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Subject: Indian Society

  • Performance Grading Index 2020 by Education Ministry

    The Education Ministry’s Performance Grading Index for 2019-20 was recently released.

    Performance Grading Index

    • The PGI is a tool to provide insights on the status of school education in States and UTs including key levers that drive their performance and critical areas for improvement.
    • It monitors the progress that States and UTs have made in school education with regard to learning outcomes, access and equity, infrastructure and facilities, and governance and management processes.
    • Grading will allow all States and UTs to occupy the highest level i.e Grade I, at the same time which is a sign of a fully developed nation.

    Its methodology

    • This is the third edition of the index and uses 70 indicators to measure progress.
    • Of these, the 16 indicators related to learning outcomes remain unchanged through all three editions, as they are based on data from the 2017 National Achievement Survey, which tested students in Classes 3, 5, 8, and 10.

    Highlights of the 2019-20 Report

    • Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala have all scored higher than 90%.
    • Gujarat dropped from second to the eighth rank in the index, while MP and Chhattisgarh are the only States which have seen actual regression in scores over this period.

  • Verdict on Maratha reservation ignores inequality within intermediate castes

    The article highlights the issues with Maratha reservation judgement delivered by the Supreme Court which rejected the positive discrimination of lower classes of dominant caste.

    About the verdict

    • The Supreme Court rendered a unanimous verdict on the validity of the SEBC Act, 2018 that was to grant reservation to Marathas.
    • The court held that the classification of Marathas as a socially and educationally backward class was unreasonable.
    • Court held that Maratha belonged to a politically dominant caste with significant economic resources.

    Justification for 50% limit

    • The court also concluded that the majority opinion in the Indra Sawhney case was correct and that the limit of 50 per cent for caste-based reservation did not need consideration by a larger bench.
    • The court justified the fixed quantitative limit on caste-based reservation by postulating that it was intrinsic to the fundamental principle of equality.
    • The court highlighted the need to safeguard the interests of unreserved sections and said that all sections have progressed after 70 years of independence.
    • Based on this, the court rejected the state’s argument that the breach of the limit was necessitated by the fact that the population of backward classes was over 80 per cent.

    Missed opportunity to acknowledge growing socio-economic differentiation within the dominant castes

    Growing income difference

    • If in 2011-12, the average per capita income of the Marathas was second only to the Brahmins at Rs 36,548, against Rs 47,427.
    • Their highest quintile -20 per cent of the caste group- got 48 per cent of the total income of the Marathas with a mean per capita income of Rs 86,750.
    • The lowest quintile earned 10 times less (Rs 7,198) and the 40 per cent poorest got less than 13 per cent of the total income of the caste — and were lagging behind the Scheduled Castes elite.
    • In fact, the mean incomes of the highest Dalit quintile, Rs 63,030, and that of the second-highest, Rs 28,897, were above those of the three lowest quintiles of the Marathas.

    What explains growing income difference

    • This is partly due to changes on the education front. 
    • The percentage of graduates among Dalits in 2004-05 was 1.9 per cent and has more than doubled to 5.1 per cent in 2011-12.
    • The corresponding figure for the OBCs was 3.5 per cent and has doubled to 7.6 per cent, while for the Marathas it was 4.6 per cent in 2004-05 and has come up to 8 per cent in 2011-12.
    • Correlatively, the percentage of salaried people among the Dalits was about 28 per cent in Maharashtra in 2011-12, as against 30 per cent among the Marathas.

    Issues with the Maratha quota judgment

    •  The Court refused to recognise the need for positive discrimination of the lower classes of the dominant castes which continue to be seen as a dominant bloc.
    • It fails to admit the complexity that the role of class has introduced in post-liberalisation India.
    • This is unequivocal confirmation of a dated approach to social realities and a purely arithmetic limit that finds no expression in the Constitution.
    • The judgement also raises the issue of judicial supremacy in the broad area of social policy as it could lead to undesirable exclusion of beneficiaries.
    • The court seems to have forgotten its own observation in NM Thomas case that functional democracy postulates participation of all sections of the people and fair representation in administration is an index of such participation.

    Conclusion

    The Supreme Court has rejected the determination of Marathas as backward by holding that their relative deprivation and under-representation with regard to other sections of the general category did not entitle them to affirmative action.

