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Type: op-ed snap

  • Land Reforms

    Agrarian reforms should go beyond meeting demands of the agitating farmers

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Land Reforms In India

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 3- Land reforms

    Context

    The farmers’ agitation in India has attracted worldwide attention and support.

    Story of land reforms in India

    • Being a state subject, various states implemented reforms with varying degrees of effectiveness and equity.
    • Objectives: The objectives were the same: Abolition of feudal landlordism, conferment of ownership on tenants, fixing land ceilings, distribution of surplus land, increasing agricultural productivity and production, etc.
    • However, owing to manipulations in land records, much surplus land was not available for distribution among the landless tillers.
    • Less than one per cent of the total land in the country was declared as surplus.
    • The relevant criteria for land entitlement should have been employment and main source of income.

    Change in social structure after land reforms

    • The ex-tenants, after getting land made use of several programmes —Green Revolution technology, bank nationalisation and priority sector lending, urbanisation and expanding urban markets.
    • They cornered a disproportionate share of various subsidies.
    • The tenant-turned-capitalist farmers formed political parties, which produced strong state-level leaders, who controlled state-level planning, fiscal policies and politics.
    • In place of a strong Centre and weak states, came a weak Centre and strong states.
    • Rich farmers have formed strong power blocs, with unquestioned clout and bargaining power, not only in north-western India but also in states like Maharashtra.

    Need for agrarian reforms

    • Farmers are seeking legal safeguards against market fluctuations, especially against any downward pressure on agricultural prices.
    • While they welcome every rise in prices, they demand legal protection against price falls, a legitimate stance.
    • Even as agricultural prosperity must be promoted,it should not be just shared between farmers (especially rich ones) and urban consumers, but by all.
    • Farm workers, in particular, must benefit from it.

    Reforms for farmworkers

    • Agricultural land should be pooled and equally distributed among farm households.
    • Non-farm households should not be permitted to hold farmland.
    • Land reforms should be a central subject; while agriculture can remain a state subject.
    • Such a programme will empower and enrich marginalised and excluded individuals and social groups.
    • It should be the kernel of a justiciable universal property right that must form an integral/inalienable part of Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution.

    Conclusion

    The right to life is hollow without a right to livelihood. Through an effective land reforms programme, let’s build a prosperous India based on equity and justice.

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  • Disinvestment in India

    Asset monetisation — execution is the key

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Cost of capital

    Mains level: Paper 3- Asset monetisation and challenges in it

    Context

    The government has announced an ambitious programme of asset monetisation. It hopes to earn ₹6 trillion in revenues over a four-year period.

    About Asset monetisation

    • Unlike in privatisation, no sale of government assets is involved.
    • The government parts with its assets — such as roads, coal mines — for a specified period of time in exchange for a lump sum payment.
    • Asset monetisation will happen mainly in three sectors: roads, railways and power.
    • Other assets to be monetised include: airports, ports, telecom, stadiums and power transmission.
    • Two important statements have been made about the asset monetisation programme.
    • The focus will be on under-utilised assets.
    • Monetisation will happen through public-private partnerships (PPP) and Investment Trusts.

    Challenges

    1) Investors would prefer property utilised assets over underutilised assets

    • Suppose an asset is not being used adequately because it has not been properly developed or marketed well enough.
    • A private party may judge that it can put the assets to better use.
    • It will pay the government a price equal to the present value of cash flows at the current level of utilisation.
    • This is a win-win situation for the government and the private player.
    • The government gets a ‘fair’ value for its assets.
    • The private player gets its return on investment.
    • Increase in efficiency: The economy benefits from an increase in efficiency.
    • Monetising under-utilised assets thus has much to commend it.
    • However, in case of an asset that is being properly utilised, the private player has little incentive to invest and improve efficiency.
    • It simply needs to operate the assets as they are.
    • The private player may value the cash flows assuming a normal rate of growth.
    •  The cost of capital for a private player is higher than for a public authority.
    • The higher cost of capital for the private player could offset the benefit of any reduction in operating costs.
    • The government earns badly needed revenues but these could be less than what it might earn if it continued to operate the assets itself.
    • There is no improvement in efficiency.
    • The benefits to the economy are likely to be greater where under-utilised assets are monetised.
    • However, private players will prefer well-utilised assets to assets that are under-utilised.
    • That is because, in the former, cash flows and returns are more certain.

