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  • Issues related to Economic growth

    Road to Net Zero Goes Via Green Financing

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Issues relating growth and development, employment

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Green Financing, India's Net Zero 2070 objective

    financing

    Context

    • Climate finance, or Green Money, remains a critical bottleneck for India in its journey towards the Net Zero 2070 objective and to create a resilient system through climate adaptation and mitigation. The challenge is daunting to make a climate transition for a nation of 1.4 billion people with increasing aggregate national income and individual wealth inequality.

    What is the Present arrangement of external financing for climate change

    • Estimated cost: Finances for climate change were to be channelized through multi-tiered systems in the form of national, regional, and international bodies. It has been estimated that India will need $15 trillion to finance its Net Zero journey.
    • Concessional loans: In most cases, small amounts flowing now into the developing component of the G20 nations are actually in the form of concessional loans rather than grants.
    • Technological support from developed countries: There is no doubt that India will need international financial commitments and technological support from developed countries, who have been erratic with their promised deliveries so far.

    What is green financing?

    • Green finance is a phenomenon that combines the world of finance and business with environment friendly behavior. It may be led by financial incentives, a desire to preserve the planet, or a combination of both.
    • In addition to demonstrating proactive, environment friendly behavior, such as promoting of any business or activity that could be damaging to the environment now or for future generations.

    Green financing through domestic market

    • Status of Green Bonds: As for domestic financial sources, according to an RBI Bulletin from January 2021, green finance in India is still at the nascent stage. Green bonds constituted only 0.7% of all the bonds issued in India since 2018, and bank lending to the non-conventional energy constituted about 7.9% of outstanding bank credit to the power sector as of March 2020.
    • Provision of Green loans: The report also mentioned that the development of green financing and funding of environment-friendly sustainable development is not without challenges, which may include false compliance claims, misuse of green loans, and, most importantly, maturity mismatches between long-term green investments and relatively short-term interests of investors.

    financing

    What are the challenges to green financing?

    • No assessment of climate finance risk: Research report indicates that banks in India, like in many parts of the world, are not prepared to adapt to climate change; and have not yet factored in any climate-related financial risks into their day-to-day decision-making. Some of the criteria used to assess the banks include a commitment to phase out investments in coal, disclosing and verifying direct and indirect emissions, issuing green loans, financing climate mitigation, and Net Zero targets for different types of emissions and their implementation plans.
    • Lack of enthusiasm among bankers: The report is also critical that none of the 34 banks have tested the resilience of their portfolios in the face of climate change. Yet, the bankers’ noise around the green finance topic is euphorically loud, without action.
    • No standard definition of green financing: These banks and financial institutions are also not geared up for financing green transition. India faces the big challenge of “how to define green”, as there is no uniform green definition and green taxonomy.
    • Poor debt market for green finance: The green money is generated through largely debt-based products (green bonds, climate policy performance bonds, debt for climate swaps, etc.), while the fund deployment occurs through debt-based, equity-based, and often, insurance-based instruments, apart from grants and loans. However, the Indian market lacks the depth of its debt markets or the heft of the bond markets.
    • Lack of green data governance: There is an inherent problem with “green data governance” that entails tracking the entire data-chain of a green financing initiative.
    • Unviable green projects: Like many other private sectors funding, the banks look at rates of return that do not really often make financing “public goods” as viable investments. They are even apprehensive about financing projects with long gestation periods with uncertain returns.

    financing

    What is way forward for green financing?

    • Considering social cost of carbon: An economic return alone might not be sufficient to induce green financing. A more holistic rate of return, considering the social cost of carbon, will be appropriate.
    • Return on green investment should include social returns: A longer time horizon will be needed for the cost-benefit analysis and the estimation of the return on investment. This is because, for climate-related projects, the returns increase over time. The extent to which the particular project could result in CO2 reduction and, eventually reduction in the social cost of carbon need to be assessed. As an example, India intends to reduce 1 billion Tonnes of CO2. The present social cost of CO2 (SCC) is $86/tonne. Therefore, the sheer economic gain is to the tune of $86 billion, or 2.1% of the current Indian GDP. Social cost saving is a public good and is enjoyed by all businesses, including the financial institutions.
    • Applying the green taxation: Hence, for a stronger business case for climate finance, experts propose to include in its Return-on-investment calculations the cost-benefit returns of the project through NPVSCC20 the Net Present Value of Social Cost of Carbon over 25 years of the project, a time period that compares well with tenor of infra and sovereign bonds. As an incentive, the government could introduce taxation sops for using NPVSCC25.

    financing

    You may want to know about Net Zero

    • Net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with remaining emissions re-absorbed by oceans/ forests.
    • China, US, EU and India contribute 75% of total GHG emissions
    • However, per capita GHG emissions for US, EU and China are7,3 and 3 times of India
    • India has set target to achieve net zero emissions by 2070.

    Conclusion

    • The way India finances its journey to Net Zero 2070 could very well be a framework for other nations, for it would need to have contours of social inclusion, economic flexibility, and sustainable financing, while keeping in mind the political compulsions, as well as serving the demographic requirements of creating and sustaining livelihood in decades to come.

    Mains Question

    Q. Green financing is the most crucial part of achieving Net zero target. Comment. What are the India’s efforts to finance its climate action goals?

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  • Death Penalty Abolition Debate

    Reframing the Guidelines of Capital Punishment

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Issues over Capital punishment

    Capital

    Context

    • CJI, Justice Lalit had displayed unique sensitivity to the plight of the condemned ‘death row prisoners’ in Anokhi Lal vs State of M.P. (2019), Irfan vs State of M.P., Manoj and Ors vs State of M.P. (May 2022) and impart corrections in the form of creative directions/guidelines.

    What is capital punishment?

    • Capital punishment, sometimes called death penalty, is execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law for a criminal offense.
    • It should be distinguished from extrajudicial executions carried out without due process of law.
    • The term death penalty is sometimes used interchangeably with capital punishment, though imposition of the penalty is not always followed by execution, because of the possibility of commutation to life imprisonment.

