THE ART AND CULTURE

1. “PASUVULA PANDUGA”

THE CONTEXT: Tension prevailed at Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh after villagers protested against the police over the conduct of a traditional bull-taming match – a version of Tamil Nadu’s jallikattu.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The villagers and the police vehemently reject the “bad propaganda” against the bull races by wrongly terming the events as “Jallikattu”.
• According to the villagers, these annual festivities, history of which dates back to the British Raj, are responsible for the preservation of the native breeds of cattle and the continuing love for the bulls despite mechanised agriculture practices.”
• As per “HaddulaPanduga”, the bulls brought to the race would be unleashed into a set track flanked by the curious crowds. The participants, mostly youth, would be encouraged to stop the raging bulls, fixing the parameters of distance and time.
• The bulls would be stopped by the youth, who pull and manage the long ropes tied to the animals. This is unlike Jallikattu of Tamil Nadu, where a frenzied bull would be released unfettered into an open ring, posing grave danger to youth who are set to tame it.

Value Addition:

PasuvulaPanduga (Festival of Cattle):

• It is considered as the ‘milder equivalent’ of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu.
• It is conducted every yearin the villages of Chittoor district during the Kanuma festival (Sankranti).
• The bulls ran amok as the participants gave them hard chase in their attempt tame the animals and grab the prize money tied to their horns.

Kanuma festival is quite similar to the Mattu Pongal observed in Tamil Nadu. The festival is dedicated to cows, bulls and other animals that are part of agrarian economy. Cattle and cattle sheds are cleaned on the day. Cows are decorated with marigold flowers and are worshipped.

QUICK FACTS:

Bhumi Panduga is a festival celebrated by the Koya Tribe in the Chintoor Agency of East Godavari district. The tribals go hunting as part of the ‘Bhumi Panduga’ celebrations, marking the beginning of farm operations every year.

THE HEALTH AFFAIRS

2. GILOY IS SAFE TO USE: MINISTRY OF AYUSH

THE CONTEXT: Certain sections of the media have falsely linked again Giloy/Guduchi to liver damage. The Ministry of Ayush reiterates that Giloy/Gudduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) is safe and as per available data, Guduchi does not produce any toxic effect.

THE EXPLANATION:

• In Ayurveda, it is said to be the best rejuvenating herb. Acute toxicity studies of aqueous extract of Guduchi reports that it does not produce any toxic effect. However, the safety of a drug depends on how it is being used. Dosage is one of the important factors that determine the safety of a particular drug.
• A special focus has been made on its health benefits in treating various metabolic disorders and its potential as an immune booster. It is used as a major component of therapeutics for ameliorating metabolic, endocrinal, and several other ailments, aiding in the betterment of human life expectancy.
• It is a popularly known herb for its immense therapeutic applications in traditional systems of medicine and has been used in the management of COVID-19. Considering the overall health benefits, the herb cannot be claimed to be toxic.

Value Addition:

Guduchiis known in Ayurvedic medicine for the power to detoxify, rejuvenate, boost the immune system, and more. This popular adaptogenic herb is thought to prolong life and was recognized by ancient rishis of the Vedic era in the classic healthcare text, the revered Charak Samhita, written by Maharishi Agnivesha.

Also, its helps in:

• Ability to balance blood sugar
• Relieve fever and spasms
• Fight inflammation
• Promote joint health
• Calm allergic reactions
• Reduce stress
• Protect the kidneys
• Support the immune system.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

3. THE FINTECH OPEN HACKATHON

THE CONTEXT: NITI Aayog in association with the digital payment’s platform PhonePe launched the first-ever open-to-all hackathon that aims to showcase path-breaking solutions for the fintech ecosystem.

THE EXPLANATION:

The Hackathon will provide an opportunity for innovators, digital creators and developers from all over India to think, ideate and code.

Participants at the hackathon need to use any open-data APIs like PhonePe Pulse along with frameworks such as Account Aggregator as a foundation to power the following use cases:

• Alternate risk models for Lending, Insurance or Investments with focus on financial Inclusion.
• Innovative Products that use the power data signals for various demographics and Geos for broader adoption of financial services.
• Improved Visualisation and Derived intelligence based on the Digital payments data.

