💥UPSC 2026, 2027, 2028 UAP Mentorship (March Batch) + Access XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Type: op-ed snap

  • Important Judgements In News

    Undoing the right to housing

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters,Government Scheme/Policies

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Right to livelihood and related Articles

    Mains level: Paper 2- Right of livelihood

    The article analyses the implications of recent Supreme Court order regarding the removal of encroachment along the railway line. 

    Context

    •  In short order, the Supreme Court of India on August 31 ordered the removal of about 48,000 slum dwellings situated along the railway tracks in Delhi.
    • The order raises several legal questions, which are discussed below.

    1) Violation of the principle of natural justice

    • The order violates principles of natural justice and due process because it was delivered without hearing the affected party, the jhuggi dwellers.
    • The order was passed in the long-running case on the piling up of garbage along railway tracks.
    • However, neither this case nor the report concerns itself with the legality of informal settlements.
    • Still, the Court made an unconvincing connection between the piling of garbage and the presence of slums.

    2) Ignoring the right to livelihood

    • In this order, the Court ignored its long-standing jurisprudence on the right to livelihood.
    • In the landmark decision concerning pavement-dwellers, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Olga Tellis & Ors vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation & Ors. (1985) held that the right to life also includes the “right to livelihood”.
    • Further, in Chameli Singh vs. the State Of U.P. (1995), the Supreme Court recognised the “right to shelter” as a component of the right to life under Article 21 and freedom of movement under Article 19(1)(e).

    3) Failure to consider policies and case laws

    •  High Court of Delhi has held that prior to any eviction, a survey must be conducted.
    • The procedure laid down in this judgment formed the basis for the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015.
    • In Ajay Maken & Ors. vs Union Of India & Ors. (2019), the Delhi High Court invoked the idea of the “Right to the City” to uphold the housing rights of slum dwellers.
    • This case led to the framing of a Draft Protocol for the 2015 Policy on how meaningful engagement with residents should be conducted.

    Conclusion

    The Courts need to strike the balance between the rights of the slum dweller and those affected by the encroachment.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

    Neither war nor peace between India and China

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations

    The article analyses the challenges in the India-China border dispute and the recent events of Chinese aggression.

    Trust deficit

    • The recent Chinese actions have set back trust between the two countries by decades.
    • Trust made sense when both sides could assume that the other side either did not have the capacity or would not rapidly deploy troops in strategic positions at the border.
    • With the building of infrastructure on both sides, this trust was bound to break.
    • Even after temporary disengagement, both sides will now have distrust about the deployment of the other side.
    • An infrastructure-thick environment will require a permanent presence and closer deployments.

    Challenges

    •  At the level of the army, India seems to have consistently misread the PLA’s intentions.
    •  The closer the armies get, the greater the risks.
    • There is a political logic that does not bode well. There is still speculation on why the Chinese are taking an aggressive posture.
    • The very fact that we are not sure of Chinese motives means it is hard to know their endgame.

    Chinese fears

    • At a basic level, they will want to secure their interests in CPEC.
    • Tibet issue has also been a sensitive issue for China.
    •  Chinese interest in Nepal is less to encircle India. It is to ensure Nepal is not used as a staging ground of resistance in Tibet.

    Tibet issues in India-China relations

    • On Tibet issue India is in an awkward situation.
    • Due to the presence of the Dalai Lama in India, China will see it as a potential threat to its cultural hegemony in Tibet.
    • Ladakh and Tawang are also important pieces in that cultural consolidation.
    • The Sino-India peaceful relations were premised on keeping the Tibet issue in check.
    • But just as we are not sure of Chinese motives, they may not be sure of our motives either.

    New paradigm in India’s foreign policy

    • India growing power means it needs a new paradigm of foreign policy.
    • This policy will supposedly safeguard India’s interests more assertively.
    • If diplomatically not well managed, this change also causes great uncertainty in the international system.
    • India’s Pakistan policy is premised entirely on keeping them guessing on what we might do, including possible military options and altering the territorial status quo.
    • Our domestic ideological articulation of India’s position ranges from reclaiming PoK to Aksai Chin.
    • We cannot abandon Tibetans.
    • This underscores a narrative of uncertainty over our intentions.

