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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • Novel Coronavirus renamed as COVID-19 by WHO

    The World Health Organization (WHO) gave an official name to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The death toll from the virus has now crossed 1,000 and the disease has infected tens of thousands of people, the majority of them in China.

    COVID-19

    • The disease will be called “COVID-19”; the “CO” stands for coronavirus, “VI” for virus and “D” for disease.
    • The coronavirus itself is called “nCoV-2019”.

    WHO nomenclature

    • The WHO, in consultation with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has identified best practices for naming new human diseases.
    1. These best practices apply to a new disease:
    2. That is an infection, syndrome, or disease of humans;
    3. That has never been recognised before in humans;
    4. That has potential public health impact; and
    5. Where no disease name is yet established in common usage
    • Names that are assigned by the WHO may or may not be approved by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) at a later stage.
    • The ICD, which is also managed by the WHO, provides a final standard name for each human disease according to standard guidelines that are aimed at reducing the negative impact from names while balancing science, communication and policy.

    Terms to avoid

    • The agreed best practices include advice on what the disease names should not include, such as geographic location (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Spanish Flu, Japanese encephalitis).
    • Disease names should not include people’s names (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Chagas disease), the species or class of animal or food (swine flu, monkeypox etc.), cultural or occupational references (miners, butchers, cooks, nurses etc.) and terms that incite “undue fear” such as death, fatal and epidemic.
    • The use of names such as “swine flu” and “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome” has had “unintended negative impacts” by stigmatising certain communities and economic sectors.

    Terms to include

    • The best practices include using generic descriptive terms such as respiratory diseases, hepatitis, neurologic syndrome, watery diarrhoea.
    • They include using specific descriptive terms that may indicate the age group of the patients and the time course of the disease, such as progressive, juvenile or severe.
    • If the causative pathogen is known, it should be used as part of the disease name with additional descriptors such as the year when the disease was first reported or detected.
    • The names should also be short (rabies, malaria, polio) and should be consistent with the guidelines under the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Content Model Reference Guide.
    • As per the WHO, “severe” should be used only for those diseases that have a very high initial case fatality rate. “Novel” can be used to indicate a new pathogen of a previously known type
    • In the case of the novel coronavirus, “recognizing that this term will become obsolete if other new pathogens of that type are identified”, the WHO has now changed its name.

  • Six years on, Lokpal is a non-starter

    Context

    More than six years after the Lokpal law received the President’s assent, the institution of the Lokpal is yet to play any significant role in tackling corruption in the country.

    Delay in appointment

    • Five-year delay in appointment: For more than five years, the chairperson and members of the Lokpal were not appointed.
      • LoP issue: The government claimed that since no one could be recognised as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) after the 2014 general election, the committee responsible for selecting members of the Lokpal could not be constituted.
      • This malady could have been easily remedied by either recognising the leader of the single largest party in Opposition in the Lok Sabha as the LoP, or by amendment as was done for the selection committee of the CBI Director.
      • However, neither recourse was taken.

    Truncated appointment committee

    • Special invitee: The leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha was invited for meetings of the selection committee as a ‘special invitee’.
      • Which he declined on grounds that it was mere tokenism.

    Non-starter

    • More than 10 months later, however, evidence suggests that the Lokpal is a non-starter.
    • No rules prescribing the form: Till date, the government has not made rules prescribing the form for filing complaints to the Lokpal.
    • No rules regarding asset disclosure: The Central government has also failed to formulate rules regarding asset disclosure by public servants.
    • In order to ensure independent and credible action on allegations of corruption, the Lokpal was empowered under the law to set up its own inquiry wing headed by a Director of Inquiry and its own prosecution wing headed by a Director of Prosecution.
    • The Inquiry and prosecution wing not set up yet: The inquiry and prosecution wings of the anti-corruption ombudsman are yet to be set up.
      • The Lokpal has also not appointed the Director of Inquiry or Prosecution.
      • Regulations for inquiry and investigation not made: Regulations which the Lokpal was obligated to make under the law are yet to be made, including those specifying the manner and procedure of conducting preliminary inquiry and investigation.
    • Legal veracity of the decisions uncertain: Since necessary procedures to operationalise the law are yet to be put in place, the legal veracity of the decisions of the Lokpal could potentially be challenged in a court of law.