Aim:

Creating an immersive learning experience, the FinTech month with the overarching theme ‘OPEN’ aims to achieve three key objectives – 1) encourage an OPEN ecosystem across the FinTech industry; (2) Foster co-innovation and growth; (3) Ensure financial inclusion and leverage new models like Account Aggregator to unleash the next wave of fintech innovation.

 What is Fintech Company?

• Fintech is a portmanteau of the terms “finance” and “technology” and refers to any business that uses technology to enhance or automate financial services and processes.
• Fintech companies integrate technologies (like AI, blockchain and data science) into traditional financial sectors to make them safer, faster and more efficient. Fintech is one of the fastest-growing tech sectors, with companies innovating in almost every area of finance; from payments and loans to credit scoring and stock trading.

Areas of FinTech:

• Banking

• Cryptocurrency & Blockchain

• Investment & Savings

• Machine Learning & Trading

• Payments

• Lending

• Insurance

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

4. THE MIGRATION OF CRIMSON ROSE BUTTERFLIES

THE CONTEXT: Thousands of Crimson Rose butterflies swarmed all available flowering plants along the beach of Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu. It was their stopover for nectaring, before the butterflies undertook their ultimate flight towards Sri Lanka, which is around 25 km away from the tip of Dhanushkodi.

THE EXPLANATION:

According to the officials, Migration by Tigers and Crows from the sub-family Danainae of Nymphalidaeknown to migrate just before the onset of the southwest and northeast monsoons from the Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats and plains, and vice-versa. Butterfly species like Common Emigrant, Common Albatross and Lime Butterfly are also known to undertake migration on a large scale.

Value Addition:

Pachliopta hector, the crimson rose, is a large swallowtail butterfly belonging to the genus Pachliopta (roses) of the red-bodied swallowtails.

Distribution:

• It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and possibly the coast of western Myanmar.
• In India, it is found in the Western Ghats, southern India (Tamil Nadu, Kerala), eastern India (West Bengal and Odisha). It is a straggler in the Andaman Islands

Conservation Status:

• It is generally common and not known to be threatened.
• IUCN STATUS: LEAST CONCERN
• Wildlife Protection Act: Schedule 1 of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

 5. INDIA LACKS SOLAR WASTE HANDLING POLICY

THE CONTEXT: The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimated that the global photovoltaic waste will touch 78 million tonnes by 2050, with India expected to be one of the top five generators of such waste.

 THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India currently considers solar waste a part of electronic waste and does not account for it separately. And also the Ministry constituted a committee to propose an action plan to evolve a “circular economy” in solar panel, through reuse/recycling of waste generated.
• There was no commercial raw material recovery facility for solar e-waste operational in India, but a pilot facility for solar panel recycling and material recovery had been set up by a private company in Gummidipoondi in Tamil Nadu. India has set a target of producing 100 GW of solar energy by 2022.
• The cumulative capacity of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) installations is around 40 GW and of the current capacity, about 35.6 GW, is generated from ground-mounted plants and 4.4 GW from rooftop solar. A gigawatt is 1,000 megawatt.

Solar panel’s life       

• Solar panels have an estimated life of 25 years and given that India’s solar manufacturing industry took off around 2010, most of the installed systems were new and early in their calendar lifecycle and therefore unlikely to generate a large quantity of solar waste.
• That, however, is only partially accurate, according to the Council for Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a Delhi based think-tank. End-of-life was only one of the possible waste streams for PV modules and there were several other stages where modules could get damaged.
• However,India’s solar PV manufacturing uses imported components with parts mostly sourced from China.

6. WORLD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT 2022

THE CONTEXT:Prime Minister delivered the inaugural address at the 21st World Sustainable Development Summit 2022 (WSDS-22)on the three-day summit organised by TERI with participation from over 100 nations.

 THE EXPLANATION:

• The theme of the summit is ‘Towards a Resilient Planet: Ensuring a Sustainable and Equitable Future’.
• According to the Prime Minister “the energy requirements of the people of India are expected to double in the next 20 years, also he urged developed countries to fulfil their commitments on finance and technology transfer.

