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Type: op-ed snap

  • Important Judgements In News

    The Court’s order on Pegasus still falls short

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Pegasus software

    Mains level: Paper 2- Pegasus issue

    Context

    The Supreme Court of India appointed an independent committee to inquire into charges that the Union government had used the mobile phone spyware Pegasus to invade, access, and snoop into devices used by India’s citizens.

    Background

    • The petitioners before the Supreme Court relied on an investigation conducted by a consortium of global media.
    • These reports revealed that hundreds of phone numbers from India had appeared on a global list of more than 50,000 numbers that were selected for surveillance by clients of the Israeli firm, the NSO Group.
    • The NSO has since confirmed that its spyware is sold only to governments, chiefly for the purposes of fighting terrorism.

    Government’s defence

    • In response to the allegations made against it, the Government invoked national security.
    • What is more, according to it, the very adoption of this argument virtually forbade the Court from probing further.
    • In matters purportedly involving national security, the Court has shown an extraordinary level of deference to the executive.
    • The cases also posed another hurdle: a contest over facts.
    • The petitioners were asserting the occurrence of illegal surveillance.
    • The Government was offering no explicit response to their claims.
    • Now, to some degree, in its order appointing a committee, the Court has bucked the trend of absolute deference.
    • The Court has held that there is no magic formula to the Government’s incantation of national security, that its power of judicial review is not denuded merely because the state asserts that the country’s safety is at stake.

    Accountability on part of the government

    • The order recognises, correctly, that spying on an individual, whether by the state or by an outside agency, amounts to an infraction of privacy.
    • This is not to suggest that all surveillance is illegal.
    • In holding thus, the Court has effectively recognised that an act of surveillance must be tested on four grounds:
    • First, the action must be supported by legislation.
    • Second, the state must show the Court that the restriction made is aimed at a legitimate governmental end.
    • Third, the state must demonstrate that there are no less intrusive means available to it to achieve the same objective;
    • Finally, the state must establish that there is a rational nexus between the limitation imposed and the aims underlying the measure.
    • The test provides a clear path to holding the Government accountable.

    Way forward

    • The absence of a categorical denial from the Government, the order holds, ought to lead to a prima facie belief, if nothing else, that there is truth in the petitioners’ claims.
    •  Having held thus, one might have expected the Court to frame a set of specific questions demanding answers from the state.
    • If answers to these questions were still not forthcoming, elementary principles of evidence law allow the Court to draw what is known as an “adverse inference”. 
    • A party that fails to answer questions put to it will only risk the Court drawing a conclusion of fact against it.
    • If, on this basis, the petitioners’ case is taken as true, there can be little doubt that there has been an illegitimate violation of a fundamental right.
    • It is, therefore, unclear why we need a committee at all.
    • Ultimately, in the future, the Court must think more carefully about questions of proof and rules of evidence.

    Conclusion

    Ad hoc committees — sterling as their members might be — cannot be the solution. Far too many cases are consigned to the back burner on the appointment of external panels, and, in the process, civil liberties are compromised.

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  • Higher Education – RUSA, NIRF, HEFA, etc.

    There’s a mismatch between India’s graduate aspirations and job availability

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 2- Mismatch between education aspirations and job availability

    Context

    There is a huge pool of unemployed university graduates with unfulfilled aspirations. This group of dissatisfied, disgruntled youth can lead to disastrous consequences for our society.

    Enhanced enrollment

    • Reservation: The extension of reservations to OBCs and EWS increased the enrollment of students from these socio-economic backgrounds.
    • Increased education institutions: In addition, the massive increase in the number of higher education institutions has led to an enlargement of the number of available seats — there are more than 45,000 universities and colleges in the country.
    • The Gross Enrollment Ratio for higher education, which is the percentage of the population between the ages of 18-23 who are enrolled, is now 27 per cent.

    Issues of employment opportunities

    • Unfortunately, the spectacular increase in enrollment in recent years has not been matched by a concomitant increase in jobs.
    •  Employment opportunities in the government have not increased proportionately and may, in fact, have decreased with increased contractualisation.
    •  Even in the private sector, though the jobs have increased with economic growth, most of the jobs are contractual.
    • Worse, the highest increase in jobs is at the lowest end, especially in the services sector — delivery boys for e-commerce or fast food for instance.
    • Thus what we see is a huge pool of unemployed university graduates with unfulfilled aspirations.
    • This group of dissatisfied, disgruntled youth can lead to disastrous consequences for our society, some of which we are already witnessing.

