From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: European Union’s Digital Services Act
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for personal data protection act
Context
In a surprise development last week, the Government withdrew the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019, thereby abruptly halting the country’s quest for a national data protection law that had been in the works for over five years.
Reasons for withdrawal of the Bill
The short circular issued by the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology states that considering the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) — it had proposed 81 amendments and made 12 recommendations — “a comprehensive legal framework is being worked on”.
There is no elaboration on what such a “comprehensive legal framework” entails.
Possible plan of action: The Government could enact a fresh privacy legislation or a comprehensive data protection law (covering both personal and non-personal data).
Subsuming data protection in IT Act: Alternatively, it could subsume data protection under its ongoing attempts at revising the existing Information Technology Act, 2000.
Digital markets law: It could also enact a digital markets law, along the lines of the European Union’s Digital Services Act, focusing on competition and innovation in the digital space.
Background of the introduction of Personal Data Protection Bill
When the Supreme Court of India affirmed the right to privacy in K.S. Puttaswamy judgment in 2017, the nine-judge Bench of the Court referred to the Government’s Office Memorandum constituting the B.N. Srikrishna Committee to suggest a draft Data Protection Bill.
The committee released its draft Personal Data Protection Bill in 2018, which was the first public articulation of a data protection law in India.
When the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Aadhaar Act, the majority emphasised that it believed that “there is a need for a proper legislative mechanism for data protection”.
In December 2019, the Government introduced the PDP Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha as a comprehensive personal data protection regime.
The Bill was referred to the JPC for its recommendations.
What were the issues with the Bill?
Power to exemption with state: The Bill’s expansive exemptions allowed the state to exempt the entire application of the law simply as if it was “expedient” to do so in the interest of national security or public order.
Powers without accountability: The PDP Bill, 2019 as well as the JPC’s version established a strong regulator (the Data Protection Authority) with a lot of power, but very little independence or accountability.
Data localisation: The Bill imposed a strong data localisation mandate, requiring companies to store all sensitive personal data and critical personal data (which was not defined) in India.
Subsuming the personal and non-personal data: The JPC recommended subsuming the regulation of personal data and non-personal data within a single legislation, even though it undermined the Puttaswamy mandate to ensure protection of personal data.
Why we need data protection law?
Increasing internet use: India currently has over 750 million Internet users, with the number only expected to increase in the future.
The Government is also making a strong push for a ‘Digital India’, with increased focus on digitisation of access to health, ration, banking, insurance, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is a greater focus on the inter-linking of data, whether through facial recognition, Aadhaar, or the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022.
Data breaches: At the same time, India has among the highest data breaches in the world.
Without a data protection law in place, the data of millions of Indians continues to be at risk of being exploited, sold, and misused without their consent.
Lack of writ proceeding against corporate action: Unlike state action, corporate action or misconduct is not subject to writ proceedings in India.
This is because fundamental rights are, by and large, not enforceable against private non-state entities.
This leaves individuals with limited remedies against private actors.
A personal data protection legislation would remedy this lacuna by providing individuals with proper grievance redress options and creating sufficient deterrence among private actors.
Conclusion
It is imperative that the Government soon introduces a fresh data protection legislation, drawn after proper public consultation. Such a law should take into consideration the criticisms that have been raised by civil society as well as the private sector.
Mains level: Paper 3- Trade and settlement of payments in rupee
Context
A number of countries, including India, are now considering the use of other currencies to avoid the U.S. dollar and its hegemonic role in settling international transactions.
Currency hierarchy
For India, currency hierarchy goes back to colonial times when the Indian rupee was virtually linked to the British pound rather than to gold which it earned through exports.
In the post-War period, the neo-colonial currency hierarchy has been clubbed with the continued use, primarily of the U.S. dollar, for the majority of international transactions.
Rupee settlement of trade
In recent times, India has been taking an active interest in having the rupee used for trade and the settlement of payments with other countries, which include Russia, now facing sanctions.
The Reserve Bank of India has recently taken a proactive stand to have rupee settlement of trade (circular dated July 11, 2022).
While options for invoicing in rupees were already legal in terms of Regulation 7(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2016, the current circular aims to operationalise the special Vostro accounts with Russian banks in India, in a bid to promote trade and also gain a better status for the rupee as an international currency.
Opportunities for India
The advantages India is currently seeking in these arrangements include avoidance of transactions in the highly priced dollar which has an exchange value of ₹80, impacting the Indian economy with inflation, capital flight and the drop in foreign exchange reserves by $70 billion since September 2021.
Buying oil with a depreciated ruble, and at discounts, is not only cost-saving but also saves transport time with the use of multi-modal routes using land, sea and air routes.
In addition, India is looking forward to trade expansion in sanctions-affected Russia.
With India having a trade deficit with Russia, which has been around $3.52 billion on average over the last two financial years, India’s opportunities include the possible use, by Russia, of the surpluses in the Vostro rupee account in Russian banks for additional purchases from India.
Past attempts: Attempts to use the rupee for invoicing and trading is, however, not new to India.
A comprehensive bilateral trade and payments agreement was signed by India in 1953 with the Soviet bloc countries.
Challenges
There are quite a few problems that may prevail in implementing the desired rupee payments and avoiding dollar transactions.
Willingness of banks and private parties: Apart from issues that concern an agreed exchange rate between the rupee and the ruble (R-R), two volatile currencies, there is also the question of the willingness of private parties (companies, banks) to accept the rupee for trade and settlements.
If Russia opens its door for exports from India, the ‘R-R’ route may prove attractive for Indian exporters.
Concerns of the US: There are official concerns for reactions, particularly from the U.S., to deals, especially for purchase of the S-400 defence equipment.
Reaction of the Europe: Moreover, the deals between India and Russia, especially on oil, can be considered by the West as ‘indirect back door support’ — as India is importing Russian crude at 30% discount, processing at refineries in Gujarat which include Reliance, and then exporting those to the West.
Trade deficit: There were attempts even before the novel coronavirus pandemic to initiate a clearing account on the BRICS platform.
The quantitative implications indicate a skewed pattern of transactions — with China having most of the trade surplus.
It is a pattern similar to what is happening in India-Russia trade at the moment.
Conclusion
The India-Soviet agreements of the past may provide a clue on how the current ‘R-R’ trade and the problems can be managed by initiating a push for Indian exports to Russia and, of course, avoiding all deals in dollars — benefiting both trade partners and countering, globally, the on-going currency hierarchy.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Standing Deposit Facility rate
Mains level: Paper 3- Dealing with economically challenging period
Context
In the recent MPC meeting, the policy rate hike was widely expected, more anticipated were the MPC and the RBI Governor’s forward guidance on the trajectory of policy — on both monetary policy and liquidity instruments. So, how do we see monetary policy evolve over the rest of the year and beyond?
Tightening of monetary policy
Repo rate at 5.4 per cent: In its latest meeting, the members of the monetary policy committee voted unanimously to increase the policy repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.4 per cent.
The repo rate was 5.15 per cent in February 2020.
So, in effect, the RBI’s policy has not only been normalised, but has actually tightened compared to the pre-pandemic level.
Even the lower bound of the rate corridor, the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate, at 5.25 per cent is now above the pre-pandemic repo rate.
Forward guidance on stance
The MPS indicated the retaining the policy stance rather than shifting to “neutral”.
This retention of stance might be interpreted as being a bit more hawkish than “neutral”, which implies that rates might be both increased or cut, depending on economic conditions.
Now that policy is largely normalised, the pace of tightening is likely to moderate.
The urgency of aggressive rate hikes and tightening of liquidity has somewhat moderated, although risks remain.
RBI’s research suggests that the “real natural rate” — the rate at which policy is neither loose nor tight – is 0.8-1 per cent.
This operative interest rate is usually the three-month T-bill rate, which in “normal” times averages 10-15 basis points above the repo rate.
Considering that monetary policy is calibrated over a one-year horizon and using the RBI’s inflation forecast of 5 per cent for the first quarter of 2023-24, the “natural” repo rate will be around 5.85 per cent.
Inflation and growth conditions
The RBI’s growth projection for 2022-23 has been retained at 7.2 per cent, with growth frontloaded in the first half.
CPI inflation is still forecast to average 6.7 per cent.
Inflationary pressures are likely to wane in the second half of 2022-23, particularly if the recent drop in industrial metals prices persists over the next few months.
A more or less normal monsoon might help in keeping food prices stable. However, risks remain.
Robust growth prospects: Demand for consumption goods seems to be resilient, enabling some further pass-through of input costs.
Combine this with tight labour markets and rising wage costs in some tech-oriented sectors.
High frequency indicators of economic activity have recovered after some weakness in June.
In addition to resilient demand, there is evidence of a closing of the “output gap”.
Global growth: Global growth and trade are forecast to significantly slow down in 2022 and 2023, largely due to aggressive tightening by G-10 central banks and a slowdown in China.
The IMF predicts global trade volume (both merchandise and services) to slow to 4.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent in 2022 and 2023, down from 10.1 per cent in 2021.
With world growth and trade flows moderating, along with a drop in commodities prices, India’s export growth is likely to be lower than last year.
External financial condition
The current account deficit remains a concern.
India’s external balance sheet remains quite robust, as is evident from various balance of payments and debt metrics, and reportedly low unhedged foreign currency borrowings.
Continued tightening by global central banks, particularly the US Federal Reserve over the rest of 2022, will keep India’s external financial conditions tight and likely limit portfolio capital flows.
However, there are some signs emanating from these central banks that the hitherto front-loaded tightening might moderate going forward.
This will take some pressure off the rupee, though, exchange rate volatility management will remain a part of the overall monetary policy management framework.
Challenge of surplus liquidity
During the earlier phase of policy normalisation and the recent tightening, liquidity management has played an important role in influencing short-term money market interest rates.
The current latent surplus liquidity — the existing funds with banks and the Union government’s unspent revenues parked with RBI — is over Rs 5 lakh crore.
While the extent of liquidity surplus during the Covid months has come down, these levels are still much higher than RBI estimates of non-inflationary levels of surplus, which is around Rs 1.8-2.4 lakh crore.
