Manuj Jindal Gs 2 Full Notes Minus Ir PDF

MANUJ
JINDAL, AIR 53
CSE 2016
Full GS 2 Notes (except IR)
Marks in GS 2: 111
Total GS Marks: 449

MANUJ JINDAL, AIR 53 GS 2 notes, GS Marks 111 1

Marks in GS: 449
Table of Contents
Important Points you must keep in mind while studying GS2: .......................... 7
Writing techniques: ................................................................................................................... 7
Syllabus ................................................................................................................................. 7
MUST SUPREME COURT CASES FOR MAINS: ............................................................. 9
IMPORTANT Examples for GS 2 [MUST FOR REVISION]: ................................... 12
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA ............................................................................................. 18
FEDERALISM ..................................................................................................................... 18
Early Years ................................................................................................................................. 18
Various federal features: ...................................................................................................... 19
Unitary features: ...................................................................................................................... 19
Cooperative federalism: ........................................................................................................ 19
GST [issues such as federalism, GST council etc.] ......................................................... 22
Federalism and GST: ............................................................................................................... 23
POLITICAL PARTIES UNDER RTI ................................................................................ 24
First Past the Post System in India. Pros and Cons. ............................................. 25
Removal of Governor ..................................................................................................... 26
Electoral Reforms ........................................................................................................... 28
Criminalization of politics: Money Power also → criminalization ................ 29
Why is Judicial independence central to democracy? ................................................. 30
Political Institutions in India ...................................................................................... 31
Increasing Tribunalisation in India. ................................................................................. 31
Women in Local Governance: ..................................................................................... 33
Relevance of Rajya Sabha ............................................................................................. 33
President’s Rule .............................................................................................................. 34
Panchayati Raj [also the new Gram Swarajya Mission] ..................................... 35
PESA and its challenges ................................................................................................ 35
The Forest Rights Act (2006) and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled
Areas) Act (1996) ........................................................................................................... 36
Separation of Powers .................................................................................................... 37
Dispute Redressal Mechanisms and Institutions .......................................................... 38
Judicial Review in India ................................................................................................ 40
BIT [Bilateral Investment Treaty] ..................................................................................... 42
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission — importance, recent
issues, organization ....................................................................................................... 43
Model Code of Conduct .................................................................................................. 43
Rail Budget Scrapping ................................................................................................... 44
Censorship ........................................................................................................................ 45
Road Safety in India ....................................................................................................... 46

Marks in GS: 449
Defamation as Criminal offense — Supreme Court declares it to remain so.
............................................................................................................................................... 48
Public Officials and the Validity of Section 199(2) of Cr. PC upheld ....................... 50
Sedition (IPC Section 124A) ........................................................................................ 51
Domestic Violence .......................................................................................................... 52
Bonded Labour ................................................................................................................ 53
Tribal Justice System ..................................................................................................... 55
Indian Judiciary Issues .................................................................................................. 56
Criminal Justice System ......................................................................................................... 58
Alternative Dispute Resolution .......................................................................................... 59
Judicial Appointments Issue [NJAC and finalization of MoP] .................................... 61
Recording Each Vote in Parliament ................................................................................... 62
New Framework for Grants by Centre to the States ............................................ 63
Electoral Reforms in India ........................................................................................... 64
Elections of Legislative Assemblies .......................................................................... 64
Land Reforms [IMP] ....................................................................................................... 65
Capital Punishment ........................................................................................................ 66
OROP ................................................................................................................................... 67
Family Law Reforms ...................................................................................................... 68
Impact of Self Help Groups on financial inclusion in India ............................... 69
Bank Sakhi Program ............................................................................................................... 69
Minority Institutions in a Secular Country ............................................................. 70
LGBT .................................................................................................................................... 72
Rule Based Governance -- need .................................................................................. 73
Supreme Court Order on AFSPA -- applicability of the law and immunities
accorded to the armed forces personnel ................................................................ 73
AFSPA .................................................................................................................................. 75
Disabled Citizens -- Supreme Court .......................................................................... 75
Higher Education Finance Agency [HEFA] .............................................................. 76
Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme ........................................... 76
Child Labour ..................................................................................................................... 77
Child Labour+ ............................................................................................................................ 78
AADHAR AND HEALTH CARE ...................................................................................... 78
Universal Basic Income (UBI) .............................................................................................. 79
Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS) ....................................................................... 80
Voter Education in India .............................................................................................. 81
Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 [passed] .................................................................................... 82
National Women Policy ................................................................................................ 83
Euthanasia ......................................................................................................................... 84

Marks in GS: 449
Education requirements needed for standing in elections: ............................. 85
Pressure Groups .............................................................................................................. 87
Alternate dispute redressal mechanism ................................................................. 87
Public Interest Litigations ........................................................................................... 88
Uniform Civil Code .......................................................................................................... 89
Ordinance Making Power ............................................................................................ 89
AERB and Nuclear Security Structure in India ...................................................... 89
RTI ................................................................................................................................................ 89
Aadhar and Right to Privacy ................................................................................................ 90
Legislative Councils -- abolish or allow? .......................................................................... 90
Human Rights Institutions in India ................................................................................... 91
Violations of MCC; Should it be part of RPA? .................................................................. 91
Inquiry into Civil Servants: ................................................................................................... 92
Civil Services — Posting Officers indiscriminately — Blurred division of
Responsibility- Case of Punishment Posting .................................................................. 94
Monsoon ..................................................................................................................................... 96
Women Safety in India ........................................................................................................... 96
PCPNDT ....................................................................................................................................... 97
Whistleblowing encouraged by Companies Act 2013 ................................................. 99
Forest Rights Act, 2006 and people’s ability to protect their land and forest
rights ............................................................................................................................................ 99
Street Dog Menace ................................................................................................................. 101
Budgeting in India -- Constitutional provisions .......................................................... 102
Women in Sports needed. Why? ....................................................................................... 103
CONSTITUTION of INDIA ............................................................................................ 104
Historical Overview of the Constitution ........................................................................ 104
Self Help Groups: .................................................................................................................... 111
Government NGO interface: ............................................................................................... 112
Charities .................................................................................................................................... 119
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) ........................................................................... 119
Self-Regulatory Authorities ................................................................................................ 120
Social capital — SHGs and Cooperatives — a Gandhi idea of self-reliance ........ 122
Cooperatives, Societies and Waqfs .................................................................................. 123
Financial Inclusion ................................................................................................................ 123
Governance Issues ................................................................................................................. 125
e-Shakti [SHGs] ....................................................................................................................... 132
Citizen’s Charter ..................................................................................................................... 133
Sevottam Model (Monitoring and Implementation of Citizen Charters) ............ 133
Protection of Whistleblowers and Whistleblowers Act 2014 ................................ 135
Corruption ................................................................................................................................ 136
Poverty ...................................................................................................................................... 137
Hunger: ...................................................................................................................................... 138
SOCIAL SECTOR: ..................................................................................................................... 139
Health ........................................................................................................................................ 142
Food Safety: ............................................................................................................................. 144
Early Childhood Development: ......................................................................................... 144
Education: ................................................................................................................................ 145
National Skill Development Mission ............................................................................... 148
Social Audit .............................................................................................................................. 152
Rights Based approach to social policy .......................................................................... 153

Marks in GS: 449
India’s lags behind as a Digital Economy-- “Network Readiness” ......................... 154
Rights of Minorities in India .............................................................................................. 155
Media and Entertainment Industry Reforms ............................................................... 158
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission ................................................................. 160
SANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA (SAGY) ....................................................................... 160
ACCESSIBLE INDIA CAMPAIGN [Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan] ..................................... 161
National Social Security Authority ................................................................................... 162
EDUCATION POLICY .............................................................................................................. 163
New Education Policy in India -- TSR Report ............................................................... 164
New Draft National Education Policy .............................................................................. 165
WOMEN ..................................................................................................................................... 166
National Women Policy ....................................................................................................... 167
MEDIA ........................................................................................................................................ 167
New Textile Sector Policy .................................................................................................... 168
HEALTH ..................................................................................................................................... 169
New National Mental Health Policy ................................................................................. 169
Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016 ............................................................................................. 170
Drug Policy ............................................................................................................................... 171
National Capital Goods Policy 2015 ................................................................................ 172
Primary Healthcare as a Fundamental Right [UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE Policy
in India] ..................................................................................................................................... 173
Human Trafficking ................................................................................................................ 176
UNODC's Response to Human Trafficking ..................................................................... 177
Benami Transactions Prohibition Bill -- amendments in 2015 ............................. 177
Draft Trafficking of Persons Bill, 2016 ........................................................................... 178
National Water Framework Bill ........................................................................................ 181
National Water Commission Proposal ........................................................................... 181
Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016 ............................................................................................. 183
Model Shops and Establishments Bill ............................................................................. 184
Maternity Benefit Bill ........................................................................................................... 185
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill ........................................................ 186
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code ..................................................................................... 188
Artificial Reproductive Technologies -- social realities in India (228th Law
commission report) .............................................................................................................. 190
Draft National Sports Development Bill, 2013 ............................................................ 191
Amendments to Child Labour Law [passed] ........................................................ 192
HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill 2014 -- amendments .............. 193
NEET Issue -- common entrance test ...................................................................... 194
Rajya Sabha -- domicile of candidate standing for RS seat ............................. 195
Shortage of Judges ................................................................................................................. 196
Metropolitan Cities -- problems ........................................................................................ 197
Elderly Health, Housing and Welfare ..................................................................... 199
Euthanasia ....................................................................................................................... 200
Defamation as Criminal offense — Supreme Court declares it to remain so.
............................................................................................................................................. 201
Censorship ...................................................................................................................... 203
Sedition (IPC Section 124A) ...................................................................................... 205
Office of Profit ................................................................................................................ 206

Marks in GS: 449
National Court of Appeal ..................................................................................................... 207
Judicial Activism In India: .......................................................................................... 209
River Water Dispute -- Cauvery ............................................................................... 209
Contempt of Court and Freedom of Speech .......................................................... 213
DISE -- District Information System for Education ..................................................... 213
Leprosy in India ............................................................................................................ 214
Judicial Reforms in Elections ............................................................................................. 215
Article 311 ................................................................................................................................ 215
Constitutional Experts on various issues ............................................................. 215
Judicial Activism .................................................................................................................... 215
Self Governance and PRIs ................................................................................................... 215
Federalism quotes ................................................................................................................. 215
Swaraj and Su-raj ................................................................................................................... 216
Right to Speech and Expression ........................................................................................ 216
Universal Adult Franchise: ................................................................................................. 216
Quotes on Constitution, Parliament, Freedoms and Rights, Polity etc. ............... 217


Marks in GS: 449
Important Points you must keep in mind while studying GS2:

1. Use syllabus as the guide to study for GS 2. Do not study topics outside
syllabus except for your own interest. Do the theoretical as well as
current affairs (dynamic) portion of each topic in syllabus and make
examples (you can use my notes for examples on many topics also).
2. Please note that my notes are not a substitute for any traditional
sources. They can be used as supplement only and I made them for
personal preparation during UPSC exam.
a. Also please take care as these notes are organized through my
preparation of 2 years on an ongoing basis, so might may not be
perfect. J

Writing techniques:
1) Use a plenty of example to support your argument/point in the answers.
Do not use examples as point in themselves, but use them to support what
you are presenting.
2) Draw diagrams wherever possible. Also try to use flow charts to
represent pictorially what you are writing.
3) Present both theoretical and well dynamic aspect of the particular topic
you are addressing.
4) Answer each part of the question asked separately.
5) Break-down long questions into multiple parts and then tackle these
parts separately.

Syllabus
General Studies -II: 250 Marks (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice
and International relations)

Use syllabus as the guide to study for GS 2. Do not study topics outside syllabus
except for your own interest. Do the theoretical as well as current affairs
(dynamic) portion of each topic in syllabus and make exaples (you can use my
notes for examples on many topics also)

1. Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features,
amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
2. Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and
challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers
and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
3. Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal
mechanisms and institutions.
4. Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other
countries

Marks in GS: 449
5. Parliament and State Legislatures - structure, functioning, conduct of
business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
6. Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the
Judiciary Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure
groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
7. Salient features of the Representation of People's Act.
8. Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and
responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.
9. Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
10. Government policies and interventions for development in various
sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
11. Development processes and the development industry the role of
NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities,
institutional and other stakeholders
12. Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the
Centre and States and the performance of these schemes;
mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the
protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections
13. Issues relating to development and management of Social
Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
14. Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
15. Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-
governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and
potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and
institutional and other measures.
16. Role of civil services in a democracy.
17. India and its neighbourhood- relations.
18. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving
India and/or affecting India's interests
19. Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries
on India's interests, Indian diaspora.
20. Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their
structure, mandate


Marks in GS: 449
MUST SUPREME COURT CASES FOR MAINS:

1. NJAC held unconstitutional by Supreme Court Advocates on Record
Association v Union of India
2. National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) v Union of India:
TRANSGENDER Supreme court recognizes transgender persons as
third gender in India and ordered government to treat them as
minorities and extend reservations.
3. BP Singhal v Union of India: Supreme Court ruled various directions
that should guide the removal of Governors. (2010)
4. S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, 1994 — FEDERALISM IS A BASIC
FEATURE AND Rules for imposing Article 356. Major implication to
state-center relations as SC clearly curtailed the powers of Article 356
by detailing how and in what circumstances can President’s Rule be
imposed.
5. Kedar Nath v State of Bihar 1962: Section 124A of IPC (sedition) is
valid however, strong criticism of the government cannot be termed
under this. Unless criticism causes public disorder or disturbance of
public peace, it cannot be termed as sedition.
a. NGO Common Cause involved in this
6. L Chandra Kumar case: Tribunalization of Judiciary
7. Harbans Singh Jalal case — Opined on legalizing MCC, but suggested
against it.
8. Shreya Singhal v Union of India: Section 66A of IT Act
unconstitutional
a. Section 66A was arbitrary, excessive and disproportionately
invades the right of free speech and upsets the balance between
such right and the reasonable restrictions that may be imposed on
such right.
9. Glivec Drug by Novartis not provided patent protection by Supreme
Court ruling (Novartis v Union of India)
10. DC Wadhwa Case 1987
a. Supreme Court pointed out that between 1967-81, the Governor of
Bihar promulgated 256 ordinances with the same text.
b. Court ruled that such repromulgation of ordinances would amount
to violation of the constitution and is liable to be struck down
11. Naz Foundation Case: In 2009, Section 377 was declared
unconstitutional, but again in 2013 this judgment was overturned.
12. Om Prakash v Dil Bahar Case (2006): Supreme Court declared that a
rape accused could be convicted on the sole evidence of the victim in
spite of medical evidence not proving rape.
13. Golak Nath Case v State of Punjab, 1967— Fundamental Rights are
inalienable and cannot be curtailed by the Parliament
14. Kesavanand Bharti Case — Basic Structure Doctrine
15. Maneka Gandhi Case — Established that fundamental rights and
other laws can be subject to judicial review under assumptions of
natural law and “due process of law”, not merely by procedure
established by law [JUDICIAL REVIEW]

Marks in GS: 449
a. The Supreme Court in this case reiterated the proposition that the
fundamental rights under the constitution of India are not
mutually exclusive but are interrelated. According to Justice K.
Iyer, ‘a fundamental right is not an island in itself’. The
expression “personal liberty” in Article 21 was interpreted broadly
to engulf a variety of rights within itself. The court further
observed that the fundamental rights should be interpreted in
such a manner so as to expand its reach and ambit rather than to
concentrate its meaning and content by judicial construction.
Article 21 provides that no person shall be deprived of his life or
personal liberty except in accordance with procedure established
by law but that does not mean that a mere semblance of procedure
provided by law will satisfy the Article , the procedure should be
just , fair and reasonable. The principles of natural justice are
implicit in Article 21 and hence the statutory law must not
condemn anyone unheard. A reasonable opportunity of defense or
hearing should be given to the person before affecting him, and in
the absence of which the law will be an arbitrary one.
16. Minerva Mills Case — strengthened the Basic Structure Doctrine
17. Vishaka Case — Every case of sexual harassment is a violation of
fundamental rights. “Foundation laid for enabling a protected and
secure female workforce in India”
18. R. Rajagopal Case — “The Right to be Left Alone” is part of personal
liberty and right to privacy subsisted even if a matter becomes case of
public record; Right to Privacy
19. Shah Bano won the alimony right (1985). All India Muslim Personal
Law Board was formed in 1973
20. MC Mehta v Union of India, 1986 — PIL filed by MC Mehta in 1986
that enlarged the concept of Article 21 and Article 32 to include right
to healthy environment and pollution free environment.
21. Indra Sawhney v UOI, 1992 — Supreme Court held that caste could
be a factor for identifying backward classes.
22. Lily Thomas Case, 2013
a. Disqualified convicted members of parliament or legislatures
(with punishment >2 years), from membership of the house with
immediate effect.
b. Earlier, a stay could be taken against such order, and until the
convict exhausts all the possible measures, membership could be
retained.
c. According to the Association of Democratic Reforms, as many as
72 sitting MPs face criminal charges and could be disqualified if
convicted for over two years. If that is the case, one can hope that
the dream of “Clean Politics” might not be that far-fetched, after
all?
23. Shatrughan Singh Case
a. Commuted the sentence of 15 death row convicts on the basis of
fundamental right to life.
24. Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2002

Marks in GS: 449
a. The judgement of a three-member Bench ordered candidates
contesting elections to declare their assets and all criminal cases
pending against them at the time of filing of nominations.
25. NOTA — 2013
a. Right to a negative vote
i. “Negative voting will lead to systemic change in polls and
political parties will be forced to project clean candidates. If
the right to vote is a statutory right, then the right to reject
candidate is a fundamental right of speech and expression
under Constitution” — Supreme Court
26. Cheaper Cancer Drug judgment in 2013
a. Novartis AG for cancer drug Glivec filed case in SC
b. “We certainly do not wish the law of patent in this country to
develop on the lines where there may be a vast gap between the
coverage and the disclosure under the patent; where the scope of
the patent is determined not on the intrinsic worth of the
invention but by the artful drafting of its claims by skilful lawyers,
and where patents are traded as a commodity not for production
and marketing of the patented products but to search for someone
who may be sued for infringement of the patent,”
c. A one-month dose of Glivec costs around Rs 1.2 lakh, while generic
drugs, manufactured by Indian companies, costs Rs 8,000. A patent
would have given Novratis a 20-year monopoly on the drug,
meaning that it would have been impossible for the average Indian
to find an affordable cancer drug in that period.
27. Bachan Singh Case
a. Rarest of rare doctrine for pronouncing capital punishment
b. Ignored in real application
28. Uddar Gagan Case: [Land Acquisition in Haryana]
a. SC cancelled the allocation of land by HUDA to private builders.
b. SC has declared land as a “scarce natural resource” which
should be acquired from the poor only for a compelling public
purpose. (case of land acquisition in Haryana)
29. Supreme Court on Regulation of Private Education in States
a.
b. Education is not a business but a ‘noble’ activity”
i. It is not a simple activity but aimed at empowering people
of the country.
ii. SC has said that state has authority to regulate admissions
and fixing of fees of private unaided educational institution.
iii. States have power to regulate admission and fixing of fees
is a reasonable restrictions for larger public interest.
iv. Court judged that education institution can never become a
business.
v. They had a right under Article 19 (1) (g) “to practice any
profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business
”. SC in their earlier judgment has recognized right to
administer educational institution as an 'occupation' under
the Constitution.

Marks in GS: 449

IMPORTANT Examples for GS 2 [MUST FOR REVISION]:

1. SHGs:
a. Kudumbshree in Kerela
b. Andhra
2. NGOs:
a. Swayam Sikshan Prayog bagged UN Climate Award for 2016 →
trains women to become clean energy entrepreneurs across
Maharashtra and Bihar.
b. Akshaya Patra for Mid Day Meal Scheme.
c. Ford Foundation for carrying out “foreign activities” against indian
developmental efforts
d. Greenpeace on environmental activism
3. Media:
a. Media channels owned by large conglomerate CEOs
4. Prevention of Atrocities Act (POAA)
a. Demands to repeal it
b. Example of misuse: Arrest of Ashish Nandy on remarks made
during a debate on corruption in Jaipur Film Festival.
c. Curbs free speech under article 19 as said by “Human Rights
Watch” in its report Stifling Dissent: The Criminalisation of
Dissent in India
i. While the legislation itself has been defended, one section
of the Act that provides for a provision ripe for misuse. This
section penalises anyone who “intentionally insults or
intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a
Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within
public view.”
ii. It also includes laws like section 124 A (the sedition law),
and section 295 A (hurting of religious sentiments)
iii. Solution: Bring it in line with International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights article 20 by allowing for
restriction of speech only when it constitutes incitement to
discrimination, hostility, or violence.”
iv. According to NCRB data, 2014 witnessed a 19.4% increase
in crimes against SCs over the previous year, with a total of
40,300 cases registered under the SC/ST Prevention Act
5. Institutions
6. Paris Principles Relating to Status of National Institutions (1993) -- for
all institution related questions can be used.
7. 3 Is -- Institutions, Internationalization and Innovation
8. Society -- Old Age, Women, Children, Disabled, Bonded Labour
9. OLD AGE:

Marks in GS: 449
a. “Madrid Action Plan on Barrier Free Society” -- old age people
10. TRANGENDERS:
a. 6 lakh in India as per census 2011
b. NALSA Case recently and also Rights of Transgenders Persons Bill
c. Constitutional Rights: Right to Life with Dignity Article 21, Right to
Equality in matters of public employment etc.
11. UNDERTRIALS:
a. India has over 2.78 lakh under trials
b. 2/3rd of total incarcerated people in jails are under trials
12. DISABLED:
a. UNCRPD -- United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with
Disability -- India signatory → Article 35 of UNCRPD
b. 2.68 crore disabled people in India as per census 2011
c. People with mental health issues have right to seek legal help
opinion, liberty and to informed consent.
d. It also indicates that ban of forceful treatment in such cases is
required.
e. India signed the convention in 2007 and needs to pass the Mental
Health Bill to enact this ratification.
f. ARTICLE 41 of the Indian constitution says that state shall make
efforts (DPSP) to providing just environment for the development
of disabled.
g. The constitution also provides for Rights to Equality, justice,
freedom and dignity to all without discrimination.
h. The Persons with Disabilities Act 1995
i. National Policy in 2006
13. BLIND:
a. Marrakesh Treaty → India first country to sign
14. “Books for Blind” Treaty → India as a trailblazer
a. WHO estimates there are 285 million people with visual
impairments.
b. World Blind Union estimates that children who are blind have less
than 10% chance of going to school.
c. SUGAMYA PUSTAKALAYA -- library launched → 2 lakh volumes.
d. Indian government has also engaged with NGOs such as “DAISY
Forum of India”
e. “ACCESSIBLE INDIA” campaign or SUGAMYA BHARAT ABHIYAN -
- national flagship campaign for universal access for people with
disabilities.
f. INCHEON Strategy to “Make the Rights Real” for disabled
people
g. “ACCESSIBLE BOOK CONSORTIUM” [ABC] by World Intellectual
Properties Organization → free service
h. Swavlambam Healthcare Scheme → Healthcare insurance for the
disabled. Comprehensive cover for the beneficiary and their
families.
i. Major DP Singh, who lost a leg in kargil but became India’s first
“blade” marathon runner

Marks in GS: 449
15. ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION
a. National Informatics Center (NIC) is developing a national tissue
and organ donors registry platform
b. National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) is
working with many stakeholders → NOTTO website has a partly
working list of donors.
c. Policy on granting out of turn requests for organs in hospitals to be
developed. → example in Mumbai a man who was brain dead, his
kidney was transplanted to his brother who was on dialysis which
helped him jump 162 spots ahead of him. This was approved
overnight by Ministry of Health.
d. Surveillance of Organ transplant
e. Post-transplant survival rate surveillance
f. Academic research
g. A national task force needed for implementation of registry.
16. HUMAN RIGHTS:
a. GENEVA CONVENTION → Article 54 of the convention prohibits
targeting civilian population during conflicts in any way.
b. CHILD LABOUR:
i. As per NSSO, in 2011 there were 49.8 lakh child labourers
in India. UNICEF says this figure is as high as 3.3 crores.
ii. Recently, the new Prohibition of Child Labour Act has been
passed amid controversies
iii. Article 21A and Article 45 promise to provide free and
compulsory education to all children between the ages of 6
and 14.
iv. National Policy on Child Labour of 1987
v. They also contravene the International Labour Organisation
’s (ILO) Minimum Age Convention and UNICEF’s
Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a
signatory.
c. WOMEN:
i. Women Safety
ii. SAFETIPIN -- an app that gathers information to mark and
rate various public spaces on maps as safe or unsafe. This
analysis is based on various parameters such as ligthing,
presence of police in the area, general presence of people,
CCTVs etc.
d. Parliament and local government
i. As per International Center for Research on Women
[ICRW]:
ii. 12% of the Parliament is women, 10% of Rajya Sabha and
only 7% of the state legislatures
iii. Maternity Benefits
iv. Government has extended paid maternity leave from 12
weeks to 26 weeks for women by Ministry of Women and
Child Welfare.

Marks in GS: 449
v. This will put India in the league of Eastern European and
Nordic countries which have the longest paid maternity
leave for women in the world.
17. Yoga: “By proclaiming June 21 as International Yoga day, the General
assembly has recognized the holistic benefits of this timeless practice
and its inherent compatibility with the principles and values of the
United Nations” -- Ban Ki Moo
18. Road Accidents in India and Good Samaritan
a. Union Road Transport and Highway Ministry said that 1.46 lakh
people lost their lives in road accidents in India in 2015.
b. This is second highest number in the world.
c. Law Commission of India observes that 50% of those killed in road
accidents could have been saved had timely assistance been
rendered to them
d. A World Health Organisation report claims that “skilled and
empowered bystanders play a crucial role in saving lives” and “
in order to enable bystanders to come forward and help injured
persons, a supportive legal and ethical environment is needed”
e. Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety, India is committed to reduce
the number of road accidents and fatalities by 50 per cent by 2020
f. Supreme Court guidelines to protect Good Samaritans [SaveLIFE
Foundation PIL]
i. Judge K.S. Radhakrishnan Committee made
recommendations
ii. Setting up of State Road Safety Councils
iii. Evolving a protocol for the identification and removal of “
blackspots”
iv. Monitoring to gauge the effectiveness of the action taken
v. Strengthening of enforcement relating to drunken driving,
over-speeding, red light jumping, and helmet and seat belt
laws.
19. Social Security Laws in India:
• Maternity Benefit Act
• Employees Insurance act
• Employees PF act
• Workmen compensation act
• MGNREGA Act
• RTE
• Right to Food Act
20. Genetic Modified Seeds
a. MoEFCC released an “Assessment of Food and Environmental
Safety” on GM mustard [DMH--11 or Dhara Mustard Hybrid] for
public comments.
b. Also put out by GEAC
c. Could become first GM food crop of India
21. Pollution
a. World Bank Study on Air Pollution
b. Costs 8.5% of India’s GDP

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c. Air pollution kills more people than tobacco, alcohol or drug use or
unsafe sex in most countries. At 10.1% of total deaths globally, air
pollution ranked fourth among the leading fatal health risks after
metabolic risks, dietary risks and tobacco smoke.
d. Number of deaths due to air pollution is also higher for children
and older people.
e. The report recognizes that lack of adequate information and data
might be hampering the global battle against air pollution.
i. It calls for using satellite-level data along with ground-
based information to get a holistic picture of the extent of
air pollution in a given region, while focusing on the
importance of information at sub-national levels and
beyond big cities.
22. SLUMS
a. A total of 33,350 Slums exist in India as per NSSO report with 8.8
million households living in them
b. Slums are part of urban environment and they are identified by the
presence of features of living conditions that are undesirable viz.
overcrowding, lack of hygiene and sanitation, inadequacy of
drinking water, and poor construction, etc. [NSSO]
c. Schemes:
i. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
ii. Housing for All -- SLUM REHABILITATION POLICY
iii. Private players will be involved in this
23. ENVIRONMENT
a. Paris Climate Deal
i. US and China combined account for 38% of world’s
greenhouse gas emissions.
ii. US had not ratified the Kyoto protocol because most
developing countries had declined to commit to binding
reductions in fossil fuel emissions.
iii. However, this has been solved at UNFCCC in Paris by
agreeing for voluntary but VERIFIABLE emissions
reductions goals for all parties within the framework of
CBDRs [common but differentiated responsibilties]
24. Manufacturing
a. MSMEs contribute to 37% of India’s GDP. Total 51 million MSMEs
in India employing 117 million people as per Ministry of MSME
annual report.
25. Amendments
a. 99th Amendment – NJAC
b. 100th Amendment -- India Bangladesh Enclaves [first schedule
amended]
c. 101st Amendment -- GST Bill
26. PRIs
a. Devolution Index -- TISS -- says 21/24 states considered -- only
50% devolution of FFF has taken place.
27. India completes Nuclear Triad

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a. INS Arihant has been inducted into the Navy → it is a Ship
Submersible Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN)
b. Since India has “No first use policy” → it is very important to
have a “Second Strike Capability”
c. Will have K-15 Sagarika missiles
28. Employment
a. Unemployment Rate: 2015-2016: [Labour Bureau]
i. Unemployment rose to 5% → Highest in the last 5 years
ii. Women’s unemployment rate was as high as 8.7% →
highest in the last 5 years
iii. Number of jobs created in 2004-2009 period was 67 million
jobs, however in 2009-2014 was only 13 million jobs
iv. Despite 7.1% GDP growth, the employment rate is too high
→ Jobless growth
v. Self-employment and government employment is also
declining and Contractual Jobs are on a rise
vi. India adds 1 million youth/workers to the workforce every
month.
vii. Unemployability: NASSCOM Survey -- Only 10% graduates
employable in India
29. Health
a. RSOC (Rapid Survey on Children) → Malnutrition in India has
decreased, Stunting has decreased
b. Malnutrition in India has decreased from 48% in 2004-05 to 39%
in 2014
c. Stunting has decreased from 42% in 2004-05 to 30% in 2014
d. Institutional Deliveries increased to 79% from 39% (2004)
e. Vaccination Coverage increased from 38% in 2004-05 to 84%
f. Open Defecation decreased from 55% to 46%
g. Increase in breastfeeding as well
30. Medical Tourism
a. As per CII, medical tourism is $3 billion industry in Indi
b. Commercial Surrogacy is $2.3 billion industry; 3000 fertility
centers.
c. “Assisted Reproductive Technologies” (ART)
31. DRUG pricing: -- two tier pricing system recommended by Nobel prize
winner Ventakaraman Ramakrishnan
32. Education
a. NSSO report on inequality in education
i. Higher Education Financing Agency to be set-up with initial
capital base of 1000 Crores for providing funds for various
higher education institutions to develop infra. This will be
as debt and can be repaid back over time from revenues
from fees.
33. E-Governance
a. NeGP 2.0 is e-Kranti (2nd version of NeGP)
b. e-Kranti also envisages e-Sangam → convergence of various e-
technologies across various departments

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c. MOOCs
d. Cloud computing
e. e-Health, e-Justice, Education, e-certification etc.
f. B2B, B2G, B2C, G2B, G2G

CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
• Aimed at changing the social, political, economic and psychological state
of India.
• Decisions in constituent assembly:
o Consensus, Accommodation and by the art Art of selection and
modification
• Building the constitution:
o 1922 Young India Gandhi talked about self-determination
o 1928 first draft of a document by Nehru, “Nehru Report”
o 1938 Haripura session of Congress, declaration of demand for a
constituent assembly
o 1940 August offer -- first time agreed to devising of constitution
for the Indians
o 1942 Cripps offer -- first time agreed to devising of constitution for
the Indians by the Indians

FEDERALISM

Article 1 of the Indian constitution says, India, that is Bharat, is a Union of States.
The fact that Indian constitution has declared Indian polity as a “unitary” one
instead of a federal one raises questions about the exact nature of our
constitution.