Prime Minister Speech Highlights:

• “The Energy requirements of the people of India are expected to double in the next 20 years. Denying this energy would be denying life itself to millions. Successful climate action also needs adequate financing. For this, developed countries need to fulfil their commitments on finance and technology transfer’.
• Also, India believes in fulfilling commitments under the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and added that the country has raised its ambitions during CoP-26 at Glasgow. Sustainability requires coordinated action for the global commons.
• The International Solar Alliance, our aim is One Sun, One World, One Grid. We must work towards ensuring availability of clean energy from a worldwide grid everywhere at all times. This is the ‘whole of the world’ approach that India’s values stand for”.
• He also noted the measures taken and schemes like
  • Ujjwala Yojana
  • M-KUSUM scheme
  • Broder focus on ‘chemical-free natural farming’
  • LED bulbs distribution scheme
  • National Hydrogen Missionand alsoIndia now has 49 Ramsar sites spread over more than 1 million hectaresrestoring degraded land has been one of the main focus areas.

THE GOVERNMENT SCHEMES AND INITIATIVES IN NEWS

7. THE SCHEME FOR ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF DNTS (SEED)

THE CONTEXT: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, launched the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED) for the welfare of De-notified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Communities.

THE EXPLANATION:

Who are De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes?

The De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes are the most neglected, marginalized and economically and socially deprived communities. Most of them have been living a life of destitution for generations and still continue to do so with an uncertain and gloomy future. De-notified, Nomadic and Semi- nomadic Tribes somehow escaped the attention of our developmental framework and thus are deprived of the support unlike Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The term ‘De-notified Tribes’ stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between 1871 and 1947. These Acts were repealed by the Independent lndian Government in 1952, and these communities were “De-Notified”. A few of these communities which were listed as de-notified were also nomadic.

About the Scheme:

• To provide coaching of good quality for DNT/NT/SNT candidates to enable them to appear in competitive examinations.
• To provide health insurance to DNT/NT/SNT Communities.
• To facilitate livelihoods initiative at community level to build and strengthen small clusters of DNT/NT/SNT Communities institutions.
• To provide financial assistance for construction of houses to members of the DNT/NT/SNT Communities.

The funds will be transferred directly to the beneficiaries in their account. The other implementing agencies are Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and National Health Authority (NHA).

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

• The Government in July 2014 had constituted National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) for a period of three years to prepare a State-wise list of castes belonging to Denotified and Nomadic Tribes and to suggest appropriate measures in respect of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes that may be undertaken by the Central Government or the State Government.
• The Renke Commission (2008) was earlier commissioned to identify and list the DNT communities.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY 17^TH FEBRUARY 2022

Q. Which of the following pairs of Ramsar sites is/are correctly matched?

1. DeeporBeel – West Bengal
2. Kabartal Wetland – Bihar
3. Bhoj Wetland – Madhya Pradesh

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) 3 only

d) 1, 2 and 3

ANSWER FOR 16^TH FEB 2022

Answer: B

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) is a Central Sector Scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj was nation-wide launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on National Panchayati Raj Day, 24^th April 2021 after successful completion of pilot phase of scheme (2020-2021) in 9 states.

Scheme is a reformative step towards establishment of clear ownership of property in rural inhabited (Abadi) areas, by mapping of land parcels using drone technology and providing ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners with issuance of legal ownership cards (Property cards/Title deeds) to property owners.

Statement 1 is correct: The Scheme is implemented with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Department, State Panchayati Raj Department and Survey of India.

[WpProQuiz 162]

1. A case for a more federal judiciary READ MORE
2. Stringent checks needed to curb human trafficking READ MORE
3. SC as the guardian of our Constitution READ MORE
4. Hijab ban: Without tolerance, India’s democratic ideals become meaningless READ MORE

1. Workplace harassment reflects gendered power dynamics READ MORE
2. Uniformity or Equality? Imposed norms for uniforms in educational institutions cannot be the basis for equality in education. READ MORE

1. India lacks solar waste handling policy READ MORE
2. 56 African heritage sites threatened by extreme coastal events: Study READ MORE
3. India’s ‘missing’ forests: DTE analysis exposes big gap in latest national forest survey estimates READ MORE

1. Concepts: Negative and Positive liberty READ MORE
2. Tapping the promise of philanthropy READ MORE
3. The artist’s reality READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Guduchi is safe and does not produce any toxic effects READ MORE
2. Fintech month kickstarts on an inspiring note READ MORE
3. Thousands of Crimson Rose butterflies fly across ocean from India towards Sri Lanka READ MORE
4. Equitable energy access key of environmental policy: PM Modi READ MORE
5. Everyday Economics: What are repo & reverse-repo rates? READ MORE
6. Tonga Eruption Last Month Was Accompanied by Record-Breaking Lightning Storm READ MORE
7. Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project: Longest tunnel T-49 connected READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. Workplace harassment reflects gendered power dynamics READ MORE
2. India’s ‘missing’ forests: DTE analysis exposes big gap in latest national forest survey estimates READ MORE

