💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (August Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Type: DOMR

  • [pib] Good Governance Index 2021

    The Centre has released the Good Governance Index 2021 prepared by DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances) on Good Governance Day.

    Try this question from CS Mains 2016:

     

    Q. What do you understand by the terms ‘governance’, ‘good governance’ and ‘ethical governance’?

    What do you mean by Good Governance?

    • It is the process of measuring how public institution conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for the rule of law.

    12 Principles of Good Governance:

    1. Participation, Representation, Fair Conduct of Elections
    2. Responsiveness
    3. Efficiency and Effectiveness
    4. Openness and Transparency
    5. Rule of Law
    6. Ethical Conduct
    7. Competence and Capacity
    8. Innovation and Openness to Change
    9. Sustainability and Long-term Orientation
    10. Sound Financial Management
    11. Human rights, Cultural Diversity and Social Cohesion
    12. Accountability

    About Good Governance Index (GGI)

    • The GGI is a uniform tool across States to assess the Status of Governance and the impact of various interventions taken up by the State Government and UTs.
    • The objectives are:
    1. To provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all states and UTs, enable states and UTs
    2. To formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result-oriented approaches and administration

    Components of GGI

    • GGI 2021 Framework covered ten sectors and 58 indicators.
    • These ten Governance Sectors are measured on total 50 indicators:
    1. Agriculture and Allied Sectors
    2. Commerce & Industries
    3. Human Resource Development
    4. Public Health
    5. Public Infrastructure & Utilities
    6. Economic Governance
    7. Social Welfare & Development
    8. Judicial & Public Security
    9. Environment
    10. Citizen-Centric Governance

    Categorization of States and UTs

    The GGI 2020-21 categorizes States and UTs into four categories, i.e.

    1. Other States – Group A
    2. Other States – Group B
    3. North-East and Hill States and
    4. Union Territories

    Top performers in 2021

    • Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa top the composite rank score covering 10 sectors.
    • GGI 2021 says that Gujarat registered 12.3 percent increase and Goa registered 24.7 percent increase over GGI 2019 indicators.
    • Rajasthan has topped the Other States (Group B) category in Judiciary and Public Safety, Environment & Citizen Centric Governance.
    • GGI 2021 says that in the North-East and Hill States category, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir have registered an overall increase of 10.4% and 3.7% respectively over GGI 2019.
    • In the UTs category, Delhi tops the composite rank registering a 14 percent increase over the GGI 2019 indicators.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • In news: Law Commission of India

    The Government has informed the Supreme Court that the appointment of Chairperson and Members of the 22nd Law Commission of India is under consideration.

    Why in news?

    • The setting up of the 22nd Law Commission was constituted by the Government on February 21, 2020.
    • However, no progress has been made in the appointments till date.
    • The Government invoked the ‘doctrine of separation of power’, which says that one arm of governance should not encroach into that of another.

    Issues over appointment

    • The last chairman of the law commission was retired Supreme Court judge, Justice B.S. Chauhan, who completed his tenure on 31 August 2018.
    • Subsequently, the Commission has not been reconstituted.
    • In February 2020, the Government of India announced its intention to reconstitute the Commission with no visible progress.

    About Law Commission

    • Law Commission of India is a currently-defunct executive body established by an order of the Government of India.
    • The Commission’s function is to research and advise the GoI on legal reform, and is composed of legal experts, and headed by a retired judge.
    • The commission is established for a fixed tenure and works as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice.
    • The last chairman of the Commission retired in August 2018, and since then, it has not been reconstituted.

    Colonial Background

    • The first Law Commission was established during colonial rule in India, by the East India Company under the Charter Act of 1833.
    • It was then presided by Lord Macaulay.
    • After that, three more Commissions were established in pre-independent India.

    Post-Independence functioning

    • The first Law Commission of independent India was established in 1955 for a three-year term.
    • Since then, twenty-one more Commissions have been established.

    Major reforms undertaken

    • The First Law Commission under Macaulay Itsuggested various enactments to the British Government, most of which were passed and enacted and are still in force in India.
    • These include the Indian Penal Code (first submitted in 1837 but enacted in 1860 and still in force), Criminal Procedure Code (enacted in 1898, repealed and succeeded by the Criminal Procedure Code of 1973), etc.
    • Thereafter three more Law Commissions were established which made a number of other recommendations the Indian Evidence Act (1872) and Indian Contract Act (1872), etc. being some of the significant ones.