    Capital

    Background of capital punishment

    • Bachan Singh case: In Jagmohan Singh vs State of UP’ (1973), then in ‘Rajendra Prasad vs State of UP’ (1979), and finally in ‘Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab’ (1980) the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutional validity of the death penalty.
    • Punishment according to fair procedure: It said that if capital punishment is provided in the law and the procedure is a fair, just and reasonable one, the death sentence can be awarded to a convict.
    • Rarest of rare case: This will, however, only be in the “rarest of rare” cases, and the courts should render “special reasons” while sending a person to the gallows.

    What is “rarest of rare” case?

    • The principles of what would constitute the “rarest of rare” were laid down by the top court in the landmark judgment in ‘Bachan Singh’.
    • Two prime questions, the top court held, may be asked and answered:
    • First: is there something uncommon about the crime which renders the sentence of imprisonment for life inadequate and calls for a death sentence?
    • Second: are there circumstances of the crime such that there is no alternative but to impose the death sentence even after according to maximum weightage to the mitigating circumstances which speak in favor of the offenders?

    Why existing guidelines are problematic?

    • Arbitrary sentencing: There has long been a judicial crisis in death penalty sentencing on account of unprincipled sentencing, arbitrariness and worrying levels of subjectivity. The crisis has been acknowledged by the Supreme Court, the Law Commission of India, research scholars and civil society groups.
    • Crime-centric nature: Death penalty sentencing has been, by and large, crime-centric. This approach goes against the requirements imposed on sentencing judges by the Supreme Court in Bachan Singh (1980).
    • Nature of crime a dominant consideration: An important reason for the breakdown is that factors relating to the crime the nature of the crime and its brutality are often dominant considerations, and there is barely any consideration of mitigating factors.
    • Little discussion on mitigating factors: There has been very little discussion on bringing the socioeconomic profile of death row prisoners as a mitigating factor into the courtroom.

    capital

    What are new guidelines through recent judgement?

    • Considering Potential mitigating circumstances: The focus here is on reframing ‘Framing Guidelines Regarding Potential Mitigating Circumstances to be Considered While Imposing Death Sentences’, a decision authored by the three judge Bench (the current CJI and Justices Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia, September 19, 2022).
    • Seeking remedies beyond Legislative and judicial limitation: Such a reference to a larger Bench would constitute yet another step in the direction of death penalty sentencing justice reform such as the legislative limitation flowing from Section 354(3) in the Code of Criminal Procedure; judicial limitation flowing from the ‘rarest of rare’ case; and ‘oral hearing’ after all the remedies to the condemned are exhausted.
    • Mitigating factors are important: Justice Ravindra Bhat did not stop at paying lip service to ‘rarest of rare’ case limitation, but also required the sentencing court to take the trouble of balancing the aggravating factors and mitigating factors, as per the full Bench ruling.
    • The following observations of the Court are significant: “It is also a fact that in all cases where imposition of capital sentence is a choice of sentence, aggravating circumstances would always be on record, and would be part of [the] prosecutor’s evidence, leading to conviction, whereas the accused can scarcely be expected to place mitigating circumstances on the record, for the reason that the stage for doing so is after conviction.
    • Granting real and meaningful opportunity: The three judge Bench decision seems to have gone beyond sentencing incongruities when it observes: “This court is of the opinion that it is necessary to have clarity in the matter to ensure a uniform approach on the question of granting real and meaningful opportunity, as opposed to formal hearing to the accused/convict on the issue of sentence.”

    Conclusion

    • Free, fair and transparent opportunity has been given to accused while awarding the death sentence. Supreme court of India has rightly laid down the guidelines through judgement for sentencing the capital punishment to prevent the arbitrary use and misuse of capital punishment.

    Mains Question

    Q. What are the issues with death penalty guidelines in India? What are the new guidelines by SC regarding capital punishment?

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  • Telecom and Postal Sector – Spectrum Allocation, Call Drops, Predatory Pricing, etc

    Revitalizing India’s Spectrum Policy

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Telecom Spectrum

    Mains level: Spectrum policy, auctions, Digital divide, issues and Solutions

    Spectrum

    Context

    • It is widely acknowledged that spectrum policy in India has had ups and downs, regretfully more downs than ups. Despite the recognized failure, India hosts 800 million internet users and host the second-largest telecommunications network in the world. We wonder what might have been achieved with a more reasonable and transparent spectrum policy.

    Background

    • On September 22, the government released the draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 seeking to replace the colonial era Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
    • The draft bill compares spectrum to aatma: “In a way, spectrum is similar to aatma, like aatma, spectrum too does not have any physical form, yet it is omnipresent.” And yet there is one immutable difference in this material world. While the value of aatma is inestimable, spectrum has always had a banal price tag associated with it.

    Spectrum

    What is Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022?

    • The draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 is an attempt by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to consolidate various legislations presently governing the telecommunication landscape in India.
    • The Bill seeks to replace three laws, the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950.
    • The new regulatory framework is to bring the law at par with technological advancements and remove obsolete provisions from the colonial era laws.

    What is mean by Spectrum?

    • In physics, it’s a word that describes the distribution of something, like energy or atomic particles
    • Spectrum refers to the invisible radio frequencies that wireless signals travel over. Devices such as cell phones and wireline telephones require signals to connect from one end to another.
    • These signals are carried on airwaves, which must be sent at designated frequencies to avoid any kind of interference. The frequencies we use for wireless are only a portion of what is called the electromagnetic spectrum.
    • The Union government owns all the publicly available assets within the geographical boundaries of the country, which also include airwaves.
    • With the expansion in the number of cell phones, wireline telephone and internet users, the need to provide more space for the signals arise from time to time.

    The status of Spectrum policy in India?