GS Paper- 1

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. A case for a more federal judiciary READ MORE
2. Stringent checks needed to curb human trafficking READ MORE
3. SC as the guardian of our Constitution READ MORE
4. Hijab ban: Without tolerance, India’s democratic ideals become meaningless READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUE

1. Pipedreams for Indian Academia – II READ MORE
2. Uniformity or Equality? Imposed norms for uniforms in educational institutions cannot be the basis for equality in education. READ MORE

 INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Putin and Xi Frame a New China-Russia Partnership READ MORE  
2. India Keeps Floating Away From Its Quad Partners READ MORE

 GS Paper- 1

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. No, policy is not too important to leave to the experts READ MORE
2. Reframing of India’s economic road map READ MORE
3. Address mismatch between skills, jobs READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. India lacks solar waste handling policy READ MORE
2. 56 African heritage sites threatened by extreme coastal events: Study READ MORE

TECHNOLOGY

1. Technology has changed intelligence gathering. Now all you need is an internet connection READ MORE

GS Paper- 1

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Concepts: Negative and Positive liberty READ MORE
2. Tapping the promise of philanthropy READ MORE
3. The artist’s reality READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. “Environmental legislations deal with highly technically complex subject matters which require comprehensive pre legislative consultation otherwise not only there will be avoidable legal challenges but also poor implementation on the ground”. Substantiate with examples.
2. Discuss the importance of forest cover area to minimize the impact of climate change.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The ambitious sacrifices all to what he terms honour, as the miser all to money.
• There is an imbalance now which the Supreme Court of India needs to address by empowering High Courts again.
• Economic policymaking needs to be insulated from politics and vested interests of business, as underlined by breaches in NSE.
• The long-term answer to the problem of unemployment is to review and upgrade the quality of education.
• Soft encroachment by the Govt in the ambit of Fundamental Rights can affect the Constitution’s basic structure, which the apex courts guards against.
• Protest is an inherent right in a democracy. But to resort to protest at the drop of a hat makes a mockery of this democratic principle.
• Not just law alone but the core issue of innately gendered power relations at workplaces must be urgently addressed.
• A good bit of the teaching done at India’s formal centres of higher learning today, especially in our metropolises, tends to rely on imported Euro-American theories, concepts, methods and ideologies.
• As the waves of this global pandemic play out, philanthropic capital will be critical in supporting the most hard-hit sectors and organisations to recover and regain resilience.
• Tolerance implies enduring an item or a practice irrespective of the abhorrence that it may engender.
• The AUKUS partnership between Australia, the U.K., and the U.S., in some sense, appeared to be the result of a quiet realization in Washington that it needs more reliable partners in the Indo-Pacific to pursue common security interests.

50-WORD TALK

• NSE’s CEO being taken for a ride for three years by a faceless yogi in matters of running India’s top stock exchange is shocking and absurd. NSE isn’t new to misgovernance controversies but this one beats them all. Letting the perpetrators off with mere fines is a travesty of justice.
• Even though Moscow is withdrawing troops from Ukraine’s borders, the crisis isn’t over. Russia thinks coercion has worked, since NATO expansion is off the table. China has drawn the same lesson from its Asian aggressions. Till the USA shows it can do more than snarl, these powers will keep pushing.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

THE CONTEXT: In his Parliament speech, PM Narendra Modi blasted the ‘babu’ culture in the country. He meant the steel frame of India, its civil servants. PM stressed the private sector’s vital role in the economy, the context was towards PSUs. To understand the essence of the PM’s criticism, we must understand the role, origin, and evolution of PSUs in India. This article discusses the evolution of PSUs, concerns, and challenges related to PSUs.

PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKINGS IN INDIA

Definition:

• In India, a government-owned corporation is termed a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU). This term is used to refer to companies in which the government (either the federal Union Government or the many state or territorial governments, or both) own a majority (51 percent or more) of the company equity.