This will gradually fall with cash withdrawals and some potential RBI dollar sales in the coming months.
Conclusion
The central bank, in coordination with the government, has ensured an orderly evolution of economic conditions during a very complex and challenging environment. The exit process now will also need the same adroit use of policy instruments.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April 2022 introduced the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), an additional tool for absorbing liquidity, at an interest rate of 3.75 per cent.
The main purpose of SDF is to reduce the excess liquidity in the system, and control inflation.
In 2018, the amended Section 17 of the RBI Act empowered the Reserve Bank to introduce the SDF – an additional tool for absorbing liquidity without any collateral.
By removing the binding collateral constraint on the RBI, the SDF strengthens the operating framework of monetary policy.
The SDF is also a financial stability tool in addition to its role in liquidity management.
The SDF replaced the fixed rate reverse repo (FRRR) as the floor of the liquidity adjustment facility corridor.
The SDF rate will be 25 bps below the policy rate (Repo rate), and it will be applicable to overnight deposits at this stage.
It would, however, retain the flexibility to absorb liquidity of longer tenors as and when the need arises, with appropriate pricing.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WTO waiver
Mains level: Paper 3- Public Stockholding of Food issue at WTO
Context
The WTO ministerial meeting in June at Geneva did precious little to address the issue of public stockholding of food.
Public stockholding issue at WTO
India’s PSH policy is based on procuring food from farmers at an administered price (minimum support price or MSP), which is generally higher than the market price.
PSH’s’ twin objectives: The PSH policy serves the twin objectives of offering remunerative prices to farmers and providing subsidised food to the underprivileged.
Trade distortion subsidy: Under WTO law, such price support-based procurement from farmers is counted as a trade-distorting subsidy, and if given beyond the permissible limit, breaches WTO law.
India in the World Trade Organization (WTO) — and rightly so — has been to find a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding (PSH) of food to protect India’s food security (PSH policy).
Peace clause: Currently, India has temporary relief due to a ‘peace clause’ which bars countries from bringing legal challenges against price support-based procurement for food security purposes.
The WTO ministerial meeting in June at Geneva did precious little to address this issue.
India’s concerns about the PSH issue have been taken on board.
India’s concerns
For India, the real issue is not about maintaining adequate food stocks, which WTO rules do not prohibit, provided food is stocked by employing non-trade distorting instruments such as providing income support to farmers (cash transfers independent of crop production).
Use of MSP: India’s concern is that it should have the policy space to hold public food stocks using the MSP, which is a price support instrument.
However, there is no mention of price support in the Geneva declaration.
India’s demand for a permanent solution to the PSH policy has acquired a new dimension.
India insists that it should also be allowed to export food, most notably wheat, from the pool of the foodgrain procured under the MSP.
However, WTO law proscribes countries from exporting foodgrain procured at subsidised prices.
Paragraph 4 of the 2013 WTO decision on PSH for food security purposes, clearly states that countries procuring food for food-security purposes shall ensure that such procured food does not “distort trade or adversely affect the food security of other Members”.
The same spirit is reflected in paragraph 10 of the Geneva ministerial food security declaration, which states that countries may release surplus food stocks in the international market in accordance with WTO law.
However, it is very unlikely that such a request will be acceded to.
As per Article IX.3 of the WTO Agreement, waivers can be adopted only in “exceptional circumstances”.
Way forward
Developed countries have historically opposed India’s PSH programme as they apprehend that India might divert some of its public stock to the international market, thus depressing global prices.
India actively pushing for exporting food from its official granaries gives fresh ammunition to the PSH solution opponents.
Thus, India should revisit its stand on asking for a waiver for wheat exports from its public stockholding, which, in any case, was not a part of India’s PSH policy.
Spending scarce negotiating capital on this issue might dilute India’s core agenda of pushing for a permanent solution for its PSH programme to attain the goal of food security and providing remunerative prices to the farmers.
Negotiations at the WTO require crystal clarity of the core objectives that should be relentlessly pursued.
Adding newer objectives and shifting goalposts might result in falling between two stools.
Conclusion
Instead of asking for the waiver to export wheat from public stockholding, the laudable objective of helping countries facing food crises can be accomplished by strengthening India’s commitment to the United Nations World Food Programme.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ONDC
Mains level: Paper 3- Online Dispute Resolution
Context
Despite the rapid advancement of digital platforms on the one hand and the pervasiveness of the Internet-enabled phone on the other, small enterprises such as local kirana stores have not gained from this. Online purchases from “near and now” inventory from the local store remain in a digital vacuum.
Online revolution in country
Increased smartphone use: The rise in smartphone use fuelled by affordable data plans has catalysed an online revolution in the country.
Pandemic accelerated digital inclusion: The novel coronavirus pandemic has further accelerated the process of digital inclusion.
It is now not only routine to transact online it is also common to learn online, have medical consultations online, and even resolve disputes online.
Increased scope for innovation in digital space: These realisations have given India the opportunity to disrupt the status quo with its innovative abilities.
Systems such as the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Aadhaar, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission have reengineered markets.
Why mall and medium sided businesses have not benefited from digital revolution?
Despite the rapid advancement of digital platforms small enterprises such as local kirana stores have not gained from this.
Cost of infrastructure: This is because, to sell on numerous platforms, sellers must maintain a separate infrastructure, which only adds costs and limits participation.
Distinct terms and conditions of platforms: The distinct terms and conditions of each platform further limit the sellers’ flexibility.
Consequently, small and medium-sized businesses have lost their freedom to choose and participate in the country’s e-commerce system at their will and on their terms.
Way forward: Open Network for Digital Commerce
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Government of India established the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to level the playing field by developing open e-commerce and enabling access to small businesses and dealers.
The ONDC began its pilot in five cities in April 2022, i.e., New Delhi, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Bhopal and Shillong.
Currently, the pilot has expanded to 18 cities, and there are immediate plans to add more cities.
The ONDC network makes it possible for products and services from all participating e-commerce platforms to be displayed in search results across all network apps.
For instance, a consumer shopping for a product on an e-commerce app named “X” would also receive results from e-commerce app named “Y”, if both X and Y integrated their platforms with the ONDC.
Dispute resolution through ODR
Disputes will be the obvious by-product of this e-commerce revolution.
Therefore, it is imperative to support this initiative with a modern-day, cost-effective, timely and high-speed dispute resolution system.
Online Dispute Resolution, or ODR as it is popularly called, has the propensity to work alongside the incumbent setup and deliver quick, affordable and enforceable outcomes.
The ODR is not restricted to the use of legal mechanisms such as mediation, conciliation and arbitration in an online environment but can be tailormade for the specific use case keeping the participants in mind.
ODR commonly involves case management systems, integration of communication technologies such as email, SMS, WhatsApp, Interactive Voice Response, audio/video conferencing.
With appropriate data sets in place, it can also involve advanced automation, the use of technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable resolutions at the same time as it would take to initiate a transaction over the network.
Many e-commerce companies have turned to the ODR with the realisation that in order to maximise transactions it is important to ensure a positive dispute resolution experience.
Adoption in India: The ODR is no more a distant dream for India as well.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has mandated platforms in the UPI ecosystem to adopt the ODR for complaints and grievances connected to failed transactions.
Ingram, SEBI SCORES (or the Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI COm plaints REdress System), RBI CMS (or the Reserve Bank of India Complaint Management System), MahaRERA (or the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority), MSME Samadhaan (or the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Delayed Payment Monitoring System), and RTIOnline (or the Right to Information Online) are other examples of ODR systems that are widely used in the country.
Mitigating litigation risks: The ODR will help mitigate litigation risk and provide valuable insights into problems faced by consumers.
Consumers are provided with another choice for effective redress of their grievances, thereby building trust, confidence and brand loyalty.
Advantages of ONDC
Wider choice for consumers: The ONDC achieves the dual objective of wider choice for consumers on the one hand and access to a wider consumer base for sellers on the other.
With India’s e-commerce industry set to reach $200 billion by 2027, this shift from a platform-centric paradigm to democratisation of the nation’s online market will catalyse the inclusion of millions of small business owners and kirana businesses.
Conclusion
A dispute resolution framework that includes a customised ODR process can play a role in the network achieving its steep five-year target of adding $48 billion in gross merchandise value to India’s e-commerce market, a network of 90 crore buyers and 12 crore sellers with the least hiccups.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: agrarian distress
Context
An agricultural labourer died by suicide every 2 hours in 2021: NCRB
The national catastrophe of farmer suicide since the 1990s, often by drinking pesticides is attributed to their inability to repay loans mostly taken from landlords and banks.
NCRB Stats on Farmers Suicide
Some 5,563 agricultural labourers died by suicide in 2021, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The number of suicides increased by nine per cent from 2020 and by around 29 per cent from 2019.
Causes of Farmers Suicide
Non sustainable cropping: Most of the suicides have occurred in areas of cash crops like cotton and sugarcane, which is high input, high output gambling, not based on the principle of sustained and resilient high yield.
Multiple causes: There is no consensus on what the main causes might be but studies show farmer suicide victims are motivated by more than one cause however the primer reasons being the inability to repay loans.
Combined causes: Major causes reportedly are bankruptcy/indebtedness, problems in the families, crop failure, illness and alcohol/substance abuse.
Faulty measures
Low penetration of irrigation: Irrigation reaches less than half of India’s overall farmland, a picture that has not changed much over the past decade, and more than 60% of our farmers are susceptible to rainfall anomalies.
Dry land farming: Rain-fed farming yields are typically less than half those of irrigated farmland.
High input cost: Though India has caught up with global levels of fertilizer use, this is neither efficient nor environmentally sustainable. Both add to the cost of cultivation.
Slow R&D: Research on high-yielding crops has plateaued after an initial burst during the Green Revolution and farmers have to resort to patented seeds to draw more out of their scanty acres.
Information technology promises to improve weather forecasting, crop identification as well as damage control, soil health monitoring, and mapping of available water resources.
Improvements in marketing and logistics can significantly raise the share that cultivators get of the money people pay for their food.