    • Host the second largest telecommunications network despite of failures:
    • It is widely acknowledged that spectrum policy in India has had ups and downs, it has for the most part failed to capitalize on the ubiquity of the electromagnetic spectrum to provide meaningful connectivity to all citizens.
    • Despite the recognized failure, we boast of a billion plus mobile subscribers, 800 million internet users and host the second-largest telecommunications network in the world.
    • Ineffective access widening space of digital divide:
    • The intent of the draft bill is to correct past sins so that the benefits of spectrum and technology are better shared, and the quality of access improved for everybody.
    • In other words, since effective access to spectrum has remained a significant barrier to facilitating meaningful connectivity for Indians.
    • Spectrum’s potential is huge but with technical limitations:
    • The draft bill rightly refers to the spectrum as having the characteristics of a public good. It is also an inexhaustible resource. But while spectrum per se is not depletable, there are technical limitations to its optimum utilization at a given point in time.
    • Consequently, it is viewed as a scarce natural resource and what’s more, expensive auctions have made the spectrum dear and arguably exclusionary.
    • High cost of spectrum acquisition:
    • Since 2010, the government has consistently used auctions for spectrum allocation and in only one of the seven auctions held since then, the government was successful in selling 100 per cent of the available spectrum. One reason for this lukewarm response, barring the 2010 auction, is the high cost of spectrum acquisition.
    • High cost of auctions leading to revenue loss for the government:
    • Due to the high reserve price, the most recent auction witnessed spectrum being sold at the reserve price, effectively rendering the basis of an auction moot.
    • If almost all spectrum was sold at its reserve price, and a significant amount goes unsold, it implies that the price was too high, to begin with. It also implies a loss of revenue for the government for spectrum unsold is spectrum squandered.
    • Finally, it results in areas being underserved or unserved affecting quality and quantity.
    • High network charges by operators impacts compromising equal distribution and quality:
    • According to one estimate, at 7.6 per cent of their aggregate revenue, spectrum cost in India is amongst the most expensive in the world.
    • Since network operators incur a significantly higher cost for spectrum compared to other emerging markets, the ability to invest in network upgradation and infrastructure is severely impacted, resulting in uneven distribution of service and poor quality to boot.

    Spectrum

    What Could be the fresh approach?

    • Acknowledging and addressing the issues:
    • It must be recognized that the spectrum needs to be combined with other infrastructure to enable service delivery.
    • The cost of deploying other infrastructure in remote areas is nearly twice as much, while revenue opportunities are far lower, damaging if not destroying the prospects of rural businesses. Plugging the digital divide, therefore, needs a fresh approach.
    • Correcting the cost of spectrum and boosting investment:
    • Since licences and spectrum are typically assigned for service areas that are, for the most part, identified by state boundaries.
    • Since operators predominantly cater to urban markets, the spectrum in remote areas remains under- or in places un-utilized due to a lack of investment in allied infrastructure.
    • Reviving the old and executing the fresh provisions enshrined in draft bill for equitable sharing:
    • The draft bill incorporates practical provisions on the spectrum such as use it, share it, or lose it – an awaited policy that, however, needs innovative support to be successful. The idea of “niche operators” providing services including to telecom operators and manufacturers, introduced in 2005, needs revival in this regard.
    • If licensed operators are unable to utilise the assigned spectrum, the same could be given to local entrepreneurs who understand the needs of rural customers and are better placed to develop a more effective business case more quickly than the larger telcos. Active promotion of the idea of niche operators might just jolt operators out of their lethargy towards rural services.
    • Adopting innovative methods:
    • Alternatively, the government may explore innovative methods of spectrum access such as a non-competitive licensing framework for certain specific use cases.
    • Canada, for instance, has initiated consultations on a non-competitive local licensing framework in the 3900-3980 MHz Band and portions of the 26, 28 and 38 GHz bands to inter alia facilitate broadband connectivity in rural areas.
    • Emphasizing on Transparency and enhancing healthy competition:
    • The government should build an ecosystem that inspires trust so that transparency in assignment can be secured at a reasonable price for operators with strict service obligations without the phantasm of auctions.
    • At the same time, there should be no unsold spectrum. Niche operators should be invoked to engender competition, and government could yet collect revenue for itself.

    Spectrum

    Conclusion

    • The telecom is no longer an end in itself. It exists for user industries much more than ever before. The spill over benefits are far greater than what the sector commands within. Thus, to state the obvious, the vision that is “Digital India” can never be realized if affordable broadband connectivity remains only within the reach of a few.

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  • Hunger and Nutrition Issues – GHI, GNI, etc.

    Nutrition, Not Hunger Should Be the Priority

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Poverty & Hunger

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Global Hunger Index, NFHS report

    Mains level: Issues with GHI parameters

    Nutrition

    Context

    • The fountainhead is a 16-year-old German and Irish organization, which measures and ranks countries on a hunger index at the global, regional, and national levels, but not at the sub-national level where some Indian states fare better. The Global Hunger Index’s (GHI) stated aim is to reduce hunger around the world. But its methodology focuses disproportionately on less than five-year-old’s.

    Problematic methodology of GHI

    • Mixing the hunger and nutrition: In common parlance, hunger and nutrition are two different things. Hunger is associated with food scarcity and starvation. It produces images of emaciated people holding empty food bowls.
    • Wrong data collection methods: GHI uses childhood mortality and nutrition indicators. But its preamble states “communities, civil society organizations, small producers, farmers, and indigenous groups shape how access to nutritious food is governed.”
    • Irony of food grain availability: This suggests that GHI sees hunger as a food production challenge when, according to the FAO, India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of grain and the largest producer of milk; when the per capita intake of grain, vegetables and milk has increased manifold. It is, therefore, contentious and unacceptable to club India with countries facing serious food shortages, which is what GHI has done.

    Data according to the latest National Family Health Survey Report

    • Comparative state level data collection: The sensational use of the word hunger is abhorrent given the facts. But there is no denying that in India, nutrition, particularly child nutrition, continues to be a problem. Unlike the GHI, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) does a good job of providing comparative state-level data, including the main pointers that determine health and nutrition.
    • Crucial health parameters included: NFHS provides estimates of underweight, (low weight for age), stunting (low height for age) and wasting (low weight for height). These conditions affect preschool children (those less than 6 years of age) disproportionately and compromise a child’s physical and mental development while also increasing the vulnerability to infections.
    • Undernourishment is included: Undernourished mothers (attributable to social and cultural practices,) give birth to low-birth-weight babies that remain susceptible to infections, transporting their handicaps into childhood and adolescence. NFHS includes undernourishment parameter.

    Why nutrition is the best indicator of health?

    • Link between nutrition and disease: There are links between the nutritional status of young children with the post-neonatal phase when children suffer from acute respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases. Sanitation and hygiene require much more work.
    • Diet and food intake is important: Professor V Subramanian at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health writes, “There is a need to declutter the current approaches to child undernutrition by keeping it simple. I advise against a disproportionate focus on anthropometry (body measurements); instead, the need is to have a direct engagement with actual diet and food intake.”