  • World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021

    The report titled World Employment and Social Outlook was recently released by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

    About the report

    • The report analyses the impact of the crisis on the labour market across the world.
    • It offers projections for recovery and gives details of the unequal impact of the crisis on different groups of workers and enterprises and calls for a broad-based human-centred recovery.

    Findings of the report

    • There has been an unprecedented disruption to labour markets worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected the lives of the younger generation and brought about disruption to their education.
    • Also made it more difficult for them to enter the labour market and hold on to their jobs.
    • The pandemic worsened long-standing inequalities with many women workers dropping out of the labour force.
    • For informal and low-skilled workers, working from home was not an option.
    • Many had to face huge health risks to keep their jobs, often with no access to social security benefits.

    Major highlights of the report

    • Global unemployment is expected to be at 205 million in 2022, surpassing the 2019 level of 187 million.
    • The jobs shortfall induced by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was 75 million in 2021 and is expected to be 23 million in 2022.
    • An estimated additional 108 million workers and their family members now live in poverty.

    The long road to recovery

    • The recovery would remain fragile in many countries due to the uneven rollout of vaccination campaigns and higher levels of public debt and deficits that would make it difficult to tackle the effects of the pandemic.
    • There is an urgent need to build back better — create productive employment opportunities and foster long-term labour market prospects for the most vulnerable.
    • There is a need to strengthen social protection schemes like the MGNREGS in India and make sure nobody is left behind.
    • This would require strong institutions and social dialogue and strong international cooperation to fight global disparities.

  • China to allow couples for third child

    China will for the first time allow couples to have a third child in a further relaxation of family planning rules five years after a “two-child policy” largely failed to boost birth rates.

    Do you think that the One-Child Policy would be effective for population control in India?

    What was the One-Child Policy?

    • China embarked upon its one-child policy in 1980 when the Communist Party was concerned that the country’s growing population, which at the time was approaching one billion, would impede economic progress.
    • The policy was implemented more effectively in urban areas.
    • It was enforced through several means, including incentivizing families financially to have one child, making contraceptives widely available, and imposing sanctions against those who violated the policy.

    How well did the policy fare?

    • Chinese authorities have long hailed the policy as a success, claiming that it helped the country avert severe food and water shortages by preventing up to 40 crore people from being born.
    • However, the policy was also a source of discontent, as the state used brutal tactics such as forced abortions and sterilizations.
    • It also met criticism and remained controversial for violating human rights, and for being unfair to poorer Chinese since the richer ones could afford to pay economic sanctions if they violated the policy.
    • Additionally, China’s rulers have been accused of enforcing reproductive limits as a tool for social control.
    • The Uighur Muslim ethnic minority, for example, has been forced to have fewer children to restrict the growth of their population.

    Demographic changes due to the policy

    • Due to the policy, while the birth rate fell, the sex ratio became skewed towards males.
    • This happened because of a traditional preference for male children in the country, due to which abortion of female fetuses rose and so did the number of girls who were placed in orphanages or abandoned.
    • Experts have also blamed the policy for making China’s population age faster than other countries, impacting the country’s growth potential.
    • It is also suggested that because of the long-lingering impact of the policy, China would be unable to reap the full benefits of its economic growth and will need other ways to support it.

    Skeptics of the new move

    • Experts say relaxing limits on reproductive rights alone cannot go a long way in averting an unwanted demographic shift.
    • The main factors behind fewer children being born, they say, are rising costs of living, education, and supporting aging parents.
    • The problem is made worse by the country’s pervasive culture of long working hours.
    • There has also been a cultural shift during the decades in which the one-child policy remained in force, with many couples believing that one child is enough, and some expressing no interest in having children.

  • ‘Bell of Faith’ launched by Kerala for senior citizens

    The ‘Bell of Faith’ scheme will now be implemented for senior citizens staying alone in villages. Scheme to cover 250 houses in city in the first phase.

    What is the ‘Bell of Faith’ scheme all about?

    • It is a safety project conceived under Kerala’s Community Policing Scheme.
    • It will help elderly citizens attract the attention of their neighbours using a loud, remote-controlled alarm in emergencies.
    • It has been under implementation in Kerala since 2018.
    • A welfare fund of â‚č3.5 crore sanctioned by the State government would be used for the initiative that gives preference to those staying alone in their houses.
    • In the first phase, around 250 houses selected by the local Janamaithri scheme coordinators will be covered under the scheme

    Significance of the Project:

    • It sets an example for community participation to ensure the well-being and safety of the elderly.
    • It can be of great support for the aged during the COVID-19 pandemic as many live in fear for their health.
    • The electronic bells, installed free of cost with wireless control mechanism, will help senior citizens in quickly seeking the support of neighbours during emergencies.