On the contrary, the Supreme court has declared in its judgment that Indian
constitution is a federal one. This is due to various features that make Indian
constitution a federal structure rather than a unitary one.

Early Years
Dr. BR Ambedkar had clearly argued in the Constitutional Amendment debates
that the union has been deliberately used because India was not created by the
agreement of different states. Infact, the Union was indestructible but the states
were not.

However, Federalism was promoted in early years of the independence by
setting up:
• National Development Council was set up in 1952
• National Integration Council was similarly set up in 1962

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• Annual conferences were held between the centre and state chief
ministers on finance, labour, food and other functional areas.

Various federal features:

1. Written constitution
2. Rajya Sabha
3. Distribution of power between the Center and the States by the 7th
schedule of the constitution.
4. Independent Judiciary
5. Dual system of governments with government at the Centre and
government at the State level as well
6. Supremacy of the Constitution

Unitary features:
1. Residuary powers lie with the Centre and not the States as in the US
2. Overwhelming taxation powers of the Centre
3. Single Citizenship
4. Integrated judiciary with Supreme court at the apex level
5. Position of Governor vis-a-vis the State executive
6. Emergency powers of the center under Article 356, 352, and 365
7. All India Services

Hence, it can be seen that Indian polity is federal with peculiar unitary features.

Cooperative federalism:
Indian federalism can be more accurately described as “cooperative” federalism.
It has all the features of a federal structure as described above and gives ample
power to the States to run their government, impose taxes and decide various
policies on development. In this matter, the central government assists the states
in carrying out these plans through grants, and also ensures integrity of the
nation is maintained.

More recently, cooperative federalism has become even more relevant as
Planning Commission has been scrapped and NITI Aayog has been established.

Do you think partisan federalism is acting as impediment to cooperative
federalism? Examine how the Supreme Court can end partisan federalism in
India.

• Federalism is a part of the Basic Structure and strengthening of
federalism is key to ensuring good governance in the country. The present
government has laid emphasis on cooperative and competitive federalism
and seeks state’s support in many of its key initiatives such as Make in
India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan etc.
• However the bane of partisan federalism still impacts the polity of the
country.

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Following are the manifestation of partisan federalism, which conflicts, with the
idea of cooperative federalism:

1. Appointment of governors – The post of governor has become a key tool
by which the centre likes to have some semblance of control over state
polity, as the appointment of governor happens through the centre. The
present government post coming to power appointed many new
governors replacing the old ones in line with what has been happening so
far. Despite SC guidelines on removal of governor (BP Singhal vs UoI) and
on office of governor (Hargobind kaur vs Raghukul), the issue persists
2. Application of President Rule – SC in SR Bommai case had said that
President Rule should be a measure of last resort. However the political
developments in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand defy that directive.
The Supreme Court had to step in to reinstate the Congress led
government post application of President's Rule.
3. Use of Governor’s Office: The office of governor is still used to reserve
bills of state governed by Opposition party for President's approval. In the
absence of objective guidelines on what bills should be reserved, the
problem persists. Case in point is the centre’s tussle with Delhi
government over bills like the delhi govt bill on Parliamentary Secretary

However the Centre has also taken steps to strengthen the rubric of Federalism
in the country:
1. The passage of 101st CA Bill by an effective process of consultation with
state government and addressing their concerns through the Empowered
Group of Finance Ministers is a shining example of Cooperative
Federalism
2. The implementation of the report of 14th Finance Commission accepting
greater devolution of taxes to the state also shows strengthening of Fiscal
Federalism
3. Despite a single party government at the centre, compulsion of coalition
politics at state level ensures that the concerns of states are taken on
board

The Supreme Court though can act to ensure that the isolated cases of Partisan
Federalism by directing centre to give effect to its verdict in SR Bommai case
with respect to imposition of President's Rule, appointment of governor in BP
Singhal case etc.

Inter-State Council becoming irrelevant due to NITI Aayog? Should they be
merged?

• ISC envisioned under Article 263 of the constitution, but only operational
since 1990 [on recommendations of Sarkaria commission and First
Administrative Reforms Commission - First ARC]
• Inter-State Council (ISC)—was set up in 1990 following the initial
recommendation of the First Administrative Reforms Commission (1969),

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which was endorsed by the Sarkaria Commission on centre-state
relations (1988).
• ISC’s mandate is to investigate and discuss matters in which states and
the Union have a common interest and to make recommendations on such
matters particularly with respect to coordination of policy and
implementation.
o It has met only 11 times in 26 years of its establishment.
• Recently ISC was revived with topics discussed:
o Direct benefit transfers using Aadhaar
o Education
o Internal security. It also discussed the Punchhi Commission report
(which interestingly introduced the term cooperative federalism)
on centre-state relations.

This body was set up as an instrument for cooperation, coordination and
evolution of common policies.
• Problems:
o Underutilized: only met 11 times in the last 26 years.
o National Development Council (NDC) which was established to
discuss planning issues with states sidelined the ISC.
o The ISC has not been given all powers envisaged by constitution
and cannot investigate all inter-state issues as envisaged by the
constitution
• Solution:
o The ISC needs to be given all the powers contemplated in the
Constitution. Clause A of Article 263, which gave the council the
power to investigate issues of inter-state conflict, was dropped in
the presidential ordinance establishing the ISC. It should provide
greater opportunities to civil society institutions and the corporate
sector to make their representations.
o Merge the two: The ISC and NITI Aayog should be merged into one
constitutional forum to improve the institutional participation of
state governments in inter-governmental affairs.
o It will enhance the institutional status of the NITI Aayog by being
attached to a constitutional body i.e. the ISC.
o Further, to make the ISC a truly federal rather than a central body,
its secretariat should be shifted from the Union Home Ministry to
the Rajya Sabha secretariat so that it would be under the direction
of a neutral federal functionary
o The ISC should be further strengthened to become the critical
forum for not merely administrative but also political and
legislative give and take between the centre and states. It should
function in such a manner that it reflects the equal status of states
and the centre. It should meet once a year. Even though the ISC’s
mandate is very broad, its aspiration has generally been limited to
discussing affirmative action, welfare subjects and administrative
efficiency and coordination.
o While India needs as many forums as it can get to improve
implementation efficiency (given a massive implementation

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deficit), the ISC should not be one of them. Along with another
constitutionally sanctioned entity—the Finance Commission
(FC)—the ISC should be the body that puts the “federation” back in
the definition of the Indian nation. Together, the FC and the ISC
should operationalize again Part XI and XII of the Constitution that
ensure appropriate financial devolution and political
decentralization. India’s true potential will be achieved only when
both the centre and the states are strong.

GST [issues such as federalism, GST council etc.]

GST ushers in a new tax regime in India which will introduce one single tax for
all indirect tax transactions across the country. Various benefits of GST are:
1. It will help the country achieve the objectives of free trade and
commerce throughout the territory as laid in Article 301 of the
constitution.
2. It will lower the burden of indirect taxation on Indian people. Indirect
taxes have grown rapidly and are regressive in nature as they tax rich
and poor at the same rate. Introduction of GST will lower the effective
rate and thereby help poor manage their expenses better.
3. GST will simplify taxation filing and payment by MSMEs, thereby
enhancing the tax base of the government. This should increase tax
collections for the government.
4. GST will unify tax rates across the country on manufacturing, thereby
promoting manufacturing in states where they are not present due to
tax differences with other states. This will enable Make in India.
5. It is expected to boost the economic growth by 0.5%-1%
6. GST will help Indian products compete internationally as taxation rate
will reduce on value-added products.
7. GST will reduce collection costs for the government as well as filing
costs for corporates, thereby increasing efficiency of tax collection.

Problems:
• It will impinge on financial independence of the States, thereby hurting
the spirit of Cooperative federalism in the country. This has been
addressed by providing equal voting rights to States in the GST Council.
• However, questions remain over how it will affect the ability of states to
address regional developmental problems.
• Also, the centre has veto power in the GST council, thereby raising
concerns over states’ ability to further their interests effectively.
• It will lead to large loss of revenue for State government. This has been
resolved by compensating the States for any loss in revenue by the
Centre.
• Its implementation if done poorly could lead to an economic downturn in
the economy.


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Federalism and GST:
• In Constituent Assembly debates, Dr. BR Ambedkar vigorously defended
the right of the States to tax their residents. He said this would enable
states to exercise the mandate for development and growth given to its
representatives by the people.

Impact on States:
1. States will not be able to levy special taxes to help relief and
rehabilitation of people during natural disasters, thereby exposing
them to adverse outcomes after such disasters.
2. States will not be able to finance local schemes related to any social or
economic issues such as Swacch bharat and these will be purely
planned and financed by Centre only.
3. Small scale/Tribal industries might be destroyed: States will not be
able to protect their own local industries run by tribals, minorities and
other groups with traditional products from manufactured products
in other states. This could destroy their small scale industries.
4. Veto power of Centre in GST Council can be used to sideline issues
important for the States.

Problems with GST:
1. Federalism: Does GST enhance federalism? If we look at large country
peers, the US does not have a centralized GST. In fact, many states in
the US have the power to impose income tax in addition to state-level
sales tax. In the European Union (EU), each member-state (country)
has retained fiscal autonomy. The Maastricht Treaty only forced
members to remain within the limit of fiscal deficit of 3% of gross
domestic product (GDP). Even this ceiling was breached early on by
EU’s two biggest members, France and Germany. After the sovereign
debt crisis starting with Greece, and after Brexit, all bets are off. The
fiscal rebellion may spread. China does have a national GST, but
spending and resource raising autonomy given to provinces (states) is
immense. Indeed, the governors’ performance is purely linked to
capex and GDP growth, and they enjoy de facto fiscal autonomy. In
comparison to the US, EU or China, the GST in India will greatly curtail
the fiscal autonomy of states. It is unlikely that we will have income
tax powers bestowed on state governments.
2. Progressivity: The GST is an indirect tax. The poor bear a
disproportionate burden of indirect taxes. India has a very low direct
tax-to-GDP ratio. The ratio of direct to indirect taxes in India is 35:65.
This is exactly the obverse of most of the developed world. Income tax
rates have steadily reduced, whereas service tax rates have gone up
from 5% in the mid-1990s to 15% now. Swachh Bharat and Krishi
Kalyan cesses are recent examples of new indirect taxes. Less than 5%
Indians file income tax returns, but almost all Indians pay indirect tax
in one form or another. A starting GST rate of 18% (as per current
discussion) will hurt the poor more than the rich. Early discussion was
around a GST rate of 12% or 13%, which has now drifted to 18%. At
20% or higher, we might as well not have a GST.

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3. Legislative cap on GST: Excise duties on petrol and diesel were raised
almost a dozen times in the past one-and-a-half years. These are
indirect taxes. Did we pause to wonder, how is it that the excise duty
hikes did not require parliamentary approval? That’s because the
frequent tax hikes were executive action, empowered by emergency
“war powers act”. If GST can be tweaked upward just by the executive,
it will become more and more regressive, worsening income
inequality. Hence a legislative cap (via the bill, not necessarily in the
Constitution) is needed to prevent future misuse. Bear in mind that
tax buoyancy (and elasticity) of a tweak from 18% to 19% is much
higher, and hence easier than widening the direct tax net. We need to
curb this temptation to increase taxes through a legislative restraint,
i.e. a cap on the GST rate
4. Council governance: GST disputes will be thrashed out in the GST
council. Small and large states will have equal voting powers. Is this
fair? Large producing states like Maharashtra already fear losses in
excess of Rs.14,000 crore in the first year itself. It is asking for larger
reimbursement. Other voting states may “gang up” against
Maharashtra and veto such a proposal. What if a larger state wants to
impose a higher “sin tax” or give a bigger subsidy at the lower end of
the GST slab, since they can afford it? Will the current governance
framework provide such a leeway?
5. Tax disputes: The power of the sales tax commissioner at the state
level enables speedy resolution of disputes. But the excise framework
uses the process of appeals and tribunals, involving interminable
delays. This distinction is called the “revision” versus “review”
approach. Will the GST lean the excise way, or sales tax way? Will we
soon have a mountain of disputes and long judicial delays?

________________________________________

POLITICAL PARTIES UNDER RTI

Why needed?
1. Political parties are institutions of public importance as they consist of
leaders who are elected by the people. This requires complete
transparency and accountability of political parties.
2. Money power is becoming a significant roadblock in achieving true
potential of our democracy. Hence, funding of political parties must be
made public under RTI.
3. It will raise the confidence of people for the political leadership and
help in their image makeover as well.

Why opposed?

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1. The Union government recently told the Supreme Court that political
parties must not be brought under RTI or Right to Information Act as
they are not public authorities.
2. Opaque nature of funding given to political parties.
3. It could lead to exposure of strategic and tactical information held by
political parties for elections and other political work.

Centre’s arguments:
1. Political parties are not public authorities as they are not set up under
the Constitution or any law enacted by Parliament – they can’t be
treated as an institution or establishment.
2. If political parties come under the RTI it will affect their smooth
internal functioning.
3. Political rivals will start using RTI tool with malicious intent.
4. There are already provisions in the Income Tax Act, 1961, and
Representation of the People Act, 1951, which demand necessary
transparency regarding financial aspects of political parties. These
mechanisms ensure transparency in financial dealings of parties.
5. Information about a political body is already in the public domain on
the website of the Election Commission.
6. It will curb the complete independence and autonomy of political
parties as they will come under public scanner through RTI.
7. 255th Law Commission report has also tried to highlight the problems
that a democracy has to face because of unregulated funding in
elections.

Background:
1. A petition by the NGO had said that political parties should be
declared “public authorities” to bring them under the RTI Act.
2. The petition had also urged the court to ask political parties to declare
all donations, including those below Rs. 20,000.
3. The Supreme Court had issued notice to six national parties, including
the BJP and the Congress, asking them why they can’t come clean and
explain their hesitation to disclose complete details of their income,
expenditure, donations, funding, including donor details, to the public
under the RTI Act.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) had in June 2013 deemed national
parties to be ‘public authorities’ under the RTI Act, to whom the provisions of the
Act would now apply.

First Past the Post System in India. Pros and Cons.

Pros:

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1. Simple and understandable by the masses. Large section of
uneducated masses may not be able to understand or implement the
proportional representation system.
2. The principal criticism levelled against the FPTP system is that it leads
to the exclusion of small or regional parties from the Parliament. A 20-
30% vote in favour of a majoritarian candidate can lead to his or her
win.
3. For example, the Indian National Congress won only about 49.10% of
the total vote share in the 1984 General Elections to the Lok Sabha,
but had a sweeping majority of 405 out of 515 seats in the House.
4. This also means that slight changes in the vote share cause dramatic
changes in the number of parliamentary seats won, causing the Indian
electorate to be characterised as one that decisively swings in one
direction or the other.
5. Provides for stability in the government.The Supreme Court in RC
Poudyal v. Union of India 156 had categorised the FPTP system as
possessing ‘the merit of preponderance of decisiveness over
representativeness’. The FPTP system presents the advantage of
producing a majority government at a general election by being
decisive, simple and familiar to the electorate
6. Cons:
7. Lower stability. Because parties are granted seats in accordance with
their vote share, numerous parties get seats in the legislature in the
proportional representation system, without any party gaining a
majority. This detracts from the stability of the system.
8. Difficult to understand.
9. Results could be controversial as it involves election of multiple
candidates from same constituency.
10. Could lead to instability.
11. Encourages voting along the lines of ethnicity, religion, caste etc.

________________________________________

Removal of Governor
The Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, in 2010 emphasized that no Governor can be
removed on basis of being "out of sync with policies and ideologies of Union
Govt. at centre”.

This decision also states that governors can be removed, but there must be
"compelling" reasons for doing so. Principle of natural justice must be followed,
Governor must be given a chance to explain his position.

• B.P. Singhal v. Union of India → Removal of governor cannot be on
unreasonable grounds.
• The Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relations suggested :
• that a Governor should be someone eminent in some walk of life,
• one “not too intimately connected with the local politics of the State,” and

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• should not be one “who has taken too great a part in politics generally,
and particularly in the recent past.” It suggested that a politician from the
ruling party at the Centre should not be appointed Governor of a State run
by another party.

Punchhi Commission has also emphasized that a proper procedure of removal
and appointment of Governor should be laid down in the constitution itself.
Remove the “Pleasure Doctrine”.

What does the Constitution say?
• As per Article 155 and Article 156 of the Constitution, a Governor is
appointed on pleasure of the president.
• The Supreme Court’s interpretation
• B.P. Singhal v. Union of India. In this case, the newly elected central
government had removed the Governors of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat,
Haryana and Goa in July, 2004 after the 14th Lok Sabha election. When
these removals were challenged, the Supreme Court held:
• The President, in effect the central government, has the power to remove
a Governor at any time without giving him or her any reason, and without
granting an opportunity to be heard.
• However, this power cannot be exercised in an arbitrary, capricious or
unreasonable manner. The power of removing Governors should only be
exercised in rare and exceptional circumstances for valid and compelling
reasons.
• The mere reason that a Governor is at variance with the policies and
ideologies of the central government, or that the central government has
lost confidence in him or her, is not sufficient to remove a Governor.
Thus, a change in central government cannot be a ground for removal of
Governors, or to appoint more favourable persons to this post.
• A decision to remove a Governor can be challenged in a court of law. In
such cases, first the petitioner will have to make a prima facie case of
arbitrariness or bad faith on part of the central government. If a prima
facie case is established, the court can require the central government to
produce the materials on the basis of which the decision was made in
order to verify the presence of compelling reasons.

In summary, this means that the central government enjoys the power to remove
Governors of the different states, as long as it does not act arbitrarily, without
reason, or in bad faith.
Recommendations of Various Commissions
Three important commissions have examined this issue.
• The Sarkaria Commission (1988) recommended that Governors must
not be removed before completion of their five year tenure, except in rare
and compelling circumstances. This was meant to provide Governors
with a measure of security of tenure, so that they could carry out their
duties without fear or favour. If such rare and compelling circumstances
did exist, the Commission said that the procedure of removal must allow
the Governors an opportunity to explain their conduct, and the central
government must give fair consideration to such explanation. It was

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further recommended that Governors should be informed of the grounds
of their removal
• The Venkatachaliah Commission (2002) similarly recommended that
ordinarily Governors should be allowed to complete their five year term.
If they have to be removed before completion of their term, the central
government should do so only after consultation with the Chief Minister
• The Punchhi Commission (2010) suggested that the phrase “during the
pleasure of the President” should be deleted from the Constitution,
because a Governor should not be removed at the will of the central
government; instead he or she should be removed only by a resolution of
the state legislature.

Electoral Reforms

Attempts to dilute provisions to favour legislators:
• Lilly Thomas Case -- amendment to RPA by Parliament to annul the Lilly
Thomas Verdict. [lilly thomas case → immediate disqualification for
legislators who are convicted of a crime with punishment of more than 2
years in jail]
• Dilution of Office of Profit Clause has also been observed in multiple cases
where persons holding important political position and office of profit
simultaneously are exempted from disqualification by passing a law that
specifically protects them from disqualification.
• Article 102(1)(a) of Constitution says that a person holding Office of
Profit will be disqualified unless explicitly exempted by a law made by
Parliament or State Legislature.
• Recently the Delhi Legislature passed a law, subsequently disallowed by
President, that said that Parliamentary Secretaries do not hold Office of
Profit.

Constitutional Provisions:
Article 327 and 328 of the Constitution confers the power on parliament and
state legislature (where laws made by Parliament are not there or inadequate)
respectively to make rules/regulations for election to Parliament/State
Legislature.

Under the Constitution, Article 102 and 191 provides for grounds of
disqualification of MP and MLA respectively. These grounds are
o Mental unsoundness
o Being an undischarged insolvent
o Citizenship under doubt
o If he/she holds an office of profit
o Parliament can make additional laws for disqualification which it
has done through Representation of People’s Act, 1951
• If person is convicted for an offence for 2 years or more, the person will
be disqualified for the term of sentence plus 6 years.

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• If found guilty of corrupt practices
• Dismissed for corruption
• Disqualified for a contract entered into with government related matters
• A person remains disqualified as long as he managing agent, manager or
secretary of any government company or corporation
• If fails to lodge expense accounts of elections

Supreme Court
• The SC in Lily Thomas case 2013, reversing one of its own judgment of
2005 where it accepted differential treatment of legislators and
candidates, invalidated Section 8(4) on the grounds that :
• Differential treatment of legislators and candidates violates the Right to
Equality as envisaged under Article 14
• In Association for Democratic Reforms, 2002 case, the Supreme Court
made it mandatory for candidates to provide a comprehensive list of
information at the time of filing nomination. In Ramesh Dalal v/s UoI
2005 case, the Supreme Court held that any person facing criminal charge
at the time of filing nomination shall not be allowed to contest election.
• In 2015, Supreme Court held that even after a Returning Officer has
declared the result, the election can be nullified if candidate has not
disclosed criminal records
• The Court has also tried to make the election process more transparent
and fair by upholding NOTA in PUCL vs UoI 2013 case, directed all courts
to fast track the judicial process in cases involving convicted legislators in
PIL Foundation v/s UoI case 2014
Criminalization of politics: Money Power also →

criminalization
Criminalization of politics is a huge issue that needs to be resolved and any effort
to dilute the already existing measures of disqualification is met with huge public
outcry signifying the strength of our democracy.

The Election Commission is also concerned with the issue and has taken the
following steps/ suggested measures to deal with this issue. It has suggested
following reforms:
• Introduction of Two Ballot Electoral System to replace the current FPTP
system
• Right to Reject for voters
• Suggested that all people who have been convicted by an enquiry
committee shall not be allowed to contest elections till acquitted in a
court of law
• People convicted for serious offence (>5 years) shall not be allowed to
contest elections if charges are framed by a judicial magistrate
• Increasing the duration of conviction under Article 125(4) of RPA 1951
for providing wrong information, from 6 months to 2 years for the
disqualification provision under RPA 1951 to take effect

Marks in GS: 449
• In 1998, ECI directed all ROs to pay heed to the 1997 judgment of SC.

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Why is Judicial independence central to democracy?

Judiciary central to democracy
• Protector and guardian: Judiciary is the protector of the constitution and
guardian of fundamental rights of citizens.
o It is the first line of defence for aggrieved citizens. Citizens can
appeal to the judiciary in case of violation of their fundamental
rights and any illegal actions against them.
• Judicial Review: Judiciary ensures that legislations passed by the
Parliament do not infringe upon the basic structure of the constitution
and against its overall principles.
• Writs: Judiciary ensures that the executive and public offices carry out
their duties to the citizens as envisaged.
• Check and Balances: Judiciary keeps a check on the arbitrary exercise of
power by executive and legislature and thus an independent judiciary is
critical to stability of democracy in India.

The Collegium system has been criticized because:
• Collegium is an extra constitutional authority. Ambedkar held that a fine
balance is to be maintained between the two organs of the government.
Appointment of an judges should be an integrated, participatory process,
which is not the case with collegium system
• The collegium system has been held as non transparent and has been
called an island of insularity
• Posts in higher judiciary remained vacant. 30% of HC judges seat was
empty
• Deep divisions were observed within the collegiums system
• The system of extending favours because of lack of transparency and
accountability led to decline in the quality of justice dispensation. It
promoted dynasties in judiciary, often called “Uncle Judges” syndrome.

Problems with NJAC:
• The judiciary was underrepresented in NJAC with only 3 out of 6
members.
• Presence of Law Minister in the body raised the question of fairness as
UoI is th largest litigant before the judiciary
• Politicization of judiciary as had happened prior and post emergency was
a valid threat
• The court while quashing 99th CAA as unconstitutional held that
• Judiciary can not be caught in a "web of indebtedness" towards the
government
o Independence of judiciary is equivalent to judicial primacy and
process of appointment of judges can not be shared with political
executive

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o Organic development of civil society in India has not yet happened.
Thus the burden falls on judiciary to safeguard the rights of the
citizen and for this judiciary needs to be kept completely insulated
from the other organs if government
o Bench held that the tendency of executive has been to indulge in
favoritism. Preserving the primacy of judiciary is a safe way of
protecting it from turning into a case of spoils system
• Bench admitted that all is not well with collegium and highlighted that the
system requires a glasnost and a perstroika.

Thus a Memorandum of Procedure needs to be developed which is transparent,
mentions the eligibility criteria, establishes secretariat, provides for a complaint
redressal mechanism. We can also imbibe the best practices from other countries
such as UK Judicial Appointment Commission which provides for detailed
procedure, involvement of people, provides for an exam and interview system
for judicial appointments.

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Political Institutions in India

Importance of political institutions for economic growth with special reference
to India.
1. Lok Sabha
2. Rajya Sabha
3. Judiciary

The Houses pass various legislations that have a direct impact on economic
growth. For example: (1) Land Acquisition Bill (2) GST (3) Bankruptcy Code (4)
Forest Rights Act (5) Debt issuance by the government (6) Ratification of FDI
norms that affect economy as well

Judiciary: (1) Ensures that laws are adhered to with its enforcement powers (2)
Enables stability in the country (3) Redresses disputes, conflicts and economic
justice related questions for tribals, consumers, and so on.

Increasing Tribunalisation in India.

