THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. BENAMI LAW CAN’T BE APPLIED RETROSPECTIVELY: SC

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Supreme Court said the Section 3(2) of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act 1988 as unconstitutional on the ground of being manifestly arbitrary.
THE EXPLANATION:
• A bench headed by Chief Justice said the amendment Act of 2016 to the 1988 Act is prospective in nature and it cannot apply retrospectively. Section 3(2) prescribes that whoever enters into any benami transaction shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine or with both.
• Also, the bench said, “the Section 3(2) of 1988 unamended act as unconstitutional” and added that such a coercive provision can’t have a retrospective effect.
• The top court judgment came on an appeal filed by the Centre against a Calcutta High Court judgment, which held that the 2016 Amendment Act was prospective in nature.
• The amendment also increased the punishment for benami transactions from imprisonment up to three years to seven years, and a fine which may extend to 25 per cent of the fair market value of the benami property.

What is the Act about?
• In an attempt to curb black money, in July 2016, the NDA government decided to amend the original act which was subsequently passed by the Parliament of India as “The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016”.
• The act defines a ‘benami’ transaction as any transaction in which property is transferred to one person for consideration paid by another person.
• Such transactions were a feature of the Indian economy, usually relating to the purchase of property (real estate) and were thought to contribute to the Indian black money problem.
• The act bans all benami transactions and gives the government the right to recover property held benami without paying any compensation.

VALUE ADDITION:
What is Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988 about?
• The Act prohibits benami transactions and provides legal provisions for confiscating benami properties.
• It defines a benami transaction as a transaction where a property is held by or transferred to a person, but has been provided for or paid by another person.

What will Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2016 do?
Amendment seeks to strengthen Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988 by:
• Amend the definition of Benami transactions to widen the scope for legal action
• Specify penalties for entering into Benami transactions and
• Establish adjudicating authorities and Appellate Tribunal to deal with Benami transactions
• The Bill provides immunity under the Benami Act to those who declare their benami properties under income declaration scheme
• Under the bill, the term “property” will cover movable, immovable, tangible and intangible properties. In case of joint ownership of property, the tax payer will have to show financing sources.

Key Highlights Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016
• Persons indulging in benami transactions may face up to 7 years’ imprisonment and fine.
• Furnishing false information is punishable by imprisonment up to 5 years and fine
• Properties held benami are liable for confiscation by government without compensation
• Initiating Officer may pass an order to continue holding property and may then refer case to Adjudicating Authority which will then examine evidence and pass an order.
• Appellate Tribunal will hear appeals against orders of Adjudicating Authority. High Court can hear appeals against orders of Appellate Tribunal.

THE SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

2. SEX RATIO AT BIRTH NORMALISES SLIGHTLY: STUDY

THE CONTEXT: The latest study by the Pew Research Center has pointed out that “son bias” is on the decline in India as the average annual number of baby girls missing in the country fell from 480,000 (4.8 lakh) in 2010 to 410,000 (4.1 lakh) in 2019.
THE EXPLANATION:
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT:
• The “missing” refers to how many more female births would have occurred during this time if there were no female-selective abortions. The problem began in the 1970s with the availability prenatal diagnostic technology allowing for sex selective abortions.
• Among the major religions, the biggest reduction in sex selection seems to be among the groups that previously had the greatest gender imbalances, particularly among Sikhs.
• The world over, boys modestly outnumber girls at birth, at a ratio of approximately 105 male babies for every 100 female babies.
• India legalized abortion in 1971, but the trend of sex selection started picking up in the 1980s due to the introduction of ultrasound scan technology.
• In the 1970s, India’s sex ratio was at par with the global average of 105-100, but this widened to 108 boys per 100 girls in the early 1980s, and reached 110 boys per 100 girls in the 1990s.