    Conclusion

    Our own trumpeted departure from the past, without either the diplomatic preparation, domestic political discipline, and full anticipation of military eventualities, does not make it easy for others to understand our endgame.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

  • Goods and Services Tax (GST)

    The way out on GST compensation

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: GST compensation cess

    Mains level: Paper 3- GST compensation

    The economic disruption due to pandemic has made the issue of GST compensation bone of contention between the Centre and the States. This article argues that it is the GST Council and not the Centre which is responsible to find ways to raise the revenue in such a situation.

    GST revenue loss and role of the Centre

    • Due to global pandemic, one significant area of loss of revenue to both the Centre and the states is GST.
    • The states have the comfort of assured 14 per cent growth through the compensation mechanism.
    • The Centre has no such guarantee.
    • The Compensation Act mandates compensating the states for revenue loss on GST implementation from the Compensation Fund.

    Role of GST Council

    • The course of action to be adopted in the event of the amount in the Fund falling short of requirements was discussed at length in the GST Council.
    • The late Arun Jaitley, then chairman, had, in the 8th meeting, assured that “in case Compensation Fund fell short of the compensation payable, the GST Council shall decide the mode of raising additional resources including borrowing from the market which could be repaid by collection of cess in the sixth year or further subsequent years”; the Council had agreed to this suggestion.
    • Quite clearly,  it is the Council and not the Government of India that shall decide the mode of raising additional resources in the event of a shortfall and this is reflected in Section 10(1) of the Compensation Act.

    Why it makes sense for the States to borrow

    • It is argued that borrowings by the Centre or by the states make no difference in the context of fiscal discipline.
    • The argument further adds that the Centre should borrow in view of its higher borrowing and debt-servicing capacity and its ability to borrow at lower rates.
    • Article 292 (1) mandates that the Centre can borrow on the security of the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI).
    • However, the idea of providing compensation to the states from the Consolidated Fund of India was not agreed to in the Council, it is difficult to agree with the suggestion that GoI borrows on the basis of the said CFI.
    • Large borrowings by the Centre would push up the bond yield rates, pushing up bond yield of the states setting off a spiral leading to hike in the interest rates for businesses and individuals.
    • The states’ borrowing would become costlier if the Centre were to borrow for this purpose.
    • The borrowing capacity of the states, too, is not very inferior.
    • The RBI study of state finances shows that the debt receipts of all the states as a percentage of GDP has hovered between 2.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent during the last four years.
    • The states have on the average borrowed just about 1.25 per cent of the GSDP thus far.
    • The states are consistently borrowing less than they can borrow (legally and financially).
    • The cost of state borrowings for this purpose can be considerably lowered if arranged through a special window.
    • The Centre has already breached the budgeted borrowing limits for the current year.
    • Thus it makes sense for the states to borrow.

    Borrowing options for the States

    • There are two ways in which the States can borrow.
    • 1) Borrowing the entire shortfall in the revenue.
    • 2) Borrowing only the shortfall attributable to GST implementation with the remaining shortfall to be made good from the Cess Fund post the transition period.
    • Certain conditionalities have been relaxed for option-1.
    • However, borrowing the entire shortfall, as envisaged in option-1, will hurt both the markets and the private sector, pushing up the interest rate.
    • The single window under option-1 being arranged by the Centre and the entire debt being serviced from future cess receipts will ensure that the cost remains close to the G-sec rate.
    • Moreover, there will be no variation in the interest rate as between the states.

    Conclusion

    The states should come forward and work with the Centre in the true spirit of cooperative federalism that the Council has come to be known for these past few years.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Exploring the idea of blockchain voting

    op-ed snap | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Blockchain

    Mains level: Paper 2- Idea of using blockchain technology for remote voting

    The article analyses the pros and cons of the adoption of blockchain technology for remote voting.

    Background

    • The Election Commission of India has been exploring the idea of further digitising the electoral infrastructure of the country.
    • In furtherance of this, it explored the possibility of using blockchain technology for the purpose of enabling remote elections.

    What will be the benefits

    • ‘Remote voting’ would appear to benefit internal migrants and seasonal workers, who account for roughly 51 million of the populace (Census 2011).
    • The envisioned solution might also be useful for some remotely-stationed members of the Indian armed forces.