The tribunals were established with the object of providing a speedy, cheap and
decentralised determination of disputes arising out of the various welfare
legislations.


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Another important reason for the new development was that while the courts
were accustomed to dealing with cases primarily according to law, the exigencies
of modern administration requires the adjudication of disputes not necessarily
on the basis of technical questions of law, but also after considering the policy
intentions and the public interest.

Besides, tribunals were also seen as bodies manned by experts who could
professionally and fairly deal with the issues which though challengeable in
courts of law, yet required technical expertise. The Railway Claims Tribunal,
CESTAT ITAT, Labour Tribunals, the Companies Tribunal, various Compensation
Tribunals, Revenue Courts of various States, etc., can be cited as examples of
such tribunals.

However, increasing tribunalisation which refers to the perception of usurping
of certain judicial powers from courts by tribunal, arises from the over
interpretation of Article 50 of Indian constitution which deals with separation of
judiciary from executive.

It points out that State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the
executive in the public services of the State.

Some instances of Tribunalisation:

• The first tribunal was set up in India 25 years ago to take the load off high
courts. At last count, there are 93 specialised tribunals in India, the latest
one being , 61-member Companies Appellate Tribunal.
• The Court in Chandra Kumar vs UOI Case (1997) suggested that the
tribunals should enjoy the same constitutional protections as the Courts(
HC and SC). This meant that when the jurisdiction is being transferred
from a court to a tribunal, the members of this tribunal should hold a
rank, status and capacity which is as close to those of the judges in a court
as possible.
• Finding retired judges and competent candidates with qualifications set
out by Parliament, to be members of quasi-judicial tribunals has been a
difficult task.
• Tribunals are under the direct administrative control of ministries within
the government which administer their day to day functioning and
appointments and hence are likely to be influenced by the government's
opinion ,thus interfering with the justice delivery.

The recent Supreme Court judgment which struck down the National Tax
Tribunals (NTT) also clearly spelt out the parameters to test the constitutionality
of tribunals.

Recently, the Department of Legal Affairs in the Law Ministry had recently
proposed the idea for “possibility of merging the functions of tribunals with

Marks in GS: 449
some other tribunals” to avoid “overlapping/identical functions” being
discharged by them.

However, not all tribunals are insulated to mainstream judiciary like Rent
Control Tribunals, Motor Vehicles Tribunals, Labour Tribunals etc are part of the
judiciary and are working better than the independent tribunals. Thus, despite
so many concerns, tribunals have been pivotal and effective in addressing
disputes in past.

Women in Local Governance:

While the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments provided for representation
to women in local governance, much work remains to be done to ensure their
true participation, given their present socio-economic conditions. Comment.

→ MEENA BEHEN, first woman sarpanch from a village in Gujarat built road to
enable accessibility for women during pregnancy.

• Practice of Sarpanchpati sidelining women in their political leadership
roles.
• Women have to perform domestic tasks despite their active life in
panchayats and local leadership which puts additional burden on them.
• Women face patriarchal attitude of considering their suggestions and
ideas as inferior to those of men.
• Effective devolution is so uneven and inadequate that oftentimes, even
the ablest women are crippled for want of the rightful allocation of
functions, finances and functionaries without which effective PR is
rendered impossible.

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Relevance of Rajya Sabha

Equality of Seats in Rajya Sabha
• Need:
o Firstly, states that need urgent developmental effort and
institutional reforms from the centre have the least voice due to
their small proportion in RS. For example, North Eastern States are
regularly at the backbench of much work in the Rajya Sabha.
• Nine States in India have just one member each in the Rajya Sabha.
• Just ten populous States occupy nearly 70% of the total elected
membership of the Upper House.

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• Some smaller States have expressed resentment at their inability to make
their voice felt at the Centre.
o The number of seats in the Lok Sabha anyway is directly linked to
the population and there is no need to duplicate the principle.
o Large states with many Rajya Sabha seats can use it to politically
influence the outcome of many important bills for their own vested
interests.
o Debates in RS have become one sided in favour of large states.
o Equality of seats will truly allow us to meet the goals of
cooperative federalism.
• Drawbacks:
o This could also lead to a situation where smaller states could block
reform even if it’s for benefit of the larger populations in big states.
________________________________________

President’s Rule
Article 356 of the constitution enables Centre to impose President’s rule in States
due to failure of constitutional machinery in the states. This matter was hotly
debated in the Constituent Assembly debates as many members felt that this
could lead to instability in the Indian federal system and cause irreparable harm
to the functioning of State governments.

Unfortunately, India saw an unchecked and arbitrary use of this power by the
Centre in the 1960s, 70s and 80s as any government change in the State led to
declaration of President’s Rule by the Centre.

Eventually, it was the Supreme Court in SR Bommai Case in 1993 that laid down
guidelines under which it could be imposed.

Need of President’s Rule:
o India is a young polity with diversity of languages, ethnicities, religions
and regional practices. Unity of the nation is of supreme importance and
hence, this provision allows centre to check any usurpation of power or
unconstitutional actions by the States.
o It can be used in order to ensure that constitutional machinery is working
as per the provisions of the constitution in States.

________________________________________

Marks in GS: 449

Panchayati Raj [also the new Gram Swarajya Mission]

Gandhiji’s vision of making every village a Republic was translated into reality.
With the passage of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act in 1992, Panchayati
Raj institutions were given constitutional status, and a three-tier Panchayati Raj
system was formed to ensure people’s participation in rural development. With
496 Panchayats at district level, 5,905 at block level and 2,30,762 at village level,
India is today world’s largest functioning democracy.

However, PRIs face a host of challenges:
1. Unscientific distribution of Functions
2. Incompatible relations between the three tiers
3. Inadequate finances
4. Lack of cordial relations between officials and people
5. Lack of conceptual clarity
6. Undemocratic composition of PRIs
7. Political and caste factionalism
8. Problems faced by PESA in scheduled areas

PESA and its challenges

Panchayati Extension to Scheduled Areas was envisioned to enable local self-
governance in various tribal scheduled areas. However, this act faces many
challenges both at institutional and ground level:
o State’s Reluctance to Implement and Adopt PESA: While all 9 states have
notified the act, there are ambiguities in their own rules framed about it.
This is hindering its quick adoption in their scheduled areas.
o Administrative and bureaucratic reluctance
o Power struggle between tribal communities and bureaucracy
o Transfer of fund, functions and functionaries to the lower level
government has not taken place after devolving statutory powers to the
Gram Sabha and Panchayats.
o Clear rules have not been laid out with respect to management of minor
forest products and land, thereby making it more ambiguous to
implement PESA. This is impacting traditional and environmental rights
of tribals.
o Tribals in these areas already have settled customs to address their
governance problems. In some cases, they are not very open to adopting a
new panchayati system.

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o Financial autonomy is merely on paper and Governor’s mandatory report
are not prepared.

PESA is a most powerful legislation which can play an instrumental role in
recognizing the rights of the tribal population in Scheduled areas over natural
resources thus transforming their quality of life. It is almost true that due to lack
of political will, their rights have been disregarded strategically.

Though central government has taken several measures to implement the Act in
letter and spirit, lack of initiative from concerned state government is quite
evident. Central government should take appropriate action to eliminate the
loopholes in the central legislation immediately followed by a strong direction
from political government to abide by the constitutional mandate. State
government should follow the guideline issued by the central government to
incorporate changes in the state Acts proposed by state level study reports, take
appropriate measures to amend state laws which are in conflict with the
provisions of PESA, take initiatives to enhance the capacity of government
machinery and stakeholders who play vital role in actual implementation of the
Act at the ground level.

Civil Society Organizations who have been fighting proactively for the issue has
to play strategic role in building awareness among the stakeholders at each level
and organizing the politically divided tribal communities. So, a multi-pronged
strategy to address the issue from different aspect is the need of the hour.

The Forest Rights Act (2006) and the Panchayats (Extension to

Scheduled Areas) Act (1996)
They have established a framework for local self-governance in demarcated (or
“scheduled”) areas, yet their full implementation is fraught with many
challenges.

Indigenous tribes constitute about 8% of India’s population and Forest Rights
Act and PESA both go a long way in ensuring constitutional protection and
empowering these people.

Virginius Xaxa committee has painted a bleak picture of the status of tribals.

Forest Rights Act recognize the right of tribal communities over trading in forest
produce. The problems in implementation of the provisions of the Act are as
follows:
o Ministry of Environment and Forests had changed the law to throw open
up to 40% of the country’s forests to private sector management.
Allowing the private sector to use these lands for monoculture could have
a ruinous impact on the ecosystem. In these areas the tribal communities
have control over only 10-15% of the forest land

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o In Maharashtra, the control over forest resources has been appropriated
by the forest department granting them control over lucrative trade
running in crores of rupees over tendu leaves and bamboo.
o absence of land record, low literacy, corruption and collusion between
elite and officer derail the process
o Slow implementation ( MP only 23% land yet distributed after 10 years)
cumbersome process adds to woes
o State override FRA clause under development pretext without adequate
compensation and rehabilitation

Amendment of state laws in accordance with two laws. Empowering Gram
sabha(financially, training, providing information). Recruiting more officers from
the community. Governor report should be prepared on time. Fast track court to
solve land grabbing issue. Participation of civil society and activist judiciary
further add teeth to the twin laws which epitomize real swaraj as envisioned by
Gandhiji.

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Separation of Powers
The three organs of the government which we know as the executive, the
judiciary and legislature represent the people and their will in our country and
are responsible for the smooth running of a democratic government in our
society. The legislature is the law-making body, the executive is responsible for
the enforcement of all such laws and the judiciary deals with the cases that arise
from a breach of law. Thus they are all interlinked organs of the government and
their roles and functions tend to overlap with each other, as it isn’t possible to
separate the three from each other completely.

This has been the cause for not only serious political debate in our country but
has raised many philosophical and jurisprudential debates among legal scholars
and the law fraternity. Whether there should be a complete separation of powers
or a well co-ordinated system of distribution of powers thus becomes the focal
point of contemplation.

Features:
o Directive Principle of State Policies: Article 50 requires State to keep the
judiciary and executive separate

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o Judiciary is independent and its judgments, conduct of judges and matters
cannot be discussed in the Parliament by the legislature
o Power of judicial review
o Power of impeachment of the judges is again a check on the judicial
powers
o Powers, privileges and immunities to members of parliament
o Immunities from judicial scrutiny in the functioning of the houses
o Power of the legislature to impeach the President, the executive head.

Not strict separation of powers:
• Executive is part of the legislature itself
o It is responsible to the legislature
• Westminster type of parliamentary government requires close
coordination of Indian executive and the legislature
• The President has to act as per the directives of the council of ministers as
per the Article 74

Supreme Court Kesavanand Bharati Case is an important case in this regard as it
says that while the parliament has the power to amend the constitution under
Article 368, it cannot change the “basic features” of the constitution. These basic
features entail limit on amending power of the legislature in terms of separation
of powers as well.

In Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain, the SC upheld that adjudication is a judicial
function and cannot be exercised by the parliament even under amending power.

Dispute Redressal Mechanisms and Institutions

• Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
o National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)
• Free legal services to weaker sections
o To organize Lok Adalats
o State Legal Authorities have been set up under the act to provide
legal services to weaker sections and constitute Lok Adalats
o These are headed by respective HC Chief Justices
o At district level, District Legal Services Authority has been set up
as well. Chaired by respective district judges. Taluk level also
o Relevant articles are: Article 39-A, 14, and 22(1)
o Persons covered under NALSA for legal aid:
o SC/ST
o Woman or child
o Victim of trafficking or begar
o Mentally ill or disabled person

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o Victim of mass disaster, genocide, violence (ethnic), caste atrocity,
drought, earthquake, industrial disaster
o An industrial workman
o In Custody or in Juvenile home
o Pychriatic (Mental health act)
o Annual Income <Rs. 1 lakh
o Services can be availed from:
o Supreme Court Legal Services Committee
o State Legal Services Authority
o High Court Legal Services Committee
o District legal Services authority
• Lok Adalats:
o Lok Adalats are statutory forum for conciliatory settlement of legal
disputes.
o Diputes pending in any court of law or at pre-litigation stage can
be settled here.
o It has been given status of a civil court and also marriage disputes,
land disputes, partition/property disputes, labour disputes and
also “compoundable criminal” cases.
o First held in Gujarat in 1982.
o Its awards are enforceable, binding, and final as no appeal lies
before any court against them.
o Held by District authority, State authority, High court legal services
committee, Supreme Court Legal services committee, Taluk legal
services committee.
o Presided over by retired judges, social activists, or members of the
legal profession.
o Permanent and Continuous Lok Adalats are being established in all
the Districts in the country.
• NALSA has been providing and shall continue to provide funds to State
Legal Services Authorities for the implementation of the Legal Aid
Schemes and Programmes but the infrastructure has to be provided by
the State Govts.
• Separate Permanent and Continuous Lok Adalats in Govt. Departments
are aimed at amicably settling pending cases as well as the matters at pre-
litigative stage between Govt. Departments and general public so that the
inflow of litigation to regular Courts is reduced.
• In so many Govt. bodies these Lok Adalats have become functional. In
Delhi Permanent Lok Adalats have been established in Delhi Vidyut
Board, Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corpn. Of Delhi, MTNL
and General Insurance Corpn.
• These Lok Adalats are becoming popular day-by-day and it is expected
that very soon a large number of disputes between public and statutory
authorities would start getting settled at pre-litigative stage itself saving
the parties from unnecessary expense and litigational inconvenience.

Gram Nyaylayas
o Established by Gram Nyaylayas Act 2008

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o Each GN is a court of judicial magistrate of the first class and its presiding
officer (Nyayadhikari) is appointed by the State government in
consultation with High court.
o Established for EVERY panchayat at the intermediate level or a group of
contiguous panchayats at the intermediate level
o The judges are strictly judicial officers.
o They all draw the same salary and derive the same powers as First class
magistrates working under High courts.
o It is a mobile court and exercises powers of both criminal and civil courts
as well.

Judicial Review in India

The power of judicial review has been modeled on the lines of American
constitution in India. Parliament is not supreme in India, but the constitution is.
Hence, the Supreme court has the power to preserve the constitution through
the power of judicial review.

The power to declare any law void is provided explicitly by Article 13 of the
constitution. Additionally, article 32 also enables this provision by declaring
Supreme Court as the protector of the constitution.

The Supreme court of India has declared judicial review as one of the basic
features of the Indian constitution. This was declared so by the Maneka Gandhi v
Union of India in 1978 when the court ruled that any fundamental rights and
laws of the Parliament are subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court.

Why judicial review is important?
Firstly, judicial review enables a citizen to seek remedies from the court in case
he or she has been wronged by any unjust legislation.


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Secondly, judicial review provides a check and balance to the powers of the
Parliament to legislate indiscriminately. This is supported by the Maneka Gandhi
ruling in which the Supreme Court has clearly opined that a law cannot only be
procedurally fair but it must also be naturally fair.

Thirdly, judicial review ensures that the most pertinent social, environmental,
economic, political and ethical issues are not ignored by the legislature and duly
and fairly addresses.

Lastly, it helps preserve the constitution and the ideals of equality, liberty and
fraternity.

Problems:
1. Judicial review provides almost unchecked power to the judiciary to
strike down anything it pleases. This can create power struggle
between judiciary and the executive.
2. Judicial review can increase the instances of court cases, thereby
burdening judiciary.
3. Judicial review can also be misused to strike down desirable laws.

Center-State Investment Agreement [CSIA] – federalism
Features:
1. An enterprise-based definition of investment
2. Non-discriminatory treatment
3. Protection against expropriation
4. An Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provision requiring
investors to exhaust local remedies before commencing international
arbitration, and limiting the power of tribunals to awarding of
monetary compensation.
5. The Centre will not make it mandatory for states to sign these
agreements but if any don’t, Center will inform counter-parties (other
nations) and that foreign companies should keep that in mind before
investing

Benefits:
1. Effective implementation of International Bilateral Investment Treaty
[BIT]
2. Enhance Ease of Doing Business
3. States that sign this agreement are likely to see greater FDI interest as
they will be seen as friendlier investment destinations
4. Investment will grow as states will be required to stick to their
commitments
5. Enhances the Cooperative Federalism by involving states

Problems:
• Challenges with respect to upholding such agreement in international
courts in case of disputes
• Questions raised on agreements for World Trade Organizations Pacts and
others pacts to be required similar treatment as well

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• Could affect Cooperative federalism as the State governments will not like
the shifting of the blame for violation of a BIT from New Delhi to State
capitals.
o Also, the State governments will also not like the Centre informing
India’s BIT partner country that a particular State government
has not signed the agreement and thus, by implication, is not a safe
destination for foreign investment.

BIT [Bilateral Investment Treaty]

Agreement entered by two countries regarding promotion and protection of
investments made by investors of these two countries in each others’ territories.

NEET -- National Level, Common Test
• Relevance of a national level common test that covers all institutions --
government and private, aided and unaided and run by minorities
• Supreme Court has noted that an admission process should meet triple
test:
o FAIR, TRANSPARENT AND NON-EXPLOITATIVE
• It curbs the commercialization of medical profession
• It may also provide a national pool of eligible students from which
government and other institutions could choose students in the order of
merit on the basis of their reservation scheme or any other extant policy.
• Problems:
• However, the courts cannot be impervious to the other side. Aspirants
belong to different States, speak different languages and come from
diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
• Any common system that is introduced must be practical and feasible. It
should not be hastily thrust on unwilling or unprepared sections of
society without due deliberation.

________________________________________


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National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission —
importance, recent issues, organization

Post 1991 libéralisation, the Indian society has witnessed a dramatic rise in
consumer oriented products. This has led to increasing disputes between
consumer and seller as well. For example, increasing home purchase in urban
centers have led to rise in disputes between builders and flat owners.

In this context, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission [NCDRC] has
become an increasingly important institution to resolve these consumer
redressals, empower them and help the economy function in a smooth manner.

NCDRC empowers the customers in following ways:
• Three tier structure helps in quick and fair resolution of disputes at
district, state and national level.
• Quasi-Judicial nature of the commission helps in both investigation,
judgment as well as creating rules to empower consumers.
• Ensures that rights of consumers are protected, and better trade practices
are promoted.

Government has passed the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 to oversee the
commission. It has also taken various efforts such as “Grahak Jago” campaign to
spread awareness among consumers.
Recommendations:
• Partnership with industry associations to promote better seller behaviour
with buyers.
• Single window Online portal to register complaints and get resolution.
• Coordination with regulatory bodies such as FSSAI to bring consumer
interest matters under one forum.

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Model Code of Conduct

Indian elections are not just a process of electing our representatives, but also a
sacred ritual of democracy and a nation-wide celebration. However, elections
have also presented challenges due to misuse of government resources by ruling
parties, money power, muscle power, and so on.

In this respect, the Election Commission has laid down a set of moral, ethical and
practical set of guidelines (known as MCC) to be followed by all political parties.

The benefits of MCC are:
• Provides level playing field between political parties not in power and
political parties in power.
• Ensures that party in power does not misuse public assets such as cars,
funds, officials, media etc. to its own benefit during elections.

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• Helps in reducing controversies during elections so that people’s focus
remains on core issues such as poverty, education, infrastructure etc.

Shortcomings:
It is not legally enforceable, and is only a moral agreement between parties.
Hence, it can be easily violated without consequences.

Recommendations:
A further step to make some of the provisions of MCC legally enforceable. For
example, in France and USA, it is mandatory for political parties to not use any
public funds or resources, otherwise they face disqualification from elections.

Despite its shortcomings, MCC remains an important tool and above all it is an
ethical benchmark that promotes the vision of our constitution and democracy.
________________________________________

Rail Budget Scrapping

Indian railways is not just a means of transportation but also a thread that
connects the entire nation through exchange of ideas, people, culture, art, and
goods. It plays a critical role in Indian economy, polity and society.
Unfortunately, railways has faced many financial and infrastructural challenges
in the last two decades.

One major reform recommended by the Bibek Roy Committee (and recently
accepted by the government) is about scrapping of rail budget altogether.

Various merits of this step are as follows:
• Railway budget has been a means of promoting populist measures such as
announcing new trains in constituencies of respective railway ministers
and so on.
• It has not focused on addressing structural requirements of railways.
Scrapping it will democratize railways and promote a more agile and
efficient railways.
• Scrapping it promotes the vision of “maximum governance”
• It has lost its efficacy since 1924, when it was a large portion of
government expenses. Today, it is smaller than even the defence budget.

Demerits:
• Mere economic fixes are not enough for railways. Focus needs to be on
leadership, management, cultural changes in organization etc.
• Since railway budget is merged with general budget, it further could take
away attention from reforms in railways.

Way forward
The future of railways lies in developing its manpower through capacity
development, introducing more freight lines to decongest the railway traffic and

Marks in GS: 449
also providing better amenities and attractive fares to people. This can be
achieved through incremental reforms (as suggested by Economic Survey 2014).

________________________________________

Censorship
India is home to multitude of views, literature, and a thriving news media and
movie industry. Issue regarding the role of Central Board of Film Certification
and censorship has emerged recently. It encapsulates issues regarding both
constitutional rights as well as creativity rights of individuals in the nation.

This emergence of issue on “excessive” censorship by CBFC owes its origin to
changing societal values. The new generation has a different set of values with
respect to marriage, relationships, openness in public and so on.

For example, the cutting of drug scenes from the movie Udta Punjab has been
considered against Freedom of Speech and Expression as per Article 19 by many.
On the other hand, many consider it as government’s duty to block any speech
that is against the overall welfare of the society.

Merits of Censorship:
1. Various destabilizing forces can be controlled and prevented in
creating chaos in society.
2. Ensures that sensitive material about religion is not used to create
violence.

Demerits of censorship:
1. Stifles free speech and expression
2. Takes away the right from individuals to judge opinions on basis of
their own faculties
3. Impacts creativity and innovation in society

Clearly, the above demerits of censorship outweigh its merits and suggest that
censorship should be minimized altogether. For example, the banning of Taslima
Nasreen’s book in Bangladesh has effectively suppressed the voice of women’s
rights in the country. Similarly, many Indian artists have complained of facing
harassment during film certification procedures, thereby discouraging them.

Way Forward

Marks in GS: 449
1. As recommended by the Shyam Benegal Committee on film
certification the mandate of CBFC should be to “certify” films and not
censor or cut them.
2. CBFC should simply recommend certifications such as “adult”,
“suitable for all” etc. and only recommend extreme cases to higher
level committees.

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Road Safety in India

India is a road safety disaster of inhuman proportions. An official report released
by Union Road Transport and Highway Ministry said that 1.46 lakh people lost
their lives in road accidents in India in 2015. This is second highest number in
the world.

The road transport sector plays a major role in the economy of the country and
bears 75 per cent of the total load of passenger and freight transportation. Its
share in the country’s GDP is close to 4.5 per cent. Hence, immediate need for
road safety rules is there.

GoM Recommendations
1. Recommended formation of a National Road Safety and Traffic
Management Board which will advice the government on road safety
standards and guidelines.
2. Engineering defects in roads should be addressed.
3. Need to strengthen the rural transport system for which Centre will
roll out a scheme.
4. The Central government would provide 50 per cent funding (rest from
states) to introduce new transport vehicles in luxury and semi-luxury
categories.
5. To improve transport utilities, exempting STU (state transport
undertaking) buses from taxes and deregulating the luxury segment to
shift people from personal to public transport.
6. To address the issues of hill states separately.
7. It also sought to raise accident insurance cover along with covering of
property loss in the insurance.
8. To improve mechanism for helping accident victims and trauma care
facilities by launching a comprehensive scheme.
9. To liberalise intra-city taxi permits and other automobile aggregation
policies like improving parking facilities for the taxis including other
public transport vehicles.

Marks in GS: 449
10. Steps to promote low-cost last mile connectivity solutions and a
barrier-free movement of the freight transport across the states.

Significance of Road Safety
As a signatory to Brasilia Declaration on road safety, India is committed to
reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities by 50 per cent by 2020

Good Samaritan Guidelines in SaveLIFE Foundation PIL
• The Good Samaritan will be treated respectfully and without any
discrimination on the grounds of gender, religion, nationality and caste.
• Any individual, except an eyewitness, who calls the police to inform them
of an accidental injury or death need not reveal his or her personal details
such as full name, address or phone number.
• The police will not compel the Good Samaritan to disclose his or her
name, identity, address and other such details in the police record form or
log register.
• The police will not force any Good Samaritan in procuring information or
anything else.
• The police will allow the Good Samaritan to leave after having provided
the information available to him or her, and no further questions will be
asked of him or her if he or she does not desire to be a witness.

Even when Good Samaritans agree to become witnesses, the guidelines accord
them protection and comfort. They ensure that:
• If a Good Samaritan chooses to be a witness, she will be examined with
utmost care and respect.
• The examination will be conducted at a time and place of the Good
Samaritan’s convenience and the investigation officer will be dressed in
plain clothes.
• If the Good Samaritan is required by the investigation officer to visit the
police station, the reasons for the requirement shall be recorded by the
officer in writing.
• In a police station, the Good Samaritan will be examined in a single
examination in a reasonable and time-bound manner, without causing
any undue delay.
• If a Good Samaritan declares himself to be an eyewitness, she will be
allowed to give her evidence in the form of an affidavit.

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Marks in GS: 449

Defamation as Criminal offense — Supreme Court declares it

to remain so.
• “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to death
your right to say it” — Evelyn Beatrice
• Free speech and expression forms the very foundation of any liberal,
progressive democracy. The provision of Article 19(1) in the constitution
highlights the wisdom and foresight of our constitution makers in regards
to the concern of free speech. However, the presence of a draconian
provision of IPC (section 499) has led to much uneasiness in the society
regarding ability to speak, dissent and disagree without fear of criminal
charges.
• The recent Supreme court judgment that upheld the criminal nature of
defamation opens pandora’s box in this debate.
o The court has upheld the Sections 499/500 and 199(2) of the IPC.
o Why important?
§ Freedom of Speech and Expression: The status of
defamation as a criminal offense as per section 499 and 500
of the IPC leads to suppression of freedom of speech and
expression guaranteed by Article 19 of the constitution.
§ Speech and Expression are the very fundamentals of a
liberal democracy and without these, rights cannot be
achieved in whole.
§ Self-Censorship is also a regressive outcome of these
sections as individuals are afraid of pursuing free speech
without fear of criminal prosecution.
§ Misused by Large corporates and powerful individuals
§ Due to high legal costs and complex legal mechanisms
involved, it is frequently used by powerful individuals and
organizations to stifle dissent, disagreement and sometimes
even open reporting against them.
§ Historical Burden

Marks in GS: 449
• Section 499 and 500 of Lord Macaulay’s Indian Penal
Code of 1860, therefore, continue to stand in India.
— prescribe 2 years’ punishment in case of
defamation.
o Outlawed Elsewhere: No other modern
democracy prescribes defamation as a
criminal offense anymore.
o Already outlawed in most of the progressive
democracies in the West, as well as countries
like Sri Lanka.
o Judicial Pronouncement:
§ Supreme court upholds defamation as criminal offence
§ The court said that “mutual respect is the fulcrum of
fraternity that assures dignity. It does not mean that there
cannot be dissent”
§ Article 21: The court said that “Right to Reputation” is also
a constituent of Article 21.
§ Free Speech not absolute: Supreme Court has said that free
speech cannot be used by media to injure an individual’s
reputation. It noted that free speech is a “highly valued and
cherished right”
§ It has said that while free press is heart and soul of political
intercourse and is a public educator, an individual’s
reputation is precious and cannot be maligned by the
media.Role of Media as a “Public Educator”: It called for
media to act like a “public educator” and make formal and
non-formal education possible at a large scale, particularly
in a developing country like India.
§ Hence, press must observe “reasonable restrictions” and
play its role of “advancing public interest by publishing
facts and opinions without which a democratic electorate
cannot make responsible judgements”
§ The court provided two different strokes on the issue of
free speech.
o In the first, it regards the “freedom of speech and expression as the
first condition of liberty”.
o While, in the other, it reins this liberty by cautioning that free
speech is “not an absolute value under our constitution”
o It also says that voice of dissent or disagreement has to be
regarded and respected and not to be scuttled as “unpalatable
criticism”.
o The advocates of making free speech absolute by removing
criminal aspect of defamation argued that this makes free speech
difficult and suppresses it effectively due to the threat of
prosecution. It said that criminal defamation has a chilling effect
on press.
o The Supreme Court also called defamation as a “crime against the
society, and not just an individual”


Marks in GS: 449

Public Officials and the Validity of Section 199(2) of Cr. PC upheld

§ Section 199(2) allows public servants to file a complaint in sessions court
through a public prosecutor for alleged defamatory comments on their
officials act.
§ The Supreme Court upheld this section by calling the public servants as a
“different class” on a different footing.
§ The court rejected the argument that it creates a separate class and
rejected that differential treatment is granted to the servants.
§ Court noted that public functions stand on a different footing. The
provision gives them protection for their official acts and there cannot be
defamatory attacks on them for discharge of their public duties and
functions. In that sense, the public servant constitute a different class.
§ Recommendations:
o The Supreme court could have considered some changes that
balanced the criminal aspect of defamation with the right to
reputation of an individual.
o Legislative route is open to change the sections and bring
meaningful provisions in the IPC regarding sections 499 and 500
as well.
o Civil Society must create more awareness about the issue through
various media channels such as TV, newspapers, conferences, and
highlight the regressive nature of this section to all stakeholders
including the judiciary, legislature, police and the society as a
whole.

