đŸ’„Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (July Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Subject: Indian Society

  • [pib] Stand Up India Scheme

    The Ministry of Finance has informed that more than 81% of account holders are Women under Stand Up India Scheme.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2016:

    Q.With reference to ‘stand up India scheme’, which of the following statement is/are correct?

    1. Its purpose is to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and women entrepreneurs.
    2. It provides for refinance through SIDBI.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    Stand-Up India Scheme

    • Stand Up India Scheme was launched on 5 April 2016 to promote entrepreneurship at the grass-root level of economic empowerment and job creation.
    • This scheme seeks to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to the underserved sector of people such as SCs, STs and Women Entrepreneurs.
    • The objective of this scheme is to facilitate bank loans between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one SC or ST borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch for setting up a Greenfield enterprise.
    • The offices of SIDBI and NABARD shall be designated Stand-Up Connect Centres (SUCC)
    • It is similar to but distinct from Startup India.

    Back2Basics: Start-Up India Scheme

    • Startup India Scheme is an initiative of the Indian government, the primary objective of which is the promotion of startups, generation of employment, and wealth creation.
    • It was launched on the 16th of January, 2016.
    • A startup defined as an entity that is headquartered in India, which was opened less than 10 years ago and has an annual turnover of fewer than â‚č100 crores (US$14 million).
    • The action plan for this initiative is based on the following three pillars:
    1. Simplification and Handholding
    2. Funding Support and Incentives
    3. Industry-Academia Partnership and Incubation
    • An additional area of focus is to discard restrictive States Government policies within this domain, such as License Raj, Land Permissions, Foreign Investment Proposals, and Environmental Clearances.
    • It was organized by The Department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPI&IT).

  • Clustering educational institutes and research centres

    National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) envisions establishing large multidisciplinary universities to promote research directed to solve contemporary national problems, and provides the option of setting up clusters of higher education institutes.

    Q. Discuss the salient features of Cluster Universities as propounded by the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP).

    What are Education Clusters?

    • This new concept is dedicated to students who want to discover & learn new things regardless of the field/branch/discipline they’re in.
    • Currently, higher educational institutions (HEIs) follow the structure of single-stream education.
    • Generally, what happens is that a student who has taken a major is allowed to study relevant subjects. He/she can’t opt for subjects from other majors.
    • This may restrict students to widen their thinking & learning capability.
    • With the introduction of Cluster University, the single-stream approach of teaching-learning will be ruled out.
    • All the institutions including the ones that are offering professional degrees will be transformed into a rationalized architecture that is popularly being referred to as- multidisciplinary clusters.

    What are the Key Benefits of Cluster Universities?

    More Space for Student-Teacher Collaboration

    • With HEIs getting merged to form a large unit, there would be more space for better student-teacher collaboration.
    • Students that are genuinely interested in learning a particular course would come together helping faculties to achieve better student learning outcomes.

    Inculcating Leadership Qualities in Students

    • Students would be more confident as they pursue their choice of subjects. They would get an open field to polish their skills and also develop new ones.
    • Thus, the process would ultimately lead to the inculcation of leadership qualities in students.

    Accelerate Institutional Networking

    • Since the Cluster University concept of the new education policy speaks of merging multidisciplinary HEIs, institutional networking would obviously go uphill.

    Fewer Resources & More Expertise

    • Many students would be able to learn under a single entity. It is bound to increase the outcomes with comparatively fewer resources.
    • Such universities would increase faculty strength, both in terms of numbers and diversity of disciplines, and facilitate the conduct of research on real-life problems.

    Way forward

    • For moving away from single-discipline institutions to multi-disciplinary universities, clustering is a promising model to achieve a critical mass in a university to invigorate research.
    • Many industry associations have established research centres and more could be encouraged to do.
    • India needs to earnestly pursue this model.

  • [pib] Ease of Living Index (EOLI) 2020

    The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has announced the release of the final rankings of the Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2020 and the Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2020.

    For any such index, always note the verticals i.e. the various parameters.