• From a large imbalance of about 111 boys per 100 girls in India’s 2011 census, the sex ratio at birth appears to have normalized slightly over the last decade, narrowing to about 109 in the 2015-16 wave of the National Family Health Survey and to 108 boys in the latest wave of the NFHS, conducted from 2019-21.
• The Pew Research Center report points out that between 2000 and 2019, nine crore female births went “missing” because of female-selective abortions. The report has also analysed religion-wise sex selection, pointing out that the gap was the highest for Sikhs.
• In the 2001 census, Sikhs had a sex ratio at birth of 130 males per 100 females, far exceeding that year’s national average of 110. By the 2011 census, the Sikh ratio had narrowed to 121 boys per 100 girls. It now hovers around 110, about the same as the ratio of males to females at birth among the country’s Hindu majority (109). Both Christians (105 boys to 100 girls) and Muslims (106 boys to 100 girls) have sex ratios close to the natural norm, and this trend is holding.
• The study points out that while the Sikhs make up less than 2% of the Indian population, they accounted for an estimated 5%, or approximately 440,000 (4.4 lakh), of the nine crore baby girls who went “missing” in India between 2000 and 2019.
• The share of missing girls among Hindus is above their respective population share.
Sex Ratio
• Sex ratio is defined as the number of females per 1000 males in a given population.
• In a society that has males and females equal in number, the sex ratio is 1:1 or 1000 females for every 1000 males.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

3. INDIA-CHINA DISPUTE CASTS GLOOM OVER SPACE PROJECT

THE CONTEXT: Tension between India and China since May 2020 is worrying Indian astrophysicists involved in an ambitious project to install an India-made spectroscope aboard the developing Chinese space station, Tiangong.
THE EXPLANATION:
• Scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, as part of a United Nations-led initiative that invites research teams from all over the world to compete for an opportunity to design payloads that will be shuttled to Tiangong aboard rockets of the Chinese Manned Space Agency.
• The project, called Spectrographic Investigation of Nebular Gas (SING), also involves collaboration with the Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, and has been designed and developed by research students at the IIA. The plan is to have it ready by the year end so that it can be launched in the summer of 2023. Though the plan is on schedule, scientists at the IIA are now consulting with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as well as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on whether they are in the clear to go ahead with the project.

BORDER TENSIONS:
Chinese and Indian troops have been engaged in a prolonged stand-off in eastern Ladakh. The two sides have so far held 16 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the stand-off, which erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area.
• “According to the sources from MEA, at the moment [the India-China] relationship is going through an extremely difficult phase after what China did at the border”.
• The SING project would be the first space-collaboration involving India and China, and primarily deals with sending and positioning a spectrograph, an instrument that splits light into constituent frequencies and wavelengths, to study ultraviolet radiation. This will help analyse the make-up and sources of interstellar gas in the region that swept by the space station as it orbits around the earth.
• India and China have been collaborators in the past on research projects such as the Giant Metre Wave Radio Telescope, a Pune-based observatory that’s employed by astrophysicists across the world to study radiation at metre-scale resolutions to observe and analyse stars and galaxies.

VALUE ADDITION:
What is the Tiangong space station?
• Tiangong space station, or “Heavenly Palace”, is China’s new permanent space station. The country has previously launched two temporary trial space stations, named as Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2.
• The new lab Wentianis the second of three key modules to Tiangong. The first key module Tianhe – which contains living quarters for crew members – was sent into orbit in April 2021. The other key module, Mengtian science lab, is due to be launched by the end of 2022.
• China has big ambitions for Tiangong. The station will have its own power, propulsion, life support systems and living quarters. It is also designed to provide refuelling power to China’s new space telescope, called Xuntian, which will fly close to the space station next year.