    Role in legal reforms

    The Law Commission has been a key to law reform in India.

    • Its role has been both advisory and critical of the government’s policies
    • In a number of decisions, the Supreme Court has referred to the work done by the commission and followed its recommendations.
    • The Commission seeks to simplify procedures to curb delays and improve standards of justice.
    • It also strives to promote an accountable and citizen-friendly government that is transparent and ensures the people’s right to information.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • National Health Accounts Estimates: 2017-18

    Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a share of total health expenditure and foreign aid for health has both come down as per the findings of the National Health Accounts (NHA) estimates for India for 2017-18.

    What is National Health Accounts (NHA)?

    • The NHA estimates are prepared by using an accounting framework based on internationally accepted System of Health Accounts 2011, provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).
    • It is released by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
    • It describes health expenditures and flow of funds in the country’s health system over a financial year of India.
    • It answers important policy questions such as what are the sources of healthcare expenditures, who manages these, who provides health care services, and which services are utilized.
    • It is a practice to describe the health expenditure estimates according to a global standard framework, System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011), to facilitate comparison of estimates across countries.

    Objective of the NHA

    • To describe the Current Health Expenditures (CHE).

    The details of CHE are presented according to

    • Revenues of healthcare financing schemes: – entities that provide resources to spend for health goods and services in the health system;
    • Healthcare financing schemes: entities receiving and managing funds from financing sources to pay for or to purchase health goods and services;
    • Healthcare providers: entities receiving finances to produce/ provide health goods and services;
    • Healthcare functions: It describes the use of funds across various health care services.

    About NHA (2017-2018)

    • The 2017-18 NHA estimates shows government expenditure on health exhibiting an increasing trend and growing trust in public health care system.
    • With the present estimate of NHA 2017-18, India has a continuous Time Series on NHA estimates for both government and private sources for five years since 2013-14.
    • These estimates are not only comparable internationally, but also enable the policy makers to monitor progress towards universal health coverage as envisaged in the National Health Policy, 2017.

    Key Highlights

    Increase in GDP share: The NHA estimates for 2017-18 clearly show that there has been an increase in the share of government health expenditure in the total GDP from 1.15% in 2013-14 to 1.35% in 2017-18.

    Increase in govt share in expenditures: In 2017-18, the share of government expenditure was 40.8%, which is much higher than 28.6% in 2013-14.

    Per-Capita increase in expenditure: In per capita terms, the government health expenditure has increased from Rs 1042 to Rs.1753 between 2013-14 to 2017-18.

    Focus on total healthcare: The primary and secondary care accounts for more than 80% of the current Government health expenditure.

    Social security expenditure: The share of social security expenditure on health, which includes the social health insurance program, Government financed health insurance schemes, and medical reimbursements made to Government employees, has increased.

    Decline in foreign aid: The findings also depict that the foreign aid for health has come down to 0.5%, showcasing India’s economic self-reliance.

    Decline in OOPE: The government’s efforts to improve public health care are evident with out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) as a share of total health expenditure coming down to 48.8% in 2017-18 from 64.2% in 2013-14.

    Way forward

    • After 18 months of Covid-19, financial year 2017-18 appears to be from another era.
    • However, learnings from that year’s NHA help us to plan for health system strengthening in the post-Covid years.
    • The special financing packages for Covid emergency response, announced by the central government in 2020 and 2021, represent an extraordinary situation.
    • The resolve to increase public financing for health must remain strong even after Covid.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Key Demographic Transitions captured by 5th round of NFHS

    The Union health ministry released the summary findings of the fifth round of the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-5), conducted in two phases between 2019 and 2021.

    About NFHS

    • The NFHS is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India.
    • The previous four rounds of the NFHS were conducted in 1992-93, 1998-99, 2005-06 and 2015-16.
    • The survey provides state and national information for India on:

    Fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of family planning, maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilization and quality of health and family planning services etc.

    Objectives of the survey

    Each successive round of the NFHS has had two specific goals:

    • To provide essential data on health and family welfare needed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other agencies for policy and programme purposes
    • To provide information on important emerging health and family welfare issues.

    Key highlights of the NFHS-5

    [1] Women outnumbering men

    • NFHS-5 data shows that there were 1,020 women for 1000 men in the country in 2019-2021.
    • This is the highest sex ratio for any NFHS survey as well as since the first modern synchronous census conducted in 1881.
    • To be sure, in the 2005-06 NFHS, the sex ratio was 1,000 or women and men were equal in number.