    Ease of Living Index (EoLI)

    • It is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development.
    • It provides a comprehensive understanding of participating cities across India based on the quality of life, the economic ability of a city, and its sustainability and resilience.
    • It examines the outcomes that lead to existing living conditions through pillars of Quality of Life, Economic Ability, Sustainability.

    Municipal Performance Index (MPI)

    • It was launched as an accompaniment to the Ease of Living Index.
    • The five verticals under MPI are Services, Finance, Policy, Technology and Governance.
    • The Ease of Living Index encapsulates the outcome indicators while the Municipal Performance Index captures the enabling input parameters.

    Performance of cities

    • Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the Million+ categories, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai.
    • In the Less than Million category, Shimla was ranked the highest in ease of living, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere, and Tiruchirappalli.

    Why need such indices?

    • The EoLI primarily seeks to accelerate India’s urban development outcomes, including the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
    • The findings from the index can help guide evidence-based policymaking.
    • It also promotes healthy competition among cities, encouraging them to learn from their peers and advance their development trajectory.

  • LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021

    The Opportunity Index 2021 highlights the difference in perception of available opportunities in the market for men and women in India.

    LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021

    • The report seeks to understand how people perceive opportunities and the barriers that stand in the way of achieving them.
    • This year’s report dives deep to understand how women perceive opportunities, and how the gender gap is further slowing down career progress for working women in India amid the pandemic.

    LinkedIn is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is mainly used for professional networking and allows job seekers to post their CVs and employers to post jobs

    Highlights of the report

    India’s working women still face the strongest gender bias across Asia Pacific countries.

    • Covid impact: Nine in 10 (89%) women state they were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • General Bias: 1 in 5 (22%) working women in India said their company’s exhibit a ‘favourable bias’ towards men at work when compared to the regional average of 16%.
    • Work opportunity: While 37% of India’s working women say they get fewer opportunities than men, only 25% of men agree with this.
    • Pay: This disparity in perception is also seen in conversations about equal pay, as more women (37%) say they get less pay than men, while only 21% of men share this sentiment.
    • Promotion: In India, more than 4 in 5 working women (85%) claim to have missed out on a raise, promotion, or work offer because of their gender, compared to the regional average of 60%.
    • Family burden: Lack of time and family care stop 7 in 10 Indian women from progressing in their careers.
    • Maternity: Consumer sentiment from the report shows that more than 7 in 10 working women (71%) and working mothers (77%) feel that managing familial responsibilities often come in their way of career development.

    Scope for equality

    • The report shows that even though 66% of people in India feel that gender equality has improved compared to their parents’ age.
    • In India, the top three job opportunities sought by both men and women are job security, a job that they love, and a good work-life balance.
    • But despite having similar goals, more women (63%) think a person’s gender is important to get ahead in life when compared to men (54%).

    Barriers faced by Indian women

    • Lack of required professional skills and a lack of guidance through networks and connections are also some of the other barriers that get in the way of career development for working women in India.

    What next?

    • Organisations should step up to provide robust maternity policies and flexibility programs.
    • Reduced and flexible schedules, more sabbaticals, and new opportunities to upskill and learn are critical offerings that can help organizations attract, hire, and retain more female talent.

  • NITI Aayog proposes revisions to National Food Security Act

    The NITI Aayog has recently proposed a revision in the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 for lowering the coverage of both rural and urban population to save up to Rs 47,229 crore annually.

    National Food Security (NFS) Act

    • The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
    • It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
    • It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
    • It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
    • Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
    • The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
    • Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.

    Key provisions of NFSA

    • The NFSA provides a legal right to persons belonging to “eligible households” to receive foodgrains at a subsidised price.
    • It includes rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg and coarse grain at Rs 1/kg — under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
    • These are called central issue prices (CIPs).

