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Subject: Indian Society

  • Supreme Court recognizes Sex Work as a ‘Profession’

    In a significant order recognising sex work as a “profession”, the Supreme Court has directed that police should neither interfere nor take criminal action against adult and consenting sex workers.

    What did the Supreme Court say?

    • Sex Work is a profession whose practitioners are entitled to dignity and equal protection under law.
    • Criminal law must apply equally in all cases, on the basis of ‘age’ and ‘consent’.
    • It need not be gainsaid that notwithstanding the profession, every individual in this country has a right to a dignified life under Article 21 of the Constitution, the court observed.
    • The order was passed after invoking special powers under Article 142 of Constitution.

    A caution to the police

    • It is clear that the sex worker is an adult and is participating with consent, the police must refrain from interfering or taking any criminal action.
    • The Bench ordered that sex workers should not be “arrested or penalised or harassed or victimised” whenever there is a raid on any brothel.
    • Since voluntary sex work is not illegal and only running the brothel is unlawful.
    • Basic protection of human decency and dignity extends to sex workers and their children, the court noted.
    • A child of a sex worker should not be separated from the mother merely on the ground that she is in the sex trade, the court held.
    • Further, if a minor is found living in a brothel or with sex workers, it should not be presumed that the child was trafficked.

    Sexual crimes against sex workers

    • The court ordered the police to not discriminate against sex workers who lodge a criminal complaint of offence committed against them is of a sexual nature.
    • Sex workers can also be victims of sexual assault should be provided every facility including immediate medico-legal care.
    • The court said media should take “utmost care not to reveal the identities of sex workers, during arrest, raid and rescue operations.

    Sex work in India

    • According to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), prostitution in its broader sense is not really illegal per se.
    • But there are certain activities which constitute a major part of prostitution that are punishable under certain provisions of the act, which are:
    1. Soliciting prostitution services in public places
    2. Carrying out prostitution activities in hotels
    3. Indulging in prostitution by arranging for a sex worker
    4. Arrangement of a sexual act with a customer

    Various issues faced by Sex Workers

    • Stigma and Marginalization: This is experienced as the major factor that prevents women in sex work from accessing their rights.
    • Denial of basic amenities: Due to this discrimination, women in sex work have been denied safety, proper healthcare, education and, most importantly, the right to practice the business of making money from sex.
    • Risks of violence: People in sex work are not only at a higher risk for violence, but they are also less likely to get protection from the police—often the very perpetrators of this violence.
    • Backwardness: Illiteracy, ignorance and fear of the medical establishment make it difficult for women to access healthcare.
    • Health hazards: Current discourse on HIV/AIDS has served to further stigmatize sex workers by labeling them as “vectors” and “carriers” of the disease.

    Protection against forceful sex work

    • The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1986 is an amendment of the original act.
    • As per this act, prostitutes are to be arrested if they are found soliciting their services or seducing others.
    • Furthermore, call girls are prohibited from making their phone numbers public.
    • They can be punished for up to 6 months along with penalties if found doing so.

    Constitutional protection

    Article 23 of the Indian Constitution, amended in 2014, includes the following provisions:

    1. Prohibition of human trafficking and forced labour.
    2. Traffic in human beings and bears and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with the law.
    3. Nothing in this article precludes the State from imposing compulsory service for public purposes, and the State shall not discriminate solely on the basis of religion, race, caste, or class, or any combination thereof, in imposing such service.

    So, where does India stand?

    • Prostitution is not illegal in our country, but soliciting and public prostitution are.
    • Owning a brothel is also illegal, but because places like GB Road are already in place, these laws are rarely enforced.

    What will change in India if the Centre accepts the court’s direction?

    • Sex workers will be accorded equal legal protection.
    • If a sex worker reports a criminal/sexual or other type of offence, the police will take it seriously and act in accordance with the law.
    • If a brothel is raided, the sex workers involved will not be arrested, penalised, harassed, or victimised.
    • Any sex worker who is a victim of sexual assault will be given all of the same services as a survivor of sexual assault, including immediate medical attention.
    • Police will be required to treat all sex workers with dignity and not verbally or physically abuse them, subject them to violence, or coerce them into any sexual activity.

    Where do other countries stand?

    Some countries choose to outright ban the practice, while others have attempted to regulate prostitution and provide health and social benefits to sex workers.

