A Shankar IAS Academy Initiative

EPW
 INDEX

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EPW – JUNE - 2017

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Why in news?
 The Centre has amended the rules under the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCAA),
1960.
 The new rules ban the trading of cattle for
slaughter in markets all over the country.
What is the present scenario?
 States like Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab have the most
draconian laws prohibiting cow slaughter.
 Others like West Bengal, Kerala, Meghalaya,
Nagaland, and Tripura, however, do not ban
cow slaughter.
 In states like Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana and Tamil Nadu, the ban is only
conditional—cows and bulls ―fit for slaughter‖
have to be unfit to breed or work.
Why is the ban not justified?
 Right wing Political Partiesare acutely aware
that their rise since the late 1980s has been the
result of its concerted political demonstration
of the militant Hindutvavadi nationalism.
 Recent legislations are seen as an attempt
toexpand teir power even in states where it has
hitherto never stood much of a chance.
 It is sometimes used by radical elements for
unlawful resorting of violence and
intimidation against Muslims and Dalits.
 Extending the ban on slaughter to non-milch
and non-draught cattle lead to resource waste
(for example, of cattle-feed) and their being
left to a slow death.
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 It deprives many people of their livelihood and
staple food.
 Doesn’t the ban deprive Dalits, tribal people,
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and even many
Hindus of the little animal protein food that is
within their means to consume once or twice a
week?
 Also, the new rules under the PCAA do not
seem to have been derived by the policymaking
guidance provided by Article 48.
 The new rules under the PCAA are intended to
deprive all those not subscribing to a particular
interpretation of Hinduism of their livelihood
and way of life.
 The cow was not considered sacred during the
Vedic and post-Vedic centuries. Cattle killing
and consumption of beef was then not in the
list of moral or ―legal‖ transgressions.
 Indeed, from 1500 BC to 600 BC, the eating of
beef was quite common in ―India.‖
 This makes the new PCAA rules not only
unconstitutional but also un-Hindu.
What is the issue?
 The Supreme Court confirmed the death
sentence to four convicts in the Nirbhaya case.
 The popular sentiment expressed satisfaction
that justice had been done.
 But in the true sense, it is not.
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Why it is not justified?  A Deviant Normalcy – Normalcy of deviance
signifies the condition in which people become
 Awarding the barbaric punishment of death
accustomed to deviant behavior to the point
for the crime of rape and murder is rooted in a
that they no longer see it as deviant.
similar culture, and qualifies as revenge, not
justice.  Rape itself is a deviant normalcy in Indian
society.
 Instead of establishing how the case was the
―rarest of rare‖ by carefully weighing the  In India, women’s bodies have been cultural
aggravating and mitigating factors, the Court sites of retribution to settle socio-political
invoked the phrase ―collective conscience‖ scores. The infinite fragmentation and
(read, mob mentality) to justify it. hierarchisation of society made such
contentions potentially pervasive and
 There was no consideration of the mitigating correspondingly, the assaults on women’s
factors in the case in terms of convicts’ age, bodies.
socio-economic background, the possibility of
reform, or any such aspect.  Female bodies become the primary target in
any communal or national conflict.
 There was little to no mention of the failures of
the police who are responsible for such crimes  e.g During partition, more than 1,00,000
to a large extent, nor any query about women were abducted and raped on both
preventive steps. sides. They were not just sexually violated but
brutalised in an attempt to signify the victory
 Justice should be necessarily concerned with of the aggressors.
these issues.
 The Indian cultural psyche views women as the
 There is no doubt that the crime against the property of men, to be protected from others.
woman was abominable.
 As a consequence, rape is an inherent and
 However, this society did not demonstrat unavoidable sexualised event.
similar sensitivity to at least a few of the
numerous cases of brutal rapes and murders  So picking out on a few individuals does not
before. serve the purpose of justice.

 This was not the first crime of this kind. But Why is death not a remedy?
the electronic media, in its zeal for television  The popular obsession for the death penalty is
rating points (TRPs), handpicked and also informed by the Indian culture of revenge
developed the case as an instance of against one’s enemy, the idea of justice being
unprecedented brutality. caste-relative.

 As a matter of fact, the post-mortem report  The empirical data shows that a vast majority
prepared by the Singapore hospital (where the of the death penalty victims/convicts were
victim received treatment) had confirmed that Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.
her uterus and ovaries were intact. It directly
contradicted the rod theory because a rod  It does not serve any punitive purpose.
could not reach the intestine without breaking
the uterus.
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  It does nor act as a deterrent against crimes.
International data indicates that countries that
have abolished the death penalty possess much
lower crime rates than those having death
penalty.
What are the problems faced by female
inmates?
 Women behind bars have to contend with the
worst forms of patriarchal prejudices not only
from society at large but also from their own

 The multidimensional crisis unleashed by the families and the jail staff.
free-market ethos associated with the
 Indian families are much more censorious and
uncertainty of life opportunities for the youth
unforgiving of female convicts and undertrials.
leads to alienation and frustration which
appears to precipitate into rapes.  Women receive fewer visits.