    Way forward

    • A reduction in the rate of increase of universities and colleges might not be politically feasible given the huge demand for higher education.
    • Increase vocation institutions: A concurrent increase in the number of high-quality vocational institutions is something that can be done.
    • There are upwards of 15,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the country currently.
    • Upgrading the existing ITIs, opening many more new ones with high-quality infrastructure and updated curriculum is something which should be done urgently.
    • There is a scheme to upgrade some ITIs to model ITIs.
    • However, what is required is not a selective approach but a more broad-based one that uplifts the standards of all of them besides adding many more new ones.
    • Industry might be more than willing to pitch in with funding (via the CSR route) as well as equipment, training for the faculty and internships for students.

    Conclusion

    These steps could help mitigate the mismatch between employment opportunities and the increasing number of educated youth in the country.

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  • In India, the steady subversion of equality

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary,Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 2- Equality in democracy

    Context

    The sharp turns away from democracy seen recently in the country must jolt citizens into stopping the descent.

    Equality in democracy

    • The central edifice of a democracy, or what makes it a revolutionary idea, is equality, or that it accords an equal status to all its people.
    • The promise of the far-sighted Indian Constitution was of equal rights to all.
    • If any benefit was accorded to smaller groups, religious or linguistic minorities or Dalits, it was in order to achieve substantive equality.

    Faith as a differentiator

    • The basis of citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, allowing for non-Muslims from three countries to fast-track their citizenship, was the most serious push to introduce religion into citizenship.
    • Impact on marital choice: In terms of marital choices, laws in the country in States where the national ruling party holds sway have drawn harsh attention on inter-faith couples.
    • The Gujarat law criminalising inter-faith marriages has been called out by the Gujarat High Court.
    • But the ordinance introduced in Uttar Pradesh (Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020) is now a law.
    • Food has been criminalised: Stringent laws on cattle end up penalising those who have a certain diet, namely beef. The mood in the country created and abetted by people close to the powers that be, has led to lynchings.
    • State governments and the Union government have mostly ignored the Supreme Court’s directions in 2018 to set up fast track courts, advice to take steps to stop hate messages on social media, or compensation to victims, or bringing in an anti-mob lynching law.
    • Circumscribe where on can reside: The Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Eviction from Premises in Disturbed Areas Act, popularly known as the Disturbed Areas Act, circumscribes where one can reside.
    • The act was brought in an atmosphere where there was communal rioting and forced displacement, to ostensibly protect communities from distress sales, the twist accorded to it over the years firmly makes the forced separation of communities. evident.

    Hostile environment

    • Scholars like Thomas Blom Hansen and Paul Brass have unhesitatingly pointed to the role of violence that has historically been acceptable in Indian society and politics.
    • Scholars like Christophe Jaffrelot have pointed out that there will not be a seamless transition to an “ethnic democracy”.
    • The Indian nation is one formed on the promise of shared and participatory kinship, which recognised Indian nationalism as being distinct from the faith you practised at home.
    • Prioritising any one identity will have disastrous consequences and history provides enough evidence of this.

    Conclusion

    The mobs read together with actions of the Union government and that of State governments mark a sharp turn away from the democracy India claims it is. That must jolt us into recognising the distance we have already travelled down the wrong path. That may be the first step to try to wrest the descent into the darkness of an apartheid state.

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  • Digital India Initiatives

    How to create a truly digital public

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 3- Designing technology with public in mind

    Context

    Despite the push for the adoption of digital technologies, large segments of Indians still can’t access or haven’t learned to trust digital artefacts.

    Issue of exclusion

    • Recognising the power of technology to drive inclusion at a massive scale, the state is doubling down on technology to reach more citizens and serve them better.
    • However, often the paradigm of technology for such services is built around the “elite” citizen, who is comfortable with technology.
    • Often, this imagined citizen is male, urban, upper class.
    • Large segments of Indians still can’t access or haven’t learned to trust digital artefacts.
    • Many among marginalised groups struggle to access digital civic platforms, and instead rely on trusted human intermediaries.