The govt. is using technology to connect farmers to a nationwide e-market, but the states need to amend their antiquated farm produce marketing laws that have squeezed farmers’ earnings.
An old problem of price signals failing to adjust demand and supply may also need fixing.
For agricultural incomes to rise, reforms, rather than cash transfers, loan waivers and the like, are the way ahead.
Conclusion
Along with subsidies, increased farm profits, the focus should also be on resilience building and problem-solving skills of farming families.
In suicide-prone states, agricultural institutes and scientists should start distributing seeds of resilience, tolerance and contentment among farmers, suggested researchers.
Mains question
Q. Despite agricultural growth Indian farmers are committing suicides Discuss the causes and give dynamic way forward to address the issue.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: various schemes for vulnerable section
Mains level: social security, universal basic income
Context
New evidence from two Kenyan counties shows that universal basic income and other income supplements reduce hunger, illness, and risk exposure during crises.
Countries should consider building universal basic income that can be activated at short notice to help people weather unanticipated shocks.
Why in news?
When the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting recession pushed 120 million people worldwide into extreme poverty in 2020, many countries relied on social-protection measures to cushion the blow.
What is social protection?
Social protection is concerned with preventing, managing, and overcoming situations that adversely affect people’s well-being.
Social protection programs that assist low-income families, insure against shocks, and break poverty traps offer a potential solution.
Universal basic income meaning
Universal basic income (UBI) is a model for providing all citizens of a country or other geographic area with a given sum of money, regardless of their income, resources or employment status.
The purpose of UBI is to prevent or reduce poverty and increase equality among citizens.
Social securityin India includes a variety of statutory insurances and social grant schemes bundled into a formerly complex and fragmented system run by the Indian government.
These are retirement, healthcare, disability, childcare, gratuity and provident fund and insurance programs.
What is insurance simple words?
An agreement by which a person pays a company and the company promises to pay money if the person becomes injured or dies or to pay for the value of property lost or damaged.
Constitutional mandate
The Directive Principles of State Policy, enshrined in Part IV of the Indian Constitution reflects that India is a welfare state.
Interesting fact
India operates the widest spectrum of social security schemes which cater to the largest number of people than any other country.
Ending poverty: Advocates for UBI say that it could help bring everyone’s income above the poverty line.
Discouraging low wages: UBI would give employees enough security to have bargaining power.
Redistributing wealth: The economic growth of high-income countries is making the rich richer, but having very little effect on the working classes.
Case study / value addition
Namibia
Namibia had a basic income pilot program between 2008 and 2009. Every resident of Otjivero-Omitara was entitled to 100 Namibian dollars ($6.75) every month. The program was funded by donors from around the world.
Findings from the pilot program showed that cases of child malnutrition had dropped significantly while school enrollment went up. Also, social crimes such as theft had significantly dropped.
Induce lethargy: UBI removes the incentive to work, adversely affecting the economy and leading to a labour and skills shortage.
Inequity: Universal basic income would be just that: universal. That means that everyone, regardless of how poor, or rich, they were would get the same amount of money.
Huge Cost: The cost of implementing UBI could be huge. In the United States it’s estimated to be about $3.9 trillion per year.
Motivation to work: One concern is that UBI would incite millions of workers to stop working. If people aren’t working, there is less taxable income.
Some government initiatives
National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self Employed Persons.
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.
Employees’ State Insurance Scheme.
Minimum Wages for various employment roles.
National Pension System.
Conclusion
One of the major criticisms of poverty alleviation programs is significant leakages. UBI is seen as a more efficient alternative. Though UBI has many advantages, there are many practical challenges too. The idea should be to save costs with better targeting. This will help create the necessary conditions for higher growth which will decisively lift people out of poverty.
Mains question
Q. India operates the widest spectrum of social security schemes which cater to the largest number of people than any other country. Do you think they are enough? Discuss in context of rising demand for universal basic income and its pros and cons for ensuring social security.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Labour codes
Mains level: Not Much
Addressing to the National Labour Conference, Prime Minister said that the Centre had taken initiatives to abolish laws from “the period of slavery” that reflected a slavery mentality through the Labour Codes.
New Labour Codes
The four codes likely to be implemented in FY23 are:
Code on Wages
Industrial Relations Code
Social Security Code, and
Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code
Objectives of the Labour Code
The new labor codes are aimed at facilitating ease of doing business in the country and seek to replace 29 cumbersome laws.
The objective is to encompass over 500 million organized and unorganized sector workers—90% of the workforce which has been outside labour laws.
The idea is to ensure that they receive wage security, social security and health security, gender equality in terms of remuneration, a minimum floor wage, make the lives of inter-state migrant workers easier.
What is the current status of the codes?
The central government has completed the process of finalizing the draft rules, state governments are in the process of drafting the same.
With labor being a concurrent subject, states are in the process of pre-publishing draft rules for these reforms.
How many labour laws do Indian states have?
The simplification of 29 labour laws into the four labour codes is expected be a watershed moment for labour reforms.
India currently has a web of multiple labour legislations, over 40 central laws and 100 state laws involving labour.
The Second National Commission on Labour (2002) recommended simplification to bring about transparency and uniformity.
What are the major reforms in these codes?
Social security benefits: With organized sector workers being approximately 10% of the total workforce, the new codes may ensure that social security benefits are for all.
Take-home salary: As per the proposed labour codes, total allowances such as house rent, leave, travel etc. are to be capped at 50% of the salary, while basic pay should account for the remaining 50%.
Four days work: There could also be a permissible four-day work week of 12 hours per day.
How will it affect ease of doing business?
Labour productivity: It is likely to improve with both employees and employers developing a sense of being partners in wealth creation.
Labour reform: A transparent environment in terms of workers’ compensation, clear definition of employee rights and employer duties.
Compliance un-burdening: Simplified labour codes making compliance easier are likely to attract investments.
Formalization of the economy: With more workers in the organized sector, leakage in terms of direct as well as indirect taxes may be plugged.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: particulars of G20
Mains level: global governance
Context
India’s presidency of the G20 grouping next year arguably the sole remaining effective forum for global governance presents an enormous opportunity to accelerate sustainable growth within India, in the emerging world, and beyond.
Stability: The Group was formed with an aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability.
Fiscal responsibilities: The forum aims to pre-empt balance of payments problems and turmoil on financial markets by improved coordination of monetary, fiscal, and financial policies.
Universal Support: The forum seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organisation.
Indian business and industry is becoming a noteworthy competitor globally.
The country’s domestic economy is starting to pick up, thanks to structural economic reforms.
The central government is economically stronger, and the states are starting to learn about economic independence, making them more aligned with their global counterparts.
Punchline
It is said that “those who hold the pen, write the rules”.
The time has come for India to both hold the pen and write the rules for a more equitable global economics and governance.
Issues and Challenges
India need to have a clear global financial agenda.
The country should also have the capacity to lead the G20 year intellectually, financially, managerially and administratively.
Geopolitically, India is more internationally engaged but less so geoeconomically.
Its narrow focus is on the World Bank, IMF, WTO and foreign investment issues.
But India has much to contribute on issues like reconfiguration of global financial regulations, design of a new framework for trade in services and the digital economy and establishing better cross-border standards for transparency in financial flows.
To make its G20 year a success, India has to address organisational challenges, where the country has an infrastructure, management and intellectual gap.
What could India bring to the table?
Mediation: Firstly, it remains pertinent for the world that escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine come to a halt. Maintaining its balanced stance, India needs to neutralise this situation by introducing peace talks between the two nations.
Open trade: It’s about time for India to raise its voice in support of a transparent New Economic Order and building a prosperous and just world. Unreasonable bans on certain commodities from various countries limits commerce between states when trade liberty exists.
Collaboration around science and technology: The global agenda has been tilted towards investment, whereas science and technology are the driving force for economic diversification, sustainably urbanising the world, and ushering the hydrogen economy and new crop varieties as the answer to both human well-being and global climate change.
Redefining digital access as universal service: Harnessing the potential of the digital-information-technology revolution requires redefining digital access as a “universal service” that goes beyond physical connectivity to sharing specific opportunities available.
Conclusion
India’s presidency must leave the grouping with the agility and energy to respond to new realities, and it must create a future-ready multilateralism through a novel and robust institutional architecture.
Mains question
Q. It is said that “those who hold the pen, write the rules”. The time has come for India to both hold the pen and write the rules for a more equitable global economics and governance. Discuss in the context of India’s presidency of G20 summit with challenges and opportunities ahead.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: hambantota, trinconmalee projects
Mains level: indo srilanka bilateral relations
Context
The present economic crisis in Sri Lanka has pushed it closer to India for immediate relief.
Reasons for the Crisis
The first wave of the pandemic in 2020 offered early and sure signs of distress.
In-migration: Thousands of Sri Lankan laborers in West Asian countries were left stranded and returned jobless.
Shut-down: Garment factories and tea estates could not function, as infections raged in clusters. Tourism sector to saw a big dip.
Domestic job losses: Thousands of youth lost their jobs in cities as establishments abruptly sacked them or shut down.
Forex decline: It meant that all key foreign exchange earning sectors, such as exports and remittances, along with tourism, were brutally hit.
Reasons behind crisis
The Easter bomb blasts of April 2019 in churches in Colombo resulting in 253 casualties,consequently, dropped the number of tourists sharply leading to a decline in foreign exchange reserves.
The newly led government by Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019 promised lower tax rates and wide-ranging SoPs for farmers during their campaign.
No strategy: The lack of a comprehensive strategy to respond to the crisis then was coupled with certain policy decisions last year.
Ill-advised policies: It included the government’s abrupt switch to organic farming —widely deemed “ill-advised”, further aggravated the problem.
Food hoarding: The government declared emergency regulations for the distribution of essential food items. It put wide import restrictions to save dollars which in turn led to consequent market irregularities and reported hoarding.
Continuous borrowing: Fears of a sovereign default rose by the end of 2021, with the country’s foreign reserves plummeting to $1.6 billion, and deadlines for repaying external loans looming.
