Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 72 and Article 161
Mains level: Paper 2- Judicial scrutiny of decisions by functionaries
The inaction by the Governor of Tamil Nadu on advice to free the convict has raised the possibility of judicial intervention due to undue delay.
Inaction by Governor on advice
- The Governor of Tamil Nadu has continued to withhold his decision on an application seeking pardon by one of the seven prisoners convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
- In September 2018, the Supreme Court (SC) had observed, while hearing a connected writ petition, that the Governor should take a decision
- The inaction by the Governor now has given rise to constitutional fault lines within the Executive arm of the government.
Past judgements on pardoning power
- In Maru Ram v. Union of India (1981) Supreme Court held that the pardoning power “under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution can be exercised by the Central and the State Governments, not by the President or Governor on their own.”
- The majority judgment had said that the “advice of the appropriate Government binds the Head of the State”.
- Therefore, a Governor is neither expected, nor is empowered, to test the constitutionality of the order or resolution presented to her.
Issue of delay in decision of mercy petition
- Recently, the Supreme Court, had examined the inordinate delay by the President and the Governor — in taking decisions on mercy petitions.
- The Supreme Court, in the case of Shatrugan Chouhan v. Union of India, laid down the principle of “presumption of dehumanising effect of such delay”.
- The Supreme Court confirmed that the due process guaranteed under Article 21 was available to each and every prisoner “till his last breath”.
Judicial scrutiny of the actions of Speakers
- It was hitherto believed that the powers of the Speaker, holding a constitutional office and exercising powers granted under the Constitution, were beyond the scope of a ‘writ of mandamus’.
- In the recent case of Keisham Meghachandra Singh v. Hon’ble Speaker (2020), the Supreme Court was asked to examine the Speaker’s inaction with regard to disqualification proceedings.
- However, the apex court, referering to Rajendra Singh Rana v. Swami Prasad Maurya (2007), had confirmed its view that the “failure on the part of the Speaker to decide the application seeking a disqualification cannot be said to be merely in the realm of procedure”
- Consequently, breaking years of convention, the SC set the time period of four weeks to decide the disqualification petition.
- By doing so, the Supreme Court has indicated that it would not be precluded from issuing directions in aid of a constitutional authority “arriving at a prompt decision”.
Consider the question “The undue delays and inactions by the constitutional functionaries threaten to widen the constitutional faultlines among the Executives. Comment.”
Conclusion
Instead of relying on the judicial intervention in the event of delays, it would be better to have a set time limit for arriving at decision by the constitutional judiciary.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Nutrition safety
The article highlights the issue of nutrition and suggest the ways to achieve nutrition security in the country to drive sustainable growth for India.
Nutrition in India
- A recent United Nations report- The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2020 highlighted that there are 189.2 million undernourished people in India.
- Even though this number has declined by 60 million over the past decade, the progress is far too slow.
- While we recorded a drop in undernourishment, obesity amongst Indian adults grew from 25.2 million in 2012 to 34.3 million in 2016.
- India is likely to miss the 2025 global nutrition targets according to the Global Nutrition Report 2020, unless more is done, soon.
Impact of POSHAN Abhiyan
- With the launch of POSHAN Abhiyan in 2018, the government mainstreamed nutrition, with this multi-ministerial and multi-sectoral approach.
- It converges all existing programs to improve the nutritional status of pregnant women, mothers and children.
- It brings together several programs such as National Rural Health Mission, Mid-Day meals, Integrated Child Development Scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and others to improve nutrition intake in India.
- The success lies in following an outcome based approach to ensure all the benefits under these interventions are delivered to mothers and children within the first 1000 days, setting the base for healthier lives.
Micronutrients through food fortification
- Food fortification is another effective way to deliver micronutrients to Indian masses, through existing food delivery systems such as mid-day meals and the public distribution system.
- Regulators have already been promoting fortification in food products like salt, edible oil, milk, rice and wheat flour to improve nutritional content.
- Going forward, we will see more and more food products and crops getting covered.
Need for innovation
- It is crucial for the food and beverage industry to make nutrition an integral part of their strategy.
- Healthier ingredients, fortification, reformulation to reduce saturated and trans-fat content and optimize sugar and sodium content, immunity boosting product is already commonplace across urban markets.
- This will soon permeate to rural markets.
- Factors such as product taste, convenience, shelf life, and price – all of which determine consumption – are also important elements that ensure higher intake of nutritious products by consumers everywhere.
- This calls for more innovation. Innovation in product, pricing, technology, digitalization, and research and development by food companies.
Rising nutrition awareness
- Solving the problem of malnourishment has to start with awareness.
- In rural areas, general nutritional awareness has historically been lower.
- In urban areas even though people are generally more aware a large percentage still consumes excess sugar and salt, leads sedentary lifestyles coupled with lack of exercise, resulting in lifestyle diseases like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure
- Consumers everywhere need to be better educated about nutritional benefits of common food items and the importance of including them in regular diet.
- This can be done effectively through government led awareness campaigns and healthy public food distribution initiatives, industry acting responsibly.
Conclusion
Good nutrition is the best investment we can make in human capital. It has the power to drive sustainable economic growth for India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ASEAN and RCEP
Mains level: Paper 2-Implications of not signing RCEP for India
India’s challenges from RCEP didn’t end by staying out of it. Remaining out of the RCEP has several implications for India. This article discusses such challenges.
What RCEP mean for the region
- The RCEP was finally signed by its 15 members on the sidelines of the Asean Summit last week without India.
- This would make it a trade deal that includes the ten Asean economies, and all of Asean’s bilateral FTA partners, except India.
- It would create new market access for China and Japan-the two largest economies of the group.
- China, Japan and Korea were negotiating a trilateral trade pact, which now might become inconsequential following RCEP.
- In this respect, RCEP would actually produce much greater market access outside of the Asean, among non-Asean members China, Japan and Korea.
- Asean’s specific market access gains would be over and above those that are already available through various Asean+1 FTAs.
- Additional market access gains would be more with respect to China, in terms of the additional tariff coverage and concessions that RCEP would provide.