    Suggestions to make digital space truly public

    1) Design with the citizen

    • Encouraging human-centric design, and mandating user-assessments prior to roll out of GovTech platforms should be a key priority.
    • This is a shift from the default “build first and then disseminate” approach.
    • For example, formative research and human-centric design was informative in the creation of the first UPI payments app, BHIM.
    • BHIM’s simple interface and onboarding, use of relatable iconography and multi-language capabilities played an important role in early adoption of UPI among non “digital natives”.
    • Similarly, as the “Human Account” project demonstrated, it is possible to start with users in designing pro-poor fintech products, like the “Postman Savings” product which India Post Payments Bank designed for the rural poor.

    2) Harness trusted human interface to serve those who are not comfortable with technology

    •  Local intermediaries, such as formal and informal community leaders and civil society organisations, can play a key role in bridging the digital divide.
    • Working with existing networks (for example ASHAs) or carefully setting them up (such as the Andhra Pradesh Ward Secretariat programme), where pre-existing trust, community knowledge, and embeddedness can play a significant role, should be prioritised.

    3) Institutionalise an anchor entity that brings together innovators, policy makers and researchers

    • Such an entity will help to push the frontier on citizen-centricity in GovTech.
    • Such a platform — like the Citizen Lab in Denmark — can play a role in generating formative research.
    • Embedding this research in practice by partnering with the government as well as market innovators, and working with civil society organisations to enhance access to GovTech.

    Conclusion

    As India makes rapid strides in its digitalisation journey, it is timely to invoke Gandhiji’s talisman and ensure that GovTech can serve its highest and greatest purpose, that is, serving those who are last in line.

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  • Start-up Ecosystem In India

    The three acts of entrepreneurship that accelerated India’s start-up ecosystem

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 3- Start-up ecosystem in India

    Context

    Three acts of entrepreneurship from five years ago — Jio, UPI, and GST — have converged to accelerate our startup ecosystem.

    Let’s look at each in more detail

    • Impact of JIO: India’s per GB internet data costs are just 3 per cent of those in the US.
    • A bold and risky $35 billion bet made by a private company transformed Indians from being data deprived to data-rich; consumption has jumped 15 times because costs fell by over 90 per cent.
    • The addition of millions of consumers and smartphones since Jio’s delightful five-year disruption of the market has exploded the most important universal metric in startup valuation — addressable market.
    • Affordable digital connectivity is transforming 75 crore of them into consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, and suppliers.
    • Role of UPI: Google’s letter to the US Federal Reserve suggesting America learn from India’s Universal Payments Interface (UPI) acknowledged that our real-time, low-cost, open-architecture payment plumbing is a public good.
    • UPI’s mobile-first architecture is a key pillar of the paperless, presenceless, and cashless framework of the Aadhaar-seeded India Stack.
    •  Impact of GST: GST attacked complexity and incentivised law-abiding supply and distribution chains.
    • It was long in the making but going live needed the risk-taking of starting with a second-best architecture, accepting some unjustifiable rates, and state revenue guarantees.
    • The doubling of indirect tax registered enterprises since GST creates a virtuous economic cycle of higher total factor productivity for enterprises and employees.

    Flourishing startup ecosystem

    • India now has the highest ratio of unlisted to listed companies with a $1 billion valuation.
    • Initial public offering documents filed by early startups like Nykaa, Paytm, Zomato and PolicyBazaar roughly average a 10x valuation rise since the triad did IPO.
    • Estimates suggest India’s startup ecosystem valuation will explode from $315 billion today to $1 trillion by 2025.

    Conclusion

    Gandhiji’s notion of democracy — where the weakest have the same opportunity as the strongest — needs an economic meritocracy only possible when entrepreneurs have all the ingredients in the right proportions.

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  • Water Management – Institutional Reforms, Conservation Efforts, etc.

    What India’s new water policy seeks to deliver

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary,Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 2- National Water Policy

    Context

    Over a period of one year, the committee set up to draft the new National Water Policy (NWP) received 124 submissions by state and central governments, academics and practitioners. The NWP is based on the striking consensus that emerged through these wide-ranging deliberations.