 The remedy lies in uniform application of the  This also means that they are unable to report
rule of law.
the harassment they undergo and are virtually
abandoned and at the mercy of the jail staff.
 Nirbhaya case is a classic example of the media
pandering to the instincts of people to serve
 According to the NCRB data of 2014, there are
their commercial interests, and the
16,951 female prisoners in the country and out
government (and judiciary) falling in line,
of the 1,394 jails, 20 are meant exclusively for
eventually letting the country regress into a
women.
dark abyss of medievalism.
 Of the total number, a little over 11,000 are
undertrials.
Why in news?
 A majority of the women are in the 18–50
 An inmate died in Mumbai’s prison for
years age group. Despite numerous reports by
women.
official committees suggesting prison reforms,
 It reminds of the abysmal state of Indian invariably, their major focus has been on the
prisons in general and the gender-based male prisoners.
cruelty that women convicts and undertrials
 The specific needs of women have not received
face in particular.
adequate attention.
What was the reason for death?
 e.g women prisoners need to be provided basic
 The inmate was assigned warden duties due to
facilities during menstruation. Pregnant
paucity of staff.
women and lactating mothers also have
 She was beaten to death when she confronted particular needs. These are not addressed.
a female jail officer about the inadequate
 When women prisoners fall ill, they usually
number of eggs and bread slices allotted to her
depend on family members and friends to
barrack inmates.
provide them with medicines. Many women
 She was not only beaten brutally by prison prisoners can keep their children with them
staff but also subjected to sexual torture. until they become six years old. The abject
nutritional and educational amenities available
 Despite this, although six of the jail staff have
to them simply make a bad situation worse.
been identified, no one has been arrested.
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What is the issue?
Diabetes is spreading fast among the poor.
What is the new development?
 The study conducted by the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR) and the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare has found that in
the urban areas of the more economically
advanced states, diabetes is higher among
people from lower socio-economic status than
those from the upper strata.
 However, in the rural areas the disease was
seen among those of a higher socio-economic
status.
 Until some years ago, Diabetes Mellitus was
considered to be a lifestyle disease that mainly
afflicted the socio-economically better off
sections of society.
 It was assumed to target consumers of high-fat
and sugary foods, the overweight and the
sedentary.
 However, recent studies have found that the
urban poor both in the developed and the
developing world are increasingly becoming
diabetic.
What is the reason?
 This could be due to greater awareness about
the disease in urban areas among the
economically better off and their ability to
spend more on managing the disease.
 Nutritionists have also pointed to the greater
availability of ―junk food‖ at affordable prices
in cities as a possible cause of a high-fat diet
among those of a lower socio-economic strata.
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 For many poorer people in cities, nutritionally
well-balanced food may not be within their
means. Eating ―junk food‖ is thus not a matter
of choice or taste as much as affordability.
What should be done?
 Diabetes is a ―high maintenance‖ disease.
 It also leads to severe damage to the heart,
kidneys and eyes apart from risk of gangrene if
mismanaged.
 Due the state of the public health system in the
India, and the fact that the poor have to pay for
healthcare, the findings must be treated as a
distress signal on an urgent basis.
What is the issue?
The multi-stakeholder ecosystem of forests requires a
multi-layered governance framework.
What is forest governance?
 Forest governance ismuch more than making
management choices like which trees to plant,
how to protect and what to harvest.
 It is about allocating rights and responsibilities
to groups and organisations, and structuring
their interactions.
 Earlier the decisions on forests were with the
provincial forest departments, this model
suggests it must involve a multi-layered
government.
 Forest management practices vary from
shifting cultivation systems in the North East,
to pasture–woodland combinations in the
Western Ghats, to the intensively lopped oak
forests of the Himalayas, and the grazing
practices of many pastoral nomadic
communities.
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What are the issues with Forest governance
initiatives?
 The Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 became
the first comprehensive legislative response in
independent India to the forest governance
question.
 A combination of deep-rooted structures,
insecurities, and misunderstanding has led
largely to the stalling and undermining of its
key provisions related to forest governance.
 All governance questions are about ―who
decides and who implements, through what
process,‖ but the issue is that the decisions and
implementation, change from sector to sector.
 The relative role, and relationship between, the
state and the community in forest governance
has been long debated in India.
 Joint forest management (JFM) programme
instead of ―meeting local needs‖,gave powers
to the officials to control the whole process,
and there was no separation of operational and
regulatory roles.
What are the dilemmas in forest governance?
 Timber - Returns from timber harvesting
may accrue primarily to local communities, to
logging contractors, or to the state, depending
upon how rights are allocated.
 But forests generate multiple benefits that
cannot be simultaneously maximised, e.g.
maximising timber production will necessarily
reduce some of the other goods and services.
 Wildlife conservation - Conversely
managing forests for wildlife conservation
means timber harvesting has to be curtailed
drastically, if not given up altogether.
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 If wildlife conservation is alone carried out
crop raiding by elephant’s carnivore attacks on
livestock, are experienced entirely by local
communities.
 Feature of externality - Empowering local
communities alone can modify the forest and
thereby affect regional or global stakeholders
who are located ―downstream‖.
 Thus, decisions about which benefit to
maximise or prioritise are also decisions about
whose benefits to maximise or prioritise.
What is the reformed model of multi layered
governance?
 Multilayered Governance - This concept
implies that, in a vast country with densely
populated and diverse landscapes, day-to-day
operations, regulation, and policymaking are
best separated and carried out at different
levels by different actors/organisations.
 Roles of different stakeholders of the multi-
layered governance is given below
 Local communities - Local communities
have the right, and are generally best
positioned, to make operational decisions
about their forests.
 Local communities are better placed to
manage the forest on a day-to-day basis.
 Zoning was used simplistically to
accommodate priorities of local communities
in ―reserve forests‖ which were high quality
forests reserved for state purposes, while
―protected forests‖ allowed only local use and
not local management - this attitude must be
changed.
 Forest dwellers - FRA says that all non-
timber forest produce belongs to forest
dwellers.
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 More importantly, it also allows them to claim
management rights over their forests, and only
imposes a broad requirement of sustainable
use on them.
 By doing so, it is effectively saying that
wherever human populations live and depend
upon forests, day-to-day forest management
must be in the hands of those forest dwellers.
 Government - Poor implementation of
Indian forest act (IFA) processes
independence, considered millions
historical forest dwellers as encroachers in
their traditional lands.
 The FRA says that these forest dwellers’ rights
to live and cultivate must first be recognised.
 Likewise government needs to take policy
efforts both nationally and internationally, and
in the formation of wildlife sanctuaries and
national parks (that is, protected areas) where
local rights were protected.
 Officials - For 160 years, forest officers have
been the owners, managers, police, knowledge-
producers and policymakers for about 70
million hectares (or 20% of India’s land).
 FRA lays down a process for identifying
Critical Wildlife Habitats and further lays
down a process for determining in each case
whether achieving conservation goals really
requires shifting out the forest dwelling
population.
 By now the forest departments
automatically become the regulators and
policymakers.
 Forestry science - Modern forestry science
in India has not focused on the ecology of non-
timber forest products or multiple use forestry.
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 It is even more necessary that the process of
defining sustainable land use and conservation
need to be taken care by innovative proposals.
 CAMPA - Compensatory Afforestation Fund
Management and Planning Authority
(CAMPA), a much larger amount of funding
will flow to the states.
 But, the decision-making structure in CAMPA
repeats earlier mistakes: de facto control rests
after with a steering committee stacked with
of foresters and other bureaucrats.
 The CAMPA decision-making bodies need to
be decentralised and be composed of non-
foresters.
What is the issue?
Forest Rights Act is used by local communities for
arresting biodiversity.
What is the status of Indian conservation
model?
 The conservation model in India has been top
down, bureaucratic and arbitrary.
 The Indian Forest Act (IFA) first enacted in
1865 established state control over forests,
primarily used by the colonial government for
extraction of timber.
 This centralised control of forests continued
and even intensified under the independent
Indian state, where forests were either
cannot diverted for developmental purposes or
designated as ―protected areas‖ to meet
international conservation goals.
 The primary instrument for the latter has been
the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972.
 The model of conservation enshrined in the
WPA is premised on creating human-free
zones for the protection of rare species based
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 on the erroneous notion that local people are regenerate or conserve or manage any
the prime drivers of wildlife decline. community forest resources which they have
been traditionally protecting or conserving for
 Such protected areas approach has been
sustainable use.‖
successful to some extent in protecting certain
species.  This grants local institutions the opportunity
to define conservation according to their
 But the models excluded the participation of
customary and historically informed
local communities and it also diverted the
forest lands for developmental activities like understanding and practice.