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Marks in GS: 449

Sedition (IPC Section 124A)

Gandhiji described sedition as the prince of Indian penal code. It was used freely
against our freedom fighters in attempt to muzzle their anti-colonial writings,
speeches and voices. No fundamental right in our constitution is absolute.
Freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) can be
reasonably restricted on the grounds specified in Article 19(2).

It is notable that during constituent assembly debates, our founding fathers
deleted “sedition” as permissible ground of restriction under Article 19(2) on
freedom of speech. However, it remains as a criminal offence under IPC section
124A and provides for inter alia sentence of life imprisonment and fine upon
conviction.

In Kedarnath v. State of Bihar, the Supreme court opined that vigorous words
in writing and very strong criticism of measures of government or acts of public
officials would be outside the scope of Section 124A.

Recent invokements of Sedition law: Amnesty International and Divya Spandana
(Pakistan is no hell)

Stringent fines who invoke Section 124A casually for any small case, including on
lawyers.

Need for sedition law:
§ Ours is still an evolving democracy with multitudes of ethnic, linguistic
and communal problems faced regularly by us. In this sense, sedition is
necessary to curtail speeches that can lead to public violence and
disorder.

Case against sedition law:
1. It effectively silences many authors and thinkers to present honest
critiques about the government.
2. It insulates government from healthy discussion, criticism and
feedback from the citizens.
3. It creates fear among people on presenting their view.
4. It renders the constitution right of speech and expression powerless.
(Article 19)
5. It raises questions on moral duties of the State to protect citizens
instead of silencing them.

Marks in GS: 449
6. It is against India’s commitment to enhancing human rights (which
includes freedom of speech and expression) in international forums
such as the UN Human Rights Commission.

Domestic Violence
National Family and Health Survey has estimated that there is a 33% chance of
women in age group 15-49 of facing domestic violence of some sort. This is a
worrying figure, and steps need to be taken urgently to ensure welfare and
security of women in their own homes.

Steps by government:
The Parliament has enacted several laws to protect the women from domestic
violence at the hands of husband or his relatives.
1. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
2. In 1983, it introduced s.498-A in the IPC
3. Domestic Violence Act, 2005 Issue

These have been hailed as landmark legislation giving voice to the silent
sufferers.

Misuse:
§ In various cases relatives of husband are wrongly implicated who then
have to undergo the rigours of the criminal justice system.
§ Thus, there is a demand for amending these laws. Recently, the issue was
raised in the Rajya Sabha.
§ This side says that Low conviction rates are a reason that amendment is
needed; as per NCRB out of 426 cases registered under the DV Act in 2014
only 13 were convicted.
§ The low rate of conviction doesn’t reveal the extent of misuse or abuse
of the law as other factors like compromise, lack of evidence etc. also play
a role in non-conviction.
§ The real causes of misuse, as identified by Law Commission in its 243rd
report, are
o Firstly, the mechanical and casual manner in which police
exercises their right to arrest - power of arrest is a tool to prevent
any further harm to the victim.
§ However, this must be used sparingly as it results in irreversible harm to
reputation which bleaks the chances of conciliation later on.
o Secondly, approach towards addressing matrimonial disputes –
these are inherently different from other criminal cases due to the
scope as well as need for conciliation between the parties.
§ Recommendations as per Law Commission report:
o The police must follow the guidelines of arrest as given by SC in DK
Basu vs State of West Bengal.
o The necessity of arrest has to be properly established.

Marks in GS: 449
o A mechanism of dispute settlement like conciliation and mediation
must be mandatorily initiated before making any arrest, unless the
facts disclose an aggravated form of cruelty.
o Option of compounding of offence should be available to parties.
o Need to inculcate sensitivity among all the actors in matrimonial
litigation- police, lawyers and judiciary.

Bonded Labour

Bonded labour, also known as Bandhua Mazdoori, has been a long standing
problem in India. Under this system, persons are forced to pledge their labour
services as a security for repayment of debt or other obligations. Due to heavy
nature of debt, these persons effectively become the “property” of the money
lenders or persons of influence. Bonded Labour System is a social evil and exists
in India despite constitutional provisions for its total eradication.

Use of bonded labour for:
1. Providing cheap domestic labour for rich households in rural and
urban areas.
2. Using cheap bonded labour to work in factories producing cheap
goods for international markets. Hence, bonded labour even becomes
part of worldwide supply chain.
3. Bonded labour is also a means to attain societal power in rural areas
by ownership of large numbers of Bandhua labour by large Zamindars
and people of influence.
4. Caste dynamics

The International Labour Organization has pointed out various obstacles in
the path of removing bonded labour in India. These are:
§ Large numbers of bonded labours are Dalits in India. Hence caste rigidity
and rules play a significant role in perpetrating bonded labour.
§ Dalits face other social problems like boycott, rape, arson, robbery etc. if
they resist against bonded labour.
§ Extreme poverty also forces bonded labour on poor people.
§ Direct or Indirect involvement of private companies are they use bonded
labours to produce goods at cheap rates.

Action by Government, NGOs and other organisation:

§ The BLS(A) Act, 1976 was enacted to completely outlaw this practice.
§ Bandhua Mukti Morcha has worked closely with international and
national organizations to eradicate bonded labour in India.

Marks in GS: 449
§ Human Rights Watch has launched various programs in India to eradicate
bonded labour in the silk industry.
§ International Labour Organization and UN have passed legislations
against bonded labour.
§ Rehabilitation Scheme of 1978 has been able to free 2.82 lakh Bonded
Labourers in 18 States across 172 districts in the country during the past
38 years.

Rehabilitation Scheme for Bonded Labour
1. Making bonded labour rehabilitation a Central Sponsored Scheme
2. The Scheme proposes to increase the budget provision from Rs 5
crores to about Rs 47 crores per annum.
3. Now, the most deprived and marginalised like the disabled, female
and children rescued from trafficking, sexual exploitation and
transgender will get higher funds.
4. Address new forms of bondage such as organized begging rings,
forced prostitution and child labour for which females, disabled and
transgender are exploited.

Bonded labour are persons who have “pledged” their labour and services as
security for repayment of debt, or other obligation. Many times, the children of
bonded labour are forced into the bonded labourship if they are not able to repay
their debt.
§ This is informally known as “bandhau labour”.
§ Also referred to as debt bondage or debt slavery.
§ Institutional and Legislative Framework:
§ The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act provides a vigilance
committee at district and sub-divisional levels in each state and Union
territory for identification, release, and rehabilitation.
§ Schemes:
o Bonded labour scheme that aims to raise financial assistance to
bonded labour from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 1 lakh each.
o CSS.
o Other points:Kailash Satyarthi’s Bachpan Bachao Andolan

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Marks in GS: 449

Tribal Justice System

India is home to a vibrant community of approx. 104 million tribals. These
communities have developed their own system of social hierarchies, various
personal customs and tribal laws that govern them.

The Indian Constitution permits north eastern states to set up customary village
councils or courts to resolve disputes between two parties belonging to a
Scheduled Tribe.

This tribal justice system involves the interpretation of uncodified customary
laws by the village chiefs, assisted by elders of a village. However, questions have
been raised over conflict of such system with the common law system provided
by the constitution as well. In this context, Standing Committee on Personnel,
Public Grievances, Law and Justice submitted its report on the ‘Synergy between
tribal justice system and the regular justice system of the country’

Salient observations and recommendations of the Committee include:
§ The Committee has noted that most tribal communities preferred the
tribal justice system because of: (i) their familiarity with customary laws;
(ii) its minimal procedure and cost effectiveness; and (iii) timely delivery
of justice.
§ However, there were certain challenges:
o Every tribe within a state had its own customary practices of
dispute resolution
o Most of the judicial decisions were not written down, and gave the
tribal chief wide discretion.
o As a result, punishments for the same crime vary from person to
person.
§ Statutory recognition to tribal courts:
o The Committee recommended that Parliament enact a law to set
up a tribal justice court system.
§ States would be permitted to modify the law as per their requirements.
This would give the tribal courts institutional framework, in relation to
appointment of personnel, salary and benefits, etc.

Marks in GS: 449
§ Further, this would enable them to codify their customs, write judgments
and orders, and follow laws and precedents.
§ To facilitate this, special funds may be allocated to state judicial
academies and village mobile courts.
§ Separate high courts for north eastern states:
o In its earlier report, in 2008, the Committee had recommended
that separate high courts be established in the north eastern
states.
o The Committee reiterated this recommendation, as these high
courts could play a role in the codification of tribal laws.
o The judgements of the high courts will be treated as precedent,
and its interpretations of customary law could be documented. The
Committee also recommended that independent judicial
academies be established in every state.

________________________________________

Indian Judiciary Issues

Problems Faced:
1. Appointments:
a. The country has a judicial strength of a mere 18,000, as against the
requirement of about 50,000 judges.
b. At present, 434 vacancies of High Court judges remained unfilled.
c. The subordinate judiciary has 4580 vacancies across the country.
2. Administrative Inefficiency:
a. Inadequacy of staff attached to High Courts.
b. There are 60,260 cases pending before the Supreme Court.
c. All High Courts in India, as a whole, have an incredible 38.68 lakhs
of cases awaiting disposal.
d. The backlog of all courts including the lower courts is estimated to
be around 3 crores.
3. Financial Autonomy:

Marks in GS: 449
a. Planning and budgetary exercises being undertaken without
consulting the judiciary.
4. Transparency: Despite the decision of the Central Information
Commission (CIC), Judiciary has kept itself out of preview of RTI.
5. Technology: The project of electronic conversion of all files, judgments
etc. is still pending and happening at a very slow pace.

Steps Taken:
1. The enactment of Commercial Courts Act, 2015 for dedicated
commercial courts at district and High Court level, and also laying
down the time limits for disposal of commercial disputes/appeals.
2. Amendments to Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 to ensure quick and cost effective
settlement of commercial disputes to arbitration.
3. To improve the quality of Legal Education in India, setting up of
Lawyers ‘Academy in Kochi is a step in right direction.

Reforms needed:
• Justice is an integral part of our Constitution. To achieve this objective, we
need to continuously improve our legal and judicial framework so that
timely and cost effective justice is made available at the door steps to our
people.
• E-Courts
• Debt Tribunals
• Insolvency courts
• Commerical courts
• Setting up of Fast Track Courts, Additional Courts and Family Courts.
• Increasing the ICT capabilities of the courts.
• Setting up of Alternative dispute resolution centres such as Lok Adalats
should be encouraged.
• Uniform methodology to collect judicial data and streamlining of court
processes.
• To boost the confidence of the people in judiciary, judiciary should reveal
information like the number of pending or reserved judgments by
bringing itself under ambit of RTI.
• Simplification of Laws: Government should work to remove old and
dysfunctional elements in legislation by amending Indian penal code, civil
procedures code and Indian evidence Act.
• Rules should be changed to provide a uniform retirement age for judges
of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
• To prevent corruption, cool off period should be introduced for judges
before taking up any new government assignment.
• As suggested by the Law Commission, in its 245th report, a ‘rate of
disposal’ method should be adopted in which the number of judges
required at each level to dispose of a particular number of cases could be
computed based on analysis.


Marks in GS: 449
Criminal Justice System
Challenges of Current Criminal Justice System in India

1. Because of delay and uncertainties involved, it does not deter
criminals.
2. Punishments for those convicted are ineffective.
3. Wide discretion to police and prosecution makes system vulnerable to
corruption and manipulation.
4. Ignores the real victim, leading them to resort to extralegal method
seeking justice.
5. Heavy economic burden on the state without the returns.
6. System is overburdened with nearly 30 million criminal cases pending
and with 10 million being added every year.

Strategy for Reform:
The Committee on the Reforms of Criminal Justice System in India (2003)
suggests a three-fold strategy.
1. First, procedural and substantive law needs a change based on
changes in society and economy with the guiding principles being
decriminalization and diversion.
a. A suggestion under this could be dividing the penal code into four
different codes: Social Offences Code, Correctional Offences Code,
Economic Offences Code and Indian Penal Code.
b. The Social Code includes matters of civil nature that can be settled
without police intervention and prison terms through
administrative processes.
c. The Correctional Code includes offence punishable up to three
years imprisonment where plea bargaining can be liberally
invoked.
d. Economic Code includes property offences, which affect financial
stability of the country dealt with through combination of criminal
and administrative strategies.
e. Indian Penal Code will include only major crimes warranting ten
years imprisonment or more or death.
2. Second is the institutional reform of police processes.
a. This includes investigation, professionalization, rationalization of
court systems through technology and limiting appeal procedures
to the minimum.
3. Third is giving a bigger and more responsible role to the victim in the
whole procedure.
a. It involves restoring the confidence of the victim in the system.
b. This would include conferring rights on the victim like,
participating in proceedings, right to engage an advocate, track
progress of case, to assist court in pursuit of truth etc.
c. Right to seek compensation for injuries suffered irrespective of the
fate of proceedings.
d. Following a restorative means which enjoys community support,
victim satisfaction and offender acknowledgement of obligations.


Marks in GS: 449

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative dispute redressal mechanism includes dispute resolution processes
and techniques that act as a means for disagreeing parties to come to an
agreement without litigation. Following are the tools of ADR:

Arbitration: Arbitration is a process in which a neutral third party render a
decision based on the merits of the case.

Mediation: The process of mediation aims to facilitate the development of a
consensual solution by the disputing parties. Mediation is overseen by a non-
partisan third party.

Conciliation: This is a process by which resolution of disputes is achieved by
compromise or voluntary agreement. In contrast to arbitration, the conciliator
does not render a binding award.

Indian judicial system is characterized by rampant delay in the disposition of the
cases due to inadequate number of courts and judges in the country. High cost of
litigation and complex legal procedure alienates the poor and uneducated from
the judicial system.

Based on Gandhian principles Lok Adalat is Indian contribution to the world
jurisprudence of ADR. Lok Adalats are a step towards fulfilling the directives
under Article 39A for equal justice and free legal aid.

Advantages of the Lok Adalats:

1. The Lok Adalats can ensure speedy justice as they can be conducted at
suitable places and in local languages.
2. Lok Adalat is the only institutionalized mechanism of dispute
resolution in which parties do not have to bear any expenses and fee
paid in a regular court is refunded if the case is settled in Lok Adalat.
3. In Lok Adalats, disputes are not only settled but also the cordial
relations between the parties are retained as disputes are resolved
amicably.
4. Disputes can be directly brought before the Lok Adalats and no
appeals lies against the order of the Lok Adalats and thus it helps to
alleviate the burden of arrears of cases.

The introduction of Lok Adalats succeeded in providing a supplementary forum
to the victims for satisfactory settlement of their disputes. This mechanism
should be taken full advantage of and more number of Lok Adalats needs to be
organized to achieve “access to justice for all”.


Marks in GS: 449


Marks in GS: 449

Judicial Appointments Issue [NJAC and finalization of MoP]
A constant tussle has emerged between the Executive and the Judiciary over the
provisions of appointment of High Court and Supreme Court judges.

Last year, the NJAC was declared unconstitutional by a Supreme Court bench and
this year the MoP that will lead to creating a clear criteria for appointment of
judges has not been finalized yet.

This has led to 475 high court judge appointments vacant, an unprecedented
number. This is damaging the delivery of justice for the common man and poses
a threat to the justice system in the country.

The real issue boils down to which branch has the final say in the appointment of
judges. As per the Judges Cases of 1993 and 1998, the collegium system was
devised which vested complete power in the judiciary’s hand to appoint HC and
SC judges.

Marks in GS: 449

This has been criticized by various sections of leading to lack of transparency,
accountability and corruption in the judicial appointments. Additionally, the
opaqueness of the process raises concerns over the integrity of the judicial
appointments.

The NJAC was aimed at creating an updated system of appointment of judges by
involving both executive and the judiciary. However, it was held unconstitutional
due to the fact that judiciary would lose its ultimate power to the Executive
branch.

Then, the judiciary took upon itself to reform the MoP to bring transparency and
accountability in the appointment process. However, this process has become
prolonged tussle because the executive has introduced a clause that it can reject
appointments of judges on basis of “national security or public interest”. This
again puts the finality of appointments in Executive’s hands, which is not
accepted by the judiciary.

Recording Each Vote in Parliament

Most bills in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (and even State Assemblies) are passed
by “voice vote”. Hence, it is difficult to know how has each MP voted for a certain
bill in the Parliament. This has many repercussions on the democratic process:

1. Leads to lack of accountability of the MPs to their constituents as their
votes are never revealed to the general public.
2. It also leads to lack of deliberation and discussion on the bills MPs
with their own constituents as they will most likely never know the
voting behaviour of the MP.
3. Voice votes do not promote individual research and study by MPs on
taking stand on various legislations, thereby diluting the process of
law making.
4. In presence of anti-defection law, voice vote further decreases the
deliberative, dissenting and discussion based role of MPs in the
Parliament.

Pros of voice vote:
1. Bills are passed quickly which helps in increasing efficiency of the
Parliament and dealing with the backlog.
2. Anti-defection law already requires MPs to vote as per party lines and
hence there is no need to record their votes individually for all bills.

Proposed reforms:
1. Recorded voting of all bills be made mandatory. This is also known as
“Division”. This is already practiced selectively in constitutional
amendment bills and can be made mandatory for all bills.

Marks in GS: 449
a. Only 19 bills in last 5 years have seen this out of total 179.

New Framework for Grants by Centre to the States

Three new provisions regarding this in Budget 2016-17
1. Rationalization of Centrally Sponsored Schemes
a. NITI Aayog has recommended that focus of the CSS should be on
the schemes that comprise the National Development Agenda
b. It further recommended that the schemes be divided into “Core”
and “Optional” schemes and amongst the Core Schemes those for
social protection and inclusion should be called “Core of the Core”.
c. The subgroup further recommended that the investment levels in
the Core Schemes should be maintained so as to ensure that the
optimum size of the programme does not shrink.
d. New Framework for Grants in Budget 2016-17 :
i. The existing funding pattern of schemes defined as 'core of
the core' have been retained.
ii. The funding pattern of 'core' schemes, which also form part
of the National Development agenda, will be shared 60:40
between the Centre and the States (90:10 for the 8 North
Eastern States and 3 Himalayan states).
• Core of the Core: MNREGA, NSAP, SC and ST schemes, OBC schemes and
minority schemes also
• Core: 18 schemes: RKVY, Green Revolution, Krishi Unnati Yojana, Swacch
Bharat, White Revolution schemes, MPLADS, National Health Mission
• The other optional schemes will be optional for the State Governments
and their fund sharing pattern will be 50:50 between the Centre and the
States (80:20 for the 8 North Eastern States and 3 Himalyan States).
• Examples of such schemes are Border Area Development Programme,
National River Conservation Plan, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee RURBAN
Mission etc. In Union Budget 2016–17 the total number of CSS has been
brought down to 28.
• Outcome based monitoring of various programs to be implemented
• Doing away with the plan and non-plan expenditure distinction in the
budget after the completion of the Twelfth Five Year Plan

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Marks in GS: 449
Electoral Reforms in India
1. Lilly Thomas Case [done]
2. NOTA and VVPAT [done]
3. Model Code of Conduct [done]
4. Curb Money Power through section 58B in RPA [recommended by
Election commission]
5. Elections to Legislative Assemblies to be held at the same time
[recommended by a Parliamentary committee]
6. State Funding of Political Parties [recommended]
7. Need to provide access to voting to NRIs, internal migrants and
service personnel

Elections of Legislative Assemblies

Recently, Prime Minister has suggested that elections to the national and state
legislatures, panchayats and urban local bodies should be held simultaneously.

Need:
1. Large amount of money is spent on various elections every year.
2. Whole administrative machinery gets engaged in election work which
affects the productivity of other government services.
3. Frequent elections bring to a standstill normal functioning of the
government cannot announce any new schemes, make any new
appointments, transfers or postings without EC approval during this
period.
4. However, frequent elections enhance accountability because it forces
the politicians to meet the masses.

Concerns:
1. Local and national issues will get mix up and will distort priorities.
2. In voters’ minds national issues might overtake state and local issues
or vice versa.
3. Passing a no confidence motion to conduct the election before expiry
of the term will be unconstitutional (Article 83(2) -It is state’s
prerogative to decide when to call for elections).
4. It is also against the federal feature of the constitution.
5. Not easy to implement: Many times a Government is dissolved
prematurely, so in long run having a mismatch in elections in
inevitable. For e.g. Consider one old scenario when the Lok Sabha gets
dissolved in just 13 days, in 1998.

Parliamentary Panel Recommendations:
1. Dissolve state assemblies who have a remaining life
2. Hold elections to half of the state legislatures at the time of Lok Sabha
elections and for the rest at the mid-term period of the Lok Sabha.
This is similar to the American mid-term elections.

Way Forward:

Marks in GS: 449
1. Simultaneous elections to Panchayats, assembly and Lok Sabha are
desirable however they are not feasible.
2. To make the election process more transparent, cost effective,
peaceful and quick we should consider some easily implementable
solutions such as: To cut the role of money power in elections, putting
a cap on political party expenditure and state funding of political
parties.
3. Also ban on all private, especially corporate funds should be
considered.
4. Reduce the duration of the election process by half by conducting the
elections in one day.

Land Reforms [IMP]

Land Digitization and interlinked benefits.
1. Lack of land records digitization has led to farmers unable to access
banks for credit. Due to these, they have to borrow money from local
money lenders at very high rates.
2. Also, farmers don’t register their land which leads to ownership title
problems in land acqusition by government.
3. Why farmers don’t get land registered:
a. Due to high stamp duties. They are as high as 14.5% in UP and 6-
7% in Maharashtra .
b. Telangana has launched an initiative where farmers whose lands
are not registered can do so within a 3 week window. They can
even produce their informal purchase agreements known as “sada
bainama” to register the land.
4. Digital land records could be integrated with Aadhar and Jan Dhan as
well. For this, Land Identification Numbers (LIN) should be
introduced.
5. This even helps in tagging LIN with the nearest weather station. If
there is bad weather forecast, the weather station could use LIN to
intimate farmers by SMS or electronic message thereby warning them
beforehand.
6. Similarly, any farm insurance could be paid directly on basis of LIN.
7. Crop loans could be processed.
8. Land tenancy could also be handled with LIN and targeting
agricultural subsidies.
9. Land aggregation will also be facilitated.


Marks in GS: 449

Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment has been at the center of human rights debate. It has been
practiced since the dawn of civilization in the world to punish those charged
with heinous crimes such as murder etc.

In India, capital punishment was officially recognized and codified by the British
during colonial period. Post-independence, it has been awarded, but with high
caution. Even the Supreme Court has declared the “Rarest of the Rare” doctrine
in the Bachan Singh case when giving capital punishment to a criminal.

A Law Commission Report on the subject has provided many arguments for and
against capital punishment. They are as follows:

Arguments for Capital Punishment:
1. Deters extreme crimes.
2. Keeps the society together by producing a fear of the law.
3. Puts a criminal to justice in the eyes of the victim’s family, which is
important for their psychological being.
4. It is a must to counter new problems such as terrorism.
5. It is too expensive for a justice system to keep a serious criminal
under bars.

Arguments Against:
1. Against the modern principles of liberalism and humanism
2. The primary aim of the justice system is reform and not punishment.
Capital punishment does not give any chance for the criminal to
reform himself.
3. It is practiced in inhumane ways such as hanging and poisoning and
even stoning to death in many societies, which is regressive.
4. It does not have a place in a democratic and forward looking society of
ours.

Human rights group Amnesty International has published a new report on
number of death penalty executions across the world. At least 1,634 people were
executed last year, an increase of more than 50% on 2014.


Marks in GS: 449

OROP
It is contended that the implementation of One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP) for
the armed forces would create a severe strain on government finances. Explain
the principles underlying the OROP and arguments that have been cited in its
support as well as opposition.

OROP means that every soldier who retires in the same rank gets the same
pension, irrespective of his date of retirement. As of now, soldiers who retired
more recently receive more pension than those who did earlier because pensions
are dependent on the last salary drawn — and successive pay commissions have
hiked salaries.

Problems:
1. As per government estimates, additional Rs. 8,400 Crore will be
required to implement OROP which will certainly put severe strain on
government finances.
2. Further, it is bound to increase every year and with every successive
pay commission – a constant escalation of the implicit pension debt on
the government.
3. Moreover, as military personnel retire at a younger age compared to
their civilian counterparts, defence pensions are paid for a much
longer period.
1. Other problems:
1. Definition of OROP: There are too many definitions of OROP, the
government need to come up with formula which is acceptable for all.
2. Lack of records: the Defence Ministry told the Koshiyari Committee
that records going back further than 25 years were no longer available
3. Service Duration: people who retire in the same rank often earn
different pensions because they may have served for longer periods in
that rank. Equating their pensions will unlikely to withstand a legal
challenge.
4. Civilian Pensioners: The government also seems worried that OROP
could lead to a similar demand from civilian pensioners. They could
demand for reverting to the old fixed pension regime from present
contributory pension system.

In spite of these arguments which are holding government back in its
implementation, the OROP is a demand supported by all political parties.

The arguments in favour of OROP are:

1. Compensation for early retirement: Since soldiers retires early, they
are denied the opportunity to earn more increments and promotions,
as well as the benefits offered by more recent pay commissions, which
significantly affects their pensions. OROP can address all of this.

Marks in GS: 449
2. National Obligation: Defence forces personnel give up their best years
to the service of the nation and society, suffering hardships of military
life — and, at the end of their service, face limited opportunities for re-
employment
3. Share in GDP: Though the amount of defence pension has risen in
recent years, their share in GDP has declined considerably.

Thus, it is not mere a financial matter but also an emotional matter for veterans
and soldiers. A nation cannot allow its soldiers to feel that it does not care for
them. OROP is essentially an obligation of the Indian nation towards its soldiers.

Family Law Reforms

India society is highly complex due to diversity of religions, castes and sub-
castes, gender related issues, and due to coming of modern ideals of equality,
liberty and fraternity since independence.

In this respect, various communities (religious and caste) follow different
customary family laws that often collide against constitutional and legal rights of
individuals.

Recently government-appointed high-level panel gave suggestions related to
family reforms Panel was formed for the review of women and family laws with
respect to marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance and succession.

Suggestions by the Panel:
1. Amending the IPC on adultery (Section 497) - Currently it can be only
used by the husband against the person who has sexual relations with
his wife.
2. Removing the gender discrimination inherent in laws that stipulate a
lower legal age of marriage for a girl.
3. Ban on triple talaq and polygamy.
4. Right to maintenance for Muslim women in their personal law as well
as for women in live-in relationships and unmarried dependent
daughters.
5. Introducing a separate legislation for dealing with “honour killings”.
6. Amendment of Special Marriages Act – 30 day public notices under the
Act should be done away to protect couple marrying against the
wishes of their parents.
7. The term ‘cruelty’ also needs to be re-defined since personal laws
recognize cruelty as a ground for divorce.

Why is reform required:
1. To implement Uniform Civil Code in India as envisioned in Article of
44 of constitution.

