THE CONTEXT: The latest edition of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report reveals disturbing trends. The recorded crimes against women, children, senior citizens, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes show a steep increase, 468 people took their lives every day in 2022 and cybercrimes went up by nearly 25 per cent.

ABOUT NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU(NCRB)

• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analysing, crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).
• NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.
• It was set up based on the recommendation of the Task force, 1985 and National Police Commission, 1977.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU(NCRB) REOPRT

Decline in registration cases: In 2022, a total of 58,24,946 cognizable crimes comprising 35,61,379 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 22,63,567 Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered.

• This was a decline of 4.5% in the registration of cases over the second pandemic year, 2021.

Crime rate: The crime rate has declined from 445.9 in 2021 to 422.2 in 2022.

Crime against women: 4,45,256 cases of crime against women were registered in 2022. This was an increase of 4% over the 2021 numbers.

• The largest share of crimes against women under IPC sections was registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives’ (31.4%), followed by ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’ (19.2%), and ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ (18.7%).

Cybercrimes: Reporting of cybercrime increased significantly by 24.4 percentage points compared to 2021.

• Around 64.8% of registered cases were of fraud, followed by extortion (5.5%), and sexual exploitation (5.2%).

Suicides: An increase of 4.2% was observed in suicides reported during 2022 (1,70,924 suicides) as compared to 2021.

• Family Problems (other than marriage-related problems)’ (31.7%), Marriage Related Problems (4.8%) and Illness (18.4%) have together accounted for 54.9% of total suicides in the country during the year 2022.

State-wise data in the report: The states/ UTs reporting the highest charge sheeting rate under IPC crimes are Kerala (96.0%), Puducherry (91.3%), and West Bengal (90.6%).

• This is the percentage of cases in which the police reached the stage of framing charges against the accused, out of the total true cases.

ISSUES

Data Inefficiencies at the local level: NCRB report is only a compilation of data submitted at the local level, inefficiencies or gaps in data at that level have an impact on the accuracy of the report.

Pressure faced by marginalised social groups: There is also a growing body of scholarship which shows that people from marginalised social groups are often pressured into not reporting crimes against them.

Limitation due to Principal Offence Rule: The NCRB follows what is known as the ‘Principal Offence Rule’.

• This means that among the many offences registered in a single FIR, the crime that attracts the most severe punishment is considered as the counting unit.
• Thus, ‘Murder with Rape’ would be counted as ‘Murder’, not rape — which would result in an undercounting of the crime of rape.

Socio-economic causative factors are not captured: The socio-economic causative factors or reasons of crimes are not being captured by the Bureau.

Women find difficult to register FIRs: NFHS reports or recent studies that show that women find it difficult to register FIRs.

• Women find it very difficult to report abusers in their close circles (husbands, fathers, partners, family members, friends).

Unfilled vacancies in the relevant posts:  shortage of police officers or unfilled vacancies in the relevant posts at the local level may hinder the collection of data.

THE WAY FORWARD

Demands action: Policymakers and law enforcement agencies should not overlook that almost every NCRB compilation has framed the vulnerabilities of women and marginalised sections.

Sharpen its methodologies: The NCRB must sharpen its methodologies and make its reports more nuanced.

Modernizing police forces: The police force today needs to tackle traditional crimes and cybercrimes. This calls for better and modernized communication, tracking and monitoring equipment.

Strengthening support services for victims: We can suggest strengthening support services for victims, providing safe shelter homes, and making legal aid more accessible.

Leverage Technologies: We can also leverage technology to create safer environments, such as panic buttons in public spaces and enhanced surveillance systems.

Formulating the annual police strategy: States should use NCRB’s data in formulating their annual police strategy, it should have a multi-dimensional and multi-purposed use in crime control, only then will this institution become result oriented.