agriculture, dam construction, mining etc.

 The amended FRA rules of 2012 elaborate on
 A long struggle against such exclusionary the constitution of committees for
forest policies and conservation practices communities to undertake these functions as
resulted in the enactment of the Forest Rights well as prepare conservation and management
Act (FRA), 2006. plans for community forest resources.

How conservation acts affected local What is the role of local communities is
communities? conservation?
 The acts protected the rare species at the cost  Protection from Diversion - The
of the cultural, economic, social and political government’s own data shows that 14, 00,000
rights of communities living in these areas. ha of forests have been diverted since 1980 for
non-forestry purposes.
 About 1, 00,000 families have been displaced
over the last three or four decades from
 There are hundreds of examples of local
protected areas.
communities resisting such diversion of
 As per few reports of ongoing relocations forests.
across the country over the last decade, this
 The provisions of the FRA for the first time
figure could only have increased.
have given such communities a legal
 The acts are actively alienating local people, instrument to prevent state-sanctioned
the WPA furthered the marginalisation of deforestation.
forest dwellers while ignoring the real reasons
for wildlife population decline.  Gram sabhas have been able to use these
clauses with variable degrees of success.
What is Forest Rights Act?
 One SC’s judgment described the FRA as
 The FRA empowers forest dwelling
communities to manage natural resources and ―strengthening the entire conservation regime‖

conserve biodiversity. in India.