Brief background of India-SL relations
India is the only neighbor of Sri Lanka, separated by the Palk Strait; both nations occupy a strategic position in South Asia and have sought to build a common security umbrella in the Indian Ocean.
There are deep racial and cultural links between the two countries. Both share a maritime border.
The India- SL relations have been however tested by the Sri Lankan Civil War and by the controversy of Indian intervention during the war.
In recent years Sri Lanka has moved closer to China, especially in terms of naval agreements.
India has signed a nuclear energy deal to improve relations and made a nuclear energy pact with Sri Lanka in 2015.
India’s role in the Lankan Civil War
In the 1970s–1980s, the RAW and the state government of Tamil Nadu were believed to be encouraging the funding and training for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist insurgent force.
In 1987, faced with growing anger amongst its own Tamils, and a flood of refugees India intervened directly in the conflict for the first time.
This was after the Sri Lankan government attempted to regain control of the northern Jaffna region by means of an economic blockade and military assaults; India supplied food and medicine by air and sea.
Why did India intervene?
Indian intervention in Sri Lankan civil war became inevitable as that civil war threatened India’s unity, national interest and territorial integrity.
Outcomes
The peace accord assigned a certain degree of regional autonomy in the Tamil areas with a body controlling the regional council and called for the Tamil militant groups to lay down their arms.
Further India was to send a peacekeeping force, named the IPKF to Sri Lanka to enforce the disarmament and to watch over the regional council.
The accord failed over the issue of representations. The result was that the LTTE now found itself engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army.
Areas of cooperation
(1) Political Relations
Regular Exchange: Political relations between the two countries have been marked by high-level exchanges of visits at regular intervals.
Bilateral Cooperation: A joint statement covering all areas of bilateral cooperation, titled ‘MitratvaMaga’ was issued following the Virtual Summit of 2020.
(2) Commercial Relations
ISFTA: The India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) in 2000 contributed significantly towards the expansion of trade in areas such as infrastructure, connectivity, transportation, housing, health, livelihood and rehabilitation, education, and industrial development.
Trading Partner: India has traditionally been among Sri Lanka’s largest trade partners and Sri Lanka remains among the largest trade partners of India in the SAARC.
In 2020, India was Sri Lanka’s 2nd largest trading partner with the bilateral merchandise trade amounting to about USD $ 3.6 billion.
India and Sri Lanka are member nations of several regional and multilateral organizations such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme, South Asian Economic Unionand BIMSTEC.
India is Sri Lanka’s third-largest export destination, after the US and UK.
Exports: Sri Lankan exports to India have increased substantially since 2000 when ISLFTA came into force.
FDI: India is also one of the largest contributors to Foreign Direct Investment in Sri Lanka. According to BoI, FDI from India amounted to about US$ 1.7 billion during the period 2005 to 2019.
(3) Development Cooperation
Grants: The overall commitment by GOI is to the tune of more than USD 3.5 billion.
Demand-driven and people-centric nature of India’s development partnership with Sri Lanka have been the cornerstone of this relationship.
The Indian Housing Project: India has so far committed to construct close to 62,500 houses in Sri Lanka, making it one of the largest projects undertaken by GoI abroad.
Emergency Ambulance Service: The Service which was initially launched in July 2016 is now expanded to all the Provinces.
At a total cost of more than USD 22.5 million, close to 300 ambulances were provided by GOI under this project.
Other Projects: India is also involved in projects for renovation of Palaly Airport, Kankesanthurai Harbor, construction of a Cultural Centre in Jaffna, interconnection of electricity grids between the two countries, construction of a 150-bed hospital in Dickoya and setting up a coal power plant in Sampur as a joint venture between National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
Latest Development: India-SL agreed for joint development of Trincomalee Oil Tank farmed in 2022 after 35 years of wait.
(4) Projects under Lines of Credit
Sectors: 11 Lines of credit (LOC) have been extended to Sri Lanka by the Export Import Bank of India in the last 15 years.
Important sectors under these LOCs include: Railway, transport, connectivity, defense, solar.
Infrastructure: Some important Projects completed are- supply of defense equipments; up-gradation of the railway line from Colombo to Matara; track laying by IRCON on Omanthai-Pallai sector; reconstruction of the Railway line; signaling and telecommunication system; supply of engine kits for buses, diesel locomotives railways, DMUs, Carrier and fuel tank wagons etc.
Rehabilitation: A project for the rehabilitation of the Kankesanthurai harbor is being executed under a LOC of USD 45.27 million, bringing immense economic benefits to the Northern region of Sri Lanka.
Solar Energy: A US$ 100 million LoC for undertaking solar projects in Sri Lanka has been signed for rooftop solar units for Government buildings, rooftop solar units for low-income families and a floating solar power plant.
Security: In 2019, a LOC of USD 400 million for development and infrastructure projects and USD 50 million for security and counter-terrorism were announced.
These LOC Agreements are currently under discussion.
(5) Cultural relations
India and Sri Lanka have a shared legacy of historical, cultural, religious, spiritual and linguistic ties that is more than 2,500 years old.
In contemporary times, the Cultural Cooperation Agreement signed by the Government of India and the Government forms the basis for periodic Cultural Exchange Programmes between the two countries.
(6) People-to-people ties: Buddhism
Buddhism is one of the strongest pillars connecting the two nations and civilizations from the time when Emperor Ashoka sent his children Arhat Mahinda and Sangamitta to spread the teachings of Lord Buddha at the request of King Devanampiya Tissa of Sri Lanka.
Underlining the deep people-to-people connect and shared Buddhist heritage, the venerated relics of Lord Buddha from Kapilawasthu discovered in 1970 in India have been exhibited two times in Sri Lanka.
India in 2020, announced USD 15 million grant assistance for the protection and promotion of Buddhist ties between India and Sri Lanka.
It may be utilized for the construction/renovation of Buddhist monasteries, education of young monks, strengthening engagement of Buddhist scholars and clergy, development of Buddhist heritage museums, etc.
Transport- In July 2020, the GoI declared the Kushinagar Airport in India, the place of Lord Buddha’s Mahaparinibbana, as an international airport, to allow Buddhist pilgrims from around the world to visit the revered site associated with Lord Buddha with ease.
The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC)– since its inception in 1998, is actively promoting awareness of Indian culture by offering classes in Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Hindustani and Carnatic vocal, Violin, Sitar, Tabla, Hindi and Yoga.
(7) Tourism
e-Visa- Tourism also forms an important link between India and Sri Lanka. GoI formally launched the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme for Sri Lankan tourists on 14 April 2015.
Visa Fee- Subsequently, in a goodwill gesture, the visa fee for eTV was sharply reduced. In 2019, out of the total 1.91 million tourists, 355,000 tourists arrived from India.
Sri Lankan tourists too are among the top ten sources for the Indian tourism market.
Visa on arrival- On 24 July 2019 Sri Lanka included India in the free visa on arrival scheme and commenced the scheme on 1 August 2019.
Plummeting relations
The ties began to worsen between the two since February, 2021 when Sri Lanka backed out from a tripartite partnership with India and Japan for its East Container Terminal Project at the Colombo Port, citing domestic issues.
However, later, the West Coast Terminal was offered under a public private partnership arrangement to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd.
Sri Lanka in a state of economic emergency: Sri Lanka is running out of foreign exchange reserves for essential imports like food. It has recently declared a state of economic emergency.
Covid Impact:
Sri Lanka increased policy rates after the covid pandemic in response to rising inflation in August 2021 caused by currency depreciation.
Tourism sector has suffered since the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019, followed by the pandemic.
Earnings fell from $3.6 billion in 2019 to $0.7 billion in 2020, even as FDI inflows halved from $1.2 billion to $670 million over the same period.
Sri Lanka’s fragile liquidity situation has put it at high risk of debt distress. Its public debt-to-GDP ratio was at 109.7% in 2020, and its gross financing needs remain high at 18% of GDP.
Its gross official reserves slipped to $2.8 billion, which is equivalent to just 1.8 months of imports. More than $2.7 billion of foreign currency debt will be due in the next two years.
Major outstanding issues
1. Fishing disputes
There have been several alleged incidents of Sri Lankan Navy personnel firing on Indian fishermen fishing in the Palk Strait, where India and Sri Lanka are only separated by 12 nautical miles.
The issue started because of Indian fishermen having used mechanized trawlers, which deprived the Sri Lankan fishermen (including Tamils) of their catch and damaged their fishing boats.
The Sri Lankan government wants India to ban use of mechanized trawlers in the Palk Strait region, and negotiations on this subject are undergoing.
So far, no concrete agreement has been reached since India favors regulating these trawlers instead of banning them altogether.
2.Alleged political interference
A media report from Colombo soon after Rajapaksa’s defeat in the January 8 elections of 2015 had said that an Indian Intelligence official was instrumental in uniting rival political parties — the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) — against him during the polls.
In October 2018, President Sirisena alleged that Indian intelligence agencies were plotting his assassination.
3.Katchatheevu Island
It is an uninhabited island that India ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974 based on a conditional agreement called “Kachchativu island pact”.
Later on, Sri Lanka declared Katchatheevu, a sacred land given the presence of a Catholic shrine.
But Tamil Nadu claimed that Katchatheevu falls under the Indian Territory and Tamil fishermen have traditionally believed that it belongs to them and therefore want to preserve the right to fish there.
4.China factor
Sri Lanka has a history of taking independent decisions even if they cause misgivings in India.
In the period of low profile relationship between the two nations, Sri Lanka apparently started favoring China over India.
China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditor: China’s loans to the Sri Lankan public sector amounted to 15% of the central government’s external debt, making China the largest bilateral creditor to the country.
Sri Lanka has increasingly relied on Chinese credit to address its foreign debt burden.
China’s Exports surpasses India: China’s exports to Sri Lanka surpassed those of India in 2020 and stood at $3.8 billion.
India’s exports were $3.2 billion.
Infrastructural Investment by China: Owing to Sri Lanka’s strategic location at the intersection of major shipping routes, China’s investment stands at $12 billion between 2006 and 2019.
Unable to service its debt, in 2017, Sri Lanka lost the unviable Hambantota port to China for a 99-year lease.