4. REINVIGORATING THE CHABAHAR PORT

THE CONTEXT: Amid the visit of Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and waterways, the Union government has revved up its interest in using Iran’s Chabahar port to connect to Afghanistan and Central Asia for trade.
THE EXPLANATION:
India’s strategic vision for Chabahar
• When the first agreement for Chabahar was signed in 2003, the plan had a three-fold objective:
o to build India’s first offshore port and to project Indian infrastructure prowess in the Gulf;
o to circumvent trade through Pakistan, given the tense ties with India’s neighbour and build a long term, sustainable sea trade route;
o to find an alternative land route to Afghanistan, which India had rebuilt ties with after the defeat of the Taliban in 2001.
 Subsequently the Indian government constructed the Zaranj -Delaram Highway in Afghanistan’s South, which would help connect the trade route from the border of Iran to the main trade routes to Herat and Kabul, handing it over to the Karzai government in 2009.
• In 2016 India signed the agreement to develop Chabahar port, as well as the trilateral agreement for trade through Chabahar with Afghanistan.
• The India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ) authority took over the operations of the port in 2018.
• In the last few years, a fourth strategic objective for the Chabahar route has appeared, with China’s Belt and Road Initiative making inroads in the region.
o The government hopes to provide Central Asia with an alternate route to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through Iran for future trade.

Why is the Chabahar dream taking so long to realise?
• The biggest issue has been over Iran’s relationship with western countries, especially the United States.
• In years when western sanctions against Iran increased, the Chabahar project has been put on the back-burner, while in the years when nuclear talks that resulted in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 came into being, the Chabahar port has been easier to work on.
• In 2018, the U.S. Trump administration put paid to India’s plans by walking out of the JCPOA and slapping new sanctions on dealing with Iran.
• This led to the Indian government “zeroing out” all its oil imports from Iran, earlier a major supplier to India, causing a strain in ties.
• It has been difficult to source equipment for the port construction from infrastructure companies that continue to fear secondary sanctions, as well as to engage shipping and insurance companies for trade through Chabahar.
• The Indian government also snapped ties with Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, which put an end to the humanitarian aid of wheat and pulses that was being sent to Kabul via Chabahar.
• When India restarted wheat aid to Afghanistan this year, it negotiated with Pakistan to use the land route instead.
• With the government now reopening the Indian Embassy in Kabul, and establishing ties with the Taliban government, it is possible that the Chabahar route will once again be employed.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

5. DRDO, INDIAN NAVY TEST INDIGENOUS MISSILE

THE CONTEXT: The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and the Indian Navy successfully flight-tested the indigenously developed Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.
THE EXPLANATION:
What is VL-SRSAM?
• The VL-SRSAM, a ship-borne weapon system, is meant for neutralising various aerial threats at close ranges, including sea-skimming targets, and was the last test-fired in June 2021.
• It has been designed and developed jointly by three facilities of the Defense Research and Development

Organization for deployment of Indian Naval warships.
• The missile has the capability of neutralizing various aerial threats at close ranges including sea-skimming targets.
• The tactic of sea skimming is used by various anti-ship missiles and some fighter jets to avoid being detected by the radar’s onboard warships.
• For this, these assets fly as close as possible to sea surface and thus are difficult to detect and neutralize.

Design of VL-SRSAM
• The missile has been designed to strike at the high-speed airborne targets at the range of 40 to 50 km and at an altitude of around 15 km.
• Its design is based on Astra missile which is a Beyond Visual Range Air to Air missile.
• Two key features of the VL-SRSAM are cruciform wings and thrust vectoring.
• The cruciform wings are four small wings arranged like a cross on four sides and give the projective a stable aerodynamic posture.
• The thrust vectoring is an ability to change the direction of the thrust from its engine control the angular velocity and the attitude of the missile.

6. JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE: NEW IMAGE OF JUPITER

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s latest and most powerful telescope, has captured new images of our solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter, presenting it in a never before seen light.
THE EXPLANATION:
• The photographs published have captured a new view of the planet, presenting in detail its massive storms, colourful auroras, faint rings and two small moons — Amalthea and Adrastea.
• According to NASA we are familiar with the yellow and reddish-brown gas giant, the telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera, with its specialized infrared filters, has shown Jupiter encompassed in blue, green, white, yellow and orange hues. Since infrared light is not visible to the human eye, the images were artificially coloured to match those on the visible spectrum, so that the planet’s distinctive features could stand out.
• Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot, a storm so big that it could swallow Earth, appeared bright white in the image, since it was reflecting a lot of sunlight, the space agency stated.