    Here are a few examples of countries where prostitution is legal:

    • New Zealand: Prostitution has been legal since 2003. There are even licenced brothels operating under public health and employment laws, and they get all the social benefits.
    • France: Prostitution is legal in France, though soliciting in public is still not allowed.
    • Germany: Prostitution is legalised and there are proper state-run brothels. The workers are provided with health insurance, have to pay taxes, and they even receive social benefits like pensions.
    • Greece: The sex workers get equal rights and have to go for health checkups as well.
    • Canada: Prostitution in Canada is legal with strict regulations.

    Conclusion

    • While sex worker collectives have shown tremendous progress in asserting the rights of sex workers across India, they face an uphill battle as the country continues to foster a globalized economy.
    • In the globalized world, sex work will become more institutionalized, functioning through escort services, and will no longer need traditional street brothels.
    • Legislators needs to ensure all rights to the sex workers at par with citizens.

     

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  • Branch campuses in India, prospects and challenges

    Context

    India, after half a century of keeping its higher education doors closed to foreigners, is on the cusp of opening itself to the world.

    Higher education reforms

    • Currently, India does not allow the entry and the operation of foreign university branch campuses.
    • The NEP 2020 was a turning point for the entry of foreign universities as it recommended allowing foreign universities ranked in the “top 100” category to operate in India — under somewhat unrealistic conditions.
    • Internationalism: The wide-ranging National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 promises higher education reforms in many areas, and internationalisation is prominent among them.
    • Strengthening India’s soft power: Among the underlying ideas is to strengthen India’s “soft power” through higher education collaboration, bringing new ideas and institutions from abroad to stimulate reform and show “best practice”, and in general to ensure that Indian higher education, for the first time, is a global player.
    • In February 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, announced that “world-class foreign universities and institutions would be allowed in the planned business district in Gujarat’s GIFT City”
    •  It was reported that in April 2022, the University Grants Commission (UGC) formed a committee to draft regulations to allow foreign institutions in the “top 500” category to establish campuses in India — realising that more flexibility was needed
    • Bringing global experience to India: Establishing branch campuses of top foreign universities is a good idea as this will bring much-needed global experience to India.

    Challenges

    • Globally, branch campuses, of which there are around 300 now, provide a mixed picture.
    • Many are aimed at making money for the sponsoring university — and this is not what India wants.
    • It will not be easy to attract foreign universities to India and even more difficult to create the conditions for them to flourish.
    • Many of those top universities are already fully engaged overseas and would likely require incentives to set up in India.
    • Further, there are smaller but highly regarded universities outside the ‘top 500’ category that might be more interested.
    • Universities around the world that have academic specialisations focusing on India, that already have research or faculty ties in the country, or that have Non-Resident Indians (NRI) in senior management positions may be easier to attract.
    • What is most important is to prevent profit-seekers from entering the Indian market and to encourage foreign institutions with innovative educational ideas and a long-term commitment.
    • Many host countries have provided significant incentives, including building facilities and providing necessary infrastructure.
    • Foreign universities are highly unlikely to invest significant funds up front.
    • A big challenge will be India’s “well-known” bureaucracy, especially the multiple regulators.

    Opportunities

    • India is seen around the world as an important country and an emerging higher education power.
    • It is the world’s second largest “exporter” of students, with 4,61,792 students studying abroad (according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
    • And India has the world’s second largest higher education system.
    • Foreign countries and universities will be eager to establish a “beachhead” in India and interested in providing opportunities for home campus students to learn about Indian business, society, and culture to participate in growing trade and other relations.
    • Benefits of branch campuses: International branch campuses, if allowed, could function as a structurally different variant of India’s private university sector.
    • Branch campuses, if effectively managed, could bring much needed new ideas about curriculum, pedagogy, and governance to Indian higher education — they could be a kind of educational laboratory.

    Current initiatives

    • There has been modest growth of various forms of partnerships between Indian and foreign institutions.
    • The joint PhD programmes offered by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay-Monash Research Academy and the University of Queensland-Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Academy of Research (UQIDAR), both with Australian partners, are some examples.
    • Another example is the Melbourne-India Postgraduate Academy (MIPA). It is a joint initiative of the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur with the University of Melbourne.
    • MIPA provides students with an opportunity to earn a joint degree accredited both in India and Australia: from the University of Melbourne and one of the partnering Indian institutions.
    • These partnerships suggest that India could offer opportunities for international branch campuses as well.