    Key issues

    • Electors would still have to physically reach a designated venue in order to cast their vote,
    • Digitisation and interconnectivity introduce additional points of failure external to the processes which exist in the present day.
    • Blockchain solutions rely heavily on the proper implementation of cryptographic protocols.
    • If security is breached, it could unmask the identity and voting preferences of electors, or worse yet, allow an individual to cast a vote as someone else.
    • The provisioning of a dedicated line may make the infrastructure less prone to outages, it may also make it increasingly prone to targeted Denial-of-Service attack.
    • Digitised systems may also stand to exclude and disenfranchise certain individuals due to flaws in interdependent platforms, flaws in system design, as well as general failures caused by external factors.

    Way forward

    • Political engagement could perhaps be improved by introducing and improving upon other methods, such as postal ballots or proxy voting.
    • Another proposed solution to this issue includes the creation of a ‘One Nation, One Voter ID’ system.

    Consider the question “What are the opportunities and challenges in the adoption of blockchain technology. Suggest the other alternatives to enable the ballot portability.”

    Conclusion

    Adoption of technology should be weighed against the risk it carries in the electoral process. While the adoption of blockchain technology offers many opportunities, the concerns it raises must be addressed before its adoption.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

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

    Redefining a farmer

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Transport & Marketing Of Agricultural Produce

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 3- Defining a farmer

    The article analyses the issues of multiple definitions of a farmer. The issues of ownership as a criterion for being a farmer and its impact on tenant farmers in discussed.

    Is land ownership right criterion

    • Traditionally, land ownership is a mandatory criterion for availing benefits under various agricultural schemes in India.
    • Laws governing land leasing operate at different levels across India.
    • The Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016 was introduced to formalise land leasing.
    • However, except a few States, a majority of State governments have not extended the scope of the Act to farmers.
    • According to the 2015-16 agricultural census, about 2.65 million operational holdings are either partially or wholly leased.

    How this impact tenants

    • The impact of agrarian distress is felt disproportionately by tenant farmers.
    • The tenant farmer incurs the costs and faces the risks, while the owner receives the rent, subsidies and other support.
    • The lessees do not benefit from loan waivers, moratorium and institutional credit, and are forced to be at the mercy of moneylenders.
    • The distress is reflected in the fact that tenant farmers account for a majority of farmer suicides reported in the NCRB data.

    Multiple definitions of farmers

    • There are multiple definitions for a ‘farmer’ in official data published by the Government of India.
    • The population census defines ‘cultivators’ as a person engaged in cultivation of land either ‘owned’ or held in kind or share.
    • The 59th round of the Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of farmers also stresses on ‘possession of land’ either owned or leased or otherwise possessed for defining ‘farmers’.
    • Delinking of land as the defining criterion for a ‘farmer’ was done in the 70th round of SAS carried out by the NSSO.
    • The 70th Round of NSSO refined the definition of a farmer as one who earns a major part of the income from farming. 

    Conclusion

    Access to land as a policy instrument in bringing about equitable growth of rural economies needs no further emphasis. However, until the time ‘land to the tiller’ remains just wishful thinking, adopting a broader definition of a ‘farmer’ is a short-term solution to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

  • Seeds, Pesticides and Mechanization – HYV, Indian Seed Congress, etc.

    Analysing the impact of Bt cotton

    op-ed snap | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields,Major Crops & Cropping Patterns

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 3- Bt cotton

    After almost 20 years of adoption of Bt cotton in India, its time to review the claimed benefits of the Bt.

    Hybrid cotton seeds and issues

    • Until the 20th century the indigenous ‘desi’ variety, Gossypium arboreum was used.
    • From the 1990s, hybrid varieties of G. hirsutum were promoted.
    • These hybrids cannot resist a variety of local pests and require more fertilizers and pesticides.
    • Cotton suffers from plenty of infestation from moth pests such as the Pink Bollworm (PBW) and sap-sucking (Hemipteran) pests such as aphids and mealy bugs.
    • With increasing pressure to buy hybrid seeds, the indigenous varieties have lost out over the years.

    Resistant pests and introduction of Bt cotton

    • The increasing use of synthetic man-made pesticides to control pests and the rising acreage under the American long-duration cotton led to the emergence of resistant pests.
    • Resistant Pink and even American Bollworm (ABW), a minor pest in the past, began increasing, leading to a growing use of a variety of pesticides.
    • Rising debts and reducing yields, coupled with increasing insect resistance, worsened the plight of cotton farmers.
    • It was in this setting that Bt cotton was introduced in India in 2002.

