THE CONTEXT: The Supreme Court, in July 2022,in Satender Kumar Antil vs Central Bureau of Investigation, recommended the Union Government introduce a special enactment like a “Bail Act” to streamline the grant of bail. The court also gave other directions for making the process of granting bail efficient and effective.  This article analyses these developments from the UPSC perspective.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE JUDGMENT OF THE SUPREME COURT

A BAIL ACT

• The Government of India may consider the introduction of a separate enactment in the nature of a Bail Act so as to streamline the grant of bails.

COMPLIANCE WITH CrPC

• The investigating agencies and their officers are duty-bound to comply with the mandate of Section 41 and 41A of the CrPC and the directions issued by this Court in Arnesh Kumar.
• Any dereliction on their part has to be brought to the notice of the higher authorities by the court.
• The courts will have to satisfy themselves on the compliance of Section 41 and 41A of the Code. Any non-compliance would entitle the accused for a grant of bail

FORMULATION OF STANDING ORDERS

• All the State Governments and the Union Territories are directed to facilitate standing orders for the procedure to be followed under Sections 41 and 41A of the Code

ARREST AS A LAST RESORT

• There needs to be strict compliance with the mandate laid down in the judgment of this court in Siddharth(in which it was held that investigating officers need not arrest each and every accused at the time of filing the charge sheet).

CREATION OF SPECIAL COURTS

• The State and Central Governments will have to comply with the directions issued by this Court from time to time with respect to the constitution of special courts. The High Court in consultation with the State Governments will have to undertake an exercise on the need for special courts. The vacancies in the position of Presiding Officers of the special courts will have to be filled up expeditiously.

RELEASE OF UNDERTRIALS

• The High Courts are directed to undertake the exercise of finding out the undertrial prisoners who are not able to comply with the bail conditions. After doing so, appropriate action will have to be taken in light of Section 440 of the Code, facilitating the release.
• An exercise will have to be done in a similar manner to comply with the mandate of Section 436A of the Code both at the district judiciary level and the High Court as earlier directed by this Court in Bhim Singh.

TIME-BOUND DISPOSAL OF BAIL APPLICATION

• Bail applications ought to be disposed of within a period of two weeks and applications for anticipatory bail are expected to be disposed of within a period of six weeks.

REPORT ON CONFORMITY

• All State Governments, Union Territories and High Courts are directed to file affidavits/ status reports within a period of four months.

WHAT IS A BAIL AND WHAT ARE ITS TYPES?

A Bail denotes the provisional release of an accused in a criminal case in which court the trial is pending and the Court is yet to announce judgement. The term ‘bail’ means the security that is deposited in order to secure the release of the accused. There are 3 types of bail Regular, Interim and Anticipatory.

1. Regular bail- A regular bail is generally granted to a person who has been arrested or is in police custody. 2005 amendment to the CrPC abolished sureties in the case of indigent(poor)  people.

1. Interim bail- This type of bail is granted for a short period of time and it is granted before the hearing for the grant of regular bail or anticipatory bail.
2. Anticipatory bail- Anticipatory bail is granted under section 438 of CrPC either by session court or High Court. An application for the grant of anticipatory bail can be filed by the person who discerns that he may be arrested by the police for a non-bailable offence.

THE PRISON STATISTICS INDIA–2020- NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU (NCRB).

• The increase in the share of under-trials in prisons was at an all-time high. PSI 2020 puts the percentage at 76% in December 2020: An increase from the earlier 69% in December 2019. The people who are undertrials are those yet to be found guilty of the crimes they have been accused of.  In 17 states, on average, prison populations rose by 23% from 2019 to 2021, as opposed to 2-4% in previous years.
• The appalling figures come from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand,which had tragic occupancy rates of 177%, 174%, and 169%, respectively (December 2020).
• Only Kerala(110% to 83%), Punjab (103% to 78%), Haryana (106% to 95%) Karnataka (101% to 98%), Arunachal Pradesh (106% to 76%) and Mizoram (106% to 65%) could reduce their occupancy of prisons below 100%.

BAILABLE OFFENCE AND NON-BAILABLE OFFENCE

The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 talks in detail about the bail process and how it has to be obtained. However, it does not define bail. Section 2(a) Cr.P.C. says that a bailable offence means an offence which is shown as bailable in the First Schedule or which is made bailable by any other law for the time being in force, and a non-bailable offence means any other offence. The Code of Criminal Procedure deals with various provisions as to bail and bonds. It lays down when bail is the right of the accused, when bail is the discretion of the Court, in what circumstances said discretion can be exercised, what are the terms and conditions which would be required to be observed by the accused, who has been released on bail and what powers are vested in the Court in the event of accused committing default of bail order etc.

WHY THERE IS A TENDENCY TO DENY BAIL?

Motivated arrest often leads to denial of bail and mechanical remand by the subordinate judiciary. Due to the concept of pecuniary ‘surety’, the archaic Indian law on bail already had a class character wherein, for the rich, bail is the rule and for the poor, invariably, jail. Justice Krishna Iyer in the Moti Ram case where a poor labourer was asked for a surety of Rs 10,000 in 1978 was pained to observe that “the poor are priced out of their liberty in the justice market.” Lately, it would appear that religion is a new class.It has been seen that many times, particularly when either the cases are controversial or delicate or political in nature or where there can be an outburst, the tendency in the lower courts is why should we do it, let the person take it from the high court or Supreme Court.”A tendency among government agencies to hand over documents in sealed covers to courts in “every case” coupled with an inclination among judges to verbatim reproduce their contents as judicial findings also lead to denial of bail. In non-bailable offences, bail is discretionary and there are conditions that the judge may impose which are selectively applied many times. Also, there are special penal laws like the UAPA, PMLA etc where some overzealous SC judges have given a free pass to the executive.

IMPLICATIONS OF DENIAL OF BAIL

• Violation of the principle “bail is the rule, jail is the exception
• The rights of the citizens are unjustifiably curtailed
• Overcrowding of prisons and increase in state expense
• Inefficiency in the criminal justice system
• Scope for rent-seeking, corruption at multiple levels
• Productivity of the individual is lost
• Social stigma and long incarceration
• The process becomes the punishment
• Chances for reformation and rehabilitation reduce.

HOW CAN A SEPARATE BAIL LAW ADDRESS THE SITUATION?

CrPC IS ESSENTIALLY COLONIAL

• Notwithstanding subsequent revisions, the CrPC essentially retains its initial form as drafted by a colonial power over its subjects.
• The Code does not see the arrest as a fundamental liberty concern.

UNIFORMITY AND CERTAINTY

• “The cornerstones of judicial dispensation are uniformity and predictability in court decisions.” Persons accused of the same offence shall not be treated differently by the same court or by separate courts.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

• In the United Kingdom and many states in the United States, there are specific laws that lay down guidelines for arrests and grants of bail. There is a “pressing need” for a similar law in India.

DEDICATED LEGAL REGIME

• several previous judgments and guidelines regarding bail and the numerous conditions that need to be complied with while arresting an accused are often not followed.
• So a new bail law will integrate these aspects and provide a cohesive form which can be a shot in the arm for personal liberty.

THE BAIL ACT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

The Bail Act of the United Kingdom of 1976 governs the process of granting bail. One distinguishing element is that one of the legislation’s goals is to “reduce the size of the convict population.” The statute also includes procedures for defendants to receive legal representation.  The Act recognises a “general right” to bail. Section 4(1) establishes the presumption of bail by declaring that the legislation applies to a person who shall be granted bail unless otherwise provided for in Schedule 1 to the Act.

In order to reject bail, the prosecution must demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe the defendant on bail will not surrender to custody, will commit an offence while on bail, will interfere with witnesses, or will otherwise obstruct the course of justice;

WHETHER INDIA NEEDS A SEPARATE BAIL LAW?

LAW COMMISSION REPORT

• When the Department of Legal Affairs asked the Law Commission about the need for a separate bail law in India in 2015, the commission concluded that it wasn’t required.

IMPUNITY FOR OFFICERS STILL EXIST

• The problem is not a lack of guidelines but the fact that there are no consequences for officials who violate them.
• There is a belief that officers can get away with not following the law.
• The authorities follow the procedure “as per their wish”. A new Bail Act is unlikely to change the situation.

DOES NOT ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSE

• Laws dealing with criminal activity provide high scope for police discretion, especially in cognizable offences. For instance Section 124A of IPC deals
• with sedition(before the SC judgment on sedition) and Section 153A is related to promoting enmity between groups. Also, the vague and overarching terms in laws like UAPA, IT Act
• 2000, etc provide huge scope for abuse of these laws by police. In PUCL Vs. Union of India, 2021, the Supreme Court felt appalled after finding that
• people are still being booked and tried under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

THE EXECUTIVE IS AN INTERESTED PARTY

• The judiciary is better placed to deal with issues of bail instead of the government. The law made by “the state may have the potential to introduce caveats on the law of bail,” which in effect create more problems than they purport to solve.

DISCRETION OF THE JUDGES CAN’T BE CODIFIED

• The enormity of the charge, nature of the accusation, severity of punishment on conviction, possibility of the accused absconding if released on bail, the danger of witnesses being tampered with, health, age and sex of the accused etc. are the crucial grounds for deciding the bail which can’t be measured through a straightjacket mathematical formula.
• Discretion will always create a chance for rent-seeking and biased decisions of the judges, even in the presence of bail law.

THE WAY FORWARD:

1. A Bail Act in the line of the developed democracies can be enacted after a wide-ranging consultation although it in itself is not a panacea for the problem of denial of bail.
2. The judicial discretion in granting bail needs to be circumscribed and cannot be used in an arbitrary manner; sound discretion is guided by law and governed by rule and by the whims and fancies of the judge. The subordinate judiciary and the High Courts need to be sensitized and taken to task for rejecting bail on sterile and irrelevant grounds and also for imposing onerous bail conditions.
3. According to 21^st Law Commission, Confinement is detrimental to the person accused of an offence who is kept in custody, imposes an unproductive burden on the state, and can have an adverse impact on future criminal behaviour, and its reformative perspectives will stand diminished.  Hence, the bail should not be denied unless there are compelling circumstances.
4. The problem of delays in deciding bail applications can be reduced by utilizing e-governance, and AI  and also by improving the infrastructure base of the district judiciary through the establishment of a National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation.
5. The process of arrest by the police and other investigative agencies needs to be strictly in accordance with the laws and directions of the SC. Exemplary punishment needs to be awarded for violation
6. Legal education and awareness of the legal system and legal aid is the need of the hour and the Legal Services Authorities need to take concrete steps in this regard.
7. A comprehensive reform in the entire criminal justice system is required to address the root causes and the Malimath Committee report provides a goldmine of suggestions in this regard.

THE CONCLUSION: As per the NCRB data around 76 per cent of inmates in the prison are undertrials who are mainly booked for non-heinous crimes and the major reason for such a state of affairs is the poor bail system in the country. The SC directions and recommendation for a separate bail law have come as a fresh lease of life, but without a comprehensive overhauling of the criminal justice system, these measures may not have the desired impact.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. Critically examine the need for a separate Bail Law in India.
2. What are the implications of the denial of bail in deserving cases? How far do you think that a separate bail law can actually implement the principle “ bail is the rule, jail is the exception” on the ground?

THE CONTEXT: On 27 July 2022, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary vs Union of India, upheld vast parts of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 including its stringent bail conditions for economic offences that impose a reverse burden of proof on the accused. This article critically examines the Supreme Court judgment.

THE MANDATE OF THE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE(ED): AN OVERVIEW

• ED is a Multi-Disciplinary Organisation under the Department of Revenue, Min of Finance mandated with the task of enforcing the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)
• The ED headquartered in New Delhi is headed by the Director of Enforcement. There are five Regional offices and other such zonal and subzonal offices in various parts of the country.
• It was formed in 1956 in the Department of Economic Affairs, to investigate cases of foreign exchange-related violations, a civil provision. But in 2002, after the introduction of the PMLA, it started taking up cases of financial fraud and money laundering, which were of criminal nature.
• FEMA 1999 regulates the transactions in currency, import and export of commodities, securities, purchase and sale of any kind etc.
• The main objective of FEMA is to facilitate external trade and payments. In addition to this, FEMA was also formulated to assist the orderly development and maintenance of the Indian forex market.
• Contraventions of FEMA are dealt with by way of adjudication by designated authorities of ED and penalties up to three times the sum involved can be imposed.
• The PMLA provides authority to the ED to investigate offences of money laundering and to take actions of attachment and confiscation of property
• PMLA provides for the prosecution of the persons involved in the offence of money laundering. There are 156 offences under 28 statutes which are Scheduled Offences under PMLA.
• ED also processes cases of fugitive/s from India under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.
• The powers of the survey, search and seizure, the search of persons, retention of property or of records, to issue summons to enforce the attendance of any person and compel him to give evidence or produce records, discovery or inspection, and the power to arrest, etc are conferred by various provisions of PMLA.
• Render cooperation to foreign countries in matters relating to money laundering etc.

GREY AREAS IN PMLA: GROUND FOR CHALLENGE

ABSENCE OF A PROCEDURE

• Unlike the CrPC which provides for a proper procedure to commence an investigation, in the PMLA there is no procedure prescribed.
• For instance, Section 154 and 155 of CrPC dealing with cognisable and non-cognisable offences but in PMLA no such procedures are prescribed and there is no registration of FIR under the Act. This violates Art 21 of the Constitution.

ENFORCEMENT CASE INFORMATION REPORT (ECIR)

• The PMLA has an internal manual where the ED officers record an ECIR- Enforcement Case Information Report. That is something that is kept by the ED to themselves and is not revealed to anybody even to the magistrate.
• This means an individual can be prosecuted without knowing why he has been proceeded against.

AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF CASE BY ED

• There are 156 Scheduled Offences and whenever a predicate offence is registered, the ED starts investigation under PMLA. This provides wide latitude and discretion to ED which is often misused.
• There must be something beyond the FIR under the predicate offence which needs to be established for the ED to commence the investigation.

ARTICLE 20(3)

• Section 50 of the PMLA vests the ED officers with the power of a Civil Court. But while exercising the power of summons to a person by ED, usually no reason is provided for such summons. Neither the person is informed whether s/he is summoned as a witness or as an accused nor any information is given on what predicate offence s/he is charged under.
• Secondly, the person must compulsorily answer the questions put forward by the officers and must sign the disclosure statement which is used as evidence against him in the court.
• This is a direct violation of Art 20(3) which protects individuals from self-incrimination. (No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself)

ORDINARY CRIMES INCLUDED IN SCHEDULED OFFENCES

• Section 120 B dealing with criminal conspiracy is part of PMLA. The section can be applied to any offence and requires only a mere allegation.
• There is no threshold of initiating a PMLA case based on 120B. Similarly, murder is also part of PMLA, and it is doubtful why such an isolated act can be a part of PMLA.
• It is another matter if there is an organised crime activity but on its own, these offences should not be part of PMLA.

2019 AMENDMENTS

• The 2019 amendments have increased the powers of the ED. The offences under the PMLA became standalone crimes, and the offences have been made cognisable and non-bailable.
• It has expanded the definition of proceeds of crime which means assets not directly related to the proceeds of crime can also be attached.

THE JUDGMENT

EDs POWER OF ARREST

• The Court upheld the constitutionality of the provisions of Sections 5, 8(4), 15, 17 and 19 of the PMLA, which relate to the powers of ED’s power of arrest, attachment, search and seizure.
• However, the court rejected the notion that the ED has been given blanket powers of arrest, search of person and property and seizure. The court said there were in-built safeguards” within the Act, including the recording of reasons in writing while effecting an arrest.

REASONABLE NEXUS

• The Court also upheld the reverse burden of proof under Section 24 of the Act and said that it has “reasonable nexus” with the objects of the Act.
• Court made it clear that the State has a compelling interest in imposing stringent bail conditions for economic offences.

ENFORCEMENT CASE INFORMATION REPORT (ECIR)

• The Court also held that the ED officials are not “police officials” and hence the statements recorded by them under Section 50 of the Act are not hit by Article 20(3) of the Constitution, which guarantees the fundamental right against self-incrimination. The punishment of fine or arrest for giving false information cannot be construed as a compulsion to give statement.
• The Court further held that Enforcement Case Information Report(ECIR) cannot be equated with an FIR and that it is only an internal document of the ED. Therefore, the CrPC provisions relating to FIR will not apply to ECIR.
• Supplying ECIR is not mandatory and disclosure of grounds of arrest is sufficient. However when person is before Special Court, it can ask for records to see if continued imprisonment is necessary.

TWIN CONDITIONS OF BAIL

• The court ​​upheld the stringent twin bail conditions required under the law for granting bail to an accused. The two conditions require a court to hear the public prosecutor against the bail plea and reach a satisfaction that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the accused is not guilty of the offense and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
• However, the court said undertrials could seek bail under Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure if they had already spent one-half of the term of punishment in jail for the offence prescribed in law. But, again, this is not an “absolute right” and would depend from case to case.

BURDEN OF PROOF

• Issue of the burden of proof rests heavily on the shoulders of the accused: The court upheld this provision and said that this provision did not suffer from the “vice of arbitrariness or unreasonableness”.

VACANCIES IN PMLA APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

• The Court also directed the Centre to fill up the vacancies in the PMLA Appellate Tribunal.

ABOUT AMENDMENTS

• Introduction of the amendments through Money Bills: The SC held that this issue would be separately examined by a larger Bench of the apex court.

CRITICISMS OF THE JUDGMENT

1. Sui generis PMLA: The PMLA is not a penal statute, but a sui generis one, which means that the law can, according to the Court, overlook several constitutional safeguards, including the right against self-incrimination.
2. Section 45 of PMLA: The judgement not only grants sanction to Parliament’s effort at reintroducing a law previously declared unconstitutional but also holds that the requirements for bail are by no means arbitrary or unreasonable. This is problematic for the fact that the predicate offences contained in the Schedule not only include terrorism as an offence but also the discharging of pollutants under the Environment Protection Act; penalties for applying for a false trade mark under the Trade Marks Act etc. and the present judgment makes no distinction in the extent of the crimes.
3. Test of Proportionality: The Supreme Court’s judgment in K.S. Puttaswamy vs Union of India held that fundamental rights operate not in silos, but by giving and taking meaning from each other and that any invasion of a constitutionally guaranteed freedom must satisfy a test of proportionality. This meant that every time the state impinged on a right, it had to show, among other things, that there existed not only a rational nexus between the law made by it and the objective at stake but also that it had satisfied itself that there were no less invasive means available to achieve the same aim. The present judgement in the PMLA case, the Supreme Court is somehow seen to move away from the pillars of constitutionality erected in the previous judgments and fails to protect personal liberty from draconian provisions.

THE PROBLEMS IN THE FUNCTIONING OF THE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE

POLITICISATION

• The ED is alleged to be targeting those political leaders who do not belong to the ruling party/parties at the Centre. Even the past cases of these leaders have been reopened in order to pressurize them either to change parties or to curb dissent.

TARGETING DISSIDENTS

• The PMLA has been misused for targeting dissident voices and thereby preventing free speech and expression.
• This has become a routine affair especially in the case of NGOs. For instance, all bank accounts of Amnesty International India were completely frozen by the Enforcement Directorate in September 2020 on the charge of the alleged violation of PMLA.

VIOLATING FEDERAL PRINCIPLES

• The division of power under the Schedule 7 of the Constitution places the responsibility for police and public order in the State List. But the power of ED to investigate cases without states consent especially in ordinary crimes is against federal principles.

SELECTIVE APPLICATION OF LAWS

• The ED has been accused of selective application of the PMLA provisions and the major money laundering scams are either not investigated or not followed up by ED.
• For instance, The Rose Valley Chit Fund Scam in Odisha, the NARADA scam in West Bengal etc seem to have missed ED radar.  One MP was seen in a video taking a bribe, ED summoned him, but nothing was heard after he switched party.

POOR PROFESSIONALISM

• A look at the last 17 years, since the criminal law was enacted, the Enforcement Directorate has filed more than 5,400 money laundering cases and it has secured conviction against just 23 persons till now. The ED’s conviction rate is as low as 0.5% even after the dramatic increase in raids.

VIOLATION OF RULE OF LAW

• ED can carry out the pre-trial attachment of property and funds just on basis of reasons to believe of the investigative authority and not concrete facts. So even without an investigation is complete, a persona can be charged, and the property can be attached just because a complaint/investigation exists against him.
• It effectively means that though a citizen is presumed not guilty, he is deprived of control over his property, when the prosecution believes that it comes from tainted money, effectively destroying lives, families, and businesses, just on the basis of investigators’ reason to believe and not on evidence.

VIOLATES ORIGINAL INTENT

• The Act gave expression to India’s commitment to the United Nations to enact domestic legislation to curb the laundering of money linked to drug trafficking. However, a series of subsequent amendments have sought to systematically dilute the cardinal intent of the Act, reducing it to an instrument of arbitrary power in the hands of the ED.

PINCH OF OPTIMISM IN THE FUNCTIONING OF THE ED

Of late, the ED has not just taken up high-profile cases, but has also actively started investigating them, filed charge sheets in many long-pending cases, attached properties in a series of cases worth Rs 58,000 crore, moved applications, and even secured extraditions. In the last 10 years, the ED has attached assets worth Rs 58,333 crore. The highest number of attachments has been made in the Sterling Biotech case, amounting to Rs 14,000 crore. Between 2005 and March 2018, the agency attached assets worth Rs 27,000 crore, of which Rs 14,000 crore, a little over 50 per cent, pertained to cases of bank fraud. Since the PMLA was enacted, more than 2,500 ECIRs have been filed in the ED, and the investigation is pending in over 1,000 cases. The agency sends letters rogatory to different countries to obtain information about individuals and entities offshore. A letter rogatory is a formal communication from a competent court to a foreign court and is processed by the Ministry of External Affairs on behalf of investigative agencies. But most of these letters go unanswered, severely affecting the investigation. In some cases, this can lead to a court dismissing a case due to a lack of evidence. In 90 per cent of cases, the money is laundered and stashed in tax havens abroad, and when ED do not get information from there, the investigation suffers.

POSITIVES IN THE JUDGEMENT:

• The court in its order made it clear that the mere the provisional attachment order passed under the Act does not mean that the property stands confiscated; and until and order of confiscation is formally passed, there is no reason to take the possession of such property. It is hoped that the ED will now refrain from issuing notices asking persons whose assets are attached to vacate their properties before a confiscation order is passed by the trial court.
• As per the judgment, not everyone in possession of ‘proceeds of crime’ can be prosecuted, but only those concerned in any process or activity. The practice of making every person whose assets are attached as an accused, and prosecuting them merely because they are relatives of the main accused person and are holding an asset given to them by the main accused, will now hopefully stop.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• The safeguards: The PMLA is a code dealing with money laundering and ED officers investigating under this Act are not police officers, and as such, not bound by the restrictions applicable to the police under the Code of Criminal Procedure. ED is staffed by senior officers and that such officers are assumed to be fairer in their conduct than the regular police. PMLA also incorporates penalties against erring officers for vexatious search. Such safeguards must be strengthened to combat any misuse.
• Predicate offence: While affirming its powers, the court has however reiterated the procedural limitations of this Act, including the necessity of a predicate offence before a prosecution for money laundering can be launched. A predicate offence is one mentioned in the schedule to the PMLA, which is the crime which gives rise to the ‘proceeds of crime’, which are then laundered. The clear reinforcement by the Supreme Court of the necessity of a predicate offence is going to help in circumscribing the misuse of the ED’s power. There must be a consensus between the adjudicating authority and the officers of ED to abide by the constitutionality of this provision under PMLA, making the investigation more lucid.
• The due process: In a system where the average person approaching the average police station does so without any great hope for justice, it is due process which is the most urgent need to protect the life and liberty of the poorest and most helpless. The ED, in a perverse democratisation, has brought this fear to the high and mighty. The reforms, to affect the need for due regulation of the ED and all other agencies performing investigative and penal functions might end this phase of misuse of agencies like the ED for political vendetta.
• Operational Vigilance: There must be a constant scrutiny over the operations of the Enforcement Directorate and current disposition whether this clarification will improve the conviction rate (which is right now less than half a percent). And if there will be any lacunas in the operative part, change is the law of nature, these gaps can be filled either through suitable legislation, executive action or revised order of the apex court.

THE CONCLUSION: The ED is a weapon frequently used by the government against its opponents and critics. The judgement has failed to protect citizens at a time when executive excess using that weapon is often visible. The draconian provisions of the PMLA challenge and override many fundamental rights of citizens, and it is wrong that such provisions, prone to much misuse, are allowed to continue on the statute book.India’s criminal justice system is built on a set of axioms that are inherent to the basic precepts of justice and fairness. These include the idea that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty; the court has held that the presumption of innocence until proven guilty can be interdicted by a law made by Parliament/Legislature. The judgement raises many concerns and needs to be reviewed by the court.

Mains Practice Questions:

1. PMLA is part of a global response to organised crime. Whether the recent Supreme Court judgment fails to protect the personal liberty from draconian provisions? Critically analyse.
2. The Supreme Court judgement upholding the stringent provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, weakens many rights of citizens and the safeguards provided by law against executive excess. Comment.
3. By upholding self-Incrimination and the presumption of guilt, the court has put the personal liberty of citizens at risk. Critically analyse the Supreme Court judgment on the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002
4. India’s proximity to the two of the world’s biggest illicit opium-growing states has enhanced her internal security concerns. Explain the linkages between drug trafficking and other illicit activities such as gunrunning, money laundering and human trafficking. What counter-measures should be taken to prevent the same? (2018)
5. Discuss how emerging technologies and globalisation contribute to money laundering. Elaborate measures to tackle the problem of money laundering both at national and international levels. (2021)

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Ministry of Education released the 7th Edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings 2022. The following article intends to evaluate the impacts of NIRF rankings on learning outcomes.

NIRF RANKINGS: KEY ASPECTS

• The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) has been launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development on September 29th, 2015.
• This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country covering about 3500 educational institutes in India. The methodology draws from the overall recommendations to identify the broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions.
• NIRF India Ranking 2022 has been announced for 11 categories. This includes overall, university, management, college, pharmacy, medical, engineering, architecture, ARIIA (Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements), law and research institutions.
• The subjectivity in the ranking methodology developed by QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Ranking led India to start its own ranking system for Indian HEIs on the line of Shanghai Rankings. The long-term plan of NIRF is to make it an international league table.
• More than 7,000 institutes participated in NIRF Rankings for 2022.

The ranking framework judges institutions under five broad generic groups of parameters of

• Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR),
• Research and Professional Practice (RP),
• Graduation Outcomes (GO),
• Outreach and Inclusivity (OI),
• Perception (PR).

Ranks are assigned based on the total sum of marks assigned for each of these five broad groups of parameters.

ANALYZING IMPACTS OF RANKINGS ON LEARNING OUTCOMES

There is a new era in higher education, characterized by global competition, in which university ranking systems have assumed importance. Their emergence, often controversial and subject to considerable debate, has been met with a lot of scepticism, some enthusiasm and an institutional unease. Regardless, ranking systems are here to stay and it is important to assess their effect on the higher education sector and its stakeholders.

PRESENT STATUS

There are 864 Universities and 11669 Institutions in India but only 24 secured their places in the top 1000 list released by QS world university ranking.

• Even after 70 years of independence, India does not have even one world-class multidisciplinary research university. And just one university IISc Bangalore was ranked in the Top 500 of Global Rankings.
• If we talk about the top 100, 33 Institutes were from the USA, 15 from the UK, 7 from Germany, 6 from China and 5 from Japan.

Reasons for the worst condition of Indian Institutions

• Even after liberalisation in the 1990s, there was no liberation of higher education from government control.
• People complained about the lack of autonomy and bureaucratic interference.
• There were some 17 bodies controlling each and every realm of higher education.
• The country was incapable of producing many things it desired. We could not produce the necessary defence equipments.
• Half of India’s students were pursuing courses in the liberal arts and sciences.

WHY DO WE NEED NIRF?

• The importance of a national ranking system is that it helps students choose the best university. A national ranking ensures that all higher educational institutes strive hard to improve their rankings.
• It also ensures that there is no complacency in the institutes and they work harder each year to provide quality education to students.
• Educationists have always voiced their concern about the absence of Indian universities, technology and management institutes from global rankings and the importance of these rankings.
• Thus, a national ranking framework ensures that universities keep working hard to ensure that they are providing scholastic education, at par with international standards.

NIRF: THE ASSESSMENT

Detailed assessment mechanism:

• Teaching and Learning Resources (TLR): This parameter deals with the basic activities related to any place of learning. It deals with the teaching and learning resources available to the institute and how they are being utilized.

• Research and Professional Practice (RP): This parameter measures the quality of research being carried out, and the scholarships provided to students.

• Graduation Outcome (GO): This parameter judges the ultimate goal of students, graduation.

o   Combined Metric for Placement, Higher Studies, and Entrepreneurship (GPHE): It is calculated based on the percentage of graduating students placed through campus placement over the past three years and the number of sustained start-ups or entrepreneurial adventures over the past five years.

o   Metric for University Examinations (GUE): This is the number of students as a fraction of the approved intake who have passed the university exam within the stipulated time for the course they had enrolled in.

o   Median Salary(GMS): It is the median salary of graduates who have passed from the institution.

o   Metric for Number of PhD Students Graduated (GPHD): It is the average number of PhD students who have graduated over the past three years.

• Outreach and Inclusivity (OI): This is the parameter that deals with the representation of women, marginalized and minorities in the institution.

• Perception (PR): This parameter judges the overall perception of the institute by industry, peers and researchers. It is judged based on the following sub-parameters:

• A ranking is the best form of publicity and comparison. It shows that your institute is better than the rest, it shows that you provide quality education and ensures that the general public views your institute with trust.
• When students research colleges and universities, one parameter that they pay the most attention to is the ranking of the institute. Choosing the right educational institute is one of the most important and daunting tasks in a student’s life. A higher ranking ensures that students and their parents/guardians can place their trust in your institute.
• A better ranking gives you a better reputation by evaluating your institute better than the others and it is also proof that the general public likes and trusts the institute. A ranking is a testimonial that your institute has worked on every parameter and provided the best resources, infrastructure and facilities to the students.

THE METHODOLOGY: PLACING VALUE ON INTEGRITY

• Institutions, universities and colleges are supposed to register and upload information according to the guidelines issued by the NIFR. They also have to upload the information submitted to NIRF on their own site for a period of three years. As a step towards encouraging transparency, the NIFR is empowered to do random and surprise audits on the data submitted by institutes. If the submitted data are inconsistent with the findings, the institute could be barred from participating in the ranking survey for the next two years.
• While the ranking depends heavily on self-declaration, asking institutes to publish data on their own site is a simple way of ensuring transparency and integrity of information.

NIRF RANKINGS: CRITICAL ANALYSIS

While it is laudable that the government is promoting a benchmark mostly based on objective indicators, it is a matter of concern that this does not serve the purpose of improving the standards of learning.  The zeal to tick the right boxes can give results that do not conform to the ground reality, raising questions about the fairness and reliability of the assessment parameters.

IMPACT ON STUDENT ENROLMENT

• The impact of the NIRF rankings on improving students’ enrolment, is considered limited. That largely depends on the reputation, fee structure, infrastructural facilities, location and research output.
• According to the All-India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), India’s GER was 27.4 per cent for 2017-18.
• This, in effect, means out of the total population in the age group of 18-23 in India, 27.4 per cent attend college and university.

SCOPE OF ATTRACTING FOREIGN STUDENTS

• India having a global ranking system of its own may be a project in the making, but eventually, quality and vastly improved standards are what will bring international students and faculty to the country, not hollow validation based on scores that project a distorted image.

NEED FOR RESEARCH DRIVEN INSTITUTES

• The industry connection will happen when research leads to better outcomes. That requires liberal funding for institutions that show promise, whether or not they figure high on rankings, putting an end to the meaningless exercise of churning out worthless, amateurish research papers just to get additional credit or help an individual acquire a degree.
• Although India has seen an exponential increase in the number of scientific publications over the last 10 years and is in the third position globally after China and the US, the conversion rates of these patents into working models are far less than desired.
• Although India is a hub of immense economic activity, its efforts to boost R&D and innovation are lagging. This can also be seen through the patenting activity in the country.
• India has been ranked 40th out of 53 countries on the Global Intellectual Property Index. Patenting activity is an indicator of innovation and India has seen an infinitesimally small rise over the years in the patent filing.

DEFINING PURPOSE

• The idea behind rankings should be to inform decisions, not drive admissions. Thus, even though the Gross Enrolment Ration (GER) could have spiked in recent times, the quality and quantity of worthy choices before students aren’t enough to be celebrated.
• As the NIRF evolves and involves more institutions, guidance from foreign and Indian experts should be of immense help, besides an honest review of its performance, the shortcomings and the additional parameters it needs to incorporate, like the financial health and size of the institution. The success of the endeavor lies in how beneficial it can be for students.

Tyranny of Geography

• There is discrimination present even in the top-rated universities and colleges in India. For example, certain courses in certain IITs are prefer it over the others. Also, the notion of explicit advantage of students belonging to tier one cities with regard to language and technological upgrade nations is visible clearly in such eminent institutes which somehow overlooks the overall quality of education in other institutes.