    Conclusion

    The failure to operationalise the Lokpal in an effective manner lays bare the lack of will of the government. It took nearly half a century for the Lokpal law to be enacted from the time the need for the oversight institution was first articulated. The government must act to have an effective, independent and empowered Lokpal.

  • Arsenic Contamination

    As the geography of arsenic contamination spreads, there is an urgent need for governments to reorient mitigation measures. That’s because the focus till now has only been on drinking water, but new research says arsenic has contaminated our food chain.

    Arsenic contamination of water

    • Arsenic contamination in groundwater is one of the most crippling issues in the drinking water scenario of India.
    • According to the latest report of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), 21 states across the country have pockets with arsenic levels higher than the BIS stipulated permissible limit of 0.01 milligram per litre (mg/l).
    • The states along the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river basin — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam — are the worst affected by this human-amplified geogenic occurrence.
    • In India, arsenic contamination was first officially confirmed in West Bengal in 1983.
    • Close to four decades after its detection, the scenario has worsened.
    • About 9.6 million people in West Bengal, 1.6 million in Assam, 1.2 million in Bihar, 0.5 million in Uttar Pradesh and 0.013 million in Jharkhand are at immediate risk from arsenic contamination in groundwater.

    Effects of arsenic poisoning

    • Long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water can cause cancer in the skin, lungs, bladder and kidney. It can also cause other skin changes such as thickening and pigmentation.
    • The likelihood of effects is related to the level of exposure to arsenic and in areas where drinking water is heavily contaminated, these effects can be seen in many individuals in the population.
    • Increased risks of lung and bladder cancer and skin changes have been reported in people ingesting arsenic in drinking water at concentrations of 50 ”g/litre, or even lower.

    Affecting food

    • Recent research says arsenic contamination in groundwater has penetrated the food chain.
    • It eventually causes photo-accumulation of arsenic in the food crops, especially in the leaves, can emanate from contaminated water sprayed on them.
    • Yet the focus remained on drinking water, and the affected regions became the primary stake-holder in the mitigation approach.

    Way forward

    • Mitigation measures — that are currently focused on drinking water — must have a more comprehensive approach to ensure arsenic-free water for drinking and agricultural products.
    • That means that the government must check for arsenic in water used for agricultural produce.
    • Both the Union and state governments must work toward facilitating research that can investigate the accumulation of arsenic in crops and addressing the agricultural concerns of the affected regions.
    • They must watch out for arsenic percolation in the food chain and the possibilities of biomagnification.
    • The government needs to also conduct a larger study on the arsenic contamination of our food chain and its health impacts to understand its spatial spread through the agricultural supply chain.

  • A mix Indian health care can do without

    Context

    In India, multiple policy pronouncements over the last few years have expressed an implicit intent to emulate certain features of the U.S. health system which is one of the most prodigal health systems, and it is a well-known reality that it is infamously poor-performing.

    Emulating the U.S. health system in India and problems in this approach

    • Implicit intent to emulate the U.S. system: In India, multiple policy pronouncements over the last few years have expressed an implicit intent to emulate certain features of the U.S. health system like-
      • Enhance private initiative.
      • And uphold the insurance route as the way to go for health care.
    • AB-NHPS scheme: These are being largely envisaged while riding on the back of the Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Scheme (AB-NHPS).
      • AB-NHPS aims to provide insurance cover to nearly 50 crores poor Indians.
      • The mechanism to check insurance frauds: The AB-NHPS affirmed strong mechanisms to check insurance fraud which was commonplace in its precursor programme, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).
      • New of fraud in AB-NHPS: Recently, 171 hospitals were reported to have been de-empanelled from the AB-NHPS on charges of fraud.
    • How are the frauds in AB-NHPS sought to be tackled? The response to these has been envisaged through an unprecedented bolstering of administratively-heavy and technology-driven mechanisms.
      • Anti-fraud units: National- and state anti-fraud units have been established and partnerships with fraud control companies conceived.
      • One would ask this question: what is wrong in all of this?
    • What is wrong with this approach? Let us return to the U.S. once again.
      • Administrative intensive: Multiple layers of complex arrangements and concomitant complex regulatory provisions have made the U.S. system one of the most administratively and technologically intensive systems in the world.
      • 50% spending going for the wages: More than 50% of health-care spending in the U.S. in 2010 went into health worker’s wages, with a large chunk of the growth in health-care labour taking place in the form of non-clinical workers.
      • Very little going into improving health: What this entails is that for every penny spent on health care, very little goes into actually improving health.