VALUE ADDITION:
About Webb Space Telescope:
• It is the most powerful infrared telescope launched by NASA. The telescope is the result of an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency.
• Webb will reveal new and unexpected discoveries, and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it. The telescope will also study the atmospheres of a wide diversity of exoplanets.

Exoplanets :
• An exoplanet is any planet beyond our solar system. Most orbit other stars, but free-floating exoplanets, called rogue planets, orbit the galactic centre and are untethered to any star.
• Exoplanets are made up of elements similar to those of the planets in our solar system, but their mixes of those elements may differ. Some planets may be dominated by water or ice, while others are dominated by iron or carbon.

Objectives of the Webb space telescope:
• Search for the galaxies that formed the very beginning after the Big Bang.
• Determine the evolution of galaxies from their earlier formation until now.
• Observe the stages of the formation of stars until the formation of planetary systems.
• Measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems and investigate the potential for life in such systems.

1. Dolo, docs & pharma: Only a statutory medical ethics code can free prescriptions from the influence of freebies READ MORE
2. A jewelled canopy of human solidarity READ MORE

1. North East India records lowest rainfall in 122 years READ MORE  
2. Half of Swiss Glaciers Shrunk in Less Than a Century READ MORE

1. India at 75 looking at 100: Equitable access should be the goal READ MORE
2. INDIA’S BIG LEAP OF FAITH IN HEALTHCARE READ MORE
3. POCSO enforcement must for kids’ safety READ MORE   

1. Reviewing remission: On the need for norms to release convicts READ MORE
2. Puttaswamy, five years on READ MORE
3. Centre’s freebie is social welfare for states READ MORE
4. Twitter Versus Government: Remedy of Challenge Against Blocking Orders is Illusory READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. India-China dispute casts gloom over space project READ MORE
2. DRDO, Indian Navy test fire indigenous Vertical Launch Short Range surface-to-air missile READ MORE
3. India’s sex ratio at birth normalises slightly READ MORE
4. Explained | Reinvigorating the Chabahar port READ MORE
5. amends Supreme Court Judges Rules READ MORE
6. Supreme Court strikes down criminal provision of ‘benami’ law READ MORE
7. Lockdowns pull down poaching rates in Africa but rhinos still threatened READ MORE
8. James Webb Space Telescope captures stunning new images of Jupiter READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. North East India records lowest rainfall in 122 years READ MORE  

 GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Reviewing remission: On the need for norms to release convicts READ MORE
2. Puttaswamy, five years on READ MORE
3. Centre’s freebie is social welfare for states READ MORE
4. Twitter Versus Government: Remedy of Challenge Against Blocking Orders is Illusory READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. India at 75 looking at 100: Equitable access should be the goal READ MORE
2. INDIA’S BIG LEAP OF FAITH IN HEALTHCARE READ MORE
3. POCSO enforcement must for kids’ safety READ MORE   

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Russia-China Relations: Emerging Alliance or Eternal Rivals? READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Are freebies a way to mask state inaction? READ MORE
2. Agriculture in the amrit kaal READ MORE
3. A powerful move READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Half of Swiss Glaciers Shrunk in Less Than a Century READ MORE