Implications for China
- Apart from the additional preferential access it obtains, it is also able to pull off strategic dividends.
- As the RCEP proceeds, it would establish China’s decisive say in writing the rules of trade in the region through the RCEP.
- And this is precisely what the US would be wary of.
Implications for the U.S.
- President Obama had pitched the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as an obvious and essential alternative for counterbalancing Chinese strategic domination of the regional trade game.
- The US was taken out of the TPP by President Trump.
- The remaining members managed to salvage the deal, largely due to the spirited leadership provided by Japan and Australia.
- While the TPP survives as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
- But CPTPP is incapable of being a strategic counterweight to China, and the RCEP.
- Nothing other than a CPTPP that includes the US would be able to counterbalance China in economic size and strategic clout.
Way forward
- The Quad—a security partnership between the US, Japan, India and Australia—is looking to expand beyond defence and assume broader strategic proportions.
- Geopolitics is contributing significantly to the construction of economic alliances, including the reorganisation of regional supply chains.
- Due to these factros, search for an Indo-Pacific trade and economic compact is likely to hasten following the conclusion of RCEP.
- Following RCEP, and the almost non-existent possibility of returning to its fold, India too, might find itself working actively on moving towards an Indo-Pacific trade deal.
- The RCEP, which has a sizeable number of key Indo-Pacific economies like Japan, Australia, Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, would need to stick to these countries to stick to the trade agreement after its ratification.
Conclusion
RCEP might actually force the U.S to look at returning to CPTPP much more proactively than it might have imagined. It would also, expectedly, look at India to join the bloc. That would be another challenge to navigate. India’s challenges from the RCEP might have increased in spite of staying out of it.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Policy framework for adaptation of technology
The changing realm of technology requires a change in the policy framework. The article discusses the issue of the impact of technology and the required changes in the policy framework.
Adoption of information-based technologies
- The expansion of computing power has driven the pace of information gathering and analysis.
- The new currency drives processes and decision-making across a wide array of products and services, making them more efficient and value accretive for consumers.
- These information-based technologies have been widely adopted across a broad range of industries and products that traditionally have not been perceived as electronic or software based.
- A modern automobile has 40% of its component value from electronic-based products.
- This is a paradigm shift as the amount of “value add” from intangible technology services as opposed to physical objects, even in traditional goods, is being transformed by information.
- Information and electronics are becoming all-pervasive, ensuring that we set boundaries to control quality or the uptime of the equipment.
- Information availability drives efficiency and creates value for customers by providing greater control over the product
- There is increasing digitisation and electronification of industrial activities, products and services, influencing the evolving skill sets in industry.
Need for holistic views in policies
- To address the needs of various stakeholders, governments have tended to build specialised departments and designed policies that govern those areas.
- Over time, as each of these departments grew, they have tended to operate in silos.
- The recent developments in technology have, however, blurred standard boundaries that dictate policy framework in most governments.
- As technology is driving an increasing share of the value add coming from digitisation and data analytics, there needs to be a way of encouraging capital formation by way of intangibles in traditionally tangible industries.
- There is a need to have a holistic view of policies for economic development as technology is becoming a significant enabler in most industries.
- A change in policy framework regarding economic development that enables various ministries to work together is essential.
Way forward
- A nourishing ecosystem for industry, including the hard infrastructure and softer areas such as education, skilling, technical institutions, laboratories, testing centres, etc., has to be cultivated.
- The creation of clusters of companies in adjacent but complementary areas could constitute such an ecosystem that encourages multi and cross-disciplinary learning and spur innovation and economic development.
- Moreover, this type of ecosphere could also attract investment and capital formation.
- There is also the larger issue of a shift of value between manufacturing and services as technology changes.
- The policy, by and large, promotes and gives incentives for manufacturing, whereas the share of intangibles are not adequately covered in industrial policies.
- It is important to include these to encourage innovation and technological development.
- It is important that there is close cooperation and alignment between the Centre and State to ensure effective implementation on the ground.
Conclusion
Some of these thoughts could help us navigate through an ecosystem that is changing with technology.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations and increasing convergence
Track 1.5 dialogue
- The third round of India-Canada Track 1.5 Dialogue, comprising senior diplomats, officials and independent experts, will be held on a virtual platform.
- This promising interaction represents a major, deliberate endeavour to boost the bilateral relationship.
Convergence on China issue
- Common challenges of the COVID-19 era accelerated the momentum of bilateral engagement.
- Canada’s travails with China, starting with the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in Canada in December 2018.
- Later, the ‘hostage diplomacy’ practised by Beijing which arrested two Canadian nationals, has caused huge stress in Canada-China relations, turning Canadian public opinion against China.
- This opened the door to a closer relationship with India.
- In this backdrop, developments concerning the Indo-Pacific — strengthening of the Quad and the growing interest of France, Netherlands and Germany to be active players in the region — are of immense relevance to Ottawa.
- The forthcoming dialogue can deepen the India-Canada convergence on this issue.
Principal area’s of bilateral cooperation
- Canada-India merchandise trade exceeded C$10 billion in 2019.
- Canada’s cumulative investment, including foreign direct investment and by Canadian pension funds, is a substantive C$55 billion.
- Addressing virtually the ‘Invest India’ conference in Canada on Prime Minister pointed out that mature Canadian investors have been present in India for many years and assured them that no barriers would come in their way.
- Indian students are increasingly being educated in Canada, and a quarter million of them spent an estimated $5 billion in tuition fees and other expenses last year, a solid contribution to the Canadian economy.
- Of 330,000 new immigrants accepted by Canada last year, 85,000 i.e. nearly 25%, were from India.
- The Indian diaspora in Canada is now 1.6 million-strong, representing over 4% of the country’s total population.
- The principal areas of bilateral cooperation are best defined by five Es: Economy, Energy, Education, Entertainment and Empowerment of women.
- In particular, the digital domain holds immense potential, given Canada’s proven assets in technology — especially its large investment in Artificial Intelligence, innovation and capital resources, and India’s IT achievements, expanding digital payment architecture and policy modernisation.