    2) Valuation challenges

    • It is very difficult to get the valuation right over a long-term horizon, say, 30 years.
    •  For a road or highway, growth in traffic would also depend on factors other than the growth of the economy.
    • . If the rate of growth of traffic turns out to be higher than assessed by the government in valuing the asset, the private operator will reap windfall gains.
    • Alternatively, if the winning bidder pays what turns out to be a steep price for the asset, it will raise the toll price steeply.
    • The consumer ends up bearing the cost.
    • It could be argued that a competitive auction process will address these issues and fetch the government the right price while yielding efficiency gains.
    • But that assumes, among other things, that there will be a large number of bidders for the many assets that will be monetised.

    3) Life of the returned asset may not be long

    • There is no incentive for the private player to invest in the asset towards the end of the tenure of monetisation.
    • The life of the asset, when it is returned to the government, may not be long.
    • In that event, asset monetisation virtually amounts to sale.
    • Monetisation through the PPP route is thus fraught with problems.

    Way forward: InvIT route

    • Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvIT) are mutual fund-like vehicles in which investors can subscribe to units that give dividends.
    •  Monetisable assets will be transferred to InvITs.
    • The sponsor of the Trust is required to hold a minimum prescribed proportion of the total units issued.
    • InvITs offer a portfolio of assets, so investors get the benefit of diversification.
    • In the InvIT route to monetisation, the public authority continues to own the rights to a significant portion of the cash flows and to operate the assets.
    • So, the issues that arise with transfer of assets to a private party — such as incorrect valuation or an increase in price to the consumer — are less of a problem.

    Key takeaways

    • Low cost of capital for public authority: In general, due to the low cost of capital for public authority, the economy is best served when public authorities develop infrastructure and monetise these.
    • InvIT route: Monetisation through InvITs is likely to prove less of a problem than the PPP route.
    • Monetise under utilised assets: We are better off monetising under-utilised assets than assets that are well utilised.
    • Monitoring authority should be set up: To ensure proper execution, there is a case for independent monitoring of the process.
    • The government may set up an Asset Monetisation Monitoring Authority staffed by competent professionals.

    Consider the question “How asset monetisation is different from privatisation? What are the challenges in asset monetisation? Suggest the ways forward.”

    Conclusion

    Government must pay attention to the challenges in asset monetisation and use it in the proper way to increase the efficiency in the economy.

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  • Understanding the importance of vultures in our ecosystem

    op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Diclofenac

    Mains level: Paper 3- Declining vulture population and steps taken

    Context

    India lost more than 95% of its vulture population through the 1990s and by the mid-2000s. Today, the country requires urgent conservation efforts to save vultures from becoming extinct.

    About vultures

    • Vultures belong to the Accipitridae family whose members include eagles, hawks and kites.
    • They are relatively social birds with an average lifespan of 10-30 years in the wild.
    • Vultures are slow breeders and so the survival of every individual is very crucial.
    • Generally, vultures rely on other carnivores to open carcasses.
    • Their powerful bills and long slender necks are designed to help them tear off the meat chunks from inside the carcass.
    • India has nine species of vultures. Many are critically endangered.
    • Vultures have a highly acidic stomach that helps them digest rotting carcass and kill disease-causing bacteria.

    Role played by vultures in ecosystem

    • Removing vultures from the ecosystem leads to inefficient clearing of carcasses and contaminates water systems.
    • If dead animals are left to rot for long durations, it may give rise to disease-causing pathogens.
    • The animals that consume such flesh become further carriers of disease.
    • Thus, they play a crucial role in maintaining the health of the ecosystem.

    Factors responsible for decline in future population

    • India has nine species of vultures. Many are critically endangered.
    • Use of diclofenac: The main reason for the decline in the vulture population is the use of the drug, diclofenac.
    • Diclofenac, which relieves cattle of pain, is toxic to vultures even in small doses and causes kidney failure and death.
    • Hunting: Myths about the medicinal healing powers of vultures’ body parts has led to the hunting of vultures.
    • Quarrying: Quarrying and blasting of stones where vultures nest have also caused their decline.