    Nutrition

    How to overcome the child nutrition challenge?

    • Improving the breast feeding: The first child nutrition challenge relates to breastfeeding. The WHO and UNICEF recommend that breastfeeding should be initiated within the first hour of birth and infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months. According to NFHS 5, in India, the percentage improvement of children who were exclusively breastfed when under six months, rose from 55 per cent in NFHS 4 to 64 per cent in NFHS 5. That is progress, but it is not enough. By not being breastfed, an infant is denied the benefits of acquiring antibodies against infections, allergies and even protection against several chronic conditions.
    • Better nutritional practice: The second issue relates to young child feeding practices. At root are widespread practices like not introducing semi-solid food after six months, prolonging breastfeeding well beyond the recommended six months and giving food lacking in nutritional diversity. NFHS 5 shows that the improvement has been marginal over the last two reports and surprisingly, states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam, UP and Gujarat are at the tail end.
    • Continuation of nutrition programmes: Almost one dozen nutrition programmes have been under implementation since 1975. Several more have been added of late, but most beneficiaries of these food distribution programmes are kids attending anganwadis or schools, adolescents, and pregnant and lactating mothers. This must continue but new-Borns, infants, and toddlers need attention too. Monitoring weight is an indicator, not a solution.
    • States must be encouraged: States should be urged to examine the NFHS findings to steer a new course to improve the poshan practices for the youngest and the most vulnerable sections of society.
    • Better child rearing practices: Helping mothers to better the lives of their infants and toddlers right inside the home by measuring and demonstrating how much diet, food intake and child-rearing practices matter.

    Nutrition

    Conclusion

    • We should lose no more time over the GHI rankings, which are distorted and irrelevant. India has successfully overcome much bigger problems reduced maternal and child mortality, improved access to sanitation, clean drinking water and clean cooking fuel. Our focus should be on nutrition rather than hunger.

    Mains Question

    Critically analyze the India’s hunger problem in light of Global Hunger Index. What are initiatives of Government of India to overcome hunger and nutrition challenge?

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  • Declining Funding to Welfare Schemes

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Brief information about Various welfare schemes

    Mains level: welfare schemes, advantages and issues.

    Context

    • Over the past three years, over 50% of existing central government sponsored schemes have been discontinued, subsumed, revamped or rationalized into other schemes. The impact has been varied across Ministries.

    Social welfare Schemes which are discontinued, subsumed or revamped

    • Schemes under Ministry of women and child development: There are just three schemes now out of 19 schemes, i.e., Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Mission Shakti itself replaced 14 schemes which included the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme.
    • Schemes under Ministry of animal husbandry and dairy: Just two schemes remain out of 12. Additionally, the Ministry has ended three schemes which include Dairying through Cooperatives, National Dairy Plan II, etc.
    • Schemes under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare: There are now three out of 20 (Krishonnati Yojana, Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperatives and the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana), while there is little information on the National Project on Organic Farming or the National Agroforestry Policy.

    Government spending on fertilizers

    • Declining fertilizer subsidies: Subsidies having been in decline over the last few years; actual government spending on fertilizers in FY2021 reached ₹1,27,921 crore. In the FY2122 Budget, the allocation was ₹79,529 crore (later revised to ₹1,40,122 crore amidst the COVID19 pandemic). In the FY2223 Budget, the allocation was ₹1,05,222 crore.
    • Price rise in NPK fertilizers: Allocation for NPK fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) was 35% lower than revised estimates in FY2122. Such budgetary cuts, when fertilizer prices have risen sharply after the Ukraine war, have led to fertilizer shortages and farmer anguish.

    The status of other important schemes

    • Reduced budget of MGNREGA: The allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) went down by approximately 25% in the FY2223 Budget earlier this year, with the allocated budget at ₹73,000 crore when compared to the FY21-22 revised estimates of ₹98,000 crore. The Economic Survey 2022-23 has highlighted that demand for the scheme was higher than pre-pandemic levels as rural distress continues. Anecdotal cases show that actual funding disbursal for MGNREGA has often been delayed, leading to a decline in confidence in the scheme.
    • The Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan: The GKRAY (June 2020, for a period of 125 days) sought to provide immediate employment and livelihood opportunities to the rural poor; approximately 50.78 crore person days of employment were provided at an expenditure of approximately ₹39,293 crore (against an announced budget of ₹50,000 crore, Ministry for Rural Development). The scheme subsumed 15 other schemes. With between 60 million to 100 million migrant workers who seek informal jobs, such a scheme should have been expanded.
    • Delayed payments for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA): ASHA, who are the first responders, there have been delays in salaries for up to six months. Regularisation of their jobs continues to be a struggle, with wages and honorariums stuck at minimum levels. There is one more example. Biodiversity has also been ignored.
    • Less funding or wildlife habitat development: Funding under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has declined: from ₹165 crore (FY18-19), to ₹124.5 crore (FY19-20), to ₹87.6 crore (FY2021). Allocations for Project Tiger have been slashed ₹323 crore (FY18-19) to ₹194.5 crore (FY20-21). A pertinent question is about meeting climate change obligations in the face of funding cuts.

    What are the reasons behind slashing of Funds?

    • Funds lying idle: There are challenges such as funding cuts, disbursement and utilization of funds. As of June 2022, ₹1.2 lakh crore of funds meant for central government sponsored schemes are with banks which earn interest income for the Centre.
    • Some of the unutilized funds: For instance, the Nirbhaya fund (2013) with its focus on funding projects to improve the public safety of women in public spaces and encourage their participation in economic and social activities is an interesting case; ₹1,000 crore was allocated to the fund annually (2013-16), and remained largely unspent. As of FY2122, approximately ₹6,214 crore was allocated to the Nirbhaya fund since its launch, but only ₹4,138 crore was disbursed. Of this, just ₹2,922 crore was utilised; ₹660 crore was disbursed to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, but only ₹181 crore was utilised as of July 2021.