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.With reference to the provisions made under the National Food Security Act, 2013, consider the following statements:

    1. The families coming under the category of ‘below poverty line (BPL)’ only are eligible to receive subsidized food grains.
    2. The eldest woman in a household, of age 18 years or above, shall be the head of the Household for the purpose of issuance of a ration card.
    3. Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a ‘take-home ration’ of 1600 calories per day during pregnancy and for six months thereafter.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 3 only

    What has NITI Aayog asked for review?

    • A revision of CIPs is one of the issues that have been discussed.
    • The other issues are updating of the population covered under the NFSA, and beneficiary identification criteria.
    • Under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act, the term “eligible households” comprises two categories — “priority households”, and families covered by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
    • Priority households are entitled to receive 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month, whereas AAY households are entitled to 35 kg per month at the same prices.

    Provisions for review

    • Under Schedule-I of the Act, these subsidised prices were fixed for “a period of three years from the date of commencement of the Act”.
    • While different states began implementing the Act at different dates, the deemed date of its coming into effect is July 5, 2013, and the three-year period was therefore completed on July 5, 2016.
    • However, the government has yet not revised subsidised prices.
    • The government can do so under Schedule-I of the Act, after completion of the three-year period.
    • To revise the prices, the government can amend Schedule-I through a notification, a copy of which has to be laid before each House of Parliament as soon as possible after it is issued.
    • The revised prices cannot exceed the minimum support price for wheat and coarse grains, and the derived minimum support price for rice.

    The question of coverage

    • The Act has prescribed the coverage under “eligible households” — 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population.
    • On the basis of Census 2011 figures and the national rural and urban coverage ratios, 81.35 crore persons are covered under NFSA currently.
    • This overall figure has been divided among the states and UTs, based on the NSSO Household Consumer Expenditure Survey 2011-12.
    • Section 9 of the Act deals with an update of coverage of the population under the Act.
    • However, given the population increase since then, there have been demands from the states and union territories to update the list by ensuring an annual updating system under NFSA.

    Propositions by NITI Aayog

    • The NITI Aayog has suggested that the national rural and urban coverage ratio be reduced from the existing 75-50 to 60-40.
    • If this reduction happens, the number of beneficiaries under the NFSA will drop to 71.62 crores (on the basis of the projected population in 2020).
    • To make these changes in the law, the government will have to amend sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the NFSA. For this, it will require parliamentary approval.

    Implications of the move

    • If the national coverage ratio is revised downward, the Centre can save up to Rs 47,229 crore (as estimated by the NITI Aayog paper).
    • On the other hand, if the rural-urban coverage ratio remains at 75-50, then the total number of people covered will increase from the existing 81.35 crores to 89.52 crore —an increase of 8.17 crore.
    • This estimate by the NITI Aayog is based on the projected 2020 population, and, according to the paper, will result in an additional subsidy requirement of Rs 14,800 crore.

  • What is Khujli Ghar?

    Some villages in Nagaland are trying to revive a traditional form of punishment that seeks to check crime with an itch in time.

    What is Khujli Ghar?

    • Social offenders or violators of Naga customary laws have over the ages dreaded a cramped, triangular cage made from the logs of an indigenous tree that irritates the skin.
    • The dread is more of humiliation or loss of face within the community or clan than of spending at least a day scratching furiously without any space to move.
    • Such itchy cages are referred to as khujli ghar in Nagamese but each Naga community has its own name.
    • The Aos, one of the major tribes of Nagaland, call it Shi-ki that means flesh-house.

    Terminologies associated

    • The cage is usually placed at a central spot in the village, usually in front of the morung or bachelor’s dormitory, for the inmate to be in full public view.
    • The cage is made of the logs of Masang-fung, a local tree that people avoid because of the irritation it causes.
    • It does not affect the palm but people who make the cages have to be careful.

    Naga belief in this

    • It is not proper to view the itchy cages from the prism of modern laws.
    • They have served a purpose for ages and have often proved to reform offenders, as identity and family or clan reputation is very important to a Naga.

    Do you know?

    Article 371(A) of the Constitution guarantees the preservation of the Naga customary laws.