Global Comparisons

• Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) a leading global career and education network for ambitious professionals looking to further their personal and professional development.
• QS develops and successfully implements methods of comparative data collection and analysis used to highlight institutions’ strengths.
• The ‘QS World University Rankings’ is an annual publication of university rankings which comprises the global overall and subject rankings.

Six parameters and their weightage for the evaluation:

• Academic Reputation (40%)
• Employer Reputation (10%)
• Faculty/Student Ratio (20%)
• Citations per faculty (20%)
• International Faculty Ratio (5%)
• International Student Ratio (5%)

National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF): The ranking framework judges institutions under five broad generic groups of parameters of

• Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR),
• Research and Professional Practice (RP),
• Graduation Outcomes (GO),
• Outreach and Inclusivity (OI),
• Perception (PR).

Ranks are assigned based on the total sum of marks assigned for each of these five broad groups of parameters.

Thus, clearly the NIRF is losing out on global standards like employment generation and foreign students.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• The NEP (National Education Policy) notes that quality education would enable us to occupy the “global stage” and cites.
• NEP also calls for attention to “local and global needs of the country”. It seeks the making of a truly global citizen through “Global Citizenship Education”. NEP calls for the use of global best practices for standard setting. India must thus, actualize best pedagogic practices to culminate patents into innovations.
• For multidisciplinary education and research universities (MERU), the NEP calls for the highest global standards. In its recognition of the need to give a global competitive edge to the students, the policy (which is not without its problems and critiques) offers us a way of thinking about Flagship Universities as well.
• To spur hundreds of universities and thousands of colleges to improve their level of excellence: give all higher education institutions complete autonomy. Let them all compete and get better. In tandem with increased transparency and accountability on outcomes, all the stakeholders’ students, industry, society and nation will benefit.

THE CONCLUSION: India has historically been the land of great universities and institutes which have given the world an unprecedented volume of wisdom and innovations. A similar perception needs to be created in present times. The advantage of improving our brand perception is that we get the added advantage of word-of-mouth advertising. It means that the general public views our institute in high regard and talks about it in the same manner. Thus, more people get to know and discuss about your institute, without any expenditure on advertising and marketing. It is also the most widespread and fast means of publicity.  Hence, a good NIRF ranking has multiple advantages for any institute if projected and utilised in a goal driven manner. It is in our best interest that we strive for a better rank every time and establish your institute in the top echelons of higher education.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

• “The idea behind rankings should be to inform decisions, not drive admissions.” Examine critically in the light of the recently released National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).
• “There are many advantages of improving the brand perception of our institutes by means of better performance in competitive rankings.” Do you agree? Give valid arguments in support of your views.

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a top official of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the regulatory body for drug approvals in India, and a senior official in charge of regulatory affairs of a Bengaluru-based pharmaceutical firm as well as officials of a company acting as middlemen on behalf of the pharma company. This development again raised questions on the flaws in the drug regulation in India and highlighted the need for a strong mechanism for drug and pharmaceutical regulations. Daily analysis for the issue is as follows.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF REGULATION

The regulatory scenario in this sector is extremely crucial not only due to the rapid and ongoing changes at the global level, largely with reference to good manufacturing practices (GMP), good clinical practices (GCP)and good laboratory practices (GLP) but also due to the onus on the regulatory bodies to ensure a healthy supply of quality drugs at affordable prices to the Indian masses.

WHY THERE IS A NEED FOR REGULATION?

REASON

DETAILS

INFLATED FEES BY PRIVATE HOSPITALS

• The Drug Price Control Order of 2013 stipulates a ceiling of MRP for medicines mainly in the national list of essential medicines and has provided full freedom to the pharmaceutical companies to fix the MRP at a high level.
• This provides the regulatory space to facilitate corporate hospitals to demand high mark-ups from pharmaceutical companies.
• The NPPA analyses show that a major portion of hospital bills – 55% – is payments for medicines and other consumables.

Case study:

• In 2017, the country was shocked to hear that two families had to pay nearly Rs 16 lakhs each for the two weeks of inpatient care of their children for the treatment of dengue-related complications.
• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) inquiry into these two inflated charges revealed that hospitals were producing medicines at a cheap price and selling them to patients at the maximum retail price (MRP).
• An analysis, by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), of Fortis Hospital’s bill of medicines and consumables of one such patient, shows the exorbitant charges: an IV Infusion set procured for Rs. 8.39 is sold to the patient for Rs. 115, a margin of 1,271 per cent. Similarly, a disposable syringe procured for Rs. 15.90 was sold to the patient for Rs. 205, a margin of 1,189 per cent.
• The analyses of the hospital bills found a mark up between 375% and 1700%.

FAILED PAST ATTEMPTS DUE TO REGULATORY LOOPHOLE

• Past experiences show that even if the government caps the margins or prices of the consumables, the hospitals then increase the charges for procedures and other services and refuse to pass on the benefit to the patients.
• Example: In the case of cardiovascular stents, immediately after the prices were capped, hospitals increased the charges for procedures.
• Therefore any effective remedy to ensure affordable healthcare charges can be done only through the ceiling of healthcare charges in private hospitals.

SHRUGGING OFF THE RESPONSIBILITY BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

• With health being a State subject, the Central government says it cannot step in to regulate healthcare charges.
• The Central Clinical Establishment Rules, which is to implement the Central Clinical Establishment Act (CEA) stipulates that the clinical establishments shall charge the rates for procedures and services fixed by the Central government in consultation with the state government.
• Though the rules were framed in 2012, the Central government has not fixed the rates.
• Draft Charter of Patients Rights, a joint initiative of the National Human Rights Commission and Ministers of Health is also silent on the ceiling of health charges.
• The Charter, without any regulation or ceiling on healthcare charges, would not offer any relief to the people who are exposed to financial exploitation from private sector hospitals.

INTERNATIONAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATIONS

• India, as a party to the International Covenant on Social and Economic Cultural Rights, has an international obligation to protect its population from the exploitation of private hospitals.
• Similarly, the right to health is recognised as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the constitution which places a constitutional obligation upon both the Union and state governments to regulate healthcare charges.

NO CLEAR DEFINITION/REGULATION FOR GENERIC AND SPURIOUS DRUG

• There is no definition of generic or branded medicines under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules, 1945 made thereunder.
• However, Clause 1.5 of Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 prescribes that every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters and he/she shall ensure that there is a rational prescription and use of drug.
• But, the regulation related to both medicine is not implemented so far. There is a clear vacuum related to their in terms of regulation and difference of both these drug.

PROMOTION OF DOLO DURING RECENT PANDEMIC

• In the absence of clear guidelines and regulation, DOLO  non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (a harmful pain killer) promoted at wide level.
• This shows that why there is need for an effective regulations for such of harmful medicine.

MAJOR BODIES REGULATING DRUGS AND PHARMACEUTICALS

MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) headed by the Drug Controller General of India, DCGI (I) + Statutory Committees + Advisory Committees +

State Licensing Authorities

MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS

Department of Pharmaceuticals

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA): Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO) 2013

MINISTRY OF COMMERCE

Patent Office

Controller General of Patent

MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Department of Biotechnology (DBT)

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Laboratories

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT

Environmental clearance for manufacturing

ROLE OF DIFFERENT DRUG REGULATING AGENCIES

The Central Drug Standards and Control Organization (CDSCO)

(Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)

  Prescribes standards and measures for ensuring the safety,

  Efficacy and quality of drugs, cosmetics, diagnostics and devices in the country;

  Regulates the market authorization of new drugs and clinical trials standards;

  Supervises drug imports and approves licences to manufacture the above-mentioned products.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA),

( Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals)

  Fixes or revises the prices of decontrolled bulk drugs and formulations at judicious intervals;

 Periodically updates the list under price control through inclusion and exclusion of drugs in accordance with established guidelines;

  Maintains data on production, exports and imports and market share of pharmaceutical firms;

 Enforces and monitors the availability of medicines in addition to imparting inputs to parliament on issues pertaining to drug pricing.

STATE DRUG REGULATING AUTHORITY(SDRA)

  Licenses and monitoring manufacture,

  Distribution and sale of drugs and other related products.

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR PHARMA SECTOR

In India, drug manufacturing, quality and marketing are regulated in accordance with

1. Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940 and Rules 1945
2. Pharmacy Act of 1948
3. Drugs and Magic Remedies Act of 1954
4. Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO) 1995, 2013

In accordance with the Act of 1940, there exists a system of dual regulatory control or control at both Central and State government levels

INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES RELATED TO REGULATING BODIES IN PHARMA SECTOR

(ADMINISTRATION)

REGULATING BODIES

ISSUES                 

THE NATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL PRICING AUTHORITY

• NPPA chairman is an officer of the secretary level from   Indian administrative services.
• There is no fixed tenure of chairmen. Further, there are no permanent staff at NPPA.
• For implementing its order, NPPA has to depend upon state authorities.
• NPPA can only control the price of drugs which are under NLEM (which is in stark contrast with its motto “affordable medicine for all”) previously, it can control prices of other drugs also using Para 19 of DPCO order, but it has since been deleted.

THE CENTRAL DRUG STANDARDS AND CONTROL ORGANIZATION (CDSCO)

Lack of access to resources (both physical infrastructure and human resources)

THE DRUGS CONTROLLER GENERAL OF INDIA (DCGI)

MDs in pharmacology and/or microbiology are given preference for appointment to the job of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI): this can generate a conflict of interest sometimes.

STATE DRUG REGULATORY AUTHORITY(SDRA)

• Most of the regulators are pharmacists: this creates a conflict as; most of the regulators at the central level are Doctors.
• Lack of access to resources (both physical infrastructure and human resources)

From the table below it will be clear that both the CDSCO and the SDRAs exercise regulatory control exclusively on the basis of executive fiat and delegation. In effect, both have limited Pre Manufacturing Distribution and Sale Post Marketing operational freedom and, therefore flexibility, to develop and operationalise their regulatory powers.

CHALLENGES IN PHARMA REGULATION SECTOR (FUNCTIONING)

AUTONOMY

• Both the CDSCO and the SDRAs are umbilically tied to their parent ministries and departments of health respectively. This impedes flexibility in decision-making and autonomy in a host of areas beginning with finance, recruitment and other areas of institutional policy. Regulators are effectively accountable to bureaucrats in their respective parent ministries.
• Any decision passes through various ministerial channels,weakening the autonomy of CDSCO.
• The CDSCO is not a statutory body and, therefore, is not independent of the MOHFW. The CDSCO is headed by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). A similar structure operates at the state level where the State Drug Controller (SDC) heads the SDRA and reports to a joint secretary in the health department of state government AND HENCE OVERLAPPING JURISDICTIONS.
• Fees collected by the CDSCO are routed through the Department of Health, thus budgetary allocation is the only source of finance
• Fragmented drug regulators further decrease their autonomy as the power to regulate the Drug industry is at different levels VIZ. CDSCO,NPAA,SDRA
• Lack of hierarchy between CDSCO and the SDRAs as both are legally entitled to function autonomously since ‘health’ is a subject; this creates a continuous challenge in ensuring harmonised application of drug regulatory standards throughout the country.

POWER

• Section 33P15 which empowers the CDSCO to issue directions to SDRAs, to ensure that provisions of DCA are implemented uniformly in all states, has been rarely used and, even if it is used, the CDSCO has no power to enforce compliance by states.
• Drug inspectors have no assurance of their safety and do not have the power to arrest
• power of  SDRA to inspect the drug  only at the market level (off the sleeve whereas in most of the countries it is done at the process level)
• lack of power to punish the doctors who give verbatim  because of pharmaceutical lobbying   on clinical trials of drugs

CAPACITY

• AT THE ADMINISTRATIVE LEVEL, Lack of access to resources (both physical infrastructure and human resources.
• AT THE FINANCIAL LEVEL, BOTH ORGANISATION COMPLETELY  DEPENDS UPON BUDGETARY ALLOCATION, and a minimal user fee is charged  FROM THE INDUSTRY
• lack of planning and execution of training programmes for drug inspectors/ad hoc in approach
• institutional channels of interaction between the CDSCO and the SDRAs are lacking.

1. Method to calculate ceiling prices

• DPCO, 2013 lays down a complicated formula: “(Sum of prices to the retailer of all the brands and generic versions of the medicine having market share more than or equal to one per cent of the total market turnover on the basis of moving annual turnover of that medicine) / (Total number of such brands and generic versions of the medicine having market share more than or equal to one per cent of total market turnover on the basis of moving annual turnover for that medicine.)”
• In other words, the ceiling price is the average of price of all brands of medicine with more than 1% market share.

WHAT ARE THE SHORTCOMINGS IN THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF CONTROL IN INDIA?

HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEMES ARE NOT EFFECTIVE

• Instead of directly intervening and regulating the healthcare charges, the state and Central governments intervened through insurance schemes to reduce the financial burden of patients.
• These schemes function as a cross-subsidization or by increasing footfalls for the private sector.
• Studies have shown that even after insurance schemes like the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and various state government-sponsored insurance schemes; there is no change in the burden of out-of-pocket expenditure.
• Often hospitals use these schemes to attract patients and charge them heavily by offering services outside the scheme.

REGULATORY CAPTURE

• Regulatory capture is a phenomenon when a regulatory body gets influenced by the economic interests of special interest groups that dominate the industry, rather than those of the general public.
• A regulatory capture is a form of government failure, where government agencies fail to perform their duties.

WEAK IMPLEMENTATION BY THE GOVERNMENT

• Loopholes in policy design are complicated by weaknesses in implementation.
• The government leaking out information on the dosage of a drug whose price is under regulation is an example of a loophole in policy design.
• Also,

NO DETERRENCE OF PUNITIVE ACTIONS

• There are no punishment methods if a firm fails to adhere to the price cap or is strategically launching a new variant of the drug to bypass regulation.
• Violation of the price-cap ceiling imposed by DPCO 2013 has not attracted any punitive consequences for firms.

NO EFFECTIVE MONITORING MECHANISM

• Neither the Department of Pharmaceuticals nor the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has the institutional ability to monitor the prices of medicines at the state level. Such capacities are key to the enforcement of the regulation.

OVERVIEW OF MAJOR REFORM EFFORTS

ON AUTONOMY

RANJIT ROY CHAUDHARY COMMITTEE REPORT

CDSCO should be upgraded to a separate organisation with functional and financial autonomy. DCGI qualification and experience should be similar to that of a secretary or director general.

MASHELKAR COMMITTEE REPORT

Independent CENTRAL DRUG AUTHORITY  reporting directly to the Ministry of Health.

Financing

59th Report on the Functioning of CDSCO

MOHFW should work out a fully centrally sponsored scheme for the purpose so that the state drug regulatory authorities do not continue to suffer from a lack of infrastructure and manpower anymore.

Mashelkar Committee Report

Requires more budgetary allocation for setting up world-class drug controlling authority

MANPOWER

Ranjit Roy Chaudhary Committee

Identification and creation of positions in different disciplines have become more important in drug regulation. this can be solved by better emoluments

Mashelkar Committee

creation of new posts

 Augment no. of drug inspectors

 The capabilities and skills of enforcement staff need to be upgraded

59th Report on the Functioning of CDSCO

Engagement of medically and professionally qualified persons on a short-term contract or on deputation basis of interest agreements.

Infrastructure

Ranjit Roy Chaudhary Committee

Expand the current pharmacovigilance programme to cover the whole country by strengthening Zonal and sub zonal office

Mashelkar Committee

The state must provide adequate infrastructure for the office of DRA, including vehicles and the purchase of samples.

59th Report on the Functioning of CDSCO

Upgrade existing offices and set up new offices

Strengthen both central and state drug testing laboratories

THE WAY FORWARD:

QUALITY + AFFORDABILITY

Ø  The system of healthcare in India should be balanced between quality healthcare and affordability.

Ø  To achieve this, both policymakers and firms need to meet somewhere mid-way to find a win-win solution.

ROLE OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

Ø  The Central government, which has the experience of capping the price of healthcare services under the CGHS scheme, should use its powers under the Concurrent List to stop the burden-shifting and establish a regulatory authority to fix ceiling prices on healthcare services.

Ø  Even though health is listed as a state subject, the constitution provides the Union government with enough powers to regulate healthcare fees.

Ø  Article 243 of the constitution provides legislative competence to the Union government to legislate upon any subject matter in the state list to fulfil an international obligation.

Ø  The concurrent list entries, like price control and essential services, provide powers to the Central government to regulate the healthcare charges of private hospitals.

REFORMS IN THE DRUG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

Ø  The drug distribution system could be reformed in India, by building up the scale and scope of generic medicine pharmacies as in the Jan Aushadhi Programme, a campaign launched by the Government of India to provide quality generic medicines at affordable prices to the masses.

SUPPLY-SIDE REFORMS

Ø  The industry’s reputation from the supply side can be improved by responsible pricing behaviour and complementary programs to enhance the diffusion of their medicines and healthcare products to the less privileged at highly subsidised prices.

THE CONCLUSION: At the helm, we need persons of vision with an understanding of the importance of evidence-based medicine in public health and curative healthcare, as well as an understanding of the general progress of the science of medicine, pharmacology and pharmaceutics – these may be found in a wide range of associated disciplines, for mitigating the case of conflict of interest. National pharmaceutical policy is an opportunity to radically clean the anarchy in drug regulation in India in the interests of public health. Surely, “The Pharmacy of the World” deserves a better regulatory body.

MAINS QUESTIONS

1. Discuss the regulatory loopholes in the healthcare system in India, especially related to drug price control.
2. With healthcare being a State subject, the Centre has less power and responsibility in ensuring the right to health for everyone. Do you agree with the statement? Give reasons to justify your viewpoint.
3. Discuss the strategies that can be applied to make healthcare in India affordable to each and every one.

THE CONTEXT: India’s record in promoting occupational and industrial safety remains weak even with years of robust economic growth. Making work environments safer is a low priority, although the productivity benefits of such investments have always been clear. Although occupational safety and health (OSH) is an existential human and labour right, it has not received due attention from lawmakers and even trades unions in India. This article analyses the issue of occupational safety and health in detail.

THE ILO DECLARATION ON FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND RIGHTS AT WORK

The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW) , adopted in 1998 and amended in 2022, is an expression of commitment by governments, employers and workers’ organizations to uphold basic human values – values that are vital to our social and economic lives. It affirms the obligations and commitments that are inherent in membership of the ILO, namely:

• freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
• the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;
• the effective abolition of child labour;
• the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation; and
• a safe and healthy working environment. (added in 2022)

THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION’S FUNDAMENTAL CONVENTIONS

Embedded in the ILO Constitution, the principles and rights mentioned above have been expressed and developed in the form of specific rights and obligations in Conventions recognized as fundamental both within and outside the Organization. These ILO Conventions have been identified as fundamental, and are at times referred to as the core labour standards:

• Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
• Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention,1949 (No. 98)
• Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
• Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)
• Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138)
• Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)
• Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)
• Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)

The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work applies to all States belonging to the ILO, whether or not they have ratified the core Conventions.

WHY SOME COUNTRIES HAVE NOT RATIFIED THE CONVENTIONS:

• Even though the FPRW was a valiant statement of reaffirming a set of labour rights as core and undeniable human rights, there existed cracks within the FPRW for reasons such as:
• With the identification of a handful of conventions as core conventions, ILO has created a hierarchy of its own labour standards.
• It also implicitly under-valued the informal economy as freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining in a large sense relate to the small formal economy in the vast majority of poor and developing countries.
• Countries differ in terms of their stages in economic development and standards, OSH and minimum wages could not be brought under the FPRW framework, for they would have differential, if not difficult, economic outcomes for less developed and poor countries.
• There is no disagreement among any country that forced labour is not permissible. Though with respect to the elimination of child labour, poor countries justified the same on grounds of economic poverty.

INCLUDING OSH AS A CORE LABOUR RIGHT

FOR

• Some 2.3 million people die each year due to workplace illness and accidents and the current pandemic will only add to this appalling loss of human life. Many millions more have been injured or have long-term illnesses from their work. The right to protection from deadly work processes, noxious chemicals and other hazards must be recognised as a fundamental right, along with freedom of association and collective bargaining and protection from discrimination, forced labour and child labour.
• Several global OSH bodies like The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health strongly backed the International Trade Union Council’s (‘ITUC’) call for the inclusion of OSH as a part of fundamental rights.

AGAINST

• The International Organization of Employers recognized the value of OSH, it did not want to elevate it to a fundamental right alongside FOA and CB. It argued that OSH is frequently the result of irresponsible behaviour of workers and that OSH could be addressed in ways other than making a fundamental right.

Ø  On 23 March 2022, the ILO’s Governing Body, a tripartite committee overwhelmingly supported a call from worker members to move ahead with the process to designate occupational health and safety an ILO Fundamental Right at Work (FRAW).

Ø  In the plenary session of the ILC held on 10 June 2022, the delegates adopted a resolution to add the principle of “a safe and healthy working environment” to the ILO’s FPRW 1998.

Ø  Two ILO Conventions concerning OSH have been added to the ILO’s Core Conventions, viz. Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) , and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187).

C.155

• C.155 applies to all branches of economic activity in which workers, that is, all employed persons including public employees, are employed, including public services, and to all workers therein. The term “workplace” covers all places where workers need to be at or to go by reason of their work, and which are under the direct or indirect control of the employer.
• All member countries in consonance with the conditions prevalent in them formulate, implement and review periodically a national policy on OSH. The aim of the policy “shall be to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, linked with or occurring in the course of work, by minimising, so far as is reasonably practicable, the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment.”

C.187

• According to C.187, there must be in place a national policy and a national system for occupational safety and health, a national programme on occupational safety and health, and national preventative safety and health culture.

THE KEY INSTRUMENTS OF OSH:

ILO notes that more than 40 standards deal specifically with OSH and “nearly half of ILO instruments” deal directly or indirectly with OSH issues. These key instruments are divided into three aspects:

ASPECTS

KEY INSTRUMENTS

ON OSH

• Promotional Framework for OSH Convention, 2006 (C.187),
• OSH Convention, 1981 (C.155), and
• Occupational Health services Convention, 1985 (C.161);

ON HEALTH AND SAFETY IN PARTICULAR BRANCHES OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Hygiene (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1964 (C.120),
• Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979 (C.152),
• Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (C.167),
• Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (C.176), and
• Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (C.184);

ON PROTECTION AGAINST SPECIFIC RISKS

• Radiation Protection Convention, 1960, (C.115),
• Occupational Cancer Convention, 1974 (C.139),
• Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention), 1977 (C.148),
• Asbestos Convention, 1986 (C.162), and
• Chemicals Convention, 1990 (C.170).

To date, India has ratified only 47 Conventions and one Protocol. India has ratified several conventions which are somehow related to OSH, that is, hours of work, accidents, occupational diseases, and so on.

However, it has ratified only one of the Conventions noted above, which is, C.115 – Radiation Protection Convention, 1960 (No. 115) in 1975.

INDIA AND OSH:

• In India, we have labour laws covering certain primary economic activities like factories, ports and docks, mines, plantations, and construction, among others. There exist elaborate measures to ensure workers’ safety and health in them.
• The newly framed Code on Occupational Safety and Health and Working Conditions, 2020 has also put together the laws for various sectors like factories, mines, plantations, construction, and so on, however, some shortcomings and lacunas still exist. While the Code introduces some new provisions relating to OSH, it dilutes the existing ones. For instance:
• Earlier, under the Factories Act, 1948, every factory carrying out hazardous processes or a hazardous factory had to have in place a bi-partite Safety Committee. Now, the constitution of the Safety Committee has been left to the executive process of “government notification”. Further, Safety Officers are required to be appointed only in factories or mines or plantations employing a certain number of workers. Both of these clauses seriously dilute OSH.
• The Directorate General, Factory Advice Service and Labour Institutes (‘DGFASLI’) deal with the safety and health of workers employed in factories and ports. The Director General of Mines and Safety is concerned with the safety and health of mining workers. There is no agency nor any other labour law to cover the workers in unorganized workers, and those working in the micro, small and medium establishments.
• There is no direct law to regulate OSH in agriculture as there are in other branches of economic activity.
• The statistical system that exists in India provides unreliable and often incomplete statistics on industrial relations relating to industrial accidents. The statistical system conceived during the early years of the planned economy continues even now. For instance:
• The Indian Labour Statistics (an annual flagship publication of the Labour Bureau) publishes data on industrial accidents relating to four sectors: factories, mines, ports, and railways. Over so many decades, no more sectors have been added. The construction Sector is one such glaring omission.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR

• The informal sector or unorganized sector includes all those workers and tiny economic units that are not recognized, recorded, protected or regulated by formal arrangements in law or in practice. Unorganized workers do not have the social security benefits that workers in the formal sector enjoy from their employers and government. These workers are often exposed to various occupational hazards during their course of employment. Due to a lack of regulations governing occupational safety and standards in the unorganized sector, the occurrence of occupational diseases is common among these workers.
• The most common examples of informal employment in India are agriculture, construction work, carpet weaving, beedi making, garment making, blacksmith and welding, pottery, agarbatti making, food vending, domestic employment, auto and rickshaw driving, local car and two wheeler workshops, rag picking and manual scavenging. All these employments are associated with exposure to hazards and risks to various occupational diseases.
• Workers in informal sectors are not using protective devices and that aggravate risk to respiratory illnesses, eye problems, skin problem, hearing loss etc. The temporary nature of the occupational setup and belonging to poor socioeconomic status reduces their priority to occupational health and safety.
• No reliable government data on the numbers of the person involved in the informal sector, their working conditions and specific health hazards leads to difficulty in making policy and doing interventions on a large scale.
• Worksites and institutions should be encouraged and monitored to ensure safe health practices and accident prevention, besides providing preventive and promotive health care services. This can be started by formulating national health care guidelines for informal sector workers. Methods to implement these guidelines should also be discussed in detail.

THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN SECURING WORKERS’ RIGHTS, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PROVISIONS

• Civil society is the “sum total of all individual and collective initiatives for the public good”. The role of civil society and CSOs comprises a wide-ranging plethora of diverse activities. Associations of civil society that pursue a common purpose/deliver a public good include Traditional Associations, Religious Associations, Social Movements, Membership based (representational, professional, socio-cultural, self-help) and Intermediary Organisations (service delivery, mobilizing, support, philanthropic, advocacy, network).
• Various types of organizations engage at various levels. The nature of CSO activities can range from policy influencing to achieving certain goals (including evidence and agenda setting, policy development, advocacy, mobilization, consensus building, policy and accountability monitoring/watchdog work), to direct service provision (such as education, health, etc), to technical standard-setting, self-regulation through the creation and enforcement of best practices, and partnerships with the government to enhance their capacity to deliver essential services.
• This holds true for CSOs working on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and labour rights with the goal of securing workers’ rights to compensation. Often, these efforts take place within larger movements to secure health for all persons nationally. All CSOs have a different guiding ethos driving their efforts and espouse different theories of change to effect those changes in the long term.
• For instance, PRIA’s theory of change, involving efforts at the micro, meso and macro levels, as a CSO is depicted in the Figure given below. PRIA’s efforts are grounded in its ethos of participatory research, action and development. Enabling the excluded and the marginalised to gain and then exercise their agency, and informing, capacitating and empowering communities to incorporate their knowledge into solutions for themselves forms the bedrock of PRIA’s efforts. [Established in 1982, PRIA (Participatory Research in Asia) is a global centre for participatory research and training based in New Delhi. PRIA has linkages with 3000 NGOs to deliver its programmes on the ground.]

• Information Dissemination: One of the most crucial aspects of ensuring workers’ health and safety is building awareness about occupational hazards and existing provisions enabling workers’ rights. PRIA has carried this out by spreading information about the occupational hazards of silicosis among not just workers, but also medical professionals, local and national government officials, and communities at large. Seminars and campaigns were organised to help increase knowledge and awareness about the disease and how it could be dealt with at the workplace.
• Capacity Building: Knowledge and information dissemination is also an essential part of the overall capacity building that PRIA undertook with workers. Workers were made aware of information and strategies they could use to secure their rights. This included building the skills they needed and the awareness of the need to unionise and demand better working conditions at their workplaces.
• Monitoring: PRIA monitored and evaluated the implementation of specific projects, programs and policies to see how effective they were in actually effecting a change in the conditions of the workers.
• Advocacy: PRIA also engaged in various advocacy initiatives to influence policies and changes that were made in the working conditions of the individuals suffering from silicosis, and to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment. Workers’ rights are also actively championed through activism on the ground and now increasingly on social media. Several organisations are engaged in this, along with awareness raising.

DOMESTIC WORKER AND LABOUR LAWS

• Domestic workers are those workers who perform work in or for a private household or households. They provide direct and indirect care services, and as such are key members of the care economy. Their work may include tasks such as cleaning the house, cooking, washing and ironing clothes, taking care of children, or elderly or sick members of a family, gardening, guarding the house, driving for the family, and even taking care of household pets.
• Of the 75.6 million domestic workers worldwide, 76.2 per cent are women, meaning that a quarter of domestic workers are men. Domestic work is a more important source of employment though among female employees than among male employees.
• Although they provide essential services, domestic workers rarely have access to rights and protection. Around 81 per cent are in informal employment – that’s twice the share of informal employment among other employees. They also face some of the most strenuous working conditions. They earn 56 per cent of the average monthly wages of other employees and are more likely than other workers to work either very long or very short hours, they are also vulnerable to violence and harassment, and restrictions on freedom of movement. Informal domestic workers are particularly vulnerable. Informality in domestic work can partly be attributed to gaps in national labour and social security legislation, and partly to gaps in implementation.

REPORT PUBLISHED BY THE COMMONWEALTH HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE (CHRI):

1. While domestic workers across the world have suffered in the COVID-19 pandemic, the astounding lack of overarching legal or policy provisions in India to safeguard their wellbeing has meant a dire downward spiral for men and women in this sector in the last year, a report has found. The report published by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) notes that while the pandemic has demonstrated how integral domestic care and assistance is, this has not translated into an alleviation of the situation of domestic workers.
2. But more importantly, governments do not appear keen to resolve this either. Only six out of 54 Commonwealth countries have ratified the Domestic Workers Convention (C189) – 10 years after it was brought to ensure decent conditions for domestic workers. India is not one of the six.
3. The report calls for bold laws to eradicate the worst forms of child labour and adds that it would be in line with what India, as a signatory to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7 and the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999, has claimed to aim for. However, the e-Shram portal which aims to register 38 crore unorganised workers in the country and the formulation of the Labour Codes as steps taken by the Union government towards ensuring safeguards for unorganised, including domestic, laborers is worth the praise.
4. The report further recognises that a huge chunk of the work to ensure domestic workers get benefits are done by unions across the country and calls for civil society to encourage unionisation and collective action among domestic workers, including referrals to the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and/or the National Domestic Workers Movement (NDWM) as appropriate.
5. All such factors as mentioned in the report contributes to the call for India to ratify the C189, as a step towards streamlining national protections for domestic workers.

GIG WORKERS AND LABOUR LAWS IN INDIA

In an attempt to incorporate the doctrine of universalisation of social security, the gig workers are brought into the ambit of the labour laws for the first time, with the provision of some welfare measures under the Code on Social Security, 2020. The three other codes are silent on the policies toward gig workers.

In addition to the inclusion of laws for gig workers in the Code on ­Social Security, the Code on Industrial Relations, 2020 could have dealt with defining the nature of the relationship and the contract between the gig workers and the platforms by widening the scope of the ambit of employment relationships. When gig workers in many platforms are incentivised to work heavily ignoring the long-term health impacts, fixing maximum working hours and workplace safety measures could be covered in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code.

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS IN INDIA

PNEUMOCONIOSIS:

• Pneumoconiosis is the general term for a class of interstitial lung diseases (the tissue and space around the alveoli) where inhalation of dust has caused interstitial fibrosis.
• It is an occupational health disease and mostly affects workers who work in the mining and construction sectors.
• Depending upon the type of dust, the disease is given different names:
  • Coal worker’s pneumoconiosis (also known as miner’s lung, black lung or anthracosis) — coal, carbon
  • Asbestosis — asbestos
  • Silicosis (also known as “grinder’s disease”) – silica dust.

ABOUT SILICOSIS:

• Silicosis can be described as an occupational disease or hazard due to dust exposure. It is incurable and can cause permanent disability. However, it is totally preventable by available control measures and technology.
• Silica (SiO2/silicon dioxide) is a crystal-like mineral found in abundance in sand, rock, and quartz. It is a progressive lung disease caused by the inhalation of silica over a long period of time, characterized by shortness of breath, cough, fever and bluish skin.
• In India silicosis is prevalent in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Pondicherry, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal among the workers of construction and mining.

LEGAL PROVISIONS:

• Silicosis is a notified disease under the Mines Act (1952) and the Factories Act (1948) which mandates a well-ventilated working environment, provisions for protection from dust, reduction of overcrowding and provision of basic occupational health care.
• Self-Registration: A system of worker self-registration, diagnosis through district-level pneumoconiosis boards and compensation from the District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT) funds to which mine owners contribute.
• Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Condition Code 2020 (OSHWC): The code makes it mandatory for all employers to provide annual health checks free of cost as prescribed by the appropriate Government.