    Various reasons for corruption in implementation of welfare programmes:

    1. Lack of scrutiny: Government schemes are meant to implement at local level. Lack of effective scrutiny through timely inspections, audits lead to unaccountability and gross mismanagement of funds.
    2. Lack of awareness: Due to illiteracy and unawareness of various government schemes and its provisions lead to corruption. False beneficiaries, fake documents are used to misuse funds meant for the benefit of schemes.
    3. Weak enforcement of laws: Weak enforcement of laws for punishing corrupt has led to a sense of fearlessness among corrupts. India’s anti-corruption law has failed to punish the corrupt and instil fears regarding corruption.
    4. Political inaction: Most of the time, officials involved in corruption have political backing. Many times politicians or their family members are involved in corruption. Thus, any effort to punish the culprit goes in vain due to political interference.
    5. Centralised administration: The welfare bureaucracy is deeply centralised that comes at the cost of building a local government system that is genuinely responsive to citizen needs.
    6. Judicial delays: Judiciary in India is overburdened. A case of corruption drags for years. In the meantime, the culprit is able to destroy the evidence against him and influence the judiciary.
    7. Weak local governance: Local governance is must for effective implementation of welfare programmes. Due to absence of strong Panchayats and lack of effective local scrutiny the programmes are used as an opportunity for corruption.

    What should be the way forward?

    • State should get more funding for welfare: Rather than downsizing government schemes and cutting funding, one should right size the government. After the Goods and Services Tax reform, the Centre-State relationship has been transformed, with fiscal firepower skewed towards the Centre.
    • Need of efficient civil services: Our public services require more doctors, teachers, engineers and fewer data entry clerks. We need to build capacity for an efficient civil service to meet today’s challenges, i.e., providing a corruption free welfare system, running a modern economy and providing better public goods.
    • Making public service delivery effective: Rather than having a target of fewer government schemes, we should raise our aspirations towards better public service delivery.

    Conclusion

    • Welfare schemes are absolutely necessary where large population still lives under poverty. Inflation and unemployment further exacerbate the problem. Rather than reduction or cutting the funds government should rationalize the spending on welfare schemes.

    Mains Question

    Why is there continuous decline in spending on various welfare schemes? How can government rationalize its spending on welfare schemes?

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  • Climate Change Negotiations – UNFCCC, COP, Other Conventions and Protocols

    Climate Crisis, India’s Solution – Mission LiFE

    op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia,Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: LiFE movement

    Mains level: climate change, COP, Indias leadership in climate actions

    Mission LiFE

    Context

    • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 20 unveiled the action plan for Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), an India-led global mass movement that will nudge individuals and communities for action to protect and preserve the environment.

    What is LiFE?

    • Importance of individual efforts: Mission LiFE makes environmental protection and conservation a participative process and recognizes the importance of each effort no matter how small or big to save the environment both at the level of the individual and at the level of the community.
    • Chaning utilization attitude: The idea promotes an environmentally conscious lifestyle that focuses on ‘mindful and deliberate utilization’ instead of ‘mindless and wasteful consumption’.
    • Creating social networks: The LIFE Movement aims to utilize the power of collective action and nudge individuals across the world to undertake simple climate-friendly actions in their daily lives. The LIFE movement, additionally, also seeks to leverage the strength of social networks to influence social norms surrounding climate.
    • Creating Pro-planet people: The Mission plans to create and nurture a global network of individuals, namely ‘Pro-Planet People’ (P3), who will have a shared commitment to adopt and promote environmentally friendly lifestyles.
    • Seeks to behavioral change and individual actions: Through the P3 community, the Mission seeks to create an ecosystem that will reinforce and enable environmentally friendly behaviors to be self-sustainable. LIFE recognizes that small individual actions can tip the balance in the planet’s favour.

    Do you know pro-planet initiatives worldwide?

    • Denmark:  Denmark promotes the use of bicycles by limiting parking within the city Centre and providing exclusive bike lanes.
    • Japan: Japan has its unique “walk-to-school” mandate, which has been in practice since the early 1950s.

    Mission LiFE

    Why is the need for such movement?

    • Wrong perception about conservation: Environment protection, has for far too long been perceived as a policy issue by the general masses. There has been a perception that only national governments and international organizations can do something to protect the Earth and environment.

    How mission LiFE will be helpful?

    • Mindless consumption of resources: The human race is plundering Planet Earth at a pace that far outstrips its capacity and ability to support life. A recent study says that if the current rate of consumption were to continue, by 2050, humans would need two more planets, in addition to the Earth, to continue to exist.
    • Declining natural resources and beauty: This means that we could be staring at major climatic crises in the years to come and our future generations may never get to experience the beauty of nature, the glaciers, the oceans, the snow and the rivers, that we have been fortunate to see and experience.
    • Unsustainable consumption pattern: What threatens our existence more than anything else is the pace at which we are producing and consuming. The consumption pattern of the world is mindless and pays scant regard to the environment.
    • Attitude change through mission LiFE: Mission LiFE tries to remind the world that the mindset of “use and throw” must immediately be replaced by “reduce, reuse and recycle” so that our scarce resources are not overexploited, and the world doesn’t crumble under the weight of all the waste that it is generating by the second.
    • Small efforts big Impact: Mission LiFE is a philosophy which shows how this can be made possible. It shows the power of small efforts to make big impacts. It believes in the individual’s capacity to change the world. It is the mantra to reverse historical and cultural wrongs wrecked upon the environment. Mission LiFE is the call to action for citizens and governments to save the planet.

    Mission LiFE

    What are India’s efforts for LiFE?

    • Environment friendly culture: In India, the cultural ethos of limiting needs and treating the environment and its resources with reverence has produced very visible results. India constitutes 17 per cent of the world’s population, but our contribution to global carbon emissions is only four per cent.
    • Less carbon footprint per head: Against the developed world’s carbon footprint of four tonnes per head, the carbon footprint of an average Indian counts to only 1.5 tonnes.
    • Multiple global initiatives: Despite not being part of the problem, with numerous global initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, the One Sun One World One Grid initiative, and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, India has taken the lead in presenting and building solutions for the world by bringing the global community together.
    • Focus on collective actions of world community: The need to build these global alliances to fight climate change stems from the understanding that only collective action can save the world from the vagaries of climate change that are increasingly becoming a reality and are rising in ferocity.
    • Mindful utilization of resources: India offering knowledge from its religious and cultural ethos to the world, Mission LiFE aims to pull the world away from a “mindless and destructive” consumerist approach towards a “mindful and deliberate utilization” of resources. It is also, at the same time, an effort to prevent India from heading that way.
    • Shift towards sustainable policies: India is already working towards building a circular economy and moving towards a stage where all our energy requirements are met through the use of renewables. Our policies are all aligned towards ensuring sustainable development, where nature is not disregarded for development but where the most marginalized are not left to their destiny by denying them development.