Sri Lanka passed the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, which provides for establishing a special economic zone around the port and also a new economic commission, to be funded by China.
The Colombo port is crucial for India as it handles 60% of India’s trans-shipment cargo.
Why is Sri Lanka important to India?
India is Sri Lanka’s closest neighbor. Both sides have built upon a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction.
Sri Lanka has always been politically and economically important to India given its strategic geographical position in the Indian Ocean. The relationship has been marked by close contacts at all levels.
Sri Lanka sits at the epicenter of the arc connecting the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca. An island nation with an economy that’s mainly reliant on tourism and tea exports, Sri Lanka’s blessed geography puts it at a crucial juncture of the busy shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean.
India also has a vital strategic stake in Sri Lanka for its own security interests. An unfriendly Sri Lanka or a Sri Lanka under influence of a power unfriendly to India would strategically discomfit India.
For the Indian Navy, Sri Lanka is important as the switching of naval fleets from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea and vice versa requires the fleets to go around the island nation.
Both countries share a common broad understanding on major issues of international interest and experience common social-political problems relating to community divides.
How India has helped to boost Sri Lanka’s economy
Grants: The overall commitment by GOI is to the tune of more than USD 3.5 billion. Demand-driven and people-centric nature of India’s development partnership with Sri Lanka have been the cornerstone of this relationship.
The Indian Housing Project: India has so far committed to construct close to 62,500 houses in Sri Lanka, making it one of the largest projects undertaken by GoI abroad.
Other Projects: India is also involved in projects for renovation of Palaly Airport, Kankesanthurai Harbor, construction of a Cultural Centre in Jaffna, interconnection of electricity grids between the two countries, construction of a 150-bed hospital in Dickoya and setting up a coal power plant in Sampur as a joint venture between National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
Latest Development: India-SL agreed for joint development of Trincomalee Oil Tank farmed in 2022 after 35 years of wait.
Impact of recent Economic crisis on India
Export:
Sri Lanka’s share in India’s total exports has declined from 2.16 percent in FY15 to just 1.3 percent in the first 10 months of FY22.
Shipping:
If the current situation in the island nation persists, it could cause a major disruption to the normal functioning of the Colombo Port.
This would be detrimental to India’s interest.
The port handles over 30 percent of India’s container traffic and 60 percent of its trans-shipment.
Investments:
India has had a substantial investment in Sri Lanka in areas including real estate, manufacturing, and petroleum refining. They all might be adversely affected if the crisis continued.
Migration:
Also, the continuing Sri Lankan crisis could compel many Sri Lankans to leave for India for their survival.
Already, scores of them have fled from the island nation to India.
Opportunities for India for deeper engagement
Dairy sector: Sri Lanka imports a considerable quantity of milk powder. On average, Colombo annually imports dairy products worth $315 million. . India can help Sri Lanka develop its dairy sector.
Poultry sector: In this area, through its host of agricultural universities, India can share its knowledge on ways to increase both production and productivity.
Energy sector: Considering how the problem on the energy front exploded into a major political crisis in Sri Lanka, India’s participation in energy projects will be desirable.
Education sector: School education is another area where India’s presence could be more felt. India can expand its scheme of establishing smart classrooms and modern computer labs to cover all those institutions teaching children of hill country Tamils, the most underprivileged section in society.
Challenges
Possibility of greater economic collaboration: Whether this bonhomie can lead to greater economic collaboration between Sri Lanka and south India, not necessarily Tamil Nadu alone, given the historical baggage, is anybody’s guess.
Baggage of history: Some sections of the Sinhalese still hold the view that India had been a threat to them and it can still be a threat to them.
Modest investment in development: Despite India’s open willingness to take part in the development of Sri Lanka after the civil war, the scale of its involvement has been modest.
Incomplete projects due to lack of political will: After the cancellation of the tripartite agreement, India was later provided with projects such as the West Container Terminal, the Trincomalee oil tank farm and a couple of renewable projects, there were several proposals that envisaged India’s participation but did not see the light of day.
Way forward
Infrastructure development: Even now, there is enormous scope for collaboration between the two countries in the area of infrastructure development.
Cross-border energy trade: The economic crisis has revived talk of linking Sri Lanka’s electricity grid with that of India.
Facilitating people-to-people interaction: The apprehension in the minds of sections of the Sinhalese majority about India being a threat can be dispelled only by facilitating greater people-to-people interaction, including pilgrimages by monks and other sections of society to places of Buddhist importance not only in north India but also in the south (Andhra Pradesh).
No china factor indeed: Labeling governments in Sri Lanka as “pro-China” or “pro-India” is irrelevant. It is evident that China’s economic and strategic salience in the subcontinent is not tied to the regime leadership. Previous Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena who considered as pro-India came to power criticizing the Chinese projects in Sri Lanka, but within two years into power, it extended full backing to the Chinese projects.
Conclusion
Given the history of bilateral ties, instances such as the Hambantota controversy are bound to arise. But what should not be glossed over is that a politically and economically stable Sri Lanka will be in India’s interest too.
Mains question
Q. There is no such thing as charity in international politics. Critically analyse this statement showing how India can reap benefits of economic cooperation with Sri Lanka.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Social security,Populist measures.
Context
‘Revdi Culture’ (sweet) or Govt’s Basic Responsibility? What Prioritising Welfare Is Really About
While hearing a petition demanding the de-recognition of political parties that promise “irrational freebies” to voters, the Supreme Court recently drew attention to the substantial fiscal cost of freebies.
What are freebies?
A freebie is any public policy intervention that will have a long-term impact on production as well as productivity.
Any public policy intervention that doesn’t support medium-term to long-term production and productivity may be termed as a freebie.
The term Freebies is not new; rather it is a prevalent culture in Indian politics (in the name of socialism).
The political parties are always trying to outdo each other in luring the Indian voters with
Examples of freebies
Promise of Rs 15 lakh in our bank accounts
Free TV, Laptops
Free electricity
Loan waivers
Offering free public transport ride to all women in Delhi
Why are such policies popular among the public?
Failure of economic policies: The answer lies in the utter failure of our economic policies to create decent livelihood for a vast majority of Indians.
Quest for decent livelihood: The already low income had to be reoriented towards spending a disproportionately higher amount on education and health, from which, the state increasingly withdrew.
Prevailing unemployment: Employment surveys have shown that employment growth initially slowed down from the 1990s, and then has turned negative over the past few years.
Increased cost of living: Real income growth of the marginal sections has actually slowed down since 1991 reforms.
Increased consumerism: The poor today also spend on things which appear to be luxuries; cellphones and data-packs are two such examples which are shown as signs of India’s increased affluence.
Thin line between freebie and public welfare
Using freebies to lure voters is not good.
Voter’s greediness may lead to a problem in choosing a good leader.
When we don’t have a good leader then democracy will be a mockery.
Negative implications
Never ending trail: The continuity of freebies is another major disadvantage as parties keep on coming up with lucrative offers to lure more number of votes to minimize the risk of losing in the elections.
Burden on exchequer: People forget that such benefits are been given at the cost of exchequer and from the tax paid.
Ultimate loss of poors: The politicians and middlemen wipe away the benefits and the poor have to suffer as they are deprived from their share of benefits which was to be achieved out of the money.
Inflationary practice: Such distribution freebie commodity largely disrupts demand-supply dynamics.
Lethargy in population: Freebies actually have the tendency to turn the nation’s population into: Lethargy and devoid of entrepreneurship.
Rational elements in freebies
Social investment:Aid to the poor is seen as a wasteful expenditure. But low interest rates for corporates to get cheap loans or the ‘sop’ of cutting corporate taxes are never criticized.
Socialistic policy:This attitude comes from decades of operating within the dominant discourse of market capitalism.
Election manifesto: Proponents of such policies would argue that poll promises are essential for voters to know what the party would do if it comes to power and have the chance to weigh options.
Why they need to stop?
Winning election and good governance are two different things. The role of freebies to avail good governance is definitely questionable.
The social, political and economic consequences of freebies are very short-lived in nature.
There are many freebies and subsidies schemes available in many States but we still find starvation deaths, lack of electricity, poor education and health service.
Hence the sorrow of the masses of India cannot be solved by freebies or by incentives.
Conclusion
There is nothing wrong in having a policy-led elaborate social security programme that seeks to help the poor get out of poverty.
But such a programme needs well thought out preparation and cannot be conjured up just before an election.
Mains question
Q. Do you think freebies are justified under the name of social security? Critically evaluate the rising freebie culture in India with its negative implications.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International solar alliance.
Mains level: Energy security.
Context
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that civilisation will be mostly solar-powered in the future, a world without Sun will turn into a dark ice ball as the Earth gets all of its energy from it.
Definition of solar energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy, and solar architecture.
India’s solar target.
Target: India is targeting about 500 GW by 2030, of renewable energy deployment, out of which ~280 GW is expected from solar PV. This necessitates the deployment of nearly 30 GW of solar capacity every year until 2030.
Commitment: Solar power is a major prong of India’s commitment to address global warming according to the terms of the Paris Agreement, as well as achieving net zero, or no net carbon emissions, by 2070.
International solar alliance and India’s pledge
Climate action commitment: It symbolizes about the sincerity of the developing nations towards their concern about climate change and to switch to a low-carbon growth path.
Clean energy: India’s pledge to the Paris summit offered to bring 40% of its electricity generation capacity from non-fossil sources (renewable, large hydro, and nuclear) by 2030.
Global electrification: India has pledged to let solar energy reach to the most unconnected villages and communities and also towards creating a clean planet.
Global cooperation: It is based on world cooperation irrespective of global boundaries.
India’s Soft power: For India, possible additional benefits from the alliance can be a strengthening of ties with the major African countries and increasing goodwill for India among them.
Some Interesting facts
Solar power is the most abundant energy source on earth.
Solar is the cheapest source of energy in the world.
Solar electricity has been around since 1839.
Solar panels can produce power without direct sunlight.
Challenges before solar future
High Imports: Indian solar deployment or installation companies depend heavily on imports. It currently imports 100% of silicon wafers and around 80% of cells even at the current deployment levels.