 It creates a possibility of collaboration between  Local Governance - There is a growing

local people, state agencies and other actors, literature on the positive conservation and
on equal terms. livelihood outcomes from the decentralisation
and local control of environmental resources.
 The FRA vests a particularly significant right
to forest dwellers, namely the ―right to protect,
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  Mendha-Lekha village of Maharashtra, was What are the issues with FRA?
one of the first villages to have claimed and
 In few parts of India communities have been
received CFR (community forest rights) over
less successful only because the central and
1,800 ha of forests. state governments have actively undermined
these provisions.
 While initiating a forest governance and
management system, the village set aside 10%  Few District administrations have held ―false‖
of forest area for wildlife, compiled a gram sabhas, gram sabhas have been
community biodiversity register, and for threatened, and the Forest Advisory
livelihood decided to carry out forest Committee (FAC) has not considered Gram
management activities (soil and water Sabha rejections in their decision-making.
conservation, mulching for bamboo, etc.)
instead of heavy extraction of resources.  In an extreme case, such as that of the Hasdeo
Arand forests in Chhattisgarh, a lease was
What are the views of FRA Oppositions? granted for coal mining in 2012, and local
 The conventional conservation address that communities had filed their claims for these
local ways of use of forests and conservation forests as their traditional community forest

cannot co-exist, there are much opposition for resources.

the FRA from conservationist groups.

 While their community forest resource (CFR)

 Soon after the rules of the act were notified,
writ petitions against the FRA were filed in the
high courts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh
(mostly by retired forest officials) and in the
Supreme Court (by a group of prominent
wildlife non-governmental organisations
(NGOs)) on the grounds that the act was
unconstitutional.
 They have a view that already existing IFA and
WPA provided adequate protection to local
people.
rights had been recognised in 2013, they were
subsequently cancelled in 2016, although there
is no provision in the FRA or in any other law
for these rights to be cancelled.
 The community has since appealed the
cancellation in the Chhattisgarh high court and
the forest clearance in the National Green
Tribunal.
 However, the implementation of the FRA in
protected areas has been dismal, with active
attempts to stall the implementation.

 Recognition of the rights of forest dwellers

What is the issue?
would increase encroachment on forestland
due to false claims. The world economy has been in slow motion for most
of the period since the financial crisis of 2007.
 Few states has made efforts at obstructing the
implementation of FRA, particularly by What is the global economic situation at

attempting to dilute those provisions of the act present?

that mandate seeking consent of affected gram  Interest rates fell steeply as central banks
sabhas for diverting forests towards non- attempted to use monetary policy to get
forestry. economies back on track.

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  Falling interest rates result in lower interest
margins for banks and a squeeze on profits.
 Banks have ended up paying hefty fines for
assorted violations during and after the
financial crisis.
 The combination of adverse factors should
have been bad news for banking in the
advanced economies.
What are the crucial regulations in global
banking sectors?
 Regulators have taken several measures since
the financial crisis of 2007 in order to ensure
greater stability in banking.
 The Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
has stipulated higher capital requirements.
 Regulators in the US and Europe have sought
to bolster with ―stress tests‖ that will check
that banks have adequate capital under
simulated conditions.
 In the US, regulators have stipulated ―living
wills‖ that will spell out how banks can meet
their liabilities in the event of failure without
requiring the injection of taxpayer money.
 Many, especially in the banking community,
believe that the combination of higher capital
and living wills suffices to make a huge
difference to stability in banking.
 Higher Capital Requirements - Regulators
think that if banks have too much capital and
that essentially, too big to fail has solved the
crisis and taxpayers will not pay if a bank fails.
 Regulators in the US have asked banks to hold
debt that would convert into equity in a crisis.
 Total loss absorbing capacity (TLAC) would
include equity and contingent convertibles that
convert into equity.
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 The tests estimated losses at each bank
assuming it would be the worst bank in a
crisis.
 Even in this worst-case scenario, losses added
up to less than 10% of the banks’ combined
capital.
 This definitively proves that there is excess
capital in the system.
 Role of Equity - The total capital available
with banks, which is equity plus bonds.
 This assumes that, in a crisis, after equity
holders have been wiped out by losses at a
bank, regulators will get bondholders to bear
losses.
 When bondholders at a bank are forced to take
losses, bondholders at other banks take flight,
at the very least, they will not roll over the
bonds on maturity.
 The failure of any bank would thus result in
contagion. The only capital that matters when
it comes to absorbing losses at a bank,
therefore, is equity capital.
 Living Wills - Living wills are intended to
provide for orderly resolution that is, losses
would be borne by equity and bondholders
(and, perhaps, by depositors with deposits
above the guaranteed limit).
 The Dodd-Frank Act in the US has provisions
for living wills and it also creates a new
resolution authority called the Orderly
Liquidation Authority.
 There are serious doubts as to whether living
wills will ever work in practice.
 The living wills are based on estimates of the
value of assets and liabilities in normal times.
11
  In times of crises, the valuations may well turn  It is not clear that it is the integration of
out to be incorrect. investment banking with retail banking that
makes banking riskier.
 Cross-border resolution of assets and liabilities
poses formidable challenges.  In the last crisis, some international
investment firms like Lehman Brothers, RBS,
 Living wills hinge on TLAC, which includes
and JPMorgan failed.
convertible debt.