THE ANALYSIS:

Two of the largest employing sectors in India, namely agriculture and the micro, small and medium sectors, are not regulated by any law.The agriculture sector is lacking on legislation on safety and health for the workers working in this sector. There are certain Acts on occupational safety and health pertaining to certain equipments or substances, such as, the Dangerous Machines Regulation Act, the Insecticides Act. The enforcement authorities are not identified under these Acts and hence are not being enforced. The agriculture sector is the largest sector of economic activity and needs to be regulated for safety and health aspects. Lack of legislation on safety and health in the agriculture sector is also hindering the ratification of ILO convention 155. Industries under MSME also do not have any legislation to cover the safety and health of the workers which makes it difficult for India to ratify C.187.

However it must be understood that a safe and healthy workplace prevents accidents and occupational diseases; reduces, if not prevents, industrial accidents, especially fatal ones, thus ensuring higher participation of workers in economic activity, improves productivity, and thereby, in an overall sense, boosts economic efficiency, which eventually means higher economic growth. And hence employers must see the expenses on OSH, not as a liability but an investment.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• India should establish efficient Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) data collection systems to better understand the situation for effective interventions. The labour codes, especially the OSH Code, the inspection and the labour statistical systems need to be reviewed and be made more effective as the Government is in the process of framing the Vision@2047 document.
• Article 39(e) of the Constitution directs the State to ensure “that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength;” further, as per Article 42, the State “shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.” The state shall take proactive steps in realising such principles envisaged by the makers of our constitution which becomes even more imperative in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.
• The Government of India in 2019 declared the National Policy on Safety, Health and Environment at Workplace (NPSHEW) which aims to establish a preventive safety and health culture in the country through the elimination of the incidence of work-related injuries, diseases, fatalities, disasters and to enhance the well-being of employees in all the sectors of economic activity in the country. The policy recognizes the role of OSH’s contribution toward productivity, growth and overall welfare of people. It also identifies the role of some factors like changing job patterns and sub-contracting in posing problems in managing OSH; the role of technology in mitigating hazards, but also new risks arising out of it. The Policy, in short, makes the right signals, including stressing the need for an adequate and effective labour inspection system which must be acted upon proactively, will also help India in the direction towards ratifying the C.155.
• India faces large challenges in its efforts toward ratification of conventions relating to OSH. A progressive step that it could take in this direction is to endorse the FPRW which includes “a safe and healthy working environment” as another fundamental principle. Trade unions, academics, and more importantly, industry bodies must lobby the government toward these measures.

THE CONCLUSION: The labour agenda is never finished. The walk is long and strenuous as neoliberal globalization is more likely to put obstacles to the realization of rights as fundamental principles. It would indeed be a challenge as the world of work is undergoing profound changes. It is important for governments, employers and workers, and other stakeholders to seize the opportunities to create a safe and healthy future workplace for all. Their day-to-day efforts to improve safety and health at work can directly contribute to the sound socio-economic development of India.

Mains Practice Questions:

1. Even after having the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020, India has not ratified the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. What is hindering India in ratifying the convention and what should India do to further enhance the safety and health of workers?
2. ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW) was amended in 2022 to include “a safe and healthy working environment” as a basic human value. Comment.

THE CONTEXT: The 2022 edition of the World Population Prospects (WPP) of the United Nations has projected that India may surpass China as the world’s most populous country next year. The report estimates that India will have a population of 1.66 billion in 2050, ahead of China’s 1.317 billion around that time. In its previous estimate, the UN had projected that India would overtake China by 2027.

DECODING THE UN REPORT ON POPULATION TRENDS, ESTIMATES

POPULATION GROWING AT A SLOWER PACE

• The world population will reach eight billion by mid-November this year, growing to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050.

DISPARATE POPULATION GROWTH RATES

• More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania.
• India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023 due to the difference in population growth rates.
• It is projected to have a population of 1.668 billion in 2050, compared to China’s 1.317 billion people.

ELDERLY POPULATION

• The global population of people aged 65 years or above is projected to rise to 16 per cent in 2050 from the current 10 per cent.
• By 2050, the elderly population will be more than twice the number of children under the age of five.

LIFE EXPECTANCY, FERTILITY AND MORTALITY

• Global life expectancy at birth reached 72.8 years in 2019, an improvement of almost nine years since 1990.
• Life expectancy at birth for women exceeded that for men by 5.4 years globally, with female and male life. expectancies at 73.8 and 68.4, respectively.
• However, the gap in life expectancy at birth in some countries remains wide. Average global longevity to be around 77.2 years in 2050 due to further reduction in mortality levels.
• Global fertility is projected to decline to 2.1 births per woman by 2050.

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AS A DETERMINANT OF POPULATION CHANGE

• Population change is significantly affected by migration. As many as 10 countries saw an outflow of more than one million migrants each between 2010 and 2021.
• While Pakistan topped the list with a net outflow of 16.5 million, 3.5 million moved out of India over the decade.

IMPACT OF COVID ON POPULATION

• The COVID-19 pandemic has left a mark on all components of population change, including fertility, mortality and migration.
• Global life expectancy at birth fell to 71 years in 2021 from 72.8 in 2019, mostly due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
• In Central and Southern Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, life expectancy at birth fell by almost three years between 2019 and 2021.

ASPECTS OF THE INDIAN POPULATION

Rural-Urban Divide

The fertility rate in rural areas is much higher than that in urban areas.

Gender Divide

Indiacontinuestosufferfroma genderdivideduetothepreferenceformale children.Thus,the no.of males is far higher than females in India.

State-State Divide

Therearehugedisparitiesbetweenthestates.For example,the fertility rate is 1.6 in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and 3.3 in Bihar and 3.1 in Uttar Pradesh.

CAUSES OF POPULATION GROWTH IN INDIA

The rapidly increasing population of India is a result of prevailing high birth rates and a large decline in the death rate in our country. According to the World Bank data, the Crude Death Rate (per 1000 people) in India is 7.265 as of the year 2019. While the Crude Birth Rate stands at 17.664. The census data 2011 put these as 7.2 and 22.1 respectively.

CAUSES FOR HIGH BIRTH RATE

In India, marriage is not only universal but takes place at an early age. About 80 per cent of girls are married during the most fertile period of 15 to 20 yrs. of age.

Poverty means poor people have to spend little on the upbringing of their children. Besides, the children supplement the family income by engaging themselves in some odd jobs at an early age.

Lack of conscious family planning had also kept the birth rate in India very high.

In India, religion plays a major role in large size families. Abrahamic faith largely supports large family sizes. Even after so many girls in the family, the desire for one son prompts parents to continue with their child-producing activities.

The infant mortality rate is very high in India due to hunger, malnutrition and poor living conditions. So the fear of early death of their infants encourages the parents to have more children.

CAUSES FOR DECLINE IN DEATH RATE

Epidemics such as plague, smallpox, TB and malaria, which at one time used to cause a toll of heavy deaths, now have been effectively controlled.

The percentage of the population living in towns and cities went up from 26% in 1991 and 31.16%in 2011. Better health, hygiene and sanitation facilities in the town are expected to have lowered the death rate.

Literacy among women is progressing rapidly. Educated women bring up their children with utmost care. Working women enjoy better economic status and as such, they are healthier.

Besides the famine of 1943, no other serious famine has occurred in this century. Although famine-like conditions emerged in 1987 in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh yet these were effectively combated to cause any serious loss of life.

Disaster Management has become part and parcel of the Indian governance process. Physical, Technological and Human infrastructure have been created to prevent and mitigate the loss of lives from disaster.

BENEFITS OF INCREASING POPULATION

Young Population

While the nations all across the world are getting old, India is emerging as a young nation.Thus, the Indian young population is in high demand for its skill and age by the developed nations so as to maintain their economic growth.

Development of Business and Enterprises

The young population of India can help with the development of businesses and thus contribute to the nation’s growth.

Solving National Problems

Youngs killed workforce of India can solve national problems through innovative solutions as recognised by the government too while conducting Hackathons.

CHALLENGES OF POPULATION GROWTH IN INDIA

1. The problem of Capital Formation: High birth rate and relatively high expectancy of life mean a large number of dependents in the total population. The burden of dependents reduces the capacity of the people to save. So the rate of capital formation falls.
2. Effect on Food Problem: Rapid rate of growth of the population has been the root cause of the food problem.Shortage of food grains obliges the under-developed countries to import food grains from abroad. So a large part of foreign exchange is spent on it.
3. The problem of Unemployment: Large size of population results in disguised unemployment in rural areas and open unemployment in urban areas.
4. Poverty: Rising population increases poverty in India. People have to spend a large portion of their resources for bringing up their wards. Hence improvement in production techniques becomes impossible. It means low productivity of labour.
5. Population and Social Problems: The population explosion gives rise to a number of social problems. It leads to the migration of people from rural areas to the urban areas causing the growth of slum areas. People live in most unhygienic and unsanitary conditions.
6. More Pressure on Land: Due to rising population  per capita availability of land goes on diminishing and the problem of sub-division and fragmentation of holdings goes on increasing
7. Impact on Maternity Welfare: In India, the population explosion is the result of a high birth rate, which reduces the health and welfare of women. Frequent pregnancy without having a gap is hazardous to the health of the mother and the child. This leads to a high death rate among women in reproductive age due to early marriage.

POPULATION CONTROL POLICIES IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW

Population policy may be defined as deliberately constructed or modified institutional arrangements and/or specific programs through which governments seek to influence, directly or indirectly, demographic change.A positive population policy aims at reducing the birth rate and ultimately stabilising the growth rate of the population.The population policy of the Government of India has passed through the following phases from time to time:

Pre-Independence Period:

The British did not consider population growth as a problem. Their attitude towards birth control was one of indifference because they never wanted to interfere with the values, beliefs, customs and traditions of Indians. That is why this phase is called the Period of Indifference.

The Period of Neutrality, 1947-51

The period following independence and before the beginning of the planning era was one of neutrality. The Government of India was busy with post-independence problems like rehabilitation of the people following the Partition, reorganisation of the States and Pakistan’s invasion of Kashmir.

The Period of Experimentation, 1951-61:

During the first decade (1951-61) of planned economic development, family planning as a method of population control was started as a government programme in India. The National Family Planning Programme was launched in 1952 with the objective of “reducing the birth rate to stabilise the population at a level consistent with the requirement of the national economy”.

The Beginning of the population Control Policy 1961 to 2000:

With the rapid growth of the population in the 1961 Census by 21.5 per cent, the Extension Approach to family planning was adopted which emphasised the adoption of an educational approach to family planning through Panchayat Samitis, Village Development Committees and other groups. The National Population Policy was announced in 1976 to mount “a direct assault on the problem of numbers. In the post-emergency period, the Janata Government announced a New Population Policy in 1977.

National Population Policy, 2000:

National Population Policy (NPP) 2000:The immediate objective is to address the unmet needs for contraception, health care infrastructure and health personnel etc. The medium-term objective is to bring the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to a replacement level by 2010. The long-term objective is to achieve a stable population by 2045. The Central Government has set up a National Commission on Population (NCP) in 2000 to review, monitor and guide NPP implementation. It is presided over by the Prime Minister with CMs of states and others as members.

WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND POPULATION CONTROL

There are many unintended consequences of India’s family planning policy and programmes heavily impacting the rights of women. The various dynamics of this issue are outlined below.

PATRIARCHAL ATTITUDE

Gender norms in our patriarchal society dictate economic responsibilities to men and reproductive responsibilities to women. This is reflected in how family planning measures are used in India: which is heavily skewed towards female sterilization.

GENDER IMBALANCE

In 2015, of all married people in the reproductive age group, only 47.8% used any modern method of contraception (NFHS 4). Among the people who used contraception, 88% were women – 75% women underwent female sterilisation – whereas, of the 12% male contraceptive users, only 0.6% underwent male sterilisation.

MISSING MALE SEGMENT

The efforts for population control have mostly translated to controlling women’s, and not men’s, fertility. The program is designed to cater only to women and doesn’t actively engage with men to increase their participation in sharing the burden of family planning. The National Health Policy 2017, released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, aims to increase the uptake of male sterilisation to up to 30% but offers no roadmap to implement it nor to tackle gendered challenges that persist in the health system.

ADMINISTRATIVE/POLICY FLAW

According to the National Health Mission Financial Management Report 2016-17, the total expenditure on family planning in 2016-17 was Rs 577 crore, of which 85% was spent on female sterilisation alone, and only 2.8% on male sterilisation.

VIOLATION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS

The incident in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, in November 2014 highlighted how women from lower socioeconomic groups were sterilised in a camp without proper infection control, leading to severe complications in many women and the death of 15. The Supreme Court of India has highlighted that 363 women, largely from rural and marginalised communities, died between 2010 and 2013 during or after surgery in sterilisation camps, and ordered the government to shut these camps down.

BUT CONDITIONS-BASED POPULATION CONTROL ARE NOT A GOOD IDEA

• Empirical Study: A study by former Madhya Pradesh chief secretary Nirmala Buch on laws restricting the eligibility of people with more than two children in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan concluded that the two-child norm violates the democratic and reproductive rights of individuals. A high number of women (41 per cent) among our respondents faced disqualification for violating the two-child norm. Among Dalit respondents, this proportion was even higher (50 per cent).
• NHRC observations:  The incentives/disincentives approach has been denounced in the past by the National Human Rights Commission after such measures were introduced by several States in the 1990s and 2000s, i.e., Haryana, undivided Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• Wrong Policy Focus: India is on the path to stabilising its population. Therefore, the stress on the introduction of punitive measures to ensure population control is misplaced. In fact, a few states that imposed restrictions in various forms to enforce the two-child norm are on the back foot now. Four of the 12 states which introduced the two-child norm have already revoked it.
• Exclusion of the poor: Poverty is a major reason for the poorer sections having a larger number of children. By putting conditions like limiting government benefits and participation in electoral democracy to persons having not more than two children, the poor becomes both economically and politically excluded.
• International Experience: After China revised its two-child policy recently, the Population Foundation of India issued a statement saying that India must learn from China’s failed experience with enforcing coercive population policies. It said religion has little to do with fertility levels but what makes the difference is “education, employment opportunities and accessibility of contraceptives”.
• Population Momentum: Despite the decline in fertility, the population keeps growing. Demographers call this the “population momentum”. It is important to understand that even if all the couples in UP were to have two children from tomorrow, the population will continue to grow. This is because of the large number of young people in the state. Unlike in the past, the population is growing not because couples have more children, but because we have more young.
• Women’s Rights: Explained Above.

WHAT MUST BE DONE?

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM STATES

Kerala and Punjab have 1.6 TFR, while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have 3.4 and 2.7 TFR respectively (NFHS 4). NFHS-4 data shows only 22.8 per cent of women in Bihar attended school for 10 or more years in 2014-15. In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, the figure was 32.9 per cent. In contrast, 72.2 per cent of women in Kerala attended school for 10 or more years, while the figure was 55.1 per cent in Punjab. So schooling plays a vital role In TFR. The proper implementation of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme can be a game changer.

REDUCTION IN CHILD MARRIAGES

NFHS-4 data shows an increase in TFR in states with a high number of child marriages. So increasing the age of marriage can help reduce the TFR. Strict implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 along with social persuasion and influence can help in this regard.

AVAILABILITY OF CONTRACEPTIVES

From 1998-99 to 2005-06, TFR declined from 2.9 to 2.7. During this period, the country witnessed a change in social mindset. The use of contraceptives increased by 13.3 per cent. Studies by the Population Foundation of India point out the lack of availability of contraceptives both for men and women. Thus reliable access to contraceptives through ASHA workers at the local level need to be ensured.

CHECK UNPLANNED PREGNANCIES

Devendra Kothari, former professor at the Indian Institute of Health Management Research University, Jaipur attributes India’s current population growth to unplanned pregnancies. Based on NFHS 1 to 4, it is estimated that 135 million out of 430 million births were the result of unplanned pregnancies. So proper planning and spacing of pregnancies are required.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

 According to the NFHS-4 data, the women in the lowest wealth quintile, and the least educated women, had on average one more child than those with more than 12 years of schooling and in the highest wealth quintile. Thus holistic women empowerment through instruments like “Gender Budgeting” and schemes like Stand Up India, and Promotion of SHGs by National Livelihood Missions must be implemented earnestly.

ADHERENCE TO CAIRO CONSENSUS

The Cairo International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, of which India is a party (The Cairo Consensus)  has called for promotion of reproductive rights, empowering women, universal education, and maternal and infant health to untangle the knotty issue of poverty and high fertility.

THE WAY FORWARD

• China’s example of a distorted demography (age-sex composition of the population) is a warning against a counter-productive population control bill. Public health matters shouldn’t be coercive in nature.
• When reproduction is controlled or forced, there is a distortion in the working population and the elder-dependent population, which can lead to possibly disastrous economic consequences.
• In the case of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh too, a decentralized implementation of a family planning policy can bring about a gigantic change and a population control policy will do more harm than good.
• We need to invest heavily in human capital, health and education for a healthy and productive population that can add to the national and global accomplishments of the country.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND: VIEWS OF PROMINENT THINKERS ON POPULATION

Many of the ancient philosophers like Confucius, Kautilya, Plato and modem thinkers like Adam Smith, David Ricardo and others have deliberated on population issues. For instance, Kautilya had written in his Arthashastra that a large population is a source of the political, economic and military strength of a nation. The Chinese philosopher, Confucius argued that a numerical balance is maintained between population and environment. Thus, he was not in favour of the unchecked growth of population. In ancient Greece, Plato advocated an absolute limit on population. In the modern period, Malthus and Marx have written elaborately on the population dynamics but their views, however, differed fundamentally.

MALTHUSIAN VIEWS

• In his Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), Malthus argued that because of the strong attraction of the two sexes, the population could increase by multiples, doubling every twenty-five years.
• He contended that the population would eventually grow so large that food production would be insufficient.
• Malthus further wrote ‘Population when unchecked increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsis­tence increases only in an arithmetical ratio.
• Malthus referred to two classes of checks which kept population down
• Positive Checks: He spoke of famine, disease, war, pestilence etc(Related to Mortality)
• Negative Checks: artificial means of birth control, late marriage, moral restraint, and chastity(Related to Fertility)
• He contended that without such restraints the world would face widespread hunger, poverty and misery.
• Malthus saw the tension between population and resources as a major cause of the misery of much of the humanity.

MARXIAN VIEWS

• According to Marx, the widespread poverty and misery of the working class people were due to the misconceived organi­zation of society.
• He argued that starvation was caused by the unequal distribution of wealth and its accumulation by capitalists.
•  It has nothing to do with the population.
• The population is dependent on economic and social organization.
• The problems of overpopulation and limits to resources are inherent and inevitable features associated capitalist system of production.
• If people experience an increase in their income, they are likely to reduce their fertility rate instead of increasing it, as they see that new opportunities are available to their child (for example going to school)
•  Marx believes the low wages of the capitalist system do not give workers this incentive to decrease their fertility and the population growth further increases the labor supply and depresses wages.
• Thus, according to Marx, overpopulation is a normal characteristic of capitalism.

THE CONCLUSION: The small Indian landmass is not sufficient enough to look after the increasing population. If we continue our rise in a current manner, we will not be able to achieve any of the SDG targets, particularly SDG 1, 2, 3 and 4. We need to ensure that the increasing population momentum is reduced through awareness and incentives while skilling the workforce so as to make them really part of the dividend.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. The population control measures of the government of India display an inherent gender bias. Elucidate.
2. Critically examine the need for a course correction in India’s population control policy in the light of new legal regimes brought in by states for checking population growth.
3. “Overpopulation in various countries has become a serious threat to the well-being of many people and a grave obstacle to any attempt to organise peace on this planet of ours.” Examine.

THE CONTEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic has harmed health, social and economic well-being worldwide, with women at the very core of it. The poorest and the most marginalized, including women and girls, face more risks without the means to absorb the economic shocks and mitigate the health crisis. The following article intends to highlight the plight this pandemic has infused on women.

PLIGHTS OF THE PANDEMIC: ANALYSIS

Women tend to be the backbone of society during crises, even as they are also more likely to face the disproportionate impacts of such events. The Covid-19 pandemic is no different. It has severely exacerbated existing gendered barriers, widened India’s gender gap in the workforce, and affected (overwhelmingly female) caregivers and frontline workers.

ASPECT

KEY FINDING

IMPACT/AFTERMATH

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Women were more affected than men by employment issues. Women made up just 24% of those working before the pandemic, yet accounted for 28% of all those who lost their jobs.

• Compounded economic impacts are felt especially by women and girls who are generally earning less, saving less, and holding insecure jobs or living close to poverty.
• From past experience and emerging data, it is possible to project that the impacts of the COVID-19 global recession will result in a prolonged dip in women’s incomes and labor force participation, with compounded impacts for women already living in poverty.

HEALTH AND SANITATION

About 16% of women (an estimated 17 million if extrapolated) had to stop using menstrual pads, and more than one in three married women were unable to access contraceptives.

• Health pandemics can make it more difficult for women and girls to receive treatment and health services.
• Globally, women make up 70 percent of the health workforce and are more likely to be front-line health workers, especially nurses, midwives and community health workers.

• The provision of sexual and reproductive health services, including maternal health care and gender-based violence related services, is central to the health, rights and well-being of women and girls.

CARE WORK

Indian women already do almost three times more unpaid work than Indian men, and the survey showed a 47% increase in unpaid labour for women and a 41% increase in unpaid care work for women.

• Before COVID-19 became a universal pandemic, women were doing three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men. This unseen economy has real impacts on the formal economy and women’s lives.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

There has been a rise in instances of violence, sexual, physical and mental against women.  The National Commission for Women (NCW) has recorded a more than twofold rise in gender-based violence.

• Women from historically marginalised groups (Muslims, migrants, single/separated/divorced), were more affected than the average woman. Conditions on the ground are likely to worsen for those women (such as Dalit women and transgender individuals) who bear the brunt of social discrimination.

• Judicial, police and health services that are the first responders for women were overwhelmed, had shifted priorities, or are otherwise unable to help. Civil society groups were affected by lockdown or reallocation of resources.
• Cases under the Right to live with dignity (Article 21) rose to 77% from 35%. Such cases could pertain to discrimination on the basis of gender, class, or caste or all three of them combined.

SHRINKING OF SOCIAL CIRCLE

Isolation and containment of women during lockdown.

• The avenues for liberty of freedom and expression four woman especially coming from the tier two and the tier three cities in India was limited before the pandemic.
• This aspect got further attenuated due to the COVID induced lockdowns which inflicted several mental and psychological issues on the life of women in India.
• This could be due to the increased workload in the houses unlimited opportunities for employment outside then home premises.

CURBING THE PLIGHTS OF THE PANDEMIC: WAY FORWARD

ECONOMIC

• Removal of barriers that prevent full involvement of women in economic activities, equal pay and equal opportunities, social protection schemes that factor in existing biases, financing for women entrepreneurs and mechanisms to promote women’s self-employment.
• Enlist Women on MGNREGA job cards to increase the total number of person-days to meet women’s demand for job opportunities.
• Strengthen the resilience of SHGs by focusing on their economic recovery and market linkages via the existing Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana: National Rural Livelihoods Mission.

o   SHGs could also provide technical and managerial training to help women develop the skills needed to run small businesses digitally.

HEALTH

• Special attention needs to be given to the health, psychosocial needs and work environment of frontline female health workers, including midwives, nurses, community health workers, as well as facility support staff.
• Particular attention needs to be paid to health care services for older women, and gender-based violence survivors, as well as antenatal, postnatal care and delivery services, including emergency obstetric and newborn care.
• The government needs to implement easy access to products like sanitary pads and contraceptives, especially in such testing times.
• The government can build upon and accelerate its existing efforts through Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, Mission Parivar Vikas, and other schemes to strategically focus on contraceptive usage.

RECOGNISING THE UNPAID LABOUR

• Women’s unpaid care work has long been recognized as a driver of inequality. It has a direct link to wage inequality, lower income, poorer education outcomes, and physical and mental health stressors.
• Support measures in response to COVID-19 need to go beyond workers who hold formal sector jobs and include informal, part-time and seasonal workers, most of whom are women.
• This is particularly necessary for female dominated spheres such as the hospitality, food and tourism sectors, now at a standstill due to confinement measures by governments.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

• It is important for national responses to include specific communications to the public that justice and the rule of law are not suspended during periods of confinement or lockdown. Gender- based violence prevention strategies need to be integrated into operational plans of the justice and security sectors for the crisis, and statutes of limitations on offenses, particularly sexual violence offenses, should be suspended.
• A joint programme of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Delhi Police and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, (TISS) Mumbai.
• The NCW is implementing the project with Delhi Police and TISS and is committed to working on the issue of violence against women.
• In Spain, an instant messaging service with a geolocation function offers an online chat room that provides immediate psychological support to survivors of violence

OVERCOMING THE PLIGHTS OF THE PANDEMIC: THE CONCLUSION

A pandemic amplifies and heightens all existing inequalities. These inequalities in turn shape who is affected, the severity of that impact, and our efforts at recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic and its social and economic impacts have created a global crisis unparalleled to any such instance in the past. policymakers and stakeholders must include women and girls at the centre of recovery processes and listen to their needs, challenges and solutions. Empowering women and girls has proven to increase the health and well-being of the entire family and community.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

• “Women tend to be the backbone of society during crises, even as they are also more likely to face the disproportionate impacts of such events.” Examine the statement in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• “The pandemic undermined women and girls’ fundamental rights which could possibly have generational impacts.” In the light of this statement, discuss the multidimensional impacts of the covid-19 pandemic on women.

THE CONTEXT: India has ranked low at 135th place out of 146 countries in terms of gender parity, on the annual Gender Gap Report 2022 of the World Economic Forum (WEF).This means, it is only 11 ranks above Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where women are prohibited from attending schools. This is a grave cause of concern given that India vouches to preach the ideals of liberty and equality in letter and spirit.

THE GENDER GAP REPORT

• The Global Gender Gap index “benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment)”. According to the WEF, it is the longest-standing index, which tracks progress towards closing these gaps over time since its inception in 2006.
• On each of the four sub-indices as well as on the overall index the GGG index provides scores between 0 and 1, where 1 shows full gender parity and 0 is complete imparity. “The cross-country comparisons aim to support the identification of the most effective policies to close gender gaps,” states the report.

GENDER GAP: KEY FINDINGS

• In 2022, the global gender gap has been closed by 68.1%. At the current rate of progress, it will take 132 years to reach full parity.
• Across the 146 countries covered by the 2022 index, the Health and Survival gender gap has closed by 95.8%, Educational Attainment by 94.4%, Economic Participation and Opportunity by 60.3% and Political Empowerment by 22%.
• Although no country has yet achieved full gender parity, the top 10 economies have closed at least 80% of their gender gaps, with Iceland (90.8%) leading the global ranking. Iceland remains the only economy to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap.

GENDER GAP: ANALYSIS OF THE WIDENING IMPASSE

ISSUE OF CONCERN

ASPECTS COVERED

EVALUATION

GENDER GAPS IN THE WORKFORCE

Percentage of women who are part of the labour force, wage equality for similar work, earned income etc.

• India ranks a lowly 143 out of the 146 countries in contention.
• Women’s participation in the workforce in India has not been rising over the last few decades. A report by the World Bank said that India is one of those countries where less than a quarter of women have joined the labour force and only one-fifth are employed.
• Employment losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been significantly worse for women than for men. With increased responsibilities at home, and increasing layoffs, the pandemic has inflicted a healthy blow to efforts surrounding parity in the workforce.

POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT

Includes metrics such as the percentage of women in Parliament, the percentage of women in ministerial positions etc.

• Of all the sub-indices, this is where India ranks the highest (48th out of 146).
• However, notwithstanding its rank, its score is quite low at 0.267. Some of the best-ranking countries in this category score much better. For instance, Iceland is ranked 1 with a score of 0.874 and Bangladesh is ranked 9 with a score of 0.546.
• As per the data compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, of which India is a member, women represent 14.44% of the total members of the Lok Sabha.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Includes metrics such as literacy rate and the enrolment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

• Here India ranks 107th out of 146, and its score has marginally worsened since last year. In 2021, India was ranked 114 out of 156.
• Education for all is one of the major tasks being carried out by the Indian government but still, we have the lowest female literacy rate in Asia.
• India is working but the pace is slow as we haven’t achieved what we should have been so far. As per the report, India’s country-wide female literacy rate is 70.3%, while the male literacy rate is estimated at 84.7%. India’s average literacy rate stands at 77.7%, according to the NSO.

HEALTH AND SURVIVAL

Includes two metrics: the sex ratio at birth (in %) and healthy life expectancy (in years).

• In this metric (In Gender Gap Report), India is ranked last (146) among all the countries. Its score hasn’t changed from 2021 when it was ranked 155th out of 156 countries.
• Women in India face issues like malnutrition, lack of maternal health, diseases like AIDS, breast cancer, domestic violence and many more. Nutrition plays a major role in an individual’s overall health, psychological and physical health status is often dramatically impacted by the presence of malnutrition.
• Globally, about 800 women die every day of preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and 20 per cent of these women are from India.
• India’s anaemia burden among women is widespread, with 53.1 per cent of non-pregnant women and 50.3 per cent of pregnant women being anaemic as per the NFHS-4 in 2016, where India carries the highest burden of anaemia despite having various programmes and policies for the past 50 years since the launch of National Nutritional Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme in 1970.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

Includes aspects like accessibility to digital devices.

• Women facing intersectional discrimination, living in communities with lower socioeconomic status, have even lower access to connectivity or any digital device, leading to a string of tremendous consequences, sometimes even vital ones.
• According to a WEF study, globally, men are 21% more likely to have access to the internet than women. In the world’s least developed countries, this likelihood rises to 52%.
• Sampark, a local non-profit organization, identified 120 other female students from the same school who were suffering from not having a digital device.

• To be offline today means to miss out on learning and earning, accessing valuable services, and participating in the democratic public debate. The digital divide between people who have internet access and those who do not could be deepening existing gender inequalities, pushing women further to the margins of society.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP GAP

Considers aspects like opportunities and conducive environments for startups led by women

• Women are under-represented in entrepreneurship. For example, in 2018, women were about 60% as likely as men to be self-employed in the EU and this gender gap starts young.
• Young women (20-29 years old) were also about 60% as likely to be self-employed as young men. While the gender gap closed slightly across all age groups since 2002, it was due to a decline in male self-employment rather than growth in female self-employment
• The gender gap in entrepreneurship can be explained by a range of factors, including social attitudes towards women in the labour market, different motivations and intentions in entrepreneurship, and different and greater barriers to business creation (e.g., a lack of entrepreneurship skills, failures in financial markets).
• According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project, only 11 percent of women around the world start new businesses 30 percent less than men.

Gender gap in emerging technologies like AI

Considers skillset and other intellectual resources required for careers in AI

• LinkedIn’s analysis found a significant gap between female and male representation among AI professionals – only 22% of AI professionals globally are female.
• As per WEF, over the past four years, men and women have been adding AI skills to their profiles at a similar rate. This means that while women aren’t falling further behind, they also aren’t catching up. If the current trend continues, male AI professionals will continue to outnumber women, even as both genders continue to gain AI skills.
• Other studies have found that only 10-15% of machine learning researchers in the leading technology companies are women; less than 14% of authors of AI research papers are women; and women are under-represented at 17-18% across the largest online global data science platforms.

GENDER GAP: CAUSES OF THE IMPASSE

POVERTY

India is still one of the poorest countries in the world, and it is one of the biggest reasons that lead to gender inequality in India. Despite the availability of education in rural areas, families prefer sending their boys to school rather than the girls of the family, which is one of the biggest disadvantages.

PATRIARCHAL SETUP IN OUR INDIAN SOCIETY

Since time immemorial, India has been an extremely patriarchal society. The patriarchal setup in Indian society contributed to the fundamental inequality between men and women. As women were considered a part of the household belonging to their father or husband, they were unable to get a say in any matters concerning their own development or that of the community at large.

LACK OF EDUCATION OR ILLITERACY

The disparity between the literacy rates of men and women in India is a known issue. Some regional states have higher disparity, while some other states have better disparity. The problem is not that there are few literate women in India, but rather the problem is the lack of awareness among women to use their rights.

LACK OF AWARENESS AMONG WOMEN

One of the major causes of gender inequality is the lack of awareness among women about their rights and their ability to achieve equality. This lack of awareness is often due to the prevailing cultural and social norms, which dictate that women should be subservient to men. It is important to break down these barriers and help women become more aware of their rights so that they can demand equality.