  • New regulations for Lakshadweep

    A series of regulations proposed by the Lakshadweep administrator has caused widespread resentment and fear among its residents.

    What are the new regulations?

    [1] Cow slaughter & beef

    • An order from the Administration seeks to ban the slaughter of cow, calf, bull, and buffalo without a certificate from a competent authority.
    • It prohibits the sale, transport, and storage of beef and beef products. Penalties include a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 10,000.
    • The Administration has not provided an explanation on why the rule was brought in.
    • Residents view the rule as a direct infringement on their culture and eating habits. They allege the rule was decided without consultation with local bodies.

    [2] Two-child policy

    • Under the Draft Panchayat Regulation 2021, the Administration aims to bar people with more than two children from becoming a member of the gram panchayat.
    • For those who already have more than two children, the regulation does not disqualify them provided they do not have further children after the date on which the rule comes into effect.

    [3] Serving liquor to tourists

    • The Administration has decided to allow liquor to be served at resorts on inhabited islands.
    • Currently, prohibition is in place on all inhabited islands, with liquor served only at resorts on the uninhabited Bangaram Island.
    • The Dist Collector clarified that liquor permits would be given only to resorts for tourists, not for locals.
    • Residents have alleged that the move will lead to a proliferation of liquor sales on the island, which had been observing near-prohibition until now.

    [4] Land acquisition powers

    • The Administration brought in a draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (LDAR) to oversee the development of towns on the islands, with sweeping changes in the way land can be acquired and utilized.
    • It talks of the declaration of ‘planning areas’ and constitution of ‘planning and development authorities’ for preparing a land-use map and register, ostensibly for large projects.
    • Residents have protested against the way it was prepared and pushed through without consultation.
    • They fear large infrastructure and tourism projects can destabilize the ecology, and that the notification gives powers to the Administration to remove small landholdings of ST residents.

    [5] Anti-social activities regulation

    • The draft Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation provides for powers to detain a person for up to one year to prevent him from “acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order”.
    • It allows for detention for anti-social activities from six months to a year without legal representation.
    • The Collector said while the island remains peaceful, there have been reports of drugs being found along with weapons and live ammunition.
    • He said the regulation is required to keep the “youth from getting misguided by illegal businesses”.
    • Residents are skeptical of the need for such stringent law in a UT with one of the lowest crime rates in the country. They allege it has been brought in to arrest those opposed to the Administration.

    Back2Basics: Lakshadweep Islands

    • There are 36 islands across 12 atolls, closest to Kerala, on which it depends for essential supplies. Only 10 of the islands are inhabited.
    • Once a part of the Malabar district of the Madras Presidency, Lakshadweep was given Union Territory status following Kerala state’s formation in 1956.
    • With a population of 65,000 (2011 Census), Lakshadweep is India’s smallest Union Territory.
    • It has the highest population share of Muslims (96%) and Scheduled Tribes (94.8%) among the UTs.
    • Residents speak Malayalam and Dhivehi.

  • Socio-Economic Impact of Pandemic on Women

    The article highlights the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women and suggests measures to soften the impact.

    Widening gender employment gap

    • Even prior to 2020, the gender employment gap was large.
    • Only 18% of working-age women were employed as compared to 75% of men.
    • Reasons include a lack of good jobs, restrictive social norms, and the burden of household work.
    • The nationwide lockdown hit women much harder than men.
    • Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd. show that 61% of male workers were unaffected during the lockdown while only 19% of women experienced this kind of security.
    • Men who did lose work were able to regain it, even if it was at the cost of increased precarity or lower earnings, because they had the option of moving into fallback employment arrangements.
    • Even as new entrants to the workforce, women workers had poorer options compared to men.
    • Women were more likely to enter as daily wage workers while men found avenues for self-employment.
    •  So, not only did women enter into more precarious work, it was also likely to be at very low earnings compared to men.

    Growing domestic work

    • With schools closed and almost everyone limited to the confines of their homes, household responsibilities increased for women.
    • The India Working Survey 2020 found that among employed men, the number of hours spent on paid work remained more or less unchanged after the pandemic.
    • But for women, the number of hours spent in domestic work increased manifold.
    • This increase in hours came without any accompanying relief in the hours spent on paid work.