    Major suggestion in NWP

    Demand-side: Diversification of public procurement operations

    • Irrigation consumes 80-90 per cent of India’s water, most of which is used by rice, wheat and sugarcane.
    • Thus, crop diversification is the single most important step in resolving India’s water crisis.
    • The policy suggests diversifying public procurement operations to include nutri-cereals, pulses and oilseeds.
    • This would incentivise farmers to diversify their cropping patterns, resulting in huge savings of water.

    2) Reduce-Recycle-Reuse

    • Reduce-Recycle-Reuse has been proposed as the basic mantra of integrated urban water supply and wastewater management, with treatment of sewage and eco-restoration of urban river stretches, as far as possible through decentralised wastewater management.
    • All non-potable use, such as flushing, fire protection, vehicle washing must mandatorily shift to treated wastewater.

    3) Supply-side measure: Using technology to utilised stored water in dams

    • Within supply-side options, the NWP points to trillions of litres stored in big dams, which are still not reaching farmers.
    • NWP suggests how the irrigated areas could be greatly expanded at very low cost by deploying pressurised closed conveyance pipelines, combined with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems and pressurised micro-irrigation.

    4) Supply of water through “nature-based solutions”

    • The NWP places major emphasis on supply of water through “nature-based solutions” such as the rejuvenation of catchment areas, to be incentivised through compensation for ecosystem services.
    • Specially curated “blue-green infrastructure” such as rain gardens and bio-swales, restored rivers with wet meadows, wetlands constructed for bio-remediation, urban parks, permeable pavements, green roofs etc are proposed for urban areas.

    5) Sustainable and equitable management of groundwater

    • Information on aquifer boundaries, water storage capacities and flows provided in a user-friendly manner to stakeholders, designated as custodians of their aquifers, would enable them to develop protocols for effective management of groundwater.

    6) Rights of Rivers

    • The NWP accords river protection and revitalisation prior and primary importance.
    • Steps to restore river flows include: Re-vegetation of catchments, regulation of groundwater extraction, river-bed pumping and mining of sand and boulders.
    • The NWP outlines a process to draft a Rights of Rivers Act, including their right to flow, to meander and to meet the sea.

    7) Emphasis on water quality

    • The new NWP considers water quality as the most serious un-addressed issue in India today.
    • It proposes that every water ministry, at the Centre and states, include a water quality department.
    • The policy advocates adoption of state-of-the-art, low-cost, low-energy, eco-sensitive technologies for sewage treatment.
    • Widespread use of reverse osmosis has led to huge water wastage and adverse impact on water quality.
    • The policy wants RO units to be discouraged if the total dissolved solids count in water is less than 500mg/L.
    • It suggests a task force on emerging water contaminants to better understand and tackle the threats they are likely to pose.

    8) Reforming governance of water

    • The policy makes radical suggestions for reforming governance of water, which suffers from three kinds issues: That between irrigation and drinking water, surface and groundwater, as also water and wastewater.
    • Government departments, working in silos, have generally dealt with just one side of these binaries.
    • Dealing with drinking water and irrigation in silos has meant that aquifers providing assured sources of drinking water dry up because the same aquifers are used for irrigation, which consumes much more water.
    • And when water and wastewater are separated in planning, the result is a fall in water quality.

    9) Creation of National Water Commission

    • The NWP also suggests the creation of a unified multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder National Water Commission (NWC), which would become an exemplar for states to follow.
    • Governments should build enduring partnerships with primary stakeholders of water, who must become an integral part of the NWC and its counterparts in the states.

    Conclusion

    The new National Water Policy calls for multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder approach to water management.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Strengthening healthcare through ABHIM

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: ABHIM

    Mains level: Paper 2- ABHIM

    Context

    The Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM), announced recently, seeks to realise greater investment in the health system as proposed in the Budget, implement the Fifteenth Finance Commission recommendations such as strengthening of urban and rural primary care, stronger surveillance systems and laboratory capacity.