WAY FORWARD: CLOSING IN THE IMPASSE

• The Global Gender Gap report criticizes the rising inequality in the number of women holding offices in India. Passing the Women’s Reservation Bill that proposes to reserve 33 per cent of all seats in the Lok Sabha and in all State legislative assemblies for women could make this situation better. Measures could also be taken to address the gender wage gap across industries.
• According to the estimates of the World Inequality Report 2022, in India, men earn 82 per cent of the labour income whereas women earn 18 per cent of it. So, there is scope to allocate more money towards the gender budget, that aims to ensure that women have access to socio-economic benefits as much as men.
• Article 15 of the Indian constitution states that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on the grounds of only sex. The irony is that there still is widespread discrimination which is a form of injustice against women. Hence, the present times need to get over the ‘son-meta’ preferences imbibed deep into society.
• Society needs to deconstruct the stereotype of women as limited to household activities only. It is important for all institutions (state, family and community) to respond to women’s specific needs such as bridging gaps in education, renegotiating gender roles, the gender division of labour and addressing biased attitudes.
• A noteworthy intervention by the UK government’s Office for AI saw £18.5 million pledged to boost diversity in AI roles, funding conversion degrees including 1000 scholarships for people from under-represented groups. Such steps are needed in emerging economies like India so as to bring women to the mainstream of development and growth.
• A rights-based approach to development is a framework that integrates the norms, principles, standards and goals of the international human rights system into the plans and processes of development. It is characterized by methods and activities that link the human rights system and its inherent notion of power and struggle with development. This needs to be imbibed into polices framed with the aim of reducing the gender gap.

THE CONCLUSION: During the Vedic Period, women enjoyed equality in all spheres of life. India was a glorified nation, and even other fellow citizens used to hail down because of its greatness. Women enjoyed a special status which consisted of parity in every aspect. In present times, Article 16 of the Indian Constitution states that equal opportunity will be provided for all citizens in office employment under the state. It is time that we reflect this constitutional and moral ethos in letter and spirit. Young Indian women represent aspirational India possibly more than any other grouping today. As Swami Vivekananda has rightly said, “All nations have attained greatness by paying proper respect to women. That country and that nation which does not respect women have never become great, nor will ever be in future.”

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1.  “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contribution of half its citizens.” Discuss in the light of the recently released Global Gender Gap Report.
2.  “The accentuating chasm between men and women in India has a multidimensional origin.” Examine critically.

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.

THE CONTEXT: The Government of India has launched ‘Mission Shakti’ – an integrated women empowerment programme as an umbrella scheme for the safety, security and empowerment of women for implementation during the 15^th Finance Commission period 202l-22 to 2025-26. Ministry of Women and Child Development has also issued detailed guidelines for the ‘Mission Shakti’ scheme. This article explains the scheme in detail.

AN OVERVIEW OF MISSION SHAKTI

DESCRIPTION OF MISSION SHAKTI

• Mission Shakti is a scheme in mission mode aimed at strengthening interventions for women’s safety, security and empowerment.
• It seeks to realise women-led development by addressing issues affecting women on a life-cycle continuum basis.
• It focuses on proposing strategies for improving convergence across Ministries/Departments and at different levels of governance.
• It also seeks to promote greater participation and support of Panchayats and other local level governance bodies.

• Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes -‘ Sambal’and ‘Samarthya’.

SAMBAL SUBSCHEME

• In the Sambal sub-scheme, which is for the safety and security of women, the existing scheme of One Stop Centre (OSC), Women Helpline (WHL), and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) have been included with modifications.
• A new component of the Nari Adalat – women collective has been added.

SAMARTHYA SUB SCHEME

• In the Samarthya sub-scheme, which is for the empowerment of women, existing schemes of Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh and Working Women Hostel have been included with modifications.
•  In addition, the existing schemes of the National Creche Scheme and PMMVY under the umbrella of ICDS have now been included in Samarthya.
• A new component of Gap Funding for Economic Empowerment has also been added to the Samarthya Scheme.
• The existing sub-schemes of Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) and Mahila Police Volunteers (MPV) have been discontinued

THE RATIONALE FOR THE MISSION SHAKTI

The Central Government has enacted several legislations and implemented various schemes for safety, security and improving the status of women including their economic empowerment. However, despite various affirmative steps, various parameters indicate that a lot still needs to be done to improve the status of women in society. There were issues in the implementation of the schemes, and the full potential of schemes remained largely underutilized. The problems in implementation include various organs working in silos with inadequate linkage, lack of adequately trained staff, appropriate monitoring and convergence mechanisms, etc. Thus, the need of the hour is to have a concerted effort in a mission mode to ensure gender equality and women’s empowerment – giving rise to Mission Shakti. Mission Shakti aims at strengthening interventions that not only improve women’s safety and empowerment but also tackle pervasive gender biases and discriminations. it seeks to make women economically empowered, exercising free choice over their minds and bodies in an atmosphere free from violence and threat.

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE MISSION SHAKTI

• Provide an immediate and comprehensive continuum of care, support and assistance to women affected by violence and for those in distress;
• To put in place quality mechanisms for rescue, protection and rehabilitation of women in need of assistance and victims of crime and violence;
• To improve accessibility to various government services available for women at various levels;
• Making people aware of government schemes as well as legal provisions to fight social evils like dowry, domestic violence, Sexual Harassment at Workplace etc.
• Capacity building and training of functionaries under various schemes/ Legislations;
• Collaboration with Ministries/ Departments/ States/ UTs for convergence of policies, programmes/ schemes and to create an enabling environment for public-private partnership for safety and empowerment of women across sectors.
• Create awareness among the masses for inducing positive behavioural change toward women and girls.

SAMBAL– FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY OF WOMEN

WHAT IS SAMBAL?

• Mission Shakti has two components and SAMBAL is one of the components of Mission Shakti.

COMPONENTS UNDER SAMBAL

• The following are the components under SAMBAL:

Ø  One Stop Centre (OSC)

Ø  Women Helpline (WHL)

Ø  Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)

Ø  Nari Adalat(Read Ahead)

• While the first three are existing schemes, the last one is a new scheme.

OBJECTIVES OF SAMBAL

• The objectives of the sub-scheme are:

Ø  to improve accessibility and integrate all efforts and various government initiatives towards the safety and protection of women,

Ø  to secure their rights and entitlements on a comprehensive continuum of care

Ø  to support women affected by violence and in distress etc.

THE NARI ADALAT-A NEW SCHEME UNDER SAMBAL SUBSCHEME

AN ALTERNATE GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM

• Provides women with an alternate Grievance Redressal Mechanism for resolving cases of petty nature (harassment, subversion, curtailment of rights or entitlements) faced by women at the Gram Panchayat level will be implemented in a phased manner.
• Nari Adalats or women collectives will be formed of committed and socially respected women chosen for that purpose.

AWARENESS GENERATION

• This platform will also be utilized for engaging with the public for awareness generation and getting feedback for improvement in the schemes and for effective public delivery of services

CONVERGENCE

• Nari Adalats will be provided logistic support through Gram Panchayats in convergence with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Rural Development, and Common Service Centres (CSCs) run by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

PHASED IMPLEMENTATION

• In the first year, an awareness drive regarding legal, and constitutional rights and entitlements under various schemes/ programs will be undertaken.
• In the second year:

o   committed and socially respected women will be identified and extensively trained in all women-related laws and schemes.

o   a formal setup of women collectives will be made that will address the socio, economic, and cultural issues faced by the women of that area and will provide alternative resolutions to disputes by mediation.

SAMARTHYA – FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

WHAT IS SAMARTHYA?

• Mission Shakti has two components and SAMARTHYA is one of the components of Mission Shakti.

COMPONENTS UNDER SAMARTHYA

• The components of the ‘Samarthya’ sub-scheme are:

Ø  Ujjwala and Swadhar Greh( merged to form Shakti Sadan Scheme)

Ø  Working Women Hostel has been included with modifications

Ø  National Creche Scheme for children of working mothers

Ø  Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) under the umbrella of ICDS

Ø  Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW): Hub for Empowerment of Women aims to facilitate inter-sectoral convergence of schemes and programs meant for women both at the central, state and district level

•  A Gap Funding support for Economic Empowerment of women will also be provided on a need basis, subject to the conditions.

OBJECTIVES OF SAMARTHYA

• The objectives of this sub-scheme are:

Ø  Through reinforcement, improve access to various government services available to women at various levels.

Ø  Convergence for women’s development and empowerment

Ø  The scheme aims to empower women through social, cultural, political, and economic development.

SHAKTI SADAN

The Ministry of Women and Child Development was implementing the schemes of Swadhar Greh for Women in difficult circumstances and Ujjawala for the Prevention of Trafficking. Both the schemes were aimed at creating a safe and enabling environment for the women in distress including trafficked women and thereby giving them the strength to overcome their difficult circumstances and make a fresh start. For administrative purposes, Swadhar and Ujjawala Scheme have been merged, and these will be known as ‘Shakti Sadan’ – Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home. the Shakti Sadan will provide the following services to facilitate reintegration and repatriation of victims of trafficking and of commercial sexual exploitation: Setting up of Half-Way Home, Restoration to Families, Repatriation to country of origin etc.

GENDER BUDGETING (GB) UNDER SAMARTHYA SCHEME

Under the Samarthya component, Gender Budgeting has been included under the Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW).  The goal of Gender Budgeting is to enable government stakeholders at the central, state and district level to undertake gender budgeting through enhanced capacities, knowledge and skills. In order to achieve the objectives, implementing organisations/agencies will undertake the following activities:

• Develop training modules/packages, training material, teaching aids and manuals on gender budgeting.
• Organize workshops, seminars, training programmes, conferences etc to facilitate capacity building and training for various stakeholders
• Embed training on gender budgeting in the curriculum of administrative and government training institutes.
• Undertake seminars and consultations to ensure inter-state peer learning and sharing on gender budgeting initiatives and promote best practices.
• Conduct gender analysis of national and sub-national policies, legal frameworks, women-related legislation, government schemes and programs.
• Assess the adequacy of budget allocations to implement gender-responsive policies and programmes.
• To coordinate and monitor gender budgeting exercises of Gender Budgeting Cells and facilitate gender budgeting analysis.
• To conduct and promote gender-based impact assessments, the beneficiary needs assessments, beneficiary incidence analysis, and gender audit of schemes and legislations.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE MISSION SHAKTI

POSITIVE

• Mission Shakti is essentially an umbrella programme of the central government schemes related to women’s empowerment.
• The stated objective of this umbrella program is to bring convergence of existing women empowerment initiatives taken at the central level for better outcomes.
• Mission Shakti also provides for a few new components like Nari Adalat and also makes gender budgeting part and parcel of this program.

NEGATIVE

• However, the mission does not talk about any target or output to be achieved during its implementation period.
• Also, convergence does not mean adding up the existing programmes or tweaking their implementation strategies or adding some new components.
• Despite the idea of bottom-up planning and development, mission Shakti takes a top-down approach to women empowerment.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• Convergence of women empowerment programmes can lead to better targeting of intended segments and optimal resource allocation. Hence, Mission Shakti is the right step in that direction but its proper implementation will be the key.
• As problems of women are majorly social in nature, involvement of CSOs, SHGs, local bodies etc. in the implementation as active collaborators is necessary for a better outcome of the mission.
• Gender budgeting is a progressive step, but the progress of gender budgeting and gender analysis of schemes have been inadequate. Hence, constant handholding and nudging by the Ministry are needed.
• Convergence should not only be limited to the implementation stage but should extend to planning and formulation or else it will not be effective.
• A mid-term performance evaluation of the Mission needs to be undertaken by NITI Aayog so as to understand the challenges of implementation and thus improve the execution.

THE CONCLUSION: The Mission Shakti is inspired by the Constitutional commitment to Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy, India’s commitment to international treaties and conventions as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also seeks to reduce the care burden on women and increase female labour force participation by promoting skill development, capacity building, financial literacy, access to micro-credit etc. Although a step in the right direction,  for Mission Shakti to achieve its objectives,    a decentralized approach to women empowerment keeping the local bodies and alternative empowerment models like SHGs will be the key.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. What are the salient features of the Mission Shakti launched by the Union Government recently? Do you think that the Mission is a progressive step towards women’s empowerment? Argue.
2. “A  decentralized approach keeping the local bodies and alternative empowerment models like SHGs will be the key for women empowerment” Examine the statement in the context of Mission Shakti launched by the Union government recently.

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Government Accounting Standards advisory board (GASAB) has come up with a Natural Resource Accounting (NRA) for tracking and maintaining the natural resources of India. It would also suggest recommendations for end-to-end mapping of supply and use of resources which would help the states in mopping up due revenues from the resources. In the following article attempts to explain the concept of Natural Resource Accounting (NRA) and its utility in present times.

NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTING: KEY TENETS

National Resource Accounting (NRA): Natural resource accounting is an accounting system that deals with stocks and stock changes of natural assets, comprising biota (produced or wild), subsoil assets (proved reserves), water and land with their aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The concept of National Resource Accounting (NRA) has emerged to capture the intimate interplay between the various components of the natural environment and the economic progress of a country. It is based on the concept ‘measurement of a resource leads to its better management.

• The need: Mankind in its quest for rapid economic development has manipulated nature to serve its economic interests and, in the process, harmed nature. This has resulted in environmental degradation, leading to climate change, extreme weather conditions and frequent natural disasters. The importance of judicious use of resources, their controlled usage and sustainability for future generations led to the idea of Sustainable Development (SD).
• Inherent in Sustainable Development: Accounting of Natural Resources is one of the most crucial elements of SD is that it provides an outline of resource bases, and pace of usage with an eye on their sustainability and embeds environmental aspects into the economic indices.
• Measuring the downside of growth: The idea is to quantify the adverse impact of economic development on the environment and adjust/reduce it from GDP to arrive at Green GDP, essentially signifying the impact of economic development on the environment and sustainable growth.
  • Quantifies the non-renewal damage to the environmental resources and assists in the determination of development in real terms.
• Aid to policy framing: A sound database of how a particular economy is utilizing the resources at hand is of significant help to policymakers to understand the potential impact of their decisions.
• Combating Climate Change: Asset and flow accounts have been recognized as a useful framework for monitoring, measuring and analyzing climate change.
• Interrelation between economy and environment: It helps to organise information on the status, use, and value of natural resources and environmental assets as well as expenditures on environmental protection and resource management. Natural resource accounting inter-alia refers to the interconnection and linkages in the economy and our environment or surrounding.

EVOLUTION OF NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTING

• The need for NRA took its first step at the United Nations (UN) conference on Human Environment in 1970 when the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation was discussed for the first time.
• The Brundtland Commission, set up by the UN, articulated the idea of the close association between the environment and economic activities in 1987, which was followed up by environmental accounting and the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
• In line with these developments, the UN released the international standards for the compilation of national accounts in 1993 and revised it in 2009.
• Simultaneously, the UN also adopted the System of Economic and Environmental Accounting – Central Framework (SEEA – CF) in March 2012, which is the latest internationally accepted and adopted framework for resource accounting. The SEEA – CF prescribed a four-stage implementation process as mentioned below:

NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNTING IN INDIA

Working group on Environmental Auditing
(WGEA) (2010)

Formation of the Expert Group for framework related to Green National Accounts In India

To Assist the Government in developing the NRA
Identifying challenges in applying environmental accounting
Recommending strategies to overcoming challenges
Identifying best practices in NRA

Constitutional mandate under Article 150 to advice on forms of accounts

Section 23 of CAG’s DPC Act-Guidelines for general principles for Govt Accounting

Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board(GASAB)
• Mandated to formulate Government Accounting Standards and other pronouncements with a view to improve Governmental accounting and financial reporting
• To enhance the quality of decision- making and public accountability.

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) constituted Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board (GASAB) with the support of the Government of India through a notification dated 12th August 2002. The decision to set up GASAB was taken in the backdrop of the new priorities emerging in Public Finance Management and to keep pace with international trends. The new priorities focus on good governance, fiscal prudence, efficiency & transparency in public spending.

The accounting systems, the world over, are being revisited with an emphasis on the transition from rule to principle-based standards and migration from cash to the accrual-based system of accounting. GASAB, as a nodal advisory body in India, is taking similar action to formulate and improve standards of government accounting and financial reporting and enhance accountability mechanisms. GASAB has suggested a well-laid-out implementation plan divided into three-term goals in consonance with the strategy envisaged by the SEEA – CF.

Out of seven resources listed by the SEEA framework, the Concept Paper has identified and suggested commencing with five major resources, namely Mineral & Non-Renewable Energy Resources, Water Resources, Forestry & Wildlife Resources and Land Resources, of which, Mineral & Non-Renewable Energy Resources has been considered mainly due to their finiteness and non-renewability and need for sustainability for future generations.

In way to progress further, the EnviStats (Environment Statistics) initiated in 2018 for the presentation of aggregate environment accounts for India with the asset accounts in physical terms of minerals, water, land and forest.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has taken up several initiatives under the project Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of the Ecosystem Services (CAVES) which aims to advance the theory and practice of ecosystem accounting in India

ASSESSMENT OF STATE-LEVEL IMPLEMENTATION

GOA

• Unable to compile major minerals physical flow account – mining ban
• Minor minerals stock position not ascertainable
• Break up of extraction not maintained

RAJASTHAN

• Variation between the revenue involvement and actual market value (roughly 10 times) clearly brought out
• Extensive coverage of minerals along with sub-minerals

MEGHALAYA

• Mapping of physical flows vis-à-vis revenue involved – a short collection of receipts ` 40 crores in one-year Sustainability of minerals in years brought out.
• Illegal extraction was detected, 4,284 MT of coal and more than 1 lakh tones of limestone illegally extracted.
• Recommendations made to State Government based on the study:

o   Mines Department to reconcile figures with Land Customs Station to plug leakages.

o   More close coordination is needed between the Mines & Geology Department and E&F Department to exchange data on the extraction of minerals from their respective jurisdiction.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• NRA has deep inter-linkage to sustainable development; and 10 of the 17 goals (Sustainable Development Goals or commonly known as the SDGs, 2030) are directly or indirectly related to the management of natural resources and their accounting. The government of India is a signatory to the UN General Assembly resolution on the adoption of SDGs titled, “transforming our world; the 2030 agenda for sustainable development”. Thus, it becomes an obligation for GOI to develop fine standards of resource accounting.
• NRA intends to capture the intimate interplay between various components of the natural environment and the economy. Also, it can connect to other datasets to provide invaluable information on the larger picture connecting the environment with the economy. Thus, even from an economic point of view, NRA is important for India.
• Further, NRA helps to quantify the adverse impact on the environment due to economic development and aid sustainable growth. This makes NRA more relevant in present times.

THE CONCLUSION:  For a world that is riding on unprecedented development, it is imperative that we keep our historic relation of ours with nature in harmony. Accounting for natural resources will definitely aid both economical and ethical perspectives of life on earth. For example, accounting for forest wealth has a number of useful policy benefits, including the provision of a framework for analyzing and presenting detailed and diverse data in a manner which supports economically informed policy choices.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

• What do you understand by Natural Resource Accounting (NRA)? Enumerate the basic tenets of NRA.
• Discuss the evolution and need of Natural Resource Accounting (NRA) in the Indian context.

THE CONTEXT: Earth has significant treasures(minerals) engulfed in its frame. These treasures have been driving mankind in the form of energy. The more energy resources, the better you are placed in the geopolitical hierarchy. No wonder, energy and geopolitics have always been closely linked. The twentieth century saw access to energy resources become a major factor in determining the winners of wars, oil producers banding together to create new global alliances, and price swings that spurred or deterred the adventurism of superpowers. The contemporary geopolitics of energy is analysed in the following article.

GEOPOLITICS & ENERGY: UNDERSTANDING THE INTERSECTION

Geopolitics is the battle for space and power played out in a geographical setting. Just as there are military geopolitics, diplomatic geopolitics and economic geopolitics, there is also energy geopolitics. Natural resources and the trade routes that bring those resources to consumers are central to the study of geography. The Geopolitics of Energy Project explores the intersection of energy, security, and international politics.

• RESOURCE CURSE: Coal-rich countries were the first to industrialize in the 1800s; the shift to oil from coal over the next century brought with it a rise in the strategic importance of the Middle East.
  • Unfortunately, this resource abundance in the Middle East has resulted in myriad civil upsurges and militancy throughout the region.
  • Since the second half of the 20^th century, control of oil resources has played a central role in several wars, such as the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), the Gulf War (1990-1991), etc.
• ENERGY DRIVEN TRADE ROUTES: The geopolitics encircling the South China Sea serve as a good example of how even maritime routes which engulf rich energy resources within themselves play a crucial role in geopolitical developments. The assertion of sovereignty over disputed areas is the aim, and China has considered joint oil and gas exploration as an important policy tool in this pursuit.
  • Southeast Asian states and prospective operators face considerable geopolitical risks due to China’s expansive territorial claims.
• CHANGING DYNAMICS OF ENERGY: The global concern for more than half a century, oil and natural gas have been at the heart of the geopolitics of energy. However, the over-dependence on oil & gas has brought the global issue of global warming to the forefront.
  • Many important events like the Kyoto Protocol signing & Paris Agreement marked critical steps forward in global efforts to respond to the challenge of global warming.
  • Thus, there is growing emphasis on the transition towards renewable energy.
• EMERGENCE OF NEW ALLIANCES: Meanwhile, technological advances have increased the competitiveness of solar and wind energy technologies, batteries and electric cars.
  • The convergence of these two elements has started to reshape the global energy system. This can be seen in India establishing the International Solar Alliance.
• REPERCUSSIONS OF CONFLICTS: Ukraine-Russia war has disrupted the supply of natural gas and sanctions on Russia have changed the dynamics of oil exports from Russia.

CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS RELATED TO GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

REGION

THE MIDDLE EAST

• The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has about 57% of the world’s proven oil reserves and 41% of proven natural gas resources. MENA is also endowed with unique solar resources.
• Apart from the first oil shock of 1973, the Middle East region has faced several geopolitical conflicts like the oil crisis in the 1990s(Persian Gulf Crisis) followed by the recent Syrian crisis.

THE USA

• The United States uses and produces many different types and sources of energy, which can be grouped into general categories such as primary and secondary, renewable and nonrenewable, and fossil fuels.
• Primary energy sources include fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal), nuclear energy, and renewable sources of energy. Electricity is a secondary energy source that is generated (produced) from primary energy sources.

RUSSIA

• Russia is rich not only in oil, gas and coal but also in wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and solar energy, the resources of renewable energy. However, fossil fuels dominate Russia’s current energy mix, while its abundant and diverse renewable energy resources play little role.
• In 2021, Russian crude and condensate output reached 10.5 million barrels per day (BPD), making up 14% of the world’s total supply.
• Russia has a wide-reaching gas export pipeline network, both via transit routes through Belarus and Ukraine, and via pipelines sending gas directly into Europe. Russia’s natural gas accounted for 45% of imports and almost 40% of European Union gas demand in 2021.

SOUTH CHINA SEA

• The South China Sea is an arm of the western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia. It is south of China, east & south of Vietnam, west of the Philippines and north of the island of Borneo.
• This sea holds tremendous strategic importance for its location as it is the connecting link between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean (Strait of Malacca).
• According to the United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD), one-third of the global shipping passes through it, carrying trillions of trade which makes it a significant geopolitical water body.
• The U.S. Energy Information Agency estimates that the South China Sea holds about 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 11 billion barrels of oil in proved and probable reserves, most of which lie along the margins of the South China Sea rather than under disputed islets and reefs.

CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS

REGION

THE MIDDLE EAST

• The Indo-Pacific region will become increasingly reliant on the Middle East for its oil: By 2030, 80 per cent of China’s oil will come from the Middle East, and 90 per cent in the case of India. (Japan and South Korea remain 100 per cent dependent on oil imports.)
• China’s reliance on the Middle East will be buttressed by its concomitant and growing dependence on former Soviet Central Asia for energy.
• OPEC is largely a result of Geopolitical developments in the Middle East. The member nations collectively influence the quantity of oil produced. For example, the post-pandemic slowdown pushed OPEC nations to reduce oil production.

THE USA

• The United States is emerging as a global energy-producing giant in its own right. U.S. shale oil production will more than triple between 2010 and 2020.
• Shale gas has risen from 2 per cent to 37 percent of U.S. natural gas production. The United States has now overtaken Russia as the world’s biggest natural gas producer.
• Some estimates put the United States as overtaking Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by the end of the current decade
• When combined with Canadian oil sands and Brazil’s oil lying beneath salt beds, these shifts have the potential to make the Americas into the “new Middle East” of the 21st century

RUSSIA

• Russia is increasingly shifting its focus of energy exports to East Asia. China is on track to perhaps become Russia’s biggest export market for oil before the end of the decade, even as Russian energy firms are now developing a closer relationship with Japan in order to hedge against their growing emphasis on China.
• Repercussions of conflicts: Russia’s assault on Ukraine has roiled global energy markets and turned the climate policy conversation upside down.
• In Europe, disrupted gas exports from Russia, the world’s second-largest producer, threaten economic activity and the ability of people to heat their homes. This threat to energy security has kicked off a flurry of responses, including U.S. efforts to help expand and diversify the region’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply.

SOUTH CHINA SEA

• China lays claim to nearly all of the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands.
• However, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the region, believed to hold valuable oil and gas deposits.
• Since 2010, China has been converting uninhabited islets into artificial islets to bring them under UNCLOS (examples would include Haven Reef, Johnson South Reef and Fiery Cross Reef).
• China has been changing the size and structure of the reefs by modifying their physical land features. It has also established airstrips on Paracel and Spratly.

INDIA’S STAND ON GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY

India imports about 85% of the oil it needs. Thus, a spike in the price of oil makes a big difference not just to domestic cost conditions but also to the balance of payments.

INDIA’S APPROACH

REGION/ISSUE

US SANCTIONS ON IRAN

• India has invested in the Chabahar port in Iran and highways that provide an alternative route to both Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan, thereby making Iran important for the long-term interests of India.
• Following the US imposing sanctions on Iran, in 2018, India had to look for alternatives for its imports. India was a second-biggest buyer of Iranian oil after China before sanctions halted supplies in May 2019.
• India has invested more in its relationship with Saudi Arabia and other anti-Iranian Gulf monarchies. Such improvement in relationships will put pressure on India to moderate its support for Iran. No wonder, in 2020-21, Iraq was India’s biggest oil supplier, followed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

SOUTH CHINA SEA

• India has maintained that it is not a party to the SCS dispute and its presence in the SCS is not to contain China but to secure its own economic interests, especially that of its energy security needs.
• As a key element of the Act East Policy, India has started internationalizing disputes in the Indo-Pacific region to oppose China’s threatening tactics in SCS.
• Also, India is part of the Quad initiative (India, US, Japan, Australia) and the lynchpin of the Indo-Pacific narrative. These initiatives are viewed as a containment strategy by China.
• State oil group Petrovietnam and the overseas unit of state explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) have signed a memorandum on joint exploration of crude oil in Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT

• India is exploring alternative payment channels for trade with Russia and the possibility of sourcing additional oil at a discount, even as the Western countries led by the USA reduce its exposure to Russian oil.
• In order to shield the economy from the negative impact of the recent surge in crude oil prices, India is exploring the possibility of importing additional oil at discounted rates from Russia, which is facing sanctions and global backlash due to the Ukraine conflict. On the back of rising crude oil purchases, India’s bill for imports from sanctions-hit Russia jumped 3.5 times in a year in April to $2.3 billion.
• India’s stand of trading for comparatively cheaper Russian oil has created an element of doubt in the west. Despite pressure from Western nations, India did not pick a side and it chose to maintain a neutral stance considering its historical relationship with Russia.                                                           

THE CONCLUSION: India is a sovereign nation and not a client state of any great power. Thus, vouching for its own interests is right in every sense. Like any other country, India also retains the right to take policies based on pragmatic realism and its core national interests. And India thinks that a neutral position anchored in strategic autonomy which keeps channels open with both sides is what serves its interests. Decisions made about energy today will influence what the world looks like tomorrow, just as the political and security events of today, be it the Arab Spring or the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan will shape energy realities. Thus, global geopolitics must be driven by values like inclusivity and sustainable energy resources so as to avoid conflicts and struggles for energy.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

• Illustrate with suitable examples the interplay between Geopolitics and Energy security.
• Examine how changes in global geopolitics influence the energy security of India. Is India’s response to these geopolitical developments appropriate? Give your views.
• “There is no higher interest than national interest.” Comment with reference to contemporary geopolitics of energy.

THE CONTEXT: Ever since the 1^st Industrial Revolution, the human imprints on elements of nature have been intense and unprecedented. This led to the emergence of Environmental Ethics. Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents.  The following article attempts to explain the concepts of shallow and deep ecologism and establish the differences between the two views.

QUESTIONS THAT COMPEL THE NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS IN PRESENT TIMES

• Existential crisis: Suppose putting out natural fires, culling feral animals or removing some individual members of overpopulated species is necessary for the protection of the integrity of a certain ecosystem.
• Subsuming cultures and practices:Is it morally acceptable for farmers in non-industrial countries to practice slash and burn techniques to clear areas for agriculture?
• Rapid modernization: Consider a mining company which has performed open pit mining in some previously unspoiled areas. Does the company have a moral obligation to restore the landform and surface ecology?
• Rebuilding nature: Can the value of a humanly restored environment be compared with the originally natural environment?

These are among the questions investigated by environmental ethics. Some of them are specific questions faced by individuals in particular circumstances, while others are more global questions faced by groups and communities. One of the most radical forms of environmental ethics is deep ecology which was first advocated by Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess. The alternative to deep ecology is often referred to as shallow ecology.

DEEP AND SHALLOW ECOLOGY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Both Deep and Shallow ecology have recognized and examined the anthropogenic problems with the environment, albeit in different ways.

DEEP ECOLOGISM

BASIC TENETS

• Deep ecologism believes that humans should radically change their relationship with nature.
• Its proponents reject shallow ecologism for prioritizing humans above other forms of life, and subsequently preserving the environmentally destructive way of life in modern societies.

ESSENCE

• The core theme of deep ecology is the claim that all living things have the same right to live and flourish. This means that the interests of other living beings have to be treated as seriously as the interests of humans.
• A rainforest, for example, can no longer be regarded as a valueless wood resource. Instead, it is a collection of living things, all of which have a right to live and flourish.

PLACE OF NATURE

• Nature is said to have intrinsic value. It is valuable even if humans can find no use for it.

TAKE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

• From a deep ecological perspective, climate change is wrong because it will affect the well-being of billions of living beings.
• Even if we could provide a way of protecting humans from climate change, it would still be a bad thing because many other living beings would suffer.

STANCE ON ANTHROPOCENTRISM

• Another aspect of deep ecology is the idea that we should expand our idea of who we are so that it includes the natural world. This is known sometimes as the expanded self. If we harm nature then we are really harming ourselves.
• Deep ecology rejects anthropocentrism in favour of ecocentrism or biocentrism. This is because the damage caused to other life forms would adversely affect

DECISION MAKING ON ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

• It considers that developed countries are more responsible for climate change. Hence, argues for a holistic perspective to the crisis which acknowledges regional differences and the disparities between under and over-developed nations.

AREA OF INFLUENCE

• This branch of ecologism primarily serves to maintain the lifestyle of those dwelling in developing countries.

VIABILITY IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT

• It will not permit the use of vehicles that pollute the environment.
• Could rather, turn toward Electric Vehicles.

SHALLOW ECOLOGISM

BASIC TENETS

• The fashionable fight against pollution and resource depletion is shallow ecologism.
• Exponents of this philosophy believe in continuing our present lifestyle, but with specific tweaks aimed at minimizing the damage to the environment.

ESSENCE

• Shallow ecology rejects ecocentrism and biocentrism. Shallow ecologists claim that there is nothing necessarily wrong with the anthropocentric worldview.

PLACE OF NATURE

• Nature is only valuable insofar as it serves human interests. This is sometimes known as instrumental value.

TAKE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

• From this perspective, climate change is bad because it will affect human interests.
• It is humans that will ultimately suffer if climate change is allowed to occur.
• Damage caused by climate change might, for example, mean that it is difficult to obtain natural resources. It might also be that humans would simply not like to live on a damaged planet.

STANCE ON ANTHROPOCENTRISM

• Shallow ecologists claim that there is nothing necessarily wrong with the anthropocentric worldview.
• Even if there was a way of protecting humans from the effects of climate change, shallow ecologists would still think it was a bad thing to splurge for the cause of Climate Change.

DECISION MAKING ON ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS

• A ‘Global’ approach to the environmental crisis is preferred.

AREA OF INFLUENCE

• This branch of ecologism primarily serves to maintain the lifestyle of those dwelling in developed countries.

VIABILITY IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT

• Also, it may include the use of vehicles that cause less pollution or air conditioners that do not release chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

DEEP ECOLOGISM: THE WAY TO GO

• IN WAKE OF GROWING INEQUALITIES: Deep ecologism maintains that by not changing the lifestyle, shallow ecologism further widens the inequalities between countries. For instance, despite constituting only 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. accounts for 17% of the world’s energy consumption and is the second largest consumer of electricity after China.
• FOR BRIGHTER & HEALTHIER FUTURE: Deep ecologism aspires to sustain nature by making large-scale changes to our lifestyle. These may include limiting the commercial farming of meat to preserve forest areas and reduce the artificial fattening of animals or the reshaping of transport systems which involve the use of internal combustion engines or electronic mobility.
• FOR PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE: To recognise the complex richness of different lifeforms, deep ecologism calls for a re-evaluation of the ‘survival of the fittest doctrine. Survival of the fittest should be understood through the human ability to cooperate and coexist with nature, as opposed to exploiting or dominating it. Deep ecologism thus prioritizes a ‘live and let live’ attitude over an ‘either you or me’ approach.
• BROADER APPROACH:Næss argues that a narrow focus on pollution and conservation movements is counterproductive. He believes that when projects are only implemented to solve pollution, it generates evils of a different kind. For instance, the installation of pollution control devices may increase the cost of living, leading to an increase in class differences. An ethically responsible ecologism is one which operates in the interest of all economic classes.