    What are the concerns in emulating the U.S. system?

    • Sub-satisfactory operations at the large cost: The new system necessitates-
      • A battery of new structures.
      • Personnel cadres.
      • Data systems.
      • And working arrangements only in order to sub-satisfactorily operate an insurance scheme that would cover less than half the population.
      • Disregarding the death spiral that policy-driven over-reliance on private health care could lead to considerable costs which would not primarily contribute to improving health outcomes.
      • Ethical concerns over unnecessary spending: While a besottedness with cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art systems can help garner eyes and promote businesses, each unnecessary penny incurred this way raises significant ethical concerns.
    • Problems of inadequate funding
      • Funding sufficient only for a quarter of beneficiary: Gupta and Roy have shown how the allocation for the AB-NHPS for 2019-20 would have covered less than a quarter of the targeted beneficiaries.
      • Paltry increase in allocations: For 2020-21, there has been a paltry increase in health-care sector allocation (5.7% above 2019-20 RE), while the allocation for the AB-NHPS is unchanged.
      • It is very possible that the AB-NHPS continues to remain insufficiently funded and incapable of extending considerable financial risk protection to the poor.
    • Diversion of limited funds to wasteful areas
      • Attractive on face: Embracing the complexities associated with robust regulation of the insurance programme and making the requisite technological and administrative investments appear attractive and commendable on the face.
      • Diversion of limited fund: However, these complexities entail diverting highly limited resources towards wasteful and dispensable high-end areas.
      • These funds could have been set aside for much more pressing and productive domains, such as public hospitals and health centres.
      • Improvements in these areas would have strongly reflected in terms of tangibly better health outcomes.
      • AB-NHPS reinforcing contradictions: Rather, the AB-NHPS appears attuned to reinforcing a stark contradiction wherein trailblazing but unproductive high-end structures thrive alongside decrepit but potentially fructuos basic structures.

    Conclusion

    The fanfare with which AB-NHPS was launched, can hide the pressing concerns which lie underneath. The government must ensure that every penny spent on improving healthcare is used in the most optimal way and ensure that India’s AB-NHPS won’t end up the US healthcare way.

  • Fine-tuning the Surrogacy Bill

    Context

    • In a recent report, a Select Committee of Parliament has recommended that the contentious clause limiting surrogacy only to “close relatives” to be removed from the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019.
    • These recommendations aim to make the benefits of modern technology more easily available to infertile couples.
    • A look at the genesis of the Bill, its provisions and why the current report could signal some progressive amendments in the Bill:

    What are the provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill?

    • The Surrogacy Bill proposes to allow altruistic ethical surrogacy to intend infertile Indian married couples in the age groups 23-50 years (women) and 26-55 years (men).
    • It was first mooted in 2016 in the wake of repeated reports of exploitation of women who were confined to hostels, not provided adequate post-pregnancy medical care and paid a pittance.
    • The couple should have been legally married for at least five years and should be Indian citizens.
    • They cannot have a surviving child, either biological or adopted, except when they have a child who is mentally or physically challenged or suffers from a life-threatening disorder with no permanent cure.
    • It requires surrogacy clinics to be registered, and national and state surrogacy boards to be formed.
    • It makes commercial surrogacy, and abandoning or disowning a surrogate child punishable by imprisonment up to 10 years and a fine up to Rs 10 lakh.