Evolution of public sector undertakings: 

• After independence in 1947, Indian industries were in a dilapidated state. It was not able to compete with the existing industries of the time.
• Industries in India were in need of a policy thrust for rejuvenation and starting fresh.
• In this direction, the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 of the Second Five year Plan (1956-61) provided the required framework for public sector undertakings/enterprises.
• With this, the PSUs were expected to play a leading role in the economic development of the country, preventing the concentration of economic power and reducing regional disparities for the common good.
• In 1991, the role of the public sector was reviewed due to liberalization, privatization, and globalization, and the public sector was reduced to only six areas like atomic energy, coal, defense, railway, mineral oils, and transport.
• After this, every effort was made to increase participation of the private sector in the public sector for making it profitable and enable them to compete with the private sector companies worldwide.

Role of public sector undertakings in India:

• PSUs have laid a strong foundation for the Industrial development of the country as it is not interested in profit-making but nation-building.
• They leverage the government through major shareholding in the Industries to intervene in the economy in a major way thus helping in achieving the desired socio-economic objectives and long-term goals.
• They help in pushing the agricultural economy onto the progressive pathway and rural development as well as providing basic infrastructural facilities, educational and employment opportunities.

PRIVATE SECTOR VS. BUREAUCRACY

The performance of the public and private sectors is often compared in India.

• The framework is generally that if the MBAs in the private sector can produce efficient and profitable enterprises, why can’t the IAS officers and other “public sector professionals” do the same in Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)?
• It’s also argued that there is no accountability whatsoever in the public sector scenario, whereas in the private sector the deadwood is immediately jettisoned, leaving only the efficient and performance-oriented executives to progress upwards and rise to the top.
• It is quite frequently advocated that the corridors of powers as well as huge Public Sector behemoths ought to not only be manned by the private sector management-cum-subject specialists but that even the modern management practices and philosophy should be transplanted from the private to the public sector.

However, we fail to appreciate that the working scenario in the two sectors is fundamentally different and what might be regarded as an award-winning innovator in the private sector, if transposed as a clone into the public sector without a detailed examination and scrutiny, may well lead to the initiation of departmental/ vigilance proceedings. Some, such practices as paying commissions and incentives, etc. Might even be a criminal offense in the PSU arena.

THE WORKING SCENARIO OF PSUs

1. Public Sector is inherently constrained

Constitutional obligations:

• Public Sector entities, whether in the nature of Government Departments or Commercial undertakings, including the PSUs, are “State” within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. And, the Constitution casts certain statutory, nay constitutional, obligations on the “State”. For instance, Articles 14 and 16 are not applicable to the private sector.
• Thus, the Public Sector is inherently constrained, on account of these constitutional provisions, when it comes to recruitment and promotion (including the aspects of reservation in favour of SC/ STs) as well in granting performance-linked pay or bonus to the employees who are truly outstanding.

Human-resource obligations:

• In the start-up scenario and even in the established private entities, granting sweat-equity is a widely prevalent tool to acquire and retain good human resources.
• Where the 100%, or at worst a majority, of the equity is owned by the Government, such an incentive is unimaginable.
• Even on the side of firing and retrenchment, the Public Sector is limited by the provisions of Articles 310 and 311 of the Constitution and often the deadwood continues to burden the organization till their retirement.

Political obligations:

• Further, in routine administrative matters like transfers and postings, the bureaucrats are under formal and informal pressure of the political executive, and thus even in this aspect, the human-resource management is sub-optimal and below the desirable or achievable level of efficiency and effectiveness.

2.PSUs are not solely profit driven

Profit v/s social obligations:

• Profit is the supreme motive in the private sector. The maximization of the shareholder value is the ultimate objective, lip service to Corporate Social Responsibility notwithstanding.
• In Public Sector, the objectives are multiple and often in conflict with each other.
• For instance, in the State Transport Undertakings, while it is sought to maximize profit, one of the objectives is also allowing free and concessional travel to various categories of passengers.

Objectivity in the performance:

• The stated objectives of PSUs may really be mere rhetoric. In such a scenario, one cannot very rationally or objectively assess the performance of a Public Sector Enterprise, which is quite difficult and complex.
• Thus, it’s much easier for the Private Sector to be driven by a mission, whereas the public sector is more likely to be governed by rules and procedures.