THE CONCLUSION: Owing to increased anthropocentrism, humans have cut themselves off from nature, viewing nature and themselves as competing entities and establishing a master-slave dynamic. A narrow focus on pollution and conservation movements is counterproductive. A holistic perspective to the environmental crisis is one which acknowledges regional differences and the disparities between under and over-developed nations. While low and middle-income countries have recorded lower cumulative and per capita carbon dioxide emissions over the past two centuries, it is the wealthier countries which are most responsible for a majority of carbon emissions. Thus, profound wisdom (as mentioned by Socrates) of deep ecologism is required so as to annihilate practices and conduct derogatory to the overall environment. We should adopt ethically responsible ecologism which operates in the interest of all economic classes.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

• Evaluate the need for Environmental Ethics in present times.
• Discuss how both Deep and Shallow ecologism have recognized and examined the anthropogenic problems with the environment. Which one according to you is more relevant in present times?
• “A narrow focus on pollution and conservation movements is counterproductive.” In the light of the statement, explain ‘Deep Ecologism’

THE CONTEXT: The Environmental Performance Index, 2022 (EPI 2022)released on World Environment Day (June 5) is in news due to India’s dismal rank. The Index has ranked India at the bottom position among 180 countries. However, some environmental experts have noted some flaws in the methodology of the Index. Even the Ministry of Environment has issued a rebuttal saying the indicators used in the assessment are based on ‘unfounded assumptions’. This article discusses the report in detail and why India has issued a counterargument to the report.

ENVIRONMENT PERFORMANCE INDEX

Ø  The EPI is an international ranking system of countries based on their environmental health. It is a Biennial Index, first started in 2002 as the Environment Sustainability Index by the World Economic Forum.

Ø  It is prepared by the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy in collaboration with the Columbia University Centre for International Earth Science Information Network.

Ø  EPI 2022 uses 40 performance indicators to assess and rank 180 countries. The indicators “measure how close countries are in meeting internationally established sustainability targets for specific environmental issues”.

Ø  The 40 indicators are under the broad categories of climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality. The 2022 EPI has included new parameters to its earlier assessments, with projections of progress towards net-zero emissions in 2050, as well as new air quality indicators, and sustainable pesticide use.

KEY FINDINGS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDEX, 2022

Ø  India has been ranked 180(last out of 180 countries) with a score of 18.9. India’s rank was 168 (score 27.6) in 2020. India has been ranked lower than Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Myanmar, the poorest performers. Denmark tops the list with a score of 77.9.The United Kingdom and Finland secured 2nd and 3rd positions.

Ø  India ranks close to the bottom on a number of indicators including:

• Ecosystem Vitality (178th),
• Biodiversity (179th),
• Biodiversity Habitat Index (170th),
• Species Protection Index (175th).

Ø  Apart from this, there is a dismal performance with respect to wetland loss,

• Air Quality (179th),
• PM 2.5 (174th),
• Heavy Metals such as Lead in water (174th),
• Waste Management (151st) etc.

Ø  The report suggests that China, India, the U.S., and Russia will account for over 50 per cent of residual global greenhouse gas emissions in 2050. (Greenhouse gasses (GHG) include carbon dioxide, methane, fluorinated gasses, and nitrous oxide.)

REASONS ATTRIBUTED TO INDIA’S POOR RANK

AIR POLLUTION

• India is home to 21 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world and has air quality rated one of the poorest in the world. Over 16 lakh people in India die from air pollution every year, according to the report.
• It also identifies household fuel combustion as the largest contributor to the country’s particulate matter emissions.
• Seven indicators are used to determine the air quality in the listed countries. These include PM 2.5 exposure, household solid fuels, ozone exposure, nitrogen oxides exposure, sulphur dioxide exposure, carbon monoxide exposure, and volatile organic compound exposure.

PLASTIC WASTE GENERATION

• India and Indonesia have been identified as the top two generators of marine plastic waste in the world, while China has managed to decrease its ocean plastic pollution. Ocean plastic pollution is measured as an absolute quantity of the amount of plastic released by a country into the ocean annually. Indonesia, India, the U.S, Brazil and Thailand are the top five producers of ocean plastic pollution and are responsible for 43% of the global total.

PROTECTION OF BIOMES

• In an analysis of countries protecting the world’s biomes, India emerged at the bottom in five out of 14 sub-categories – the most for a single nation.

The Environmental Performance Index report noted that most countries that scored low have prioritized economic growth over sustainability.

OBJECTIONS HAVE BEEN RAISED BY INDIA:

• As per the Environment Ministry, some of the indicators used for assessing performance are extrapolated and based on unscientific methods.
• Shifting of weightage on many indicators has resulted in India’s low ranking. For example, for black carbon growth, India’s score actually improved from 32 in 2020 to 100 (the top score) in 2022. However, the weightage of this indicator has been reduced to 0.0038 in 2022 from 0.018 in 2020. Climate Change has been given very high weightage (38% or 0.38) and tends to neglect the development needs of poorer countries.
• Similarly, the low weightage given to per-capita GHG emissions automatically reduces the ranks of countries like India and China. The projection for GHG emissions has been computed based on the average rate of change in emissions over the last 10 years. It is not based on modelling that takes into account a longer period, the extent of renewable energy capacity and use, additional carbon sinks etc. Crucial carbon sinks that mitigate GHG, such as forests and wetlands, have not been taken into account by the report.
• Further, India’s low emissions trajectory, unlike the high historical trajectories of developed countries, has been ignored. The US and the EU should have the highest-burden considering their historic emissions.
• The EPI assumes every country is in the same position economically, developmentally and environmentally, therefore all had to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
• Other Objections:
• The index emphasizes the extent of protected areas rather than the quality of protection that they afford. The computation of biodiversity indices does not factor in the management effectiveness evaluation of protected areas.
• Indicators such as agrobiodiversity, soil health, food loss and waste are not included even though they are important for developing countries with large agrarian populations.

THE ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUE:

• The report has found that “good policy results are associated with wealth (GDP per capita)’’, meaning economic prosperity makes it possible for nations to invest in policies and programmes that lead to desirable outcomes. This trend is especially true for issue categories under the umbrella of environmental health, as building the necessary infrastructure to provide clean drinking water and sanitation, reduce ambient air pollution, control hazardous waste, and respond to public health crises yields large returns for human well-being, however in pursuit of economic prosperity (manifested in industrialisation and urbanization) often means more pollution and other strains on ecosystem vitality, especially in the developing world and hence poorer rank.
• According to environmental scientists in India, the weights are the agency’s discretion; but giving climate change such a high weightage is problematic. The EPI 2022 makes an assumption that every country has to reach net zero by 2050 — whereas the understanding is that developing countries will need more time. India has also committed to Net-Zero Emissions by 2070. Noone can be expected to forgo energy for development. The EPI 2022 is neither ethically correct nor reflects the political reality.
• In developing countries, of which many like India have low emissions trajectories, the contribution is not that emissions reduce but to avoid locking into higher emissions trajectories. That is what is expected of developing countries, but the methodology used doesn’t allow for that and the government is correct in pointing this out.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• The parameters of the report should be modified in order to enhance its credibility. The accurate method would be to calculate GHG emissions per capita. Further, a model should be created with coefficients taking into account the effect of policies to reduce emissions. This will help in the better projection of the values for future years. Such policies include increased use of renewable energy and electric vehicles or the creation of a carbon sink.
• Climate change is a global environmental problem, and because its effects depend on the accumulation of greenhouse gases over time, measuring progress in a given country is challenging. Unlike air quality, where absolute increases or decreases in emissions of air pollutants in that country signal progress, climate change mitigation has to be measured against what it is reasonable and fair to expect from different countries, taking into account their past emissions as well as national contexts.
• India must make sure that its current environmental policies and commitments are duly honoured. For instance, India has announced a ban on single-use plastic, in effect from 1^st July 2022. The policy should be properly implemented and also the masses be made aware of the contributions that they can make.
• India must strengthen its environmental litigation framework by establishing more benches of National Green Tribunals across the country. This will promote environmental consciousness and encourage people to file complaints against the violators.
• The present approach is bound to make richer countries look good, because they have accumulated emissions in the past, but these have started declining in the last decade. Meanwhile, poorer countries that have emitted comparatively little in the past, look bad even as they are grappling with addressing poverty while trying to limit emissions.Through choices of biased and skewed benchmarks, also hurts honest global conversation and much-needed progress on the global climate crisis that it purports to foreground it should not stifle honest conversation. The needed changes in the methodology shall be made.
• Whatever may be the findings of the report and the rebuff by the government, India’s local environmental performance on air, water and forests is deeply problematic.Air quality in India is now the second largest risk factor for public health in India, behind only child and maternal nutrition. Rivers and lakes are increasingly polluted, rivers are drying, groundwater tables are rapidly declining, and gains in tree cover hide declining natural productivity and diversity of forests and grasslands. Solid waste mounts and pesticide contamination is unabated. It is time that we look within and have more stringent implementation and execution of the programmes and policies.

THE CONCLUSION: Indexes are inherently problematic, especially when applied to something as multi-dimensional and complex as environmental performance. In trying to quantify, aggregate and rank, index makers have to make judgements about what issues count, how they are best measured individually, and how much importance to give to each issue and indicator in aggregating. Moreover, when ranking countries, one is essentially applying the same standard across vastly different socio-ecological contexts – this involves difficult choices and demands changes in the approach. Despite the inconsistencies in the Environmental Performance Index 2022, the Government should not ignore the fact that India experiences severe environmental issues (especially air pollution) that need to be addressed urgently for attaining sustainable development.

Mains Practice Question:

1. Indexes are inherently problematic, especially when applied to something as multi-dimensional and complex as environmental performance. Analyze in context of Environment Performance Index, 2022.
2. The Government of India has questioned the parameters of the recently released Environmental Performance Index 2022. What are the parameters questioned and suggest ways to maintain the principle of equity among the nations to address the environmental challenges?

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Centre has defined a list of single-use plastic items that will are banned from 1st July 2022.The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of notified single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities are also prohibited with effect from the 1st July 2022. This article analyses the ban on single-use plastic for greater benefits and related concerns.

SINGLE-USE PLASTIC

ABOUT

It refers to plastic items that are used once and discarded.

HIGHEST SHARES OF PLASTIC MANUFACTURED AND USED

Single-use plastic has among the highest shares of plastic manufactured and used — from the packaging of items to bottles (shampoo, detergents, cosmetics), polythene bags, face masks, coffee cups, cling film, trash bags, food packaging etc.

MINDEROO FOUNDATION 2021 REPORT

• Accounts for a Third of all Plastic Produced Globally:

According to a 2021 report of the Minderoo Foundation, an Australian philanthropic organization, single-use plastics account for a third of all plastic produced globally, with 98% manufactured from fossil fuels.

• The Majority of Plastic Discarded:

Single-use plastic also accounts for the majority of plastic discarded – 130 million metric tonnes globally in 2019 — all of which is burned, buried in landfills or discarded directly into the environment.

• Contribution to Greenhouse Gas Emissions:

On the current trajectory of production, it has been projected that single-use plastic could account for 5-10% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

• Data for India:

o   The report found that India features in the top 100 countries of single-use plastic waste generation – at rank 94 (the top three being Singapore, Australia and Oman).

o   With domestic production of 11.8 million metric tonnes annually, and import of 2.9 MMT, India’s net generation of single-use plastic waste is 5.6 MMT, and per capita, generation is 4 kg.

PLASTIC ITEMS TO BE BANNED:

• The items on which the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have announced a ban are earbuds; balloon sticks; candy and ice-cream sticks; cutlery items including plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, trays; sweet boxes; invitation cards; cigarette packs; PVC banners measuring under 100 microns; and polystyrene for decoration.
• The choice for the first set of single-use plastic items for the ban was based on the difficulty of collection, and therefore recycling. When plastic remains in the environment for long periods of time and does not decay, it turns into microplastics – first entering our food sources and then the human body, and this is extremely harmful.
• The largest share of single-use plastic is that of packaging – with as much as 95% of single-use belonging to this category – from toothpaste to shaving cream to frozen foods. The items chosen are of low value and of low turnover and are unlikely to have a big economic impact, but can be a great contributing factor in reducing environmental pollution.
• The Ministry had already banned polythene bags under 75 microns in September 2021, expanding the limit from the earlier 50 microns. The ban will be extended to polythene bags under 120 microns from December 2022. The ban is being introduced in phases to give manufacturers time to shift to thicker polythene bags that are easier to recycle.
• As per the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, there is also a complete ban on sachets using plastic material for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala.

ENFORCEMENT OF THE BAN IN INDIA

MONITORED BY

• The ban will be monitored by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) from the Centre and by the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) that will report to the Centre regularly.

DIRECTIONS ISSUED

• Directions have been issued at national, state and local levels — for example, to all petrochemical industries — to not supply raw materials to industries engaged in the banned items.
• Directions have also been issued to SPCBs and Pollution Control Committees to modify or revoke consent to operate issued under the Air/Water Act to industries engaged in single-use plastic items.
• Local authorities have been directed to issue fresh commercial licenses with the condition that SUP items will not be sold on their premises, and existing commercial licences will be cancelled if they are found to be selling these items.

BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS

• Promoting Compostable and Biodegradable Plastics – The CPCB issued one-time certificates to 200 manufacturers of compostable plastic and the BIS passed standards for biodegradable plastic.

PENALTY

• Those found violating the ban can be penalised under the Environment Protection Act 1986 – which allows for imprisonment up to 5 years, a penalty up to Rs 1 lakh, or both.
• Violators can also be asked to pay Environmental Damage Compensation by the SPCB.
• There are municipal laws on plastic waste, with their own penal codes.

WHY BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC – THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PLASTIC POLLUTION

LONGEVITY

• The chemical bonds that make-up plastics are strong and made to last. The decomposition rate of plastic typically ranges from 500 to 600 years, depending on the type. This makes them one of the major environmental pollutants.

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

• On the current trajectory of production, it has been projected that single-use plastic could account for 5-10% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

LANDFILL CREATION

• The country is witnessing a rise in landfill creation, especially across major cities like Delhi, Mumbai etc. The Ghazipur landfill in Delhi is soon expected to surpass the height of Qutub Minar. Single-use plastic has played a crucial role in enhancing the extent and height of such landfills. Plastics also keep on releasing harmful toxins in the adjacent areas polluting local soils and groundwater.

IMPACT ON HEALTH

• When plastic remains in the environment for long periods of time and does not decay, it turns into microplastics. This enters food sources and then the human body, causing severe health problems.

IMPACT ON THE MARINE ECOSYSTEM

• According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the world produces over 300 million tonnes of plastic every year, of which 14 million tonnes end up in the ocean. Marine species ingest or are entangled in plastic debris, which causes severe injuries and death. Microplastics are also a major contributor to marine pollution.

CHALLENGES IN PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT

INPUT COST

• While manufacturers can use the same machine for 50- and 75-micron bags, the machinery will need to be upgraded for 120 microns. This will enhance the cost of production and put a greater burden on consumers. Similarly, many sellers fear that the alternatives will cost more than single-use plastic. The availability of substitutes might not be enough to meet the demand.

INTERNATIONAL LAWS

• There is currently no dedicated international instrument in place designed specifically to prevent plastic pollution throughout the entire plastics lifecycle.

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION

• The success would rely largely on how effectively these norms are governed by the Central and State Pollution Control Boards. Their past records in plastic waste management are quite uninspiring. This is testified by frequent violations of plastic rules in major cities like Delhi, Bengaluru etc.
• The prevalence of corruption impedes the effective implementation of the ban and fails to create a substantial deterrence on violators. India’s rank has slipped six places to 86th among 180 countries in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020.

INFORMAL WASTE COLLECTION

• Informalized Structure of Rag Pickers inhibits a strong linkage between waste collectors and processing plants.

THE ANALYSIS:

• India’s ban on select single-use plastic items comes into effect from 1^st July 2022. Although this is the country’s first attempt to regulate plastics available in the market, it will send out the wrong message if we say “India is banning single-use plastic”because even after July 1, the Indian market has continued to sell a gamut of single-use plastic items like soft drinks and mineral water bottles, all products sold in multi-layered packaging, among others. These plastic items perfectly fit the bill for single-use plastic going by the definition India has adopted. India defined single-use plastic in an August 2021 notification as “plastic item intended to be used once for the same purpose before being disposed of or recycled”.
• The government has tried to identify a handful of problematic plastics, which are low-utility and have high littering potential, from the bucket of single-use plastic commodity list and give the industry a reasonable time to phase them out. But many items have been left out. Plastic carry bags, for instance, will not be banned, they will still be available but the thickness has been regulated to be more than 75 microns till December 31, 2022, and more than 120 microns from December 31, 2022 onward. Similarly, banners made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), will still be available, but the thickness should not be less than 100 microns, the government mandated.
• The first announcement for phasing out single-use plastic was made on August 15, 2019 by the Prime Minister of India. Roughly two years later, in March 2021, the draft notification was released. The deadline for phase-out, proposed in the draft notification, was January 1, 2022. In the final notification released in August 2021, the deadline was extended to July 1, 2022 based on the request from the plastic industry and AIPMA.Still, the plastic industry, along with companies such as ParleAgro, Amul, Dabur, Pepsico and All India Plastic Manufacturers Association (AIPMA), are seeking an extension of 6-12 months on the ban, citing issues like unavailability of alternatives, economic infeasibility and demand-supply gap, which will increase the cost of their product packaging. This clearly questions the intent of the industries to adopt the policy guidelines.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• An international instrument to manage plastic pollution can be formulated by parties of the UN Environment Assembly. Earlier this year, 124 parties of UNEA including India, signed a resolution to draw up an agreement. The agreement will make it legally binding for the signatories to address the full life of plastics from production to disposal, to end plastic pollution.
• The alternatives manufactured in India come with a premium price which may be unaffordable in most cases. This is primarily due to the scale at which the alternative market currently operates. The alternative market needs to be offered support through government initiatives to make its reach wider. However, caution is needed when promoting alternatives, so as not to create a fresh set of problems while fighting plastic pollution.
• The Government should also encourage the creation of sustainable bioplastics. These plastics can be decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually microbes, into the water, carbon dioxide, and biomass. Recently, the BIS passed standards for biodegradable plastic.
• The Government should take proactive steps to ensure that the plastic ban becomes a success. The recent launch of a public grievance app to track complaints of single plastic use is a laudable step in this regard.
• An independent environment regulator as envisaged by the Supreme Court should be created to oversee the prudent implementation of the new rules.
• India’s plastic consumption at 11 kilogrammes is still only a tenth of the US and less than a third of China’s, according to PlastIndia 2015. But, the projected high growth rates of GDP and continuing rapid urbanisation suggest that India’s trajectory of plastic consumption and plastic waste is likely to increase. The masses shall be sensitized about plastic waste through awareness programmes and other campaigns and shall be encouraged to use alternatives to plastic.

THE CONCLUSION: Making India plastic-pollution free is not going to be easy and the responsibility is not limited to one stakeholder — the plastic industry or governments, for instance. All the stakeholders involved from the production of raw materials, plastic manufacturers, giant FMCG companies, national, state and local governments along with the consumers have their parts to play to make the ban a success. The national and state governments have a long road ahead of them to ensure enforcement of the notified ban. We just cannot envisage that from July, India will become a single-use plastic-free nation.Consumers like you and I also have a role to play, which ranges from refusing the use of plastic carry bags irrespective of the thickness, consuming consciously and, of course, segregating the solid waste we generate in our households. This will ensure plastic waste can be diverted away from dumpsites to treatment facilities, where it can be recycled and given a second life.

Mains Practice Questions:

1. The single-use plastic (SUP) ban is a significant step towards building a sustainable planet we can proudly hand over to the next generation. Comment.
2. Researchers, experts and environmentalists feel that bans work but only to an extent. Critically examine the statement in the context of the single-use plastic ban.

ADD TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE

PLASTIC BAN AROUND THE WORLD

• United Nations resolution: 124 countries which are party to the United Nations Environment Assembly including India signed a resolution to draw up an agreement which will in the future make it legally binding for the signatories to address the full life of plastics from production to disposal, to end plastic pollution.
• Bangladesh became the first country to ban thin plastic bags in 2002.
• New Zealand became the latest country to ban plastic bags in 2019.
• China issued a ban on plastic bags in 2020 with a phased implementation.
• Seattle became the first major US city to ban plastic straws in 2018.
• European Union (EU): The directive bans certain single-use plastics for which alternatives are available.
• Current scenario: 68 countries have plastic bag bans with varying degrees of enforcement.

Successful initiatives:

In 2008, Rwanda became a pioneer in banning the disposal of plastic among the developing nations and has transformed into one of the cleanest nations on the globe, in spite of its financial constraints.

Less successful initiatives:

Ethiopia’s ban on the import and production of carrying bags thicker than 330 microns, plateaued out in a short period. This is the matter with many developing countries including India, despite strengthening their stance against packaging plastics, they fail to effectively implement it due to the dearth of infrastructure, enforcement, and availability of affordable alternatives.

INDIA’S EFFORTS IN TACKLING PLASTIC WASTE

THE PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT RULES, 2016

• It clearly stipulates that urban local bodies (ULBs) should ban less than 50 micron thick plastic bags and not allow the usage of recycled plastics for packing food, beverage or any other eatables.
• It introduced the concept of EPR(Extended Producer Responsibility) to manage plastics in India.EPR means the responsibility of a producer for environmentally sound management of the product until the end of its life.

PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT (AMENDMENT) RULES, 2022

• The guidelines on EPR(Extended Producer Responsibility) coupled with the prohibition of identified single-use plastic items. It banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of carrying bags made of virgin or recycled plastic less than seventy-five microns.
• The items that will be banned are—Earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol) for decoration, plastic plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons and knives, straw, trays, wrapping films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100-microns and stirrers.
• The ban will not apply to commodities made of compostable plastic.
• The Central Pollution Control Board, along with state pollution bodies, will monitor the ban, identify violations, and impose penalties already prescribed under the Environmental Protection Act.

SWACHH BHARAT MISSION – URBAN 2.0

Segregation and sorting:

• Under this, every Urban Local Body (ULB) is required to adopt 100% source segregation of waste, and have access to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for sorting the dry waste (including plastic waste) into further fractions for recycling and/ or processing into value-added products.
• This is aimed to reduce plastic and dry waste ending up in dumpsites or waterbodies.
• Further, the ULBs will need to identify SUP ‘hotspots’ and eliminate them.
• ULB shave to leverage the support of State Pollution Control Boards and form special enforcement squads, conducting surprise inspections and imposing heavy fines and penalties on defaulters, for enforcing SUP bans.

Alternatives:

• The ULBs will need to identify SUP alternatives (such as cloth/jute/plastic bags, degradable cutleries, etc.) readily available in the market and create awareness about such alternatives among citizens.

Reuse:

• States and ULBs have also been advised to enter into MoUs with nearby cement plants or other industrial units as well to ensure that a part of the plastic waste generated is used either as an alternative fuel in cement plants or for road construction purposes.

THE “INDIA PLASTIC CHALLENGE – HACKATHON 2021

• It is a unique competition calling upon start-ups /entrepreneurs and students of   Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to develop innovative solutions to mitigate plastic pollution and develop alternatives to single-use plastics.

OTHERS:

India Plastics Pact:

• The India Plastics Pact is an ambitious, collaborative initiative that aims to bring together businesses, governments and NGOs to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics in their value chain. The Pact aims to transform the current linear plastics system into a circular plastics economy that will:

o   Reduce the use of problematic plastics in India.

o   Retain valuable materials in the economy for use in other products.

o   Generate jobs, investments and opportunities in the plastics system in India.

Project REPLAN:

• This is the first of its kind project in India, where plastic waste is de-structured, degraded, diluted and used with paper pulp while making handmade paper and thus reducing plastic waste from nature. The invention is aligned with the Prime Minister’s call for fighting the menace of single-use plastic.

Un-Plastic Collective:

• The Un-plastic Collective (UPC) is co-founded by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WWF-India.
• The Collective seeks to minimise the externalities of plastics on the ecological and social health of our planet. The word ‘un-plastic’ specifically refers to moving all types of plastics in a circular economy and removing unnecessary plastic in the long run, while using sustainable alternative materials.

GoLitter Partnerships Project

• The Project was launched by the International Maritime Organization(IMO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO). The Government of Norway provided initial funding for the project. The project aims to help the maritime transport and fishing sectors to adapt to a low-plastic future. To achieve this goal, this initiative will assist developing countries to apply best practices for the prevention, reduction, and control of marine plastic litter from those sectors.
• 30 Countries are participating in the project. India is also one of the participating countries.

THE CONTEXT: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 (released on 7th July 2022) provides a global overview of progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, using the latest available data and estimates. It tracks the global and regional progress towards the 17 Goals with in-depth analyses of selected indicators for each Goal.The Report highlights the severity and magnitude of the challenges before us. The confluence of crises, dominated by COVID-19, climate change, and conflicts, are creating spin-off impacts on food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace and security, and affecting all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article discusses the challenges before us in detail.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS REPORT

ABOUT

• It is a global assessment of countries’ progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
• It is published by a group of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
o SDSN was launched in 2012 to mobilize global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical problem solving for sustainable development and implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
o Following their adoption, SDSN is now committed to supporting the implementation of the SDGs at national and international levels.

RANKING

• Countries are ranked by their overall score.
• The overall score measures the total progress towards achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The score can be interpreted as a percentage of SDG achievement.
• A score of 100 indicates that all SDGs have been achieved.

PERFORMANCE OF THE COUNTRIES

• The 2022 SDG Index is topped by Finland, followed by three Nordic countries –Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
• East and South Asia is the region that progressed most on the SDGs since their adoption in 2015.
• Bangladesh and Cambodia are the two countries that progressed most on the SDGs since 2015.
• By contrast, Venezuela has declined the most on the SDG Index since their adoption in 2015.

SDG REPORT 2022 AND INDIA

• India’s rank in the report has slipped for the third consecutive year. It has been ranked 121 out of the 163 countries in 2022. India ranked 117 in 2020 and 120 in 2021.
• India continues to face major challenges in achieving 11 of the 17 SDGs, which has pushed down its global ranking on SDG preparedness.
• The progress in around 10 of the SDG goals is similar to those in 2021. These include SDG 2 on ending hunger, SDG 3 on good health and well being and SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation.
• But ensuring decent work (SDG 8) has become more challenging.

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

• The United Nations defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
• It includes “harmonising” three elements: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

• The United Nations Document “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.
• This agenda contains 17 goals and 169 targets.
• The agenda is built on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were adopted in 2000 and were to be achieved by 2015.
• SDGs provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
• They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE REPORT

MEETING THE DEADLINE

• The report highlights the severity and magnitude of the crises before us and states that urgent action is needed to achieve the 2030 deadline of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

GLOBAL ISSUES AFFECTING SGDS

• According to the report, all 17 SDGs, set at the UN General Assembly in 2015, are in jeopardy due to the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in the number of conflicts across the world.
• The pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have already led to a lowering of global economic growth projections by 0.9 percentage points.
• It is harming in more ways than one:
o Raising food and fuel prices.
o Hampering global supplies and trade.
o Disturbing financial markets.

IMPACTED AREAS

The “cascading and intersecting” issues impact the environment, food and nutrition, health, peace and security as well as education, according to a UN statement on the report.
Environment:
o Greenhouse gas emissions are set to rise 14 per cent over a decade, antithetical to the Paris Agreement plan — a 2025 peak followed by a 43 per cent decline by 2030 and Net 2050.
o Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions shot up 6 per cent, taking down gains due to COVID-19.
Economic shocks and poverty:
o Economic shocks due to the worldwide health emergency pushed 93 million into poverty in 2020 alone, undoing “more than four years” work at alleviating poverty.
Education and healthcare:
o It also affected the education and healthcare services for millions.
o Immunisation, for example, has dropped for the first time in a decade even as deaths from malaria and TB have risen.
Cascading effect:
o The report also flagged threats to food security and aids, rising unemployment (especially among women) and increases in child labour as well as child marriages.
o The burden was greater on least developed countries and vulnerable population groups.

UNDOING PROGRESS:

The report details the reversal of years of progress in eradicating poverty and hunger, improving health and education, providing basic services, and much more.

COVID – 19 AND SDGs

SDG 1 (NO POVERTY)

• The COVID-19 pandemic has put steady progress in poverty reduction over the past 25 years into reverse, with the number of people in extreme poverty increased for the first time in a generation.
• Between 657 and 676 million people are currently projected to live in extreme poverty in 2022, compared to the pre-pandemic projection of 581 million.
• In 2020, for the first time in two decades, the share of the world’s workers living in extreme poverty increased, rising from 6.7 per cent in 2019 to 7.2 per cent, pushing an additional 8 million workers into poverty.

SDG 3 (GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING)

• The pandemic has severely disrupted essential health services, triggered an increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression, lowered global life expectancy, derailed progress towards ending HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, and halted two decades of work towards making health coverage universal. As a result, immunization coverage dropped for the first time in 10 years, and deaths from TB and malaria increased.

SDG 4 (QUALITY EDUCATION)

• The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened a crisis in education, with severe disruptions in education systems worldwide. School closures have had worrisome consequences for children’s learning and well-being, particularly for girls and those who are disadvantaged, including children with disabilities, rural dwellers and ethnic minorities.
• An estimated 147 million children missed more than half of their in-person instruction over the past two years and 24 million learners from the pre-primary to university level are at risk of not returning to school.

SDG 8 (DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH)

• The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated the worst economic crisis in decades and reversed progress towards decent work for all. Although the global economy began to rebound in 2021, bringing some improvement in unemployment, recovery remains elusive and fragile. Recovery patterns also vary significantly across regions, countries, sectors and labour market groups.
• By the end of 2021, global economic recovery had been hampered by new waves of COVID-19 infections, rising inflationary pressures, major supply-chain disruptions, policy uncertainties and persistent labour market challenges.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND SDGs

SDG 13 (Climate Action)

• The world is on the brink of a climate catastrophe, and the window to avert it is closing rapidly. Increased heatwaves, droughts and floods caused by climate change are already affecting billions of people around the world and causing potentially irreversible changes in global ecosystems.
• To limit warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, as set out in the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to peak before 2025. Then they must decline by 43 per cent by 2030, falling to net zero by 2050, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body responsible for assessing the science related to climate change.
• However, current national commitments are not sufficient to meet the 1.5 °C targets. Under these commitments, greenhouse gas emissions are projected to increase by almost 14 per cent over the next decade.

SDG 14 (Life Below Water)

• Human activity is endangering the planet’s largest ecosystem – its oceans and seas – and affecting the livelihoods of billions of people. Continuing ocean acidification and rising ocean temperatures are threatening marine species and negatively affecting marine ecosystem services.
• In 2021, more than 17 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean – a number projected to double or triple by 2040.

CONFLICTS AND SDGs

SDG 1(NO POVERTY)

• Forecasts for 2022 estimate that 75 million more people than expected prior to the pandemic will be living in extreme poverty. Rising food prices and the broader impacts of the war in Ukraine could push that number even higher, to 95 million, leaving the world even further from meeting the target of ending extreme poverty by 2030.

SDG 2 (ZERO HUNGER)

• Global food supply systems have been partially undermined by a cascading combination of growing conflicts, climate-related shocks and widening inequalities. As a result, as many as 828 million people may have suffered from hunger in 2021.
• The outbreak of war in Ukraine poses an additional threat to food insecurity, with the potential to provoke a surge in levels of hunger and malnutrition, especially among the poorest and most vulnerable.

SDG 10 (REDUCED INEQUALITIES)

• The number of refugees worldwide reached the highest absolute number on record in 2021; sadly, that year also saw a record number of migrant deaths.
• The ongoing war in Ukraine has created the worst refugee crisis in recent history. To date, the movement of more than 6 million people from Ukraine to other countries has been registered, the majority of whom are women and children. In addition, at least 8 million people have been displaced inside the country to escape the conflict.

SDG 16 (PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS)

• Pleas for global peace are growing louder as the world witnesses the largest number of violent conflicts since 1946, with one-quarter of the global population living in conflict-affected countries at the end of 2020.
• Amid these crises, and despite movement restrictions prompted by COVID-19, forced displacement has continued and even grown.

THE ANALYSIS OF THE THREE CASCADING AND INTERLINKED CRISES:
Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on almost every aspect of our lives. And it is still far from over. The pandemic wiped out more than four years of progress on poverty eradication. The immediacy of the COVID-19 crisis is now overshadowed by the existential threat of climate change. Increased heat waves, droughts and apocalyptic wildfires and floods are already affecting billions of people around the globe and causing potentially irreversible damage to the Earth’s ecosystems. To avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. The outbreak of war in Ukraine has caused food, fuel and fertilizer prices to skyrocket, disrupted supply chains and global trade, and roiled financial markets, fuelling the threat of a global food crisis.
To stay ahead of these crises, we need to understand where we are and where we are headed, and that will require significant investment in our data and information infrastructure. Policies, programmes and resources aimed at protecting people during this most challenging time will inevitably fall short without the evidence needed to focus interventions. Timely, high-quality and disaggregated data can help trigger more targeted responses, anticipate future needs, and hone the design of urgently needed actions. To emerge stronger from the crisis and prepare for unknown challenges ahead, funding statistical development must be a priority for national governments and the international community.