    What changes has the Select Committee suggested?

    • The Select Committee recommended that the “close relatives” clause should be removed, and any “willing” woman should be allowed to become a surrogate mothe.
    • It has strongly backed the ban on commercial surrogacy.
    • It has also recommended that divorced and widowed women aged between 35 and 45 years should be able to be a single commissioning parent.
    • It has emphasised the need for a five-year waiting period for childless married couples could be waived if there is a medical certificate that shows that they cannot possibly conceive.
    • It has recommended that persons of Indian origin should be allowed to avail surrogacy services.
    • It has not, however, recommended expanding the definition of commissioning parent to include singles, either men or women.
    • It also recommended that the ART Bill (which deals with assisted reproductive technologies) should be brought before the Surrogacy bill so that all the highly technical and medical aspects could be properly addressed.

    What is the ART Bill?

    • The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill has been in the making since 2008.
    • It aims to regulate the field through registration of all IVF clinics and sperm banks, segregation of ART clinics and gamete banks etc.
    • It also requires national and state boards to be established for the purpose of regulation of the fertility market.
    • The Select Committee report says: “Surrogacy is a part and parcel of ART and hence the Surrogacy Bill should come into force only after the enactment of ART Bill.
    • Bringing Surrogacy Bill before the ART will be irrelevant and also create duplication of Boards.
    • The Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, too has “strongly recommended” to the government that the two Bills should be brought together and not in isolation.

    How big is India’s surrogacy market?

    • Estimations by the ICMR put it around 2,000-odd babies per year through commercial surrogacy — when a woman is paid an agreed sum for renting her womb.
    • CII figures say surrogacy is a $2.3-billion industry fed by a lack of regulations and poverty.

    What happened the last time the Bill was scrutinized by a parliamentary panel?

    • The Bill was earlier scrutinized by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare.
    • That committee had recommended that compensation should be the norm and the word “altruistic” should be replaced with “compensated”.
    • Couples — including those in live-in relationships — should be allowed to choose surrogates from both within and outside the family. Altruistic surrogacy, it observed, is tantamount to exploitation.
    • The “close relative” condition is open to misuse in a patriarchal setup, the committee had observed.
    • Given the patriarchal familial structure and power equations within families, not every member of a family has the ability to resist a demand that she be a surrogate for another family member.
    • A close relative of the intending couple may be forced to become a surrogate which might become even more exploitative than commercial surrogacy.
    • These recommendations were not accepted by the government.

  • Seeking a more progressive abortion law

    Context

    The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill doesn’t do enough to secure women’s choices and interests.

    Deaths due to unsafe abortion and previous attempts to legislate

    • Deaths due to unsafe abortions: Recent reports have shown that more than 10 women die every day due to unsafe abortions in India.
      • And backward abortion laws only contribute to women seeking illegal and unsafe options.
    • The Cabinet has recently approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (MTP Bill, 2020) which will soon be tabled in Parliament.
      • It seeks to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act) and follows the MTP Bills of 2014, 2017 and 2018, all of which previously lapsed in Parliament.

    Provisions of the current law

    • Foetus-age based division: The MTP Act divides its regulatory framework for allowing abortions into categories, according to the gestational age of the foetus.
      • Up to 12 weeks: Under Section 3, for foetuses that are aged up to 12 weeks-
      • Only one medical practitioner’s opinion is required to the effect that the continuance of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the life of the mother or cause grave injury to her physical or mental health.
      • Or there is a substantial risk that if the child is born, it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
      • Between 12 weeks and 20 weeks: But if the foetus is aged between 12 weeks and 20 weeks-
      • At least two medical practitioners’ opinions conforming to either of the two conditions are required.
      • What beyond 20 weeks? Beyond 20 weeks, termination may be carried out where it is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman.
    • Definition of grave injury: The MTP Act also specifies that ‘grave injury’ may be explained as
      • The anguish caused by a pregnancy arising out of rape, or the anguish caused by an unwanted pregnancy arising out of the failure of a contraceptive used by a married woman or her husband.