    Measures of ABHIM

    • It will support infrastructure development of 17,788 rural health and wellness centres (HWCs) in seven high-focus States and three north-eastern States.
    • In addition, 11,044 urban HWCs will be established in close collaboration with Urban Local Bodies.
    • The various measures of this scheme will extend primary healthcare services across India.
    • Areas like hypertension, diabetes and mental health will be covered, in addition to existing services.
    • Support for 3,382 block public health units (BPHUs) in 11 high-focus States and establishment of integrated district public health laboratories in all 730 districts will strengthen capacity for information technology-enabled disease surveillance.
    • To enhance the capabilities for microbial surveillance, a National Platform for One Health will be established.
    • Four Regional National Institutes of Virology will be established.
    • Laboratory capacity under the National Centre for Disease Control, the Indian Council of Medical Research and national research institutions will be strengthened.
    • Fifteen bio-safety level III labs will augment the capacity for infectious disease control and bio-security.

    Way forward

    • There is a need to train and deploy a larger and better skilled health workforce.
    • We must scale up institutional capacity for training public health professionals.
    • Private sector participation in service delivery may be invited by States, as per need and availability.
    • ABHIM, if financed and implemented efficiently, can strengthen India’s health system by augmenting capacity in several areas and creating a framework for coordinated functioning at district, state and national levels.
    • Many independently functioning programmes will have to work with a common purpose by leaping across boundaries of separate budget lines and reporting structures.
    • That calls for a change of bureaucratic mindsets and a cultural shift in Centre-State relations.

    Conclusion

    The ABHIM can fix the weaknesses in India’s healthcare system.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Russia

    Energy cooperation as the backbone of India-Russia ties

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 2- Energy partnership with Russia

    Context

    With its abundant energy sources and appetite for trade diversification, Russia could be an ultimate long-term partner of India as it tries to diversify its trade relations.

    Energy partnership

    • Indian Prime Minister in a virtual address at 6th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia’s Vladivostok said that “India-Russia energy partnership can help bring stability to the global energy market.”
    • Indian and Russian Energy Ministers announced that the countries’ companies have been pushing for greater cooperation in the oil and gas sector beyond the U.S.$32 billion already invested in joint projects.
    • India’s Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri referred to Russia as the largest investor in India’s energy sector.
    • One of the examples of cooperation between the two countries in energy transformation is the joint venture between India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. and Russia’s Sibur, the country’s largest petrochemicals producer.
    • Apart from accounting for most of the Indian butyl rubber market, Reliance Sibur Elastomers exports its products to Asia, Europe, the United States, Brazil and other countries.
    • A few years ago, Rosneft invested U.S.$12.9 billion in India’s second-largest private oil refiner, Essar Oil, renamed Nayara Energy, marking it one of the most significant foreign investments in years.
    • Partnership in renewable: In efforts to transition to green energy, India has recently achieved a significant milestone of completing the countrywide installation of 100 gigawatts of total installed renewable energy capacity, excluding large hydro.
    • A recent Deloitte report has forecasted that India could gain U.S.$11 trillion in economic value over the next 50 years by limiting rising global temperatures and realising its potential to ‘export decarbonization’.
    • Unknowns of climate change and threats of a new pandemic suggest that the country should accelerate its energy transition. Russia, one of the key global players across the energy market, could emerge as an indispensable partner for such a transition.
    • Partnership in nuclear energy: Russian companies have been involved in the construction of six nuclear reactors in the Kudankulam nuclear power project at Tamil Nadu.
    • India and Russia secure the potential of designing a nuclear reactor specifically for developing countries, which is a promising area of cooperation.
    • India’s nuclear power generation capacity of 6,780 MW may increase to 22,480 MW by 2031, contributing to the country’s efforts to turn to green energy.

    Way forward

    • In September, almost all of Russia’s major energy companies were interested in projects in India, Russia’s Energy Minister said at the Vladivostok forum in September, adding that he sees prospects for energy cooperation in all areas.
    • However, the current bilateral exchange rate needs to accelerate for India to grasp its potential from energy transformation.

    Conclusion

    To meet its growing energy demand and succeed in green transformation, India needs approximately U.S.$500 billion of investments in wind and solar infrastructure, grid expansion, and storage to reach the 450 GW capacity target by 2030. Therefore, more efforts are needed to expand cooperation with such partners as Russia.