    [2] Fertility has decreased

    • The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has also come down below the threshold at which the population is expected to replace itself from one generation to next.
    • TFR was 2 in 2019-2021, just below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1. To be sure, in rural areas, the TFR is still 2.1.
    • In urban areas, TFR had gone below the replacement fertility rate in the 2015-16 NFHS itself.

    [3] Population is ageing

    • A decline in TFR, which implies that lower number of children are being born, also entails that India’s population would become older.
    • Sure enough, the survey shows that the share of under-15 population in the country has therefore further declined from 28.6% in 2015-16 to 26.5% in 2019-21.

    [4] Children’s nutrition has improved

    • The share of stunted (low height for age), wasted (low weight for height), and underweight (low weight for age) children have all come down since the last NFHS conducted in 2015-16.
    • However, the share of severely wasted children has not, nor has the share of overweight (high weight for height) or anaemic children.
    • The share of overweight children has increased from 2.1% to 3.4%.

    [5] Nutrition problem for adults

    • For children and their mothers, there are at least government schemes such as Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) that seek to address the nutritional needs at the time of childbirth and infancy.
    • However, there is a need to address the nutritional needs of adults too.
    • The survey has shown that though India might have achieved food security, 60% of Indians cannot afford nutritious diets.
    • While the share of women and men with below-normal Body Mass Index (BMI) has decreased, the share of overweight and obese (those with above-normal BMI) and the share of anaemic has increased.

    [6] Basic sanitation challenges

    • Availability of basic amenities such as improved sanitation facilities clean fuel for cooking, or menstrual hygiene products can improve health outcomes.
    • There has been an improvement on indicators for all three since the last NFHS. However, the degree of improvement might be less than claimed by the government.
    • For example, only 70% population had access to an improved sanitation facility.
    • While not exactly an indicator of open defecation, it means that the remaining 30% of the population has a flush or pour-flush toilet not connected to a sewer, septic tank or pit latrine.

    [7] Use of clean fuel

    • The share of households that use clean cooking fuel is also just 59%.

    [8] Financial inclusion

    • The share of women having a bank account that they themselves use has increased from 53% to 79%.
    • Households’ coverage by health insurance or financing scheme also has increased 1.4 times to 41%, a clear indication of the impact of the government’s health insurance scheme.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • NITI Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

    The Government think-tank NITI Aayog has released the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

    Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

    • This baseline report of India’s first-ever national MPI measure is based on the reference period of 2015-16 of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)- 4.
    • It uses the globally accepted and robust methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    • It captures multiple and simultaneous deprivations faced by households.

    Parameters used

    • The NMPI is calculated using 12 indicators — nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets and bank account,
    • They have been grouped under three dimensions namely, health, education and standard of living.

    Why NFHS-4?

    • Data collected during the NFHS-4 (2015-2016) corresponds to the period before the full roll out of new governments’ flagship schemes.
    • Hence it serves as a useful source for measuring the situation at baseline i.e. before large-scale rollout of nationally important schemes.

    How is the data used?

    • The national MPI 2021 is calculated using the household microdata collected at the unit-level for the NFHS-4 that is used to derive the baseline multidimensional poverty.
    • Further, the country’s progress would be measured using this baseline in the NFHS-5, for which the data was collected between 2019 and 2020.
    • The progress of the country with respect to this baseline will be measured using the NFHS-5 data collected in 2019-20.

    Key highlights NMPI

    • As per the index, 51.91% of the population in Bihar is poor, followed by Jharkhand (42.16%), Uttar Pradesh (37.79%), Madhya Pradesh (36.65%) and Meghalaya (32.67%).
    • On the other hand, Kerala registered lowest population poverty levels (0.71%), followed by Puducherry (1.72%), Lakshadweep (1.82%), Goa (3.76%) and Sikkim (3.82%).
    • Other States and UTs where less than 10% of the population are poor include Tamil Nadu (4.89%), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (4.30%), Delhi (4.79%), Punjab (5.59%), Himachal Pradesh (7.62%) and Mizoram (9.8%).

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • First ever All India Survey on Domestic Workers

    Union Minister for Labour and Employment  has flagged off the first ever All All India Survey on Domestic workers being conducted by Labour Bureau.