    Challenges

    • Globally, branch campuses, of which there are around 300 now, provide a mixed picture.
    • Many are aimed at making money for the sponsoring university — and this is not what India wants.
    • It will not be easy to attract foreign universities to India and even more difficult to create the conditions for them to flourish.
    • Many of those top universities are already fully engaged overseas and would likely require incentives to set up in India.
    • Further, there are smaller but highly regarded universities outside the ‘top 500’ category that might be more interested.
    • Universities around the world that have academic specialisations focusing on India, that already have research or faculty ties in the country, or that have Non-Resident Indians (NRI) in senior management positions may be easier to attract.
    • What is most important is to prevent profit-seekers from entering the Indian market and to encourage foreign institutions with innovative educational ideas and a long-term commitment.
    • Many host countries have provided significant incentives, including building facilities and providing necessary infrastructure.
    • Foreign universities are highly unlikely to invest significant funds up front.
    • A big challenge will be India’s “well-known” bureaucracy, especially the multiple regulators.

    Conclusion

    After examining national experiences elsewhere, clear policies can be implemented that may be attractive to foreign universities. Once policies are in place, the key to success will be relationships among universities.

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  • What is the Places of Worship Act?

    The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the order of a civil court in Varanasi directing a videographic survey of a temple- mosque complex upholding the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

    What is the Places of Worship Act?

    • The long title describes it as an Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship.
    • It holds places of worships as it existed on the 15th day of August, 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

    When was this law passed?

    • The Act was brought in 1991 by the then pseudo-secular government at a time when the Ram temple movement was at its peak.
    • Then, communal tensions in India were at peak.
    • Parliament determined that independence from colonial rule furnishes a constitutional basis for healing the injustices of the past.
    • It sought to provide the confidence to every religious community that their places of worship will be preserved and that their character will not be altered.

    What are its provisions?

    • Anti-conversion: Section 3 of the Act bars the conversion, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination — or even a different segment of the same religious denomination.
    • Holiness of a place: Section 4(1) declares that the religious character of a place of worship “shall continue to be the same as it existed” on August 15, 1947.
    • Litigation: Section 4(2) says any suit or legal proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place existing on August 15, 1947, pending before any court, shall abate — and no fresh suit or legal proceedings shall be instituted.
    • Exception for Ayodhya: Section 5 stipulates that the Act shall not apply to the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, and to any suit, appeal or proceeding relating to it.

    Issues with the law

    • The law has been challenged on the ground that it bars judicial review, which is a basic feature of the Constitution.
    • It imposes an “arbitrary irrational retrospective cutoff date”, and abridges the right to religion of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs.

    What is the recent controversy?

    • The temple-mosque complex in Varanasi clearly shows that the mosque stands over a rundown temple.
    • Videography shows the presence of Hindu deities inside the mosque.
    • Right-wing propagandists highlight the intention of Aurangzeb behind leaving remnants of the temple to keep reminding communities of their historical fate and to remind coming generations of rulers of their past glory and power.

    What did the Supreme Court say in its Ayodhya judgment?

    • The constitutional validity of the 1991 Act was not under challenge, nor had it been examined before the Supreme Court Bench that heard the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit.
    • The Places of Worship Act imposes a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing our commitment to secularism under the Indian Constitution.
    • The law is hence a legislative instrument designed to protect the secular features of the Indian polity, which is one of the basic features of the Constitution.
    • The Places of Worship Act is a legislative intervention which preserves non-retrogression as an essential feature of our secular values.

     

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  • MTP Act 2021

    Context

    The issue of abortion is in the news again, internationally.

    Criminal law provisions related to termination of pregnancy

    • Under the general criminal law of the country, i.e. the Indian Penal Code, voluntarily causing a woman with child to miscarry is an offence attracting a jail term of up to three years or fine or both, unless it was done in good faith where the purpose was to save the life of the pregnant woman.
    • A pregnant woman causing herself to miscarry is also an offender under this provision apart from the person causing the miscarriage, which in most cases would be a medical practitioner.

    Background of the MTP Act

    • In 1971, after a lot of deliberation, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act was enacted.
    • This law is an exception to the IPC provisions above.
    • Who, when, where, why and by whom? The law sets out the rules — of when, who, where, why and by whom — for accessing an MTP.
    •  This law has been amended twice since, the most recent set of amendments being in the year 2021 which has, to some extent, expanded the scope of the law.
    • The law does not recognise and/or acknowledge the right of a pregnant person to decide on the discontinuation of a pregnancy.
    • The law provides for a set of reasons based on which an MTP can be accessed.