CONCLUSION:

The growing incidents of cybercrime, as highlighted in the NCRB report, demands that law enforcement agencies remain proactive. Across the world, data is becoming an important tool for ensuring public safety.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION:

Q) Explain why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian society. (2023)

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q) While legal frameworks exist to address sexual violence against women, the disturbing reality is that these crimes continue to escalate. In this context, what innovative approaches can be implemented to tackle this menace effectively? Explain.

SOURCE: Express View on latest NCRB data: The crime story (indianexpress.com)

THE CONTEXT: A groundbreaking report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), published earlier this month, has laid bare the staggering hidden costs of our global agri­food systems, surpassing an astonishing $10 trillion.

ABOUT AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS

Agri-food systems have three main components:

• Primary production: It includes food from agricultural and non-agricultural origins, as well as non-food agricultural products.
• Food distribution: It links production to consumption through food supply chains and domestic food transport networks.
• Household consumption: It is the downstream outcome of functioning agrifood systems, subject to varying degrees of demand shocks.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 2023 REPORT

• The report blames “unsustainable business­as­usual activities and practices” for these escalating costs, pointing to a need to transform agri­food systems.
  • In middle-income countries like India, these costs constitute nearly 11% of the GDP, which manifests as higher poverty, environmental harm, and health related impacts, including undernourishment and unhealthy dietary patterns.
• One way to do so is to shift to multi-cropping systems that have the potential to protect farmers’ well-being, improve nutritional outcomes for our communities, and positively impact ecological health.

IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND ITS IMPACT:

• Impressive improvements in agricultural productivity have been achieved in India over the last five decades by mainstreaming mono­cropping systems and chemical­intensive farming practices.
• The Green Revolution focused on the marketing of high­yielding varieties of paddy and wheat on agricultural lands, which now constitute more than 70% of India’s agricultural production.
• The infusion of seeds purchased from multinational corporations and fertilizers undermined seed sovereignty, dismantled Indigenous knowledge systems, and fuelled a shift from diverse crop varieties and staples such as pulses and millets to monoculture plantations.
• This trend also compromised the nutritional needs of households and resulted in adverse ecological consequences including excessive extraction of groundwater.
• This privatisation and deregulation of agricultural inputs also increased indebtedness among agrarian households.
• In 2013, the debt to asset ratio of a farmer’s household in India was 630% higher than in 1992. Agriculture in India has increasingly become unviable:
  • The average monthly household income of a farming household sits at ₹10,816.

THE CROPS BEING FAVOURED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS ISSUES WITH IT

National Food Security Act 2013: 65% of households (around 800 million people) in India are legally assured a right to food at subsidised rates through the Public Distribution System and welfare programmes such as the Integrated Child Development Services and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

The Procurement of food crops: Procurement of food crops is coordinated by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which is required to maintain a central pool of buffer stock and to procure, transport, and store foodgrain stocks in the country.

• However, this procurement policy heavily favours rice and wheat.
• In 2019­2020, the FCI procured 341.32 lakh million tonnes (MT) of wheat and 514.27 lakh MT of rice.
• Whole wheat and rice also became export commodities.
• Not surprisingly, the area under cultivation of coarse grains dropped by 20% between 1966-1967 and 2017-­2018, whereas the area under rice and wheat increased by nearly 20% and 56% respectively.

Water-intensive cash crops: Water intensive cash crops like sugarcane and areca nut have also flourished under policies favouring investments in dams and canal irrigation (favourable for sugarcane) and free electricity for borewells (favourable for areca nut).

Threatens food security: Policies favour investments in water intensive cash crops, which threatens food security and the production of nutritional crops.

Affects Biodiversity: The expansion of sugarcane cultivation affects biodiversity, increases the pressure on groundwater resources, and contributes to air and water pollution.

Issues with small and marginal farmers:  Small and marginal farmers in India are among the most food and nutrition insecure.