 Separating investment banking from

 The idea in having debt as a component of
TLAC is that debt is cheaper than equity. commercial banking would reverse a market-
driven process stretching over a long period as
 The concept of living wills as a means of banks found that they were losing clients to the
making the banking system safer fails to capital markets.
inspire confidence.
 The problem for universal banks may not be
What are the restrictions on Scope of
scope of operations, it may be that they have
regulations?
not, in the past, set appropriate limits for
 There is a view that banks came to grief in the various activities or income streams in
financial crisis because they were using accordance with prudent norms of risk
depositor money for high-risk activities. management.

 In the US and the UK, regulators have moved

 It does appear that banking stability is still
to restrict the scope of banks’ activities.
some distance away.

 In the US, there is the Volcker Rule in the

 If banks were safer, bank equity should be less
Dodd-Frank Act. Under the rule, banks are
volatile and there should be less market
barred from proprietary trading, hedge funds,
expectation of future volatility of equity.
and private equity.

 It turns out that this is not the case. Measures

 The UK has opted to ring-fence retail banking
of volatility are higher post-crisis than before
activities from investment banking activities.
the crisis.
 There will be higher capital requirements for
the retail banking part and the regulatory
safety net will be available for the retail part
alone.
What is the issue?
Do restrictions on scope make banking safer?
Large Software firms are being restructured for
 There are significant challenges of reducing the operational expenses.
implementation.
What is the status of Indian software firms?
 In the UK, ensuring that retail banking is
 This sector provided opportunities for upward
properly ring-fenced poses its own challenges.
mobility and formal white-collar employment.