    Way forward

    • The following measures are needed now:
    • The National Employment Policy, currently in the works, should systematically address the constraints around the participation of the women’s workforce.
    • Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and the introduction of an urban employment guarantee targeted to women as soon as the most severe forms of mobility restrictions are lifted.
    • There is a need for coordinated efforts by States to facilitate the employment of women while also addressing immediate needs through the setting up of community kitchens, the opening of schools and anganwadi centres, and engagement with self-help groups for the production of personal protective equipment kits.
    • Further, a COVID-19 hardship allowance of at least â‚č5,000 per month for six months should be announced for 2.5 million accredited social health activists and Anganwadi workers, most of whom are women.
    • The pandemic has shown the necessity of adequate public investment in social infrastructure.
    • The time is right to imagine a bold universal basic services programme that not only fills existing vacancies in the social sector but also expands public investments in health, education, child and elderly care, and so on, to be prepared for future shocks.

    Consider the question “Examine the impact of the pandemic on women. Suggest the measures to mitigate the impact.”

    Conclusion

    As the country meets the challenge of the second wave of the pandemic, it is crucial to learn lessons from the first wave to chart the policy path ahead.

  • Digital Technologies and Inequalities

    Impact of pandemic

    • The novel coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the use of digital technologies in India, even for essential services such as health and education, where access to them might be poor.
    • Economic inequality has increased: people whose jobs and salaries are protected, face no economic fallout.
    • Well-recognised channels of economic and social mobility — education and health — are getting rejigged in ways that make access more inequitable in an already unequal society.

    Growing inequality in access to education

    • According to National Sample Survey data from 2017, only 6% rural households and 25% urban households have a computer.
    • Access to Internet facilities is not universal either: 17% in rural areas and 42% in urban areas.
    • Surveys by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the Azim Premji Foundation, ASER and Oxfam suggest that between 27% and 60% could not access online classes for a range of reasons: lack of devices, shared devices, inability to buy “data packs”, etc.
    • Further, lack of stable connectivity jeopardises their evaluations.
    • Besides this, many lack a learning environment at home.
    • Peer learning has also suffered.

    Inequality in access to health care

    •  India’s public spending on health is barely 1% of GDP.
    • Partly as a result, the share of ‘out of pocket’ (OOP) health expenditure (of total health spending) in India was over 60% in 2018.
    • Even in a highly privatised health system such as the United States, OOP was merely 10%.
    • Moreover, the private health sector in India is poorly regulated in practice.
    • Both put the poor at a disadvantage in accessing good health care.
    • Right now, the focus is on the shortage of essentials: drugs, hospital beds, oxygen, vaccines.
    • In several instances, developing an app is being seen as a solution for allocation of various health services. 
    • Digital “solutions” create additional bureaucracy for all sick persons in search of these services without disciplining the culprits.
    • Platform- and app-based solutions can exclude the poor entirely, or squeeze their access to scarce health services further.
    • In other spheres (e.g., vaccination) too, digital technologies are creating extra hurdles.
    • The use of CoWIN to book a slot makes it that much harder for those without phones, computers and the Internet. 

    Issues with the creation of centralised database

    • The digital health ID project is being pushed during the pandemic when its merits cannot be adequately debated.
    • Electronic and interoperable health records are the purported benefits.
    • For patients, interoperability i.e., you do not have to lug your x-rays, past medication and investigations can be achieved by decentralising digital storage say, on smart cards as France and Taiwan have done.
    • Given that we lack a data privacy law in India, it is very likely that our health records will end up with private entities without our consent, even weaponised against us.
    • For example, a private insurance companies may use health record to deny poor people an insurance policy or charge a higher premium.
    • There are worries that the government is using the vaccination drive to populate the digital health ID database.

    Way forward

    • Unless health expenditure on basic health services (ward staff, nurses, doctors, laboratory technicians, medicines, beds, oxygen, ventilators) is increased, apps such as Aarogya Setu, Aadhaar and digital health IDs can improve little.
    • Unless laws against medical malpractices are enforced strictly, digital solutions will obfuscate and distract us from the real problem.
    • We need political, not technocratic, solutions.

    Conclusion

    Today, there is greater understanding that the harms from Aadhaar and its cousins fall disproportionately on the vulnerable. Hopefully, the pandemic will teach us to be more discerning about which digital technologies we embrace.