    Reasons allowed for MTP

    • Reasons: The continuation of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or result in grave injury to her physical or mental health.
    • The law explains that if the pregnancy is as a result of rape or failure of contraceptive used by the pregnant woman or her partner to limit the number of children or to prevent a pregnancy, the anguish caused by the continuation of such a pregnancy would be considered to be a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman.
    • The other reason for seeking an MTP is the substantial risk that if the child was born, it would suffer from any serious physical or mental abnormality.
    •  A pregnant person cannot ask for a termination of pregnancy without fitting in one of the reasons set out in the law.
    • Gestational age of pregnancy: The other set of limitations that the law provides is the gestational age of the pregnancy.
    • The pregnancy can be terminated for any of the above reasons, on the opinion of a single registered medical practitioner up to 20 weeks of the gestational age.
    • From 20 weeks up to 24 weeks, the opinion of two registered medical practitioners is required.
    • Any decision for termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks gestational age, only on the ground of foetal abnormalities can be taken by a Medical Board as set up in each State, as per the law.
    • The law, as an exception to all that is stated above, also provides that where it is immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, the pregnancy can be terminated at any time by a single registered medical practitioner.

    Issues with the MTP Act provisions

    • While India legalised access to abortion in certain circumstances much before most of the world did the same, unfortunately, even in 2020 we decided to remain in the logic of 1971.
    • Right to health and right to life: By the time the amendments to the MTP Act were tabled before the Lok Sabha in 2020, a number of cases came before the courts.
    • In these cases, the courts had articulated the right of a pregnant woman to decide on the continuation of her pregnancy as a part of her right to health and right to life, and therefore non-negotiable.
    • Violation of right to privacy: In right to privacy judgment of the Supreme Court of India it was held that the decision making by a pregnant person on whether to continue a pregnancy or not is part of such a person’s right to privacy as well and, therefore, the right to life.
    • The standards set out in this judgment were also not incorporated in the amendments being drafted.
    • Not in sync with central laws: The new law is not in sync with other central laws such as the laws on persons with disabilities, on mental health and on transgender persons, to name a few.
    • In conflict with other laws: The amendments also did not make any attempts to iron out the conflations between the MTP Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act or the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, to name a few.

    Conclusion

    While access to abortion has been available under the legal regime in the country, there is a long road ahead before it is recognised as a right of a person having the capacity to become pregnant to decide, unconditionally, whether a pregnancy is to be continued or not.

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  • Delhi HC gives split verdict on Marital Rape

    Two judges of the Delhi High Court gave a split verdict on the question of criminalising rape within marriage, leaving the law unchanged.

    Seems like the matter will now be referred to a larger bench.

    What is Marital Rape?

    • Marital rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without her consent.
    • It is no different manifestation of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
    • It is often a chronic form of violence for the victim which takes place within abusive relations.

    What is the news?

    • One of the Judge struck down as unconstitutional the exception to Section 375 of the IPC, which says that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife aged 18 and above is not rape even if it is without her consent.
    • However, another Judge said that issue requires consideration of social, cultural and legal aspects.

    Outcome of the split verdict: Preserving the institution of marriage

    The Centre’s concern that criminalising marital rape may destabilise the institution of marriage is a “legitimate” one, said the HC.

    • Spousal intimacy: In a marriage, conjugal expectation is a two-way street, where “consent is given as a part of spousal intimacy although the will to engage may be absent”.
    • Need for written agreement: If every such case is treated as marital rape, then the only way partners in a marriage may survive would be by drawing up a detailed written agreement.
    • Burden of evidentiary record: This would lead to creating a detailed evidentiary record of every act of intimacy and/or by inviting a third party to act as a witness.
    • Defying marital obligations: The HC said that marriage was accompanied by obligations that the partners had to bear, including conjugal expectations, financial obligations and, finally, duty towards progeny.
    • Sexual liberty of spouses: The bench also underlined the signs of injury on a partner need not necessarily mean there had been non-consensual sex as “in the age of sexual liberation”, injuries could be a sign of “passion”.
    • Cruelty not rape: Forced sexual intercourse between a husband and wife cannot be treated as rape. At worst, it can be treated as sexual abuse found in Section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act.
    • Clash of ego: A wife cannot prescribe a particular punishment that can be imposed on the husband ‘to satisfy her ego’,” the judge said.

    Then what is the remedy for such ‘Marital Rapes’?

    • Section 3 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 provides a definition for domestic violence, which includes physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse.