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  The industry will lose two lakh jobs each year
for the next three years (Economic Times
2017).
 Campus hiring has already sharply declined.
What are the issues with software firms?
 Dynamism in the field of technology.
 Market conditions have become tougher due to
heightened competition among vendors.
 Emergence of other low-cost destinations.
 Increasing maturity of clients now demanding
more accountability.
 More availability of over skilled software
professionals.
 Labour-intensive work environment
software professionals.
 Informal Lay-off Practices.
What are the main reasons of layoffs?
 Cloud Computing - Cloud computing
centralises computing resources in a manner
that allows firms to temporarily
computing capacity and storage space on an
on-demand basis via the internet.
 This allows enterprises across the global
economy to reduce IT costs and attain
unprecedented flexibility.
 The cloud is a direct threat to existing forms of
revenue generation as it makes their main
source of revenue IT infrastructure
management redundant.
 As a vast, aggregated pool of computing
resources, the cloud reduces the need for back-
office programmers.
 It has been the most immediate and disruptive
of factors.
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 Fixed capitals and return - The purpose,
here, is to simplify fixed capital IT investments
and push out ―corporate IT‖ in order to
eliminate customisation, maintenance and up
gradation costs.
 Automation of industries - TheIT sector
has been at the forefront of automating
processes in other industries, but now is itself
subject to automation.
 For example, IT systems today are capable of
self-monitoring, recognising process failure
and at times, even ―auto-healing.‖
 Client corporations no longer need to hire
large numbers of back-office programmers
every year to undertake these routine
operations.
of
 Areas such as software testing and helpdesk
support are being automated using cutting
edge software tools.
 Size of the deals - With the reduction of
profit margins, shrinkage in deal size and
project cycles, as well as fewer new clients
rent
signing on, companies are under pressure to
redefine themselves.
 Investments in R&D - Firms are indeed
investing in new areas, such as analytics and
artificial intelligence.
 Now companiesare hiring interns who are
either unpaid or receive a small stipend.
 Fresh graduates are willing to work for no
money for ―the work experience.‖
 The non-engineering graduates as ―rookies,‖
and companies are planning to increase the
Rookie Deployment Ratio when allotting
people to projects so as to keep costs low.
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  Companies feel that experienced workgroup
expect high salary rewards and other
additional provisions like incentives,
promotions etc.
 Entry-level workforce is ready to work for long
hours with very minimal wages.
What measures can be taken?
 Companies can either proactively develop new
service lines but firms are largely falling prey
to ―short-termism.‖ For high profits.
 Indian Industries must learn from global
scenarios of lay-offs, which had created social
and political unrest.
 Courts in the recent past have stated that many
IT workers fall under the purview of the
Industrial Disputes Act.
 The labour commissioner’s office in Chennai
has reiterated that termination without strong
cause is illegal, thus it is right of an employee
to claim the valid reason why he is fired.
 Discussions in employee forums show that
companies are creating conditions where
workers are forced to resign or ―choose‖ to
resign, this distressing scenarios need to be
taken to governments knowledge.
 The workforce must keep updating itself and
be relevant to its designation, things such has
as reskilling, joining online classes, and
investing in new kinds of certification is need
of the hour.
 The Forum for IT Employees (FITE) has being
mobilising employees and voicing critical
views on news platforms and social media,
such groups should be encouraged.
 Main strategy needed now is to get employees
to stop resigning, collect evidence of forced
resignations and file cases in labour courts.
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 It is the employer’s responsibility to foresee
technological change and prepare the
workforce and firm to respond better, as
workers cannot suddenly be held responsible.
What is the issue?
Kerala has made reforms in the public distribution
system by implementing NFSA.
What is NFSA?
 The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also
Right to Food Act) is an Act of the Parliament
of India which aims to provide subsidized food
grains to approximately two thirds of India's
1.2 billion people.
 The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA
2013) converts into legal entitlements for
existing food security programmes of the
Government of India.
 Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries
of the PDS are entitled to 5 kilograms per
person per month of cereals at the following
prices:
1. Rice at ₹ 3 per kg
2. Wheat at ₹ 2 per kg
3. Coarse grains (millet) at ₹ 1 per kg.
 Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and
certain categories of children are eligible for
daily free cereals
What are other provisions mentioned in
NFSA?
 It also mandated ―priority‖ and ―non-priority‖
ration cards will replace the below poverty line
(BPL) and above poverty line (APL) cards,
respectively.
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  The NFSA has fixed a ceiling cap on the rural
and urban population to be included in the
priority list as 75% and 50%, respectively.
 The NFSA also stipulates the targeted public
distribution system (TPDS) through
application of information and communication
technology (ICT).
What are the PDS initiatives of Kerala?
 Kerala implementing the provisions of the
National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and
identifying the eligible households.
 Based on the observation state wise ranking of
the beneficiaries was initiated by Kerala.
 The electronic public distribution system (e-
PDS) project has been implemented by Kerala,
with the help of the Union Ministry of
Consumer Affairs,
 It introduced of electronic point of sale (e-PoS)
at the authorised ration dealer (ARD),
 Supply chain management from the Food
Corporation of India (FCI) to the ARD level,
 Biometric authentication of retail
wholesale transactions, subsidy through direct
cash transfer (DCT),
What are the salient features of Kerala’s PDS?
 This PDS system has its universal coverage.
 High level of utilisation of resources is found.
 Physical access made possible through a vast
network of retail outlets.
 Progressive utilisation of the system.
 A well-targeted and properly functioning PDS
constituent of the for poverty alleviation.
 End-to-end computerisation of the PDS in
Kerala such as
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1. digitisation of the total beneficiary
database;
2. Issuance of cards and correction of
cards through the ration card
the management system (RCMS)
3. designing and hosting of the website
What are Key findings on Kerala PDS?
 Awareness - The respondents in both rural
and urban regions were well-informed about
the timings and supplies which are distributed
in their local FPSs.
 Access - The accessibility of the PDS and
bank/post office was found to be quite
remarkable both in rural and urban regions.
 Cash versus food - A majority of the
respondents in the rural and urban regions
preferred the PDS over cash transfers.
 Readiness of existing system for cash
transfers - Aadhaar card is important in
linking the biometrics of the beneficiary with
the bank account to ensure that the entitled
subsidy will reach the intended beneficiaries.
and
What are the issues to be addressed?
 The end-to-end computerization need to be
reformed and some changes need to be
brought in that.
 The system failed to evaluate whether the
stocks of food grains are reaching the intended
beneficiaries and whether the beneficiaries are
utilising the PDS commodities for nutritional
support.
 The diversion in food grains should be
monitored at each level of distribution, from
top to bottom, until it reaches the household
for their consumption.
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  beneficiaries are faced with numerous issues in  Seasonal migration of rural labour has come
terms of quality of food grains available down significantly due to the opportunities of
through ration shops, employment provided under the scheme.

 The new innovations will helps to assure that What are the issues with present system?
the subsidies reach people more effectively  Funds meant for this programme are now
without any loopholes in the implementation. being routed through the state budgets.

 Kerala can achieve more progress and will be  Direct transfer of funds having been abolished,
able to address many of the shortcomings of thus giving states more control over the use of
the TPDS using strong measures. these funds.

 The capacity of the states to utilise the funds

productively remains a crucial issue and these
capacities vary widely across the states.
What is the issue?

CAG report find that after 11 years of  The role of the programme in reducing the
implementation,the MGNERGA have not been able to intensity of poverty in the beneficiary
make much of aimpression in rural poverty. households is in a limited scale.

What is MGNERGA?  It does not promotes any skill development.

 In 2006, the union government combined

What are the findings from CAG reports?
several anti-poverty employment generation
 There are immense leakage of public funds,
programmes and launched MGNERGA with
weak or almost non-existent vigilance and
the objective of bringing livelihood security of
monitoring over the use of these.
households in rural areas.

 There are some serious deficiencies like non-

 It promised to provide at least 100 days of
transparent recording of employment demand,
guaranteed wage employment in every
deficiencies in the planning,
financial year to every household whose adult
implementation,and authenticity.
members volunteer for unskilled manual work.

 The benefits to a rural household was negated

 MGNREGAprovides valuable rural
by the decline in employment provided per
employment during seasons when there is
household.
little farm-based activity.