    Steps to increase numbers

    • India banned diclofenac for veterinary use in 2006.
    • Five States are to get vulture breeding centres under the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation for 2020-2025, approved in October 2020.
    • Vulture ‘restaurants’, which exist in some countries, are also a way of preserving the population.
    •  In these ‘restaurants’, diclofenac-free carcasses of cattle are dumped in designated areas where vultures gather to feed.

    Conclusion

    Awareness and action must go hand in hand. With International Vulture Awareness Day coming up on September 4, it is important for us to spread awareness about the importance of vultures in our ecosystem.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Afghanistan

    India must leverage its unique strengths in remaining engaged with Kabul

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 2- Way forward for India on Afghanistan issue

    Context

    In the chaos that has followed the Taliban takeover of Kabul on August 15, India has been relatively silent.

    India’s role in Afghanistan’s development

    • India’s role spanned three areas in Afghanistan:
    • In terms of infrastructure building and development assistance, encompassing all 34 provinces of the country.
    • In terms of building democracy, helping script the Constitution and hold elections.
    • In terms of educational investment, allowing thousands of young Afghans to study, be trained as professionals and soldiers, and become skilled in India.
    • India was the first country that Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership with.
    • India was the only country that undertook perilous but ambitious projects such Parliament, the Zaranj-Delaram Highway, and the Chabahar port project in Iran for transit trade.
    • India was by far the one country that polled consistently highly among countries that Afghan people trusted. 
    • What should India do now? India should not choose to simply walk away from such capital, regardless of the developments in Afghanistan, domestic political considerations in India and geopolitical sensitivities.

    The marginalisation of India’s role in negotiations over Afghanistan

    • No other power from the west to the east has considered India’s interests while charting its course on Afghanistan.
    • India has found itself cut out of several quadrilateral arrangements: the main negotiations held by the “Troika plus” of the United States-Russia-China-Pakistan that pushed for a more “inclusive government” including the Taliban.
    • The alternative grouping of Russia-Iran-China-Pakistan that formed a “regional arc” that has today seen them retain their embassies in Kabul.
    • Neither India’s traditional strategic and defence partner, Russia, nor its fastest growing global strategic partner, the United States, thought it important to include India.
    • It is time to accept that India is in need of a new diplomatic strategy.

    Way forward for India

    1) Leveraging its position at the UN

    •  India needs to begin by rallying the United Nations, to exert its considerable influence in its own interest, and that of the Afghan “republic”, which is an idea that cannot be just abandoned.
    • Next, India must take a leading role in the debate over who will be nominated to the Afghan seat at the UN depending on the new regime in Afghanistan committing to international norms on human rights, women’s rights, minority rights and others.
    • As Chairman of the Taliban Sanctions Committee (or the 1988 Sanctions Committee), India must use its muscle to ensure terrorists such as Sirajuddin Haqqani must not be given any exemptions: on travel, recourse to funds or arms.

    2) India’s engagement with Afghanistan

    • The question of whether India should convert its back-channel talks with the Taliban and with Pakistan in the past few months into something more substantive remains to be debated.
    • This becomes more important as India now faces a “threat umbrella” to its north, including Pakistan’s cross-border terrorism, Afghanistan’s new regime and China’s aggression at the Line of Actual Control.
    • A more broad-based and consultative process of engaging all political parties would be required.
    • While not directly dealing with the Taliban, India must ensure stronger communication with those who are dealing directly, including leaders such as former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, to ensure its interests.
    • As a part of its engagement, India must consider whether to revive its assistance to the resistance, which at present includes Ahmad Shah Massoud Jr., Amrullah Saleh, Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor.

    3) Engagement with the Afghan people

    • The Government must embrace its greatest strength in Afghanistan — its relations with the Afghan people — and open its doors to those who wish to come here.
    • In particular, India must continue to facilitate medical visas for Afghan patients and extend the education visas for students who are already admitted to Indian colleges.

    Conclusion

    It is India’s soft power, strategic autonomy or non-alignment principles and selfless assistance to those in need, particularly in its neighbourhood, that has been the strongest chords to its unique voice in the world. The moment to make that voice heard on Afghanistan is now.

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  • How to read the state of the economy

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Trailing indicators

    Mains level: Paper 3- Indicators to look at to get the state of economy

    Context

    GDP growth estimates range from a high of 11 per cent, as per the government, to 9.5 per cent as per RBI. The variation is stark. So, what should one look at to evaluate the state of the economy?