Marks in GS: 449
2. To remove the implicit gender biases in the personal laws of various
religions.
3. To create peaceful conditions for people to marry according to their
choice and prevent them from societal pressure like from Khaps.
4. Will help in improving the condition of women and their
empowerment in patriarchal society of India

________________________________________

Impact of Self Help Groups on financial inclusion in India

• There are over 7.8 million SHGs in India with over 780 million members.
• Impact of SHGs:
o Enable members of the SHGs to get included in the Banking System
in India, thereby providing them access to bank account services,
insurance, and ability to transfer money.
o Reduced dependence on money lenders.
o Women are empowered as they get financial control of their lives.
This helps the family overall as children get stable access to
education, nutrition and better looking after by an empowered
mother.
o Vulnerable sections of SCs and STs are benefitted.
o Help members to borrow and lend money to make them financially
empowered. With lending money they can earn a stable interest
return and by borrowing they can start new livelihoods or take
care of education for their children.
o It helps members to understand the benefits of saving and
investing money, thereby making them financially savvy.
o Collective planning for additional income.
o Platform to discuss their problems, financial and non-financial and
make better decisions.
• NABARD has shown that SHGs enable 58% of the households covered
under SHGs reported an increase in assets

Bank Sakhi Program

They are members of RGMVP promoted SHG federation members. Each Sakhi is
allocated one Gram Panchayat covering 4-5 villages.
1. Ensure prompt and efficient service to be provided to the customers
2. Ensure safe custody of cash and equipment which are at their
disposal.
3. BANK SAKHI-CSP shall not charge any fee or commission or any
charges from the customers
4. Maintain confidentiality with regard to customer information and do
not share any customer information with any third party except
BARTRONICS and Bank

Marks in GS: 449

The Business Correspondent (BC) model forms the cornerstone of India's
financial inclusion strategy to ensure delivery of banking services across the
length and breadth of the country. An important milestone of having a bank
agent or a CSP (Customer Service Point) in all villages with a population of more
than 2,000 has been achieved. But despite the remarkable progress in terms of
geographical outreach, significant challenges remain. CSP and client dormancy
(especially in the rural areas) are high.

NABARD’s SHG-bank linkage program (SBLP) has supported the formation of
SHG networks with extensive geographical coverage and client outreach.
Convergence of BC based financial inclusion initiatives with SHG networks may
hold some answers to the current challenges in financial inclusion.

A pilot project was therefore envisaged to explore the potential of SHG members
functioning as Business Correspondents to offer banking services at the doorstep
of the village residents particularly women and poor households, with backing
from the SHG supporting institutions.

GIZ NABARD joint collaboration; RFIP (Rural Financial Institutions program)
supports the pilot program with the sole objective to understand the feasibility ,
coexistence and mutual fit of SHG networks within the BC ecosystem.

The Grameen Bank of Aryavart (GBA) in cooperation with the GIZ-NABARD
Rural Financial Institutions Programme (RFIP) has identified a well-functioning
SHG ecosystem that is being nurtured and promoted by Rajiv Gandhi Mahila
Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) for this pilot project. Bank Sakhis – selected SHG
members who have been acting as a link between the SHGs and the bank –have
been trained and equipped to carry out the function of CSPs.
Handholding/support as well as quality control and supervision capabilities
have been built up at the level of the block level SHG federation, with support
from the RGMVP.

Minority Institutions in a Secular Country

Minority communities are communities that are present in small population in
the country but have distinctive cultural, linguistic, religious identities. For
example, the National Commission for Minorities has identified muslims, jains,
buddhists and other such communities as minorities in India.

Why they should be allowed?
1. Constitutional provisions:
a. Art 30(1) provides for setting up of minority institutions and Art
30(2) provides for non-discrimination of State in providing aid.
2. Supreme Court ruling:
a. SC in TMA Pai Foundation Case has noted that institutions such
as AMU have been involved with commendable work in Social

Marks in GS: 449
sciences and imparting education to Muslim youth which can be
considered as charitable work.
3. Preservation of minority beliefs, languages, literature, architecture
and arts, traditions and culture
4. Promotion of education among minorities, especially women
5. Promotion of secular ethics

Even the Sachar Committee report has encouraged state’s participation in
ensuring that minority institutions are well-funded.

Right to Education -- Supreme Court’s exemption of minority institutions from
some provisions. Which are universally applicable and which are conflicting?
Kerela high court has recently ruled that “no detention policy” envisaged under
the RTE Act should be applicable to minority run schools as well. The reasoning
is that this policy is consistent with Right to life under article 21 as it is in “best
interest” of the child. [Sobha George Case]. Key takeaway from this judgment is
that some provisions of RTE have a universal appeal and cannot be denied as
their directly fulfill fundamental rights.
This runs contradictory to Pramati judgment of the Supreme Court. In this, the
SC has ruled that minority institutions are exempt from following RTE
guidelines.
• Pramati judgment is flawed because:
o RTE Act has some universal provisions on infrastructural norms,
pupil-teacher ratio etc. which are absolutely necessary for good
education of children and cannot be exempt for even minority
institutions.

Provisions of RTE which are Universally Applicable
1. Article 29(2): a government-aided minority school cannot
discriminate against students on grounds of religion, race, caste,
language in the matters of their admission
2. Article 21A: in the Indian constitution making Education a
fundamental Right
Conflicting Provisions:
1. Cultural Trust v. Union of India (2014) & Pramati judgment: SC had
exempted minority schools from the purview of the RTE Act
2. No-detention policy (NDP): obligation not in the Act but under Article
21 of the Indian Constitution and in the “best interest” of the child and
could independently be considered a fundamental right
3. Rights of minorities: RTE conflict Article 30 with the specific contexts
of the rights of minorities to establish and administer educational
institutions of their choice. But it is not absolute and not
misadministration. So RTE can be enforced for its benefit.
Recent conflicting judgments- Sobha George and Pramati judgments needs a
‘constitutionally-permissible balance’ between right to education and minority
rights requires an interpretation that makes them mutually reinforcing rather
than irreconcilable.


Marks in GS: 449
Pramati judgment has excluded some of the RTE provisions from application to
Minority schools.

LGBT
• In July 2009, the Delhi High Court, recognising the inherent injustice in
Section 377’s operation, rendered a momentous verdict, and found that
the law, in persecuting a community purely based on the sexual
orientation of its members, was patently opposed to the Constitution’s
essential promises.
• However, just over four years later, in Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz
Foundation , the Supreme Court reversed this finding.
• Section 377, at its core, is an intention to enforce a decree against actions
that are professed to be beyond the warrants of society’s moral
compass.
• Only, that in the case of criminalising homosexuality, it is the outlawing of
the act that is immoral, and not the act itself.
• As the American philosopher Martha Nussbaum has argued, the Supreme
Court’s verdict in Koushal shows us that there is an almost pathological
emotion of disgust at the heart of any perceived rationale for
criminalising homosexuality, when such acts cause no actual harm to any
person whatsoever.
• It is undeniable that a society’s moral judgment must play some role in
determining the extent of its criminal laws. However, “a conscientious
legislator who is told a moral consensus exists,” as the legal philosopher
Ronald Dworkin once wrote, “must test the credentials of that
consensus.”
• The community’s moral standards thus cannot be arbitrarily gleaned
nor can it be a product simply of inexplicable revulsion and disgust.
• In the case of Section 377, any reasonable analysis would show us that to
regard homosexual activity as somehow immoral violates the innate
natural autonomy that every person has over his or her respective
sexuality.


Marks in GS: 449
Rule Based Governance -- need
It is a type of governance in which decisions and policies are guided by a set of
protocols and procedures instead of arbitrary executive power.
Impact of lack of rule based governance and also the result of its presence:

1. Crony interests are created and political process is manipulated to
serve these interests.
a. With money power increasingly driving the political process that,
in turn, creates a vicious cycle of money and political success to
those pandering to or backed by crony capitalists.
2. Political connections determine success.
a. This phenomenon, also written about by Reserve Bank of India
governor Raghuram Rajan before taking office, shuts out ‘un-
connected’ entrepreneurs from opportunities and participating in
the economy.
b. This, in turn, has structural implications on issues such as
innovation, competition and efficiency—all important elements for
a successful, sustainable economic model for a country like India.
c. In a remarkable example of how thoughtful, transparent policies
can lift up countries, Estonia, which was economically crippled due
to the Soviet annexation from the 1940s to 1991, lifted itself up to
become a country with the highest number of start-ups per capita.
This was done through a host of market reforms since the mid-
1990s—including free trade and privatization—designed to
remove red tape and simplify the process of starting a business
and, most importantly, following well laid-out processes.
3. Rule-based governance creates transparency in its functioning and
improves the trust between citizens/investors and government.
4. A rule-based economy creates a framework that boosts efficiency,
competition and opportunity for all investors.
5. It also has the effect of reducing the impact of money and cronyism on
politics and democracy.

Supreme Court Order on AFSPA -- applicability of the law and

immunities accorded to the armed forces personnel
1. War: First, it is extremely significant that the court does not agree
with the argument that a law and order situation, or sustained
disturbance in any area, gives rise to a situation of “war”.
a. It categorically states that any military intervention under the
proclamation that a particular area is “disturbed” must be to
supplement and help restore civil authority, and not to supplant
the same completely by military administration.
b. Within the territory of the country, a constitutional government
and its authority must always be the norm, and any deviation from
the same cannot be unlimited, either in scope or time.

Marks in GS: 449
c. It is especially noticed by the court that Manipur, with the
exception of the Imphal Municipal Area, has been constantly
notified as a disturbed area since 1958. This fact signifies best that
military deployment under the guise of the Disturbed Areas Act
and immunity under the AFSPA often become so intertwined with
notions of order that they become permanent features of
governance themselves, and not the means to an end.
2. Excessive Use of Force
a. In all the cases of killings looked into by the court, the shootings by
military forces were not genuine and the use of force had been
excessive.
b. Indeed, this is the main crux of the argument against the AFSPA,
that it encourages a disregard for legal processes such as arrest
and detention in favour of the use of brute force and extra judicial
executions.
3. Treatment of Indian Citizens:
a. The Supreme Court in the present case has reiterated that
there is a difference in the manner in which a person who
violates an order in force in a disturbed area should be treated
as compared to an enemy combatant belonging to a hostile
country.
b. The fact that an Indian citizen, in a disturbed area, is violating a
prohibitory order, does not give rise to an automatic right for
the security forces to treat him with force or to assume that he
constitutes an enemy in that situation.
c. The court looks at the methods of practice prescribed by the
army itself and states that the use of force and especially
excessive and retaliatory force on citizens is unjustified.
4. Enquiry Needed in case of actions under AFSPA:
a. Finally, the court also holds that in such cases, where the use of
force is excessive or the encounter itself not genuine, there is
nothing which precludes a criminal investigation and inquiry
under ordinary criminal law.
b. Both the Army Act, and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),
allow for an inquiry to be conducted before a judicial
magistrate for crimes committed by the personnel of the force
while on duty.
c. The order, which will be one in a series of orders to come, as
more cases being investigated reach their conclusions, has
shone a much needed light on the dark underbelly of the
operation of the AFSPA in several parts of the country and the
effects it has had on governance and civil liberties. It is a
welcome step in extending the rule of law and fundamental
rights to an area where there has been much need for it for
decades.

Marks in GS: 449
AFSPA
• The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 comes into play when the
government declares a particular part of NE or J&K as a “disturbed area”
• The prolonged hunger strike of Irom Sharmila in Manipur.
• Arguments Against the AFSPA
a. Against Article 3 (Right to Life) of the UN Declaration on
Human Rights and also against United Nations Convention on
Human Rights → India is a signatory
b. Draconian Law in our progressive society:
c. AFSPA has been questioned largely because of numerous
human rights violations due to its draconian provisions.
d. Section 6 of the act says that a government officer cannot be
prosecuted unless previous sanction from government is
sought.
e. It also enables the armed forces to fire upon or use force
against any person acting against the law.
• Arguments in Favour:
o National security in disturbed areas:
o Areas of J&K and North East are highly disturbed and harbor
terrorist, criminal and secessionist groups that impact the security
of that region and rest of India.
• Effective operation of Armed forces only possible with provisions of the
act.
o Government Steps
§ The government has made clear that security forces must
fire only after they are clearly convinced of weapons or
explosives in hands of the other party.
§ Suggestions
§ BP Jeevan Reddy Committee: Recommended the
amendment of the AFSPA section 6

Disabled Citizens -- Supreme Court

SC recent judgment along with strict implementation guidelines would have
effect on empowerment of disabled but need examine how and what way it
would affect their condition
SC Directives:
a. 3 per cent government jobs for disabled: Employment is a key
factor in becoming self-dependent and help them overcoming
marginalization
b. No applicability of 50% cap: would enable state government to
have flexibility in planning quota accordingly

Marks in GS: 449
c. Group A and Group B inclusion in reservation: Government
created a distinction between posts and disabled does not
entry to Group A but now onward to get entry via direct
recruitment and promotion and SC considered it illegal and
inconsistent” with the Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995

Challenges to overcome:
1. Social barriers: disabled people are out of job not because their
disability rather it is social and practical barriers that prevent them
from joining the workforce so merely increasing 3% reservation may
not only help
2. Identifying right Post: Although SC has directed to identify post but
recent cases have been seen selected Jr. engineering candidates doing
work of sweeper
3. Failure of Centre and states: They have failed to provide reservation to
the blind and low vision persons in past. Enforcing guidelines may not
have impact due to slow action of laws proceedings
4. Dignity at work: Even selected candidate may face discrimination and
work places rules and law creation hold significance

Higher Education Finance Agency [HEFA]

1. The Higher Education Finance Agency will raise Rs. 20,000 crore from
market floatation of bonds and from loans for development of
infrastructure in Central education institutions.
2. It will be a SPV and will work from a state run bank.
3. This money will be lent to Higher educational institutions to develop
infrastructure and will need to be returned with interest to the lender.
4. Hence, it could lead to market-linked fees in various higher education
institutions that use such funding.
5. CSR Funds: HEFA would also mobilize corporate social responsibility
funds from corporate entities, which would in turn be released for
promoting research and innovation in these institutions on a grant basis.

Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved the third phase of the
Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme—a joint effort between
the central government and the World Bank for improving the quality of
education in engineering colleges. The total project outlay for this will be Rs
3,600 crore.


Marks in GS: 449

________________________________________

Child Labour
• Kailash satyarthi, founder of bachpan bachao andolan, was awarded nobel
• Child Labour perpetuates illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, population
growth and other socio-economic problems in the country.
• Since the inception of bachpan bachao andolan, it has rescued more than
84000 children
• India has the highest number of child labourers in the world.
• As per NSSO, in 2011 there were 49.8 lakh child labourers in India
• In 1973, International labour organization (ILO) passed the ILO
convention 138 that prohibits children under 14 to be employed.
• In 1999, Convention 182 banned child labour, child slavery, child
trafficking and involvement of children in hazardous work. India has still
not ratified these two conventions. A total of only 7 countries have not
ratified the convention.
• The child labour (prohibition and regulation) act (CLPR act), 1986
prohibited employment of children under 14 in hazardous conditions.
• This weak law left almost 90% of child labour out of its perview.
• In 2012, CLPR amendment bill was introduced, which makes any form of
labour under 14 illegal (except family enterprise) o prohibits hazardous
work for children between 15-18 o higher punishments.
• Government of India needs to take inspiration from programs in other
countries. In Brazil, a welfare program called “Bolsa familia” was
introduced, which incentivizes families to send and keep their children in
school.

Marks in GS: 449

Child Labour+
1. Kailash satyarthi, founder of bachpan bachao andolan, was awarded
nobel peace prize in 2014 for his fight against child labour.
2. Child Labour perpetuates illiteracy, unemployment, poverty,
population growth and other socio-economic problems in the country.
3. Since the inception of bachpan bachao andolan, it has rescued more
than 84000 children
4. India has the highest number of child labourers in the world.
5. As per NSSO, in 2011 there were 49.8 lakh child labourers in India
6. In 1973, International labour organization (ILO) passed the ILO
convention 138 that prohibits children under 14 to be employed.
7. In 1999, convention 182 banned child labour, child slavery, child
trafficking and involvement of children in hazardous work. India has
still not ratified these two conventions. A total of only 7 countries have
not ratified the convention.
8. The child labour (prohibition and regulation) act (CLPR act), 1986
prohibited employment of children under 14 in hazardous conditions.
9. This weak law left almost 90% of child labour out of its perview.
10. In 2012, CLPR amendment bill was introduced, which makes any form
of labour under 14 illegal (except family enterprise) o prohibits
hazardous work for children between 15-18 o higher punishments.
11. Government of India needs to take inspiration from programs in other
countries. In Brazil, a welfare program called “Bolsa familia” was
introduced, which incentivizes families to send and keep their
children in school.

AADHAR AND HEALTH CARE

Aadhaar, the country’s unique identity system, has an ability to change a lot
about India’s delivery of public services in a very short period of time.

1. Aadhar has almost a billion members already

Marks in GS: 449
2. Aadhaar now serves not just as a address and identity proof but also
as the financial address for its residents.
3. Armed with this system, India has been able to revolutionize its
financial systems, rethink the nature of its welfare state, cutting back
on benefits in-kind and market-distorting subsidies, and turning to
direct cash transfers paid into the Jan Dhan accounts of the neediest.

Universal Basic Income (UBI)

• Switzerland in a referendum recently rejected the idea of UBI.
• The basic idea of a UBI is that everybody should be given a basic
minimum income as an entitlement and not as compensation for work.
• Benefits:
o UBI would help to partly offset the rapid rise in inequality
observed in recent years.
o As a safety the UBI would be the simplest and most effective.
• Robots:
o Another point stems from the potential obsolescence of work in a
robotized world. As robots take over more and more of the tasks
hitherto performed by human beings, robotized production
systems will be capable of producing goods of mass consumption
on an almost unlimited scale.
o On the other hand, human workers no longer required or paid to
do most jobs would lack the purchasing power to buy these goods
of mass consumption.
o If mass consumers lack the purchasing power to buy the goods
produced for mass consumption, whether for reasons of income
inequality or work obsolescence, then the markets for mass
consumer goods will collapse.
o The only way out of this impasse of chronic under-consumption is
to revisit the link between income and work, hence UBI.
• Better Targeting:
o According to the Shanta Kumar committee report, nearly half the
subsidized foodgrains distributed through the targeted public
distribution system (TPDS) for BPL families do not reach the
intended beneficiaries.
o UBI would completely do away with targeting and all the
challenges that come with it.
• Leakages would also be minimized if UBI is administered using the JAM
(Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and mobile connectivity) trinity, the IT-
enabled technological innovation.

Marks in GS: 449
• Problems:
o Expensive: Would entail a large budget. Some studies peg it at as
much as 8-10% of GDP. However, the cost can be simultaneously
made up for with savings from leakages in ongoing subsidies as
well.

Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS)

BBPS is an integrated bill payment system developed by National Payment
corporation of India (NPCI) that will offer inter operable bill payment services to
customers online and offline

Features:
1. Bill payments easier
2. A single platform is provided to pay any bill physically or
electronically. Instant confirmation is another feature.
3. Cheque payment is not allowed. Payments are allowed as in
cash or as digital transaction i.e. debit, credit, net banking, UPI
4. Another step to facilitate RBI’s vision of payments for
customers anytime, anywhere.
5. BBPS’s initial aim is to promote digital economy and cashless
transaction
6. Any person can pay through a BBPS outlet or BBPS website.
S/he needs to have an account for payment.
7. Some banks established a mobile handset for this facility.
8. Start-up activities are also mushrooming around BBPS with
features like e-wallet or mobile payment.

Challenges:
1. Digital Divide
2. Developing a viable business model is still in process
3. Funding from VCs or Angel investors are highly needed
4. A financial task force to finalize commercial model is required
5. Customer reaction to this ecosystem will play a big role for
sustainability of the same.

BBPS is a novel and innovative approach. It can be developed as a single-national
level platform any cashbased or cashless payment.


Marks in GS: 449
Voter Education in India
1. National Voters’ Day (NVD).
a. No budget and no national holiday needed for the NVD. Infact,
Voter registration is a normal activity of the Election Commission
(EC), carried out through the year.
b. All that was done was convert the staggered, sporadic activity into
an “event” using the normal budget.
c. The first NVD was inaugurated by then President Pratibha Patil in
the presence of 30 chief election commissioners from around the
world. Some of them, including from Pakistan and Bhutan, went
back home and declared their own NVDs.
d. After just four NVDs, the 2014 election was conducted with the
addition of nearly 120 million more voters than in 2009. This is
like adding the entire population of South Africa and South Korea
combined, or three Canadas, or four Australias, or 10 Portugals, or
20 Finlands!
e. NVD is the flagship event of another new programme of the EC,
Systematic Voters’ Education for Electoral Participation (SVEEP).
This programme, too, faced hiccups — some in the organisation
questioned whether “educating” voters was the EC’s job. For me, it
indeed was.
f. Low turnout had been the bane of our elections, raising questions
on elected representatives’ legitimacy. In this context, we
considered voter education an imperative.
2. Enormous public apathy, especially among the educated urban middle
class, which not only abstained from voting but used to brag about this.
a. Campaigns like “Pappu doesn’t vote, aaha” — changed this. It
achieved a remarkable increase in voter turnout.
b. A key strategy was to have brand ambassadors — headed by no
less than former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
c. The youth, hitherto indifferent or contemptuous of politics, started
leading from the front. Twenty-five thousand campus ambassadors
were appointed in universities and colleges. Schoolchildren
became watchdogs of voter participation, coaxing apathetic
parents to vote. All elections since 2010 have seen record turnouts.
d. Election 2014 broke a six-decade record with 66.4 per cent
turnout. In some states, this crossed 80 per cent.
e. In half the states, women voters outnumbered men. Many have
described this as a “participation revolution”.
3. The inked finger became a symbol — restaurants apparently started
offering discounts, barbers giving free haircuts. The EC has now taken the
movement to new heights. A grand Voter Fest (Matdaata Mahotsav) in
Delhi last week attracted nearly three lakh citizens.
4. The best endorsement has come from PM Narendra Modi, who in his
Mann Ki Baat said, “Till a few years ago, we used to see that our Election
Commission is working just as a regulator. But it has undergone a
significant change in the past few years. Today, our EC is not a mere
regulator anymore. It has instead become a facilitator, is more voter-
friendly and voters are now at the centre of all its plans and thoughts.”

Marks in GS: 449
What makes these remarks especially significant is that the EC has
consistently differed with his advocacy of compulsory voting. Who says
there is no freedom to differ.

Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 [passed]

Key Provisions:
1. The bill allows for juveniles 16 years or older to be tried as adults for
heinous offences like rape and murder. Heinous offences are those
which are punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more.
2. The bill mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare
Committees in every district. Both must have at least one woman
member each.
3. Once the bill becomes law, the decision to try a juvenile 16 years or
older as an adult will be taken by the Juvenile Justice Board, which will
have a judicial magistrate and two social workers as members. If the
board decides against it, the juvenile will be sent for rehabilitation.
4. The Child Welfare Committees will look at institutional care for
children in their respective districts. Each committee will have a
chairperson and four other members, all specialists in matters relating
to children.
5. India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
which mandates that all children under the age of 18 years be treated
equal. The pending bill has been criticised for violation of the
Convention.
6. Several Rehabilitation and Social Integration Measures for
institutional and non-institutional children.

Provides for sponsorship and foster care.
• The bill also deals with adoption of children and lays down the eligibility
criteria for adoptive parents. A central adoption resource agency will
frame the rules for adoption, which will be implemented by state and
district level agencies.


Marks in GS: 449

National Women Policy

• Aimed at “re-scripting” women’s empowerment by following a “
socially inclusive rights based approach”
• Roughly based on Pam Rajput Committee (2012) set up by MWCD
• Last time, women empowerment policy came in 2001
• Highlights:
o Create conducive socio-cultural environment for women to
develop their faculties, pursue their careers and life goals.
o Political rights for women to enable them to get full representation
in the political discourse in the country.
o Institutional Development: Effective Gender Institutional Structure
to enable implementation of gender policies
o Gender Budgeting, Inter-Sectoral convergence, stakeholder
partnerships, and collection of gender related data for better
policy making.
o Priority areas for women:
§ Nutrition [anemia, community nutrition, infant and young
child feeding]
§ Education
§ Health
§ Security
§ Governance and decision making
§ Violence against women
§ Environment and climate change
§ Enabling environment
o Schemes and Programs:
o Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (trilateral ministries: Ministry of Women
and Child Development, Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare)
• To address declining sex ratio of girls
• Objectives:
o Prevent gender based sex selective elimination
o Ensure survival & protection of the girl child
o Ensure education of the girl child
o Focus on gender critical districts and cities low on CSR for
intensive and integrated action.
o Training of panchayats.
o Sustained social mobilization and communication campaign.
o Stand Up India
o Mahila Bank
• Why Important:
o Poor child sex ratio of 918/1000 in 2011
Marks in GS: 449

Euthanasia
• Simone de Beauvoir in her book describes plight of her dying mother in
hospital as “death by intensive care”
• The plight of a dying patient can only be understood by their closest
family members, relatives and friends. Additionally, the debate cuts
across various ethical, legal, political, social and individual human rights.
• Arun Shanbaug Case: The long vegetative state [42 years] of beloved
nurse Aruna Shanbaug and a plight to the Supreme court to allow
carrying out euthanasia for her had led to the opening of debate on
Euthanasia in India.
1. Arguments Against:
a. Neglect of Healthcare by State:
i. The Court noted that euthanasia may encourage or
incentivize state to not take care of critical patients. In fact,
in Holland, the legalization of euthanasia has led to severe
decline in quality of care of terminally-ill patients.
ii. Commercialization of Health Care:
b. The court wisely noted that we cannot put the life of a person in
hands of commercial health sector (doctors) who could put to
death many older and disabled patients in the hospitals.
i. Malafide Intent:
ii. Additionally, unscrupulous elements in the family or
relative circle may not understand the best for the patient.
iii. Constitutional Right to Life — Article 21
iv. Hence, active euthanasia has been completely banned in
India.
2. Arguments in Favour of Euthanasia:
a. Right to Die with Dignity
b. Organ transplantation encouraged
i. Terminally ill patients may be encouraged to donate their
organs, thereby allowing “Right to live” for another
patient
c. The burden of the caregiver
i. The caregiver must provide all the possible treatments
regardless of the financial, legal and personal reasons as it
is only ethical thing to do.
d. Right to Refuse Care
i. Right to refuse care is recognized by the law and effectively
gives way for passive euthanasia.
3. Judicial Pronouncements

Marks in GS: 449
a. In Gian Kaur Case 1996, the Supreme Court has interpreted the
constitution’s Article 21 —Right to Life as an article that does not
include the Right to Die.
i. 2011: In this light, the Supreme Court has ruled in 2011
that only passive euthanasia can be administered in India.
ii. Passive euthanasia means that only withdrawal of life
support or nutrition is allowed, and doctors cannot
administer any medicine or drug to actually put the patient
to snuff out life.
iii. Additionally, the family members need to get a permission
from the relevant High Court.
iv. The HC chief justice would form a bench of 2 judges as well
as appoint 3 reputed doctors to administer such as decision.
v. The doctors must provide a report to the next of kin and the
state government in regard to this.
vi. Legislative Action
vii. Government has framed a new “Passive Euthansia” or “
Medical treatment for terminally ill patients” Bill
viii. Allows for a “Living Will” or “Advance Medical
Directive” by patients beforehand in terms of medical
treatment when they become ill
ix. A patient (above 16 years of age) will have full authority for
withholding medical care to himself or herself and allow the
nature to take its course.
x. Information regarding this has to passed on to parents,
relatives, friend etc. by the medical practitoner.

Education requirements needed for standing in elections:

Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of Haryana Law that disqualifies
candidates for Panchayati seats without requisite Educational requirements.

Positive effects :
9. Able leadership: Education imparts some level of technical
education and better understanding of various social, economic
and political.
10. Role Model: They can prove to be role model for rural masses
owing to criteria of maintaining sanitation, reduce open
defecation(having a functional toilet), promote spirit of
education.
11. Ensure that education is promoted in rural areas without bias
to both women and men

Negative effects:
1. Isolation of female strata: Limit participation on illiterate women in
panchayati raj institutions as their literacy rates are almost 10-15%
below men.