    What are the issues with the current law?

    • Several issues arise from the current framework under the MTP Act.
    • First-Lac of autonomy of women: At all stages of the pregnancy, the healthcare providers, rather than the women seeking an abortion, have the final say on whether the abortion can be carried out.
      • It is true that factors such as failure of contraceptives or grave injury are not required to be proved under the MTP Act.
      • However, to get the pregnancy terminated solely based on her will, the woman may be compelled to lie or plead with the doctor.
      • Thus, at present, pregnant women lack autonomy in making the decision to terminate their pregnancy and have to bear additional mental stress, as well as the financial burden of getting a doctor’s approval.
      • On request abortion in 67 countries: Indian’s law is unlike the abortion laws in 67 countries, including Iceland, France, Canada, South Africa and Uruguay, where a woman can get an abortion ‘on request’ with or without a specific gestational limit (which is usually 12 weeks).
    • Second-Prejudice against unmarried women: The MTP Act embodies a clear prejudice against unmarried women.
      • According to ‘Explanation 2’ provided under Section 3(2) of the Act, where a pregnancy occurs due to failure of any birth control device or method used by any “married woman or her husband”, the anguish caused is presumed to constitute a “grave injury” to the mental health of the pregnant woman.
      • While the applicability of this provision to unmarried women is contested, there is always the danger of a more restrictive interpretation, especially when the final decision rests with the doctor and not the woman herself.
    • Third-Restriction of 20 weeks’ limit: Due to advancements in science, foetal abnormalities can now be detected even after 20 weeks.
      • Danger to mother’s life only condition after 20 weeks: The MTP Act presently allows abortion post 20 weeks only where it is necessary to save the life of the mother.
      • Problem with this restriction: The above restriction means that even if a substantial foetal abnormality is detected and the mother doesn’t want to bear life-long caregiving responsibilities and the mental agony associated with it, the law gives her no recourse unless there is a prospect of her death.

    What does the bill fail to address?

    • While the MTP Bill, 2020, is a step in the right direction, it still fails to address most of the problems with the MTP
    • First, it doesn’t allow abortion on request at any point after the pregnancy.
    • Second, it doesn’t take a step towards removing the prejudice against unmarried women by amending the relevant provision.
    • And finally, it enhances the gestational limit for legal abortion from 20 to 24 weeks only for specific categories of women such as survivors of rape, victims of incest, and minors.
      • This means that a woman who does not fall into these categories would not be able to seek an abortion beyond 20 weeks, even if she suffers from a grave physical or mental injury due to the pregnancy.

    What are the provisions for the case of foetal abnormality in the bill?

    • Limit irrelevant if the foetal abnormality is diagnosed by the Medical Board: The Bill does make the upper gestational limit irrelevant in procuring an abortion if there are substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by the Medical Board.
      • This means that even if there is no threat to the mother’s life, she would be able to procure an abortion as soon as a substantial foetal abnormality comes to light.
      • While this is an important step and would have in the past helped many women who fought long battles in Court without recourse.
      • Rules against unnecessary delays: It is crucial that this provision is accompanied by appropriate rules for the Medical Boards that guard against unnecessary delays, which only increase the risks associated with a late abortion.

    Conclusion

    • Recognition of women’s right: The Supreme Court has recognised women’s right to make reproductive choices and their decision to abort as a dimension of their personal liberty (in  X v. Union of India,2017) and as falling within the realm of the fundamental right to privacy (in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, 2017). Yet, current abortion laws fail to allow the exercise of this right.
    • The bill does not do enough: While it is hoped that MTP Bill, 2020 will not lapse in Parliament like its predecessors, it is evident that it does not do enough to secure women’s interests, and there is still a long road ahead for progressive abortion laws.

     

     

     

  • Why emergency response units are needed to ensure safety of sanitation workers

    • The Maharashtra government has directed all civic bodies in the state to set up Emergency Response Sanitation Units (ERSUs) to ensure safeguards for sanitation workers who clean manholes and sewers.
    • This move is in response to the multiple cases which were reported of workers dying from suffocation or inhalation of hazardous gases.