    General reasons for disapproval of this concept

    • The reluctance to define non-consensual sex between married couples as a crime and to prosecute has been attributed to:
    1. Traditional views of marriage
    2. Interpretations of religious doctrines
    3. Ideas about male and female sexuality
    4. Cultural expectations of subordination of a wife to her husband
    • It is widely held that a husband cannot be guilty of any sexual act committed by himself upon his lawful wife their on account of their mutual matrimonial consent.

    Why it must be a crime?

    • Associated physical violence: Rape by a spouse, partner or ex-partner is more often associated with physical violence.
    • Mental harassment: There is research showing that marital rape can be more emotionally and physically damaging than rape by a stranger.
    • Compulsive relationship: Marital rape may occur as part of an abusive relationship.
    • Revengeful nature: Furthermore, marital rape is rarely a one-time event, but a repeated if not frequent occurrence.
    • Obligation on women: In the case of marital rape the victim often has no choice but to continue living with their spouse.

    Violation of fundamental rights

    • Marital rape is considered as the violation of FR guaranteed under Article 14 of the Indian constitution which guarantees the equal protection of laws to all persons.
    • By depriving married women of an effective penal remedy against forced sexual intercourse, it violates their right to privacy and bodily integrity, aspects of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.

    Global examples

    • Marital rape immunity is known in several post-colonial common law countries.
    • Australia (1981), Canada (1983), and South Africa (1993) have enacted laws that criminalise marital rape.
    • The UK in 1991 arrived at a consensus that a rapist remains a rapist subject to the criminal law, irrespective of his relationship with his victim.
    • However, in 2003 marital rape was outlawed by legislation in the UK.

    Problems in prosecuting marital rape

    • Lack of awareness: A lack of public awareness, as well as reluctance or outright refusal of authorities to prosecute is common globally.
    • Gender norms: Additionally, gender norms that place wives in subservient positions to their husbands, make it more difficult for women to recognize such rape.
    • Acceptability of the concept: Another problem results from prevailing social norms that exist.

    Present regulations in India

    • Indian Penal Code criminalizes rape in most cases, although marital rape is not illegal when the woman is over the age of 18.
    • However, until 2017, men married to those between 15 and 18 could not be convicted of rape.
    • Marital rape of an adult wife, who is unofficially or officially separated, is a criminal offence punishable by 2 to 7 year in prison; it is not dealt by normal rape laws which stipulate the possibility of a death sentence.
    • According to the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act (2005), other married women subject to such crime by their husband may demand for financial compensation.
    • They also have the right to continue to live in their marital household if they wish, or may approach shelter or aid homes.

    However, marital rape is still not a criminal offence in this case and is only a misdemeanour.

    Arguments against criminalization

    • Subjective: It is very subjective and intricate to determine whether consent was acquired or not.
    • Prone to Misuse: If marital rape is criminalized without adequate safeguards it could be misused like the current dowry law by the dissatisfied wives to harass and torture their Husbands.
    • Burden on Judiciary: It will increase the burden of judiciary which otherwise may serve other more important causes.

    Way forward

    • Sanctioning marital rape is an acknowledgment of the woman’s right to self-determination (i.e., control) of all matters relating to her body.
    • In the absence of any concrete law, the judiciary always finds it difficult to decide the matter of domestic rape in the absence of solid evidence.
    • The main purpose of marriage is procreation, and sometimes divorce is sought on the ground of non-consummation of marriage.
    • Before giving a final interpretation, the judiciary must balance the rights and duties of both partners.

     

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  • The post-pandemic world needs better public schools

    Context

    The pandemic has thrown a harsh light on the vulnerabilities and challenges faced by the world in education. There is an immense learning gap due to existing inequalities.

    Need for investment in learning systems

    • In India, we have to accept that unless we mobilise learning resources and institutions at the government level, the divides will continue to expand and learners will continue to fall between the cracks.
    • Systems have to be put into place to find a variety of methods to equip all learners — privileged, poor, middle-class and alternatively-abled.
    •  The challenge is about returning to school.
    • In wealthier nations, schools have always been the first to open and last to close and citizens have benefited from the public school system.
    • In India, across states, there is a sense of despair due to unemployment and lack of financial resources, which has snowballed due to the pandemic, resulting in greater inequality.
    • Sending children to school, as opposed to keeping them at home, is a huge financial investment, particularly in the private school system.
    • Parents have refrained from sending their children back to school due to a lack of funds.