THE WAY FORWARD:
1. The severity and magnitude of the challenges before us demand sweeping changes on a scale not yet seen in human history. We must start by ending armed conflicts (such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict) and embarking on a path of diplomacy and peace – a precondition for sustainable development.
2. We must adopt low-carbon, resilient and inclusive development pathways that will reduce carbon emissions, conserve natural resources, transform our food systems, create better jobs and advance the transition to a greener, more inclusive and just economy.
3. The COVID-19 crisis has been an extraordinary challenge for statistical systems also. It has also been an opportunity to experiment with innovative data collection methods, explore new data sources and modernize ICT infrastructures to meet data demands for policy making. Moving forward, experiences during the pandemic can be used to inform the future of innovation in statistics.
4. The last two years have seen a major blow to the world’s economy and people, and lower-income countries were hit particularly hard. Investing in data capacities and data partnerships to leave no one behind, build trust and fill data gaps to achieve the SDGs must be a priority for national governments and the international community if countries are to rely upon evidence-based policy responses to emerge stronger from the crisis and face the unknown challenges ahead.
5. The conflict has caused a steep and sudden reduction in exports of grain, sunflower seeds and fertilizers. As a result, import-dependent countries are vulnerable to rising food costs and supply chain disruptions. Joint, coordinated activities and policy solutions are urgently needed to avert food shortages for the world’s poorest people and to reduce the impact of the conflict, as well as lingering consequences of the pandemic, on global food insecurity. (For instance, the recently adopted “GENEVA PACKAGE” at the 12th ministerial conference of WTO, also agreed on Exemptions from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Food Purchases made by World Food Programme (WFP).
6. Millions of children and youth worldwide are in similar situations as those in Ukraine whose learning has been interrupted – by war, disasters and other crises. Providing safe, inclusive and continuous education to those girls and boys is crucial in helping them cope with current and future crises. Online Education/Classes is one of the soundest and most important investments that can be made in human and socio-economic development.

THE CONCLUSION: The road map laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals is clear, just as the impact of crises is compounded when they are linked, so are the solutions. When we take action to strengthen social protection systems, improve public services and invest in clean energy, for example, we can address the root causes of increasing inequality, environmental degradation and climate change. The report emphasized that to emerge stronger from the crisis and prepare for unknown challenges ahead, it is imperative for the national governments and the international community to fund the data and information infrastructure at a priority level.

Mains Practice Questions:
1. Geo-political conflicts, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have put the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations in jeopardy. Comment.
2. What are the cascading and intersecting contemporary issues having an impact on the environment, food and nutrition, health as well as global peace and security?Suggest possible ways to address them.

THE CONTEXT: In June 2022, the Union government has amended the rules related to the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The post of the CDS has been vacant since December 8, 2021, when India’s first CDS General Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash. In this article, we will analyse the issues related to the delays in the appointment of the CDS.

THE GENESIS OF THE CDS

1982

• General K .V Krishna Rao advanced the creation of the post of Chief of Defence.

1999

• The Kargil Review Committee (KRC), headed by K. Subrahmanyam, appointed after the Kargil conflict, proposed the creation of the post of CDS.

2001

• The Group of Ministers Task Force that studied the KRC report proposed to the Cabinet Committee on Security that a CDS, a 5-star officer, be created.

2012

• The Naresh Chandra Committee recommended the appointment of a Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) as a midway to allay apprehensions over the CDS.

2016

• The CDS was one of the 99 recommendations made by the Lt General D.B. Shekatkar (retd) Committee.

2019

• The PM announces the decision to create the post of CDS.
• The Union Defense Ministry set up a high-powered committee under National Security Advisor to implement the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) decision to create the post of Chief of Defence Staff and also frame the terms of references for this post.
• Pursuant to the recommendations, a CDS post is created, and a new Department of Military Affairs was established, headed by the CDS

2022

• The rules relating to the CDS appointment changed (Read Ahead).

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF CDS

DUAL ROLE

• The role of the CDS has been defined as a “dual-hatted” role as the CDS serves as the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in the Ministry of Defence.

JOINTNESS OF OPERATIONS

• The CDS is also mandated with the role of inducing jointness in the armed forces, theatre commands, carrying out reforms, and the optimal utilisation of infrastructure.

IN CHARGE OF MAKE IN INDIA IN DEFENCE

• The government has also made the CDS in-charge of the ‘Make in India’ in defence programme and has been given the mandate of promoting and ensuring the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme in the defence sector.

OTHERS

• Principal Military Advisor to Defence Minister on all tri-services issues
• Administration of the Tri-Service  organizations/agencies/commands
• Member of Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Defence Minister
• Military Advisor to the Nuclear Command Authority.

THE NUCLEAR COMMAND AUTHORITY(NCA)

NCA is the body that authorises the use of nuclear weapons. It has a Political Council headed by the Prime Minister and an Executive Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The decision to use weapons is taken by the Political Council, and Executive Council gives its input. The CDS is a member of this council in an advisory role.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POST OF CDS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY MANAGEMENT

• JOINT PLANNING –A tri-service chief will help in the preparation integrated and holistic planning of defence policy combining all three wings
• OPTIMAL UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES – Earlier, due to a lack of coordination among the services, many repetitive costs must be incurred in logistics, training etc. The post of CDS would encourage synergy in operations to dispense with such unnecessary burdens in procurement. It would also expedite the defence procurement process.
• STRATEGIC FORCES COMMAND – With India’s “no first use” nuclear strategy, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) would be in a real quandary if at a critical stage during war, when the adversary has unleashed nuclear weapons, the three Chiefs of Staff express divergent views on the payoffs of using nuclear weapons in a retaliatory strike and the type and nature of the response. In such a situation, the CDS would be able to take a detached view and offer unified advice to the government.
• RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES AMONG SERVICES – The CDS helps in the resolution of conflicts arising among the services with respect to the allocation of resources, regarding the procurement of weapons etc.
• SPECIALIST ADVICE AVAILABLE TO GOVERNMENT – The CDS acts as a one-point contact to the government to assist in making decisions from a militarily cogent perspective
• INNOVATION IN DEFENCE FORCES – The CDS aids in the preparation of amphibious units such as Marines or in other joint inter-services research and development.
• CREATION OF THEATRE COMMANDS – It is also seen as being vital to the creation of “theatre commands”, integrating tri-service assets and personnel.

THE DELAY IN THE APPOINTMENT: AN ANALYSIS

Given the high-profile role and responsibilities are given to the CDS, a delay of almost 8 months in naming the successor of the late CDS is quite worried some. This inordinate delay is inexplicable as India is fighting a two and half-front war especially when a belligerent China is creating problems in India’s backyard. The initial euphoria associated with the creation of the post of PDF seems to have died down for reasons best known to the government. However, this is not a welcome development as a CDS has very significant roles according to its mandate. The CDS is one of the three critical links in India’s national security management, the other two being National Security Strategy and Defence Minister’s Operational Directives. The appointment of CDS was announced as a major reform in defence, but the delay means the government may have an afterthought on the concept of CDS. But whatever be the reasons, the delay takes the defence modernization backwards. Hence, the post should not be kept vacant or if the government feels it is not required, then it needs to be abolished to save defence expenditure, some defence analysts say.

 THE NEW AMENDMENTS RELATED TO THE POST OF CDS

• The government amended the defence rules to empower the Central Government to appoint as Chief of Defence Staff an officer” who is serving as Lieutenant General, Vice Admiral, Air Marshal or General, Admiral, Air Chief Marshal.
• An officer who has retired” from these ranks but has not attained the age of sixty-two years on the date of his appointment is also eligible to be appointed.
• The government may extend the service of the CDS for such a period as it may deem necessary, subject to a maximum age of 65.
• Although this amendment widens the talent pool for CDS, the appointment of a three-star officer `to the post will be a tricky affair as the service chiefs are four-star officers.
• Until now, the eligible rank was not explicitly mentioned with respect to the CDS appointment.

THE TWO OTHER MISSING LINKS IN INDIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY MANAGEMENT

ABSENCE OF A NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

• Unlike many other countries, India does not publish a formally articulated National Security Strategy or National Security Doctrine or a White Paper on National Defence.
• In the absence of a formally stated long-term national security strategy tied to viable operational plans, policy-making tends to be driven by knee-jerk responses to emerging situations and is, hence, mainly reactive.

OPERATIONAL DIRECTIVES OF THE DEFENCE MINISTER

• The three-armed forces are completely reliant on the Raksha Mantri’s Operational Directives for political direction in the event of all-out war or other emergencies. It is the most crucial political directive in terms of operational planning. And it hasn’t been updated in over a decade to account for newer challenges and changing circumstances.

THEATRE COMMAND

•  Theatre command means all three arms of the military would work under a unified command – modelled after the CDS at the central level.
•  Top militaries such as that of the US and China follow this command structure. The US military works under six theatre commands, while China has five theatre commands.
•  Unlike other large and efficient militaries, India does not follow a theatre command structure. It follows a single-service command structure. India has 19 commands – seven of the Indian Army, three of the Indian Navy, seven of the Indian Air Force, one tri-service command at Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).
•  Each of these commands reports through separate chains to their respective chiefs, which are not known for best coordination.
•  All three forces have separate Eastern, Western and Southern commands. Army and air force also have Central and South-Western commands. Same name, same regions, different headquarters and at times diverging strategies. This prevents seamless performance in times of conflict or war.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• The government needs to appoint the CDS now that the new rules are in place and any further delay will only lead to unwarranted speculations.
• If the government is rethinking the roles and mandate of the CDS, then a study group needs to be instituted at the earliest with experts.
• The casual handling of the CDS post by the government does not augur well for the defence reforms and defence management. Hence, a change of thinking is required.
• As the only discernible output form, the DMA and the CDS is the Tour of Duty which has created a lot of unrest in the country. This requires better functioning of the department, and it needs to show more outputs to justify its new existence.
• There are many grey areas and overlapping responsibilities between the Department of Defence and DMA, leading to turf war and wastage of resources. This needs to be addressed by the clear demarcation of responsibilities.
• It is high time that India comes out with an NSS, and also it must revise the Operational Directive so as to improve India’s National Security Management.

THE CONCLUSION: The military’s agenda of manpower reduction, integrated, tri-service theatre commands, and equipment modernization must be advanced, and it is imperative that the CDS be appointed. His duties as a consultant to the Nuclear Command Authority, the execution of the Five Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plan, and the Two-Year Roll-On Annual Acquisition Plans are additional CDS obligations that brook no delays.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. Explain the role and responsibilities of the Chief of Defence Staff. Can we say that the undue delay in appointing a new CDS undermines India’s defence preparedness?
2. Despite the immense significance attached to the post CDS, the delay in appointment indicates a lack of seriousness by the government to national security management. Comment.

THE CONTEXT: In June 2022, the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) was held in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria, Germany. India participated in the summit as an invited member. The discussion focused on addressing the war crisis in eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine, the Covid-19 crisis, climate change, infrastructure development and the food crisis. The detailed analysis of the development is as follows.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT

DATE OF SUMMIT 26- 28 June 2022

PARTICIPATION

• Apart from seven G- 7 members (UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy and France), This year, Germany invited the leaders of five other countries; these are
o Argentina
o India
o Indonesia
o Senegal
o South Africa

ISSUES DISCUSSED IN THE SUMMIT

• During the three-day meeting, the G7 leaders discussed a wide range of topics, including:
o Ukraine and cooperating on foreign policy
o addressing energy and food security
o investing in climate and health
o promoting partnerships for infrastructure and investment
o shaping the global economy
o advancing gender equality
o shaping international cooperation

OUTCOMES OF THE SUMMIT

UKRAINE

• The G7 leaders re-emphasized their condemnation of Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine.
• Financial support from the G7 in 2022 amounts to more than EUR 2.6 billion in humanitarian aid.
• G7 countries are ready to grant or have pledged and provided EUR 28 billion in budget aid.
• The G7 leaders are strongly committed to supporting Ukrainian reconstruction through an international reconstruction plan and conference.
• G7 countries will continue to impose severe and enduring sanctions on Russia to help bring an end to this war.

ENERGY AND FOOD SECURITY
• Russia’s war on Ukraine is dramatically worsening energy security and access to food globally.
• The G7 leaders committed to taking immediate action to secure the energy supply and reduce price surges.
• This includes exploring additional measures such as price caps.
• The G7 countries will also increase global food and nutrition security through the Global Alliance on Food Security.

ECONOMIC ISSUES
• The G7 leaders remain committed to minimizing the impact of the war globally, as well as its impact on their own economies and population.
• G7 countries will help to stabilize and transform the global economy while tackling rising costs of living for citizens.

CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
• The G7 leaders endorsed the goals of an open and cooperative International Climate Club. The Climate Club will be built around three pillars: advancing ambitious and transparent climate change mitigation policies toward climate neutrality; transforming industries to accelerate decarbonization; and boosting international ambition through partnerships and cooperation to facilitate climate action and promote just energy transition.
• They will work with partners towards establishing it by the end of 2022.
• The objectives are to:
 drive urgent, ambitious and inclusive action to align with 1.5°C pathways
 accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement
• The G7 leaders committed to:
 a highly decarbonized road sector by 2030
 a fully or predominantly decarbonized power sector by 2035
 prioritizing the acceleration of the phase-out of domestic unabated coal power use.

INVESTMENT IN A BETTER FUTURE
• The G7 leaders reviewed the progress of the G7 Partnership for Infrastructure and Investment.
• Through the partnership, they aim to mobilize USD 600 billion over the next five years to narrow the global investment gap.
• The G7 leaders agreed to step up their cooperation globally. Building on their existing partnership with South Africa, they will work towards new Just Energy Transition Partnerships with:
 Indonesia
 India
 Senegal
 Vietnam

HEALTH
• On COVID-19, the G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to equitable global access to and delivery of safe, effective and affordable:
 vaccines
 therapeutics
 diagnostics
 other essential medical goods

DEMOCRATIC VALUES
• The G7 leaders will also cooperate with civil society and partners to:
 strengthen the resilience of our societies
 promote human rights online and offline
 address disinformation
 achieve gender equality

AN ANALYSIS OF THE OUTCOMES

HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND CONFLICT

• Global Alliance for Food Security is a good step, but nutrition needs more attention.
• The Alliance should be engaged with governments, local farmers, smallholders, and social actors to develop and strengthen local food chains –and boost long-term food security, sovereignty and resilience.
• Communities in the Horn of Africa are facing the threat of starvation following four consecutive failed rainy seasons in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years.
• The March-May 2022 rainy season is likely the driest on record.
• Only USD 4.5 billion for global food security this year, while World Food Programme (WFP) needs USD 14 billion this year to tackle hunger.

OPEN SOCIETIES

• The G7 leaders’ special statement on resilient democracies and commitment to work with civil society and other partners is an improvement on the 2021 open societies statement because:
 It has increased the prominence of civic space in the statement, and there is now more detail.
 There is now a commitment to “advancing programmes for the protection of human rights defenders and all those exposing corruption”, which we can use to hold G7 leaders accountable.
 There is a commitment to “speaking out against threats to civic space, and respecting freedom of association and peaceful assembly.”
• But a special task force to strengthen and expand protection mechanisms for civil society organizations and activists under threat that was discussed in the previous meeting was not discussed this year.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND TRANSFORMATION

To address the problem of unsustainable debt levels, the G20 reached an agreement in November 2020 on a Common Framework for Debt Treatments which aimed to deal with insolvency and protracted liquidity problems in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)-eligible countries by providing debt relief but the initiative facing its implementation issues and struggling to maintain its credibility.
• While the G7 recognizes urgency “to improve multilateral frameworks for debt restructuring and to address debt vulnerabilities”, they failed to admit the weaknesses of the existing G20 Common Framework and the need for a reform of international debt architecture, which includes cancelling unsustainable debt for the countries that need it the most and
• In the 47th G-7 Summit in 2021, the group made an agreement to plug the cross-border tax loopholes used by the giant multinational companies (MNCs) to evade taxes has immense potential to reform and revolutionize
• the global tax system.
• The reform blueprint was based on two pillars:
o to distribute the profits equitably among countries where these are generated, enabling them to tax such profits
o by the adoption of a minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15 per cent globally.
• Establishing effective engagement with private creditors and China.
• Similarly, recognition of the weaknesses and limitations of the global tax deal reached in 2021, especially for the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), was absent.
• Lots of attention was given to gender equality, both in terms of addressing and mainstreaming it, and there was even the suggestion of developing “feminist development, foreign and trade policies.”

CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

• G7 leaders did not take any concrete steps forward on climate and environmental justice. They instead backtracked on their commitment to stop funding fossil fuels overseas. The G7 watered down the COP26 commitment to end new direct public support for fossil fuels by the end of 2022.
• No progress was made on increasing support for those on the frontline of the climate crisis, with the $100bn-a-year climate finance commitment (to help poorer countries cut carbon emissions and cope with global warming, but only two nations offered firm promises of more cash) reiterated but not met two years after failing to meet the delivery deadline.
• No concrete commitments were made to provide finance to address loss and damage, the missing component of climate finance, only empty words about scaling up climate and disaster risk finance and insurance.

GLOBAL HEALTH AND CARE

• Commitment to the collective support of USD 79 million for the Childcare Incentive Fund is a welcome step in the right direction, but the care economy should be seen beyond childcare and be part of adequately funded (2% of GDP) social protection.
• Did not commit to the critical TRIPS waiver, which would relax intellectual property rules and share Covid-19-related tech and know-how with Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs), allowing them to produce and use Covid-19 vaccines.
• Made a commitment to Universal Health Care by 2030, stepping up their efforts in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response under the One Health approach.
• Committed to supporting a successful Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) with the goal of ending the three diseases, though it was not backed up with funding. In their final declaration, the G7 countries reaffirmed their support for international organizations such as the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

INDIA IN THE SUMMIT

Indian PM participated in the summit and discussed issues like energy, food security, counterterrorism, environment and democracy with the leaders of the powerful bloc and its partner countries.
The highlights of PM’s speech:
• Urged the countries to invest in clean energy and said access to energy should not be a privilege of the rich and the poor also should have an equal right to energy.
• Women’s rights and their leading role in development.
• On the issue of global food security by, saying that Millets can make a valuable contribution to ensuring food security in the world. Apart from it, PM Modi highlighted the role of Indian agriculture in global food security.
• Apart from it, PM lauded Indian agricultural manpower and how it can be instrumental in ensuring food security.
• The result of this can be seen as the first announcement made was a 600-billion-dollar infrastructure initiative to help developing countries tackle climate change. The initiative, namely, Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, is seen as the West’s response to China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Importance of meeting for India
The meeting was held at a time when the interesting turn of events in world politics, such as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, growing Chinese threat in the Indo-Pacific, the revival of the global economy post-pandemic, energy transition and others are going on, and somehow, India is at the centre of it all. So, the invitation for the meeting to India shows that the canvas of India’s foreign policy is increasing day by day and day, and India has become an important ally for the West in the developing world.

WHAT DID INDIA GET FROM THE SUMMIT?

SERVES INDIA’S LARGER GEOPOLITICAL CALCULUS

• India’s relations with the West matter.
• India shares a large and conflicted border with China and is in the direct line of fire of China’s expansionist ambitions, the rise of terrorism with the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, walking thin rope in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, an economically ailing Sri Lanka in its backyard, India does not have it easy.
• Therefore, being part of plurilateral platforms like these serves India’s larger geopolitical calculus.

OPPORTUNITY FOR BOTH WEST AND INDIA

• the G-7 Summit presents an opportunity for both the West and India to forge and strengthen their existing partnerships while also mindfully tackling the ongoing geopolitical crisis across the globe.
• Also, the summit has further established the “indispensability of India in any noticeable North, South, or North-South platforms when it comes to searching for solutions and their implementation”.
• The West knows that India has risen and is at the helm of global politics and, therefore, cannot be ignored at the table.

INDIA IS VERY CLEAR ABOUT SAVING ITS INTERESTS

• India is continuing to maintain its strategic autonomy as well as focus on serving its own economic and geopolitical interests along with regional prosperity.
• The Global politics of the 21st Century is centred around the Indo-Pacific, and India is at the centre of it the road to a stable, peaceful, resilient geopolitical environment goes via India.

HOW IS THE CANVAS OF INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICY INCREASING?

INVITATION TO THE SUMMIT

• It is clear that despite India’s reluctance to condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine and differing stances with the West, India was invited (not exclusive, though) as a partner country to the summit.

PARTICIPATED AS AN IMPORTANT ALLY IN INDO-PACIFIC

• India’s growing influence in global affairs is unquestionable. In the new Indo-Pacific construct and amidst China’s muscle-flexing, India is critical. Back in 2017, the then US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, referred to India as the “Western beacon” of the Indo-Pacific.

IMPORTANT MEMBER OF DIFFERENT GROUPINGS

• India’s growing stature and importance in world affairs are widely recognized. India’s diplomacy has led the country to emerge as a global influencer through active participation in I2U2, G-20, BRICS, QUAD, SCO, SAARC, and now G-7.

INDIA’S NARRATIVES ARE MAKING IT A GLOBAL FORCE IN WORLD FORUM

• It can be seen how India can bring a “fresh perspective on the narrative of the global north on climate change, carbon pricing, pandemic prevention, issues related to Intellectual Property, global food security and public stock holdings as well as promotion of shared values of democracy, and the rule of law”.

PGII vs. BRI

• The G 7 leaders launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), a joint initiative to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries. The project, launched on June 27, is being seen as the bloc’s counter to China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative.
• However, the stated purpose of both the PGII and the BRI is to help secure funding for countries to build critical infrastructure such as roads, ports, bridges, communication setups, etc., to enhance global trade and cooperation.
• China began the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 under President Xi Jinping. It aims to revive the ancient trade routes crossing to and from China–from Rome in Europe to East Asia.
• However, China was criticized in the West and by some other countries for providing unsustainable debts to countries that will be unable to repay them.

The comparison of BRI and PGII

BRI 

• 1.2 to 1.3 trillion-dollar project
• State-funded.
• Projects by extending large, low-interest loans to countries.
• The Belt and Road project started to revive connectivity, trade, and infrastructure along what was China’s ancient Silk Road.
• The project initially aimed to strengthen connectivity with Southeast Asia but later expanded to South and Central Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America
• the BRI has faced criticism for making countries sign confidential tenders for extending massive loans, leaving countries indebted to China.

PGII

• 600 billion project.
• Funded through private investors
• Build projects through grants and investments.
• The PGII is a values-based plan to help underfunded low and middle-income countries meet their infrastructure needs. PGII has laid focus on climate action and clean energy,
• G7 leaders emphasized ‘transparency’ as the cornerstone of PGII projects.

IS THERE ANY SPECIFIC ROLE FOR INDIA IN PGII?

• The PGII will have four key priorities on infrastructure: climate and energy security, digital connectivity, health and health security, and gender equality and equity, all of which are priority areas for India as well.
• A specific plan for investment in an Agritech and Climate sustainability fund would invest in companies that increase food security and promote both climate resilience and climate adaptation in India, as well as improve the profitability and agricultural productivity of smallholder farms.

WHAT ARE THE CRITICISM OF INDIA’S STAND IN G-7?

India has become an important ally of the West in the Indo-pacific region, and its participation in the summit clears it, but mere attending a summit does not serve India’s interest, and the development will lead to India’s hostilities with all-weather competitor China. Moreover, India didn’t call for any improvement in the structuring of the group, India’s interests can be negatively impacted by the developments because:
• G 7 is essentially a “First World Elite Club” that hasn’t grown- nor has it revised its membership, given that not all of its members are among the world’s top economies anymore.
• The G-7 countries represent more than 50% of Global GDP and just 10% of the world population, showing how much is concentrated in the hands of a few.
• By cutting out Russia and China, the G-7 ensured the polarization of the world into the two blocs, even as ties between Russia and China got stronger.
• The fact that G-7 countries are also military partners means that the economic agenda of the grouping often takes a backseat over political issues- in the current scenario- over the Russia-Ukraine war and the tussle with China.

THE WAY FORWARD:
• The participation is g good opportunity for India to increase its foreign policy canvas but with an independent foreign policy.
• The formation of PGII is an opportunity for India to counter China’s presence in South Asia. India should use this opportunity to engage maximum developing countries.
• West is continuously supporting India to counter China in Indo-Pacific and now continuously inviting India into their elite club, so India should use this opportunity to call the reform in UNSC.
• The Indian government would do well to engage with the multilateral ecosystem to ensure that future multilateral rules do not disadvantage developing economies instead of outrightly rejecting them.
• India should focus on capacity building and timely resolution of disputes.
• India’s 2022-23 presidency of the G20 presents an opportunity for the country to articulate a forward-looking vision for fair and comprehensive foreign policy.

THE CONCLUSION: India’s engagement with the West is the opportunity for India to overcome the challenge that occurred after Covid-19. India’s participation in the summit is a good move by India to engage deeply with the West but India should be concerned with saving its interests. India’s focus should be to create a balance between the West and its all-weather friend Russia. Though mere participation can’t hurt India’s interest, India should avoid the criticism of Russia as it did in the recent past.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. Critically examine the outcomes of the 14th G-7 summit.
2. How far do you agree with the view that the G-7 Partnership for Infrastructure and Investment is an alternative to the OBOR of China?
3. “Without a stable neighbourhood, attempts to increase the foreign policy canvas by India will not elicit desired outcomes”. Illustrate and Comment.

Just add to your knowledge

• The Grougroup7 (G7) is an informal group of seven countries, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, the heads of which hold an annual summit with the European Union and other invitees.
• Together the member countries represent 40% of global GDP and 10% of the world’s population.
• The G7 draws its roots from a meeting between the current G7 members, excluding Canada, that took place in 1975. At the time, the global economy was in a state of recession due to the OPEC oil embargo.
• After this first summit, the countries agreed to meet annually, and a year later, Canada was invited into the group marking the official formation of the G7 as we know it.
• The President of the European Commission was asked to join the meetings in 1977, and following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and a subsequent thaw in relations between the East and West, Russia was also invited to join the group 1998.
• Thereafter the group was named the G8 until 2014, when Russia was expelled for its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

THE CONTEXT: The 14th BRICS Summit concluded on 24 June 2022. It was hosted by China and was held virtually. This was the first time after February 2022 when the Russian president participated in a multilateral meeting. Though the grouping as envisaged in the beginning was that of an economic group lately its relevance has also been felt in other geopolitical affairs, more so after the Russian military action on Ukraine. This article analyses the relevance of the grouping in present times and in what direction the group is moving.

THE 14^TH BRICS SUMMIT

THEME

• Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development.

BRICS PLUS

• ‘BRICS Plus’ was first mooted by China in March 2017 with the objective of widening the “circle of friends” of BRICS that can bring unity among developing countries and enhance South-South cooperation. The initiative is aimed at upping the outreach activities of the BRICS countries with the Global South and building wider partnerships with emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs).
• 14th BRICS Summit virtual conference of BRICS PLUS was also held as part of the main meeting with ministers from countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Argentina, Nigeria, Senegal, and Thailand.

EXPANSION

• Two new countries – Iran and Argentina – have applied to join the BRICS grouping.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SUMMIT

ADOPTING THE BEIJING DECLARATION

All the participants of the 14th BRICS Summit adopted a final declaration recording the key agreements reached during the discussions, which are:

• The intention to strengthen and reform the multilateral system, which includes the use of innovative and inclusive solutions, capacity building for both states themselves and international organisations, and using inclusive consultation and cooperation for the benefit of all while respecting sovereign independence.
• Leaders of the association states have pledged to promote international and regional peace and security, social and economic development as well as the preservation of the natural balance.
• In addition, participating countries advocated promoting greater participation of developing countries in global processes.
• Heads of the BRICS states stressed the need to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN UKRAINE

• Concerns over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and expressed their support for efforts of the UN Secretary-General, UN Agencies and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the basic principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality.

TERRORISM

• While discussing terrorism and terror cooperation, the BRICS countries said that only the UN Security Council has the authority for imposing sanctions.
• On Afghanistan, BRICS countries called for “Afghanistan authorities to achieve national reconciliation through dialogue and negotiation, and to establish a broad-based and inclusive and representative political structure”, adding that Afghan territory must not be used to shelter terrorists or attack any other country.

INITIATIVE ON DENIAL OF SAFE HAVEN TO CORRUPTION

• The BRICS Initiative on Denial of Safe Haven to Corruption aims to further strengthen anti-corruption capacity building through education and training programs and enhance anti-corruption exchanges and cooperation within multilateral frameworks.

FRAMEWORK FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION IN E-COMMERCE 

• The declaration welcomed the establishment of the Digital Economy Working Group by upgrading the E-commerce Working Group.
• And the BRICS nations have agreed to promote consumer protection in e-commerce by advancing the implementation of the BRICS Framework for Consumer Protection in E-commerce.

MORE FOCUS ON COMBATING TRANSNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING

• The summit also expressed concern over the serious drug situation in the world. BRICS declaration appreciates the BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group’s active role in combating transnational drug trafficking and promoting global drug governance and will further strengthen drug control cooperation.

VARIOUS COOPERATION ANNOUNCEMENTS MADE IN THE SUMMIT

• Members will cooperate to strengthen and reform global governance. They will work in solidarity to combat Covid-19, safeguard peace and security, promote economic recovery, expedite implementation of the 2030 SDGs, deepen people-to-people exchanges, and promote institutional development.
• Members have converging interests on critical issues such as counter-terrorism; trade; health; traditional medicine; environment; science technology and innovation; the reform of the multilateral system etc.

INDIA’S PROPOSALS AT THE SUMMIT

• India proposed strengthening the BRICS Identity system and creating an online database for BRICS documents.
• India proposed the establishment of a BRICS Railways Research Network and strengthening cooperation between MSMEs to improve connectivity and supply chains between member states.
• India will hold a BRICS start-up event this year because India has become the 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world. Therefore, it is in the right position to lead a global South.
• India advocated for strengthening civil society organisations and think tanks.
• India highlighted the significance of building people-to-people connections within BRICS, cooperation in the post-Covid global recovery etc.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 14th BRICS SUMMIT

• The summit was the first meeting since the invasion of Ukraine- giving the message that Russia is not isolated, economically or otherwise. The BRICS member countries are aware of their food and energy security needs and also of the world and it will send a message that the economic sanctions by the west are not called for and debate and discussions are the best way forward.
• The leaders held discussions on Counter-terrorism, trade, health, traditional medicine, environment, science, technology & innovation, agriculture, and technical and vocational education & training which may lead to greater cooperation among the BRICS Nations.
• The leaders adopted the ‘Beijing Declaration’ that referred to the need to avoid politicisation of the work of the UNSC sanctions committee, it is necessary that the UNSC Sanctions committee works in an unbiased manner and BRICS Grouping can act as a pressure point in order to depoliticize UNSC.
• The basic trend of BRICS countries participating in global economic governance is to carry out reforms while maintaining the stability of old governance mechanisms and build a new governance mechanism according to new objective requirements. The proposed BRICS payment system as an alternative to the SWIFT payment system and Contingent Reserve Arrangement as a counter to the Dollar based system are much welcomed initiatives to break away from western hegemony.

THE FRICTION POINTS WITHIN THE GROUPING

BILATERAL ISSUES

• BRICS members don’t discuss bilateral issues, but issues like the India-China border dispute and PLA transgressions over the LAC are bound to have an impact on BRICS solidarity in the long run. At the summit, all five nations articulated their priorities, which indicate towards diverging national interests which may hamper the greater cooperation among the nations.

o   India highlighted the need for greater sensitivity among BRICS members to each other’s security concerns, like terrorism. For example, China blocked the US-India joint move to list Pakistan-based terrorists as a global terrorist.

BRI

• China’s big infrastructure push, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has not been accepted well by India and even Russia while Brazil and South Africa are. This may pose challenge in bilateral issues as well as global supply chains.

UKRAINE ISSUE

• BRICS member countries have diverging opinions regarding the Russia’s military action on Ukraine. While China and Russia have come closer, especially with the announcement of a No-Limits Partnership, India, Brazil and South Africa have been cautious in making any statements at the global platform.

CONCERNS OF THE RISE OF RIC WITHIN BRICS

• There are concerns of the rise of RIC within BRICS. This could mean greater industrial and energy cross investments between Russia and India as well as between Russia and China. This will create a north Eurasian integrationist core within BRICS (RIC controls 22 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of global exports of goods and services.) However other member countries might feel alleviated.

UN REFORMS

• India and Brazil pushed for an expanded UN Security Council (UNSC). However, China is certainly not in favor of a permanent seat for India. Politically, the member countries are not all on the same page at the same time. Lack of a binding ideology, bilateral differences, diversity in terms of socio-cultural lead to differences which results in disagreements at multilateral platforms.