Conclusion
Divided by geographical distance but united through clear common interests and shared values, India and Canada will begin their steady journey of progress, this time with a laser-like focus on common goals as well.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Dealing with the air pollution through regulations
Despite efforts from several levels, air pollution is getting worse day by day. The article suggests the strategy to deal with the issue of air pollution.
Solvable problem
- Pollution is very much a solvable problem but it cannot be solved on an emergency basis.
- It has to be dealt with firmly and gradually.
- Why gradually? Because there are many sources of pollution and it would be prohibitively costly to stop them or even significantly reduce them all at once.
Replacing existing technologies with existing technology
- The biggest sources air polltion nationally are cooking fires, coal-fired power plants, various industries, crop residue burning, and construction and road dust. Vehicles are further down on the list.
- Dealing with all these sources will require a gradual replacement of existing technologies with new technologies.
- Cooking fires must be replaced with LPG, induction stoves, and other electric cooking appliances.
- Old coal power plants must be closed and replaced with wind and solar power and batteries while newer plants must install new pollution control equipment.
- No new coal-fired power plants should be built — with renewables being cheaper, coal is obsolete for power generation.
- Other industries that use coal will have to gradually switch over to cleaner fuel sources such as gas or hydrogen while becoming more energy-efficient at the same time.
- Farmers will have to switch crops or adopt alternative methods of residue management.
- Diesel and petrol vehicles must gradually be replaced by electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles running on power generated from renewables.
Legal measures and issues
- Governments can make clean investments more profitable and dirty investments less profitable by taxing polluting activities and subsidising clean investments.
- The judiciary is more powerful but has far less scientific and technical competence.
- It tends to act only during crises and focus on past mistakes rather than planning to prevent new ones.
Reforms in regulatory agency
- Our existing laws do not allow the central and state pollution boards to levy pollution fee or cess based on pollution emissions.
- Since closing down an industry is a drastic step, it almost never happens.
- We need a regulatory agency that can levy pollution fee or cess, is that the regulatory decision need not be an all-or-nothing decision.
- Pollution fees can start small, and the EPA can announce that they will rise by a certain percentage every year.
- The regulatory agency should be given some independence,like
- 1) a head appointed for a five-year term removable only by impeachment.
- 2) a guaranteed budget funded by a small percentage tax on all industries.
- 3) autonomy to hire staff and to set pollution fees after justification through scientific studies.
- Three advantages of the regulator with such powers would be-
- 1) Politicians in power can pass on the blame for decisions on pollution fees to the EPA.
- 2) Pollution fees raise revenue for the government.
- 3) If the law establishing an independent EPA is written to require that changes to pollution fees and regulations must be published in advance, and cannot involve abrupt changes, then surprises are avoided.
- Industry opposition will be muted, especially if industry gets a piece of the revenue to invest in new technologies.
Conclusion
Our pollution problem has taken decades to grow into the monster that it is. It can’t be killed in a day. We need the scientific and technical capacity that only a securely funded independent EPA can bring to shrink pollution down to nothing.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Freedom of speech and expression
Mains level: Paper 2- Regulation of digital media and issues with it
The article deals with the recent decision of the government to regulate digital media through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and issues with it.
Regulating the press
- Recently, government put the online news and current affairs portals along with “films and audio-visual programmes made available by online content providers” under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- Through the move, government is clubbing the only sector of the media which has pre-censorship, namely films with the news media which has so far, at least officially, not been subject to pre-censorship.
- The move hijacks matters before the Supreme Court of India relating to freedom of the press and freedom of expression to arm the executive with control over the free press, thereby essentially making it unfree.
- It also hijacks another public interest litigation in the Supreme Court relating to content on “Over The Top” (OTT) platforms not being subject to regulation or official oversight to bring that sector too under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- The move creates an artificial distinction between the new-age digital media which is the media of the future, the media of the millennial generation — and the older print and TV news media.
Reasons given by the government and issues with it
- The explanation given is that the print media have the oversight of the Press Council of India and the TV media of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA).
- Therefore the digital media needed a regulatory framework — no less than that of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- However, there is no comparison between the Press Council of India and the NBA as professional bodies on the one hand and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the other.
- The fate of the digital media under the control of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting leaves little scope for hope.
Consider the question “Regulation of digital media while solving some chronic issues gives rise to concerns over the freedom of press and expression. In light of this, examine the need for regulation of digital media by government and issues in it.”
Conclusion
The government regulations would be counterproductive for both the media practitioner and the media entrepreneur and for the startups that have been the new vibrant face of contemporary journalism.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Increasing the income and productivity of labour force
Slowdown in demand
- The bigger medium-term problem facing Indian economy is the slowdown of aggregate demand — private final consumption expenditure (PFCE), investment and exports.
- The largest component of GDP, PFCE, has declined as a share of GDP 68 per cent in 1990 to 56 per cent of GDP in 2019 .
- The consumption of the top socio-economic deciles (top 10%) has stagnated.
- Also the consumption demand of the rest of the demography ( 90%) — mostly in agriculture, small-scale manufacturing and self-employed — is not increasing due to low income growth.
How to increase income and productivity
- Atmanirbhar Bharat depends on improving the income and productivity of a majority of the labour force.
- First, incentivise the farming community to shift from grain-based farming to cash crops, horticulture and livestock products.
- Second, shift the labour force from agriculture to manufacturing.
- India can only become self-reliant if it uses its 900 million people in the working-age population with an average age of 27 and appropriates its demographic dividend as China did.
- That is possible if labour-intensive manufacturing takes place in a big way, creating employment opportunities for labour force with low or little skills, generating income and demand.
- India is in a unique position at a time when all other manufacturing giants are ageing sequentially — Japan, EU, the US, and even South Korea and China.
- Most of these countries have moved out of low-end labour-intensive manufacturing, and that space is being taken by countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico, etc.
- India offers the best opportunity in terms of a huge domestic market and factor endowments.
Way forward
- We need Indian firms to be part of the global value chain by attracting multinational enterprises and foreign investors in labour-intensive manufacturing, which will facilitate R&D, branding, exports, etc.
- There is a need to aggressively reduce both tariffs and non-tariff barriers on imports of inputs and intermediate products.