    All India Survey on Domestic Workers

    • The Survey  is aimed to estimate the number and proportion of domestic workers at National and State level.
    • It would help find percentage distribution of domestic workers with respect to Live-in/Live-out, formal/ Informal Employment, Migrant/Non-Migrant, their wages and other socio-economic characteristics.
    • The survey will also provide the Household Estimates of Live-in/Live-out domestic workers and average number of domestic workers engaged by different types of households.

    Objectives of the Survey

    • Estimate the number/proportion of DWs at National and State level.
    • Household Estimates of Live-in/ Live-out DWs.
    • Average number of DWs engaged by different types of households.

    Why need such Survey?

    • Domestic workers (DWs) constitute a significant portion of total employment in the informal sector.
    • However, there is a dearth of data on the magnitude and prevailing employment conditions of DW.
    • Hence with the view to have time series data on domestic workers, GoI has entrusted Labour Bureau to conduct an all-India survey on DWs.

    Parameters of the Survey

    The Domestic Worker Survey collects information on the following broad   parameters:

    • Household Characteristics such as HH size, Religion, Social Group, Usual Monthly Consumption Expenditure, Nature of Dwelling unit.
    • Demographic Characteristics such as Name, Age, Relation to Head, Marital Status, General Education Level, Usual Principal Activity Status, Subsidiary Activity Status and Status of DWs.
    • Information on Employer is also collected such as their preferences of DW regarding Gender and marital status, mode of payment of wages, number of days worked, mode of engagement, whether DW services were availed during ii COVID-19 pandemic, medical support given to DWs.

    Scope of the Survey

    • All India States/UTs of India covered are 37 and Districts covered are742
    • Unit of Enumeration is Villages as per Census 2011 and Urban Blocks as per latest phase of UFS.
    • At the all-India level, a total number of 12766 First Stage Units (FSUs) i.e., 6190 villages and 6576 UFS blocks will be covered in the survey.
    • 1,50,000 Households i.e., the Ultimate Stage Units (USU) will be covered.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Health Care Equity in Urban India

    The report on ‘Health Care Equity in Urban India’ exploring health vulnerabilities and inequalities in cities in India was recently released.

    About the report

    • The report is released recently by Azim Premji University in collaboration with 17 regional NGOs across India.
    • It notes that a third of India’s people now live in urban areas, with this segment seeing rapid growth from about 18% (1960) to 28.53% (2001) to 34% (in 2019).
    • The study draws insights from data collected through detailed interactions with civil society organizations in major cities and towns.
    • This also included an analysis of the National Family and Health Surveys (NHFS), the Census of India, and inputs from State-level health officials on the provision of health care.
    • It also looks at the availability, accessibility, and cost of healthcare facilities, and possibilities in future-proofing services in the next decade.

    Key highlights of the report

    • Urban poverty on rise: Close to 30% of people living in urban areas are poor.
    • Declining life expectancy: Life expectancy among the poorest is lower by 9.1 years and 6.2 years among men and women, respectively, compared to the richest in urban areas.
    • Chaotic health governance: The report, besides finding disproportionate disease burden on the poor, also pointed to a chaotic urban health governance.
    • Multiplicity and non-coordination: The multiplicity of healthcare providers both within and outside the government without coordination challenges to urban health governance.
    • Lack of political attention: Urban healthcare has received relatively less research and policy attention.

    Major recommendations

    The report calls for:

    • Strengthening community participation and governance
    • Building a comprehensive and dynamic database on the health and nutrition status, including co-morbidities of the diverse, vulnerable populations
    • Strengthening healthcare provisioning through the National Urban Health Mission, especially for primary healthcare services
    • Putting in place policy measures to reduce the financial burden of the poor
    • A better mechanism for coordinated public healthcare services and better governed private healthcare institutions

    Conclusion

    • As urbanization is happening rapidly, the number of the urban poor is only expected to increase.
    • A well-functioning, better coordinated, and governed health care system is crucial at this point.
    • The pandemic has brought to attention the need for a robust and resourced healthcare system.
    • Addressing this will benefit the most vulnerable and offer critical services to city dwellers across income groups.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Assessing the digital gap and learning losses

    A recent survey released seeks to analyze the COVID-impact on digital connectivity in the context of healthcare, education, and work.

    About the Survey

    • LIRNEasia, an Asia Pacific think tank focussed on digital policy, tied up with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
    • They took part in a global study funded by the Canada’s International Development Centre to assess the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 .
    • They sought to analyse access to services, with a focus on digital technologies in healthcare, education and work.

