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Subject: Governance

Important aspects of Society

  • [op-ed of the day] The many problems of delayed data

    Context

    Delay in releasing the crime data by NCRB reduces the utility of the data for the policymakers.

    Formidable challenges faced by NCRB

    • The First-Casual approach of the States: The first is the lackadaisical approach of some of the States in providing data.
      • The NCRB merely assembles the figures it receives from the State police forces and does not tinker with them to reach a predetermined conclusion.
      • States’ irregularity: Data collection hits a roadblock when a few States either don’t bother to send the figures or send them much after the volume is published.
    • The second-Utility of the released data: The second problem is that questions are raised over the utility of the data.
      • There was a two-year delay in releasing the crime statistics for 2017.
      • Just two months after it was published, the ‘Crime in India’ (CII) 2018 report was released.
      • Reduced utility from a policy point of view: These numbers are only relevant to researchers, not policymakers as it does not carry us far in understanding what is happening on the ground.
      • A fossilised CII is meaningless.
    • The third- Third problem lies with the police and the public.
      • The Reluctance of the police to register the complaint: The police are notorious the world over for not registering complaints.
      • They do this so that they can present a false picture of a decline in crime.
      • The reluctance of the public: The public is also not very enthusiastic about reporting crimes to the police.
      • Catch-22 situation: Public is fearful of being harassed at the police station or do not believe that the police are capable of solving the crime. This is a Catch-22 situation.

    Crimes difficult to bury

    • The positive role played by the media: However, the problem has declined slightly over the years due to public awareness and intense media scrutiny.
      • There are a few classes of offences which are becoming increasingly difficult to bury. This is attributable to the extraordinary interest evinced by the media in reporting crime.
    • The crimes which are difficult to bury: The following cases of crime are becoming difficult to bury.
      • Homicide: The first category of crimes that is difficult to bury is of homicides.
      • Matter of distress: India reports an average of 30,000 murders every year (29,017 were registered in 2018). Every murder is a matter of distress.
      • Nevertheless, the stabilisation of the figure at 30,000 is a mild assurance.
      • The corresponding figure for the period in the U.S. was around 16,200.
      • Need to study the US decline: Though the U.S. has about one-third of India’s population, the reported decline in murders in many major U.S cities is worth studying.
      • Crime against women: The common man in India does not lag behind others in reacting strongly to attacks on hapless women and men.
      • The growth of the visual media possibly explains this welcome feature in Indian society.
      • The hope of a decrease in crime: The nationwide outrage over the gang-rape in Delhi and the subsequent tightening of laws on sexual crimes generated the hope that attacks against women would decrease.

    The issue of under-reporting

    • Under-reporting of crime in rural areas: In 2018, there were 33,356 rapes, a higher number than the previous year.
      • But these figures do not fully reflect realities on the ground.
      • There is still the unverifiable suspicion that while in urban areas sexual violence cases are reasonably well-reported, the story is different in rural India.
      • The role played by money and caste: Money power and caste oppression are believed to play a significant role in under-reporting.
      • What is more significant is that a substantial number of such crimes are committed by the ‘friends’ and families of victims.

    Conclusion

    • To be fair to the NCRB, we must concede that the organisation has more than justified its existence. The CII is used extensively by researchers.
    • Need for educating the people on realities of crime and its reporting: There is scope for more dynamism on the NCRB’s part, especially in the area of educating the public on the realities of crime and its reporting.
    • Greater pressure on the States to stick to a schedule: The NCRB will also have to be conscious of the expectation that it should bring greater pressure on States to make them stick to schedules and look upon this responsibility as a sacred national duty.

     

  • [pib] Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0

    The Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0 web portal was recently launched.

    Bhuvan Panchayat Version 3.0

    • For better planning and monitoring of government projects, the ISRO has launched the Bhuvan Panchayat web portal’s version 3.0.
    • For the first time, a thematic data base on a 1:1000 scale for the entire country is available with integrated high resolution satellite data for planning.
    • In the project that will last for at least two years, ISRO will collaborate with the gram panchayat members and stakeholders to understand their data requirements.
    • The third version of the portal will provide database visualisation and services for the benefit of panchayat members, among others.
    • The project is meant to provide geo-spatial services to aid gram panchayat development planning process of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
    • The targeted audiences for this portal are Public, PRIs and different stakeholders belonging to the gram panchayats.