- Removing these barriers create a competitive manufacturing sector for Make in India, and “Assembly in India”.
- Apart from trade reforms, further factor market reforms are required, such as rationalising punitive land acquisition clauses and rationalising labour laws, both at the Centre and state level.
- We also have to go for large-scale vocational training from the secondary-school level, like China and other east and south-east Asian countries.
Consider the question “Key to faster economic progress of India lies in income growth and productivity of its labour force. Suggest the ways to achieve these.”
Conclusion
The COVID-triggered economic crisis should lead us to create a development model that leads to opportunities for the people at the bottom of the pyramid. A competitive and open economy can ensure Atmanirbhar Bharat.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Challenges faced by lending financial institutions and the issue of stagnant credit growth in India
The article deals with the issue of credit and financial institutions in India. It also suggests the five changes needed in the lending financial institutions in India.
Financial institutions and credit in India
- India has labour and land but not enough capital.
- The case for foreign financial institutions is also simple — their technology, processes, and experience raise everybody’s game.
- India is open — foreigners own 25 per cent of public equity, 90 per cent of private equity, and Google and Walmart are UPI’s biggest volume contributors.
- India’s challenge over the last 10 years has been bank credit.
- Credit-to-GDP ratio is stuck at 50 per cent, banking concentration measured by flow has increased by 70 per cent, and bad loans exceed Rs 10 lakh crore.
Significance of lending financial institutions
- Foreign institutions are unlikely to lend when needed most and lend to small enterprise borrowers.
- Bank numbers have practically remained unchanged since 1947 despite world-leading net interest margins.
- Nationalised banks that have an eight-times higher chance of bad loan, would save Rs 35,000 crore annually with industry benchmarked productivity.
- regulators prioritise domestic stakeholders.
- The home bias for global bank lending is accelerating.
- UPI crossing 2 billion monthly transactions demonstrates how mandated interoperability, local innovation, and enlightened regulation help insurgents take on incumbents.
5 Changes required in lending financial institutions
- 1) The biggest impact lies in creating a nationalised bank holding company that replaces the Finance Ministry’s Department of Financial Services, has no access to government finances, and is governed by an independent board.
- 2) We must licence 25 new full banks over 10 years.
- 3) We must expect and empower the RBI to deal with bank challenges earlier, faster, and invasively, by reimagining post-mortems, granting listed bank capital induction flexibility and making regulation ownership agnostic.
- 4) We must explore new eyes for banking supervision that include differential deposit insurance pricing.
- 5) Finally, financial stability and innovation are not contradictory; let’s blunt regulatory barriers between banks, non-banks, and fintech.
Conclusion
The opportunities for India arising from the coming Asian century, China’s contradictions and China’s new inward focus strategy come not once in a decade but once in a generation. Let’s empower our financial services entrepreneurs to exploit this opportunity.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issue with legal language
Context
- Recently, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court regarding the use of legal language.
- Reacting to the plea, the Supreme Court has asked the Ministry of Law and Justice and Bar Council to respond.
Wha the PIL is about?
- The PIL (Subhash Vijayran vs Union of India) wants the legislature and executive to use plain English in drafting laws, the Bar Council to introduce plain English in law curricula and the Supreme Court to only allow concise and precise pleadings.
- He begins the synopsis to the writ petition in the following way. “The writing of most lawyers is: (1) wordy, (2) unclear, (3) pompous and (4) dull.
Way forward
- When asking the Ministry of Law and Justice and Bar Council to respond, the Chief Justice of India referred to Anthony Burgess’s book (1964) Language Made Plain.
- George Orwell set out six principles, which could be used while drafting.
- Copy editors routinely use these principles, but not the judiciary.
- The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy produced a manual on plain language drafting in 2017.
Conclusion
The Ministry of Law and Justice make use of the opportunity provided by the PIC to come up with the set of principles to make the legal language easier for all.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Role of CPCB and SPCBs
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues faced by SPCBs
The article deals with the issues faced by the State Pollution Control Boards.
Role of CPCB and State Pollution Control Boards
- The pollution crisis is a highly complex, multi-disciplinary issue with several contributory factors.
- To address this crisis, India has a plethora of rules, laws and specialised agencies which, at least on paper, seem very impressive.
- The footsoldiers of India’s battle against polluters are its officials at the state pollution control boards.
- The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) based in Delhi is generally well funded and resourced, unlike the state pollution control boards (SPCBs) that are in charge of implementation of the rules that CPCB writes.
5 issues faced by SPCBs
1) Shortage of Staff
- As an illustration, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board has been operating with a 70 per cent staff shortage.
- What this means practically is that a single officer is tasked to handle the demands of pollution control for an entire district without any subordinate technical staff.
- This comes at the cost of not being able to do inspections and other core pollution control work.
2) Lack of specialisation
- The officers at the SPCBs do not get to develop any specialisation.
- The CPCB has a decent workforce and robust laboratories, where scientists once recruited get to work and excel in a particular area.
- On the other hand, SPCBs don’t have such a stratified system, and the same officer is in charge of all these pollution categories, making it impossible to gain expertise and excel in any one area.
3) Lack of legal skills to take on pollutors
- SPCBs lack the necessary legal skills to take on polluters.
- While a legal cell may exist at the head office of a SPCB, they have few full-time public prosecutors there.
- As a result, engineering graduates in district SPCB offices — have to play the role of lawyers and develop legal paperwork that often falls short of holding polluters to account.
- Clerks and superintendents at courts often refuse to file cases, pointing at flaws that someone not trained in law would naturally make.
4) Lack of funds
- SPCBs are chronically underfunded.
- For instance, the funds of several SPCBs such as Haryana’s largely come from “No Objection Certificates” and “Consent to Operate” that the boards grant to industries and projects, rather than budgetary allocations by the government.
- Owing to this, SPCB officials are unable to spend on critical functions.
5) Additional duties
- SPCB officials are at times given additional responsibilities that are unrelated to pollution control.
- Haryana’s SPCB, for instance, has poultry farms under its ambit.
Consider the question “Dealing with the crisis of air pollution need coordination at various levels and the State Pollution Control Boards play an important role in it. In light of this, examine the challenges and suggest the steps needed to empower them.”