    Highlights of the Survey:

    [A] Internet Access and Use

    (1) Internet users

    • The survey found that 47% of the population are Internet users, a significant jump from the 19% who were identified as Internet users in late 2017.
    • At least 5 crores have already become new Internet users in 2021.

    (2) Gender and internet

    • Men still use the Internet more than women.
    • There is a 37% gender gap among users, although this is half of the 57% gap present four years ago.

    (3) Rural-urban Gap

    • The rural-urban gap has dropped from 48% in 2017 to just 20% now as more rural residents come online.

    (4) Education

    • Among those with college education, 89% are Internet users, compared to 60% of those who completed secondary school.
    • Only 23% of those who dropped out of school after Class 8, and 9% of those without any education, are able to use the Internet.

    Major inferences drawn

    • Among non-users, lack of awareness is still the biggest hurdle.
    • The percentage of non-users who said they do not know what the Internet is dropped from 82% to 49% over the last four years.
    • Increasingly, lack of access to devices and lack of skills are the reason why people do not go online.

    Loopholes in Remote Education

    • 80% of school-age children in the country had no access to remote education at all during the 18 months of lockdown.
    • This happened even though 64% of households actually had Internet
    • Situation was worse for those homes without Internet connections, where only 8% of children received any sort of remote education.

    [B] Internet connectivity

    • Apart from not having any devices, poor 3G/4G signal and high data cost were listed as the biggest hurdles.
    • Even among the 20% who received education, only half had access to live online classes which required a good Internet connection and exclusive use of a device.
    • Most depended on recorded lessons and WhatsApp messages which could be sent to a parent’s phone and downloaded at leisure.
    • Others were able to have more direct contact with teachers via phone calls or physical visits.

    Worst consequences: Dropouts

    • Nationwide, 38% of households said at least one child had dropped out of school completely due to COVID-19.
    • The situation was significantly worse among those from lower socio-economic classes, or where the head of the household had lower education levels.

    [C] Internet access and healthcare

    • About 15% required healthcare access for non-COVID related purposes during the most severe national and State lockdown.
    • Of the 14% who required ongoing treatment for chronic conditions, over a third missed at least one appointment due to the lockdown.
    • Telemedicine and online doctor consultations surged during these times, but only 38% said they were able to access such services.
    • With regard to COVID-19, about 40% of respondents depended on television channels for advice as their most trusted source.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • First National Achievement Survey (NAS) held

    The first National Achievement Survey (NAS) in four years was conducted, in a bid to assess the competencies of children in Class 3, 5 and 8.

    National Achievement Survey (NAS)

    • NAS is a nationally representative large-scale survey of students’ learning undertaken by the Ministry of Education.
    • It is implemented on a sample size aiming to assess students of 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th
    • It gives a system level reflection on effectiveness of school education.
    • The NCERT has developed the Assessment Framework for gauging the competencies attained by the student’s vis-a-vis learning outcomes.

    Features of the Survey

    • The Survey goes beyond the scorecard and includes the background variables to correlate student’s performance in different learning outcomes vis-a-vis contextual variables.
    • The Survey was conducted in a monitored environment in the sampled schools.
    • Selection of sampled schools was based on UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education) 2019-20 data.

    Significance of NAS

    • NAS findings would help diagnose learning gaps of students and determine interventions required in education policies, teaching practices and learning.
    • Through its diagnostic report cards, NAS findings help in capacity building for teachers, officials involved in the delivery of education.
    • This will help to assess the learning interruptions and new learnings during the COVID pandemic and help to take remedial measures.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

  • Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) Report, 2021

    The Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2021 Index Rankings has been recently released.

    About LEADS

    • The LEADS index was launched in 2018 by the Commerce and Industry Ministry and Deloitte.
    • It ranks states on the score of their logistics services and efficiency that are indicative of economic growth.
    • States are ranked based on quality and capacity of key infrastructure such as road, rail and warehousing as well as on operational ease of logistics.

    Highlights of the 2021 report

    • India’s logistics costs account for 13-14 per cent of GDP, compared to 7-8 per cent in developed countries.
    • Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab have emerged as the top performers in the LEADS 2021 index respectively.
    • West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Assam were ranked 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st respectively.
    • North Eastern States, and J&K and Ladakh have been considered a separate group for LEADS rankings.

     

    UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)