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  • Important Judgements In News

    Analysing the Supreme Court’s Pegasus order

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Pegasus

    Mains level: Paper 2- Pegasus issue

    Context

    The Supreme Court of India has appointed a committee presided by Justice (Retd.) R V Raveendran to inquire into the Pegasus revelations.

    Terms of reference

    • The court’s terms of reference include queries on, “What steps/actions have been taken by the Union of India after reports were published in the year 2019 about hacking of WhatsApp accounts”, and, “Whether any Pegasus suite of spyware was acquired by the Union of India, or any State Government, or any central or state agency for use against the citizens of India”.
    • The constitution of this committee marks an important step towards accountability for the victims and the larger public on the use of Pegasus.

    Significance of the committee on Pegasus issue

    1) Transparency and disclosure

    • The order of the court constituting the committee attains significance for three clear reasons.
    • The first is the court’s continuing insistence on transparency and disclosure by the Union government.
    • The only filing made in court by the government was a limited affidavit, containing short paragraphs of generalised denials and the sole annexure of a statement by the Minister for Electronics and IT before Parliament.
    • Immediately, the Supreme Court pointed out that these are inadequate and provided further time.

    2) The SC’s approach towards national security

    • The second reason is the Supreme Court’s firm approach towards the national security submissions by the Union government.
    • The court correctly applied the settled convention on legal pleadings and affidavits by asking the government to, “necessarily plead and prove the facts which indicate that the information sought must be kept secret as their divulgence would affect national security concerns.”
    • The second aspect of the national security argument is how the court balances it with the fundamental right to privacy.
    • Here, drawing from the framework of the K S Puttaswamy judgment the court specifically states that, “national security cannot be the bugbear that the judiciary shies away from, by virtue of its mere mentioning” and, “mere invocation of national security by the State does not render the Court a mute spectator”.
    • These are significant observations that, when followed as precedent, will bolster confidence in constitutional adjudications especially when courts demand evidence on arguments of “national security” to avoid generalised statements made to evade accountability.

    3)  Rejection of the suggestion by the Solicitor-General to constitute a government committee of experts

    • The court correctly notes that even though the Pegasus revelations were first made on November 1, 2019, there has been little movement on any official inquiry.
    • It also records the genuine apprehension of the petitioners, many of whom are victims of Pegasus, that since the sale of this malware can only be made to governments, they fear the involvement of state agencies.

    Challenges

    • These include the functioning of the committee and the cooperation of government witnesses, the publication of the report so as to ensure public confidence and, ultimately, the directions and remedy provided by the Supreme Court.

    Conclusion

    Hence, the constitution of this committee provides hope. At the same time, any honest assessment should consider the more challenging tasks ahead.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Preparing for outbreaks

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: ABHIM

    Mains level: Paper 2- ABHIM

    Context

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, one of the largest pan-India schemes for strengthening healthcare infrastructure, in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

    Aims of Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM) and how it seeks to achieve it

    • This was launched with an outlay of ₹64,180 crore over a period of five years.
    •  In addition to the National Health Mission, this scheme will work towards strengthening public health institutions and governance capacities for wide-ranging diagnostics and treatment, including critical care services.
    • The latter goal would be met with the establishment of critical care hospital blocks in 12 central institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and in government medical colleges and district hospitals in 602 districts.
    • Laboratories and their preparedness: The government will be establishing integrated district public health labs in 730 districts to provide comprehensive laboratory services.
    • Research: ABHIM will focus on supporting research on COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, including biomedical research to generate evidence to inform short-term and medium-term responses to such pandemics.
    • One health approach: The government also aims to develop a core capacity to deliver the ‘one health’ approach to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks in humans and animals.
    • Surveillance labs: A network of surveillance labs will be developed at the block, district, regional and national levels for detecting, investigating, preventing, and combating health emergencies and outbreaks.
    • Local capacities in urban areas: A major highlight of the current pandemic has been the requirement of local capacities in urban areas.
    • The services from the existing urban primary health centres will be expanded to smaller units – Ayushman Bharat Urban Health and Wellness Centres and polyclinics or specialist clinics.

    Conclusion

    The Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM) is another addition to the arsenal we have to prepare for such oubreaks in the future.

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