    Mission LiFE

    Conclusion

    • Actions against climate change is not just a fervent hope but an emergent necessity. Through mission LiFE India is trying to portray climate crisis from individual perspective. Mission LiFE has a potential to transform climate change movement into the mass movement.

    Mains Question

    How Mission LiFE will help in conservation of Environment? Critically analyze the India’s efforts to make LiFE a successful mission?

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  • Minimum Support Prices for Agricultural Produce

    MSP: Must be Effective

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Issues Related To Farm Subsidies & Msp

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: MSP

    Mains level: Issues related to MSP

    msp

    Context

    • The CACP recommendations on Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for the mandated six Rabi crops wheat, barley, gram, lentil, rapeseed and mustard, and safflower are arrived by considering several factors.

    What is MSP?

    • MSP is a part of India’s Agriculture Price Policy. The MSP for various crops is announced by the central government at the beginning of every crop season on the recommendation of CACP.
    • MSP is price at which the government purchases crops from the farmers. It is the guaranteed ‘minimum floor price’ that farmer must get from the government in case the market price of the crops falls below the MSP.
    • The Rationale behind MSP is to support the farmer from excess fall in the crop prices, it is like an insurance policy for the farmers to save them from price falls.
    • The most important aim of the MSP policy is to save the Indian farmer from making distress sales. In the event of glut and bumper harvest, when market prices fall below the announced MSP, the government through its agencies buys the entire stock offered by the farmers at the MSP.

    What are the factors included in MSP calculation?

    • Factors taken into consideration are as follows:
    1. Cost of production,
    2. Supply and demand situation of various crops in domestic and global markets,
    3. Domestic and world prices along with trade opportunities,
    4. Terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture sector,
    5. Optimal utilization of land, water and other production resources,
    6. A minimum of 50 per cent mark-up over the cost of production.

    msp

    Why the relook at MSP calculation is necessary?

    • Though on the surface the list looks comprehensive, there are two missing concerns given the present-day challenges, necessitating a change in the MSP formula.
    1. Acreage
    2. Water usage
    • Rising MSP leads to water conflict: There is ample data-based evidence to show the causal relation between acreage and MSP movements. Rising MSPs of water-intensive crops has resulted in some of the water conflicts over river basins as shown by recent studies in the Cauvery and the Teesta River basins.
    • MSP for rice and wheat: This is also because MSP for rice and wheat, where government agencies like Food Corporation of India play a role in procurement, has created a reference for market prices. Ever since the MSP was introduced in the late 1970s, it became the “floor” price-setter for rice and wheat.
    • Higher MSP for water consuming cereals: Between 1980 and 2000, the MSPs of rice and wheat increased at a much faster rate than those of the “coarse” cereals (like jowar, bajra and ragi) which eventually led to movement of the terms-of-trade (defined as ratio of prices of competing crops, e.g., rice and millets) in Favour of the water-consuming cereals.
    • Shifting of High acreage to High MSP crop: This led to acreages moving largely in Favour of water consuming staples, whose crop-water requirements are many times of that of the drier millets. In the case of Cauvery and Teesta, the introduction of dry season paddy and its expansion created reliance on irrigation thereby Fuelling demand for water.
    • Non promotion of rabi millets: Though the MSP formula claims to take into account land and water use, it needs to be noted here that there is a need for Rabi millets (e.g., ragi) to be promoted through MSPs. This is because the millets are less water-consuming as compared to many other alternatives including wheat. However, there does not seem to be any MSP announced for Rabi millets.
    • Higher MSP for less water consuming crop is needed: In the process, it will be crucial to take into consideration the estimates of irrigation water need for specific crops, redefine the Rabi basket by including millets, and declare a higher MSP for less water-consuming crops vis-à-vis the high-water consuming crops.

    msp

    Nutritional security in MSP calculation

    • Nutritional security is not included in MSP calculation: The other consideration that is missing from the MSP formula is the consideration of the nutritional security. Ideally, the MSP regime should remunerate those crops that have a higher nutritional value per unit of resource use.
    • Rabi crops are more water efficient: Ragi is the most efficient water user in producing calories. Bajra followed by wheat and ragi are the better performers in terms of water efficiency in producing iron. For the case of fiber, ragi is the most water efficient crop followed by barley and maize demonstrating the same water efficiency.
    • Rabi crops are nutrition rich: Maize is the most efficient water user in producing carbohydrates with ragi being second and wheat third. With reference to fat production, bajra takes the first position followed by ragi and wheat. Ragi is the best performer in the case of calcium production. Wheat and ragi do equally well with phosphorus production per unit of water at the margin.
    • Missing MSP estimate: However, so far, the MSP formula has not taken into consideration the health and the nutritional aspect. Irrespective of the season, the nutritional aspect needs to be figured into the MSP recommendations, and more nutritional crops should command higher support prices.

    Conclusion

    • Present MSP regime is biased in Favor of rice and wheat. MSP can be utilized as great tool to achieve crop diversification by incentivizing cultivation of water efficient and nutrition rich millets. India can achieve the regional as well as financial balance in distribution of MSP by proper estimation of MSP and promotion accordingly.

    Mains Question

    How is MSP calculated? Analyse the linkages of MSP and water conflict and suggest the solution to overcome the water inefficiency by MSP.

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  • Issues related to Economic growth

    Why Private Investment is Lagging in India?

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: private investment in manufacturing and economic growth

    Private

    Context

    • Last month, Finance Minister asked captains of industry what was holding them back from investing in manufacturing. She likened industry to Lord Hanuman from the Ramayana by stating that industry did not realize its own strength and that it should forge ahead with confidence. She said, “This is the time for India, we cannot miss the bus”.

    What is present situation of private investment?

    • Tax cut rate of domestic companies: In the hope of revitalizing private investment, the government had in September 2019 cut the tax rate for domestic companies from 30% to 22% if they stopped availing of any other tax SOP (standard operating procedure).
    • Weak private investment: Expert says that Indian private sector investment has been weak for almost a decade now. If we look at drivers of economic growth right now, there are amber lights flashing. The export story will be under threat because of the global slowdown, the government’s ability to support domestic demand would also be limited as the fiscal deficit comes down.
    • Impact of k-shaped recovery: Because of the K-shaped recovery, private consumption is only concentrated in some parts of the income pyramid.