    About SISDP Project

    • Space based Information Support for Decentralised Planning at Panchyayat level (SIS-DP) is a national initiative of preparing basic spatial layers useful in planning process for local self governance.
    • ISRO launched SISDP project to assist Gram Panchayats at grassroot level with basic planning inputs derived from satellite data for preparing developmental plans, its implementation and monitoring the activities.
    • The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) is the lead centre to execute the project in collaboration with various State Remote Sensing Centres.
    • SISDP phase I Project was successfully concluded in the year 2016-17.
    • Under Phase II, this project shall be implemented shortly with a enhanced scope of updating geodatabase with latest high resolution remote sensing data and spatial data analytics.
    • For the first time, thematic database on 1:10,000 scale for the entire country is available with high integrated High Resolution satellite data for planning.

  • Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2020

    What is the news: The Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) was recently published.

    Performance Analysis

    • India has climbed eight places to 72nd rank in the GTCI which was topped by Switzerland, the US and Singapore.
    • Sweden (4th), Denmark (5th), the Netherlands (6th), Finland (7th), Luxembourg (8th), Norway (9th) and Australia (10th) complete the top 10 league table.
    • In the BRICS grouping, China was ranked 42nd, Russia (48th), South Africa (70th) and Brazil at 80th position.
    • This year’s GTCI report explores how the development of AI is not only changing the nature of work but also forcing a re-evaluation of workplace practices, corporate structures and innovation ecosystems.

    About the GTCI report

    • It was started in 2013 and is an annual benchmarking report that measures the ability of countries to compete for talent, their ability to grow, attract and retain talent.
    • Theme for 2020 was ‘Global Talent in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’. It explores how the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is not only changing the nature of work but also forcing a re-evaluation of workplace practices, corporate structures and innovation ecosystems.
    • Inequality: The report noted that the gap between high income, talent-rich nations and the rest of the world is widening. More than half of the population in the developing world lack basic digital skills.
    • About GTCI Report: It is launched by INSEAD, a partner and sponsor of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Davos, Switzerland recently.
    • INSEAD is one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools with locations all over the world and alliances with top institutions.
    • The report, which measures countries based on six pillars:
    1. enable
    2. attract
    3. grow
    4. retain talent
    5. vocation and technical skills
    6. global knowledge skills

  • ICDS Programme

     

    Centre seeks to revamp the ICDS scheme in urban areas. For this NITI Aayog will develop draft policy, which will be circulated to the Ministries for consultations.

    Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

    • The ICDS is a government programme in India which provides food, preschool education, primary healthcare, immunization, health check-up and referral services to children under 6 years of age and their mothers.
    • The scheme was launched in 1975, discontinued in 1978 by the government of Morarji Desai, and then relaunched by the Tenth Five Year Plan.
    • Tenth FYP also linked ICDS to Anganwadi centres established mainly in rural areas and staffed with frontline workers.
    • The ICDS provide for anganwadis or day-care centres which deliver a package of six services including:
    1. Immunization
    2. Supplementary nutrition
    3. Health checkup
    4. Referral services
    5. Pre-school education(Non-Formal)
    6. Nutrition and Health information

    Implementation

    • For nutritional purposes ICDS provides 500 kilocalories (with 12-15 grams of protein) every day to every child below 6 years of age.
    • For adolescent girls it is up to 500 kilo calories with up to 25 grams of protein every day.
    • The services of Immunisation, Health Check-up and Referral Services delivered through Public Health Infrastructure under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

    Revamp for Urban Areas

    • Health and ICDS models that work in rural areas may not work in urban areas because of higher population density, transportation challenges and migration.
    • Children in urban areas were overweight and obese as indicated by subscapular skinfold thickness (SSFT) for their age.
    • The first-ever pan-India survey on the nutrition status of children, highlighted that malnutrition among children in urban India.
    • It found a higher prevalence of obesity because of relative prosperity and lifestyle patterns, along with iron and Vitamin D deficiency.
    • According to government data from 2018, of the 14 lakh anganwadis across the country there are only 1.38 lakh anganwadis in urban areas.

  • Corruption Perception Index 2019

    The Corruption Perception report for 2019 has been released. It has revealed that a majority of countries are showing little to no improvement in tackling corruption.

    About CPI

    • The CPI is annually released by Transparency International.
    • It draws on 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories, giving each a score from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

    India’s performance

    • India’s ranking in the CPI-2019 has slipped from 78 to 80 compared to the previous year.
    • Its score of 41 out of 100 remains the same.
    • CPI highlighted that unfair and opaque political financing, undue influence in decision-making and lobbying by powerful corporate interest groups, has resulted in stagnation or decline in the control of corruption.