Marks in GS: 449
2. Against the principle of “one man one vote” → Against the Right to
Equality as per article 21 as it puts people with education on a
different plane and questions raised on its impact on Right to
Universal suffrage
3. Black marketing of bogus degrees and certificates could increases
4. Isolation of STs and SCs from the democratic process
5. Not providing education to the masses and high illiteracy in India is
failure of the government itself → citizens unduly suffering
6. Against the principles of “Direct Democracy”

Simultaneous Elections
1. From first elections in 1952 until 1967, election cycles in States and
the Center matched and all were held together.
2. From 1967, due to emergence of regional parties and the coalition era,
state governments were dissolved without fulfilling full five years of
their mandate. This led to non matching of election cycle in India.
3. Problems with staggered elections
a. Expensive: Election Commission in its report to the Law
Commission has estimated that cost of holding multiple elections
would be almost 50% lower than holding staggered elections
b. Hold on developmental activities: Due to MCC coming into force,
various development activities come to a hold.
c. Deployment of government officials and security forces
d. Communal forces and immoral activities due to money power and
musle power increase
4. Pros:
a. Decrease expense
b. Continuation in developmental policies and programs
c. Saving government apparatus from regular deployments on
election duty
d. Reduced money power and muscle power use
5. Cons:
a. Challenge to the federal structure of India
b. Voters tend to vote for same party during elections at the same
time
c. National issues will dominate the agenda and regional issues will
take a backseat

6. Water Crisis and Water as state subject
a. Water problem has many dimensions in India:
i. Scarcity of water
ii. Inter-state water disputes such as Cauvery river water
iii. International water disputes such as Teesta river
water with Bangladesh
iv. Pollution of river water


Marks in GS: 449

Pressure Groups
1. Attempt to bring changes to Public Policy
2. Lobbying, publicity, correspondence, petitioning, public debates,
contacts with their legislators.
3. Also use strikes, violent activities and corruption which damages
public interest and administrative integrity.
4. Electioneering, Lobbying, Propagandizing
5. India:
a. Business groups such as FICCI, ASSOCHAM
b. Trade Unions such as AITUC, BMS, INTUC
c. Agrarian groups such as AIKS, BKU, BKS
d. Professional associations such as Indian Medical association, Bar
Council of India
e. Student Organizations such as AISU, ABVP
f. Religious: RSS, VHP, J-e-I
g. Caste: Marwari association, Kayastha Sabha
h. Tribal: All India Jharkhand, NSCN
i. Linguistic: Tamil Sangh
j. Ideology: Narmada Bachao Andolan, Chipko Movement, Gandhi
Peace Foundation

Alternate dispute redressal mechanism

1. Tools: ARBITRATION, CONCILIATION AND MEDIATION
2. Arbitration: a trained neutral third party resolves the case. Binding
reward. Arbitrator nominated by the court.
3. Conciliation: A compromise is made. Not binding.
4. Mediation: A consensual decision is reached by disputing parties
themselves. A mediator is selected whose authority rests on
agreement by the two contesting parties.
5. The conciliator is in the Indian context, often a Government official
whose report contains recommendations. So far as Department of
Legal Affairs is concerned, this Department provides annual recurring
Grants-in-aid to National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) which is a
statutory body.
6. As regards the promotion of alternative methods of dispute
resolution, the International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ICADR) was set up by the Department of Legal Affairs as an
autonomous body registered under the Societies Registration Act,
1860.


Marks in GS: 449
Public Interest Litigations
6. “Public interest Litigation“, in simple words, means, litigation
filed in a court of law, for the protection of “Public Interest”,
such as Pollution, Terrorism, Road safety, Constructional
hazards etc. [filed in 1979 in India for the first time --
Hussainara Khatoon v State of Bihar on pitiable conditions of
prisoners. Led to release of 40000 prisoners]
7. Public interest litigation (PIL) was a revolutionary concept
initiated with a laudable object. In the words of the Supreme
Court of India, it was aimed at “fostering and developing the
laudable concept of PIL and extending its long arm of sympathy
to the poor, the ignorant, the oppressed and the needy whose
fundamental rights are infringed and violated and whose
grievances go unnoticed, un-represented and unheard”.
8. However PIL been used by NGOs who are becoming “Proxy
Litigants” or “a front for settling corporate rivalry or personal
vendetta”
9. Advantages:
a. Made justice more accessible for the poor.
b. Dramatic improvements in environmental conditions and
human rights due to PILs
c. Landmark PIL judgments:
i. Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan or Vishaka Case on guidelines
about sexual harassment
ii. DK Basu Case that shaped DK Basu Guidelines for treatment of
undertrial and arrested people.
iii. TSR Subramaniam Case
iv. Prakash Singh Case on Police Reforms
10. Misuse examples:
a. Public interest litigation was filed for “reliefs” such as
private planes and special transport for the higher
judiciary. -- Filed in Uttar Pradesh by a lawyer for
publicity.
b. Misuse for:
i. Political purposes “political interest litigations” or
ii. Publicity “publicity interest litigations”
iii. Private -- “private interest litigations”
c. Hidden litigants used for settling business problems or
scores
7. The third and equally disturbing aspect is the misuse of PIL by hidden
litigants. This is happening in all sorts of matters; rival business
groups are settling scores by resort to PILs. Persons who describe
themselves as “public spirited persons” and others as “social
organisations” spring up overnight to canvass these causes.


Marks in GS: 449
Uniform Civil Code
1. Shah Bano Case 1985 and Danial Latifi case 2001
2. Shayara Banu Case -- fight against triple talaq
3. Article 44 DPSP
4. Reform of personal law is not enough as personal law themselves
could be restrictive. For example: Muslim women are not allowed to
adopt children under personal law.
5. Hindu Code Bill 1955 -- Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act,
Special Marriage Act -- problem: Registration not required by Hindu
Marriage Act therefore child marriages could continue
6. Muslim Personal Law Application Act allows muslims in India to be
governed by Shariat Law as per their choice.
7. Goa is the only state with UCC as per the Portuguese civil code

Ordinance Making Power

• Article 123
• This is a legislative power in hands of the executive, thereby negatively
affecting “Separation of Powers Doctrine”
• DC Wadhwa v. State of Bihar -- 259 instances of ordinances in one year by
Bihar government
• RC Cooper vs. Union of India -- ordinance must meet some conditions

AERB and Nuclear Security Structure in India

1. Raja Ramanna Committee was the first one to raise the question of
nuclear security regulatory structure.
2. CAG has also pointed out that AERB is not independent and a National
Nuclear Safety Authority must be formed for this purpose.
3. 2014 “Nuclear Materials Security Index” prepared by Nuclear
Threat Initiative (NTI) ranks India low at 23 out of 25 countries.
4. Currently, the AERB regulates Indian nuclear civilian security
structure. However, AERB is not independent as it is under the Atomic
Energy Commission only. [Dept. of Atomic Energy]
5. It cannot oversee defence nuclear infra.
6. No established by an Act but by government order.

RTI
1. RTI’s significance lies in its mandate to promote transparency,
accountability and participation of citizens in government.
2. Problems:
a. Lack of manpower as many top posts in the Information
commissions are empty
b. Attacks on various RTI activists are raising questions on law and
order condition

Marks in GS: 449
c. Close to 25,000 appeals are in backlog

Aadhar and Right to Privacy

1. Aadhar card has raised concerns of privacy as it uses biometric
information and important demographic data of individuals. At the
same time, it promises to enable efficient and timely delivery of public
services via direct benefits transfer.
2. Amidst these concerns, various government depts. have approached
the Supreme Court requesting it to relieving them from its orders to
provide services to the poor without the need of Aadhar card.
3. However, Supreme Court has refused this and raised many
constitutional questions and observations.
4. Poor cannot “surrender” their privacy rights to get benefits:
a. Firstly, the poor do not need to surrender their right to privacy in
order to avail these public benefits. This would differentiate
between the rights of poor and the rich.
5. The middle path can be reached by government in addressing both the
efficient and timely delivery of services as promised by Aadhar as well
as doing its most to protect rights of the poorest people.
6. This can be done by allowing citizens to opt-in to waive their rights of
privacy if they want in order to use Aadhar related subsidies.

Legislative Councils -- abolish or allow?

Why needed:
1. Check on hasty actions of the assembly
2. Allows more debate on topics
3. Individuals who are experts in respective fields and not able to get
elected in popular elections are able to contribute to law making
process

Abolish:
1. Does not have effective power as assembly can reject all amendments
proposed by it
2. Leaders with influence who lose elections are nominated to this House
or people with relations with political leaders
3. Strain state finances -- Approx. Rs. 100 crore are required to establish
and then Rs. 20 crore per year to run it as per standing committee

Procedure:
1. State must pass the resolution with special majority in assembly to
create or abolish it
2. Then must be passed by the Parliament as well


Marks in GS: 449
Standing Committee of the Parliament has recommended a National Policy with
regards to creating the second chamber in various states.

Human Rights Institutions in India

According to the Paris Principles Relating to Status of National Institutions
(1993), which serve as an international benchmark, independence from the
government is one of the most crucial elements in building effective human
rights institutions.

This principle is seriously undermined whenever there is political interference in
appointments and whenever the tenure and stability of these institutions is
subject to the whims and fancies of the government.

The judiciary has played its part well by revoking such arbitrary appointments,
but now it is for the government to demonstrate its willingness to establish
strong and independent institutions according to the rule of law.

1. NHRC
2. National Commission for Protection of Children’s Rights
3. National Disaster Management Committee
4. National Commission for Women

Problems:
1. Used by political parties to appoint their own known people thereby
promoting nepotism instead of merit. [selection on political grounds]
2. The selection process hence remains opaque.
3. Removal of heads and members is seen during change of government.

Violations of MCC; Should it be part of RPA?

1. 2013 Parliamentary committee stated that provisions that do not have
statutory backing be given such backing
a. Example use of public vehicles, combining official work with
election campaigns
2. Examples of violations:
a. A law minister was censured by the president after EC filed a
complaint against him for violating MCC by announcing a scheme
when MCC was in force

Marks in GS: 449
b. Election Commission served a show cause notice to Bengal chief
minister Mamta Banerjee for announcing a new district
3. In such case, the accused should issue apology
a. FIR was lodged against Assam ex-CM Tarun Gogoi for holding
press conference in Guwahati during polling
4. MCC is hinged totally on Morality and does not have any basis in the
law
5. Give power of judicial action in such cases to Election Commission
itself
a. Counter: will affect the separation of powers doctrine
6. Filing an FIR, even though not with much repercussions, sends a
strong message to the people and they view the leader as ethically
wrong.
7. A lot of MCC’s provisions also fall under Indian Penal Code anyways
so incorrect to say that it has no legal backing
8. Will lead to needless legal cases

Inquiry into Civil Servants:

Protections provided:
Article 311
• A civil servant cannot be dismissed by any authority that is subordinate to
the one by which he was appointed.
• An enquiry is important to present the information of the charges he has
been framed with and to give him the ‘Right to be heard’.

DSPE Section 6A
• Prior Concurrence on registration of a case: Section 6A of the DSPE Act
1946
• Section 6A of DSPE was abolished by SC as it is against Article 14

Recommendations by Committees:
• AD Gorwala Committee Report, 1951 → Greater understanding between
ministers and civil servants
• Hota Committee, 2004
o Amending certain sections in the Prevention of corruption Act and
code of Criminal procedure to protect honest civil servants
• Code of Ethics
• Public evaluation of performances

T.S.R Subramanium vs Union of India
• Creation of an independent Civil Services Board both at the Centre and
the State for promotion and transfers of bureaucrats

Marks in GS: 449
• Provision of fixed tenure in service giving them protection against biased
transfer by politicians
• All bureaucrats should record the directives given to them from their
administrative superiors and political authorities

Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1955, have been amended and a
new clause inserted-
• The Central Government, in consultation with the State Government or
State Governments concerned, may determine the tenure of all or any of
the cadre posts specified for the State concerned in item 1 of the Schedule
to the Indian Administrative Service (Fixation of Cadre Strength)
Regulation, 1955
• A cadre officer appointed to any post for which the tenure has been so
determined, shall hold the minimum tenure as prescribed except in the
event of promotion, retirement, deputation outside the State or training
exceeding two months
• An officer may be transferred before the minimum prescribed tenure only
on the recommendation of a Committee on Minimum Tenure as specified
in the Schedule annexed to these rules

Steps taken by Supreme Court:
• Spend a minimum of two years in a posting before they can be transferred
• Setting up of a Civil Services Board to check political interference
• Advices with regards to appointments and postings should be recorded
ensuring transparency and accountability

Impact on the Officer:
• Motivation is important. The loss of morale when asked to leave behind
his/her vision and a failed opportunity to bring about a change is painful.
• Uncertainty of tenure leads to fear and instability in the mind that should
be without fear for the proper delivery of services.
• Incentives encourage hard work but punishment attracts more
malfunctioning, crippling the quality of governance.

Way forward:
• The nature of transfer should be done in an independent manner on
sound administrative grounds that are clearly spelt out.
• Fixed Tenures for critical ranks like DGPs, District SPs & SHOs; to ensure
smooth functioning of administration
• The tenure should be directly linked to performance targets and fast-
track advancements on the basis of forward-looking career management
policies and techniques should be managed by autonomous Personnel
Boards for assisting the high level political authorities in making key
decisions.
• Civil service boards should be constituted under statutory provisions
• The repeated shuffling is a menace for good governance and if the officer
is concerned about the disruption in the flow of services due to his

Marks in GS: 449
transfer, he should be given a chance to take his case before an
Ombudsman.
• Ministers must uphold the political impartiality of the civil service and not
ask the civil servants to act in any way which would conflict with the
duties and responsibilities of the civil servants.

Civil Services — Posting Officers indiscriminately — Blurred division of

Responsibility- Case of Punishment Posting
• In India, the elected representatives are responsible to the people and the
civil servants are responsible to the Ministers. Due to some vested
interests, ‘political neutrality’ has paved way for ‘political
interferences’ and this has led to the phenomena of ‘politicisation of the
civil service’.
• Recently, the cases of arbitrary and questionable moves by the political
masters have increased manifold and has strengthened the temptation to
resort to collusive practices to avoid untimely transfers and to play safe,
giving rise to ‘political neutrality’ as a new hallmark.

Recent examples
• Maria, who was heading the high-profile Sheena Bora murder case was
shunted out of the post and promoted as Director General of Police Home
Guards.
• “Tried hard to address corruption and bring reforms in Transport despite
severe limitations and entrenched interests. Moment is truly painful.” –
Khemka(46th transfer in the service of 22 years)

Constitutional Provisions
• Articles 53 and 154 vests the executive power of the Union and the States
in the President or Governor directly or through officers subordinate to
him and these officers constitute the permanent civil service governed by
Part XIV of the Constitution.
• The President or Governor is required to act according to the aid and
advice of his/her Council of Ministers, appointed under Articles 73 and
163 of the Constitution and this grants a political colour to the work-
process.
• The Minister has the mandate of the people to govern, but the Secretary
has an equivalent constitutional mandate to advise the Minister. Once
his/her advice has been suitably considered, unless the Minister passes
an illegal order, the Secretary is bound to implement it and the Minister is
required to support the Secretary who is implementing his/her order.

DROUGHT -- parameters and the new Drought Crisis Management Plan:
Drought is a slow-onset, complex phenomenon of ecological challenge that
affects people directly. The five parameters used to assess drought in India are
related to the availability of:

1. Drinking water,

Marks in GS: 449
2. Irrigation water,
3. Fodder
4. Foodgrains, and
5. the requirement of energy sector
6. The manual brought out in 2015 gives four important measures that a
State (in co-operation with Union) government should take at the time
of a drought:
1. MGNREGA to provide immediate employment to drought-
affected people, however the scheme suffers from huge pay-
delays in drought affected regions of MP and Telangana,
making people unwilling to work. Where they are willing, they
suffer from problems of access to the scheme.
2. PDS should be strengthened to provide food and fodder as a
measure to sustain the rural economy, but the PDS is also a
malfunctioning system with no guarantee of food security in
states like UP.
3. Act to recharge the groundwater table by building check dams,
providing pipeline water and other irrigation facilities, but
these require long term planning which only a few states have
undertaken. The scarcity of drinking water has also gone up,
causing community/caste conflicts.
4. Either waive off or defer farmer loans and arrange for crop loss
compensation-however, this strategy only addresses the
symptoms and not the root cause of droughts

The Supreme court has also directed the Center and the state to release funds
immediately on the onset of a drought.

Two consecutive years of droughts have resulted in mass migration, starvation
deaths, malnutrition and livelihood crisis, need of the hour is to undertake long-
term prevention and precaution building approaches that do not appear as mere
firefighting at the eleventh hour of crisis.


Marks in GS: 449

Monsoon
Indian ocean has been warming at an alarming rate due to following reasons:-
1. Land Locked Ocean in the North
a. The Indian ocean is landlocked in the north unlike other oceans
like Atlantic or Pacific. Thus, it is not able to flush out the
accumulated heat to the poles. So, the heat pile persists for a
longer period.
2. Human induced activities:
a. These activities increase GreenHouse Gases (GHGs) in the
atmosphere thus heating it; and a large share of this heat is
absorbed by the oceans
3. El nino magnitude gone up.
a. when El nino (prolonged warming of Pacific ocean) emerges in
Pacific Ocean, the atmospheric circulation between Pacific and
Indian ocean leads to accumulation of heat in Indian ocean. As El
nino is on rise, the warming of Indian ocean is also faster.

Although, the higher temperature of the Indian ocean should translate into more
rainfall over the adjoining coastal areas of south Asia, this is not happening due
to the weakened monsoon winds blowing over the ocean. Thus ensuring that it
rains over the ocean itself.

The monsoon winds have weakened due to the warming of the ocean itself, as in
the summer the land is warmer than the ocean so the winds travel from sea to
land, however now that the ocean is also significantly warmer, the winds have
lost the urgency to travel landwards.

Women Safety in India

JUSTICE JS VERMA COMMITTEE → set up after the Nirbhaya case in Delhi.

The important recommendations are as follows:
1. Rape

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a. Retain rape as separate offence and modify the definition of rape
as any non-consensual penetration of sexual nature.
b. Include marital rape in the definition of rape.
c. Set up rape crisis cell which will be notified on any FIR related to
sexual offence and will provide legal assistance to the victims.
2. Offences against women in conflict areas.
a. Remove requirement for central govt. sanction in cases of alleged
sexual offence.
b. Appoint commissioners in conflict areas to monitor and prosecute
officials found guilty of sexual offences.
c. Reorient army training to inculcate strict observance in this
regard.
3. Police reforms
a. establish state security commissions to protect state police from
any interference by state govt.s
b. Police stations should have CCTV camera in the entrance and the
questioning room.
4. Electoral reforms
a) Amend Representation of People Act to include sexual offences as
the basis for disqualification of any candidate.
b) Sitting members of Parliament with cases booked against them
must step down.
5. Education reforms
1. Sexual education should be imparted in schools as it will make
children more aware.
2. Carry out Adult literacy programs as it will lead to gender
empowerment.
6. Judicial Reforms + others:
1. The strength of judges should be strengthened with due
consideration to quality.
2. All marriages should be registered and dowry transactions
stopped. New medical protocol must be suggested for rape
victims and laws should cover sexuality minorities.
3. Crackdown on the unconstitutional Khap panchayats from
acting as a parallel legal system.
4. Travelling in public transport should be made safer, especially
for women.

PCPNDT
Change in patriarchal attitude is also need of the hour. There should be a change
in the way society looks upon women. Community awareness programs and
educating people on these issues will help a lot in raising the status of women in
society.

Objectives and Implementation of PCPNDT Act

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The PCPNDT Act, 1994 applied a blanket ban on pre-natal sex determination.
This was done to:
-- Stop female foeticides
-- Arrest the declining sex ratio

Child sex ratio has declined from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011 showcasing how
this act has not helped the reduction of female foeticide.

OBJECTIVES
a) Prohibition of sex selection techniques before or after conception.
b) Regulate Pre natal diagnostic techniques for detecting genetic or
metabolic or congenital malformations or sex linked disorders.
c) Prevent misuse of such techniques for the purpose of sex determination
of female foeticide.

REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF THE ACT...
a) Women are not aware of their rights under the act.
b) There is a gap between the availability of the funds and their effective
utilisation .
c) Incomplete paperwork related to the act from clinic records, case related
documents etc.
d) Inadequate monitoring of the clinics as most of the states do not have
detailed plans for strict implementation.
e) Lack of witnesses and insufficient evidences thereby resulting in low
conviction rates..

However the ban should not be lifted as it will act as a deterrence for the doctor
and he will not indulge himself in any wrong doing ,the onus to safeguard foetus
will then be on female,ban on sex selection advertisements,easy detection of sex
linked disorders, congenital malformations etc.

Way forward.

• The government should provide financial support to the states and UT's
for operationalisation of pndt cells,capacity building, sensitisation
workshops etc
• Information, education and communication campaigns and strengthening
the structures for the implementation of PCPNDT act.
• States to focus on districts /blocks/ villages with low child sex ratio to
ascertain the causes and to plan appropriate behavioral changes.
• Mobilize civil society as agents of change and community level watchdogs
of malpractices.


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Whistleblowing encouraged by Companies Act 2013

a) Corporate Governance is much stronger in Companies Act 2013.
b) Mandated a vigilance mechanism. This has led to many firms creating a
procedure for employees to effectively use whitleblowing in companies.
c) Coupled with other sections that place a criminal liability on board
members for non-compliance and wrongdoing.
d) Audit committee in the company to have periodic reviews.
e) For example: A driver in a major IT firm in Banglaore became a
whistleblower on the CEO who was running a parallel firm.
a. Tata and Mahindra & Mahindra has started an external hotline to
report such issues.
b. Ranbaxy found out about falsification of data from an employee
and took steps to own up their mistakes and settle with the US
FDA.

Forest Rights Act, 2006 and people’s ability to protect their land and forest
rights
1. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 provides the right to tribal communities
for governing, using and conserving their local forest resources and
land through the provision of gram sabhas Provides:
a. Title Rights → cannot be reveresed if once given to tribals
b. Use Rights
c. Relief and Developmental right
d. Forest management rights

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2. However, this act has been poorly implemented and enforced, and
many adivasi communities have faced alienation from their own land
and forest resources.
a. Example: Recent acqusition of traditional lands in GHATBARRA
village in Chattisgarh
3. Veto by Advasi gram panchayats to mining and hydroelectric dams:
a. Recently, (may 2016) 5 Adivasi villages in Raigarh, Chattisgarh,
unanimously vetoed plans of South Eastern Coalfields Limited
(SECL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited to mine their forests.
b. Some more adivasi villages in Odisha also decided not to award
land to “Rungta mines” project
4. Judicial Action
a. NGT ruled that before constructing hydroelectric project, Himachal
Power Corporation place approval before the Lippa village gram
sabha in Kinnaur.
b. Supreme Court also ruled in May 2016 that Odisha Mining
Corporation must seek the premising of gram sabhas for mining
proposal in Niyamgiri hills. [For Vedanta Mining Project] — Dongria
Kondh Adivasis
5. Provisions of the Act
a. Provides the forest tribal communities the right to govern, use and
conserve forests through gram sabhas.
b. Also, process of recognition of rights needs the screening and
approval at taluqa level and then district level as well.
6. Some negative developments:
a. Maharastra state government has passed regulations that ensured
that forest department retained control over forest management,
which includes the large-scale trade and sale of forest produce.
b. Similar rules also notified by the Madhya Pradesh government.
c. This poses threat to the empowering provisions of the FRA.
7. UN provisions
a. UN Declaration of Rights of the Indigenous People also highlights
the principle of “free and prior informed consent” enshrined in
its international agreements.

Tribal Problems
1. Change in demographic balance in North Eastern States
a. While NE states comprise of 12% of total tribal population in India,
majority of these state have >50% of their population formed by
tribals.
b. Hence, unlike Central Indian states where tribals have been
minorities, NE tribals enjoy majorities and hence their issues are
not sidelined easily.
c. However, the rapid immigration of non-tribals into these areas has
tilted the balance of population.
d. Since 1951, Arunachal’s tribal population proportion has decline
from 90% to 64% in 1991, Tripura from 56% to 30% and Bodos
have become a minority in many districts as well.

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2. Sixth Schedule Provisions
a. The 6th schedule provisions were enacted to provide greater
autonomy for the tribal states in handling their developmental and
social concerns.
b. However, the implementation of the 6th schedule provisions to
devolve power to the lowest level and introduce democratic
provisions have not worked because of the local tribal systems
that have been in place in these areas.
3. Privatization of Communal Lands
a. Adverse impact of privatization of land on women’s position due
to lack of heredity rights.
4. Funds are available but lack of capacity to spend them — human
resources, institutions are weak and lack of planning, transparency
and accountability.
a. Lack of Planning departments
5. Human Development Indicators — health and education services

Street Dog Menace

• 20 million people bitten by dogs every year in India and over 20,000 die
of rabies every year.
• A large number of vehicle accidents happen due to dogs.
• Many of these are children, old people and women.
• Over 50 million dogs on roads in India → financially very difficult to
sterilize them.

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• Legislation
o Ministry of Culture issued Animal Birth Control Rules (ABC Rules)
under Prevention of Cruelty on Animals Act, 1960
§ Sterilization must be used to control dog population on
streets.
§ Other rules of PCA are self-contradictory → for example no
provision for treat of dogs captured by municipalities.
§ The Act also does not classify dogs as either wildlife or
domesticated animals.
§ Rules also forbid euthanizing of rabid dogs.
• Internationally dogs are routinely euthanized. In US, HUmane Society
euthanized 3.4 million unowned dogs and cats. In UK a dog that is
considered dangerous can be “destroyed”

Budgeting in India -- Constitutional provisions

Budget was first introduced in India in 1860 during the colonial rule. Later on,
after independence, provisions relating to budget were included in the
constitution.
Some of the constitutional provisions are as follows:-
1. On President's recommendation (Art. 117(1) and 117(3)) The
finance minister lays down the budget before the parliament
for its approval as parliament is the sole authority on finances
of the country. It legislates the taxes to be levied (Art. 265) and
authorizes expenditure from the consolidated fund of India
(Art. 266).
2. The Budget, which is known by 'Annual Financial Statement' in
the constitution (Art. 112), provides a statement of estimated
receipts and expenditure for the financial year under three
accounts - consolidated fund of India, Contingency fund of India
and Public Accounts.
3. The Budget consists of two parts - Revenue Budget and Capital
budget. Revenue Budget talks about Proceeds of taxes,
interests and dividends on investments made by government,
fees and other receipts for services rendered by the
government. The Capital budget gives details for capital
receipts and payments, including loans from public or
borrowing from Reserve Bank etc.
4. Procedure in Parliament

• Demand for Grants
o The expenditure estimates from Consolidated fund are voted by
the Lok Sabha in the form of Demand for Grants which are
arranged ministry wise. (Art. 113)
• Appropriation Bill

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o It is introduced to give authority to government to appropriate
monies out of Consolidated fund to incur expenditure.
• Finance Bill
o It is a money bill and is introduced along-with the budget. It
provides for imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or
regulation or taxes proposed in the budget.
• Vote-on-account, vote of credit and exceptional grant
o Vote on account deals with expenditure pending the passing of
Demand for grants and appropriation bill. Lok Sabha makes grants
in advance to authorise the withdrawal of money for such period
(Art. 116). Vote of credit refers to the grants that Lok Sabha makes
for meeting unexpected demands.

Women in Sports needed. Why?

The need for popularizing women’s game arises from the following –
1. Enhance India’s ability to win at women-centred events like
gymnastics and synchronized swimming in world-events like
Olympics
2. Encourage sports as an alternative career avenue for women,
leading to greater participation and raising the quality of
women’s game
3. Women sport-stars can be a better medium to fight against
social evils like female foeticide, dowry system etc.
4. Research papers show that sports lower stress levels and
improves confidence which can be effective in countering
increasing suicide rates and obesity among urban Indian
women
5. Can have a positive spill-over effect for women into other
sectors such as startups, armed forces etc.

Steps which can be taken to popularize women’s game are –
1. Equal remuneration to women and men in sports as was done in Wimbledon
in 2007
2. Extending the Lodha Panel’s recommendation of including women in Player
Associations to participate in decision-making, to all sports
3. Obliging sponsors to sign sponsorship deals with both men and women’s
team as a single unit, especially in cricket where the asymmetry is high
4. Greater coverage to women’s sports in national channels and disseminating
information about women sports-stars through interviews, documentaries
etc.
5. Setting up a Commission to look into cases of asymmetric funding,
infrastructural deficiencies, lack of women coaches etc.