3. Complex Decision-making

levels of decision-making:

• In the private sector, the levels of decision-making are crystal clear. The managerial and financial powers are delegated in a highly transparent manner and everyone in the organization is familiar with the same.
• In the public sector or governmental functioning, the “rules of business” may delineate similar policies and procedures, but often concurrence of independent units and Departments such as Finance, Law or Personnel may be required.
• The departmental decision-making is subject to, apart from the normal supervision by the political executive, by the Parliamentary and Legislative oversight through their Committees.
• Then, of course, the presence and working of the 3C’s — CAG, CVC, and the CBI effect, rather constrains, the decision-making in the ministerial or departmental scenario.
• External pressure groups, political parties, and Press also affect the public-sector decision-making. All this makes the decisions, slow, conservative and sub-optimal.

Accountability in decision making:

• In the Private Sector, those formulating policies or making decisions are also, in general, responsible for their implementation.
• In the Government, policies are usually formulated at a very high level and generally, the concerns and constraints of the cutting-edge staff or stakeholders are not taken fully into account.
• Moreover, the failure of the policy can very easily be attributed to poor implementation and thus the framers of the faulty policies are seldom questioned or called on to account.
• The private sector is not subject to any of these restraining circumstances. It may thus be very unfair to compare the decision-making in the two sectors.

Even though the working scenarios of the private sector and PSUs are very different, still there are challenges pertaining to PSU’s functions and operational efficiency. Though the working scenario of PSUs is very challenging we cannot ignore concerns related to it.

CONCERNS RELATED TO PSUs

Statism:

• PSU’s elevated status as drivers as the economy was romanticist in approach and thus led to issues like overstaffing, corruption, wasteful practices, lack of work culture, and motivation were unchecked and systematically ignored by the government and led to the subsidization of these concerns by them.
• This led to permanent drainage on the exchequer. Thus, instead of a socialist attitude, these PSUs were developing an attitude of Statism with all its dangers.

Political interference:

• Nepotism and favourability in PSU appointments by politicians lead to inefficiency and incompetency in functioning. Therefore merit should only be the criteria for selection.
• Directors appointed by the government to the Board of Directors of PSUs try to influence the decision-making process of the board without accepting responsibility at the end creating a lot of interference in their independent functioning and economical initiatives.

Delay and Authoritarianism:

• Control from above is a big impediment in the functioning of PSUs as whenever a new project is taken up by a PSU it has to go through the Expenditure Finance Committee and Project Investment Board which is very cumbersome and causes unnecessary delay and authoritarianism

Lack of profit-making attitude:

• Lack of authority in taking a commercial mode in areas where opportunities exist for profit-making and thus gets caught in bureaucratic and political red-tapism thus keeping it bureaucratic in nature instead of a complementing approach of profitability and social obligations.
• No proper retention policies for retaining competent staff from the lure of lucrative private offers.

What should be done?

• In the globalized world, times have changed, and India has new challenges, inviting altogether new approaches and processes to emerge as a global leader. It is time for path-breaking administrative reforms, and pump-priming entrepreneurship, innovation, and production processes in the Indian economy through liberal financing, cutting the red-tape, delays, and regulatory corruption. It is the moment for unleashing the fullest potential of all sectors of the Indian economy.
• There is an imperative need for bringing unsparing reforms in the prevalent PSU culture—operating upon them and replacing their bone marrow, without any loss of time.
• It is time to separate operational freedom and ownership. It is time to end the age-old colonial outdated governmental management hegemonies.
• A dynamic society needs a dynamic governance model; we should open up governance to draw expertise from the industry, academia, and society into the services. While further professionalizing the IAS and promoting domain expertise into the service will be a practical solution to the problem.

CONCLUSION

Comparing the performance of IAS officers and other civil servants in the Governmental setup with those of the Private Sector professionals is thus quite unfair as work scenarios are very distinct from each other. More importantly, one cannot prescribe a rather simplistic and naïve solution that would be the elixir of all the ills that plague the public sector performance currently — that is, mere transplanting the private sector policies and practices to the Public Sector. That’s not to say that IAS officers are Cat’s Whiskers and that their performance is par excellent. There’s always a scope of improvement and the same can come incrementally if all the stakeholders, including the bureaucracy and the political executive, take it as a pragmatic priority, in the right earnest.