Conclusion
India must empower SPCBs to act by giving them the necessary funds, human resources, tools and technologies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3-Challenges in judicial review of the central bank actions
Judicil review of central bank action could impact several stakeholders at the same time. This type of problems could be termed as polycentric problems. The article disusses the issues with judicial reviews in such cases.
Judicial review of central bank actions
- The Supreme Court is currently considering if the RBI should extend the COVID-19 induced loan moratorium and waive the accrued interest on interest.
- Earlier this year, the court struck down an RBI circular imposing a ban on virtual currencies.
- Last year, it quashed RBI circular that mandated banks and financial institutions to initiate insolvency proceedings against defaulting companies with significant loan exposures.
Unsuitable for adjudication
- Legal scholars have long recognised that certain disputes are inherently unsuitable for adjudicative disposition.
- The most influential arguments on this subject were advanced by the American legal philosopher Lon Luvois Fuller.
- Fuller compared polycentricity with a spider’s web — a pull on one strand distributes the tension throughout the web in a complicated pattern.
- Applied to adjudication, polycentric problems normally involve many affected parties and a somewhat fluid state of affairs.
- The range of those affected by the dispute cannot easily be foreseen and their participation in the decision-making process by reasoned arguments and proofs cannot possibly be organised.
- As a result, the adjudicator is inadequately informed and cannot determine the complex repercussions of a proposed solution.
Complexity of functioning of bank
- Disputes involving certain central bank functions are highly polycentric and are unsuitable for resolution through judicial review.
- For example, consider monetary policy function.
- This involves varying short-term interest rate to control supply and demand of money in the economy, which, in turn, influences economic activity and inflation.
- If judicial review supplants the central bank’s decision on this rate with the decision of the adjudicator, the repercussions would affect every single borrower and saver.
- Yet, the adjudicator can neither offer a meaningful hearing to all those affected parties, nor can he effectively process all the necessary information to determine an optimal solution.
- Evidently, disputes about monetary policy rate are highly polycentric and are better resolved outside the court.\
Which actions of banks should involve judicial review
- Not all disputes involving central bank functions are polycentric.
- For example, a dispute regarding imposition of a pecuniary penalty by a central bank could be resolved through judicial review.
- If the adjudicator finds the central bank to be correct, it need not interfere.
- If the adjudicator finds the central bank to be incorrect, it could modify or overturn the central bank’s decision.
- Clearly, judicial review could be effectively used to resolve bipolar disputes involving the central bank if they exhibit low polycentricity.
Need for striking the balance
- Monetary policy and pecuniary penalties are at two extreme ends of the polycentricity spectrum.
- There are, however, various central bank functions of intermediate polycentricity.
- Consider prudential regulations such as bank capital regulation.
- If judicial review supplants provisions of such regulations with the decision of the adjudicator, it may appear to directly impact only the banks and nobody else.
- But in reality, it could impact bank lending, which, in turn, would have complex repercussions on the entire credit market and risk-taking abilities across the economy.
- Effective hearing of all affected parties, directly or indirectly, would, therefore, be impossible.
- Consequently, some bipolar disputes involving the central bank may be too polycentric for meaningful resolution through judicial review.
- Judicial review could be purely procedural — the adjudicator could merely review whether the central bank’s action is within its legal mandate or not.
- The adjudicator could at most nullify a procedurally invalid central bank action, but may never supplant the decision of the central bank with his own.
Consider the question “Judicial review of the central bank actions could be different from the other judicial reviews. Examine the issues in such reviews by the judiciary.”
Conclusion
Adopting polycentricity test within constitutional jurisprudence would help sustain the legitimacy of judicial review while retaining the accountability of technocratic institutions such as the central bank.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Funds allocated for containing air pollution and issue of its inadequacy
The article deals with the issue of allocation of funds to tackle air pollution and issues with it.
Allocation in the budget
- A ₹4,400 crore package was announced in last budget for 2020-21 to tackle air pollution in 102 of India’s most polluted cities.
- The funds would be used to reduce particulate matter by 20%-30% from 2017 levels by 2024 under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Issues with estimating the scale of the problem
- It is unclear if this amount is adequate because the scale of the problem is unknown.
- Delhi government spent money on the measurement of pollution for in Delhi that far exceeds s allocations that find mention in the Centre and State government’s budgeting books.
- The funds allocated don’t account for the trained manpower and the support system necessary to effectively maintain the systems and these costs are likely to be significant.
- Historically, cites have used manual machines to measure specified pollutants and their use has been inadequate.
- An analysis by research agencies Carbon Copy and Respirer Living Sciences recently found that only 59 out of 122 cities had PM 2.5 data available.
- Only three States, had all their installed monitors providing readings from 2016 to 2018.
- Prior to 2016, making comparisons of reduction strictly incomparable.
- Now manual machines are being replaced by automatic ones and India is still largely reliant on imported machines.
- In the case of the National Capital Region, at least ₹600 crore was spent by the Ministry of Agriculture over two years to provide subsidised equipment to farmers in Punjab and Haryana and dissuade them from burning paddy straw.
- Yet this year, there have been more farm fires than the previous year and their contribution to Delhi’s winter air woes remain unchanged.
- This indicates that money alone doesn’t work.
Conclusion
A clear day continues to remain largely at the mercy of favourable meteorology. While funds are critical, proper enforcement, adequate staff and stemming the sources of pollution on the ground are vital to the NCAP meeting its target.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Lessons from Bangladesh and Vietnam for Indian economy
The article examines the emergence of Bangladesh and Vietnam as the major export hubs in the world and explains the lessons India could draw from it.
Context
- Bangladesh has become the second-largest apparel exporter after China.
- Vietnam’s exports have grown by about 240% in the past eight years.
Analysing Vietnam’s success
- An open trade policy, a less inexpensive workforce, and generous incentives to foreign firms contributed to Vietnam’s success.
- Vietnam’s open trade policy through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) means trading partners do not charge import duties on products made in Vietnam.
- Vietnam’s domestic market is open to the partners’ products.
- Vietnam has agreed to change its domestic laws to make the country attractive to investors.