    Global corruption

    • In the Asia Pacific region, the average score is 45, after many consecutive years of an average score of 44, which “illustrates general stagnation” across the region.
    • China has improved its position from 87 to 80 with a score of 41 out of 100, a two-point jump.
    • Despite the presence of high performers like New Zealand (87), Singapore (85), Australia (77), Hong Kong (76) and Japan (73), the Asia Pacific region hasn’t witnessed substantial progress in anti-corruption.
    • In addition, low performers like Afghanistan (16), North Korea (17) and Cambodia (20) continue to highlight serious challenges in the region.
    • The top ranked countries are New Zealand and Denmark, with scores of 87 each, followed by Finland (86), Singapore (85), Sweden (85) and Switzerland (85).

  • Enemy Property in India

    • A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Union Home Minister will monitor the disposal of over 9,400 enemy properties, which the government estimates is worth about Rs 1 lakh crore.
    • Two committees headed by senior officials will be set up for the disposal of immovable enemy properties vested in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India under The Enemy Property Act.

    What is “Enemy Property”?

    • In the wake of the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, there was migration of people from India to Pakistan.
    • Under the Defence of India Rules framed under The Defence of India Act, 1962, the Government of India took over the properties and companies of those who took Pakistani nationality.
    • These “enemy properties” were vested by the central government in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
    • The same was done for property left behind by those who went to China after the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
    • The Tashkent Declaration of January 10, 1966 included a clause that said India and Pakistan would discuss the return of the property and assets taken over by either side in connection with the conflict.
    • However, the Government of Pakistan disposed of all such properties in their country in the year 1971 itself.

    How did India deal with enemy property?

    • The Enemy Property Act, enacted in 1968, provided for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
    • The central government, through the Custodian, is in possession of enemy properties spread across many states in the country.
    • Some movable properties too, are categorised as enemy properties.
    • In 2017, Parliament passed The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amended The Enemy Property Act, 1968, and The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.

    Who is an Enemy?

    • The amended Act expanded the definition of the term “enemy subject”, and “enemy firm” to include the legal heir and successor of an enemy, whether a citizen of India or a citizen of a country which is not an enemy; and the succeeding firm of an enemy firm, irrespective of the nationality of its members or partners.
    • The amended law provided that enemy property shall continue to vest in the Custodian even if the enemy or enemy subject or enemy firm ceases to be an enemy due to death, extinction, winding up of business or change of nationality, or that the legal heir or successor is a citizen of India or a citizen of a country which is not an enemy.
    • The Custodian, with prior approval of the central government, may dispose of enemy properties vested in him in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and the government may issue directions to the Custodian for this purpose.

    Why were these amendments brought?

    • The thrust of the amendments was to guard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people who migrated to Pakistan and China after the wars.
    • The amendments denied legal heirs any right over enemy property. The main aim was to negate the effect of a court judgment in this regard.

    What did these court orders say?

    • One major judgment was passed in the case of the estate of the erstwhile Raja of Mahmudabad, who owned several large properties in Hazratganj, Sitapur and Nainital.
    • Following Partition, the Raja left for Iraq and stayed there for some years before settling in London.
    • After The Enemy Property Act was enacted in the year 1968, the Raja’s estate was declared enemy property. When the Raja died, his son who stayed in India staked claim to the properties.
    • After a legal battle that lasted over 30 years, an apex court Bench on October 21, 2005, ruled in favour of the son.
    • The verdict opened the floodgates for further pleas in courts across the country in which genuine or purported relatives of persons who had migrated to Pakistan produced deeds of gift claiming they were the rightful owners of enemy properties.
    • On July 2, 2010, the then UPA government promulgated an Ordinance that restrained courts from ordering the government to divest enemy properties from the Custodian.
    • The 2005 SC order was thus rendered ineffective, and the Custodian again took over the Raja’s properties.

    Enactment of the Amended Law

    • A Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 22, 2010, and subsequently, a revised Bill was tabled on November 15, 2010. This Bill was thereafter referred to the Standing Committee.
    • However, the said Bill could not be passed during the term of the 15th Lok Sabha, and it lapsed.
    • On January 7, 2016, the President of India promulgated The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 2016, which was replaced by the Bill that became law in 2017.

  • [pib] National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP)

     

    NITI Aayog has released its vision for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP).

    National Data and Analytics Platform

    • The platform aims to democratize access to publicly available government data.
    • NDAP will host the latest datasets from various government websites, present them coherently, and provide tools for analytics and visualization.
    • It will spearhead the standardization of formats in which data is presented across sectors and will cater to a wide audience of policymakers, researchers, innovators, data scientists, journalists and citizens.
    • It will follow a user-centric approach and will enable data access in a simple and intuitive portal tailored to the needs of a variety of stakeholders.
    • The development of NDAP will take place over a period of one year. The first version of the platform is expected to be launched in 2021.