SCIENCE

1. The case of the missing scientific Indian READ MORE

SECURITY

1. The implications of the 5G roll-out for law enforcement READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Dolo, docs & pharma: Only a statutory medical ethics code can free prescriptions from the influence of freebies READ MORE
2. A jewelled canopy of human solidarity READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘India’s steel frame is getting rusted for lack of competition and disincentives for mediocrity’. In the light of the statement, discuss whether the appointments of non-IAS officers’ to joint and additional secretaries will overhaul this issue.
2. The reach of the Jan Dhan scheme can be extended by improving financial literacy and adopting secure digital technologies. Comment.
3. In light of the current geopolitical scenario wherein the China-USA rivalry is playing out in the Asia-Pacific, the ASEAN holds great significance for India. Analyse the statement.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me.
• 5G may also make it easier for criminals to perpetrate cyber bullying. Criminal groups may be able to easily coordinate DDoS onslaughts because of the real-time communication capabilities between multiple criminal groups.
• The 5G roll-out will be a game-changer for law enforcement agencies. It will enable the police fight crime effectively. At the same time, criminal use of 5G is inevitable.
• India has failed to propagate scientific literacy not only among the public, but also among scientists themselves.
• The Russia-Ukraine war is one symptom of a changing international system, with a public nonchalance toward nuclear weapons. That disregard is in contrast to 40 years ago.
• India has braved all kinds of challenges and leveraged better availability of cutting-edge technology, medicines and therapies to augment this indicator by over 100 per cent since independence.
• POCSO, Prevention of Child Labour Act, Right to Education Act, Prevention of Child Marriage Act are all pivotal to ensure children’s rights are realized.
• Ensuring social justice is the primary job of a government, and welfare schemes indisputably prop up weaker sections. Reminding state governments of their debt levels and the need to cap expenditure is vital.
• Big tech companies running large social media platforms prefer engaging with governments, particularly in developing countries, behind closed doors.

50 WORD TALK

• The conspiracies-fuelled opposition to revision of electoral rolls in Kashmir is absurd. All Indian civilians living in Kashmir should have the right to vote there just as Kashmiris can in other parts of India. J&K no longer has special status and it’s high time political parties make peace with this.

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 exploring other geographical locations nearby, including mountains, rivers, etc.) 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.

[WpProQuiz 316]

THE CONTEXT: Recently the Prime Minister questioned the practice of politicians making mindless promises of ever profligate schemes in pursuit of votes, and termed it a dangerous trend.Besides the quick political gains that they seek, this also pre-empts any discussion on the existing development paradigm. This article analyses what should be the threshold of precariousness at which poll promises such as free food, job guarantees, or cash doles should kick in as a measure to provide social security.

GROWTH AND WELFARE

• The dichotomy between growth and welfare has criticisms against free trade capitalism, that it leads to monopoly capitalism and an economy dominated by the power of trusts, combines, cartels, multinationals and transnational corporations. This in turn gives rise to a variety of social, economic and political contradictions in society. In the absence of any positive interference by the state in the political economy, the exploitation of the working class by an aristocracy of monopoly capitalism without caring for any social responsibility, unemployment on a large scale, inhuman working conditions in factories, competitive low wages, Long working hours, poverty, illiteracy and poor health are bound to result.
• Also, growth under free trade capitalist economy is the enemy of socioeconomic equality. As was pointed out by Green and Tawney, by denying redistribution of national wealth through the state, the market fosters inequality and injustice. It was argued that the old mechanism of the market because they were powered by self-interest, cannot be sensitive to the welfare needs precisely because they cannot be translated into prices and also those in need lack the resources to pay the price set by the market.

POPULISM: Populism can be defined as a political identity which encapsulates the following important elements:

• Populism legitimates itself in terms of “popular sovereignty” by referring  to  a   part of  the population  that  supposedly represent  the  people  as  a
• Presents heterogeneous and incompatible demands “as one” demanded by the people
• Dividing the people within the population and outside on friend and enemy relations, over the demarcation of radical antagonism.
• Uniting the friends “extricated from the population” under a single leadership so that it remains undivided.
• Populism can range from persuasive politics to a dangerous agenda that creates internal and external conflict, negates climate change and rejects human rights. We carve out four root causes of populism. The dominant cause in a period or area determines the socio-economic structure of voters. Populism can have a left-wing or right-wing agenda, and it accelerates with regional problems, inequality, spatial disequilibria and migration. Populist parties often become part of democratically elected governments by forming coalitions with mainstream parties, in which they play the more active part and make further inroads until they dominate. If they finally take the lead, they clinch it by changing the rules, dismantling the division of power between government, parliament and the courts. They invent a foreign enemy or a dangerous force to cement their power.

ROOT CAUSES FOR POPULISM

ECONOMIC CAUSES

• Economic causes can be low growth, rising unemployment and inequality. The rising income inequality among individuals, but also increasingly across regions, is a driving force of today’s populism. Income and population are increasing in urban centres and modern industrial districts, while in the periphery there is low growth and low investment from international firms since they need skilled labour and supplier networks.