    Viewing education through government school lens

    • The big shift that we as a nation have to make is viewing education through a government school lens.
    • This will only take place if states provide the opportunity for free, compulsory, neighbourhood education.
    • Radical reforms have to be implemented to restructure government schools and ensure quality.
    • The government, both at the Centre and in the states, should build good-quality primary, middle and high schools and provide facilities that the best private schools have to offer.
    • Online learning is not the way forward: We are subsumed by the myth that technology has expanded potential.
    • The concern is that online learning will create greater inequality, not only in the global South but even in the most well-resourced corners of the planet.
    • Online learning is not the way forward.
    • The UNESCO’s International Commission on the Futures of Education states in its report, “the core commitments that should always be remembered are public education and common good”.
    • It says, “This is not the time to step back and weaken these principles but rather to affirm and reinforce them.”
    • We must take the opportunity to protect and advance public education.
    • We cannot allow the government health system and government education to be opposed to one another. Their synergies must overlap

    Conclusion

    Public education is crucial to societies, communities and individual lives. It is the only thing that will enable us to live with dignity and purpose.

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  • ‘Mission Antyodaya’ can help transform rural India

    Context

    This article argues that given the right momentum, the ‘Mission Antyodaya’ project bears great promise to eradicate poverty in its multiple dimensions among rural households.

    Background of Mission Antyodaya

    • The ‘Mission Antyodaya’ project was launched by the Government of India in 2017-18.
    • The Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Rural Development act as the nodal agents to take the mission forward.
    • Key goals: The main objective of ‘Mission Antyodaya’ is to ensure optimum use of resources through the convergence of various schemes that address multiple deprivations of poverty, making gram panchayat the hub of a development plan.
    • Annual survey: This planning process is supported by an annual survey that helps to assess the various development gaps at the gram panchayat level, by collecting data regarding the 29 subjects assigned to panchayats by the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution.
    • Also, data regarding health and nutrition, social security, good governance, water management and so on are also collected.
    • The idea of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to identify the gaps in basic needs at the local level, and integrating resources of various schemes, self-help groups, voluntary organisations and so on to finance them needs coordination and capacity-building of a high order.
    • If pursued in a genuine manner, this can foster economic development and inter-jurisdictional equity.

    Infrastructural gaps as pointed out by the Mission Antyodaya Survey

    • The ‘Mission Antyodaya’ survey in 2019-20 for the first time collected data that shed light on the infrastructural gaps from 2.67 lakh gram panchayats, comprising 6.48 lakh villages with 1.03 billion population.
    • The maximum score values assigned will add up to 100 and are presented in class intervals of 10.
    • While no State in India falls in the top score bracket of 90 to 100, 1,484 gram panchayats fall in the bottom bracket.
    • Even in the score range of 80 to 90, 10 States and all Union Territories do not appear.
    • The total number of gram panchayats for all the 18 States that have reported adds up only to 260, constituting only 0.10% of the total 2,67,466 gram panchayats in the country.
    •  If we consider a score range of 70-80 as a respectable attainment level, Kerala tops but accounts for only 34.69% of gram panchayats of the State, the corresponding all-India average is as low as 1.09%.
    • The composite index data, a sort of surrogate for human development, are also not encouraging.
    • Although only 15 gram panchayats in the country fall in the bottom range below 10 scores, more than a fifth of gram panchayats in India are below the 40 range.
    • The gap report and the composite index show in unmistakable terms that building ‘economic development and social justice’ remains a distant goal even after 30 years of the decentralisation reforms and nearly 75 years into Independence.

    Way forward

    • Converge resources: Given the ‘saturation approach’ (100% targets on select items) of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the possibilities of realising universal primary health care, literacy, drinking water supply and the like are also immense.
    • But there is no serious effort to converge resources (the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the National Rural Livelihood Mission, National Social Assistance Programme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, etc.) and save administrative expenses.
    • Deploy the data to India’s fiscal federalism: Another lapse is the failure to deploy the data to India’s fiscal federalism, particularly to improve the transfer system and horizontal equity in the delivery of public goods in India at the sub-State level.
    • The constitutional goal of planning and implementing economic development and social justice can be achieved only through strong policy interventions.

    Conclusion

    The policy history of India has been witness to the phenomenon of announcing big projects and failing to take them to their logical consequence. ‘Mission Antyodaya’ is a striking case in recent times.

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  • Understanding the Olga Tellis Judgment

    A 37-year-old Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court which held that pavement dwellers are different from trespassers. This may become a game-changer in the Jahangirpuri case.

    What is the Olga Tellis judgment?