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CONSTITUTION of INDIA
Historical Overview of the Constitution
The process of the formation and evolution of the Constitution of India is based
in long history. It started with introduction of Regulating Acts to administer the
territories under Company rule from 1773. After the company rule was ended in
1858, the Crown took over the control of British territories in India and started
decentralizing administrative power, very gradually, to the provincial level.
Many controversial changes were made in the Charter Acts (acts governing the
administration of Indian government) like the Morley Minto Reforms of 1909,
which introduced communal electorates, and shaped the dark history of
communalism in India. Eventually, the India Independence Act was passed in
1947, and formation of constituent assembly with leaders like Nehru, MN Roy
and BR Ambedkar, who shaped the Constitution as we have today.
**All Acts etc. in notes of History of Modern India**
Summary:
Company Rule:
1. Regulating Act of 1773
a. Created Governor General of Bengal and all the governors in
British Indian territories came under him. Lord Warren Hastings
was the first one.
b. Created a Supreme Court est. at Calcutta in 1774
c. Court of Directors (governing body of the company) to provide
report of revenue, civil and military affairs in India to the British
2. Pitt’s India Act of 1784
a. Created Board of Control that took over military affairs of the
Company in India
b. Court of Directors now responsible only for revenues and
commercial interests
c. First time the Indian territories called British possessions.
3. Charter Act of 1833
a. Governor General of Bengal became the Governor General of India
b. Governor General of India given exclusive legislative and executive
powers
c. Company just became an administrative body now, not even a
commercial body any more
d. Open civil services introduced, but allowing Indians to take it was
opposed
4. Charter Act of 1853
a. Legislative and Executive powers of the Governor General of India
separated
b. 6 member council formed to advise Governor General of India -
Indian Legislative Council “mini parliament”
c. Open civil services exam on a competitive basis
d. Introduced local representation in the Indian Legislative Council -
4 were elected from local provinces of Madras, Bengal, Bombay
and Agra
Crown Rule:
1. Government of India Act 1858 — “Act for Good Governance of India”

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a. Passed all the powers of the Company to the Crown and ended
company rule effectively. British territories of India were now
under the Crown and the Parliament directly.
b. Office of Governor General abolished and that of Viceroy of India
created. Lord Canning was the first Viceroy. He would fall under
the Secretary of State, who was part of the British Cabinet. Hence,
the powers of administering India came directly under the British
Parliament.
c. 15 member council (known as Council of India) created to assist
the Secretary of State in India. Council was an advisory body.
d. Sec. of State in-council a body corporate, capable of suing and
being sued in India and in England.
e. The Council of India was exclusively English, with some nominees
of the Crown and others representatives of the Directors of the
East India company.
f. All powers, military, civil, executive and legislative vested in the
Governor General responsible to the Secretary of state.
g. Didn’t change the system of government in India, just changed its
administrative functions
2. India Councils Act 1861 (Indians as non-official members, Ordinance
power, decentralization of power started, new legislative councils,
Portfolio System)
a. Provided that viceroy should include Indians as non-official
members in his extended council.
b. These were nominated and not popularly elected
i. Lord Canning nominated: Raja of Banares, Maharaja of
Patiala and Sir Dinkar Rao
c. Started decentralizing the administration of India by restoring
legislative powers to Bombay and Madras.
d. Established new legislative councils of Punjab, Bengal, NW
Frontier etc.
e. Empowered Viceroy to issue ordinances without concurrence of
the legislative council, during an emergency, the life of which was
six months and he also became in charge of the departments of
government in India.
f. “Portfolio system” — Lord Canning 1859: one or more members
of the council made in-charge of depts. and issued final orders on
behalf of the council on matters of his department.
3. India Councils Act of 1892
a. Pretty much the same, added some more features which were
largely
4. Morley Minto Reforms of 1909
a. Increased the size of the legislative councils both at the Centre and
in Provinces.
b. Enlarged the deliberative functions of the legislative council as
members were allowed to ask supplemental questions
c. Allowed for the association of Indian members to the Viceroy’s
Executive council. Satyendra Prasad Sinha was the first Indian to
join the Viceroy’s council.

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d. Introduced communal representation of Muslims in a “separate
electorate”
5. Montague-Chelmsford Reforms 1919
a. System of dyarchy was introduced in India for the first time, with
the separation of lists on which decisions could be taken by the
Centre and Provinces respectively.
b. "The Reserved" List was introduced which was a list of items on
which only the Central Council could take decisions (with Viceroy
and his executive council) and make laws, while a “Transferred”
list was introduced on which the Provincial Legislative Council
(Governor and executive council) would take decisions and make
laws.
c. Hence, the process of decentralization was further expanded and
provisions were made to introduce self-governance in the
provinces. Introduced provincial budget and Central budgets.
However, provinces were not autonomous and didn’t have
complete power over finances, due to which this system was
largely unsuccessful.
d. Introduced, Bicameralism for the first time in India and direct
elections. The Indian Legislative council was replaced by the Upper
House and the Lower House.
e. 3 of 6 members of the Viceroy’s executive council were Indians
f. Expanded communal representation to Christians, Anglo Indians
and Europeans
g. Franchise granted to a very few people only on the basis of taxes,
property etc.
6. Simon Commission – 1927
7. Communal Award – 1932
8. Government of India Act 1935
a. At the Provincial Level
b. Ended the system of Dyarchy at the Provincial level as introduced
by the GOI Act 1919 and introduced Provincial Autonomy
c. The grant of a large measure of autonomy to the provinces of
British India (ending the system of dyarchy introduced by the
Government of India Act 1919)
d. The Provincial Governors retained important reserve powers, and
e. The British authorities also retained a right to suspend responsible
government.
f. Now direct elections to be held hence the ministers were
collectively responsible to the provincial legislature
g. Communal award was introduced and depressed classes, in
addition to Muslims, Christians etc., were now given reserved seats
in the legislature
h. Provision for the establishment of a “Federation of India”, to be
made up of both British India and some or all of the “princely
states”.
i. Introduction of Direct Elections hence increasing the franchise
from 7 million to 35 million
j. Reorganization of the provinces

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k. At the Central Level:
i. Dyarchy and Bicameral Legislatures
ii. Reserved and Transfered list at this level.
iii. Reserved: Defence, External Affairs, Tribal Areas
administration
iv. Bicameral Legislature
v. Council of States: Elected Directly
vi. Federal Assembly: Elected Indirectly
l. Establishment of a Federal Court
9. India Independence Act 194

Derivations from foreign constitutions in the Indian Constitution:
1. Appointment of President - not on American lines
2. Appointment of the Governor - not on American lines but on Canadian
lines
3. American constitution designed as a Federal constitution where
regardless of situations in the country, the country is always kept in
tight mould of federalism. In India, BR Ambedkar and constitution
designers took a different route as they decided to make it a Unitary as
well as Federal system according to the conditions of the time and
circumstances. In normal times, it works as a federal system, but in
times of emergency it becomes more of a unitary system.(Articles 352-
360 outline the emergency provisions)

Formation of the Indian Constitution or Making of the Constitution

The Constitution of India was formed through a process of formation of
constituent assembly which drafted, debated, deliberated, amended and finally
formed a final Constitution of India. The process has historical roots in the
British administration in India from the Company rule to the Crown rule. It
derived many functions of administration and division of power and duties from
various Regulating Acts and Government of India Acts passed by the British in
India. Eventually, it was drafted under the leadership of Dr. BR Ambedkar, who
along with other drafting committee members adopted various practices and
methods from other constitutions in the democratic world. The Constitution was
adopted finally in Nov. 1949 with the seal of the Constituent assembly of India.

Major Events in the formation of Indian Constitution:
1. MN Roy’s demand and call for formation of a constituent assembly
1934
2. Nehru’s call for formation of an independent constituent assembly
1938
3. Cripps’ mission to establish constituent assembly in India 1942 -
rejected by Muslim League which was demanding two nations and a
separate constituent assembly
4. Cabinet Mission sent to India to form constituent assembly 1946 -
proposed the formation of constituent assembly in India and
structured the division of seats in the assembly to British Provinces
(consisting of communal seats among General, Muslims and Sikhs,

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which were to be elected through a vote in these provinces) and
Princely States (members nominated by the head of the respective
states)
a. Proportional representation of British provinces and also of the
Princely states
5. Objectives Resolution proposed by Nehru in 1946 in the Constituent
assembly which proclaimed India as a sovereign country and draw up
for her governance a constitution. - unanimously adopted
6. Princely states representatives who had stayed away gradually
started joining the constituent assembly
7. Mountbatten Plan proposed for the division of India and Pakistanf and
adopted by the Muslim Leagure in June 1947
8. India Independence Act of 1947 also gave power to the constituent
assembly to form the constitution
9. Rajendra Prasad elected President of the Constituent Body (framing of
the constitution) and GV Mavlankar the chair of the legislative body
(for enacting laws)
10. The Drafting committee of the Constituent assembly was created to
pen down the preamble, basic features and a framework for the
governance of the newly formed India and its states.
11. The Drafting committee considered various aspects of the Indian
political, social and economic society in pre and post-independence
India
12. The major features of the Constitution were: Preamble which defined
the major driving themes of the constitution and derivation of power
of the Indian constitution, formation of bicameral legislatures at the
Centre and the States, the Federal structure of the Government of
India, the provision of Fundamental Rights and Directives Principles
of State Policy, the executive at the centre and the state levels (office
of the President, Prime Minister, Governor etc.).
Major Committees:
1. Union Power Committee: Nehru
2. Union Constitution Committee: Nehru
3. Provincial Constitution Committee: Sardar Patel
4. Drafting Committee: BR Ambedkar
5. Advisory Committee on FRs, Minorities, Tribal and Excluded Areas:
Sardar Patel
6. Rules of Procedure Committee: Rajendra Prasad
7. States Committee (negotiating with States): Nehru
8. Steering Committee: Rajendra Prasad
Drafting Committee:
1. BR Ambedkar
2. Ayyangar
3. Ayyar
4. Munshi
5. Saadullah
6. Madhava Rau - replaced by BL Mitter
7. Kirshnamachari replaced by DP Khaitan

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Enactment - Nov 26, 1949, Enforcement - Jan 26, 1950 (same day as call for
Purna Swaraj in Lahore session 1930)

Historical Precedence and Evolution of Fundamental Rights in India
1. In England, there’s no written constitution and no Bill of Rights. The
Fundamental Rights are more negative in the UK, in that a citizen
enjoys all the basic human rights, as long as she does not violate any
ordinary law of the land. The judiciary protects the legal rights of
citizens in the UK, and protects their rights from the tyranny of the
Executive. However, the judiciary has no power over the Legislature.
The Legislature has full power to thwart any of the rights as it pleases.
Hence, the supremacy of Parliament or its “omnipotence” exists in the
UK. Therefore, there is no right which can be said to be “fundamental”
in the proper sense of the word.
a. Another vital consequence of the supremacy of the Parliament is
that the English Court has no power of judicial review over
legislation at all.
2. In the US, a Bill of Rights guarantees the fundamental rights to
citizens. Here, unlike the UK, the makers of the constitution were
apprehensive not only with the tyranny of the executive but also the
legislature. Therefore, both the executive and the legislative cannot
change any features of the fundamental rights there. Hence, while in
UK there is “Parliamentary supremacy”, in the US, there lies the
“Judicial supremacy”. Only the judiciary is empowered to change the
Bill of Rights in face of any emergency or danger to the state.
3. In India, the Fundamental Rights (Part III) are ensured by the
constitution and they are explicitly written down.
a. The Indian constitution affects a compromise between the judicial
supremacy and the Parliamentary sovereignty.
b. The fact that India has a written constitution and its Parliament is
subject to limitations imposed by this written constitution, make it
different from the British practice. Additionally, there are
provisions enshrined in the constitution of India that enable the
judiciary to declare any transgressions of the Parliament as
unconstitutional and void.
c. This is laid out in Article 13(2), which says: “The State shall not
make any law which takes away or abridges the rights conferred
by the Part and any law in contravention of this clause shall, to the
extent of the contravention, be void.”
d. The American Bill of Rights does not lay down any limitations to
fundamental rights within the Bill itself. The limitations are
governed by the judiciary for which it has given doctrines such as
the Police Power of the State. Unlike that, in India, the constitution
lays down various limitations to fundamental rights next to the
rights themselves.
e. Hence, our Constitution follows the American model rather that
the English.

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f. However, still Judicial Supremacy weaker than American model
because:
g. Fundamental Rights to Property was made a legal right by the 44th
Amendment Act in 1978, hence bringing it under the authority of
the Legislature, not the Judiciary.
h. Introduction of Fundamental Duties by the 42nd Amendment Act
in 1976 (Article 51A). Though these are not enforceable in the
court, however, a court, in front of which a fundamental right is
sought to be enforced, has to read all parts of the Constitution. This
means that the court may refuse to enforce the fundamental right
at the instance if that individual has patently violated any of the
Duties specified in Article 51A. Therefore, the original provision of
Fundamental Rights has been effectively minimized.
i. The American Constitution expressly says that the enumeration of
certain rights in the Bill of Rights shall not be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people. Therefore, it introduces
the concept of natural rights that people have regardless of
whether mentioned in the Bill of Rights. There is no such provision
in the Indian constitution.
j. This means that Article 32 can be applied only to seek judicial
review of Fundamental Rights mentioned in Part III, and this
article cannot be applied to other interpretations of “rights” if
brought to the court.


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The Judiciary in India
1. Single integrated system of judiciary unlike the US where it has double
system of courts.
2. This single system was adopted from the Government of India Act
1935 and enforces both Central laws and State laws.
a. In US however, Federal laws are enforced by federal judiciary and
state law by state judiciary.

Self Help Groups:
• “THE THIRD SECTOR” — THE CIVIL SOCIETY — SHGs, Associations,
NGOs, Trusts and Charitable Institutions, Endowments, Waqf boards
• NGOs:
o Advantages/Importance:
§ Backbone of the democratic society and its continuous
deliberative process. -- 3 million in India -- HOME TO
highest number of NGOs in the world
§ Evidence: Russia has only 4 lakh NGOs, Kenya some 240
and India has around 3 million, US has 2 million
o Major economic force — provide employment opportunities
o Evidence: 8% employment in US generated by NGOs
• Enhance people centricity of the government -- citizen centric and
responsive governance
• Contribute to inclusive wealth creation
• Help to scale up productivity and competitiveness.


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Funding Sources:
1. Individuals
2. private foundations (national as well global)
3. business houses
4. Government. [largest contributor]

Government NGO interface:

• The Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) and National Institute of Public
Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) are two such prominent
Bodies dealing with Government – NGO interface in the social welfare
sector
• The Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology
(CAPART) is an agency which finances voluntary organisations to
stimulate grass roots participation and encouragement of rural
technology.
• There are more than 437 such autonomous organisations functioning
under various Ministries of the Government of India excluding those
under Scientific Departments.
• Another way of support is through tax concessions.

Problems:
1. Corruption
2. Money Laundering
3. Promoting foreign agenda in India → IB report on anti-national NGOs
4. Hindrance in developmental projects
5. Causing delay in reform process

Recommendations/Governemnt steps:
1. As recommended by 2nd ARC Report, set up the National
Accreditation Council to devise an accreditation system for voluntary
organizations obtaining funds from government

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2. Encouraging the extension of SHG movement to urban and peri-urban
areas
3. Rashtriya Mahila Kosh could be enhanced to increase reach of NGOs to
women
4. Encouraging CSI participation in Self-regulatory Authorities such as
UGC, BCI, MCI etc.

Self Help Groups 2.0
• “Self-Help is the best Help”
• A Gandhian Idea
• A self-help group (SHG) is a village-based financial intermediary
committee usually composed of 10–20 local women or men. A mixed
group is generally not preferred. Most self-help groups are located in
India, although SHGs can be found in other countries, especially in South
Asia and Southeast Asia.
• Members make small regular savings contributions over a few months
until there is enough capital in the group to begin lending. Funds may
then be lent back to the members or to others in the village for any
purpose. In India, many SHGs are 'linked' to banks for the delivery of
micro-credit.
• As per the recent microfinance report released by NABARD - as on March
2012, a total number of 80 lakh SHGs with active bank-linkages are
operating in India which have been able to ensure involvement of around
9.7 crore people of this nation, with an aggregate bank balance of Rs.
6,551 crores; simultaneously latest statistics also indicate that over 90%
of SHGs in India consist exclusively of women.
• Beginnings:
o The first organised initiative in this direction was taken in Gujarat
in 1954 when the Textile Labour Association (TLA) of Ahmedabad
formed its women’s wing to organise the women belonging to
households of mill workers in order to train them in primary skills
like sewing, knitting embroidery, typesetting and stenography etc.
o 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.
o In the 1980s, Myrada – a Karnataka based non-governmental
organisation, promoted several locally formed groups to enable
the members to secure credit collectively and use it along with
their own savings for activities which could provide them
economically gainful employment.
o Kudumbshree
• Functions:
o Thrift and Savings — “Savings First, Credit Later"
o Collective planning for additional income

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o Financial literacy
o Conduit for formal banking services to reach them
o Internal Lending
o Discussing problems
• 8 million active SHGs in the country, consisting of around 780 million
members, 80 per cent of which are female SHGs.
• Contributes to financial inclusion as overall, 73% of the households do
not have credit links with any financial institution.
• Advantages/Benefits: (1) Financial Inclusion, (2) Income Generation and
Self-Employment (3) Social Empowerment (4) Improvement in Social
Indicators
o Reduced dependence on money lenders and exploitative
institutions
o Enabled households to spend more on education
o Reduction of child mortality and maternal mortality
o Stop Exploitation of Women
o Group Support to Vulnerable individuals: An economically poor
individual gains strength as part of a group.
o Low transaction costs: Besides, financing through SHGs reduces
transaction costs for both lenders and borrowers.
o Reasonable interest rates
o Accessibility: While lenders have to handle only a single SHG
account instead of a large number of small-sized individual
accounts, borrowers as part of an SHG cut down expenses on
travel (to and from the branch and other places) for completing
paper work and on the loss of workdays in canvassing for loans.
o Empowering: Where successful, SHGs have significantly
empowered poor people, especially women, in rural areas.
o Promotes entrepreneurship and innovation for micro businesses
by these individuals use NABARD study
• Impact:
o Survey from 2000 by NABARD
i. 58% of the households covered under SHGs reported an
increase in assets;
ii. the average value of assets per household increased by 72%
from Rs.6,843 to Rs.11,793;
iii. majority of the members developed savings habit against
23% earlier;
iv. there was a threefold increase in savings and a doubling of
borrowings per household;
v. the share of consumption loan in the borrowing went down
from 50% to 25%
vi. 70% of the loans taken in post-SHG period went towards
income generation ventures;
vii. employment expanded by 18%;
viii. the average net income per household before joining a SHG
was Rs.20,177 which rose by 33% to 26,889; and
ix. about 41.5% of the household studied were below their
State specific poverty line in the pre-SHG enrolment stage;

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it came down to 22%. Participation in group activity
significantly contributed to improvement of self-confidence
among the members. In general, group members and
particularly women became more vocal and assertive on
social and family issues.
• e-Shakti [SHGs] — NABARD’s SHG-Bank Linkage Program
o SHG-Bank linkage programme was started as a test project in 1989
when NABARD, the Apex Rural Development Bank in the country,
sanctioned Rs.10 lakhs to MYRADA as seed money assistance for
forming credit management groups.
o "By aggregating their individual savings into a single deposit, self-
help groups minimize the bank's transaction costs and generate an
attractive volume of deposits. Through self-help groups the bank
can serve small rural depositors while paying them a market rate
of interest."
o NABARD estimates that there are 2.2 million SHGs in India,
representing 33 million members, that have taken loans from
banks under its linkage program to date.
o Has resulted in increase of SHG deposits in banks from 9000 crore
to 17000 from 2013 to 2014, almost an 88% increase
o e-Shakti has been implemented to improve the quality of interface
between SHG members and banks for efficient and hassle-free
delivery of banking services
o A bank manager will be able to track the activities of SHGs sitting
in a room, including particulars like how much savings an SHG has
or how regularly it meets and the profile of its members. This will
not only help the banker but also change the risk perception of
SHGs

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Organizations involved:
• NABARD
• Rashitriya Mahila Kosh:
i. It was felt that the credit needs of poor women, specially
those in the unorganized sector, were not adequately
addressed by the formal financial institutions of the
country.
ii. Thus RMK was established to provide loans in a quasi
formal credit delivery mechanism, which is client-friendly,
has simple and minimal procedure, disburses quickly and
repeatedly, has flexible repayment schedules, links thrifts
and savings with credit and has relatively low transaction
costs both for the borrower and the lender.
iii. The Kosh lends with a unique credit delivery model “RMK –
NGO-SHG Beneficiaries”
iv. The support is extended through NGO’s, Women
Development Corporations, State Government agencies like
DRDA’s, Dairy Federations, Municipal Councils etc.

• Success Stories
o Andhra Pradesh
o Tamil Nadu
o Kudumbshree in Kerela
• Self-Help Promoter Institutions (SHPIs)
o Guidance and training
o Seed funding for very poor members
o Eg: MYRADA — MYRADA was effective in setting up several Self-
Help Groups in rural areas of Karnataka in 1989 by providing (a)
sustained guidance and (b) by granting seed money to them from
the corpus of 10 lakhs which was given to it by NABARD under a
demonstration project.
o SEWA in Ahmedabad, Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra and Ramakrishna
Mission in Jharkhand, and ADITHI in Bihar

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• Challenges:
o High NPAs:
§ The biggest challenge with SHGs currently is higher NPA
percentage due to multiple financing, inadequacies in
account keeping and other things. On an 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.
o Regional variations (north and north east vs. south india) — not
present in credit deficient areas of India
o Issue of Sustainability — too much dependent on State for funds,
marketing, skills etc.
o Present mostly in rural areas only, and not in urban areas of India
and peri-urban areas due to heterogeneity of community
o Poor skills in rural areas exacerbate situation in such SHGs
o Members of the group not necessarily from the poorest families
o Social Inequities: Does not address the social inequities of poor
people
o Lack of Staff: there is lack of qualified resource personnel in the
rural areas who could help in skill up-gradation / acquisition of
new skills by group members
o Politicization like Cooperatives
§ used as launchpads of politicians
§ used to fund political activities

Competition between SHGs and PRIs
Increasingly, SHGs have been adopting the role of PRIs such as:
1. Conduit for routing a number of development schemes
2. Increasing involvement of NGOs and MFIs with SHGs instead of PRIs.
3. Some states have mandated the inclusion of SHGs in various
committees such as MDM scheme of PRIs.

Working in tandem:
1. Kudumbashree program --working together

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2. Society of Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) in Andhra pradesh --
Kranti Pratham Yojana

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Waqf
• Under Muslim rule in India, the concept of Waqf was more widely
comprehended as aligned with the spirit of charity endorsed by the
Quran.
• Waqf implies the endowment of property, moveable or immovable,
tangible or intangible to God by a Muslim, under the premise that the
transfer will benefit the needy.
• As a legal transaction, the Waqif (settler) appoints himself or another
trustworthy person as Mutawalli (manager) in an endowment deed
(Waqfnamah) to administer the Waqf (charitable Trust).
• As it implies a surrender of properties to God, a Waqf deed is irrevocable
and perpetual.
• Mussalman Waqf Validating Act, 1913,
• Currently, 300000 Waqfs in India are being administered under various
provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995.

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• At the national level, there is Central Waqf Council which acts in an
advisory capacity.

Charities
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)

• Traditions of “trusteeship”, “giving” and “welfare” have existed
since long in our society.
• The concept of social good has always been part of the Indian psyche.
• From the beginning of the 20th century, business and industry in India
have in different ways been paying attention to their obligation and
commitment towards society and the community.

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• The large number of schools, colleges, hospitals and other charitable
establishments, which were set up in the 20th century in different parts of
the country, are fine examples of such social commitment
• Not just charity anymore:
o In recent years, CSR has shifted from the domain of charity to the
domain of standard business practices.
o Together with ‘profit’ and ‘growth’, it is one of the essential
parameters which define a business.
o Stakeholder awareness, increasing power of civil society, intensity
of competition and environmental challenges are some of the
factors which have increased the emphasis on CSR in recent times
• Provisions in the Companies Act, 2013
o Mandatory 2% spending on CSR for companies with net worth of
Rs. 500 crore or more, or Turnover of Rs. 1000 crore or more or
profit of Rs. 5 crore or more.
o Activities of spending can be in poverty alleviation, malnutrition,
preventive Health Care, education and gender equality, and
environmental sustainability.
o A CSR Committee to be set up in such companies
o If not able to meet, reasons for so are to be given in a board report.
• Eg: Maruti Suzuki’s tie up with Sulabh International in developing
individual household toilets

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Self-Regulatory Authorities
• The Self-Regulatory Authority of a profession means a select Body of its
members which is responsible for growth and development of the
profession in the background of its responsibility towards society and
State.
• The functions of such a Self-Regulatory Body may include:
o (i) issues of professional education: development of curriculum,
setting up of teaching standards, institutional infrastructure,
recognition of degrees etc. and
o (ii) matters connected with licensing, and ethical conduct of the
practitioners.
o (iii) a significant role as technical advisers to the government in
conceptualizing, formulating and implementing policies and
standards for providing important public services to the citizens
• Currently, there are six major professional Bodies operating in India each
having been formed under a specific law.
o Bar Council of India (BCI) – formed under the Advocates Act, 1961
o Medical Council of India (MCI) – formed under the Indian Medical
Council Act 1956
o Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) – formed under
the Chartered Accountants Act, 194

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o Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) – formed
under the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959
o Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) – formed under the
Company Secretaries Act, 1980
o Council of Architecture (COA) – formed under the Architects Act,
1972
• Then, there are organisations like the Institution of Engineers which have
been formed purely by voluntary action by respective members of the
profession. They do not have any statutory background.
• However, their mandate to manage and regulate education for their
respective professions has been challenged on the ground that it prohibits
innovation
• National Knowledge Commission has recommended establishment of an
Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE).
o The IRAHE must be at an arm’s length from the government and
independent of all stakeholders including the concerned Ministries
of the government
o The IRAHE would have to be established by an Act of Parliament,
and would be responsible for setting the criteria and deciding on
entry.
o It would be the only agency that would be authorized to accord
degree-granting power to higher education institutions.
o It would be responsible for monitoring standards and settling
disputes.
o It would apply exactly the same norms to public and private
institutions, as it would to domestic and international institutions.
o It would be the authority for licensing accreditation agencies
• Renewal/Revalidation of Registration
o No such practice in India while this is must for professions like
doctors
• Disciplinary Mechanism
o Not well developed except a few cases
o Also, reporting are very low
o ICAI has an innovative mechanism to punish errant members and
prevent unethical practices.
o It has a pro-active disciplinary cell which speedily investigates
complaints against its members. ICAI entertains complaints not
only from stakeholders or user-groups but also takes suo-motu
action on the basis of its in-house information.
o The provisions contained in the code of conduct of ICAI are very
stringent and the agency is equally effective in taking action
against its defaulting members. Peer review is undertaken to
ensure compliance with technical standards and adherence to
quality control policies and procedures. Often, ICAI on its own,
looks into public accounts of different organisations including
Banks and financial institutions. Disciplinary actions is taken if
there is any deficiency in reporting. Quality control among

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Chartered Accountants is ensured by peer pressure and financial
reporting review.
• Accountability and Parliamentary Oversight
o Self-Regulatory Authorities enjoy considerable functional
autonomy.
o Though, they are creatures of the law, their accountability is
currently ambiguous and incomplete.
o The law does not provide for an explicit mechanism which can
hold them responsible for their performance. The Public,
Parliament, Government and the profession have a right to know
how a Self-Regulatory Authority discharges its functions and to
hold them accountable.
o Self-Regulatory Authority’s primary accountability as a statutory
Body must be to Parliament, which, on behalf of the public, defines
its powers and responsibilities

________________________________________

Social capital — SHGs and Cooperatives — a Gandhi idea of self-reliance

• During the struggle for Independence the whole emphasis of the
Gandhian movement was on self-help and cooperation.
• The cooperative movement gained momentum as a part of such self-help
ethos embedded in the independence movement.
• To Gandhiji the swadeshi movement was “the greatest constructive and
cooperative movement in the country”.
• In propagation of khadi and village industries, he found “the panacea for
India’s growing pauperism” and “an object lesson in cooperation”.
• Gandhiji looked at cooperation as a moral movement.
• Social capital refers to those institutions, relationships, and norms that
shape the quality and quantity of a society’s interaction.
o It consists of trust, mutual understanding, shared values and
behaviour that bind together the members of a community and
make cooperative action possible.
o The basic premise is that such interaction enables people to build
communities, to commit themselves to each other, and to knit the
social fabric.
o A sense of belonging and the concrete experience of social
networking (and the relationships of trust and tolerance that
evolve) can bring great benefits to people.
• Corporate Foundations
o Towards the end of the 19th century the corporate community in
India also began setting up organisations dedicated to the welfare
and development of the underprivileged.
o The J N Tata Endowment Trust was established in our country in
1892, much before Rockfeller and Carnegie set up their
philanthropic foundations in the USA.