    Things to consider while evaluating the economy

    • First, since the economy contracted by 7.3 per cent in 2020-21, all numbers will be exaggerated in the upward direction.
    • Second, beware of interpretations based on single-month data.
    • Cumulative numbers are better at times, but can be misleading too.
    • Third, what is more important is how things will play out during September-December as this is the festival-cum-harvest season which engenders spending normally.
    • Several indicators are used as leading signals of the economy, but here, too, we need to be careful.
    • PMIs for manufacturing and services tell us if we are better off than the previous month.
    • But that is not how data is normally presented as we usually talk of year-on-year growth.
    • But it is an early signal for sure. The IIP and core sector numbers will be influenced by base numbers and come with a lag.

    Indicators to look at as signs of recovery

    • Credit growth: Bank credit is a good indicator of whether companies are producing more as all activity requires working capital.
    • Here, the picture is not good as growth is (-) 0.4 per cent as of July end, indicating that activity has not picked up yet.
    •  Therefore, credit growth is in the negative territory.
    • Investment:  Debt issuances are lower in the first four months at around Rs 1.25 lakh crore, which is half of the Rs 2.57 lakh crore mobilised last year.
    • Therefore, the investment scenario is still one where companies are watchful.
    • There is surplus capacity in industry with utilisation rate being at 69.4 per cent in March 2021.
    • Rural demand: Rural demand is an integral part of the story and presently progress on the kharif crop is satisfactory.
    • A good crop is also necessary to generate spending power besides augmenting supplies in the market as well as food processing industry.
    • The second wave has pushed back rural households with more expenditure on health care.
    • Employment generation: Employment generation is a trigger for higher income and spending and while the battle between CMIE and EPFO data remains unresolved, the market will finally reveal if people have more money.

    Inflation concern

    • Inflation is high and though there is a view that it is transient.
    • Several households, who are living on a fixed income have witnessed a double whammy in the form of lower returns on deposits and cumulative inflation of 6 per cent last year, and a similar number this year.

    Conclusion

    Investment will trail consumption and while the Centre has a good capex plan, it is only one piece in the overall puzzle. The private sector must get involved and with the banks being hesitant, the road can get longer.

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  • Food Procurement and Distribution – PDS & NFSA, Shanta Kumar Committee, FCI restructuring, Buffer stock, etc.

    Mandatory rice fortification policy should be re-examined

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: PDS, Buffer Stock & Food Security

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Food fortification

    Mains level: Paper 3- food fortification to deal with anaemia

    Context

    To deal with the high prevalence of anaemia, the government has been pursuing the policy of food fortification with iron. This policy needs a rethink.

    Rice-fortification policy

    • There are high levels of anaemia in India, affecting women and children equally.
    • This is despite the corrective measures like mandatory supplementation of iron tablets through Anaemia Mukt Bharat programme of pharmaceutical iron supplementation.
    • To deal with the issue, the government has decided on compulsory rice fortification in safety-net feeding programmes like the ICDS, PDS and school mid-day meals.
    • This was announced by the Prime Minister in his recent Independence Day address to the nation.
    • The mandatory rice fortification programme is being piloted in some districts already.
    • Food fortification is considered attractive as it requires no behavioural modification by the beneficiary.

    Why iron fortification policy needs re-examination?

    1) Over-estimation of anaemia burden

    • High WHO cutoff for Hg levels: WHO haemoglobin cut-offs are used to diagnose anaemia in India.
    • There is a growing global consensus that these may be too high.
    • A recent Lancet paper suggested a lower haemoglobin cut-off level to diagnose anaemia in Indian children.
    • Using this will actually reduce the anaemia burden by two-thirds.
    • Capillary Vs venous blood sample: Haemoglobin level can be falsely low when a capillary blood sample (taken by finger-prick) is used for measurement, instead of the more reliable venous blood sample (taken with a syringe from an arm vein). The anaemia burden in India is estimated from capillary blood, which inflates the anaemia burden substantially.
    • If the recommended venous blood sample is used, it would halve this burden.
    • There is, thus, a significant overestimation of anaemia burden.

    2) Other nutrients and protein intake

    • A MoHFW national survey (Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey) of Indian children showed that iron deficiency was related to less than half the anaemia cases.
    • Many other nutrients and adequate protein intake are also important, for which a good diverse diet is required.