    PEMSR ACT, 2013

    • The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act came into force in 2013.
    • The law prohibits employing manual scavengers, manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment and construction of insanitary latrines.
    • Those violating the law and getting sewers and septic tanks cleaned without protective equipment can face imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh, or both.
    • Repeat offenders will face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh, or both.

    The Supreme Court judgment

    • While hearing a case on manual scavenging in 2014, the Supreme Court had stated, “If the practice of manual scavenging has to be brought to an end, and also to prevent future generations from the inhuman practice
 rehabilitation of manual scavengers will need to include steps to avoid sewer deaths.”
    • The court had said that making a sanitation worker enter sewer lines without safety gear should be a crime even in emergency situations.
    • In such instances, if a sanitation worker died due to the unsafe conditions, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh has to be given to the family of the deceased, stated the court.
    • The court had also directed authorities to identify the family members of sanitation workers who died while cleaning manholes and septic tanks since 1993, and give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to them.

    Directives by National Commission for Scheduled Castes

    • To ensure effective implementation of the law banning manual scavenging, the commission issued various directives.
    • It said workers have to be fully equipped with safety apparatus and oxygen masks in case they have to clean sewers manually.
    • A first information report has to be lodged against officials or contractors responsible for sending a worker to clean sewers manually, without proper gear.
    • The commission also made it mandatory for all municipal corporations to get an insurance policy of Rs 10 lakh per worker, as per the Supreme Court’s directions.
    • The employers, in this case the civic bodies, will have to pay the policy premium.

    Emergency Response Sanitation Unit (ERSU)

    • In its directive on the setting up of ERSUs, the state government said the municipal commissioner of the civic body concerned will be the Responsible Sanitation Authority (RSA).
    • The ERSU should be headed by a senior civic officer and other civic officers should be on the ERSU advisory board to decide the standard operating procedure (SoP) for workers who enter manholes for cleaning purposes.
    • The civic body will also have to set up a dedicated toll-free number for the ERSU. The unit will impart training to sanitation workers.
    • Only workers trained and certified by an ERSU will be able to clean sewers, but the priority will be on using machines to get such work done.
    • In case a worker dies while cleaning a sewer, the civic body will have to hold an inquiry and register a police complaint.

    Workshop on creating awareness on the issue

    • All civic bodies have been asked to hold workshops to raise awareness on this issue in their respective jurisdictions.
    • The workshops are going to focus on latest technology for cleaning sewers and septic tanks, and the final objective is to find a way to clean septic tanks or manholes with machines.
    • The workshops will have sessions on laws pertaining to sanitation workers, the establishment of ERSUs and their roles, presentations on the latest equipment, machines and protective gear.
    • Sanitation workers, NGOs, social organisations, housing society members and government officials have to participate in the workshops.

  • Indian nationals living abroad

    There are over 1.36 crore Indian nationals living abroad, according to data tabled by the Ministry of External Affairs in Lok Sabha.

    Indians abroad

    • The highest number of Indians abroad are living in the United Arab Emirates, where the 34,20,000 Indians comprise about one-fourth of all Indians abroad.
    • The UAE is followed by Saudi Arabia (25,94,947), the US (12,80,000), Kuwait (10,29,861), Oman (7,79,351), Qatar (7,56,062), Nepal (5,00,000), UK (3,51,000), Singapore (3,50,000) and Bahrain (3,23,292).
    • The CPV (Consular, Passport and Visa) division of the ministry is the nodal division that coordinates with all missions / posts abroad regarding transportation of the mortal remains of Indians from abroad to their hometowns in India.

    Total remittances recieved

    • Citing RBI data, the ministry said that during 2018-2019, $76.4 billion was received as remittances from Indians abroad.
    • During 2019-2020 (April-September), $41.9 billion was received.