CULTURAL CAUSES

• Cultural causes for populist voting can be connected with changes in value systems that are described in the literature as gradual changes in Western society’s values, from conservative to liberal. The latter values range from equality of gender and acceptance of different partnerships and lifestyles to ideas about healthy nourishment, mandatory seatbelts in cars and stricter speed limits. Opposition to political correctness and gender consciousness has increased gradually and has now found a political outlet.

THE SPEED OF CHANGE

• Lifetime jobs have become the exception, and young people seldom pursue the same occupation as their elders. What one does at the start of a career cannot become a job for decades – even if the job is formally the same, its content, activities and tasks to be performed will change. Kids do not work in the same firms and jobs as their parents and are flexible in changing the location of their work. Their personal, religious and political priorities are less homogenous and can be different from those of their parents. This widens choices, increases the fit between abilities and demand and thus leads to lower levels of skill mismatch, but it also involves uncertainty and can result in intermittent periods of joblessness and retraining.

POPULISM AND THE RISE OF THE FAR RIGHT AROUND THE WORLD:

Although populism always shares these two essential claims, it can take on widely varying forms across contexts. This report identifies three types of populism, distinguished by how populist leaders frame the conflict between the ‘true people’ and outsiders:

• Cultural populism claims that the true people are the native members of the nation-state, and outsiders can include immigrants, criminals, ethnic and religious minorities, and cosmopolitan elites. Cultural populism tends to emphasise religious traditionalism, law and order, sovereignty, and painting migrants as enemies.
• Socio-economic populism claims that the true people are honest, hard-working members of the working class and outsiders can include big business, capital owners and actors perceived as propping up an international capitalist system.
• Anti-establishment populism paints the true people as hard-working victims of a state run by special interests and outsiders as political elites. Although all forms of populism rail against political elites, anti-establishment populism distinguishes itself by focusing on establishment elites as the primary enemy of the people and does not sow as many intra-society divisions.
• Watershed political events in recent years—the election of President Donald Trump in the United States (US), the Brexit vote, the electoral success of Italy’s Five Star Movement, Brazil’s sudden lurch to the right with the election of President Jair Bolsonaro, the doubling of support for populist parties across Europe—have brought the word “populism” out of the annals of academic journals and into the headlines. Yet, it is a slippery concept that is too often used pejoratively to describe politics that those in the mainstream do not like.
• The British people defied expectations by voting to leave the European Union. The hotly contested referendum was marked by the rise of populism based on the desire to regain control of immigration and reclaim national sovereignty from international institutions. The UK’s Euroscepticism also parallels the anti-immigration and anti-trade sentiment surging in the United States, both of which are driven by “individuals who feel like they have been on the losing end of globalization.”

POPULIST SCHEMES

Schemes like offering free food or cooked food at very low prices, smartphones or laptops, bicycles or sewing machines; although help in providing for the needy but also put an extra burden on the public exchequer.

Populist schemes- an immediate relief

• These measures are important and act immediate. It helps the poor and needy by making resources accessible and affordable to them.
• Competitive populism can also be a very effective way to identify the long-felt community needs. Since these are area-specific, political parties and candidates will focus on local problems, thereby making elections more issue-oriented and participatory, and our democracy more vibrant and responsive.
• They will remain the critical components of the social safety net and poverty alleviation programmes of any government.

Populist measures- not a long-term sustainable solution

• In an extremely diverse and heterogeneous society like ours, satisfying individual desires with scarce public resources is impossible. Specific forms of individual assistance will end up satisfying few, and even that only partially, while leaving the large majority dissatisfied.
• Subsidy encourages inefficiency by relying more on the subsidy money offered by the governments and do not address the real issues like increasing the incomes of the poor.
• These schemes put an extra burden on the state’s purse and generally lead to a fiscal deficit, thereby affecting the growth prospects of the state.
• These schemes act as a tool of diversion from real issues and suppress the real issues in the name of freebies.

