more than 90 per cent of its cost to 67 per cent of the population, there is no reason to believe that India can also not attain the goal of zero hunger before 2030.
    • Health- a real challenge: The real challenge for India, is to achieve the third goal of good health and well-being by 2030. India’s performance in this regard, so far, has not been satisfactory. as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 2015-16)-
      • In 2015-16, almost 38.4 per cent of India’s children under the age of five years were stunted.
      • 8 per cent were underweight.
      • 21 per cent suffered from wasting (low weight for height).
      • The situation in some states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh is even worse.
    • Global Hunger Index ranking of India: No wonder, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) ranks India at 102 out of 117 countries in terms of the severity of hunger in 2019.

    What are the various targets set on the nutrition problem?

    • Target on reducing the problems of underweight children: The National Nutrition Strategy, 2017, aims to reduce the prevalence of underweight children (0-3 years) by three percentage points every year by 2022 from NFHS 2015-16 estimates.
      • Why this is an ambitious target? This is an ambitious target given the decadal decline in underweight children from 42.5 per cent in 2005-06 to 35.8 per cent in 2015-16 amounts to less than 1 per cent decline per year.
    • Targets set in National Nutrition Mission: Similar targets have been set by the National Nutrition Mission (renamed as POSHAN Abhiyaan), 2017.
      • To reduce stunting by 2 per cent.
      • Under-nutrition by 2 per cent.
      • Anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) by 3 per cent.
      • Low birth weight by 2 per cent.

    Four areas India needs to focus to achieve the set targets

    • India has to focus on four key areas:  If India has to make a significant dent on malnutrition by 2030.
    • First- Mother’s education.
      • Multiplier effect: It is one of the most important factors that have a positive multiplier effect on child care and access to healthcare facilities.
      • Increases awareness: It also increases awareness about the nutrient-rich diet, personal hygiene, etc. This can also help contain the family size in poor, malnourished families.
      • Thus, a high priority to female literacy, in a mission mode through liberal scholarships for the girl child, would go a long way towards tackling this problem.
    • Second- Access to improved sanitation and safe drinking water.
      • The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Jal Jeevan Mission would have positive outcomes in the coming years.
    • Third-shift in dietary pattern
      • Shift from cereals to more nutritious food: There is a need to shift dietary patterns from cereal dominance to the consumption of nutritious foods such as livestock products, fruits and vegetables, pulses, etc.
      • But they are generally costly and their consumption increases only by higher incomes and better education.
      • Diverting the food subsidy to nutritious foods: Diverting a part of the food subsidy on wheat and rice to more nutritious foods can help.
    • Fourth- Adoption of new agricultural technology
      • Adopt bio-fortifying cereals: India must adopt new agricultural technologies of bio-fortifying cereals, such as zinc-rich rice, wheat, iron-rich pearl millet, and so on.
      • The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has to work closely with the Harvest Plus programme of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) to make it a win-win situation for curtailing malnutrition in Indian children at a much faster pace — and, at a much lower cost than would be achieved under a business as usual scenario.

    Examples from the world

    • Right public policies make the difference: Global experience shows that with the right public policies focusing on agriculture, improved sanitation, and women’s education, one can have much better health and well-being for its citizens, especially children.
    • China’s example: In China, it was agriculture and economic growth that significantly reduced the rates of stunting and wasting among the population and lifted millions of people out of hunger, poverty and malnutrition.
    • Brazil and Ethiopia example: According to FAO, Brazil and Ethiopia have transformed their food systems: They have targeted their investments in agricultural R&D and social protection programmes to reduce hunger in the country.

    Conclusion

    Despite India’s improvement in child nutrition rates since 2005-06, it is way behind the progress experienced by China and many other countries. According to the Global Nutrition Report, 2016, at the present rates of decline, India will achieve the current stunting rates of China by 2055. India can certainly do better, but only if it focuses on this issue.

  • Delimitation in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir

    The newly created UT of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) will be the only one in the country to undergo a delimitation exercise based on the population figures recorded in the 2011 census.

    Delimitation in J&K

    • The latest readjustment of boundaries of constituencies in other States and UTs has been done on the basis of 2001 census and in future it will be carried out according to the 2031 census.
    • As per 2011 Census, the population in Kashmir region is 68,88,475, Jammu has a population of 53,78,538 and Ladakh has 2,74,289.
    • Delimitation was last done in J&K in the year 1995.

    The legal basis for delimitation

    • Section 63 was introduced in the J&K Reorganisation Act so that delimitation exercise can be conducted smoothly without overlapping with other provisions of Delimitation Commission Act, 2002.
    • It is a saving clause and since J&K is a UT, it now has constitutional safeguards.
    • The provision did not require any separate legislation as it was incorporated in the primary Act.
    • It says that “until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published,” it shall not be necessary to readjust the constituencies.
    • And any reference to the “latest census figures” in shall be construed as a reference to the 2011 census figures.
    • The delimitation will be done for 90 seats as 24 seats fall in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

    Back2Basics

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/explained-delimitation-of-constituencies/

  • Defining Anti-national Activities

    Ever since the anti-CAA protests erupted across the country, the MHA has been quite active in filtering out foreigners among the protesters and serving them with ‘Leave India’ notices’.

    What contributes to ‘Anti-government’ activities?

    • According to visa guidelines laid out by the MHA, Foreign nationals shall be required to strictly adhere to the purpose of visit declared while submitting the visa application.
    • However, a foreign national (other than a Pakistani national) coming to India on any type of visa will be allowed to avail activities permitted under tourist visa.
    • However, there are no provisions specified under “anti-government” activities subhead.
    • The absence of any such provision in visa laws or Foreigner’s Act makes it necessary for the government to define “anti-government” activities under a statute.
    • Visa laws are not in any derogation with any other law, so inferences can be drawn — which means a court can rule that whatever are defined as “anti-government” activities for Indian national is “anti-government” for foreign national too.”

    What do ‘anti-government’ activities mean for an Indian national?

    • According to the lawyers, anti-government activities are those which are listed as punishable under Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.
    • Section 124A IPC deals with attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in India.
    • Such offences shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which a fine may be added; or, with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which a fine may be added; or, with fine.

    Does a foreigner on Indian visa have a right to protest?

    • Right to protest peacefully is enshrined under Article 19(1)(a) of Indian Constitution which guarantees the freedom of speech and expression.
    • Article (19)(b) guarantees the citizens of the country the right to assemble peacefully and without arms.
    • Since Article 14 of the Constitution ensures equality to any person before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India, foreigners also have the right to protest peacefully, argue proponents.
    • However, the act done by the foreigner must not be anything in contravention to the existing laws of India.
    • Being a part of a peaceful protest isn’t illegal and thus, being a part of it isn’t anything wrong even if that is against the Indian government, critic says.