 The report further found that while

 It improved the farming wages across the
representation of women increased to around
states.
48% during the last three years, the share of
 Socio-economic variables like annual per both Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled
capita income, monthly per capita expenditure Tribes (STs) continued to decline from around
on food, annual per child expenditure on 30% to less than 20%.
education, per capita savings, and access to
 An asset is created only after the
healthcare facility have improved as a result of
corresponding works are completed, and 80%
this scheme.
of the works taken up under MGNREGA
remained incomplete.
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  There are of course some notable exceptions poverty completely, knowledge from previous
like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, experiences must be applied to resolve the
Tamil Nadu and West Bengal which seemed to issues.
have made better utilisation of MGNREGA
 Instead of using the scheme for rural
funds.
development alone, it can be used for creation
 Bihar, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh the three of durable assets like roads, or other
most poverty stricken states of the country had infrastructure projects.
shown very poor utilisation of MGNREGA
 There are imaginative ways to utilise
funds.
MGNREGA as the example of a village in the
 The poorest of poor were not fully able to Nanded district of Maharashtra used the
exercise their rights under MGNREGA. scheme for eradicating mosquitos from the
village.
What are the reasons of under performance of
the scheme?  The scheme can be used for addressing poverty
by building capacity, protecting the
 The scheme was becoming supply-driven and
environment, improving health and sanitation,
top-down in nature, instead of remaining
by providing drinking water, building
demand-driven and bottom-up.
networks for irrigation, roads and creating
 The average number of days of employment other assets in the rural areas instead of cash
per household was declining over time. based and target based wages.

 Widespread instances of non-payment and  In collaboration with the National Remote

delayed payment of wages was found in 23 Sensing Centre, Indian Space Research
states. Organisation and National Informatics Centre,
many assets created under MGNREGA have
 Non-maintenance or incorrect maintenance of
been geotagged for better monitoring,
basic records was noticed in 18 to 54% of the
transparency and accountability.
test checked gram panchayats.
 To cut the delay in payment of wages, MoRD
 The statutory 60:40 wage-material ratio was
also tagged it to the National Electronic Fund
also not maintained.
Management System.

 Monitoring was by and large absent, large gaps

in the envisaged monitoring mechanisms was
found in a large number of states.
What is the issue?
What are the tools to resolve the issues?
 Due to the lack of analytical knowledge
 People can be empowered only through
support, members of Parliament (MPs) are
education, health and acquisition of an
unable to properly scrutinise the demands for
employable skill set.
grants in the respective standing committees.
 The experience with similar schemes shows
that the schemes don’t help to eradicate
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  On occasion, MPs seek to reach out to external  The establishment of a PBO would eliminate
experts for credible analysis and inputs. Such such malpractice as MPs would have been
practices help in adding depth to the alerted and appropriate action would follow.
committees’ work and their reports.
 Some critics have argued that a ―budget-

 An institutional mechanism, such as a approving‖ parliament does not call for a

functioning PBO. This is an unsound
parliamentary budget office (PBO), is
argument.
necessary to provide continuous assistance to
MPs and their committees.  Even when the parliament is a budget-
approving body, it is clear that its members
What is a PBO?
must be well-informed for a legitimate
 A PBO is an independent and impartial body approving process.
linked directly to the Parliament.
 Representative democracy demands an active
 It provides high-quality technical, objective role of the parliament in budgetary governance
and non-partisan analysis of budgets and and budget decision-making alongside a well-
public finance to the Parliament and its thought-out legislative–executive balance of

committees. power. The role of the parliament cannot be

restricted only to budget approval and
 It is an instrument for addressing bias towards oversight functions.
spending and deficits and, more significantly,
 PBO is not only an indicator of good
for enhancing fiscal discipline and promoting
governance, but on the premise that an
accountability.
independent, non-partisan, transparent body
can bridge the gap between executive decision-
 Further, it can generate quality public debate
making and parliamentarian involvement.
on budget policy and public finance enabling
parliamentarians to engage more meaningfully What are the functions of PBOs?
in the budget process.
 The functions of PBOs vary from country to

What is the need for PBO? country.

 The requirement for parliamentary approval of
fiscal measures lies on statutory footing.
 However, the practice of obtaining such
requirement appears to be a mere formality,
 Some have a wide range of tasks and
responsibilities, while others play a more
limited role.
 Most PBOs have four core functions –

lacking substance and sincerity.

1. Independent and objective economic
forecasts;
 Many ordinary laws have been piggybacked as
money bills and included within the Finance 2. Baseline estimate survey;
Act, 2017, while the Parliament remained
3. Analysing the executive’s budget
entirely oblivious.
proposal &

4. Providing medium- to long-term

analysis.

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Why in news?
Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the ―broad
contours‖ of the government’s policy approach on
strategic partners for collaboration between Indian and
foreign companies for joint military production.
What is strategic partnership?
 Four segments have been identified for
strategic partners—submarines, fighter jets,
helicopters, and armoured vehicles and tanks.
 Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs)
are barred from bidding for fighter jets and
helicopters.
 Moreover, it remains to be seen if they will be
selected for bidding for submarines and
armoured vehicles and tanks, given the
ideological bias against the public sector.
 From a shortlist of six strategic partners
applying for each segment, one strategic
partner will be selected for each segment and
two or more
 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
identified for each segment.
 Foreign OEMs will be selected on the basis of
the ―range, depth and scope‖ of the technology
they are willing to transfer. Indian industry
partners will ―tie-up‖ with OEMs to ―seek
technology transfer and manufacturing know
how to set up domestic infrastructure and
supply chains.‖
What are the shortcomings?
 Treating the private companies with
experience on par with the new entrants
entails risks.