    What is Bt cotton

    • The plant containing the pesticide gene from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), has been grown in India for about twenty years.
    • This pesticide, now produced in each Bt plant cell, ought to protect the plant from bollworm, thereby increasing yields and reducing insecticide spraying on the cotton plant.

    Review of the utility of Bt cotton

    • Review  was published in the scientific journal Nature Plants, analysing the entire picture of the use of Bt cotton in India.
    • Earlier studies had attributed to Bt the tripling of cotton yield between 2002-2014 in India.
    • However, one detail that raises concerns over such a conclusion was that yield differences between farmers who were the early adopters of Bt cotton and those who were not suffered from selection bias.
    • Controlling for such bias showed (in 2012) that the contribution of Bt cotton to yield increase was only about 4% each year.
    • Since yields vary annually by over 10%, the benefits claimed were dubious.
    • There are discrepancies between yield and the deployment of Bt cotton.
    • For instance, the Bt acreage was only 3.4% of the total cotton area in 2003, not sufficient to credit it for the 61% increase in yield in 2003-2004.
    • The rise in cotton yields can be explained by improvements in irrigation, for instance in Gujarat, and a dramatic growth across the country in the use of fertilizers.
    • The PBW developed a resistance by 2009 in India. In a few years, the situation was dreadful.
    • A technology that works in the lab may fail in fields since real-world success hinges on multiple factors.

    Way forward

    • The cost of ignoring ‘desi’ varieties for decades has been high for India.
    • Research suggests that with pure-line cotton varieties, high density planting, and short season plants, cotton yields in India can be good and stand a better chance at withstanding the vagaries of climate change.
    •  But government backing for resources, infrastructure and seeds is essential.

    Conclusion

    It is time to pay attention to science and acknowledge that Bt cotton has failed in India, and not enter into further misadventures with other Bt crops such as brinjal or herbicide resistance.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-United States

    Finding alternative to non-alignment

    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: NAM

    Mains level: Paper 2- Finding alternative to non-alignment in India's foreign policy

    The article analyses role of non-alignment in India’s foreign policy and India’s struggle to find the alternative to the non-alignment.

    Background

    • Non-alignment was a policy fashioned during the Cold War, to retain the autonomy of policy between two politico-military blocs.
    • The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) provided a platform for newly independent developing nations to join together to protect this autonomy.
    • NAM campaigned for de-colonisation, universal nuclear disarmament and against apartheid.
    • After the end of the Cold War, the NAM countries were able to diversify their network of relationships across the erstwhile east-west divide.

    Non-alignment and India’s foreign policy in the present context

    • For a few years now, non-alignment has not been projected by our policymakers as a tenet of India’s foreign policy.
    • India has not yet found a universally accepted alternative to the non-alignment yet.
    • “Strategic autonomy” as an alternative soon acquired a connotation similar to non-alignment, with an anti-U.S. tint.
    •  Multi-alignment has not found universal favour, since it may convey the impression of opportunism, whereas we seek strategic convergences.
    • Seeking issue-based partnerships or coalitions is a description that has not stuck.
    • “Advancing prosperity and influence” was a description External Affairs minister settled for, to describe the aspirations that our network of international partnerships seeks to further.

    Role of geography and politics

    • Two major imperatives flow from India’s geography-1) economic and security interests in the Indo-Pacific space. 2) the strategic importance of the continental landmass to its north and west.
    • The Indo-Pacific has inspired the Act East policy of bilateral and multilateral engagements in Southeast Asia and East Asia and the Pacific.
    • Shared India-U.S. interests in dealing with the challenge from China in the maritime domain have been a strategic underpinning of the bilateral partnership since the early 2000s.

    Issues in India’s engagement with the U.S.

    • In the immediate-term, Indian and U.S. perspectives are less convergent in India’s continental neighbourhood.
    • Connectivity and cooperation with Afghanistan and Central Asia need engagement with Iran and Russia, as well as with the Russia-China dynamics in the region.
    • Russia extends to the Eurasian landmass bordering India’s near and extended neighbourhood.
    • A close Russia-China partnership should move India to broad-base relations with Russia.
    • A strong stake in relations with India could reinforce Russia’s reluctance to be a junior partner of China.
    • As the U.S. confronts the challenge to its dominance from China, classical balance of power considerations would dictate accommodation with Russia.
    •  U.S. should see ties with India as a joint venture not an alliance in which they could pursue shared objectives to mutual benefit and accept that differences of perspectives will have to be addressed.
    • This template could have wider applicability for bilateral relations in today’s world order, which former could be described as militarily unipolar, economically multipolar and politically confused. 
    • The U.S. could acknowledge that India’s development of trade routes through Iran which could provide it route to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan and Russia, respectively.