    3) Iron requirement over-estimated

    • The idea for iron fortification comes from the premise that a normal Indian diet cannot possibly meet an individual’s daily iron requirement.
    • This is wrong thinking, and is based on older iron requirements (as per National Institute of Nutrition [NIN] 2010), which were much too high.
    • The latest corrected iron requirements (NIN 2020) are 30-40 per cent lower.
    • The iron density of the Indian vegetarian diet, about 9 mg/1000 kCal, can thus meet most requirements.

    4) Challenges in rice fortification

    • Rice fortification is very complex.
    • It requires a fortified rice “kernel” or grain that is composed of rice flour paste, along with the required concentration of micronutrients and binders, extruded into a grain that exactly matches the shape of the rice it is intended to fortify.
    • The problem lies in making “matching” kernels for each rice cultivar that is distributed in the food safety-net programmes from year to year and state to state.
    • If it does not match, the instinct of a home cook will be to pick out and discard the odd grains, thereby defeating the purpose of fortification.

    Risks involved

    • Ingesting fortified salt (two teaspoons, 10 g/day) or rice (quarter kilo/day) will deliver an additional 10 mg iron/day each to the diet.
    • When the iron intake exceeds 40 mg/day, the risk of toxicity goes up.
    • The unabsorbed iron that remains in the gut can wreak havoc among the beneficial bacteria in the large intestine.
    • Iron causes oxidative stress, and more seriously, is implicated in diabetes and cancer risk. Men will also be more at risk.

    Way forward

    • We just need to absorb the existing dietary iron better and complement this with all the other nutrients that are required, by eating a diverse diet (with fruits and vegetables, for example), and improving our environment.
    • Indeed, it is well-known that the benefits derived from the nutrients in whole foods are greater than the sum of their parts.

     Conclusion

    We need to rethink our reductionist strategies if we are to deliver food and nutrition security to our people.

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  • Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

    The dangers of India’s palm oil push

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Agriculture and related issues

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm

    Mains level: Paper 3- Oil palm cultivation in India

    Context

    On August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a support of Rs 11,000 crore to incentivise oil palm production.

    National Mission on Edible Oils and Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)

    • Under NMEO-OP, the government intends to bring an additional 6.5 lakh hectares under oil palm cultivation.
    • The agro-business industry has said the move will help its growth and reduce the country’s dependence on palm oil imports, especially from Indonesia and Malaysia.
    • Indonesia has emerged as a significant palm oil hub in the last decade and has overtaken Malaysia.
    • The two countries produce 80 per cent of global oil palm.
    • Indonesia exports more than 80 per cent of its production.

    Reducing the import dependence

    • India imported 18.41 million tonnes of vegetable oil in 2018.
    • The National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm are part of the government’s efforts to reduce the dependence on vegetable oil production.
    • The Yellow Revolution of the 1990s led to a rise in oilseeds production.
    • Though there has been a continuous increase in the production of diverse oilseeds — groundnut, rapeseed and mustard, soybean — that has not matched the increasing demand.
    • Most of these oilseeds are grown in rain-fed agriculture areas of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

    Issues with oil palm cultivation in India

    • Impact on biodiversity: Studies on agrarian change in Southeast Asia have shown that increasing oil palm plantations is a major reason for the region’s declining biodiversity. 
    • The Northeast is recognised as the home of around 850 bird species, it is also home to citrus fruits, it is rich in medicinal plants and harbours rare plants and herbs.
    • Above all, it has 51 types of forests.
    • Studies conducted by the government have also highlighted the Northeast’s rich biodiversity.
    • The palm oil policy could destroy this richness of the region.
    • To preserve the environment and biodiversity, Indonesia and Sri Lanka have already started putting restrictions on palm tree plantation.
    • Water pollution: Along with adversely impacting the country’s biodiversity, it has led to increasing water pollution.
    • Climate change: The decreasing forest cover has significant implications with respect to increasing carbon emission levels and contributing to climate change.
    • Against the notion of self-reliance: Such initiatives are also against the notion of community self-reliance:
    • The initial state support for such a crop results in a major and quick shift in the existing cropping pattern that are not always in sync with the agro-ecological conditions and food requirements of the region.
    • Against commitment to sustainable agriculture: The policy also contradicts the government’s commitments under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture.
    • The mission aims at “Making agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific integrated/composite farming systems.”
    • The palm oil mission, instead, aims at achieving complete transformation of the farming system of Northeast India.
    • Studies also show that in case of variations in global palm oil prices, households dependent on palm oil cultivation become vulnerable.