Although it was clarified that wilful defaults,
debt restructuring and non-performing assets
(NPAs) will be taken into account while
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selecting the strategic partner, there are also
misgivings on this count. For instance, two of
the shortlisted corporate houses, Anil
Dhirubhai Ambani Group and Gautam Adani
Group companies reportedly owe ₹ 1.25 lakh
crore and ₹ 96,031 crore respectively to public
and private sector banks which are reeling
under NPAs.
 The Government of India favouring lucrative
collaborations of a financially vulnerable
Indian entity with a French OEM and with a
US naval fleet raises strategic concerns about
the soundness of its defence policy.
 Apart from restricting the public sector to just
two out of the four segments opened up for
strategic partners, the ordinance factories have
been asked to exit from the production of 87
items, including 39 weapon-related items.
 So it appears that five DPSUs, 50 laboratories
of the Defence Research and Development
Organisation, 41 ordinance factories, and four
shipyards will play second fiddle to Indian
private and foreign equipment providers under
the new DPP.
 In the process, the country’s dependence on
foreign OEMs and foreign powers such as the
US and its allies will deepen.
 The Joint Doctrine of the three services
already speaks of the ―country’s national
interests‖ as if this includes foreign ―strategic
partners‖ in its definition.
 For a company to be considered Indian, just
50% of its equity capital must be owned by
Indian citizens. With such definitional
dilution, what is at stake is the very control of
India’s military sector.
 To allow the Indian state’s sovereign function
of defence to come under the sway of foreign
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 powers and OEMs is unfavourable to our
country’s interests.
 There is an absence of a mechanism for
regulating the country’s defence production
sector which is being opened up to private and
foreign suppliers.
 The latter will acquire a stake in the country’s
military sector, all paid for by the public
exchequer.
 Underfunding of primary education and child
development is virtually being implemented as
a policy
 The child labour in family based industries is
rising.
 NCERT - It is planning for a vocational
training in upper primary schools, but this
singular approach won’t be suitable for wide
nation like India.

 Child in Gujarat and a child in Arunanchal

Pradesh cant brought under a same framework
What is the issue? of vocational education.

Though the education levels in India are increasing,

 Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) - The
the education system faces plenty of problems.
budget for the scheme is still nearly 12%
What is the present status of Indian below the 2013–14 level, again before
education? adjusting for inflation.

 India has achieved near-universal enrolment

 The centre has also reduced its share in the
in primary education with a balanced gender
SSA from 65% to 60%
ratio.
 Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) - The
 There are cuts in public funding for primary
2015–16 budget for the scheme was 16.4%
education.
below 2014–15, with fewer children
 The funding of public universities is totally benefiting.
unequal.
 Now the number of beneficiaries had dropped
 The expansion of private universities is still more sharply than the previous years
causing further imbalance.
What are issues with higher education?
 The class profile of the academic community is
 Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan
being redrawn.
(RUSA) - It provides additional funds to state
What are the issues with primary and universities, but in a 65:35 ratio (90: 10 for hill
secondary education? states and Jammu and Kashmir.

 Primary education - Instead of

 For development funds, all universities in
strengthening primary and secondary
India can reasonably expect major support
education government is trying to invest more
from the UGC.
on higher education

 But the Higher Education Financing Agency,

 The dropout rates in India is raising, in 2014–
15 it was 4.3%, now it is rising over 10% in five will actually lend money at interest.

north-eastern states
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 It is assumed that only institutions like the
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and
Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will
constitutes its clients.
 States might be expected to meet the non-Plan
What are the reforms needed?
expenses of their own establishments, though
they cannot possibly match the mounting
salary levels of central universities.
 New education proposal - It will set up 20
―world-class‖ universities, 10 state-run and 10
private, and feed the former₹ 500 crore each
over the next five yearsthat is, a total of₹ 5,000
crore .
 For entire public university system, including
full running costs for 46 central universities
and virtually all development grants for 360
state universities the cost was₹ 4,692 crore.
 This ―world-class‖ bonanza for 20 institutions
seems part of an unspoken agenda to
dismantle the current higher education system
as a whole.
 This subversive policy will leave the nation’s
human resource pool permanently depleted.
**** *
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 It seeks to invert education structure by
lavishing funds, freedom and attention on a
handful of institutions to the detriment of the
rest.
 An effective university system fosters an
elitism of merit.
 For merit to prevail, two other factors are
authoritative.
 An equitable system of schooling irrespective
of gender, economic or social status.
 Higher education institution must be owned by
public institutions alone.
 Education not only has socio-economic
impact, it is the human resource capital
dedicated policies must be implemented for it.
 Models from developed countries with higher
education standards like Australia, Canada can
be followed.
21