POLL-BOUND POPULIST MEASURES:

• The public discourse has become devoid of the nuances that once used to fascinate and grip the ideological narrative. The public of today, particularly the young and the restless, have lost patience and their desire is for instant politics, like instant noodles. As such the political behaviour of the voter has undergone a change. Gone are the days when over cups of tea and charcha, election manifestos would be discussed. Gone are the days when loyalty to a party would be based on ideology, policies and performance. In the time of WhatsApp and social media, nobody wants to read those boring manifestos with big ideas anymore. Their demand is for instant benefits, for freebies. They want snappy videos of castigation, of politicians of other parties being presented in poor demeaning light. Political parties are using a variety of devices to prove themselves more trustworthy and credible than the others. Apart from devising acronyms, participating in TV debates and organising massive rallies, there is a monumental drive towards using election manifestos to ride on the wave of populism.
• Political promises often fail to weigh the realities of implementation. In 2018, the Maharashtra government announced a 16% reservation for the Maratha community in jobs and education. The previous Congress-NCP government had also approved a proposal for the same reservation quota (16%) for the same community (the Marathas) in Maharashtra, but the Bombay high court had stayed the order. Losing sight of this larger picture and misemploying legal instruments for short-term political gains puts the promise at risk and is also unconstructive in gaining the trust of the people.
• In 2014 “Dynastic politics” became a depraved term. So high was the rhetoric that a narrative was set which was emotional in its political tone and exciting in the rhetoric, thereby giving the Prime Minister his first thumping win in 2014. A narrative has been repeatedly put to use in multiple assembly elections since then. In 2019, it became only larger, encompassing the expression of the ‘general will’.
• Delhi Chief Minister ‘free electricity and employment’ and takes upon corruption to counter political opposition and presents a ‘Delhi Model’ which also helped his party for a sweeping win in the state of Punjab.
• Freebies are also often used as poll promise tool to conceal the poor performance of the incumbent government on the socio-economic parameters and provide an opportunity to alter the voter’s mindset from real issues to short-term gains.

POPULISM AND SUBSIDY CULTURE: Riding on the wave of populism the so-called ‘subsidy-culture’ is also touted to promote idleness in the masses. Let us understand the concept of subsidy:

• As more than a fifth of the population is below the official poverty line, subsidies in India are given for a variety of reasons and in a variety of sectors. Advantages of the subsidies in India include making items of daily need more affordable such as food and fuel, creating an employable pool of educated Indians who can potentially contribute to the GDP growth ( subsidised education), to provide a leg-up to certain sectors (PLI Schemes), or even to boost industrialisation in under-developed areas through tax exemptions.
• Economic gains from subsidies provided by welfare states have also remained contentious in the literature due to their inherent paradoxical consequences in promoting competition, economic growth and equitable distribution in developing economies. State largesse on farm subsidies has increasingly become a populist tool for political gains. The politics involved with subsidies have immense emotional appeal than fulfilling the objective of social and economic justice.The culture, built up over the decades, has turned subsidies into entitlements rather than time-bound measures designed to address a specific circumstance such as a natural disaster or chronic exclusion. Today, subsidies cannot be reduced for fear of unleashing a political backlash by an opposition that is perpetually on the lookout for tripping the government on populist issues.
• However, proponents of subsidies argue that they are essentially negative taxes. Such negative taxes would mean that instead of being raised from the people, they are given back to certain target groups among the population of the country. Various subsidy regimes are meant to ensure distributive justice as they are directed at various sections of society to assist them economically. In India, the main beneficiaries have been farmers, needy people and those using various forms of public services.

There is no precise, cut-and-dried answer to the question of whether subsidy is good or bad; it depends on what subsidy one is talking about. Subsidies on public transport, medical equipment, healthcare infrastructure, on loans given to secondary agri initiatives, subsidies on incentives to shift towards renewable energies and reducing pollution etc all can help the country achieve the desired socio-economic targets.

UNDESIRABLE OUTCOMES OF POPULISM

SOCIAL POLARIZATION

• The populists exploit loopholes and issues in order to polarise society. They try to divide people along religious, racial or linguistic lines to win elections through majoritarian tactics.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES

• The societies affected by populism suffer from socio-economic issues due to joblessness or rising inequalities and unmet expectations.