    Consider the question “India depend on import for its vegetable oil requirements to a larger extent. What are the steps taken by the government to reduce the dependence? Can oil palm cultivation in India be a solution?”

    Conclusion

    Similar environmental and political outcomes cannot be ruled out in India. Apart from the possible hazardous impacts in Northeast India, such trends could have negative implications on farmer incomes, health, and food security in other parts of the country in the long run.

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  • Right To Privacy

    The National Automated Facial Recognition System

    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- Issues with automated facial recognition system

    Context

    On June 23, 2021, the Joint Committee examining the Personal Data Protection Bill (2019) was granted a fifth extension by Parliament. While the Government has been simultaneously exploring the potential of facial recognition technology.

    Automatic Facial Recognition in India

    • To empower the Indian police with information technology, India approved implementation of the National Automated Facial Recognition System (NAFRS).
    • On its implementation, it will function as a national-level search platform that will use facial recognition technology.
    • It will help to facilitate investigation of crime or for identifying a person of interest regardless of face mask, makeup, plastic surgery, beard or hair extension.

    Issues with AFR technology

    • Intrusive in nature: The technology is absolutely intrusive, for the purposes of ‘verification’ or ‘identification’, the system compares the faceprint generated with a large existing database of faceprints typically available to law enforcement agencies.
    • Accuracy and bias: Though the accuracy of facial recognition has improved over the years due to modern machine-learning algorithms, the risk of error and bias still exists.
    • With the element of error and bias, facial recognition can result in profiling of some overrepresented groups (such as Dalits and minorities) in the criminal justice system.
    • Privacy: As NAFRS will collect, process, and store sensitive private information: facial biometrics for long periods; if not permanently — it will impact the right to privacy.
    • Accordingly, it is crucial to examine whether its implementation is arbitrary and thus unconstitutional, i.e., is it ‘legitimate’, ‘proportionate to its need’ and ‘least restrictive’?
    • The Supreme Court, in the K.S. Puttaswamy judgment provided a three-fold requirement to safeguard against any arbitrary state action.
    • Unfortunately, NAFRS fails each one of these tests.
    • Any encroachment on the right to privacy requires the existence of ‘law’ (to satisfy legality of action); there must exist a ‘need’, in terms of a ‘legitimate state interest’; and, the measure adopted must be ‘proportionate’ and it should be ‘least intrusive.’
    • Lack of law: It does not stem from any statutory enactment (such as the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill 2018 proposed to identify offenders or an executive order of the Central Government.
    • Rather, it was merely approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2009.
    • Fails proportionality test: Even if we assume that there exists a need for NAFRS to tackle modern day crimes, this measure is grossly disproportionate.
    • For NAFRS to achieve the objective of ‘crime prevention’ or ‘identification’ will require the system to track people on a mass scale — avoiding a CCTV in a public place is difficult — resulting in everyone becoming a subject of surveillance: a disproportionate measure.
    • Impact on civil liberties: As anonymity is key to functioning of a liberal democracy, unregulated use of facial recognition technology will dis-incentivise independent journalism or the right to assemble peaceably without arms, or any other form of civic society activism.
    • Due to its adverse impact on civil liberties, some countries have been cautious with the use of facial recognition technology.
    • In the United States, the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020 was introduced in the Senate to prohibit biometric surveillance without statutory authorisation.
    • Similarly, privacy watchdogs in the European Union have called for a ban on facial recognition.

    Way forward

    • Statutory basis: NAFRS should have statutory authorisation, and guidelines for deployment.
    • Data protection law: In the interest of civil liberties it is important to impose a moratorium on the use of facial recognition technology till we enact a strong and meaningful data protection law.

    Consider the question “What are the issues associated with the deployment of NAFRS? Suggest the way forward.”

    Conclusion

    In sum, even if facial recognition technology is needed to tackle modern-day criminality in India, without accountability and oversight, facial recognition technology has strong potential for misuse and abuse.