- Over a decade or so, large brands such as Samsung, Canon, Foxconn, H&M, Nike, Adidas, and IKEA have flocked to Vietnam to manufacture their products.
What explains Bangladesh’s success?
- In Bangladesh, large export of apparels to the EU and the U.S. make the most of the country’s export story.
- The EU allows the import of apparel and other products from least developed countries (LDCs) like Bangladesh duty-free.
- India, as a good neighbour, accepts all Bangladesh products duty-free (except alcohol and tobacco).
- Bangladesh may not have this facility in four to seven years as its per capita income rises and it loses the LDC status.
- Bangladesh is working smartly to diversify its export basket.
Lessons for India
- The key learning from Bangladesh is the need to support large firms for a quick turnover.
- Yet, most of Vietnam’s exports happen in five sectors, in contrast, India’s exports are more diversified.
- The Economic Complexity Index (ECI), which ranks a country based on how diversified and complex its manufacturing export basket is, illustrates this point.
- The ECI rank for China is 32, India 43, Vietnam 79, and Bangladesh 127.
- India, unlike Vietnam, has a developed domestic and capital market.
- To further promote manufacturing and investment, India could set up sectoral industrial zones with pre-approved factory spaces.
- There should be no need to search for land or obtain many approvals.
India should pursue organic growth
- Most of Vietnam’s electronics exports are just the final assembly of goods produced elsewhere.
- In such cases, national exports look large, but the net dollar gain is small. China also faces this issue.
- Country’s Export to GDP ratio (EGR) indicates its export capacity.
- Vietnam’s EGR is 107%, such high dependence on exports brings dollars but also makes a country vulnerable to global economic uncertainty.
- The U.S.’s EGR is 11.7%, Japan’s is 18.5%, India’s is 18.7%. Even for China, with all its trade problems, the EGR is 18.4%.
- Most such countries, including India, follow an open trade policy, sign balanced FTAs, restrict unfair imports, and have a healthy mix of domestic champions and MNCs.
- While export remains a priority, it is not pursued at the expense of other sectors of the economy.
- The focus is on organic economic growth through innovation and competitiveness.
Consider the question “While export is essential for the growth of the country, over-dependence on it and its promotion at the expense of the other sectors could do more harm to the economy than good. Comment.”
Conclusion
With reforms promoting innovation and lowering the cost of doing business, India is poised to attract the best investments and integrate further with the global economy without increasing its dependence on export.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Maldives relation
The Soleh government’s ‘India First Policy’ provides respite to India when contrasted with the approach of the predecessors.
India-Maldives relations
- India and the Maldives have had bilateral relations for centuries.
- Maldivian students attend educational institutions in India.
- Patients from the Maldives come here for super speciality healthcare.
- A liberal visa-free regime extended by India has aided the patients.
- The Maldives is now a major tourist destination for some Indians and a job destination for others.
- Given the geographical limitations imposed on the Maldives, India has exempted the nation from export curbs on essential commodities.
Assistance to the Maldives
- In 1988, under Operation Cactus when a coup was attempted against President, India sent paratroopers and Navy vessels and restored the legitimate leadership.
- The 2004 tsunami and the drinking water crisis in Male a decade later were other occasions when India rushed assistance.
- In COVID-19 disruption, India rushed $250 million aid in quick time and also rushed medical supplies to the Maldives, started a new cargo ferry and also opened an air travel bubble, the first such in South Asia.
Strategic comfort to India
- Abdulla Yameen was President when the water crisis occurred.
- Now, the Yameen camp has launched an ‘India Out’ campaign against New Delhi’s massive developmental funding.
- Maldivian protesters recently demanded the Solih administration to ‘stop selling national assets to foreigners’, implying India.
- Mr. Yameen’s tilt towards China and bias against India when in power was evident.
- It is against this background that the Solih administration’s no-nonsense approach towards trilateral equations provide ‘strategic comfort’ to India.
Concerns for India
- India should be concerned about the protests as well as the occasional protest within the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of Mr. Solih.
- There are apparent strains between Mohamed Nasheed, who was the nation’s first President elected under a multiparty democracy and Mr. Yameen.
- This strain could affect the MDP during the run-up to the 2023 presidential polls.
- Also, Mr. Nasheed’s on-again-off-again call for a changeover to a ‘parliamentary form of government’ can polarise the overpoliticised nation even more.
Conclusion
Given this background and India’s increasing geostrategic concerns in the shared seas, taking forward the multifaceted cooperation to the next stage quickly could also be at the focus of relations of the two countries.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Power of the ECI
Mains level: Paper 2- Comparing the powers of the Election Commission of India to its counterpart in the U.S.
In the recently concluded presidential election in the U.S., the delay in announcing the result and issue of denial of the election results by the incumbent has brought into focus the role played by flaws in the Americal democratic system in the conduct of the election. This article compares the powers of the elections bodies in the U.S. and India.
Powers of ECI
- Indian Constitution has given the ECI enormous power to be exercised during the course of elections, and strictly on other election-related matters.
- By virtue of being the custodian of the electoral roll, all matters related to keeping the roll updated, fall under the ECI’s domain.
- Even the higher judiciary does not interfere during the course of the election process.
- Our Constitution’s fathers decided to limit the role of the judiciary in India to the post-election period, when election petitions may be filed.
- This was done to avoid the impeding of the election process and delay election results interminably.
Comparing the powers
- The U.S. Federal Election Commission has a much narrower mandate than its Indian equivalent-Election Commission of India.
- The Federal Election Commission was established comparatively recently — 1975, with the special mandate to regulate campaign finance issues.
- As a watchdog, it is meant to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the law regarding campaign contributions, and oversee public funding of the presidential election.
- The Federal Election Commission is led by six Commissioners.
- These six posts are supposed to be equally shared by Democrats and Republicans, and too have to be confirmed by the Senate.
- This leads to decision making divided on partisan lines.
What India can learn From the election process in the U.S.
- In the 2016 U.S. election, almost a quarter of the votes counted arose from postal and early balloting.
- In India we have confined postal ballots to only a few categories, of largely government staff (for example those on election duty) as well as the police or armed forces.