NATO

• The different members of the grouping have different views on condemning NATO. These differences certainly create doubt on the grouping’s tall goals of reorienting the global order.

THE ANALYSIS OF THE 14^th BRICS SUMMIT

The most remarkable thing about the BRICS summit 2022 was that its five members managed to negotiate their way through the meeting in a way that sent no ripples of surprise through the post-February 24, 2022 world; for India, BRICS was always about its commitment to building non-western alliances, but this time it was, more, an international balancing act. BRICS is actively involved in the efforts to change the world economic system by increasing the number of non-Western states in international financial institutes. India will also be organizing BRICS Startup event this year to strengthen connection between Startups in BRICS countries, a step in the right direction for economic cooperation. The 14th BRICS Summit can be expected to contribute to the construction of a fair, democratic and multipolar system of international relations and to forcefully represent the voice of the developing and emerging countries on the crucial questions facing humanity. A new platform to bridge the vaccine divide, new plan to ensure food security, managing the new forms of business in the era of digital economy are the potential areas where the nations have agreed to collaborate and cooperate. BRICS PLUS though at a nascent stage, in future could be a food exchange platform where Indian rice and wheat, Russian barley and sunflower oil, Chinese cotton and Brazilian soybeans could create a food basket that the whole world wants.

 RELEVANCE OF THE BRICS

• Economically, militarily, technologically, socially and culturally, BRICS nations represent a powerful bloc. They have an estimated combined population of 3.23 billion people, which is over 40 per cent of the world’s population. They account for over more than a quarter of the world’s land area over three continents, and for more than 25 per cent of the global GDP. The grouping comprises two of the fastest-growing nations, India and China. As the world today witnesses increasing factors of instability, uncertainty and insecurity, the consequences of the Ukraine crisis for BRICS and the world also presents an opportunity for the member nations to come together on various issues, be it global food crises, supply chains and or even world peace and order. Even with the disagreements over various issues within the grouping they should try and leverage the opportunity and should be the builders of the universal peace and security.
• BRICS members have similar approach regarding the governance of the global economy. The BRICS countries should continue to cooperate on issues where interests align. There remains a strong convergence of interests amid undeniable differences, like financing projects by the NDB, working on climate change, or space cooperation where the five countries have also agreed to create a joint constellation of remote sensing satellites.

THE WAY FORWARD

• The new geopolitical reality, where so much is in flux and unclear, creates a space for powerful new narratives. Some of the BRICS members could be potential targets of the kind of economic warfare deployed by the West against Russia. It is time that BRICS and other like-minded countries seriously work toward the creation of a parallel economic bloc that doesn’t rely on US-led institutions.
• BRICS requires a recalibration of its structure and agenda. Creating financial mechanisms and technological institutions could turn BRICS into a G20 for developing nations. It’s time to revisit the idea of expanding the grouping by inviting new members. This could also impart new vigour to the BRICS’s developmental goals.
• Deepening strategic commitment: BRICS countries need to strengthen political mutual trust and security cooperation, maintain communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, accommodate each other’s core interests to keep the group relevant in present times.
• Post-pandemic world: There is a strong need for “equity and justice” in multilateral organisations with more investment in poverty alleviation, education, health and food security. The world is not the same as it was before the pandemic. The group should harness its position to bring changes in the governance of the developing world so that they can effectively recover from the pandemic after effects. The whole world is focusing on post-Covid recovery and the role of BRICS countries will continue to remain very important again. BRICS Business Forum is a novel idea and shall be pursued proactively by the member nations.
• Facing the rising tide of de-globalisation and the increase of unilateral sanctions and technology barriers, BRICS countries should enhance mutually-beneficial cooperation in supply chains, energy, food and financial resilience.

THE CONCLUSION: The emergence of an alliance of nations in the global south, that breaks the West’s hegemony, could be a game-changer in geopolitics. The Ukraine crisis could be an occasion for the leaders of BRICS nations to commit themselves to the original goal of the bloc. It’s an opportunity they shouldn’t let go of. BRICS also requires a recalibration of its structure and agenda. Creating financial mechanisms and technological institutions could turn BRICS into a G20 for developing nations. It’s time to revisit the idea of expanding the grouping by inviting/admitting new members. This could also impart new vigour to the BRICS’s developmental goals.

Mains Practice Questions:

• Is the BRICS grouping relevant in present times? Justify your stand.
• What are the possible areas of cooperation discussed in the 14^th BRICS Summit, 2022? How relevant is the idea of BRICS Start-up event.
• Whether BRICS could be an effective anti-thesis to the G-7 grouping of developed nations. Analyse.

BACK TO BASICS

BRICS

ABOUT

BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

In 2001, the British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC to describe the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

The grouping was formalised during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers’ in 2006.

South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS.

SHARE OF BRICS

The BRICS brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41% of the global population, 24% of the global GDP and 16% of the global trade.

CHAIRMANSHIP

The chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.

India hosted in 2021.

INITIATIVES OF THE BRICS

• New Development Bank:

o   During the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza (Brazil) in 2014, the leaders signed the Agreement establishing the New Development Bank (NDB – Shanghai, China).

o   It has so far approved 70 infrastructure and sustainable development projects worth.

• Contingent Reserve Arrangement

o   In 2014, the BRICS governments signed a treaty on the setting up of the contingent reserve arrangement

o   The arrangement is aimed at forestalling short-term balance of payments pressures, providing mutual support and strengthening financial stability of the BRICS nations.

• BRICS Payment System

o   BRICS countries are trying to create a payment system as an alternative to the SWIFT payment system.

o   This has taken on a new urgency as post-Ukraine war, Russia has been frozen out of SWIFT.

• Customs Agreements

o   Customs agreements were signed to coordinate and ease trade transport between BRICS countries

• Remote Sensing Satellite:

o   A Remote Sensing constellation of satellites has been launched – with 6 satellites including 2 from India, 2 from China, 1 from Russia, and 1 Brazil-China collaboration

THE CONTEXT: In India, the Covid-19 outbreak has engulfed into misery one and all with almost similar intensity. However, the wrath of uncertainty and hitches has been more unprecedented for the already vulnerable like women. In this scenario, the role of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) becomes pivotal for the cause of the overall development and empowerment of women.

SHGs: A BRIEF BACKGROUND

A Self-Help Group (SHG) is a village-based financial intermediary committee usually composed of 10-20 local women. The members make small regular saving contributions for a few months until there is enough capital in the group for lending. Funds may then be lent back to the members or other villagers. These SHGs are then further ‘linked’ to banks for the delivery of microcredit. It lays emphasis on capacity building, planning of activity clusters, infrastructure build-up, technology, credit and marketing.

EVOLUTION OF SHGs IN INDIA

• The first organized initiative in this direction was taken in Gujarat in 1954 when the Textile Labour Association (TLA) of Ahmedabad formed its women’s wing to organize the women belonging to households of mill workers in order to train them in primary skills like sewing, knitting embroidery, typesetting and stenography etc.
• In 1972, it was given a more systematized structure when Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was formed as a Trade Union under the leadership of Ela Bhatt. She organized women workers such as hawkers, vendors, home-based operators like weavers, etc. with the primary objective of increasing their income and assets; enhancing their food and nutritional standards; and increasing their organizational and leadership strength. In order to broaden their access to market and technical inputs, these primary associations were encouraged to form federations like the Gujarat State Mahila SEWA Cooperative Federation, Banaskantha DWCRA, Mahila SEWA Association etc.
• NABARD in 1986-87 supported and funded an action research project on “Saving and credit management of SHGs” of Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (MYRDA). The MYRDA has been promoting SHGs in Gulbarga.
• The SHG Bank Linkage Project launched by NABARD in 1992 has blossomed into the world’s largest microfinance project. NABARD along with RBI permitted SHGs to have a savings account in banks from the year of 1993. This action gave a considerable boost to the SHG movement and paved the way for the SHG-Bank linkage program.
• Major experiments in small group formation at the local level were initiated in Tamilnadu and Kerala about two decades ago through the Tamilnadu Women in Agriculture Programme (TANWA) 1986, Participatory Poverty Reduction Programme of Kerala, (Kudumbashree) 1995 and Tamil nadu Women’s Development Project (TNWDP) 1989. 
• In 1999, the Government of India, introduced Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) to promote self-employment in rural areas through the formation and skilling of SHGs.
• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in 2011, under the Ministry of Rural Development, across the country in a mission mode with the objective of organizing the rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs).
• Initiatives such as the UdyamStree campaign by EdelGive Foundation, for example, have focused on women entrepreneurs in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, among other states, by leveraging SHGs such as MAVIM, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Facebook’s Pragati and Google’s Women Will, among others, have also moved the needle in fostering a level-playing field for women entrepreneurs.

 SIGNIFICANCE OF SHGs

POST-COVID ERA DYNAMICS

• Due to amplified importance being given to innovation, technology and self-sustenance, especially in a post-covid era, economically weaker sections have faced an acute loss of jobs and income.
• In this context, the SHGs can help women with income-generating economic opportunities.

SOCIETAL SECLUSION

• In a society with deep-rooted patriarchy, even if women want to attain employment, the dominant tradition of female domestic responsibility coupled with social stigma limits their economic advancement and access to opportunities in comparison with their male equivalents.
• This social barrier is being overcome by SHGs simply due to its all-inclusive and women-centric participation.

NOTABLE ISOLATION

• Even though women have the potential to contribute to household finances, they often do not have the agency to participate in decisions related to avenues of income generation, thus many a time pushing their families to the brink of poverty.
• Since SHGs provide a medium for women to become entrepreneurs, it creates credible ground for more decision-making opportunities.

STATUS OF WOMEN

• While India is at the cusp of a rapid transformation in terms of evolving employment opportunities, urbanization and innovation, female participation in the economy remain crucial to where India stands globally.
• Even though working women account for approximately 432 million, about 343 million are not in paid formal job roles or work. An estimated 324 million of them are not in the labour force, and another 19 million are part of the labour force but not employed.
• SHGs have significant potential in creating jobs for women as seen in various successful examples. This rightly places women on par with the male workforce.

ROLE OF SHGs IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE

• SHGs provide women entrepreneurs with micro-loans to sustain their businesses, while also creating an environment for them to develop greater agency and decision-making skills.
• SHGs inculcate the habit of saving and using banking facilities among the members.
• The saving habit thus strengthens the bargaining capacity of the women and they are in a better position to acquire loans for productive purposes.
• The women gain from collective wisdom in managing their finances and distributing the benefits among themselves.

INCLUSIVENESS

• An SHG comprises a small group of women who come together to make regular monetary contributions.
• Emerging as important micro-finance systems, SHGs work as platforms that promote solidarity among women, bringing them together on issues of health, nutrition, gender parity and gender justice.

SOCIAL UPLIFTMENT

• SHG culture has brought the country changed in the gender dynamics of power within a family and ultimately the society at large.
• They now have greater say in family matters and also are seen as stakeholders and partners in taking the community forward.
• Financial independence has eventually paved the way for societal upliftment of women and their voices.

POLITICAL MOBILITY

• Many members of SHGs are being elected as legislators for bringing change and inclusive development.
• Their participation in the governance process enables them to highlight issues such as dowry, alcoholism, the menace of open defecation, primary health care etc. and impact policy decisions.
• Leadership skills learned through SHGs helped several SHG members to get elected as Sarpanch/Pradhan.

EMPOWERING WOMEN IN CRISIS

• According to a World Bank report, Women in SHGs are also working as bank correspondents, referred to as ‘bank sakhis’.
• Even during distressing times like pandemics, they are helping with the distribution of pensions, providing door-to-door service to remote communities to access their account credits from direct benefit transfers.

SHGs: SUCCESS STORIES

The footprints of the SHGs as community warriors against Covid-19 can be felt across various Indian states. For example, in Tamil Nadu, each PDS shop has been stationed with two SHG volunteers to ensure that people in the queue maintain adequate distance. In Odisha, rural women organized in these SHGs produced more than 1 million cotton masks for police personnel and healthcare workers.

KUDUMBASHREE

• In Kerala, an SHG named Kudumbashree is helping dispel fake news through its network of WhatsApp groups with more than 100,000 women as members. These platforms are specifically leveraged to disseminate urgent and authentic information regarding the pandemic.
• It is also involved in running 1,300 kitchens across Kerala and is providing food to those who are bedridden or under quarantine. The Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM) and the numerous women SHGs operating under it played a crucial role in combating the socio-economic impact of the pandemic in rural Maharashtra.
• These women even contributed approximately ₹11 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund through a MAVIM-driven donation campaign.

JEEVIKA & PRERNA

• JEEViKA, an organization in Bihar has stepped into the information, education, and communication (IEC) domain to disseminate awareness and preparedness materials for the outbreak.
• Prerna, an SHG in Uttar Pradesh, has attempted in communicating messages on social distancing through street art and wall paintings. A few SHGs in Jharkhand have opened a 24×7 helpline called Didi, which provides verified information to migrant labourers on evacuation and return processes to their hometowns in Jharkhand.

MAHILA ARTHIK VIKAS MAHAMANDAL (MAVIM) IN MAHARASHTRA

• SHGs in Maharashtra were unable to cope with the growing volume and financial transactions and needed professional help. Community managed resource centre (CMRC) under MAVIM was launched to provide financial and livelihood services to SHGs. CMRC is self-sustaining and provides need-based services.
• SHGs such as Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahila Mandal, UMED Abhiyan under Maharashtra’s department of rural development’s State Rural Livelihood Mission, and government schemes such as Tejaswani, etc, have proven beneficial in the development of women entrepreneurship for the cause of women’s empowerment.

MISSION SHAKTI IN ODISHA

• “Mission Shakti” is the self-help mission for empowering women through the promotion of Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs) to take up various socio-economic activities which were launched in Odisha on 8th March 2001 on the eve of International Women’s Day. Mission Shakti has the clear objective of empowering women through gainful activities by providing credit and market linkage. Empowerment of women through WSHGs under Mission Shakti is a flagship programme of the Government of Odisha. It envisages that over a period of time more & more women would be part of a WSHG. Nearly 70 lakh women have been organized into 6 lakh groups in all blocks and urban local bodies of the State so far.

KEY GOVERNMENT POLICY MEASURES FOR SHGs

• Infuse funding: Apart from NABARD, there are four other major organizations in the public sector which too provide loans to financial intermediaries for onward lending to SHGs. They are:

(a) Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI),

(b) Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK), and

(c) Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO).

Then, there are public sector/other commercial banks which are free to take up any lending as per their policy and RBI guidelines. Under the Self-Employment Programme (SEP), interest subvention over and above 7 per cent rate of interest is available to all SHGs accessing bank loans. An additional 3 per cent interest subvention is also available to all women SHGs who repay their loan in time.

• In 1999, the Government of India, introduced Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) to promote self-employment in rural areas through the formation and skilling of SHGs.
• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in 2011, under the Ministry of Rural Development, across the country in a mission mode with the objective of organizing the rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and continuously nurturing and supporting them to take economic activities till they attain an appreciable increase in income over a period of time to improve their quality of life and come out of abject poverty. Women’s SHGs are being supported by the Government of India’s National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) which is co-financed by the World Bank. NRLM has scaled up the SHG model across 28 States and 6 Union Territories of the country, reaching more than 67 million women.
• Augment Skills & Entrepreneurship: To boost the participation of women in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, the government has introduced a plethora of schemes, such as the Mudra Yojana, Udyogini Scheme, Annapurna Scheme and Stand-Up India.
• Prime Minister recently participated in ‘Aatmanirbhar Narishakti se Samvad’ and interacted with women Self Help Group (SHG) members/community resource persons promoted under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). During the event, a compendium of success stories of women SHG members from all across the country, along with a handbook on the universalization of farm livelihoods was released. The Prime Minister also released capitalization support funds to the tune of Rs. 1625 Crore to over 4 lakh SHGs.
• In a bid to promote entrepreneurship among women through the formation of Micro Enterprises of Mission Shakti SHGs, the Department of Mission Shakti, Odisha in collaboration with Apparel Made-ups and Home Furnishing Sector Skill Council (AMHSSC), New Delhi has signed an agreement to launch an initiative for skill development of 10,000 Mission Shakti SHG members on apparel manufacturing.

ISSUES WITH SHGS SUSTENANCE

HIGHER NPA

• Whether the economic gains of the SHG movement are adequate to bring a qualitative change in their life is a matter of debate in India.
• The biggest challenge with SHGs currently is higher NPA percentage due to multiple financing, inadequacies in account keeping and other things.
• On average NPA of SHGs stands at around 7-8 per cent which NABARD intends to bring down to 2 per cent in the next five years.

LACKING TECHNOLOGICAL SKILLS

• Many of the activities undertaken by the SHGs are still based on primitive skills related mostly to primary sector enterprises.
• There is a lack of qualified resource personnel in the rural areas who could help in skill up gradation/acquisition of new skills by group members.
• Further, members of a group do not come necessarily from the poorest families.

DEPENDENT FOR RESOURCES

• Even after many years of existence, by and large, SHGs are heavily dependent on their promoter NGOs or government agencies.
• The withdrawal of NGOs / government agencies even from areas where SHGs have been federated, has often led to their collapse.
• The leadership and management of most SHG federations continue to be in the hands of NGOs.
• Capacity building of small groups/members is an important component of organizational effectiveness.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REPORT (2016-17)

• The ‘Committee on Empowerment of Women’ (Rajya Sabha) found that even after the number of Self-Help Groups has gone up by nearly 70 per cent over the years, the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh does not have even a single SHG.
• The committee also found irregularities in Literacy levels, a less patriarchal mindset in the south, etc.

REGIONAL DISPARITY

• There are a greater number of SHGs in Southern states compared to Northern states.
• Out of 66,000 federations, 60,000 are located in the four southern states viz. undivided Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• The success rate of SHGs has been around 50% only and its failure is more pronounced in the North than south

THE WAY FORWARD:

Amartya Sen explains that the freedom to lead different types of life is reflected in the person’s capability set. Thus, the government policies must be directed towards increasing the socioeconomic capabilities of all of these women’s SHGs by means of the perennial flow of sustainable credit and institutional backing.

The 2^nd ARC is of the view that the role of the Government in the growth and development of the SHG movement should be that of a facilitator and promoter. The objective should be to create a supportive environment for this movement.

• Since a large number of rural households in the North-Eastern States and Central-Eastern parts of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) do not have adequate access to formal sources of credit, a major thrust on the expansion of the SHG movement in these areas should be facilitated.
• Commercial Banks and NABARD in collaboration with the State Government need to continuously innovate and design new financial products for SHGs.

Untapped potential: In Maharashtra alone, 527,000 SHGs have had a role to play in accounting for over 50% of all women-led small-scale industrial units in India, which shows that SHGs can lead to holistic development of women entrepreneurship. This needs to be replicated in other states.

SHGs response during crisis: According to the World Bank, in over 90 percent of India’s districts, away from the limelight of the cities, SHG women are producing facemasks, running community kitchens, delivering essential food supplies, sensitizing people about health and hygiene and combating misinformation. This shows that investments in the institution of SHGs will only return good interests even in the most testing times.

Examples to learn from: Observing the crucial role they play, corporations and foundations globally have designed SHG-led programmes to help women achieve economic empowerment. Initiatives such as the UdyamStree campaign by EdelGive Foundation, for example, has focused on women entrepreneurs in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, among other states, by leveraging SHGs such as MAVIM, and other relevant stakeholders. Facebook’s Pragati and Google’s Women Will, among others, have also moved the needle in fostering a level-playing field for women entrepreneurs. This can be adopted by industrialists and unicorns from India too.

An SHG 2.0 as emphasized by the World Bank which addressed the structural and credit-related challenges of SHGs need to be implemented for making the SHGs a true vehicle for women empowerment and making the people-centered development. The government policies thus must be in line with this idea so as to achieve efficient resource mobilization and consequent upliftment of women.

THE CONCLUSION: It is important to recognize the talent of women and provide them with the right opportunities. Self Help Groups have immensely benefited people in rural areas, especially women. The self-help group movement has been one of the most powerful incubators of female resilience and entrepreneurship in rural India. It is a powerful channel for altering the social construct of gender in villages. Women in rural areas are now able to create independent sources of income. The revolutionary momentum that SHGs have created has given women an important sense of self-assurance in their journey to become aatmanirbhar or self-reliant.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

• “There is no denying that like most difficult times in the past, women have again risen to the fore in India’s fight against the pandemic.” Discuss the given statement in the light of SHGs and their role in the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• SHGs are one of India’s most important tools for women to achieve socio-economic self-reliance. Examine
• Although SHGs have a significant history in the Indian dynamics, they are off late marred with various challenges. Examine Critically.

THE CONTEXT: In three recent decisions, the Supreme Court has passed substantive directions which can result in aid and the last mile delivery of welfare measures to the oppressed and beleaguered sections of our society. Though PIL is a very powerful tool in the hands of the people for securing their collective rights it is also not free of criticism at the same time. This article analyses the issue and necessity of PILs in India at present times in detail.

WHAT IS PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL)?

Public Interest Litigation means a legal action initiated in a court of law for the enforcement of public interest or general interest in which the public or a class of the community have pecuniary interest or some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected. Therefore, PIL is a proceeding in which an individual or group seeks relief in the interest of the general public and not for its own purposes. PIL is a strategic arm of the legal aid movement and is intended to bring justice within the reach of the poor masses. It is a device to provide justice to those who individually are not in a position to have access to the courts.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PIL

• The term “PIL” originated in the United States in the mid-1960s. In the nineteenth century, various
• movements in that country contributed to public interest law, which is a part of the legal aid movement. The first legal aid office was established in New York in 1876.
• In the 1960s the PIL movement began to receive financial support from the office of economic opportunity. This encouraged lawyers and public-spirited persons to take up cases of the underprivileged and fight against various issues like–dangers to the environment, harms to public health, exploitation of vulnerable masses, exploitation of consumers and injustice to the weaker sections.
• In England, PIL made a mark during the years of Lord Denning in the 1970s. He as a petitioner brought several public issues to the court.

PIL IN INDIA

• The expression ‘Public Interest Litigation’ has been borrowed from American jurisprudence, where it was designed to provide legal representation to previously unrepresented groups like the poor, the racial minorities, unorganised consumers, and citizens who were passionate about environmental issues, etc.
• Public interest litigation is not defined in any statute or in any act. It has been interpreted by judges to consider the intent of the public at large.
• Public interest Litigation (PIL) means litigation filed in a court of law, for the protection of “Public Interest”, such as Pollution, Terrorism, Road safety, Constructional hazards etc. Any matter where the interest of the public at large is affected can be redressed by filing a Public Interest Litigation in a court of law.
• Public interest litigation is the power given to the public by courts through judicial activism. However, the person filing the petition must prove to the satisfaction of the court that the petition is being filed for public interest and not just as frivolous litigation by a busy body.
• The court can itself take cognizance of the matter and proceed suo motu or cases can commence on the petition of any public-spirited individual.

LANDMARK PIL CASES IN INDIA

GENESIS OF THE CONCEPT

• The seeds of the concept of public interest litigation were initially sown in India by Justice Krishna Iyer, in 1976 in Mumbai Kamgar Sabha vs. Abdul Thai.
• The first reported case of PIL was Hussainara Khatoon vs. the State of Bihar (1979) which focused on the inhuman conditions of prisons and under-trial prisoners that led to the release of more than 40,000 under-trial prisoners. The right to speedy justice emerged as a basic fundamental right which had been denied to these prisoners. The same set pattern was adopted in subsequent cases.

S.P. GUPTA VS. UNION OF INDIA – 1982

• A new era of the PIL movement was heralded by Justice P.N. Bhagawati in the case of S.P. Gupta vs. Union of India. In this case, it was held that “any member of the public or social action group acting bonafide” can invoke the Writ Jurisdiction of the High Courts (under article 226) or the Supreme Court (under Article 32) seeking redressal against violation of legal or constitutional rights of persons who due to social or economic or any other disability cannot approach the Court.
• By this judgment, PIL became a potent weapon for the enforcement of “public duties” where executive action or misdeed resulted in public injury. And as a result, any citizen of India or any consumer group or social action group can now approach the apex court of the country seeking legal remedies in all cases where the interests of the general public or a section of the public are at stake.
• Justice Bhagwati did a lot to ensure that the concept of PILs was clearly enunciated. He did not insist on the observance of procedural technicalities and even treated ordinary letters from public-minded individuals as writ petitions.

M.C MEHTA VS. UNION OF INDIA – 1988

• A Public Interest Litigation was brought against Ganga water pollution so as to prevent any further pollution of Ganga water. Supreme Court held that petitioner although not a riparian owner is entitled to move the court for the enforcement of statutory provisions, as he is the person interested in protecting the lives of the people who make use of Ganga water.

INDIAN BANKS’ ASSOCIATION – 2004

• The Supreme Court in Indian Banks’ Association, Bombay & Ors. vs. M/s Devkala Consultancy Service and Ors held:- “In an appropriate case, where the petitioner might have moved a court in her private interest and for redressal of the personal grievance, the court in furtherance of Public Interest may treat it a necessity to enquire into the state of affairs of the subject of litigation in the interest of justice.”
• Thus, a private interest case can also be enlarged and seen in a broader aspect and be treated as a public interest case.

VISHAKA V. STATE OF RAJASTHAN – 1997

• The judgement of the case recognized sexual harassment as a violation of the fundamental constitutional rights of Article 14, Article 15 and Article 21. The guidelines subsequently led to the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

ACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GROWTH OF PILs IN INDIA

THE CHARACTER OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

• India has a written constitution which through Part III (Fundamental Rights) and Part IV (Directive Principles of State Policy) provides a framework for regulating relations between the state and its citizens and between citizens inter-se.

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM

• Although social and economic rights given in the Indian Constitution under Part IV are not legally enforceable, courts have creatively read these into fundamental rights thereby making them judicially enforceable. For instance, the “right to life” in Article 21 has been expanded to include the right to free legal aid, right to live with dignity, right to education, right to work, freedom from torture, bar fetters and handcuffing in prisons, etc.
• In PIL cases where the petitioner is not in a position to provide all the necessary evidence, either because it is voluminous or because the parties are weak socially or economically, courts have appointed commissions to collect information on facts and present it before the bench.

JUDICIAL INNOVATIONS

• Judicial innovations to help the poor and marginalised: For instance, in the Bandhua Mukti Morcha, the Supreme Court put the burden of proof on the respondent stating it would treat every case of forced labour as a case of bonded labour unless proven otherwise by the employer.
• Similarly in the Asiad Workers judgment case, Justice P.N. Bhagwati held that anyone getting less than the minimum wage can approach the Supreme Court directly without going through the labour commissioner and lower courts.

LIBERAL INTERPRETATION OF LOCUS STANDI

• The liberal interpretation of locus-standi where any person can apply to the court on behalf of those who are economically or physically unable to come before it has helped. Judges themselves have in some cases initiated suo moto action based on newspaper articles or letters received.

PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL LEGISLATIONS

• India has some of the most progressive social legislation to be found anywhere in the world whether it be relating to bonded labour, minimum wages, land ceiling, environmental protection, etc. This has made it easier for the courts to haul up the executive when it is not performing its duties in ensuring the rights of the poor as per the law of the land.

SIGNIFICANCE OF PILs

• The aim of PIL is to give the common people access to the courts to obtain legal redress. It is an important instrument of social change for maintaining the Rule of law and accelerating the balance between law and justice.
• The original purpose of PILs has been to make justice accessible to the poor and the marginalised, an important tool to make human rights reach those who have been denied.
• It democratises the access of justice to all. Any citizen or organisation who is capable can file petitions on behalf of those who cannot or do not have the means to do so.
• It helps in judicial monitoring of state institutions like prisons, asylums, protective homes, etc. And serves as one a tool for implementing the concept of judicial review.
• Enhanced public participation in judicial review of administrative action is also assured by PILs.

CERTAIN WEAKNESSES OF PILs

COMPETING RIGHTS 

• PIL actions may sometimes give rise to the problem of competing rights. For instance, when a court orders the closure of polluting industry, the interests of the workmen and their families who are deprived of their livelihood may not be taken into account by the court.

FRIVOLOUS PILS

• As the PILs have gained popularity many people started using PIL as a tool for harassment as frivolous cases are filed without heavy court fees as compared to private litigations. It could lead to overburdening of courts also. PILs today have also been appropriated for corporate, political and personal gains. Today the PIL is no more limited to problems of the poor and the oppressed.
• Examples:

Ø  PIL to postpone the exam after Kumbh Mela – dismissed by Uttarakhand HC and fine of Rs 50,000 imposed.

Ø  PIL challenging the developmental works undertaken by the Odisha government at the premises of Puri Jagannath Temple – Dismissed by SC.

Ø  Juhi Chawla PIL against 5G – dismissed by Delhi HC.

OVERBURDENING OF COURTS

• PIL matters concerning the exploited and disadvantaged groups are pending for many years. Inordinate delays in the disposal of PIL cases may render many leading judgments merely of academic value.

JUDICIAL OVERREACH

• Cases of Judicial Overreach by the Judiciary in the process of solving socio-economic or environmental problems can take place through the PILs.

MISUSE

• PIL is being misused by the public agitating for private grievances in the grab of public interest by seeking publicity rather than supporting the public cause.

GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED FOR ENTERTAINING PIL CASES – SUPREME COURT

PETITIONS ALLOWED UNDER PILs

Letter petitions falling under the following categories alone will ordinarily be entertained as Public Interest Litigation:-

1. Bonded Labour matters.
2. Neglected Children.
3. Non-payment of minimum wages to workers and exploitation of casual workers and complaints of violation of Labour Laws (except in individual cases).
4. Petitions from jails complaining of harassment and seeking release after having completed 14 years in jail, death in jail, transfer, release on personal bond, and speedy trial as a fundamental right.
5. Petitions against police for refusing to register a case, harassment by police and death in police custody.
6. Petitions against atrocities on women, in particular harassment of bride, bride burning, rape, murder, kidnapping etc.
7. Petitions complaining of harassment or torture of villagers by co- villagers or by police from persons belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes and economically backward classes.
8. Petitions pertaining to environmental pollution, disturbance of ecological balance, drugs, food adulteration, maintenance of heritage and culture, antiques, forest and wildlife and other matters of public importance.
9. Petitions from riot -victims.
10. Family Pension.

Ø  All letter-petitions received in the PIL Cell will first be screened in the Cell and only such petitions as are covered by the above-mentioned categories will be placed before a Judge to be nominated by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India for directions after which the case will be listed before the Bench concerned.

PETITIONS NOT ALLOWED UNDER PILs

Cases falling under the following categories will not be entertained as Public Interest Litigation and these may be returned to the petitioners or filed in the PIL Cell, as the case may be:

1. Landlord-Tenant matters.
2. Service matter and those pertaining to Pension and Gratuity.
3. Complaints against Central/ State Government Departments and Local Bodies except those relating to item Nos. (1) to (10) above.
4. Admission to medical and other educational institutions.
5. Petitions for early hearing of cases pending in High Courts and Subordinate Courts.

 THREE CASES WHICH HIGHLIGHT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PILS IN PRESENT TIMES

BUDHADEV KARMASKAR VERSUS STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS. – 2022

The Supreme Court issued a slew of directions in the exercise of its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution so as to ensure basic human rights and dignity for sex workers across the country. The directions were necessitated on account of executive inertia (and also resistance) in bringing about much-needed reform for the betterment of the lives of sex workers. Since the Union Government had been dragging its feet on the subject matter pertaining to the inclusion and rehabilitation of sex workers for a considerable period of time, these directions were a long-time coming. Significant directions passed by the court include:

• A reiteration of the law that consensual sex work by adult sex workers is not a criminal offence;
• A legal affirmation of the fact that sex workers are entitled to equal protection of the laws;
• An injunction against the police authorities to cease and desist from meting out brutal and violent treatment on sex workers;
• Issuance of Aadhar Cards to sex workers without any possibility of any revelation of their identity as sex workers.

By passing such directions, the Supreme Court has made significant strides in removing sex workers from the fringes of society.

GAURAV KUMAR BANSAL VERSUS MR. DINESH KUMAR & ORS. – 2021

This case pertains to the implementation of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017, which the court noted was ‘tardy’ at various levels by most states and union territories (‘UTs’).

1. The court noticed that several States were simply re-designating existing establishments as halfway homes to demonstrate compliance under the Act. Accordingly, the bench directed all states and UTs to submit reports regarding the progress made towards establishing halfway homes. The court is now monitoring the progress made by states and UTs in establishing halfway homes across India. The bench in its directions had made it abundantly clear that it expects the process of establishment of such halfway homes is completed in an expeditious manner.
2. Another disturbing practise which drew the ire of the court was that in certain states, persons who were overstaying in mental health care institutions (due to poverty and despondency) were being transferred to beggar homes and custodial institutions. The court took cognizance of this insensitive practice and passed urgent directions to ensure that such practices are proscribed since they fall foul with the provisions of the Mental Health Care Act.