    Private

    Analyzing the investment scenario

    • Investment to GDP ratio: As in the June edition of the Ministry of Finance’s Monthly Economic Review, the fixed investment to GDP ratio was 32% in 2021-22. However, there is need for caution in reading the most recent data, as they are subject to revision.
    • The National Accounts Statistics: It provides disaggregation of gross capital formation (GCF) by sectors, type of assets and modes of financing; over 90% of GCF consists of fixed investments.
    • No change in investment distribution: The investment distribution has hardly changed over the last decade, with the public sector’s share remaining 20%.
    • Fall in share of agriculture and industry: Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the shares of agriculture and industry in fixed capital formation/GDP fell from 7.7% and 33.7% to 6.4% and 32.5%, respectively.
    • Rise in service sectors: Services’ share rose to 52.3% in 2019-20 compared to 49% in 2014-15.The rise in the services sector is almost entirely on transport and communications. The share of transport has doubled from 6.1% to 12.9% during the same period. Within transportation, it is mostly roads.
    • Decline in the share of investment: Its share in the investment ratio (column 2.1) fell from 19.2% in 2011-12 to 16.5% in 2019-20. This indicates that ‘Make in India’ failed to take off, import dependence went up, and India became deindustrialised. Import dependence on China is alarming for critical materials such as fertilizers, bulk drugs (active pharmaceutical ingredients or APIs) and capital goods. Instead of boosting investment and domestic technological capabilities, the ‘Make in India’ campaign frittered away time and resources to raise India’s rank in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.
    • Decline in foreign capital in GFC: The contribution of foreign capital to financing GCF fell to 2.5% in 2019-20 from 3.8% in 2014-15 (or 11.1% in 2011-12). With declining investment share, industrial output growth rate fell from 13.1% in 2015-16 to a negative 2.4% in 2019-20, as per the National Accounts Statistics.

    Private

    What is Consumer’s demand situation?

    • Average Consumer sentiment index: Private companies invest when they are able to estimate profits, and that comes from demand. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE) consumer sentiment index is still below pre-pandemic levels but is far higher than what was seen 12-18 months ago.
    • Buoyant Aggregate demand: RBI’s Monetary policy report dated September 30 says, Data for Q2 (ended Sept) indicate that aggregate demand remained buoyant, supported by the ongoing recovery in private consumption and investment demand. It shows that seasonally adjusted capacity utilization rose to 74.3% in Q1 the highest in the last three years.
    • High household savings: Along with household savings intentions remaining high, might hold the key to the investment cycle kicking in.

    Private

    Conclusion

    • Both public and private investment is necessary for sustainable growth trajectory of any economy. Global uncertainty, Ukraine war, oil prices have added to the skepticism of private investors. However, India’s macroeconomic performance is much better than those of developed and developing economies. Private investors must take these into account before holding back their investment.

    Mains Question

    Q. What role private investment plays in Indian economy? Analyse the post-pandemic private investment situation in India?

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  • Terrorism and Challenges Related To It

    FATF, Fighting the Terrorism or Just Another Diplomatic Arena

    op-ed snap | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Money-Laundering & Its Prevention,Organized Crime & Terrorism

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: FATF

    Mains level: FATF, grey listing and blacklisting, Money laundering and terror financing

    FATF

    Context

    • On October 21, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, announced the removal of Pakistan from its Grey List. The announcement was expected.

    What is FATF?

    • Inter-governmental organization: The FATF, a 39-member inter-governmental organization with its headquarters in Paris, was set up in 1989 by the Group of Seven (G7) countries with the aim of setting global standards for countering the menace of money laundering.
    • Terror financing included under FATF mandate: Following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, the objective of countering the financing of terrorism was added to the FATF’s mandate. Later, its objectives were further expanded to counter the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

    FATF

    How FATF functions?

    • Three level mandate: The FATF seeks to fulfil its three-pronged mandate by drawing up a list of guidelines. Known as the FATF Recommendations or FATF Standards, these are meant to ensure a coordinated global response to prevent.
    1. organized crime,
    2. corruption and
    3. Terrorism
    • Domestic plus international regulatory measures: They encompass a range of domestic legislative, regulatory and enforcement actions, as well as international cooperation measures, that states are expected to adopt and implement.
    • Consensus based decision: The FATF and its associate, or regional, members such as the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) take their decisions on the basis of consensus. More than 200 countries and jurisdictions are committed to implementing the FATF’s recommendations.

    FATF

    What is grey listing and black listing?

    • Monitoring the adherence to recommendations: The FATF monitors adherence to its recommendations by periodic evaluations of the anti-money laundering (AML), combating financing of terrorism (CFT) and proliferation financing (PF) regimes of member countries and jurisdictions which voluntarily submit to its monitoring.
    • Strategic deficiencies by countries: Countries which exhibit strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT/PF regimes are placed under a scheme of “increased monitoring” informally known as Grey Listing.
    • Action plan to address the deficiencies: States placed under the Grey List are expected to swiftly put in place the requisite measures to address their deficiencies on the basis of Action Plans drawn up and evaluated through a process of consultation with the FATF.
    • Serious strategic deficiency: States that exhibit serious strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT/ PF regimes are placed under a Black List formally known as High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action.
    • Serious economic consequences may follow: While Grey Listing amounts to a warning, Black Listing entails serious economic consequences by making it incumbent on governments, international lenders and commercial entities to conduct enhanced due diligence checks while transacting business with the designated countries and, in extreme cases, apply “counter-measures” against offenders.

    Present status of listing by FATF?

    • Grey listing: Following the removal of Pakistan, there are 23 countries on the FATF’s Grey List.
    • Black listing: There are only three countries on the Black List, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar. These listing processes of the FATF are driven predominantly by the pulls and pressures of international power politics and not merely by technical parameters.

    How Pakistan has been grilled by FATF for Terror financing?