    Consider the question “India has not been able to find an alternative to NAM which has been described as the basic tenet of India’s foreign policy. Discuss.”

    Conclusion

    India should find the alternative to the non-alignment which accommodate its interest in relations with the U.S. at the same time allow it “strategic autonomy”.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Making the local governance strong

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 2- Electoral reforms and the importance of strong local governments.

    The article analyses the issues faced by democracy in India and suggests the way out in the form of strong local governments.

    Issues being faced by Indian democracy

    1. Issue of use of money power

    • Around the world, electoral democracies face the issues of funding political parties and elections.
    • Money is required to win elections legitimately, even when people are not bribed to vote, which is illegitimate.
    • Communications with citizens can be very expensive.
    • Advertisements have to be paid for as well as teams of professionals for managing social media.
    • The race to raise more money for legitimate electioneering purposes can corrupt the process of funding parties and elections.
    • Solutions are not easy because the right to free speech cannot be denied.

    2.Issues with deliberations by the representatives

    • Debates within India’s Parliament hardly inspire citizens’ confidence in their representatives’ ability to govern the country.
    • The problem in electoral democracies is also in the conduct of their deliberations when they come together.
    • This problem is not due to the quality of the individuals, it is inherent in the design of the process for electing representatives.
    • Representatives of the people must be chosen by smaller electorates within geographical constituencies.
    • But when they meet together in the national chamber, they are expected to govern the whole country.
    • They must shed the interest of their constituency and consider what will be best for the whole country.
    • Constituency favouring leads to challenges for equitable solutions for sharing of river waters, and to railway stations.
    • Electing good representatives to Assemblies is not enough to ensure good decisions will be made.

    3.Role of political parties: Lack of inner democracies

    • Function of parties: Political parties in electoral democracies provide a solution to the problem of creating an alignment of views among representatives from hundreds of constituencies around the country.
    • A party’s point of view on fundamental matters can unite many.
    •  However, when there are too many parties and too many contradictory points of view to be accommodated within a coalition, governance can break down.
    • Therefore, political parties are not evil.
    • However, when political parties are not internally democratic, they become a source to amass power and wealth, and democratic nations suffer.

    So, should we adopt direct form of democracy

    • For the reason stated above, it has become very difficult in representative democracies to arrive at good and fair decisions for the governance of a large state or country.
    • New Internet technologies make adoption of direct form of democracy possible.
    • But, if all voters have not understood what is at stake, they cannot decide well this is what happened in hasty Brexit referendum.

    Way Forward

    1.Need for the strong local governance

    • Complex issues, where many interests collide, must be resolved by reason, not settled by the numbers.
    •  Hence there is no alternative to good local governance, wherein citizens manage their local affairs democratically.
    • One-size solutions devised by experts at the centre cannot fit all.
    • Local systems solutions are essential to solve global systemic problems of environmental sustainability and inclusive growth.

    2.Funding and Intra-Party Democracy related reforms

    • Electoral funding must be cleaned up, and democracy within political parties improved to make representative democracy work better.
    • This will require big changes to entrenched systems.
    • Citizens must appreciate that they have to be the source of solutions, and not become only the source of problems.
    • Citizens must learn to listen to each other’s perspectives in their villages and in their urban neighbourhoods.

    What are the challenges the electoral process in India faces? Suggest the solution to the issues democracy in India faces.

    Conclusion

    Since India’s Independence 73 years ago when the power of government was transferred from a centre in London to a centre in Delhi, strong local governance remains the unfinished agenda to make India’s democracy strong and deep.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

  • Coronavirus – Health and Governance Issues

    Financing economic recovery

    op-ed snap | International Relations | : International Institutions

    The article analyses the issue of socioeconomic disruption caused by the pandemic and response by regionally coordinated response to it.

    Context

    • With continued lockdown measures and restricted borders, countries in Asia and the Pacific have been experiencing sharp drops in foreign exchange inflows due to declines in export earnings, remittances, tourism and FDI.