- In these difficult times of the novel coronavirus pandemic, we need to widen this base to include all senior citizens and anyone else who may find it convenient to cast their vote early.
Consider the question “Powers of the Election Commission of India are wider when compared with its counterpart in the U.S. In light of this, compare the powers of the two bodies and how these wide powers have enabled smooth power transfers in India.”
Conclusion
In its functioning, Election Commission of India has broad powers as compared to its counterpart in the U.S. which has helped India see a smooth power transfer from the first election in India in 1951-52 and every single election since.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GST
Mains level: Paper 2- Testing the legitimacy of tax
The article deals with the issue of a petition challenging the imposition of 5% GST on mobility aids used by disabled citizens.
Background
- The petitioner, in Nipun Malhotra vs. Union of India, argued in Supreme Court that the tax imposed on mobility aids used by disabled citizenswas patently discriminatory.
- A decision to impose a tax, the Court said, was a matter of policy over which the judiciary ought not to ordinarily interfere.
- In adjourning the case, it suggested that the petitioner exhaust his options by submitting his grievances to the GST Council, which is the governing body responsible for determining which products are taxed, and at what rate.
Should the Courts test the legitimacy of the tax
- It might be keen to ensure that the judiciary does not sit on judgment over matters that fall within the domain of legislative and executive competence.
- There is nothing inherently distinct about taxing laws; they are in no way plenary and unamenable to judicial review.
- Quite to the contrary, taxes have a direct bearing on how society is arranged.
- The nature and rate of tax imposed on a product can impinge both on a person’s freedom and on a person’s right to be treated with equal care and concern.
- Therefore, it ought to be well within an independent judiciary’s province — as the top courts in Canada and Colombia, among others, have recently held — to examine whether or not an imposition of a tax violates a fundamental right.
Why government impose tax on mobility aids?
- Until the advent of the GST, mobility aids were almost entirely immune from indirect taxes.
- In virtually every State, exemptions were granted on the payment of value-added-tax on such goods.
- However, under GST 18% tax was imposed on these devices and subsequently reduced to 5%.
- The government claims that it cannot relieve mobility aids from taxation, because to do so will disincentivise domestic manufacturers.
- Domestic manufacturers can claim “input tax credit” on taxes paid on raw material in the process of manufacturing when it remits the levy collected from the eventual purchaser of the product.
- The State’s argument is that in the absence of a levy of GST on the final product, the manufacturer will be burdened with input taxes.
- Since it cannot claim any credit for those taxes paid, the prices of the final product would have to be concomitantly higher.
- As a result, the manufacturer will be placed in a relative position of disadvantage to foreign makers.
Issues with the government’s argument
- This argument, though, suffers from at least two fallacies. First, a reading of the various notifications issued by the GST Council shows that many other products that are essential to human needs are exempt from tax.
- Second, that the grant of an exemption in cases such as these would disentitle manufacturers from claiming input tax credit is a matter of legislative design.
Way forward
- Parliament can find other ways to ensure that domestic manufacturers are granted credit for the taxes that they pay on inputs.
- A decision taken on exempting goods from taxation is a matter of classification.
- Given that the classification rests on a state of disability, it must be seen, on any sensible consideration of our equality jurisprudence, as, at least facially, inequitable.
- The onus must, therefore, rest on the government to show the Court that it had cogent reasons for treating these goods as distinct from other commodities that are exempt from tax.
- A failure to discharge this onus ought to render the levy illegitimate.
- The GST Council can take a leaf out of the books of Canada and Australia, and grant a complete exemption on the levy imposed on mobility aids.
Conclusion
It is time we recognised that an unreasonable levy can deeply compromise fundamental human needs. To free taxing statutes from the ramparts of the Constitution is to risk the entrenching of inequality.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indo-Pacific construct
Mains level: Paper 2- India's Indo-Pacific vision
Where do we geographically place the Indo-Pacific?
- Term “Indo-Pacific” has come into prominence in the past decade.
- India has used it in joint statements with a series of partner countries, including but not limited to the United States, Australia, France, Indonesia, Japan, and of course the United Kingdom.
- It figures in meetings with our ASEAN and has helped advance the Quad consultations.
- Indian Foreign Ministry has recently set up an Indo-Pacific Division as well as an Oceania Division a sign of India’s commitment to this critical geography.
- This has encouraged other countries to perceive and define the region in its full extent.
- For India, the Indo-Pacific is that vast maritime space stretching from the western coast of North America to the eastern shores of Africa.
- Today, more and more countries are aligning their definition of the Indo-Pacific with Indias.
Historical background
- During the Cold War, the Indo-Pacific was divided into different spheres of influence and military theatres.
- Whether it was the monsoon winds– or our maritime and trading history, we found it impossible to see the Horn of Africa and the Straits of Malacca on the other as disconnected.
- The first for this is that the Indian peninsula, which thrusts into the Indian Ocean and gives us two magnificent coasts and near limitless maritime horizons to both our east and our west.
- Monks and merchants, culture and cargo have travelled from India on those waters, to our east, west and south.
- India’s great religious traditions, such as Buddhism, spread far and wide in the Indo-Pacific.
- These experiences are our past and are our future; these experiences determine our concept of the Indo-Pacific.
Why is the Indo-Pacific crucial?
- The interconnectedness of the Indo-Pacific is finally coming into full play.
- A motivating factor is the region’s emergence as a driver of international trade and well-being.
- The Indo-Pacific ocean system carries an estimated 65 per cent of world trade and contributes 60 per cent of global GDP.
- Ninety per cent of India’s international trade travels on its waters.
- For us, and for many others, the shift in the economic trajectory from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific has been hugely consequential.
- The rise of China and the imperative for a global rebalancing have added to the mix.
- A rules-based international order is achievable only with a rules-based Indo-Pacific.
India’s Indo-Pacific strategy
- India’s Indo-Pacific strategy was enunciated in 2018 as the SAGAR doctrine.
- SAGAR is an acronym for “Security and Growth for All in the Region”.
- This aspiration depends on securing end-to-end supply chains in the region; no disproportionate dependence on a single country; and ensuring prosperity for all stakeholder nations.