  • [pib] Ease of Living Index and Municipal Performance Index 2019

    The surveys to determine the Ease of Living Index (EoLI) and Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2019 has been initiated by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. Both these indices are designed to assess the quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other Million Plus Cities.

    Municipal Performance Index

    • With the MPI 2019, the Ministry has sought to assess the performance of municipalities based on five enablers namely Service, Finance, Planning, Technology and Governance.
    • These have been further divided into 20 sectors which will be evaluated across 100 indicators.
    • This will help Municipalities in better planning and management, filling the gaps in city administration, and improving the liveability of cities for its citizens.

    Ease of Living Index

    • EOLI is aimed at providing a holistic view of Indian cities – beginning from the services provided by local bodies, the effectiveness of the administration, the outcomes generated through these services in terms of the liveability within cities and, finally, the citizen perception of these outcomes.
    • The key objectives of the EOL Index are four-folds, viz.
    1. Generate information to guide evidence-based policy making;
    2. Catalyse action to achieve broader developmental outcomes including the SDG;
    3. Assess and compare the outcomes achieved from various urban policies and schemes; and
    4. Obtain the perception of citizens about their view of the services provided by the city administration.
    • For the first time, as part of the EOLI Assessment, a Citizen Perception Survey is being conducted on behalf of the Ministry (which carries 30% of the marks of the Ease of Living Index).
    • This is a very important component of the assessment exercise as it will help in directly capturing perception of citizens with respect to quality of life in their cities.
    • This survey, which is being administered both online and offline, has commenced from 1st February 2020 and will continue till 29th February 2020.
    • The offline version involving face-to-face interviews will commence on the 1st of February and will run parallel to the on-line versions.

  • “Vivad se Vishwas” Scheme

    The government has introduced The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020.

    Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill

    • In essence, the Bill is aimed at resolving direct tax-related disputes in a speedy manner.
    • In the last budget, Sabka Vishwas Scheme was brought in to reduce litigation in indirect taxes. It resulted in settling over 1,89,000 cases.
    • The Vivad se Vishwas Scheme is to do for direct tax-related disputes exactly what Sabka Vishwas did for indirect tax-related disputes.

    Why need such a scheme?

    • At present, there are as many as 4,83,000 direct tax cases pending in various appellate forums i.e. Commissioner (Appeals), ITAT, High Court and Supreme Court.
    • The idea behind the scheme is to reduce litigation in the direct tax arena.

    What are the specifics of the scheme?

    • A taxpayer would be required to pay only the amount of the disputed taxes and will get a complete waiver of interest and penalty provided he pays by 31st March 2020.
    • Those who avail this scheme after 31st March 2020 will have to pay some additional amount.
    • However, the scheme will remain open only till June 30, 2020. The scheme also applies to all case appeals that are pending at any level.

    How much money is at stake?

    • According to reports, over Rs 9 lakh crore worth of direct tax disputes are pending in the courts.
    • The government hopes to recover a big chunk of this in a swift and simple way, while offering the taxpayers the relief of not having to fight the case endlessly.
    • For a government that is staring at a big shortfall in revenues, especially tax revenues, the scheme makes a lot of sense.

    What was the response to the Sabka Vishwas scheme?

    • At last count, the government expected to have raised Rs 39,500 crore from the Sabka Vishwas scheme, which was only about indirect tax disputes.
    • The amnesty window for Sabka Vishwas closed on January 15 and close to 1.90 lakh crore applications, in relation to taxes worth Rs 90,000 crore was received.
    • One of the standout successes of this scheme was Mondelez India Foods Pvt Ltd (which was earlier known as Cadbury India) settled one of its most controversial tax disputes.
    • The firm was accused of evading taxes to the tune of Rs 580 crore (excluding taxes and penalties). In the end, Mondelez paid Rs 439 crore on January 20 under the amnesty scheme.

    Criticisms of the Bill

    • The bill led to an uproar in Parliament.
    • The opposition criticised the Bill first for the use of Hindi words in its name, arguing that this was government’s way to impose Hindi on the non-Hindi speakers.
    • They also argued that the Bill treats honest and dishonest people equally.