Field deployment: Also, out of the 15 GW of module manufacturing capacity, only 3-4 GW of modules are technologically competitive and worthy of deployment in grid-based projects.
Land issue: Land, the most expensive part of solar projects, is scarce in India — and Indian industry has no choice but to move towards newer and superior technologies as part of expansion plans.
Lack of investment: India has hardly invested in this sector which can help the industry to try and test the technologies in a cost-effective manner.
Way forward
Supportive policies and innovative technological approaches are needed for the sector to achieve its potential.
Indian policymakers need to plan for rooftop solar plus storage, rather than rooftop solar alone with the grid as storage (net / gross metering).
The declining cost of storage solutions, along with that of rooftop solar solutions, is likely to change the future of the Indian power sector.
Conclusion
In the foreseeable future, one can witness a just and equitable energy order if solar energy, along with other forms of renewable energy, can be harnessed more positively.
Mains question
Q.Fossil fuels have a 60% share in India’s total energy mix in this context discuss solar future for India with challenges for the same.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Finance commission
Mains level: Fiscal federalism
Context
The centralisation of fiscal powers in India has been blamed for the poor fiscal health of the states.
Why in news?
Chief Ministers expressed their concern about dwindling State revenues in a NITI Aayog meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.
They sought a higher share in the divisible pool of taxes and an extension of GST compensation, both of which have long remained a bone of contention between the Union government and the States.
Need for financial devolution
To strengthen democracy at grass root level with more revenue resources for better service delivery.
To increase accountability to people so performance can be realized as direct contact with people.
What is divisible pool of taxes?
The divisible pool is that portion of gross tax revenue which is distributed between the Centre and the States. The divisible pool consists of all taxes, except surcharges and cess levied for specific purpose, net of collection charges.
What is fiscal federalism?
Fiscal federalism refers to how federal, state, and local governments share funding and administrative responsibilities within our federal system. The funding for these programs comes from taxes and fees.
Poor state of state finances
Stagnant revenue: Since States cannot raise tax revenue because of curtailed indirect tax rights — subsumed in GST, except for petroleum products, electricity and alcohol — the revenue has been stagnant at 6% of GDP in the past decade.
Distorted expenditure: While States lost their capacity to generate revenue by surrendering their rights in the wake of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, their expenditure pattern too was distorted by the Union’s intrusion, particularly through its centrally sponsored schemes.
Decline in share: The ability of States to finance current expenditures from their own revenues has declined from 69% in 1955-56 to less than 38% in 2019-20.
Stress on finance: States’ financial health had taken a turn for the worse with the implementation of the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana, farm loan waivers, as also the slowdown in growth in 2019- 20.
Key fact to remember
Finance Commission keeps tax devolution for states at 41% in FY22
How fiscal centralisation impacts on states?
Cut in the corporate tax: The recent drastic cut in corporate tax, with its adverse impact on the divisible pool, and ending GST compensation to States have had huge consequences.
States paying high interest rates: States are forced to pay differential interest — about 10% against 7% — by the Union for market borrowings.
Centrally sponsored schemes curbing autonomy: There are 131 centrally sponsored schemes, with a few dozen of them accounting for 90% of the allocation, and States required to share a part of the cost.
Suggestions for strong fiscal federalism
Creation of federal institution: We need to create another institution in the form of a GST state secretariat that can bring together senior officers from the Centre and states in an institutional forum registered under the Society Act.
State Finance Commissions: should be accorded the same status as the Union Finance Commission and the 3Fs of democratic decentralization (funds, functions, and functionaries) should be implemented properly.
Robust GST regime: Transparency, simplification and rationalisation of GST will help states to recover soon.
Way Forward
Relook on various exemptions to rationalise the taxes/levies
Augmentation of Tax Administration Structure
Technology-based Tax Administration may also be further expanded to cover even utility charges like water, street lights, sanitation charges, etc.
Conclusion
It is important now to rethink the design and structure of a genuine fiscal partnership, which should not merely be a race to garner more resources, but a creative attempt to move towards a vibrant Indian value chain that can catapult India’s growth rate closer to the quest for double-digit growth.
Mains question
Q. Why it is important now to rethink the design and structure of a genuine fiscal partnership? Discuss this in context of Skewed divisible pool and state of fiscal federalism in India.
op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Globalization On Indian Society,Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Minimalism as way of life
Context
The COVID-19 pandemic brought shifts in consumer behaviour. The world witnessed a shrinkage of demand. But post-pandemic recovery and suppressed consumerism is now leading to ‘revenge shopping’.
What is consumerism?
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts.
What is minimalism?
Minimalism is owning fewer possessions. It is intentionally living with only the things we really need those items that support our purpose. Removing the distraction of excess possessions to focus more on those things that matter most.
What Is Revenge Shopping?
Revenge shopping occurs when a customer who previously could not get access to certain goods or services for a period of time suddenly has access. It can also occur when customers have been deprived of other events or happenings.
The symptoms of excessive consumerism
You buy more than you planned: if you set out with a plan of what you need to purchase but consistently come back with more than you anticipated, then you’re falling in the consumerist trap.
You run out of storage space for your stuff: sometimes it can’t be helped if you live in a tight area or you’re disorganised. But suppose you’re in a reasonable situation and things you bring in don’t have an allocated home. In that case, you’re likely living excessively.
You rely too much on return policies: returning an item is useful. Particularly if you need to test a product for the intended purpose, be it sizing for clothes or a tool for a building project. However, suppose you’re depending on returns for purchases. In that instance, you’re not sure you need it, or if you can’t afford it, then you’re probably suffering from too much consumerism.
You routinely seek approval for your purchases: getting feedback on purchases can be reassuring, especially if you’re indecisive. Yet, there’s a difference between picking someone’s brain before buying and looking to justify your purchase after the fact. If you’re seeking post-acquisition approval, you probably don’t need the item.
You mistakenly buy things you already have: not much to say here. If you’re getting things only to realise you already have it, then you’re probably deep in a consumerist cycle.
You buy things on credit: if you’re strategic and disciplined, you can buy things on credit cards to acquire points and benefits. However, if you’re like the majority of us, then you’re vulnerable to buying things you can’t afford.
You constantly go over your budget: sometimes, you miss-forecast how much you need to spend each month. But if you set a realistic budget and find that you’re still going over, then you’re probably consuming excessively.
You regret your purchases: the most obvious sign that you have a shopping habit is you regret things you bought. Buyer’s remorse is an overwhelming feeling and one we want to avoid.
Negatives of consumerism
Causes more pollution: Consumerism as a system can have devastating effects on the environment.
A major contributor to resource depletion: The second main negative of consumerism is resource depletion. Simply put, resource depletion refers to the idea that human beings are using up the resources on the earth as an ever increasing rate such that we will ‘deplete’ or completely use up some resources.
Leads companies to develop low quality products: Modern companies practice a technique called ‘planned obsolescence’. In general, planned obsolescence is best understood as products that are designed to fail. Modern companies do this to encourage consumers to repurchase a product over and over again.
Does not necessarily lead to increased happiness beyond a certain point: The main negative aspect of consumerism is that it does not necessarily lead to higher levels of happiness for people.
Global inequality: The huge rise in resource consumption in wealthier countries has led to an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. As the age old saying goes, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
What can we do?
Extend the lifespan of your things: Repairing your things is not only an effective way to reduce your consumption, but it’s also beneficial to the environment.
Reframe shopping as a skill: When you focus on the role the thing you’re buying will play in the overall experience instead of the experience of shopping itself, you’ll be able to shift away from a consumerist mind-set.
Do the deathbed test: Not to get too dark, but if you were hypothetically on your deathbed today, and you were reflecting on your life, what would be your fondest memories? The quality of our lives is generally measured by moments of “that was a good time”, not “that thing I had was awesome”.
Borrow or rent instead of buy: A simple method for getting your consumerism under control is to rent or borrow items instead of buying them.
Practice minimalism: What’s the ultimate alternative to consumerism? Minimalism. A minimalist is someone who naturally rejects consumerism and sees value in having fewer things over more things. Minimalism is a powerful philosophy that impacts how you view material things, your relationships, commitments, and digital inventory.
Conclusion:
The M.K. Gandhi once said: “The Earth provides-enough to satisfy everyone’s needs but not any one’s greed.” We shall find that Gandhian call to curtailment of wants is relevant in the rapidly depleting natural resources, bio-diversity and eco-system and its contemporary relevance
Mains question
Q. What do you understand by the term consumerism? Discuss importance of minimalism as there is rise in revenge shopping in post covid19 era.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FRBM act
Mains level: Fiscal health of states
Context
The Central government’s alarm has been on the mounting debt burden and the deteriorating fiscal situation in some States due to diversion in fiscal prudence.
As both the Union government and States are expected to work closely in a co-operative federal structure, frictions arising out of these exchanges might have repercussions on both resource sharing and expenditure prioritisation.
What is India’s fiscal federalism?
Fiscal federalism refers to the financial relations between the country’s federal government system and other units of government.
It refers to how federal, state, and local governments share funding and administrative responsibilities within our federal system.
Three issues in India’s fiscal federalism
First: are a set of issues related to Goods and Services Tax (GST) such as the rate structure, inclusion and exclusion of commodities, revenue sharing from GST and associated compensation.
Second: State-level expenditure patterns especially related to the welfare schemes of States.
Third: the conception and the implementation of central schemes.
Meaning of fiscal prudence
Fiscal prudence is defined as the ability of a government to sustain smooth monetary operation and long-standing fiscal condition.
Where should state government spend the borrowed money?
Fundamental infrastructure: Ideally, governments should use borrowed money to invest in physical and social infrastructure that will generate higher growth, and thereby higher revenues in the future so that the debt pays for itself.
Targeted expenditure only: On the other hand, if governments spend the loan money on populist giveaways that generate no additional revenue, the growing debt burden will eventually implode.
Why there is a need for Fiscal Council?
Institutionalizing fiscal practices: With a complex polity and manifold development challenges, India need institutional mechanisms for fiscal prudence.