• The global food system structure has a direct impact on the last mile on both farmers and soil.
• Between 2012 and 2016, large fluctuations in soya prices in the global market and a glut in supply from Latin American countries eroded income for soy farmers and agro companies in Malwa.
• Historically as well, global trade relations have influenced food production systems in the Global South. In the pre-independence era, tax systems were introduced to efficiently collect revenue for British-enforced exports of primary raw materials, such as cotton.

HOW CAN CROP DIVERSIFICATION HELP?

Diversification of farms:  A systemic shift in food regimes, from local to global value chains, is essential. The starting point for addressing these complex systemic issues could arise from local efforts, such as the diversification of farms.

Solution to revitalise degraded land and soil: Diversified multi-cropping systems, rooted in agroecology principles, could be a viable solution to revitalise degraded land and soil.

Improves soil health: Practices known by various names locally, like ‘akkadi saalu’ in Karnataka, involve intercropping with a combination of legumes, pulses, oilseeds, trees, shrubs, and livestock.

• This approach enables cash provision from commercial crops, food and fodder production, and offers ecosystem services such as nitrogen fixation and pest traps and supports the local biodiversity. They also collectively contribute to improving soil health.

FAO report: The FAO report says that there are substantial “hidden costs” associated with the current systems which need to be factored into long-term evaluations of income.

ISSUES WITH THE CROP DIVERSIFICATION

Arguments against alternative farming systems: Critics have often argued against alternative farming systems, suggesting they may lead to a decline in farmer income even if the environment improves.

Loss of productivity: While crop diversification will involve some loss of productivity using a narrow metric of kg/Ha, it would preserve natural capital and allow farmers to become nutritionally secure.

THE WAY FORWARD

Redirecting subsidies: By redirecting subsidies, currently accruing to corporations, we can pay farmers for their contribution to sustaining natural capital, instead of incentivising them to deplete it.

Systematic transition:  It is unrealistic to expect farmers to shift away from mono-cultivation of rice and wheat overnight. This transition needs to be systematic, allowing farmers to adjust gradually.

• For instance, moving from chemical-intensive practices to non-pesticide management, then adopting natural farming practices, can reduce input costs.

Visual representation of a diversified: Among the various transition pathways, a visual representation of a diversified farm involves allocating 70% for commercial crops, 20% for food and fodder, and 10% for environmental services like oilseeds (acting as trap crops).

• Over time, the fraction of commercial crops could be lowered to 50% and border crops could be replaced with locally suitable tree species for fruits and fodder.
• Integrating livestock rearing could further improve incomes.

Addressing challenges related to local seeds: Addressing challenges related to local seeds, institutional arrangements for market access, drudgery, and the need for farm labour is crucial when envisioning such a transition.

Value addition: Farmers can diversify income through value addition, incorporating livestock and poultry. Some of these practices could be experimented with partially on specific portions of their lands.

Collaborating among institutions: Scaling up these practices requires collaboration among institutions, policymakers, and social groups to articulate economic incentives for farmers to shift from high-input monoculture to diversified cropping.

Focusing on millets: millets, whose yield per hectare is comparable to those of rice and wheat, are also more nutritious, grow in semi-arid conditions without burdening groundwater tables, require minimal input, and provide a diversified food basket.

CONCLUSION:

Shifting from the current high-input monoculture system to diversified cropping presents a crucial opportunity for environmental sustainability and improved farmer livelihoods. By implementing the proposed strategies, we can create a more resilient agricultural sector that benefits both farmers and the environment.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS:

Q) What are the salient features of National Food Security Act, 2013? How has the Food Security Bill helped in eliminating hunger and malnutrition in India? (2021)

Q) What are the present challenges before crop diversification? How do emerging technologies provide an opportunity for crop diversification? (2021)

Q) What are the reformative steps taken by the Government to make the food grain distribution system more effective? (2020)

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q) Examine the need for transforming the agri-food systems for ensuring food security, protecting soil fertility and reducing the food subsidy of the government.

SOURCE:https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader?utm_source=Hindu&utm_medium=Menu&utm_campaign=Header