    The State also funds the customary courts in villages and towns where cases — mostly dealing with land litigation, money-lending and marital disputes — have a high rate of prompt disposal.

    Back2Basics: Article 371A

    • Parliament cannot legislate in matters of Naga religion or social practices, the Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law.
    • Parliament also cannot intervene in ownership and transfer of land and its resources, without the concurrence of the Legislative Assembly of the state.
    • This provision was inserted in the Constitution after a 16-point agreement between the Centre and the Naga People’s Convention in 1960, which led to the creation of Nagaland in 1963.
    • Also, there is a provision for a 35-member Regional Council for Tuensang district, which elects the Tuensang members in the Assembly.
    • A member from the Tuensang district is Minister for Tuensang Affairs. The Governor has the final say on all Tuensang-related matters.

  • [pib] Sugamya Bharat App

    Union Minister for Social justice and Empowerment has launched the “Sugamya Bharat App”.

    Sugamya Bharat App

    • The Sugamya Bharat App is a simple to use Mobile App with an easy registration process, requiring only 3 mandatory fields, namely, Name, Mobile number and Email-id.
    • Registered users can raise issues related to accessibility being faced.
    • The App is made accessible for ease of use for persons with disabilities also with features such as font size adjustment, color contrasting option, text to speech, and having an integrated screen reader in Hindi and English.
    • It is available in 10 regional languages, namely, Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Odiya, Kannada, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Malayalam.
    • The App also has the provision of easy photo uploads with a geotagging option of the premise where accessibility intervention is required.

    Its features

    • The app, a Crowdsourcing Mobile Application is a means for sensitizing and enhancing accessibility in the 3 pillars of the Accessible India Campaign i.e. built environment, transportation sector and ICT ecosystem in India.
    • The app provides for five main features, 4 of which are directly related to enhancing accessibility, while the fifth is a special feature meant only for Divyangjan for COVID related issues.

    The accessibility-related features are:

    • Registration of complaints of inaccessibility across the 3 broad pillars of the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan;
    • Positive feedback of examples and best practices worth emulating being shared by people as jan-bhagidhari;
    • Departmental updates and guidelines and circulars related to accessibility.

    Back2Basics: Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan

    • Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is a program that is set to be launched to serve the differently-able community of the country.
    • The flagship program has been launched on 3 December 2015, the International Day of People with Disabilities.
    • The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly buildings and human resource policies.
    • The initiative also in line with Article 9 of the (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) which India is a signatory since 2007.
    • The scheme also comes under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 for equal Opportunities and protection of rights which provides non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with Disabilities.

  • Same-sex marriages cannot be recognized: Centre

    The Centre has opposed any changes to the existing laws on marriage to recognise same-sex marriages, saying such interference would cause “complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country”.

    What is the case?

    • A petition had sought to recognize same-sex marriage.
    • Despite the decriminalization of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the petitioners cannot claim a fundamental right for same-sex marriage being recognised under the laws of the country”.

    What did the Centre say?

    • Living together as partners and having a sexual relationship with same-sex individuals is not comparable with the Indian family unit concept.
    • The Indian concept of family constitutes a husband, a wife and children which necessarily presuppose a biological man as a ‘husband’, a biological woman as a ‘wife’ and the children born out.
    • It said the 2018 landmark judgment of the Supreme Court decriminalizing consensual homosexual sex in India was “neither intended to nor did it in fact, legitimize the human conduct in question”.

    Why such a move by the Centre?

    • The registration of marriage of same-sex persons also results in a violation of existing personal as well as codified law provisions — such as ‘degrees of prohibited relationship’; ‘conditions of marriage’; ‘ceremonial and ritual requirements’ under the personal laws governing the individuals”.
    • Any other interpretation except treating ‘husband’ as a biological man and ‘wife’ as a biological woman will make all statutory provisions unworkable, the government cautioned.
    • In a same-sex marriage, it is neither possible nor feasible to term one as ‘husband’ and the other as ‘wife’ in the context of the legislative scheme of various personal laws.