    Financing 3 key areas by the U.N.

    • The United Nations is contributing through a global initiative, Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond.
    • The initiative aims at comprehensive financing strategy to safeguard the Sustainable Development Goals.
    • Governments are united to ensure that adequate financial resources are available to steer an inclusive, sustainable and resilient post-COVID-19 recovery.
    • In the Asia-Pacific region, several countries have already adopted financing plans in following three key areas.
    • 1) To address the challenge of diminished fiscal space and debt vulnerability 2) To ensure sustainable recovery, consistent with the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda 3) To harness the potential of regional cooperation in support of financing for development.

    Regional Conversation series by ESCAP

    • The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has recently launched its first-ever Regional Conversation Series on Building Back Better.
    • In this series ministers, decision-makers, private sectors and heads of international agencies participate.
    • Their participation results in sharing of collective insights on sharing pathways to resilient recovery from health pandemic and economic collapse.

    Debt Service Suspension initiative

    • To manage high levels of debt distress global initiatives like the Debt Service Suspension initiative is timely.
    • Central banks can continue to keep the balance of supporting the economy and maintaining financial stability.
    • This further involves enhancing tax reforms and improving debt management capacities, while using limited fiscal space to invest in priority sectors.
    • Exploring sustainability-oriented bonds and innovative financing instruments options such as debt swaps for SDG investment should be explored further.
    • Policy paradigm must mainstream affordable, accessible and green infrastructure standards.
    • We should also scale up the use of digital technology and innovative applications.
    • The financing support of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises must go hand in hand with these national job-rich recovery strategies.

    Role of regional cooperation

    • Regionally coordinated financing policies can restart trade, reorganise supply chains and revitalise sustainable tourism in a safe manner.
    • Across Asia and the Pacific, governments must pool financial resources to create regional investment funds.
    • Role of egional cooperation platforms to ensure  all countries receive an equitable number of doses of the vaccine is essential.

    Conclusion

    Through ESCAP, we can scale these efforts across the region, working closely with our member states, the private sector and innovators to build a collective financing response to mobilise the necessary additional resources.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now

  • Judicial Reforms

    Judiciary and challenges ahead

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not much

    Mains level: Paper 2-Judiciary and relations with executive

    The relations between the judiciary and executive have always been tumultuous. This article analyses the changes in the judiciary’s relations with the executive after 2014.

    Relations with executive

    • In 2014 government blocked the elevation of Gopal Subramanium as a judge of the apex court.
    • A month later, the government introduced a bill to create the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
    • The NJAC Act was passed by Parliament in December 2014.
    • In October 2015, the SC struck down the NJAC Act, ruling that it would affect the independence of the judiciary vis-à-vis the executive.
    • Following striking down of the NJAC Act, the SC directed the government to propose a new memorandum of procedure (MoP) for appointments to the higher judiciary.
    • The draft government sent to the Court allowed the government to reject any name recommended by the Collegium on grounds of national security and made it compulsory for the Collegium to justify its selection.
    • The Collegium rejected these clauses and the MoP could never be finalised.
    • The government sat on the appointments that the Collegium had recommended months ago.
    •  In April 2016, 170 proposals for appointments to the high courts were pending at that time.

    SC’s perceived reluctance  to question executive after 2017

    • Appointments and transfers ceased to be a problem because the Collegium accepted the appointments and transfers.
    • The Court considered that the Aadhaar Bill could be passed as a Money Bill, validated the Electoral Bonds Act.
    • The SC also abstained from dealing with sensitive issues like the abolition of Article 370 or the Citizenship Amendment Act.
    • This modus operandi of the court, when applied to Aadhaar, created a fait accompli.

    3 questions over the SC’s role

    • 1) The court’s reluctance to question the government on contentious issues — from J&K to misuse of sedition law or the NRC — is disturbing.
    • 2) The manner in which the judiciary has addressed allegations against itself — Kalikho Pul or Prasad Education Trust or on sexual harassment — gives a handle to those in power.
    • 3) The independence of the judiciary is inevitably affected by the acceptance of post-retirement jobs.

    Consider the question “While playing its role, judiciary faces several challenges from the other organs of the democracy. In light of this, examine the challenges judiciary in India faces from the executive.”

    Conclusion

    Supreme Court’s apparent reluctance to question government on consequential issues affects its moral authority.

    Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

    Attend Now