  • State of World Population Report 2021

    The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) flagship State of World Population Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’ was recently launched.

    State of World Population Report 2021

    • The State of World Population report is UNFPA’s annual flagship publication.
    • It has been published yearly since 1978.
    • It highlights emerging issues in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, bringing them into the mainstream and exploring the challenges and opportunities they present for international development.

    Key findings of the 2021 report

    This is the first time a UN report has focused on bodily autonomy, defined as the power and agency to make choices about your body without fear of violence or having someone else decide for you.

    • The report measures both women’s power to make their own decisions about their bodies and the extent to which countries’ laws support or interfere with a woman’s right to make these decisions.
    • The data show a strong link between decision-making power and higher levels of education.

    The report shows that in countries where data are available:

    • Only 55 per cent of women are fully empowered to make choices over health care, contraception and the ability to say yes or no to sex.
    • Only 71 per cent of countries guarantee access to overall maternity care.
    • Only 75 per cent of countries legally ensure full, equal access to contraception.
    • Only about 80 per cent of countries have laws supporting sexual health and well-being.
    • Only about 56 per cent of countries have laws and policies supporting comprehensive sexuality education.

    In essence, hundreds of millions of women and girls do not own their own bodies. Their lives are governed by others.

    The report also documents many other ways that the bodily autonomy of women, men, girls and boys is violated, revealing that:

    • Twenty countries or territories have “marry-your-rapist” laws, where a man can escape criminal prosecution if he marries the woman or girl he has raped.
    • Forty-three countries have no legislation addressing the issue of marital rape (rape by a spouse).
    • More than 30 countries restrict women’s right to move around outside the home.
    • Girls and boys with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be subjected to sexual violence, with girls at the greatest risk.

    Solutions: the power to say yes, the right to say no

    • The report shows how efforts to address abuses can lead to further violations of bodily autonomy.
    • For example, to prosecute a case of rape, a criminal justice system might require a survivor to undergo an invasive so-called virginity test.
    • Real solutions, the report finds, must take into account the needs and experiences of those affected.

    Indian scenario

    • In India, according to NFHS-4 (2015-2016), only about 12% of currently married women (15-49 years of age) independently make decisions about their own healthcare, while 63% decide in consultation with their spouse.
    • For a quarter of women (23%), it is the spouse that mainly takes decisions about healthcare.
    • Only 8% of currently married women (15-49 years) take decisions on the use of contraception independently, while 83% decide jointly with their spouse.
    • Information provided to women about the use of contraception is also limited — only 47% of women using a contraceptive were informed about the side effects of the method, and 54% of women were provided information about other contraceptives.

  • National Pension System (NPS)

    The National Pension System (NPS) will no longer compel investors to convert 40% of their accumulated retirement corpus into an annuity.

    An annuity is a long-term investment that is issued by an insurance company and is designed to help protect you from the risk of outliving your income. Through annuitisation, your purchase payments (what you contribute) are converted into periodic payments that can last for life.

    Why such a move?

    • Poor yields on annuities and high inflation are translating into negative returns.
    • Since annuities are taxable, deducting the tax and factoring in inflation means annuities are yielding negative returns.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Who among the following can join the National Pension System (NPS)?

    (a) Resident Indian citizens only

    (b) Persons of age from 21 to 55 only

    (c) All-State Government employees joining the services after the date of notification by the respective State Governments

    (d) All Central Governments Employees including those of Armed Forces joining the services on or after 1st April 2004

    National Pension Scheme (NPS)

    • NPS is a government-sponsored pension scheme. It was launched in January 2004 for government employees.
    • It was extended to all citizens of Indian on a voluntary basis from May 2009 and to corporates in December 2011 and to Non-Resident Indians in October 2015.
    • PFRDA is the statutory authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the NPS and pension schemes to which this Act applies.
    • The scheme allows subscribers to contribute regularly in a pension account during their working life.
    • On retirement, subscribers can withdraw a part of the corpus in a lump sum and use the remaining corpus to buy an annuity to secure a regular income after retirement.

    Who can join NPS?

    • Any Indian citizen between 18 and 60 years can join NPS.
    • The only condition is that the person must comply with know your customer (KYC) norms.
    • An NRI can join NPS. However, the account will be closed if there is a change in the citizenship status of the NRI.
    • Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs are eligible to join NPS till the age of 65 years.