    • The judgment, Olga Tellis vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation, was given in 1985 by a five-judge Bench led by then Chief Justice of India Y.V. Chandrachud (F/O Justice D.Y Chandrachud).
    • It is agreed that pavement dwellers do occupy public spaces in an unauthorized manner.

    Key takeaways of the Judgment

    • Opportunity to depart: The court maintained they should be given a chance to be heard and a reasonable opportunity to depart before force is used to expel them.
    • No use of force: The Supreme Court reasoned that eviction using unreasonable force, without giving them a chance to explain is unconstitutional.
    • Right to life: Pavement dwellers, too, have a right to life and dignity. The right to life included the right to livelihood. They earn a meagre livelihood by living and working on the footpaths.
    • No misuse of powers of eviction: A welfare state and its authorities should not use its powers of eviction as a means to deprive pavement dwellers of their livelihood.

    What led to the judgment?

    • Sometime in 1981, the State of Maharashtra and the Bombay Municipal Corporation decided that pavement and slum dwellers in Bombay city should be evicted and “deported to their respective places of origin or places outside the city of Bombay.”
    • Some demolitions were carried out before the case was brought to the Bombay High Court by pavement dwellers, residents of slums across the city, NGOs and journalists.
    • While they conceded that they did not have “any fundamental right to put up huts on pavements or public roads”, the case came up before the Supreme Court on larger questions of law.

    What were the questions discussed before the Supreme Court?

    • One of the main questions was whether eviction of a pavement dweller would amount to depriving him/her of their livelihood guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
    • The Article mandates that “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty EXCEPT according to procedure established by law.”
    • The Constitution Bench was also asked to determine if provisions in the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, allowing the removal of encroachments without prior notice, were arbitrary and unreasonable.
    • The Supreme Court also decided to examine the question whether it was constitutionally impermissible to characterise pavement dwellers as trespassers.

    What was the State government’s defence?

    • The State government and the corporation countered that pavement dwellers should be estopped (estoppel is a judicial device whereby a court may prevent or “estop” a person from making assertions.
    • Estoppel may prevent someone from bringing a particular claim from contending that the shacks constructed by them on the pavements cannot be demolished because of their right to livelihood.
    • They cannot claim any fundamental right to encroach and put up huts on pavements or public roads over which the public has a ‘right of way.’

    How did the Supreme Court rule?

    • The Bench threw out the government’s argument of estoppel, saying “there can be no estoppel against the Constitution.”
    • The court held that the right to life of pavement dwellers were at stake here.
    • The right to livelihood was an “integral component” of the right to life. They can come to court to assert their right.
    • If the right to livelihood is not treated as a part of the constitutional right to live, the easiest way of depriving a person of his right to life would be to deprive him of his means of livelihood to the point of abrogation.
    • Any aggrieved person can challenge the deprivation as offending the right to life.
    • Removal of encroachments without prior notice was arbitrary; the court held that such powers are designed to operate as an “exception” and not the “general rule.”
    • The procedure of eviction should lean in favour of procedural safeguards which follow the natural principles of justice like giving the other side an opportunity to be heard.
    • Finally, the court emphatically objected to authorities treating pavement dwellers as mere trespassers.
    • The encroachment committed are involuntary acts in the sense that those acts are compelled by inevitable circumstances and are not guided by choice.

    Way ahead

    • It is not a free choice to exercise as to whether to commit an encroachment and if so, where.
    • Trespassers should not be evicted by using force greater than what is reasonable and appropriate.
    • He/she should be asked and given a reasonable opportunity to depart before force is used to expel him.

     

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  • Maharashtra develops Migration Tracking System (MTS)

    In a first-of-its-kind project in the country, the Maharashtra government has developed a website-based migration tracking system (MTS) application to map the movement of vulnerable seasonal migrant workers through individual unique identity numbers.

    What is MTS Project?

    • The MTS project is envisaged to maintain the continuity of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) like nutrition supply, immunisation and health check-up etc. to migrant beneficiaries.
    • It is targeted for children aged up to 18 years, lactating mothers and pregnant women registered with the Anganwadi centres.
    • Their migration will be tracked for ensuring the portability of the ICDS for their families in their destination districts within or outside the state until their return to their native places.

    Need for such a project

    • Distress-driven seasonal migration of workers is quite prevalent in Maharashtra.
    • Due to lockdowns, a large number of women and children had got displaced and missed on their nutrition, vaccination and other services under the ICDS scheme.
    • Like other states, does not have any institutionalized mechanism to enumerate it.
    • So, through this initiative, the state has sought to capture the data of intra-district, inter-districts and interstate migration of such workers.