    Back2Basics: Article 377 of IPC

    • Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is an act that criminalizes homosexuality and was introduced in the ear 1861 during the British rule of India.
    • Referred to ‘unnatural offences’ and says whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life.
    • However, in a historic verdict, the Supreme Court of India on September 6, 2018, decriminalized Section 377 of the IPC and allowed gay sex among consenting adults in private.
    • The SC ruled that consensual adult sex is not a crime saying sexual orientation is natural and people have no control over it.
    • It also said that Section 377 remains in force relating to sex with minors, non-consensual sexual acts, and bestiality.

  • Federalism and India’s human capital

    The article argues for recognising the correlation between human capital and decentralisation in India.

    Low human capital indicators

    • In the World Bank’s Human Capital Index, the country ranked 116th.
    • The National Family Health Survey-5 for 2019-20 shows that malnutrition indicators stagnated or declined in most States.
    • The National Achievement Survey 2017 and the Annual Status of Education Report 2018 show poor learning outcomes.
    • In addition, there is little convergence across States.
    • India spends just 4% of its GDP as public expenditure on human capital:1% and 3% on health and education respectively— one of the lowest among its peers.

    Initiatives to address these issues

    • Investing in human capital through interventions in nutrition, health, and education is critical for sustainable growth.
    • The National Health Policy of 2017 highlighted the need for interventions to address malnutrition.
    • On the basis of NITI Aayog’s National Nutrition Strategy, the Poshan Abhiyaan was launched, as part of the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Scheme.
    • The latest Union Budget has announced a ‘Mission Poshan 2.0’ and the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan has been the Centre’s flagship education scheme since 2018.

    Relation between decentralisation and human capital

    • International experience suggests that one reason why these interventions are not leading to better outcomes may be India’s record with decentralisation.
    • Globally, there has been a gradual shift in the distribution of expenditures and revenue towards sub-national governments.
    • These trends are backed by studies demonstrating a positive correlation between decentralisation and human capital.

    Issues with decentralisation in India

    1) Letting states decide the way of empowerment

    • The 73rd and 74th Amendments bolstered decentralisation by constitutionally recognising panchayats and municipalities as the third tier.
    • The Amendment also added the Eleventh and Twelfth schedules containing the functions of panchayats and municipalities.
    • These include education, health and sanitation, and social welfare for panchayats, and public health and socio-economic development planning for municipalities.
    • However, the Constitution lets States determine how they are empowered.
    • In effect, three tiers of government are envisaged in the Constitution it divides powers between the first two tiers — the Centre and the States
    • This has resulted in vast disparities in the roles played by third-tier governments.

    2) Centralised nature of fiscal architecture

    • While the Constitution assigns the bulk of expenditure responsibilities to States, the Centre has major revenue sources.
    • To address this vertical imbalance, the Constitution provides for fiscal transfers through tax devolution and grants-in-aid.
    • In addition, the Centre can make ‘grants for any public purpose’ under Article 282 of the Constitution.
    • While fiscal transfers that are part of tax devolution are unconditional, transfers under grants-in-aid or Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs) can be conditional.
    • Therefore, the increase in the States’ share of tax devolution represents more meaningful decentralisation.
    • Despite some shifts towards greater State autonomy in many spheres, the centralised nature of India’s fiscal architecture has persisted. 
    • Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) have formed a sizeable chunk of intergovernmental fiscal transfers over the years, comprising almost 23% of transfers to States in 2021-22.
    • But its outsized role strays from the intentions of the Constitution.
    • There are issues in the design of CSSs as well, with the conditions being overly prescriptive and, typically, input-based.
    • Against this, international experience reveals that schemes with output-based conditions are more effective.
    • Moreover, CSSs typically have a cost-sharing model, thereby pre-empting the States’ fiscal space.