- An Indo-Pacific guided by norms and governed by rules, with freedom of navigation, open connectivity, and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states, is an article of faith for India.
- Using this Initiative, India plans to support the building of a rules-based regional architecture resting on seven pillars. These are:1) Maritime security
2) Maritime ecology
3) Maritime resources
4) Capacity building and resource sharing
5) Disaster risk reduction and management
6) Science, technology and academic cooperation
7) Trade connectivity and maritime transport
- We have sought to strengthen security and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific by becoming a net security provider – in the Gulf of Aden.
- Sharing what we can, in equipment, training and exercises, we have built relationships with partner countries across the region.
- In the past six years, India has provided coastal surveillance radar systems to half a dozen nations – Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
- All of these countries also use Indian patrol boats, as do Mozambique and Tanzania.
- Mobile training teams have been deputed to 11 countries.
- Located just outside New Delhi, the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region has enhanced maritime domain awareness among partner countries.
- India has also promoted and contributed to infrastructure, connectivity, economic projects and supply chains in the region.
Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief
- Notable humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions in the Indo-Pacific in recent years have included Operation Rahat in Yemen in 2015.
- Whether it was the cyclone in Sri Lanka in 2016 or deaths and large-scale displacement of people that occurred in Madagascar in January this year, Indian assistance and an Indian ship have never been far away.
- The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)is intrinsic to India’s regional and global commitment to taking on climate change.
Conclusion
Whatever the navigation map, the fact that the Indo-Pacific is the 21st century’s locus of political and security concerns and competition, of growth and development, and of technology incubation and innovation is indisputable.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAPFs
Mains level: Paper 3- Role of CAPFs in disaster management.
The article emphasises the role played by the CAPFs in dealing with the disasters.
Dealing with the disasters
- When disaster strikes our country, be it natural or man-made, the government summons the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to carry out the task of overcoming the disaster.
- The CAPFs help in carrying out rescue and relief operations, and also mitigates the pains and problems arising out of the disaster.
Role played by CAPFS during Covid
- CAPFs comprise the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, Assam Rifles and the ITBP.
- Even before the country got to know about the COVID-19, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had already set up its 600-bed quarantine centre in Chawla on the outskirts of New Delhi.
- The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had roped in specialists from the Safdarjung Hospital to coordinate with ITBP officials.
- Doctors and paramedical personnel of other CAPFs were also roped in.
- The expertise acquired by ITBP personnel and the Standard Operating Procedure prepared by the ITBP came handy for the States and other police forces in establishing their own quarantine centres and COVID-19 hospitals.
Role of NDRF during Covid-19
- NDRF personnel are wholly drawn from the CAPFs.
- So, they form a good reserve of trained personnel when they go back to their parent force after their stint with NDRF.
- With 12 battalions of the NDRF— each comprising 1,149 personnel — spread across the country, its experts have the core competency to tackle biological disasters like COVID-19.
- Such personnel can be deployed at quarantines centres after short-term courses.
- A proposal mooted by NITI Aayog last year, to conduct a bridge course for dentists to render them eligible for the MBBS degree, could be revived, and such doctors could be on stand-by to help in such emergency crises.
Conclusion
It is these CAPF personnel who give a semblance of existence of government administration even in the remotest corners of the country. Their versatile experience can be utilised to the nation’s advantage.
B2BASICS:
CAPF
The Central Armed Police Forces refers to uniform nomenclature of five security forces in India under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs. Their role is to defend the national interest mainly against the internal threats.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Equity in education and impact of digital education on it
Fairness and inclusiveness are two important aspects of education system. Growing shift toward digital education in India has implications for these two aspects. The article suggests ways to make the education system fair and inclusive.
Knowledge economy in India
- The new National Education Policy (NEP) as well as other factors have lately brightened up education landscape in India..
- The rise of education technology (ed-tech) incorporating VR, AR, ‘gamification’, 3D immersive learning, etc, is contributing to the knowledge economy’s potential for large market size, calling for requisite policy support.
Barriers to equity in education
- The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) defines two dimensions of equity in education.
- First is “fairness”, which means ensuring that personal and social circumstances do not prevent students from achieving their academic potential.
- The second is “inclusion”, which means setting a basic minimum standard for education that is shared by all students regardless of their background.
- The barriers that make equity difficult to foster in India are varied and complex.
Loss of learning during Covid pandemic
- The latest Annual State of Education Report (ASER) reveals that 20% of rural students lacked textbooks.
- Only one in ten students had access to online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The Survey provides a glimpse into the levels of learning loss that students in rural India, particularly in states like Bihar, West Bengal, UP, and Rajasthan, are suffering, resulting in sharp digital divides in education.
- Unless remedied with urgency, the digital split may disrupt learning, and jeopardise our hard-won gains resulting in large scale school drop-outs, particularly of adolescent girls.
How to remove barriers to equity?
- To remove these barriers we need to look at several aspects like monetary resources, academic standards, academic content and support.
- Apart from inequality in internet access and access to devices, even the quality of connection and related services and subscription fees exacerbate the digital divide.
- For education to be availed as a social good, access at an affordable cost and reasonable quality is a precondition.
- The availability of content in vernacular languages is yet another issue.
- In digital education along with demand-side issues, supply-side issues need fixing, such as training of teachers in ICT, new learning devices and handling the evolved curriculum.
- Teachers and academic institutions need to ensure that the content they are using is lucid, appropriate, fact-based and relevant.
- Access to education loans from banks and financial institutions are a great support in the cause of education, particularly higher education.
- Education is on the Concurrent List. A cooperative and collaborative spirit will thus be critical to realise the goals.
- The Centre has a task well cut for building consensus on NEP2020.
Consider the question “Fainess and inclusiveness are two important dimensions of equity that should be pursued by any education system. However, push towards digital educations threatens these two dimensions of the education system in India. Comment”
Conclusion
With strong corporate commitment, states’ support, backed by strong policy push and intent by the Centre, and value addition by other stakeholders, the roadblocks on the path of equity and inclusiveness in education, though daunting, could be addressed.
Source-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/equity-in-education-matters/2121998/
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