    • In 2008 Pakistan removed from listing: Pakistan has been placed in and removed from the Grey List in the past too. The first time was from February, 2008 to June, 2010, when it was removed from the list after it supposedly demonstrated progress in improving its AML/AFT regime.
    • Mumbai terror attack and grey list: The terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 took place while Pakistan was on the Grey List for the first time. The second time was from February, 2012 to February, 2015, by the end of which period it had supposedly made significant progress in improving its AML/CFT regime.
    • Osama bin laden killing: The elimination of Osama bin Laden in the American raid on Abbottabad on May 2, 2011 took place after Pakistan’s exit from the Grey List for the first time and before its placement on the list for the second time.
    • From 2018-2022: Pakistan was placed in the Grey List for the third time in June, 2018 and remained there till October, 2022. During this period, it was compelled to put in place several legislative, administrative and regulatory measures to improve its compliance with international AML/CFT standards.
    • Action against individual and organisations: In recent years, there has been increasing realisation among FATF members that it is the effectiveness of action taken against individuals and entities of concern rather than pro-forma technical compliance” that should form the basis of judging the extent of adherence to FATF standards.
    • Conviction of hafiz Saeed: It is this more realistic approach coupled with the implicit threat of being moved from the Grey List to the Black List that finally compelled Pakistan to prosecute, convict, fine and jail, on terrorism financing charges, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) Amir, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, LeT’s chief operational commander, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Sajid Majeed aka Sajid Mir, “operational manager” of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, after having pronounced him missing and dead.
    • Jaish-e-Mohammed: A disingenuous attempt by Pakistan to persuade a visiting FATF verification team in August-September 2022 that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Amir, Maulana Masood Azhar, had escaped to Afghanistan was strongly countered by a spokesman of the Afghan Taliban.

    How Pakistan manages pressure form FATF?

    • with the support of USA: It is well known that much of the diplomatic heavy lifting to place Pakistan in the Grey List in June 2018 and keep it on the list for an extended period of time was done by the US. There had been a feeling among those following developments at the FATF that American pressure on Pakistan would continue till such time as the US needed Pakistan to bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table and once the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was completed, the pressure on Pakistan would ease. Subsequent developments have validated this assessment.
    • Help of China and turkey: Although the threat of being moved from the Grey List to the Blacklist remained hanging over Pakistan’s head, this was never a realistic possibility, considering the likely opposition to any such move by Pakistan’s staunch friends in the FATF, such as China, Malaysia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia

    FATF

    Conclusion

    • India will have to continue mustering all available instruments and options to deny Pakistan operating space to wield the jihadi weapon, till such time as there is convincing evidence of a consensus among the generals in Rawalpindi that the weapon has outlived its utility and needs to be renounced once and for all.

    Mains Question

    How FATF is useful international forum for fight against terrorism? How was Pakistan forced by FATF to take actions against mastermind of 26/11 attack?

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  • Medical Education Governance in India

    Is Medical Education in Hindi Practicable?

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Promoting Hindi language and associated issues

    Context

    • The unveiling of the Hindi editions of the first professional MBBS books by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Bhopal has stirred anti-Hindi agitations, with the Opposition, especially in the South, contending that the move is nothing more than a poll gimmick.

    Why medical education should be in local language (Hindi)?

    • Example of Non-English countries: Supporters of the move are quoting examples from China, Japan, Ukraine, Russia, and Norway – countries where official languages are the sole medium of instruction in all the technical and non-technical courses.
    • Education in mother tongue is effective: If they can do so, why can’t we, they argue, especially as it is an established fact that imparting education in a student’s mother tongue is effective for learning.

    Why English is best medium of English education?

    • Teaching in local plus English language: Fifty-two medical colleges, out of the total 170 colleges on mainland China, whose graduates can attempt the USMLE (the entrance exam to practice in the US), teach in both Chinese and English. There has been a steep rise in the number of parents interested in enrolling their children – at just three years old – in ESL (English as a Second Language) courses.
    • Less resources in Hindi: It is unwise to compare the status of Hindi to Chinese or German, given India’s diversity. Moreover, Hindi, or any other vernacular language, for that matter, offers far fewer resources to support the job-seeking young populace. Learning English, therefore, comes with a promise of roti, kapda, makaan (food, clothes, shelter.)
    • Higher demand for English Medium: A few years ago, when newspapers reported on the closing down of government schools in Tamil Nadu, one of the major reasons cited was parents’ preoccupation with English-medium schools – leading them to deny free cash and food and admit their kids to low-end, mediocre English schools, instead.
    • English is a great leveller: When it comes to higher education, English is a great leveller, allowing dialogue to continue with the rest of the world. Medicine, as evidence-based as it is, is constantly evolving with the introduction of novel research. Treating cases sometimes requires consulting multiple books, research papers, and journal articles, for which a sound system of translation needs to be established before we can even begin thinking about phasing out English.
    • Issue of Translation: The people involved in the translation process spoke of two things, First, instead of “translation”, the books have been transliterated. The medical terminology remains the same; sentences have only been translated for easier reading. That too, in the most mainstream dialect of Hindi. Second, these books are to be used as “bridge books”, and not as replacements for the English ones, designed to address the initial hiccups students are bound to face.
    • No clarity on roadmap: The initial announcement also fails to account for the necessary infrastructure. There has been no clarity on whether or how these translations will be incorporated as reading materials, and how they will evolve or change with time. Whether standard books like Harrison and Robbins would also be translated is anyone’s guess. Translating these tomes only once would not suffice as newer editions every three to five years incorporate significant changes.
    • Training of teachers and conferences: Professors and other teaching staff would also need to be trained. Most of all, what about medical conferences, the staple of a medical student? Would they be organised in Hindi moving forward?
    • Our medical industry is yet to develop: While basing our argument only on language, we often forget that Chinese healthcare is self-sufficient when it comes to research and protocols, or that Germany has primary resources available in their own language. Our focus right now should be to develop primary resources. Our medical industry is at way too nascent a stage to be speaking of language.

    Conclusion

    • Offering extra evening classes as done by AIIMS, Delhi could have been a better substitute given that the strength of students who struggle with English makes up about one to two per cent of the entire batch. Besides, no strict distinction exists between Hindi and non-Hindi-speaking states as most institutions have a portion of seats that are filled up by a pan-India entrance exam. Our focus should be on quality of education instead of medium of instruction.

    Mains Question

    Q. Medical education in English is more viable than local language. Explain. Why Government of India Supports the Medical education in Hindi?

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