  • Blue Corner Notice

    Interpol has issued a Blue Corner notice to help locate an infamous fugitive self-styled godman weeks after the Gujarat Police sought the agency’s intervention for this.

     ‘Blue Corner’ notice

    • According to the Interpol website, “Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.”
    • There are seven types of notices — Red Notice, Yellow Notice, Blue Notice, Black Notice, Green Notice, Orange Notice, and Purple Notice.
    • The Blue Notice is issued to “collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.”

    Blue notices a/c to CBI

    • The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) website refers to Blue Notices as ‘B Series (Blue) Notices’.
    • It says, “The ‘B’ series notices are also called ‘enquiry notices’ and may be issued in order to have someone’s identity verified; to obtain particulars of a person’s criminal record; to locate someone who is missing or is an identified or unidentified international criminal or is wanted for a violation of ordinary criminal law and whose extradition may be requested.”

  • [pib] SERVICE Initiative

    The Steel Authority of India Ltd has launched an initiative called SERVICE to promote Voluntary Philanthropist Activities (VPA) by its employees.

    About SERVICE

    • SERVICE stands for “SAIL Employee Rendering Voluntarism and Initiatives for Community Engagement (SERVICE)”.
    • It aims to promote and facilitate philanthropist activities by the employees in a structured manner.
    • The Minister also launched a portal for the employees to register for the scheme.
    • This dedicated portal will act as a platform for enabling faster interaction and communication amongst the various stakeholders.

  • [op-ed of the day] Equity’s weak pulse and commodified medicine

    Context

    As the government tries to overhaul the public health system in India, its time to take into account the advent and the role played by the private sector and its implications.

    The advent of the private sector

    • Increase in the role of the private sector in the post-Independence era: Post-Independence, the private sector increased its footprint in India.
      • Perpetual sub-optimal investments in public health allowed the private sector to capitalise, flourish, and increasingly gain the confidence of the masses.
      • The private sector went from having about 1,400 enterprises in 1950 to more than 10 lakh in 2010-11.
      • To doctors, this promised greater professional liberty, lesser restrictions, and higher incomes.
      • After liberalisation, the greater focus shifted to the lucrative tertiary-care sector and led to an onslaught of sophisticated private health care in cities.

    The dominance of the private sector and malpractices

    • The scale of dominance: Private sector has over 70% of the health-care workforce and 80% of allopathic doctors, has meant that it is scarcely possible for a health-care provider to function in defiance of its norms.
      • Pervasive malpractices: The pervasiveness of malpractices in this market has come to ensure that few could survive without condoning them.
      • Nexus of the private players: Players in this market, in much of their malpractices, have also learnt to function as a harmonious family.
      • Organised form to safeguard interest: The family plays its role in safeguarding its members, acquainting them with its norms and interests, and leveraging the power of its patriarchs to defend its interests in society.
      • Standards of success dictated by the markets: It is little wonder that the market has also come to dictate the avenues of aggrandisement and yardsticks of professional success for health-care professionals.
      • Benchmark of quality changed: Business finesse and social adroitness rather than clinical excellence and empathy become the touchstones of calibre in this market.

    Failure of the government

    • Absence of national system: The larger chunk of Indian health care (and health workforce) could not be brought under a “national system” having some form of overarching state control or involvement.
      • If such a system existed it could avail of essential health care without most people having to rely on a vagarious market, except as a luxury.
      • Example of the UK’s NHS: The National Health Service of the United Kingdom, remains the single largest health-care provider.
      • NHS employs nearly the entire health-care workforce.
      • NHS makes essential health care available to all practically free at the point of service.
    • Consequences of the absence of such system: The absence ensures is that the profit-driven private sector, the minor component, caters mainly to the affluent lot as largely a matter of deliberate choice rather than desperate compulsion.
      • Hopes of benefits of free-market belied: The Indian example, much like the United States’, bespeaks the failure of the idea that a free market will compel players to be more efficient.
      • The exploitation of the loops by the private players: Rather than increasing efficiency, the players have found it expedient to scrupulously exploit the prevailing cracks in the system and employ devious methods in order to maximise profits.

    Conclusion

    • Health-care providers, just like others, are moulded by their social surroundings. When necessary controls are loosened, the connatural vices are let loose; when the habitat is conducive to values, the right traits develop.
    • A system that starts off with health care as an overt tradable commodity it threatens the development of virtues in the system.
    • On the other hand, a system founded on the concept of equity cultivates a totally different culture of patient care.