    3) Lack of fiscal empowerment

    • Third-tier governments are not fiscally empowered.
    • The collection of property tax, a major source of revenue for third-tier governments, is under 0.2% of GDP in India, compared to 3% of GDP in some other nations.
    • The Constitution envisages State Finance Commissions (SFCs) to make recommendations for matters such as tax devolution and grants-in-aid to the third tier.
    • However, many States have not constituted or completed these commissions on time.

    Solution

    • The Centre should play an enabling role, for instance, encouraging knowledge-sharing between States.
    • For States to play a bigger role in human capital interventions, they need adequate fiscal resources.
    • To this end, States should rationalise their priorities to focus on human capital development.
    • The Centre should refrain from offsetting tax devolution by altering cost-sharing ratios of CSSs and increasing cesses.
    • Concomitantly, the heavy reliance on CSSs should be reduced, and tax devolution and grants-in-aid should be the primary sources of vertical fiscal transfers.
    • Panchayats and municipalities need to be vested with the functions listed in the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules.

    Consider the question “There is a positive correlation between decentralisation and human capital. This in part explains India’s low human capital indicators. In light of this, examine the issues with the decentralisation in India and suggest the measures to deal with it.”

    Conclusion

    Leveraging the true potential of our multi-level federal system represents the best way forward towards developing human capital.

     

     

  • Reform lessons for education

    The article deals with state of the education and its relation with employment in India.

    Improving higher education system

    • Improving India’s higher education justice and worker productivity needs the broadening of our education ambition.
    • Our focus on Gross Enrollment Ratio should also be anchored to Employed Learner Ratio -proportion of our 55 crore labour force in formal learning.
    • For enrolling five crore new employed learners, India needs five regulatory changes.

    Reflecting on global and domestic education experience

    • Multi-decade structural changes include  organisations that are less hierarchical, lower longevity, shorter employee tenures, higher competition.
    • There is also change in the form of work: capitalism without capital, soft skills valued more than hard skills, 30 per cent working from home etc.
    • There change in the form of education in which Google knows everything, so tacit knowledge is more valuable than codified or embedded knowledge.
    • These shifts are complicated by a new world of politics, third-party financing viability, and fee inflation.

    India faces financing failure in skill

    • We have 3.8 crore students in 1,000-plus universities and 50,000-plus colleges.
    • We confront a financing failure in skills:
    • Employers are not willing to pay for training of candidates but a premium for trained candidates.
    • Candidates are not willing to pay for training but for jobs.
    • Financiers are unwilling to lend unless a job is guaranteed, and training institutions can’t fill their classrooms.

    Steps need to be taken

    • For many people the income support of learning-while-earning is crucial to raising enrollment.
    • Many students lack employability and workers lack productivity because learning is supply-driven.
    • Learning-by-doing ensures demand-driven learning.
    • The de facto ban on online degree learning with only seven of our 1,000-plus universities licensed for online offerings.
    • That needs to be changed.
    • High regulatory hurdles creates an adverse selection among entrepreneurs running educational institutions.

    Five regulatory changes

    • First, modify Part 3 of the UGC Act 1956 and Part 8 of the UGC Act to include skill universities.
    • Second, remove clauses 3(A), 3(B), and clause 5 of UGC ODL and Online Regulations 2020 and replace them with a blanket and automatic approval for all accredited universities to design, develop and deliver their online programmes.
    • Third, modify clause 4(C)(ii) of UGC online regulations 2020 to allow innovation, flexibility, and relevance in an online curriculum as prescribed in Annex 1-(V)-3-i) that allows universities to work closely with industry on their list of courses.
    • Fourth, modify clauses 13(C)(3), 13(C)(5), 13(C)(7), 18(2) of UGC online regulations 2020 to permit universities to create partner ecosystems for world-class online learning services, platforms, and experience.
    • Fifth, introduce Universities in clause 2 of the Apprentices Act 1961 to enable all accredited universities to introduce, administer and scale all aspects of degree apprenticeship programs.
    • These five changes would enable enrolling five crore incremental employed learner.

    Conclusion

    Reforming education requires thinking horizontally, holistically, and imaginatively. The reforms suggested here should be carried out considering these aspects.