    Working details of the project

    • Anganwadi workers have to first register the migrating beneficiaries from their areas on the MTS website app on their laptops or mobile phones by using the workers’ identity cards like Aadhaar, PAN card, or ration cards etc.
    • Other than names, the Anganwadi workers have to mention the age, weight, and height of the migrant children, who will be placed in nutritional categories like severe, moderate or acute.
    • Depending on this data, the nutrition benefits will be allocated to the children in their new locations.
    • On the MTS app, the Anganwadi workers would also collect details about various informal sectors — such as brick kilns, agriculture labour, stone crushing, construction work, sugarcane cutting or sugar factory — where the migrant workers are headed along with their children.

     

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  • Time Banking as a Crucial Tool to Empower Women

    This newscard is an excerpt of an article originally published in the Down To Earth.

    Defining Work

    • ‘Work’ was defined by Spanish economist Lourdes Beneria in 1999 as a paid economic activity linked to the market.
    • Both paid and unpaid work, however, are constituents of our economic life.
    • This leads to an ecosystem where unpaid and care work, performed for long hours, becomes invisible.

    Narrative of Unpaid Work

    • Women perform 75 per cent of the world’s unpaid care work, and unfortunately it is not accounted for in a nation’s gross domestic product.
    • The largest source of women’s unpaid labour is domestic work.
    • These include household chores like grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning as well as caregiving to the children, elderly and infirm.
    • In the absence of this, survival is perceived as a challenge for both individuals and society as every economy is dependent on unpaid labour and care services.

    Time Poverty and unpaid work

    • This share of labour has a cost not only in terms of the unrecognised monetary value but also time poverty.
    • Time poverty is defined as “not having enough time” to pursue interests beyond unpaid domestic / care work.
    • Time poverty has a direct bearing on the ability of women to contribute to or participate in the labour market and / or public or political life.
    • Time poverty is also responsible for insufficient political participation of women globally.

    Issues with unpaid work

    • Unpaid labour is not considered ‘real work’ and is often devalued by the men and society, who directly benefit from it.
    • The situation leads to emotional strain and combined with the time poverty, the costs often outweigh the benefits.
    • Often, women do not find enough time or motivation to participate in activities outside the household.
    • Female labour force participation rate is on a declining trend in major economies.

    The conception of Time Banking

    • Time banking comes forward as a social innovation for increased empowerment of women.
    • Traditionally, household chores are expected to be performed by women. Women in general are more time poor than men.
    • Empowerment of women is limited by time poverty. In this context the concept of time banking was introduced. 
    • Time banking can be viewed as an opportunity cost of an unpaid activity in terms of the time sacrificed.

    How does time bank function?

    • In time banks, one hour equals one time credit, regardless of the service being performed or the level of each person’s skill or gender.
    • The time banks are time-sharing cooperative among women, with people helping each other meet their day-to-day needs and address challenges in their community.
    • For each hour of a service exchanged, the service provider receives one, time credit and the beneficiary pays one, time credit.
    • The time bank networks tap into unused resources of people in the community to fill unmet needs of each other.

    Significance of time banking for women

    • Time-banking can benefit women, their families and their communities by alleviating time poverty through the system of exchange services through time credits.
    • The system has the potential to improve the livelihoods of women and their families, thereby increasing overall economic activities.
    • There were time banks operating in more than 30 countries in the Americas, Africa and Europe as well as in Russia and China.
    • Most case studies showed that time banks have functioned most as community-building tools, economic drivers or within elder care.
    • They can also be utilised to prioritise women’s political participation.
    • This has a direct impact on women empowerment and entails benefits to individual women, their families and communities.

    Time bank networks can be utilised for increasing political participation of women in the following ways:

    1. Directly: Through utilisation of time credits for campaigning for office
    2. Indirectly: By educating themselves or others on local issues or understanding their rights, accessing government programs and mobilising others.

    Way forward

    • Across the world, there are examples in our everyday life of intra- and inter-family examples of informal time-sharing.
    • However, for tangible results on a community or economy scale, the concept needs scaling up and formalisation.
    • Time banking, if made a formal arrangement, has the potential of community building, civic inclusiveness and increasing economic activity.
    • Above all, it has the potential to act as the catalyst to women empowerment by formally recognising the economic value of unpaid labour and tapping the same across communities.

     

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