Transparency: An independent fiscal council can bring about much needed transparency and accountability in fiscal processes across the federal polity.
Fiscal prudence: International experience suggests that a fiscal council improves the quality of debate on public finance, and that, in turn, helps build public opinion favourable to fiscal discipline.
Fiscal consolidation is defined as concrete policies aimed at reducing government deficits and debt accumulation.
Why fiscal consolidation is needed?
Fiscal expansion financed through debt and the resultant debt accumulation have important impacts on the economy both in the short run as well as in the long run.
How to achieve fiscal consolidation?
Better targeting of government subsidies and extending Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for more subsidies
Improved tax revenue realization For this, increasing efficiency of tax administration by reducing tax avoidance, eliminating tax evasion, enhancing tax compliance etc. are to be made.
Enhancing tax GDP ratio by widening the tax base and minimizing tax concessions and exemptions also improves tax revenues.
Suggestions
Amend FRBM Act for complete disclosure: First, the FRBM Acts of the Centre as well as States need to be amended to enforce a more complete disclosure of the liabilities on their exchequers.
Centre should impose conditionalities: Under the Constitution, States are required to take the Centre’s permission when they borrow. The Centre should not hesitate to impose conditionalities on wayward States when it accords such permission.
Use of financial emergency provision: There is a provision in the Constitution of India which allows the President to declare a financial emergency in any State if s/he is satisfied that financial stability is threatened.
Course correction by the Centre: The Centre itself has not been a beacon of virtue when it comes to fiscal responsibility and transparency. It should complete that task in order to command the moral authority to enforce good fiscal behaviour on the part of States.
Conclusion
Fiscal correction at the State level is important. While there exists a need for raising additional resources at the sub-national levels, expenditure prioritisation has to be carried out diligently. The Centre, too, on its part needs to demonstrate commitment to fiscal discipline by sticking to announced fiscal glide path to ensure the sustainability of a frictionless cooperative federal structure.
Mains question
Q. Why Fiscal correction at the State level is important? Why fiscal consolidation is needed? Write in context frictionless cooperative fiscal federal structure.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: article 51 a
Mains level: scientific literacy
Context
India has not produced any Nobel Prize winner in science in the last 85 years — largely because of the lack of a scientific environment in the country.
What is scientific temper?
Jawaharlal Nehru coined the term ‘scientific temper’; he defines it as an attitude of logical and rational thinking. An individual is considered to have scientific temper if she employs the scientific method when making decisions.
Why it is important?
Scientific temper is very important for bringing forth a progressive society. It is free from superstitions. Irrational practices in developing the nation are in all aspects like political, economic and social.
Its components
The vital parts of scientific temper are discussion, argument, and analysis. Various elements like fairness, equality, and democracy. The most important characteristic of a scientific temper is: – untiring search for truth with an open mind and spirit of inquiry.
Constitutional mandate of scientific temper
In 1976, the Government of India reemphasised its commitment to cultivate scientific temper through a constitutional amendment (Article 51A).
Article 51A in the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1976 says “It shall be the duty of every citizen of Indian to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform.”
Importance of scientific temper in nation building
Formation of public policy: Scientific temperament can become a part of the policy formation and plan through analyzing the performance of our nations, especially all the hardships and shortfalls that occurred in the past years.
Self -Reliance: There is a relationship between scientific temperament and becoming self-reliant. Our country is becoming self-reliant with the available technology and industrial infrastructure.
Quality education: It will help the children to assimilate the knowledge acquired through the practical observations in a scientific framework; thus, laying down a basis for the growth of a scientific perspective in the children.
Challenges before scientific temper
Political unwillingness: Most of the policymakers and the politicians to increase their vote banks include the stagnant ideologies and beliefs of the people in their public policies, and the government tends to give away in the popular public opinion rather than try to improve their thinking by including a more scientific approach to the various societal problems.
Prevalent orthodoxy: In India, people still have an orthodox ideology and will not adhere to the scientifically obtained solutions.
Low budget: Even after seventy years of independence, Indian Scientists are working on tight budgets, and they don’t have resources like other nations for conducting scientific research.
Pseudoscience: Pseudoscience is everywhere, whether in denying the science of climate change or the evolution theory that explains the secret of diversity that we see around us.
Value addition / case study / Innovation
An IIT Kanpur alumni Mr.Arvind Gupta tries to inculcate a spirit of inquiry among children through toys made from inexpensive everyday items.
What can be done?
Directional efforts: Activities focused on school children can be undertaken like nature walks, visit to museums etc. ‘Science Express’, a collaborative effort of Ministry of railways and Ministry of Environment & Forests & Climate Change, is a progressive step because it provides a platform that can expose children and common people in far-flung areas of the country to scientific aspects of our everday life.
Policy initiatives: Children’s Science Congress organized by National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC) is a good way to encourage scientific temper in children.
Public initiative: Civil Society organizations like, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) and Delhi Science Forum, which are People’s Science Movement, can also go a long way in boosting scientific temper amongst the community.
From Sensationalism to Sensible Science Journalism:The media must monitor the content to discourage and limit superstition and blind belief.
Scientific journalism: Science communicators do the critical job of bridging the gap between science, society, and policymakers. Science journalism should be promoted at the university level. Science agencies should fund science communication activities in their domains.
From Exclusive to Inclusive Science: Inequitable participation concerning gender and social diversity must be eliminated. The ‘open source science’ or ‘open science’ movement includes, at the core, open access, open data, open-source, and available standards that offer unfettered dissemination of scientific discourse.
Open science: Government has a significant role in facilitating open science and promoting and preserving a free-thinking, open-minded society.
Conclusion
Let’s hope that someday all cultures free themselves from the shackles of blind faith with science likely to play a major hand in this endeavour. Unto a similar goal, we should celebrate India’s constitutional provision for the scientific temper and vigorously safeguard it.
Mains question
Q. The shrinking space for scientific temper in India today is worrisome for some reasons. Do you think so? Identify these reasons and suggest way forward for scientific future of India.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Community forest rights
Mains level: Tribal welfare
Context
There is a surge in demand by forest communities to not only access the resources of their habitat, but also to establish their ownership over forests as forest rights act in not meeting its objective.
What is the news?
Residents of 18 villages in Chhattisgarh’s Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve blocked the busy National Highway 130C.
What tribal people say?
“We need forest resources for survival. Being a tiger reserve, we already lead a life with many restrictions. There is no power supply, access to grazing lands is non-existent and we cannot undertake construction works,” says Arjun Nayak of Nagesh, one of the 18 villages in Gariaband district.
The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 recognizes the rights of the forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, on which these communities were dependent for a variety of needs, including livelihood, habitation and other socio-cultural needs.
It aimed to protect the marginalised socio-economic class of citizens and balance the right to environment with their right to life and livelihood.
What are individual rights under FRA act?
The Act encompasses Rights of Self-cultivation and Habitationwhich are usually regarded as Individual rights.
Community Rights as Grazing, Fishing and access to Water bodies in forests, Habitat Rights for PVTGs, Traditional Seasonal Resource access of Nomadic and Pastoral community, access to biodiversity, community right to intellectual property and traditional knowledge, recognition of traditional customary rights and right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource for sustainable use.
Case study / Value addition
Chargaon village, Dhamtari district, Chhattisgarh
Migration has drastically reduced due to economic benefits after getting CFRR. Success in improving quality of tendu leaves with better management practices, increasing income.
Issues with Forest rights act
Non responsive states: The forest rights claims of these tribes and forest-dwellers are mostly rejected by the States.
Improper claims: Being poor and illiterate, living in remote areas, they do not know the appropriate procedure for filing claims.
Low awareness: The gram sabhas, which initiate the verification of their claims, are low on awareness of how to deal with them.
Why are forest rights important for tribals?
Justice: Aimed at undoing the “historic injustice” meted out to forest-dependent communities due to curtailment of their customary rights over forests, the FRA came into force in 2008.
Livelihood: It is important as it recognises the community’s right to use, manage and conserve forest resources, and to legally hold forest land that these communities have used for cultivation and residence.
Conservation: It also underlines the integral role that forest dwellers play in the sustainability of forests and in the conservation of biodiversity.
Conclusion
Despite the contentious and debatable nature of this law, the importance and necessity of the FRA, 2006 can not be negated completely. The law assumes even more significant importance when the country is a developing economy and is full-fledged following the path of capitalism, thus making it even more substantial to provide a redressal mechanism for vulnerable and marginalised communities and groups, such as the Adivasis and the other similar tribes, from the necessary evil of development and infrastructural growth while also safeguarding their traditions, heritage and identity that forms an important part of the nation’s cultural diversity as well.
Mains question
Q. There is a surge in demand by forest communities to not only access the resources of their habitat, but also to establish their ownership over forests. In this context analyse the issues with working of FRA 2006.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: solid waste management
Context
Huge amounts of construction and demolition waste in a residential area is hazardous for human health and warrants immediate disposal.
Why in news?
The Twin towers in Noida, Uttar Pradesh were demolished by controlled implosion. Their being located in a residential neighbourhood of Noida makes it even more essential to introduce interventions to mitigate pollution and waste, post-demolition.
What is construction and demolition waste?
Construction and demolition wastes (CDW) are the status of building materials after the end life of buildings. CDW could be concrete, steel, wood products, asphalt shingles, and bricks from building.
Waste management refers to the activities and actions required to manage waste from its start till its disposal. This includes collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste together with monitoring and regulation.
Why they should be managed properly?
Waste management and diligent planning becomes critical for regulation of humongous solid waste being generated every day. With growing urbanization and rise of smart cities on the offing the issue of solid waste management becomes even more imperative.
Data to remember
62 million tons of waste is generated annually in the country at present.
India manages to recover and recycle only about 1 per cent of its construction and demolition (C&D) waste, says new CSE analysis.
What are the impacts of construction waste on the environment and human health?
Air: Disassembling and shredding of construction waste generate dust or large particulates into the surroundings and affects the respiratory health of waste management workers and others.