LOW ECONOMIC GROWTH

• Populist Nationalism is divisive and affects the economic growth of the country. In India, populism is used for loan waivers, poverty alleviation schemes, etc. which lead to a fiscal burden.

CORRUPTION AND ABUSE

• It often results in a decline in rational debate about political issues. There is a high risk of corruption and abuse of power.

AGAINST DEMOCRACY

• Populist movements often turn against representative democracy. Populists reject pluralism. This threatens democracy and unity in diversity.

POPULISM AND JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE:

There is a general trend among recent populist movements to implement measures that interfere with the independence and proper functioning of the judiciary. These movements frame the courts in opposition to the popular will.

Constitutional theory and political science suggest that courts in populist regimes may try to shore up their legitimacy through appeals to the popular will. If so, the populist agenda may impact the courts even without a populist government takeover, including the adoption of instrumental approaches to legal interpretation and judicial review that seek to accommodate the populist agenda.

In many countries, even with constitutionalism, the populist government tries to interfere in judicial dispensation by various methods. However, courts in India till now have been very capable of influencing public opinion on discrete substantive issues, but curative steps must be taken in the face of rising populism so that some of the impediments in its autonomy can be annihilated. A just and rule-based judiciary is a must so that ethos of constitutionalism can be a guiding light for all.

THE ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUE

Over the decades, the Indian political class have ignored the core strengths of the country while spending huge amounts on populism. Inclusive opportunities to access quality education, dedicated research to make world-class products, nationalism to erase social divides, an adequate number of people with moral and physical courage to correct the wrong, a common link language to boost domestic trade and cultural exchange still elude the country. Poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, poor quality of education, bad loans, flight of young talent, the disappearance of water bodies and fertile agricultural land are some of the offshoots of populism. Populism always aggravates poverty and unemployment. As governments provide free electricity, cooking gas, ration, household items and subsidized meals to people, it adversely affects the entrepreneurship cycle, and repayment ethics and piles up idle energy. Politicians should choose difficult paths to become popular. They can protect fertile agricultural lands and water resources and develop a transparent domestic market; they can ensure quality health, housing and education to the masses at an affordable cost so that people can earn surplus income and save money in banks.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• It is time to revise macroeconomic, taxation, industrial and commercial policies to accommodate left-outs. Social media should also be regulated and held accountable for damaging a pluralistic, fact-based and hate-free political debate, in the same way as traditional media.
• Political parties (established and emerging) should seek to propose inclusive visions and programs that deliver benefits for all citizens, not only for a part of the voters. Participatory and deliberative platforms and initiatives (citizens’ assemblies, forums) should be embedded into the decision-making processes to balance the oligarchic tendencies of electoral democracy.
• It is important to acknowledge that globalisation, technological progress and tax reductions elevate the quality of life of society as a whole, but in the short term, they deliver a direct blow to certain pockets of the population, especially in rigid labour markets, subsidies and social protection schemes for them are imperative to keep their faith alive in the democracy and can help them grow to be able to contribute towards economic growth as well as a pluralistic society.

THE CONCLUSION:

There is no doubt that division in the face of an organized populist threat is problematic. Only rational policy initiatives can solve the problems of our times.Human resource is worst hit by populism. After 75 years of Independence, India has not made the backward castes feel they are one among the equals. If the weaker sections get compulsory quality education, they could easily compete with the forward castes. Also, the aim should not be to blindly eliminate populism but to channel it towards achieving socially and economically desirable objectives. Ultimately, the state is spending money, and it is only appropriate that this expenditure generate the maximum benefit and social welfare.

Mains Practice Questions:

1. What is populism? How is it affecting the growth and welfare in Indian society? Elaborate.
2. In what conditions does populism become ‘dangerous populism’ that could ruin the financial stability of the state and when does it function as enabling and empowering welfarism?
3. Is it high time to bury populism for the nation’s good? Critically Analyse.