Under the Mental Health Care Act, 2017, “mental health care” is a broad and all-encompassing concept which includes not just ‘diagnosis’ and ‘treatment’, but also ‘care’ and ‘rehabilitation’ of persons suffering from mental illness. The Act gives every such person the right to access “mental healthcare” and treatment from mental health services run or funded by the State. Such services include accommodation in community-based establishments called “Half-way Homes”. These halfway homes are supposed to facilitate the process of rehabilitation of persons who have undergone mental healthcare treatment.

RAJNEESH KUMAR PANDEY & ORS. VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS. -2021

The Supreme Court passed a detailed judgment in October 2021 containing several directions (which are applicable pan-India) for imparting inclusive and quality education to children with special needs (‘CwSN’).

• The court declared in no uncertain terms that CwSN are entitled to have access to free, inclusive, and quality education under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
• The bench further observed that for meaningful and effective imparting of education and training to CwSN, different norms and standards ought to be followed; for that purpose, the concerned schools are obliged to create posts of rehabilitation professionals/special education teachers commensurate to the number of CwSN students in the given school.

Ø  The bench noted that no norms and standards had been prescribed by the union government for the appointment of rehabilitation professionals or special teachers for schools admitting CwSN. Accordingly, the bench directed the Union Government to notify the norms and standards of pupil-teacher ratio, and also separate norms for special teachers who alone can impart education and training to CwSN in the general schools. Once these norms were specified, state governments and schools were required to create commensurate permanent posts, and thereafter make appointments for rehabilitation professionals/special teachers who can cater to the needs of CwSN.

• Till such norms were specified by the Union Government, the court prescribed different pupil-teacher ratios for children with different disabilities to be adopted across India. For instance, for children with cerebral palsy, a pupil-teacher ratio of 8:1 was prescribed by the court, and for children with intellectual disability, Autistic Spectrum Disorder and specific learning disabilities, a pupil-teacher ratio of 5:1 was prescribed.

PILs ARE NECESSARY FOR SECURING A WELFARE STATE – AN ANALYSIS

PIL as a tool is also working as an important instrument of social change, for the welfare of every section of society. The innovation of this legitimate instrument proved beneficial for developing country like India and is often used as a strategy to combat the atrocities prevailing in society. Public Interest Litigation has produced astonishing results which were unthinkable three decades ago – degraded bonded labourers, tortured under trials and women prisoners, humiliated inmates of protective women’s homes, blinded prisoners, exploited children, beggars, and many others have been given relief through judicial intervention. The greatest contribution of PIL has been to enhance the accountability of the governments towards the human rights of the poor. The PIL develops a new jurisprudence of the accountability of the state for constitutional and legal violations adversely affecting the interests of the weaker elements in the community. The very purpose behind the judicial innovation of public interest litigation – which is the constitutional promise of a social and economic transformation to usher in an egalitarian social order and a welfare state shall not be defeated and for that, the Judiciary should be cautious enough in the application of PILs to avoid Judicial Overreach that are violative of the principle of Separation of Power. Besides, the frivolous PILs with vested interests must be discouraged to keep its workload manageable.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• It is time for the judiciary to do a reality check on the advent of PIL petitions which flooded the courts. The court must be careful to see that the petitioner who approaches it is acting bona fide and not for personal gain, private profit or political or other oblique considerations.
• Civil Society Organisations can play a proactive role in making people aware of their rights and even file PILs on their behalf on a matter of significant cause, also condemning misuse of PILs in the light of larger national good.
• Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee has also advocated for 3 basic rules for regulating abuse of PIL:

• Reject dubious PIL at the threshold and in appropriate cases with exemplary costs.
• In cases where the important project or socio-economic regulations are challenged after gross delay, such petitions should be thrown out the very threshold on the ground of latches. Just because a petition is termed as PIL does not mean that ordinary principles applicable to litigation will not apply.
• PIL petitioners should be in strict terms such as providing indemnity or giving an adequate undertaking to the court to make good the damage if PIL is ultimately dismissed.

THE CONCLUSION: Public interest can be defended with such judicial interventions to prevent the violation of rights of sizeable segments of society who, due to poverty, ignorance, social status and economic disadvantage, cannot themselves assert those rights. Quite often, they are not even aware of those rights. Without PILs, corruption, nepotism and bias in executive actions will remain unchallenged. Courts must maintain a constant vigil over the executive and the legislature. Otherwise, all rights secured to citizens under our constitution will become worthless. The rule of law is the accepted norm for all civilised societies and the courts in India have a duty to enforce that rule of law. The Supreme Court must ignore those with frivolous motives and who represent the interest of the few and not the larger public interest. As a constitutional court, it must continue to serve the nation and its citizens.

Mains Practice Question:

1. What is public interest litigation? How do they help in securing the welfare nature of the state?
2. PILs are an effective way to seek justice for the people at large. Discuss how the recent judgements by the Supreme Court in PIL cases have restored the rights of a sizeable section of society.
3. Discuss the evolution of public interest litigation in India.

THE CONTEXT: The financial sector in India has been hit by many scams like the recent NSE scam, PNB scam etc. Despite the presence of Independent Regulatory Bodies (IRBs)like RBI, SEBI etc., the occurrence of such scams has raised questions about the functioning and performance of these bodies. The working of other such IRBs more or less reflects these concerns. One view is that giving Constitutional status to these bodies will address the issues while others disagree. This article examines this debate in detail.

WHAT ARE INDEPENDENT REGULATORY BODIES?

DEFINITION

• Independent Regularity Bodies (IRBs) are agencies of modern democratic governments, parts of the executive wing with a certain degree of statutory or constitutional autonomy, reporting directly to the legislature.
• Like the general executive, they are accountable to the legislature and subject to judicial review.
• With the increasing expansion of the scope and activities of governmental operations, IRBs came to be accepted as a needed instrument.

SEPARATE FROM THE EXECUTIVE

• Government regulation has always existed through its own departments directly under its control.
• Over the last century, a new type of regulatory system known as Independent Statutory Regulating Agencies has emerged.
• These agencies differ from the traditional regulatory system in that they are separate from the executive branch of government and have some autonomy.

TYPOLOGY OF IRBs

• Regulation in India can be mapped under three broad categories: economic regulation, regulation in the public interest and environmental regulation.
• Hence, the IRBs in India majorly work under these broad areas.

NEED FOR IRBs

• Need to prevent market failure,
• Need to check anti-competitive practices,
• Need to promote the public interest. (Read Ahead)

           EVOLUTION OF IRBs: AN OVERVIEW

LAISSEZ FAIRE ERA

• The system of independent regulation started in 1887 in the USA where the independent regulatory commission was first established as a regulator.
• It was aimed to keep government interference at arm’s length so that economy can work efficiently without the interference of government.

WELFARE ERA (PRE LPG)

• Regulators were created to ensure that government should have proper control on the economy.
• It was to ensure the economy work for public welfare.
• The aim was to ensure control not facilitate.
• In the pre-globalization era, the regulation was bureaucratic and more focused on control.
• The regulation was premised on license permits and quotas, which suppress the innovation and expansion of business and other sectors.

LPG ERA

• In the globalization/LPG era, there is revolutionary change and the focus of the regulatory environment was shifted from strict regulation to deregulation.
• Its aim was to facilitate and create a business-friendly environment.
• There was the emergence of sectoral regulation as the economy becomes more diversified and specialized.
• The regulator was given more power with the concept of managerialism, arm’s length organization, and hands-off management.
• The IRBs were empowered to take decisions, make rules and implement them.

SOME IMPORTANT IRBs WORKING IN ECONOMIC REGULATION 

RBI

• The RBI Act of 1934 established it. It serves as a banker to the government, a lender of last resort, and performs various supervisory functions related to licensing and establishments, branch expansion, management, and liquidation.

SEBI

• It performs protective (protecting investors’ interests, providing investment security, checking price rigging, and prohibiting insider trading), developmental (increasing business on the stock exchange), and regulatory functions (establishing rules, regulations, and a code of conduct for intermediaries such as merchant bankers etc.

IRDA

• IRDA’s mission is to protect the interests of insurance policyholders and ensure fair treatment. It issues a registration certificate, renews, modifies, withdraws, suspends, or cancels such registration. It establishes a code of ethics for surveyors and loss assessors.

TRAI

• It ensures technical compatibility and efficient interconnection of various service providers.
• It establishes quality service standards in order to protect the interests of consumers.
• It ensures effective fulfilment of the universal service obligation.

CCI

• It ensures healthy and fair competition in the market economy and protects the interests of consumers:
• It aims to prohibit anti-competitive business practices, and abuse of dominance by an enterprise as well as regulate various business combinations such as mergers and acquisitions.

 THE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE IRBs

The actual functions of individual regulatory authorities in a country would depend on the overall structure of the regulatory regime, empowerment of authorities as provided in the relevant legal instruments and rules, administrative arrangements and autonomy, and technical capacity. However, some of the essential functions of regulators include:

• Protection of public interest.
• Imposing penalties for non-compliance.
• Administering tariff adjustments and periodic reviews.
• Facilitating dispute resolution between parties.
• Monitoring compliance with contractual obligations to the government and users, and other legal and regulatory requirements.
• Establishing technical, safety and quality standards and monitoring their compliance.
• Providing advice and counsel to government on policy matters and other related matters to private sector involvement in the sector.

THE RATIONALE BEHIND THE SETTING UP OF IRBs

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

• To provide a level playing field for all while also protecting the larger public and national interest.

COMPLEXITIES OF GOVERNANCE

• Increasing complexities and technological advancement necessitated the use of experts to handle issues.

EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING

• Protecting decision-making from political interference serves the public interest best.

LPG-POST 1991

• Following the 1991 reforms, the entry of the corporate sector necessitated certain measures to boost investor confidence and protect the public interest.

FUNCTIONAL SPECIALISATION

• The traditional departmental structure of government was not well suited to the dual role of policymaking and regulation of the sector in question.

 INDEPENDENCE OF THE IRBs

According to the World Bank handbook, an IRB model of regulation requires setting up an independent regulator which has organizational, financial and management independence from ministries. This is necessary in order to depoliticize the decision-making and ensure sectoral regulation occurs on techno-commercial principles. In this regard, the IRBs have been established under various statutes which delineate the various aspects of personal management, functional domains, accountability areas etc. As the IRBs are set up by the legislatures, it is believed that government will have less ability to control their working which will enable them to work with efficiency, objectivity and fairness. In other words, independence is given to IRBs for performance excellence.

POOR PERFORMANCE OF THE IRBs: SOME ILLUSTRATIONS

RBI

• The recurrence of scams in the banking sector (public, private, cooperatives), the problem of NPAs, persistent inflation etc. have raised questions on whether RBI is responsible for its mandate.

SEBI

• The NSE co-location scam and the very unprofessional manner in which SEBI has handled the issue invited criticisms from various quarters.
• The delay in concluding investigations, reactive rather than proactive actions and delay in addressing grievances of retail investors etc., are other instances.

TRAI

• TRAI has been criticised for its favourable stance towards Reliance Jio in the context of predatory pricing.
• The AGR dues didn’t pile up overnight but stem from a 15-year-old dispute over sharing of revenues between telcos and the government.
• A well-regulated industry would not be subject to such a large fiscal shock.

 THREE MAJOR CHALLENGES IN THE WORKING OF IRBs

INDEPENDENCE

• Financial independence is one aspect of independence.
• Financial independence is frequently restricted by regulators’ reliance on concerned line ministries for budgetary allocations, approval of staff hires, and the requirement that the former report to the latter.
• Independence also refers to a fixed term of employment and protection from dismissal, barring cases of incompetence and moral turpitude.
• However, the government interferes repeatedly with the tenure of employees in regulatory agencies.
• Functional independence is a requirement for regulatory effectiveness, which necessitates that the regulator maintains an impartial relationship with interest groups (Problem of Regulatory Capture)

ACCOUNTABILITY

• During various Parliamentary debates, regulators do not respond to questions about them. The minister of the associated ministry is held accountable.
• Regulators are frequently overlooked from scrutiny. Only two questions were posed to regulators in the 16th Lok Sabha. Only when there is an impending crisis or a serious debate in the country are the actions of the regulator called into question.
• Annual reports from regulators are not submitted to parliamentary standing committees.

TRANSPARENCY

• A transparent regulatory process is essential. Stakeholders, for example, must be made aware of the regulatory process and given opportunities to freely express their opinions.
• Liberal use of interim orders, without hearing the affected party, is criticised.
• It turns out that in many such cases, the regulator takes its time to issue the final order. Also, the rules are often harsh and are made without meaningful consultation and many a time the rules are changed as fast as they are made.

 WHETHER THE IRBs ARE TRULY INDEPENDENT?

In actual practice, the government can influence the personal management practices of the regulatory bodies. The significant role of government in appointment, promotion and removal, an extension of tenure etc. undermines the independence of regulated bodies. For instance, an Ordinance was brought to change the TRAI Act in order to change the eligibility criteria for the appointment of Chairman of TRAI, and the controversy between the RBI and Central Government and the resignation of the RBI Governor and Deputy Governor.  Similarly, the financial dependency of the regulatory body on the administrative ministry is also a cause of concern. Thus, it is argued that IRBs should be given constitutional status like the ECI, CAG, etc. The idea is that Constitutional status will eliminate political pressure and government influence from the functioning of regulatory bodies which will enhance their efficiency.

WHETHER CONSTITUTIONALIZING OF IRBs IS THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE INDEPENDENCE AND THUS PERFORMANCE?

ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR

• It will substantially reduce executive control over the IRBs thereby securing meaningful independence.
• Constitutionalisation will completely remove the dependency of the IRBs on the ministries for funds and functionaries.
• It will enhance the stature, prestige and authority of the IRBs which will help it to resist political pressure.
• Regulation has become the fourth branch of the state and hence is a quite significant function of the state. So Constitutionalisation can enable them to carry out their function efficiently.
• There are many countries that provide Constitutional status to IRBs. For instance, in a 2009 report, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) found that the Constitutions of eight countries specifically provided for the independence of their central banks Switzerland, Chile, Mexico, Russia, South Africa etc.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST

• The purpose of regulation is not to check the government and hence they can’t be equated with bodies like ECI, Supreme Court, CAG etc.
• Constitutionalisation will lead to a further lack of accountability of the IRBs which is detrimental.
• There is no guarantee that Constitutionalisation will automatically ensure independence and performance.
• As IRBs are the creations of the legislature, which represents the sovereign authority of the people, it should have the freedom to decide the various aspects of the IRBs.
• Neither the Damodaran Committee, the FSLRC, the Second ARC etc. have recommended Constitutionalisation.
• Central banks perceived to have the “gold standard” of independence, such as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Federal Reserve, and Bank of Canada do not have Constitutional status. In fact, some of the best-governed banks, such as the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve have private shareholders, such as banks and financial institutions.

THE WAY FORWARD: 

ADHERE TO SECOND ARC RECOMMENDATIONS

• Before establishing a regulator, its need should be carefully examined. Only where necessary should there be regulation, according to the rules.
• A Management Statement outlining the goals and responsibilities of each regulator should be developed by each Ministry in addition to the statutory framework.
• The appointment, tenure, and removal of different regulatory authorities must be done in a transparent and equitable manner.
• There must be enough protection against arbitrary removal.
• The relevant Departmentally Related Standing Parliamentary committees should be used to ensure parliamentary oversight of regulators (DRSC).
• The independent regulators ought to undergo regular evaluation.
• A report on the performance of the regulators in light of these principles ought to be included in their annual reports.

FINANCIAL SECTOR LEGISLATIVE REFORMS COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS

• The FSLRC advises achieving financial independence by independently obtaining funds from sources like fees.
• FSLRC suggests specific regulatory goals, informing Parliament regarding their success in enforcing their regulatory targets, etc.
• It also urges the consolidation of regulators, such as The PFRDA and IRDA.
• It also suggests creating an extensive and enforceable code of conduct.

OECD: BEST PRACTICE PRINCIPLES FOR THE GOVERNANCE OF REGULATORS

Following the OECD best practices can improve the IRB’s functioning. These principles are:

• Role clarity
• Preventing undue influence and maintaining trust
• Decision-making and governing body structure for independent regulators
• Accountability and transparency
• Engagement
• Funding
• Performance evaluation

ENSURE TRANSPARENCY

• It may appear that an agency’s independence is being compromised when it is forced to defend its decisions in front of members of the public or other representatives.
• Contrarily, one of the best ways to encourage the agency to act in the public interest is through transparency.
• The provisions included in the Reserve Bank of India Act in 2015, which mandate the regular publication of the minutes of its meetings, the individual votes of each member, and the obligation to inform the government of any failures in upholding the inflation target, serve as a classic illustration.
• As it would be difficult to justify decisions and votes that do not align with the public interest, this is a potent provision that simultaneously secures independence and accountability.

CONTINUOUS PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT

• Parliamentary oversight appears to be the best form of political accountability because accountability to the line ministry is frequently associated with pressure being applied to the regulator to favour utilities operated by the ministry.
• Legislators need to devise such mechanisms to bring regulatory oversight but must be careful not to interfere in their functioning.

THE CONCLUSION: Regulation is an important activity and hence the IRBs need to have real independence. Constitutional status is not the right approach but there are many other ways by which this can be ensured. A via media need to be found that will balance the need for independence and democratic control.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. What do you understand by Independent Regulatory Bodies? Explain the reasons behind their establishment.
2. “Independence of the IRBs require their Constitutionalisation”. Examine.

THE CONTEXT: In April 2022, the Vice-President while addressing the occasion of the 50th year of the Press Club called for an amendment in the anti-defection law because of the “loopholes”. The present political crises in Maharashtra also make the topic relevant for an elaborate discussion. This article explains the anti-defection law and associated issues in detail.

Defection: Changing party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected (to a legislative body) to a different party.

PROBLEMS WITH DEFECTION: Parliamentary democracy is becoming a farce as a result of the change of party by the representatives without any hesitation. A culture of impunity has developed so much so that the political representatives have become adept at using and bypassing the anti-defection law. The Constitution has given priceless value to the votes of the citizens; contrastingly the politics of vested interests of the representatives are making it worthless day by day. Defection leads to the subversion of electoral mandates and affects the normal functioning of the government.

ABOUT ANTI – DEFECTION LAW

• Parliament added it to the Constitution as the Tenth Schedule in 1985 to bring stability to governments by discouraging legislators from changing parties. The Tenth Schedule – popularly known as the Anti-Defection Act – was included in the Constitution via the 52nd Amendment Act, 1985.
• It does not penalize political parties for encouraging or accepting defecting legislators however it punishes individual Members of Parliament (MPs)/MLAs for defection. The members disqualified under the law can stand for elections from any political party for a seat in the same House. The decisions on questions as to disqualification on the ground of defection are referred to the Chairman or the Speaker of such House, which is subject to ‘Judicial review’. However, the law does not provide a timeframe within which the presiding officer has to decide a defection case.
• The 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, changed the initially envisaged 1/3^rd  to now at least two-thirds of the members of a party must be in favour of a “merger” for it to have validity in the eyes of the law.

THE GROUNDS FOR DISQUALIFICATION

Article 102/191 of the Constitution of India lays down the grounds under which a Member of Parliament/Member of Legislative Assembly may be disqualified from being a member of the house.

The first part of Article 102 elaborates several instances when such disqualification may be done:

(a) If the person holds any undeclared office-for-profit under the Government;

(b) If he is declared to be of unsound mind by a competent court;

(c) If he is an undischarged insolvent etc.;

(d) Voluntarily acquires the citizenship of a foreign State;

(e) Disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.

The second part of Article 102 (and 191) gives authority to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution to disqualify any member. It is this Tenth Schedule that is popularly known as the anti-defection law.

• If an elected member voluntarily gives up his membership of a political party.
• If he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by his political party or anyone authorized to do so, without obtaining prior permission.
• As a pre-condition for his disqualification, his abstention from voting should not be condoned by his party or the authorized person within 15 days of such an incident.
• If any independently elected member joins any political party.
• If any nominated member joins any political party after the expiry of six months.

Exceptions:Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule says,

4. Disqualification on the ground of defection not to apply in case of a merger.—

(1) A member of a House shall not be disqualified under subparagraph (1) of paragraph 2 where his original political party merges with another political party and he claims that he and any other members of his original political party—

(a) have become members of such other political party or, as the case may be, of a new political party formed by such merger; or

(b) have not accepted the merger and opted to function as a separate group,

and from the time of such merger, such other political party or new political party or group, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the political party to which he belongs for the purposes of sub-paragraph

(1) of paragraph 2 and to be his original political party for the purposes of this subparagraph.

(2) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, the merger of the original political party of a member of a House shall be deemed to have taken place if, and only if, not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger.

 VARIOUS INCIDENTS RELATED TO DEFECTION IN INDIAN POLITY

We know that the anti-defection law does not apply if the number of MLAs who leave a political party constitutes two-thirds of the party’s strength in the legislature. These MLAs can merge with another party or become a separate group in the legislature. For example,

• In 2021 in Meghalaya, 12 of 17 Congress MLAs joined the All India Trinamool Congress. the Speaker recognised as a ‘merger’ the crossover of 12 Congress MLAs out of a total of 17 to the Trinamool Congress and refused to disqualify them.
• In 2019, all six MLAs of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Rajasthan joined the Congress. The same year, four out of six Telgu Desam Rajya Sabha MPs joined the BJP. In all such cases, the MPs/MLAs were not disqualified.
• The present crisis in Maharashtra where the MLAs have its root in the 2019 formation of the coalition government in the state (Maha Vikas Aghadi). Now the MLAs from the Shiv Sena have distanced themselves from the coalition and shown faith in a new leader (The Shiv Sena had 55 members in the Maharashtra Assembly. Eknath Shinde, who leads the rebel group, claimed the support of 40 MLAs with him), having joined hands with NDA. In the 288-member House, 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence, while 99 voted against it. The question of whether the new faction is a separate political group or the original Shiv Sena is yet to be decided (by the ECI) and the question of disqualification of the MLAs is still subjudice.

 RESIGNATION AND ANTI-DEFECTION LAW

• In Karnataka, the 2018 elections threw up a hung assembly. After the Bharatiya Janata Party failed to prove its majority after BS Yediyurappa took an oath, the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular formed the government under the leadership of HD Kumaraswamy. But a year later, the resignations by Congress and JDS MLAs reduced the government to a minority and the government later fell. The rebel MLAs were later elected on a BJP ticket in the by-elections.
• Again in 2018, Congress won the Madhya Pradesh elections and formed a government under Kamal Nath. Less than a year later, 23 Congress MLAs including six ministers owing allegiance to Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned. The MLAs later joined the BJP government after winning by-elections.

The resignation is the way to circumvent the Anti-defection law and attract punishments thereby prescribed. However, some also contend that if the person is no longer satisfied by the ideologies or the policies of the government then the only way is to resign. It is hard to ascertain whether the resignations are voluntary or under coercion.

THE ISSUES WITH ANTI-DEFECTION LAW

UNDERMINING REPRESENTATIVE & PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY

• After enactment of the Anti-defection law, the MP or MLA has to follow the party’s direction blindly and has no freedom to vote in their judgment.
• Due to the Anti-Defection law, the chain of accountability has been broken by making legislators accountable primarily to the political party.

AMBIGUITY OVER MERGER CLAUSE

• The confusion is about the use of the terms ‘Political Party’ and ‘Legislature Party’. It is not clear whether political parties should merge amongst themselves before the merger of elected members (Legislature Party) of two distinct parties. The merger envisaged in Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule is a two-step process. Under this, one political party first merges with another, and then the legislators accept the merger.
• However, the second subparagraph (of Paragraph 4) says that a party shall be “deemed” to have merged with another party if not less than 2/3rd of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger.
• The ambiguity is whether the merger of the Legislature Party would be deemed to be the merger of the Political party as well. Legal experts from the Vidhi Center of Legal Policy argue that the clause seems to be creating a “legal fiction” so as to indicate that a merger of 2/3rd members of a legislature party can be deemed to be a merger of political parties. Even if there is no actual merger of the original political party with another party.

SUBVERSION OF ELECTORAL MANDATES

• Defection is the subversion of electoral mandates by legislators who get elected on the ticket of one party but then find it convenient to shift to another, due to the lure of ministerial berths or financial gains.

AFFECTS THE NORMAL FUNCTIONING OF THE GOVERNMENT

• The infamous “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” slogan was coined against the background of continuous defections by the legislators in the 1960s.
• The defection leads to instability in the government and affects the functioning of the administration.

ALLOWS ONLY WHOLESALE DEFECTION

• It allows wholesale defection, but retail defection is not allowed. Amendments are required to plug the loopholes.
• He raised concern that if a politician is leaving a party, s/he may do so, but they should not be given a post in the new party.

CONTROVERSIAL ROLE OF SPEAKER

• There is no clarity in the law about the timeframe for the action of the House Chairperson or Speaker in the anti-defection cases.
• Some cases take six months and some even three years. There are cases that are disposed of after the term is over.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH OF LEGISLATORS

• One of the conditions for disqualification is the violation of the whip issued by the Political Party to vote in a particular manner. Critics argue that this greatly limits the ability of a member to exercise her free opinion on the floor of the House on certain proposed legislation.

PROMOTE HORSE-TRADING

• Defection also promotes horse-trading of legislators which clearly go against the mandate of a democratic setup.

DOES ANTI-DEFECTION LAW NEED TO BE REPEALED?

The toppling of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra offers many lessons to political observers, but one that people need to pay more attention to, is that it confirms the total irrelevance and ineffectiveness of the anti-defection law, officially known as the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

There are several questions that need to be decided. Can the Speaker (or in his absence, the Deputy Speaker) decide on a disqualification petition while a no-confidence motion is pending against him? Can the Supreme Court review the decision ahead of the disqualification decision being made? How does the leeway given for the merger of a party operate — if two-thirds of MLAs of the party vote to separate from the party leadership, would they have to merge with another party to avoid disqualification? The solution to these issues is either to address the root cause and repeal the anti-defection law or make necessary amendments/reform the law to make it more effective for the purpose of its enactment.

VIEWS OF VARIOUS COMMITTEES ON ANTI-DEFECTION LAW

DINESH GOSWAMI COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL REFORMS (1990)

• Disqualification should be limited to cases where (a) a member voluntarily gives up the membership of his political party, (b) a member abstains from voting, or votes contrary to the party whip in a motion of vote of confidence or motion of no-confidence. The issue of disqualification should be decided by the President/ Governor on the advice of the Election Commission.

LAW COMMISSION (170TH REPORT, 1999) 

• Provisions which exempt splits and mergers from disqualification to be deleted.
• Pre-poll electoral fronts should be treated as political parties under the anti-defection law.
• Political parties should limit the issuance of whips to instances only when the government is in danger.

ELECTION COMMISSION

• Decisions under the Tenth Schedule should be made by the President/ Governor on the binding advice of the Election Commission.

CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMISSION – NCRWC (2002)

• Defectors should be barred from holding public office or any remunerative political post for the duration of the remaining term.
• The vote cast by a defector to topple a government should be treated as invalid.
• Recommendations:

o   On Presiding Officer: Various expert committees have recommended that rather than the Presiding Officer, the decision to disqualify a member should be made by the President (in case of MPs) or the Governor (in case of MLAs) on the advice of the Election Commission.

o   Similar to Office of Profit: This would be similar to the process followed for disqualification in case the person holds an office of profit (i.e. the person holds an office under the central or state government which carries a remuneration, and has not been excluded in a list made by the legislature).

JUDICIAL PRECEDENTS

1. KIHOTO HOLLOHAN vs ZACHILLHU (1992): In the judgment, the Supreme Court clarified that the 10th schedule is constitutionally valid. It neither impinges upon the freedom of speech and expression nor subverts the democratic rights of elected members. It also upheld the sweeping discretion available to the Speaker in deciding cases of disqualification of MLAs. However, it also held that the Presiding Officer’s decisions of disqualification shall be open to judicial review. The Supreme Court also held that judicial review cannot be available prior to the making of the decision by the Speaker not at the interlocutory stage of the proceedings.

2. RAVI S NAIK vs UNION OF INDIA (1994): The Supreme Court had said that “ an inference can be drawn from the conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up the membership of the party to which he belongs.

3. NABAM REBIA vs DEPUTY SPEAKER (2016): The court had ruled that it would be “constitutionally impermissible for a Speaker to adjudicate upon disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule while a motion of resolution for his own removal from Office of Speaker is pending”.

4. GIRISH CHANDORKAR vs THE SPEAKER, GOA (2011): The Bombay High Court held that the merger of 2/3^rd of members of the legislative assembly is deemed to be the merger of the original party. (sub judice in Supreme Court).

5. Keisham Meghachandra Singh case (2020): The Supreme Court in Keisham Meghachandra Singh vs. the Hon’ble Speaker Manipur Legislative Assembly & Ors. (2020) case made a significant suggestion regarding disqualification powers of the Speaker. The Court was adjudicating upon the matter relating to the disqualification of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in the Manipur Legislative Assembly under the Tenth Schedule. The Court recommended the Parliament to amend the Constitution regarding the role of the Speaker as a quasi-judicial authority while dealing with disqualification petitions under the anti-defection law (when such a Speaker continues to belong to a particular political party either de jure or de facto). The Court suggested that an independent tribunal can be appointed which will substitute the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies to deal with matters of disqualifications under the Tenth Schedule. The Tribunal will be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court. The Court also suggested that some other outside independent mechanism can adjudicate on such matters. This will ensure that such disputes are decided both swiftly and impartially.

 ANTI-DEFECTION LAWS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

EUROPE

• There are strict laws in all the countries of Europe that if a member changes party, then their membership of Parliament is terminated. It is believed that the person has violated the laws of the country.

IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION IN BANGLADESH 

• In Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa and many other countries, no public representative can do defection. The law doesn’t even allow it. Article 70 of the Bangladesh Constitution states that if a public representative votes against his party in the House or changes the party, he must resign from membership.

SEAT HAS TO BE VACATED IN KENYA

• In Kenya, Section 40 of their Constitution states that if a member leaves his party, he must vacate his seat. Speaker will decide this and the member can appeal against it in the High Court.

IMPOSSIBLE TO CHANGE PARTY IN SINGAPORE

• According to Article 46 of the Constitution of Singapore, if a member leaves the party or is removed by the party, he must also vacate his seat. Parliament will decide the disqualification of any such member.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE HOUSE ENDS IN SOUTH AFRICA

• This is explained in Section 47 of the Constitution of South Africa. According to it, if a member leaves his party, then his membership will automatically end.

FLEXIBLE RULES IN UK AND CANADA

• In Britain and Canada, the rules are flexible, but there is generally no opportunistic defection to form or topple governments. There the defection is called crossing the line. In Britain and Canada, the ruling party and the opposition sit separately. There, if a member crosses his floor and sits on the other side, then it is considered as a change of party.

THE WAY FORWARD:

1. The role of the people in the parliamentary democracy is immense. People themselves shall be made aware and be educated about the issues with the defection and that their franchise shall not be misused by the elected representatives. It is seen that once the MPs/MLAs defect they again tend to win the by-elections which is again a gross disrespect to the representative democracy.
2. Political parties shall also have internal democracy to listen and act on different opinions emerging from within. This might restrict the defecting tendencies among the elected representatives and also help in the overall strengthening of the parliamentary democracy in the country.
3. The Supreme Court needs to maintain consistency in deciding matters over the role and responsibilities of the speaker and also adjudicate whether an actual merger of Political Parties is a condition necessary for the merger of Legislature Parties (or should the merger of Legislature Parties be deemed as a merger of Political Parties).
4. The Speaker/Chairperson should observe ethical conduct and give decisions within 3 months as advised by the Supreme Court.
5. Further, an independent tribunal can be created in the long run to decide cases under the Tenth schedule. This would effectively reduce the partisan role played by the Speaker.
6. The Law Commission in 1999 and the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) in 2002 recommended deleting the clause related to the merger (Paragraph 4, Exception to Disqualification). Parliament should reconsider the debate and decide on the recommendations.
7. The Dinesh Goswami Committee Report recommended that disqualification of a member should only be attracted in the event a member violates a whip on matters related to a Motion of Vote of Confidence, a No-confidence Motion, Money Bill or a Motion of Vote of Thanks to the President’s address.
8. The law has failed to curb defections in recent years and lacks any deterrence effect on legislators. Further, re-election in by-polls shows the public’s acceptance of defecting legislators and also the scope of defection is very wide as it is applicable to every legislation (violation of whip). It is also applicable to members of the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Councils who don’t have a say in the stability of the government. The Anti-Defection Law shall be reformed/amended to address such questions.

THE CONCLUSION: Politicians always look for loopholes in the law. The wholesale defections that have taken place in the recent past are a result of their successful discovery of loopholes in the 10th Schedule. Therefore, this law needs to be tightened. The law on defection is indispensable in a country like India where MLAs need to be virtually imprisoned in resorts in faraway states lest they might be poached by the rival party. If our polity wants to get rid of open corruption, it needs to take urgent steps to plug existing loopholes that have made the Tenth Schedule unworkable. Let our politicians not be seen as collaborators in flouting the Constitution.

Mains Practice Questions:

1. Anti – defection Law allows wholesale defection, but not retail defection. Comment.
2. What do the recent developments in various state assemblies say about the efficacy of the Anti-Defection Law? Does the law need strengthening? Justify your view.