Water: (Landfills are not properly designed to hold construction waste + Illegal dump sites + Improper recycling & disposal of e-waste) = compounds leach into the ground = Groundwater gets toxified due to heavy metals from demolition waste.
Soil: Soil is contaminated by direct contact with contaminants from construction waste or its by-products from recycling & disposal + indirectly through irrigation. Soils become toxic when substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and polychlorinated biphenyl’s (PCBs) are deposited in landfills. Contaminated soils have bad impacts on microbes and plants => the pollutants reach higher animals or humans through the food chain.
Construction And Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 – Salient Features
1.Duties of waste Generators
Construction and demolition waste must be separated by each waste generator, and it must be deposited at a collection site or given to authorised processing companies.
Should take care to prevent any trash or depositing that could block vehicles, the general public, or drains.
Before beginning building, demolition, or remodelling work, large generators (those that create more than 20 tonnes or more in a single day or 300 tonnes per project in a month) must submit a waste management plan and obtain the necessary approvals from the local authorities.
Large generators must have an environmental management strategy to address any environmental problems resulting from building and demolition work, storage, transportation, and waste disposal and recycling.
The waste from large generators must be divided into four streams, including concrete, soil, steel, wood, and plastics, as well as bricks and mortar.
The appropriate fees for collection, transportation, processing, and disposal must be paid by large generators according to the notices issued by the competent authorities.
2.Duties of Service providers and Contractors
Within six months of the rules’ notification, the service providers are required to develop a thorough waste management plan for the waste produced under their control.
They must also remove all construction and demolition waste independently or through a third party after consulting with the relevant local authority.
3.Duties of State Government and Local Authorities
Within one and a half years after the date of the final notice of these regulations, the responsible State Government department dealing with land should offer suitable locations for the establishment of the storage, processing, and recycling facilities for construction and demolition waste.
In order to prevent long-term disruption of the processing plant, the Town and Country Planning Department must include the location in the authorised land use plan.
In municipal and government contracts, materials created from building and demolition waste must be purchased and used to the tune of 10–20%.
The local authority must install suitable bins for garbage collection, removal at regular intervals, and transportation to suitable facilities for processing and disposal.
Large generators of construction and demolition waste must submit a comprehensive plan or undertaking before Local Authorities may approve the waste management plan;
Seek help from the relevant authorities for the safe disposal of any nuclear waste or building and demolition debris contaminated with hazardous or toxic materials from industry;
Local Authorities must provide the generator with the necessary incentives for salvaging, processing, and/or recycling, preferably on-site;
Million plus cities (based on the 2011 Indian census) must commission the processing and disposal facility within 1.5 years of the date of final announcement of these regulations.
Local Authorities will build a database and update it once a year.
4.Duties of Central Pollution Control Board, State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee
Construction and demolition waste management operating rules must be created by the Central Pollution Control Board.
The construction and demolition waste processing plant will receive authorization from SPCB.
The involved local bodies will keep an eye on how these guidelines are being applied.
Send an annual report to the State Government and the Central Pollution Control Board.
Construction and Demolition Waste Management – Concerns
In spite of the aforementioned, industry and state pollution control boards operate poorly.
In India, between 25 and 30 million tonnes of C&D waste are produced each year, but barely 5 percent of it gets treated.
It is noteworthy that dirt, sand, and gravel make up 36% of C&D waste. This waste affects soil fertility and poses a threat to public health in cities.
The almost total lack of recycling also violates India’s obligations to reduce carbon emissions.
The need to recycle C&D waste is critical.
This is due to the fact that widespread sand mining is already eroding river beds and ultimately aggravating flood damage.
Some positive suggestions
Need robust estimation and characterisation of C&D waste to design systems for material recovery: Cities need comprehensive assessment and quantification of C&D waste generation, to plan adequate infrastructure and systems for treatment and management.
Need of documentation: Cities must create easily accessible databases of buildings and their physical and legal attributes. Construction/demolition permits need to be inventorised with associated waste management plans attached.
Preparing for waste management from new generation material: Expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS), Styrofoam, plastic spacers, bituminous material and asbestos embedded within new wall assemblies are a recycling challenge. This needs special attention.
Infrastructure projects need to set up their own recycling facilities: DMRC has done so. Concrete can be easily recycled. Butt excavated waste is a challenge. Other infrastructure projects like highway and roadwork find recycling of bituminous material waste challenging. Globally, proactive prevention of waste is undertaken through modification of existing on site construction practices etc.
Responsibility of the construction Industry: The current system provides no incentive to the construction agencies for managing their own waste via waste reduction and on-site reuse and recycling. The Rules have created a push by creating a legal requirement for waste management but the financial drivers are missing. This requires fiscal strategy.
Conclusion
Environmental and material challenges associated with the Construction and Demolition waste problem need urgent and immediate attention nation-wide to recover material, protect environment, and for clean air.
Mains question
Q. India manages to recover and recycle only about 1 per cent of its construction and demolition waste analyse the constraints in it. Also suggest some positive measures to address this challenge.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: gender norms , women empowerment
Context
Japan ranked lowest among the developed countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2022 due to its prevalent gender norms.
What Is a Gender-equal Society?
A society in which both women and men shall be given equal opportunities to participate voluntarily in activities in all fields as equal partners, and be able to enjoy political, economic, social and cultural benefits equally as well as to share responsibilities.
What is sexism in simple words?
Prejudice or discrimination based on sex especially discrimination against women. Behaviour, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex.
What is the meaning of gender norms?
Gender norms are social principles that govern the behaviour of girls, boys, women, and men in society and restrict their gender identity into what is considered to be appropriate. Gender norms are neither static nor universal and change over time.
Persistent gender norms in japan
Men should work outside the home.
Genders should be brought up differently.
Women are more suited to household work and child rearing than men.
Full time housewives are valuable to society because of their family raising role.
What is womenomic’s?
“Womenomics”, a theory linking the advancement of women to increased development rates. The concept, originally defined by the Japanese Prime Minister Abe.
Women’s empowerment can be defined to promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others.
Measures toward the Realization of a Gender-equal Society
Promoting the Participation of Women in National Advisory Councils and Committees.
Recruiting and Promoting of Female National Public Officers.
What is needed to improve women’s welfare?
Community sensitization: Persistent effort must be directed toward community sensitization to root out patriarchal social norms.
Directional efforts: In addition to enforcing existing regulations like minimum wages, there must be supportive ancillary policies including childcare; secure transport; lighting; safety at work; and quotas in hiring, corporate boards, and politics to foster more women in leadership.
Key fact
Japan is the world’s fourth largest economy.
Conclusion
Due to the labour shortage in Japan, women are undoubtedly an essential resource for the nation. Hence, they should also be further involved in policy-making and social decisions such as gender inequality solving and feasible Womenomic’s adjustments for the next future.
Mains question
Q.Japan’s struggle with gender parity teaches us that investing in women’s education and health may have limited impact if that society is trapped in gender norms that restrict women from capitalising these investments for themselves, the society and the country. Critically analyse.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: article 21
Mains level: right to privacy
Context
Data privacy breaches which result in the loss and theft of personal, sensitive data have not reduced in terms of measurable frequency or their impact.
It has been 5 years since the nine-judge Supreme Court bench delivered the judgment in the Puttaswamy case. It asserted that Indians have a constitutionally protected fundamental right to privacy.
The right of a person to be free from any unwarranted publicity;
The right to live without any unwarranted interference by the public in matters with which the public is not necessarily concerned.
Definition of data
Data is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted.
What is Data Protection?
Data protection refers to policies and procedures seeking to minimise intrusion into the privacy of an individual caused by collection and usage of their personal data.
What is data privacy?
Data privacy refers to controlling access to the data. Organizations must determine who has access to data. Understandably, a privacy breach can lead to data security issues.
What is data security?
Data security refers specifically to measures taken to protect the integrity of the data itself against manipulation and malware. It provides defense from internal and external threats.
Why we need data protection?
Increasing internetuse: India currently has over 750 million Internet users, with the number only expected to increase in the future.
Data breaches: At the same time, India has among the highest data breaches in the world. Without a data protection law in place, the data of millions of Indians continues to be at risk of being exploited, sold, and misused without their consent.
Individual privacy: Data monetization may happen at cost of individual privacy. The most sought-after datasets are those that contain sensitive personal data of individuals, ex. medical history, financial data.
Issues with the data breaches in India
Violation of the right to privacy: The right to privacy was recognized as a fundamental right, included under the right to life and liberty by the Supreme Court of India in 2017.
Absence of legal framework: Without a law in place to regulate data collection and to act as an oversight mechanism, valid concerns about privacy and other rights violations continue to arise.
High Infrastructural Costs: Technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Big Data are costly to implement. The size of stored information is extremely large and requires huge network & data storage facilities, which are currently not available in India.
The concern of Data Leakage: In today’s world of cybercrime, it is important to put appropriate safeguards in place in order to ensure the integrity of the repository/database, so that it doesn’t leak out the information and is not privatized or monetized.
Reliability & Authenticity: As the data collected may be used in the court of law during the course of a criminal trial, the reliability and the admissibility of the data along with standards and procedures followed would be taken into consideration. Hence, the authenticity of the data is crucial.
Conclusion
Today, there is a relentless pace of digitisation that relies on gathering personal data in all spheres of our lives. All of this is done in a legal vacuum without any oversight or remedy. This underscores the urgent need for robust data protection law.
Mains question
Q. What do you understand by the term data privacy? Explain how data leakages threatens the sacred right to privacy?
Context 
Faulty measures 
7R’ model utility
Context 
Universal basic income meaning
Negative implications of UBI
Context 
What could India bring to the table?
Context
Context 
Context
Context 
What Is Revenge Shopping?
The symptoms of excessive consumerism
Negatives of consumerism
Context 
Meaning of fiscal prudence
Why there is a need for Fiscal Council?
Challenges before scientific temper 
What can be done?
Context 
What are individual rights under FRA act?
Issues with Forest rights act
Why are forest rights important for tribals?
Context 
Why they should be managed properly?
What are the impacts of construction waste on the environment and human health?
Context 
Persistent gender norms in japan 
Context 
Definition of data 