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

    Why India needs an NHS-like healthcare model

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: India's expenditure on health

    Mains level: Paper 2- India needs NHS like healthcare model

    Context

    Even after the pandemic, the Indian government continues to budget less than 1 per cent of GDP for healthcare, one of the lowest in the world.

    About NHS

    • Every year, Britain’s legendary health network National Health Service (NHS) cures 15 million patients with chronic ailments, at a fraction of the cost spent by the US.
    • The NHS funded by direct taxes is also the fifth largest employer in the world, after McDonalds and Walmart.
    • One of every 20 British workers is employed as a doctor, nurse, catering and technical personnel.

    Public healthcare in India

    • Even after the pandemic, the Indian government continues to budget less than 1 per cent of GDP for healthcare, one of the lowest in the world.
    • In contrast, China invests around 3 per cent, Britain 7 per cent and the United States 17 per cent of GDP.
    • So, 62 per cent of health expenses in India are paid for by patients themselves
    • This is one of the main reasons for families falling into poverty especially during the pandemic.
    • In India, hospitals are beleaguered with absentee staff.
    • As per a Niti Aayog database, in the worst state of Bihar in 2017-18, positions for 60 per cent of midwives, 50 per cent of staff nurses, 34 per cent of medical officers and 60 per cent of specialist doctors were vacant.
    • Those on the job, despite being handsomely paid, are chronically overworked.

    Conclusion

    In the 21st century, not much has improved in India’s public hospitals. Still, in India doctors are often equated with gods. What India needs in NHS like healthcare model.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Afghanistan

    India must bet on patience in Afghanistan

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Cities in Afghanistan

    Mains level: Paper 2- Implications of Taliban control over Afghanistan

    Context

    Notwithstanding the current triumphalism in Pakistan at “overthrowing” the US-backed order in Kabul and “pushing” India out of Afghanistan, India can afford to step back and signal that it can wait.

    Uncertainties about the future

    Two interconnected political negotiations unfolding are likely to determine Afghanistan’s immediate future.

    1) Setting up political order

    • One is focused on building a new political order within Afghanistan.
    • More than a week after President Ghani fled Kabul, there is no government, let alone an inclusive and internationally acceptable one, in sight.
    • Before Pakistan can get the Taliban to share power with other groups, it has to facilitate an acceptable accommodation between different factions of the Taliban.
    • Then there is the problem of including the non-Taliban formations in the new government.

    2) Gaining international recognition

    • The international community has set some broad conditions for the recognition of the Taliban-led government.
    • Besides an inclusive government at home, the world wants to see respect for human rights, especially women’s rights, ending support for international terrorism, and stopping opium production.
    • Pakistan will hope to get some of its traditional friends like China and Turkey or new partners like Russia to break the current international consensus.
    • Pakistan and the Taliban, however, know Chinese and Russian support is welcome but not enough.
    • They need an understanding of the US and its allies to gain political legitimacy as well as sustained international economic assistance.
    • The West, too, needs the Taliban to facilitate the evacuation of its citizens from Kabul and, sooner rather than later, deliver humanitarian assistance.

    How India differs from Pakistan in its approach towards Afghanistan?

    • India has never been in strategic competition with Pakistan in Afghanistan. India’s lack of direct geographic access to Afghanistan has ensured that.
    • Both their strategies have roots in the 19th-century policies of the Raj.
    • Forward policy: The Pakistan Army’s quest for strategic depth in Afghanistan harks back to the “forward policy” school that sought to actively control the territories beyond the Indus.
    • The forward policy seeks political dominance over Afghanistan in the name of a “friendly government” in Kabul.
    • Masterly inactivity: India, in contrast, stayed with a rival school in the Raj that called for “masterly inactivity” — a prudent approach to the badlands beyond the Indus.
    • India’s strategy seeks to strengthen Kabul’s autonomy vis-à-vis Rawalpindi and facilitate Afghanistan’s economic modernisation.
    • The Afghan values that India supports — nationalism, sovereignty, and autonomy — will endure in Kabul, irrespective of the nature of the regime.

    Consider the question “What are the implications of the return of Taliban in Afghanistan for India? What should be India’s approach in dealing with the Taliban controlled Afghanistan?” 

    Conclusion

    Strategic patience coupled with political empathy for Afghan people, and an active engagement will continue to keep India relevant in Kabul’s internal and external evolution.

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