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o A major contribution of this endowment was the establishment of
the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore.
o The JJ School of Arts, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research, Birla Institute of Technology,
Sri Ram College of Commerce
• Socio-Political Movements
o 1960s and 70s: Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan and Jai Prakash Narain
’s Sarvodaya movement were the two major voluntary action
initiatives which caught the attention of people across the country
in the 1950s and 60s
• Constitutionalism
o 1970s and 1980s, the growth of constitutionalism and the
emergence of economic liberalisation fueled ideals of equity,
human rights and expansion of economic opportunities.
o The environment of liberalism led to a recognition that people
needed to be empowered through social action network. This
supported emergence of newer categories of charities and
voluntary action groups in our country.

Cooperatives, Societies and Waqfs
o Started in the early years of the 20th century when farmers were
organized into voluntary groups to secure cheap credit on collective basis
and thus save them from usurious practices of money lenders.
o Started in Europe
o Spread to India by the 1920s, as it became very well suited for the Indian
rural areas.
o After Independence the Union and State Governments enacted several
laws with regard to Public Trusts, Waqfs, Producer Companies, other
voluntary sector / civil society organisations and cooperative societies.
o The Societies Registration Act, 1860
o The Waqf Act, 1954
o Constitutional Positions: (Constitutional Right to form associations and
cooperatives)
o The Indian Constitution provides a distinct legal space to social
capital / civil society institutions
o (a) through its Article on the right to form associations or unions –
Article 19 (1)(c);
o (b) through Article 43 which talks of States making endeavour to
promote cooperatives in rural areas; and
o (c) through explicit mention in entries made in Schedule 7

________________________________________
Financial Inclusion
Causes or reasons
C.Rangarajan Committee has identified four major reasons for lack of financial
inclusion:

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1. Inability to provide collateral security
2. Poor credit absorption capacity
3. Inadequate reach of the institutions
4. Weak community network.

Varies highly regional wise, and even sub-region wise.


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Governance Issues
o ASPECTS of Governance:

o Four Pillars of Governance (Citizen Centric)
§ Ethos (of service to the citizen)
§ Ethics (honesty, integrity and transparency)
§ Equity (empathy for weaker sections)
§ Efficiency (speedy and effective, use of ICT and no
harassment)
o Governance must provide for Citizen Centric Administration
o Institutions set up for this:
§ Institutions such as the National Human Rights
Commission, National Women’s Commission, National
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, and Lokayuktas
etc. have been set up.
o Transparency International Index: India features at No. 70 with a
rating of 3.3. This is a very low ranking in the international
scenario and shows that corruption is a serious problem in India
o Bottlenecks

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o Accountability
§ Accountability also means answerability i.e. questions
asked of public officials have to be answered by them.
§ There are two types of questions that can be asked.
§ (1) Under RTI Act: One type as under the RTI Act merely
seeks information/data and involves one way transmission
of information. It promotes transparency and to a much
lesser degree accountability in Government.
§ (2) Why?: The second type of question enquires not just as
to what was done but why; and therefore involves a
consultative two-way flow of information with the citizens
usually providing a feedback in respect of the working of
government departments and service delivery of public
agencies.
o Such mechanisms include citizens’ charters, Service Delivery
Surveys, social audits, citizens’ report card and outcome surveys.
o Transparency
§ Transparency in decision making, disclosure of standards of
delivery and openness in the every day functioning of the
administration are the hallmarks of a citizen centric
approach.

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§ As this is a reasonably new concept, which has gained
acceptance after the enactment of the Right to Information
Act, a change in approach is required at all levels of the
government.
o Aspects of Regulation
§ Only where necessary
§ Should be effective and not symbolic
§ Self regulation is best form of regulation
§ Regulatory procedures should be transparent, and citizen
friendly.
§ Involve citizen groups and professional organizations in
regulation
o Single Window System for Delivery of Services
§ One of the ways in which governments across the world
have approached effi cient and effective service delivery to
citizens (and businesses) is by adopting a ‘single window
system’.
§ The driving force behind this approach is the belief that
citizens need not run around diff erent government offi ces
for getting various services.
§ This is achieved through a number of ways. One approach
allows a service providing organization to re-engineer its
processes in such a way that all the services provided by it
get delivered to citizens through a single outlet/unit.
§ Another approach is to establish an organization which
would create an infrastructure through which different
government organizations are able to provide services to
citizens at a single point of delivery. Some governments
have adopted an approach where no separate organization
is created – all the organizations work in tandem to
establish a common service delivery infrastructure. Eg:
Germany
o e-Gov
o Governance in India owes its origins to the in-house development
of applications during the 1970s and 1980s in defence, economic
planning, census, tax administration and elections.
o Subsequently, massive efforts were made during the 1980s by the
National Informatics Centre (NIC) to connect all the district
headquarters in the country through a VSAT network.
o However, all these efforts were mainly government centric with
the primary objective of exploiting information and
communication technologies (ICTs) for automating internal
government functions.
o Citizen centricity with a focus on improving delivery of services to
the citizens was not the primary goal during this period.
o Citizen centric services spread with the coming of the internet in the late
1990s and for most of the last 1 decade.

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o NeGP was conceptualized to spread these technologies for delivery
of services to citizens and also address challenges of a fragmented
eGov practiced by various states in the country.
o “The SMART way forward"
o A "Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent"
(SMART) governance
o Kant’s observation: "The citizens are ends in themselves, rather than as
means to other ends."
o Government is responsible for providing certain services to the citizens,
just like an organisation is responsible for managing a value chain that
leads to output.
o Business corporations have discovered over the last few decades that
information technology can make the value chain more efficient and lead
to quality improvements and cost savings.
o Similarly, Governments have discovered that information technology can
make the provision of services to the citizen more efficient and
transparent, can save costs and lead to a higher level of efficiency.
o Analogous to e-commerce, which allows business to transact with each
other more efficiently (B2B) and brings customers closer to businesses
(B2C), e-government aims to make the interaction between government
and citizens (G2C), government and business enterprises (G2B), and
inter-agency relationships (G2G) more friendly, convenient, transparent,
and inexpensive.
o The key principles of e-Kranti (NeGP 2.0) are as follows:
§ Transformation and not Translation.
§ Integrated Services and not Individual Services.
§ Government Process Reengineering (GPR) to be mandatory
in every MMP.
§ ICT Infrastructure on Demand.
§ Cloud by Default.
§ Mobile First.
§ Fast Tracking Approvals.
§ Mandating Standards and Protocols.
§ Language Localization.
§ National GIS (Geo-Spatial Information System).
§ Security and Electronic Data Preservation.
o e-Gov Programs:
o e-Kranti (NeGP 2.0)
o Aims to enhance the portfolio of citizen-centric services and
ensure optimum usage of core information and communication
technology (ICT).
o The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) is the most significant
initiative taken in India during the last decade to mainstream ICT
in governance at both central and state levels.
o It lays emphasis on creating the right governance and institutional
framework within the country, establish the core IT infrastructure,
and implement a number of Mission Mode Projects at the central,
state and integrated levels.
o The objectives of 'e-Kranti’are:

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o Citizen Centric Service Delivery
o Optimum usage of ICT
o With ICT infrastructure on demand, the programme also seeks to
ensure cloud by default, mobile first, language localisation and
security and electronic data preservation.
o E-Kranti is an important pillar of the Digital India programme.The
mission of e-Kranti is to ensure a government wide transformation
by delivering all government services electronically to citizens
through integrated and interoperable systems via multiple modes,
while ensuring efficiency, transparency and reliability of such
services at affordable costs
o The programme management structure approved for Digital India
programme would be used for monitoring implementation of e-
Kranti and also for providing a forum to ascertain views of all
stakeholders, overseeing implementation, resolving inter-
Ministerial issues and ensuring speedy sanction of projects.

o The thrust areas of the e-Kranti - electronic delivery of services under the
Digital India programme are:
o Technology for Education (e-Education)
o Health (e-Healthcare)
o Farmers
o Financial Inclusion
o Planning
o Justice
o Security
o Cyber Security
o Digital India (overarching umbrella over eveything)
o Government is implementing the Digital India programme as an
umbrella programme to prepare India for a knowledge based
transformation into a digitally empowered Society and knowledge
economy.
o Digital India aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine
pillars of growth areas, namely:
o Broadband Highways
o Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity
o Public Internet Access Programme
o e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology

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o e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services
o Information for All
o Electronics Manufacturing
o IT for Jobs
o Early Harvest Programmes.
o MyGov website (shining example of C2G)
o Problems why Private Companies not coming
o Net Neutrality
o Digital Sovereignty
o G2C
§ E-courts
§ Mobile One by Karnataka Government
o G2B
§ E-Biz
§ Taxation filings
§ E-Procurement
§ G2G
§ E-Courts
§ District level portals for administration use
§ Land Records Modernization
o C2G
§ MyGov
§ Centralized Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring
System (CPGRAMS)
o Citizen Grievance Redressal:
§ CVC
§ State Lokayuktas
§ NHRC
§ SHRC
§ National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
o Financial Inclusion:
§ vidyalakshmi.co.in Developed by NSDL with Ministry of
Finance
§ One-stop-Shop website for all education loan needs of
students
§ The government has launched an education loans portal,
where students can apply for a loan to multiple banks, track
their applications, and avail various loan schemes being
offered.
o Mobile One by Karnataka Government
• An anganwadi worker in rural Karnataka can
register her attendance through a service called
Mobile One, which a software professional in
Bengaluru can also use to pay electricity and water
bills or book tickets.
o Jaankari:
§ Bihar’s unique attempt to accept Right to Information
(RTI) applications through phone calls (‘Jaankari’
project) has been selected for the first prize for ‘

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outstanding performance in citizen centric service delivery
’ at the National Awards for e-Governance (2008-09).

e-Shakti [SHGs]
o Has resulted in increase of SHG deposits in banks from 9000 crore to
17000 from 2013 to 2014, almost an 88% increase
o e-Shakti has been implemented to improve the quality of interface
between SHG members and banks for efficient and hassle-free delivery of
banking services
o A bank manager will be able to track the activities of SHGs sitting in a
room, including particulars like how much savings an SHG has or how
regularly it meets and the profile of its members. This will not only help
the banker but also change the risk perception of SHGs
o Samanvay
o Web portal to track the implementation of the Sansad Adarsh Gram
Yojana (SAGY).
o Problems in e-Gov
o Funding
o Interoperability
o Use of Local Language
o Capacity Development
o Resistance
o Digital Divide
o Security and Privacy
o Consumer Protection
o The welfare role of the State is of considerable importance and
therefore various measures to ensure the welfare - safety, security
and well being - of its citizens are essential.
o However, citizens rely on the open market for most of their
purchases – particularly, goods and also increasingly, of services
and the asymmetry between the consumers of goods and services
and the producers of these goods and services in terms of
knowledge, bargaining power etc. necessitates State intervention.
o This has resulted in setting up of consumer protection
mechanisms.
o The Consumer Protection Act was passed in 1986 to protect
the interests of the consumers.
§ The objective of this law is to provide a simple, fast and
inexpensive mechanism to the citizens to redress their
grievances in specified cases.
§ The Act envisages a three-tier quasi-judicial machinery at
the National, State and District levels;
§ (i) National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission -
known as “National Commission”,
§ (ii) State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission known
as “State Commission”
§ (iii) District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum - known
as “District Forum”.

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§ The Act also provides for establishment of Consumer
Protection Councils at the Union, State and District levels,
whose main objectives are to promote and protect the
rights of consumers

Citizen’s Charter

o Example: Income Tax Department, Delhi Transport Corporation
o Recommendations:
o One size does not fit all.
o Citizens’ Charter should be prepared for each independent unit
under the overall umbrella of the organisations’ charter.
o Wide consultation which include Civil Society in the process
o Internal processes and structure should be reformed to meet the
commitments given in the Charter.
o Periodic evaluation of Citizens’ Charters.
o Benchmark using end-user feedback.
o Redressal mechanism in case of default
o Hold officers accountable for results
Sevottam Model (Monitoring and Implementation of Citizen Charters)

o Sevottam is a Service Delivery Excellence Model which provides an
assessment improvement framework to bring about excellence in public
service delivery.
o The need for a tool like Sevottam arose from the fact that Citizens’
Charters by themselves could not achieve the desired results in improving
quality of public services.

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o Besides, the absence of a credible grievances redressal mechanism within
organizations was also becoming a major impediment in improving
service delivery standards. Thus, it was felt that unless there is a
mechanism to assess the outcomes of various measures, the reform
initiatives would not yield the desired results. The Sevottam model works
as an evaluation mechanism to assess the quality of internal processes
and their impact on the quality of service delivery
o Components:
o Service Delivery Review
o Grievance Redressal Review
o Standards and Quality inspections
o Citizen Participation

o Example:
§ Citizen Giving Suggestions (BATF)
§ To illustrate, the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) was
set up in 1999 with the goal of transforming Bangalore into
a world class city with the participation of its leading
citizens including the heads of its major IT companies, as
well as prominent members of the Bangalore civic
community.
§ Citizens holding service providers accountable:
§ Example: Citizen Report Cards (CRCs) — three citizens’
report cards (CRC) on city services in Bangalore conducted
by the Public Aff airs Centre (PAC) – in 1994, 1999 and
2003 – showed a signifi cant improvement in the quality of
services provided by city agencies
§ Mandatory for all government organizations to develop a
suitable mechanism for receipt of suggestions from citizens,
which could range from the simple ‘Suggestion Box’ to
periodic consultations with citizens’ groups.
o Social Audit

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Protection of Whistleblowers and Whistleblowers Act 2014
o Manjunath Shanmugam working with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) was a
graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. He refused
bribes and ignored threats to his life in his fight against adulteration by
the petrol pump owners. He paid the price. He was shot dead on 19th
November, 2005 allegedly at the behest of corrupt petrol pump owners.
o Satyendra Dubey, working with the National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI), exposed the rampant corruption in construction of roads. He was
also found dead on 27th November, 2003
o What is lacking in the Whistleblowers Act 2014
o Penalty for Victimization: Acts of harassment or victimization of or
retaliation against, a whistleblower should be criminal offenses
with substantial penalty and sentence
o Anonymity: Whistleblowers exposing false claims, fraud or
corruption should be protected by ensuring confidentiality and
anonymity, protection from victimization in career, and other
administrative measures to prevent bodily harm and harassment.
o Private Sector Whistleblowers: The legislation should cover
corporate whistleblowers unearthing fraud or serious damage to
public interest by willful acts of omission or commission
o Immunity enjoyed by Legislators
o Prior Concurrence on registration of a case: Section 6A of the DSPE Act
1946


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Corruption
o Situation in India
o According to Transparency International, 1 in 2 citizens
interviewed in India admitted to have paid bribe to access public
service in 2013 (global average = 27%)
o Survey by Janagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy
calculated that an avg urban Indian had paid INR 27000 as bribes
in 2013
o Problems
o Culturally acceptable and ingrained over a period of time as a
norm of doing business
o Tolerated
o Honest people are ostracized even by society and close network of
relatives etc.
o Difficult to prosecute due to poor legislation and toothless
agencies
o Court Rulings
o Lily Thomas Case
o Time bound disposal of cases against MPs and MLAs
o Time limit for grant of sanction for prosecution of public servants
fixed at 90 days
o Section 6A of DSPE struck down
o Advised PM and CM not to appoint charge sheeted persons as
ministers
o Anti-Corruption laws in India: Evolution
o Before independence IPC had sections that governed corruption
entitles as “Offences by Public Servants"
o Prevention of Corruption Act 1947 was passed after independence
as corruption had reached very high levels
o Adopted mostly from IPC code
o Amendments along the way to clarify the meaning of “Public
Servant” and Corrupt practices
o The Prevention of Corruption Act 1988
o Term “public servant” more clearly and comprehensively
defined
o “Public Duty” — a new concept introduced
o Special Judges for trial
o Provisions for expedited trials
o No definition of “Corruption” provided
o Violation of oath of office
o Four types of offenses should be classified:
o Wilful violation of democratic and constitutional institutions
o Squandering public money for ostentatious lifestyle
o Abuse of authority unduly favoring or harming someone
o Obstruction of Justice


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Poverty
Concept of Poverty
o Feeling of resourcelessness and powerlessness
o Dimensions of Poverty:
b. Lack of Livelihood Strategies
c. Inaccessibility to Resources (money, land, credit)
d. Feeling of Insecurity and Frustrations
e. Inability to develop social relations with others due to lack of
resources

Views of Poverty —> Measurements of Poverty: [Absolute vs. Relative]
a. Income view
i. Inability to gratify the physiological needs, i.e., safety needs,
survival and security, food, nutrition, shelter, preventive
and protective health care.
ii. In this case, minimum income is required to meet these
needs, therefore, poverty in this view is measured in terms
of “poverty line” (In practice, this could be measured in
terms of consumption, calorie intake etc.)
b. Living Standards in the society
iii. Related to time and place, as poverty standards vary from
country to country, and society to society
iv. Therefore, income, food, education, health etc. are the
required minimum services for people to subsist, sustain,
however, the level of such sustenance may differ from place
to place.
c. Comparative view:
v. In terms of others, i.e., comparative state of well-being of a
few vs. deprivation and destitution of the majority in the
society
e. Measurements of Poverty
v. Malnutrition
vi. Low consumption expenditure
vii. Low Income
viii. Chronic illness
ix. Illiteracy
x. Unemployment or underemployment
xi. Insanitary housing
f. Expressed in terms of: per capita income, inequality index, low
national income, weak defence etc.
Poverty in India
a. 22% of world’s poor, or about 260 million poor people live in India
-- World Bank Report
b. UN Human Development Index -- India ranks low at 134/186
countries
c. 75% of the poor in India live in rural areas
d. According to NSSO, people living below BPL have drastically come
down from 36% in 1993-94 to 26% in 2000.


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Causes of Poverty
a. Low productivity in agriculture -- fragmented land holdings, lack
of capital, lack of technology
b. Rapidly rising population -- rate of 2.2% per annum in the last 50
years
c. Underemployment and Disguised employment
d. Low rate of economic development till liberalization
e. Price rise
f. Capital shortage and entrepreneurship
g. Social factors -- caste and women’s position (inheritance laws)
h. Political factors

Targets on poverty:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty (Below $1.25 per day) by 2030, and end
poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and
the vulnerable:
a. have equal rights to economic resources
b. access to basic services
c. Housing for all
d. ownership and control over land and other forms of property,
Inheritance
e. natural resources
f. appropriate new technology and financial services, including
microfinance
3. Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and
international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive
development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty
eradication actions; SDGs

Schemes:
1. MGNREGA
2. National Social Assistance Program (NSAP)
a. Atal Pension Yojana, PM Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, PM Jan Dhan Yojana
3. NULM
4. NRLM
5. National Land Record Management Program

Hunger:
• End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture.
• Main focus on multi-dimensional ways to do this:
o Proper Nutrition
o Ending Malnutrition by stopping stunting and wasting in children
below 5 years of age
o Doubling Agriculture Productivity by 2030 -- in particular for
women, indigenous producers, family farmers, pastoralists and

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fishers, secure and equal access to land, knowledge, financial
services, etc.
o Sustainable food production and adaptation to climate change
o Maintain genetic diversity of seeds, plants, domesticated animals.
o Traditional knowledge conservation
o Investment in agriculture
o Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world
agricultural markets,including through the parallel elimination of
all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures
with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha
Development Round.
Schemes:
• National Food Security Mission
o National Food Security Act
o Mission for Integrated Development in Horticulture
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
• Rashtriya Kirshi Vikas Yojana
• National Livestock Mission
o Livestock Disease and Health Control

SOCIAL SECTOR:

NSAP:
• The National Social Assistance Programme(NSAP) which came into effect
from 15th August,1995 represents a significant step towards the
fulfillment of the Directive Principles in Article 41 of the Constitution.
• The programme introduced a National Policy for Social Assistance for the
poor and aims at ensuring minimum national standard for social
assistance in addition to the benefits that states are currently providing
or might provide in future.
• NSAP at present, comprises of Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS),
National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS), National Disability Pension
Scheme (IGNDPS), National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS).

Old Age Persons
Why:
• India is home to over 86 million people aged above 60 years today. By
2030, India will be home to highest number of old age persons -- over 300
million.
• Age Dependency Ratio is also rising steadily over the years.

Most important needs:
1. Health care coverage
2. Dignity and Inter-generational Bonding
3. Housing
4. Income security/Pension


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• India is a signatory to Madrid Plan of Action and Barrier Free Framework,
the Policy will aim to work towards an inclusive, barrierfree and age-
friendly society.
• Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007
o Tribunals for old age persons

Programs:
1. National Old Persons Policy 1999
a. Funding Old Age Homes in public sphere as well as through NGOs
2. National Old Persons Council

Steps:
• Set up a National Commission for Senior Citizens
• Helpline and District level committees

Children

NUTRITION
Global Nutrition Report 2016
1. Stunting: India Ranks 114 out of 132 (high stunting) -- 38% stunting
2. Wasting: India Ranks 120 out of 132 (high)
3. Anemia: India is 170/185 countries -- 48%

• The segments most at risk continue to be adolescent girls, women and
children, and among them Scheduled Castes and Tribes are the worst off,
reflecting the insidious economic and sociocultural deprivation so
prevalent in India.
• Marriage of under age girls: According to the most recent United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) report, nearly 50 per cent of women in India
are married before they turn 18, in violation of the law.

Why India is poorly nutritioned?
1. Government programs have had limited success (ICDS, Mid Day
Meal, and PDS) -- leakages, quality of services and food is not
up to par, not able to reach in any cases.
2. Sanitation problem -- open defecation
3. Maternal health and Child health awareness is lacking
4. Patriarchal society -- girl given lower nutrition diet than the
boy (half glass of milk)

Why poor nutrition is bad?
1. Poor nutrition is poor economics. The World Bank estimates
that India loses 2-3 per cent of its annual GDP by way of lower
productivity, the underlying cause of which is malnutrition.
a. Even Economic Survey 2016 has argued that
highest economic returns to public investment in
human capital in India lie in maternal and early-
life health and nutrition interventions.

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b. The Copenhagen Consensus has identified twice
several nutrition interventions as some of the
most high-yielding of all possible development
assessments.
2. Poor nutrition will fracture the dreams and aspirations of India to
become a global player in manufacturing and other industries
3. Poor nutrition is poor humanity. Article 47 of the Constitution
mentions the “duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the
standard of living and to improve public health.”

Steps:
1. Swachh Bharat, ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, etc. are critical nutrition-
sensitive factors that address hygiene, sanitation and education.
2. Overhaul needed in already established systems:
a. The ICDS, which caters to the needs of pregnant
and nursing mothers and children under the age
of six;
b. The mid-day meal scheme, which directly feeds
approximately 120 million schoolchildren every
day;
c. The public distribution system [PDS], which
makes available subsistence rations to above and
below poverty line families.
d. CSR and PPP can be used to address all three
programs.
a) Other measures:
a. NUTRITION MISSION: One, create a Nutrition Secretariat as part of
the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for ensuring multi-
sectoral alignment on priorities, sequencing and timelines.
b. Two, make the nodal Ministries accountable for revamping the
ICDS, MDM, PDS with clear goals, timelines and resources. Open
these up for public-private partnerships and make these CSR-
eligible.
c. Three, extend large-scale food fortification beyond salt to other
staples like flour, oil, dairy, etc. and establish mandatory standards
by category.
d. Four, invest in information and education about good nutrition
practices, extending from a diverse diet to deworming,
breastfeeding, hygiene and sanitation, etc. Nutrition is complex
and therefore needs to be simplified in behavioural terms
e. India must convert its young population to a competitive
advantage, and nutrition and health are foundational to that
outcome.


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Health
As per 12th FYP, Health should be viewed as not merely the absence of disease
but as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being.

Weaknesses:
1. Availability
a. Shortage of doctor and nursing staff is acute. Doctor
per lakh of population around 45 while the minimum
number should be 85. Similarly lack of nurses and
auxiliary midwives (ANMs).
2. Affordability
a. Out of pocket expenses of poor are too high (almost 70% of the
overall healthcare expenses). Medicines are too expensive for
various communicable and noncommunicable diseases. The
private sector forms majority of the health care system but it is
out of reach for most of the population.
b. Prescription drugs reforms, promotion of essential, generic
medicines, and making these universally available free of cost
to all patients in public facilities
i. These should be part of the “Essential Health Package” --
Price controls and price regulation, especially on essential
drugs, should be enforced. The Essential Drugs List should
be revised and expanded, and rational use of drugs ensured.
ii. Safeguards provided by Indian patents law and the TRIPS
Agreement against the country’s ability to produce
essential drugs should be protected
3. Lack of Focus on Preventative Care and Lack of Quality:
a. Preventative care is in shambles as noted in the poor state of
Primary health care centers (PHCs)
b. Many doctors are not qualified or licensed to practice.
c. This is also reflected in poor MMR and IMR ratios
4. Healthcare spending
a. Public spending is only 1.2% of GDP, which is far below
international standards for similar countries.

New institutions needed:
The establishment of a National Health Regulatory and Development Authority
(NHRDA) a, National Drug Regulatory and Development Authority (NDRDA) and
a, National Health Promotion and Protection Trust (NHPPT) is also
recommended.

Why immediate need:
• A healthy citizenry is the very fundamental requirement for a welfare
society like India. Without a happy and healthy citizenry, growth and
development are not possible.
• Part of Directive Principles of State Policy and vision of our constitution
• India is signatory to MDGs and SDGs, both of which encapsulate Universal
Health coverage as a must for developmental needs.

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• Healthy citizens Increases productivity, economic growth etc.

Steps taken:
1. Universal Health Coverage has been envisaged as the goal of new draft
Health care policy
2. Governance Reforms in Healthcare
a. Performance linked incentives
b. Devolution of powers and functions to local health care
institutions and making them responsible for the health of the
people living in a defined geographical area.
c. NRHM’s strategy of decentralisation, PRI involvement,
integration of vertical programmes, inter-sectoral convergence
and Health Systems Strengthening have been partially
achieved.
d. Example: Professional procurement agencies on the lines of
Tamil Nadu
3. National Health Mission
a. Jnani Suraksha Yojana
b. Indradhanush for full immunization of children
4. Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Yojana
5. Focus on developing ANMs, ASHAs
6. Community involvement through Jan Sunwais and Rogi Kalyan
Samitis.
a. Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committee

UHC Models
1. EHP: Cashless delivery of an Essential Health Package (EHP) to all
ought to be the basic deliverable in all models.
2. Linkages of EHP with Government pharmacies (for public providers)
and Jan Aushadhi outlets (for all).
3. An effective health information network that could be accessed by all
service providers and patients (for their own records) would enable
the continuum of care.
4. Targeting of people through Aadhar
5. Community Involvement to be the focus
6. Financing of UHC:
a. By PPP or NPPP (Not for Profit PPP)
b. CSR funding can go to government hospitals, healthcare centers
etc.

Disease Control Programs:
1. National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme
a. India has 56% of world’s leprosy patients and 21% of its TB
patients.
b. Multi-drug resistance to TB is being increasingly recognised.
2. Mental Health problems increasing

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a. National Mental Healthcare Bill?
3. Regulation
a. The Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) came into being in
2011 and integrated the food laws in India into one single law.
b. Various other acts such as The Transplantation of Human
Organs Act, PC-PNDT Act has been amended.
4. AYUSH Ministry has been set up and use of AYUSH medicine in place
of allopathic medicine has been recommended in a phased manner in
CHCs, PHCs, and district hospitals.
5. Role of ICMR [indian council for medical research] and New Health
Research Division

Food Safety:
• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been
established to improve transparency in its functioning and decision
making.
o Bio-safety would be an integral part of any risk assessment being
undertaken by FSSAI.
• Standardized Tests for Adulteration to be introduced across the labs in
India and BIS to undertake guidelines as well.
• Public information campaigns to reduce the consumption of unhealthy
foods to be undertaken.
• Food surveys to get the information and their results would be published
regularly.
• Steps such as marking of veg, non-veg, best before dates, nutritional
requirements etc.

Early Childhood Development:

• According to WHO, first 6 months of a child’s life are the most
vulnerable and important days in respect to mortality as well as later
growth.
• IMR, MMR still high in India -- MDG not achieved
• Children are stunted, wasted, malnutritioned

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana -- high out-of-pocket expenditures despite
RSBY -- what are the shortcomings?

RSBY is a health insurance scheme that covers treatments upto Rs. 30,000 under
cashless scheme for BPL population in both government and private hospitals
across India.

High enrollment of over 40 million individuals in the scheme has already been
done.

Despite the high enrollment, a big failure of the scheme has been the continued
rise in out of pocket expenses despite the scheme. (Study by Council of Social
Development)

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This is due to:
1. Low amount: Inability of the scheme to meet high level of expenses in
cases of expensive treatments such as heart transplants, surgeries etc.
Hence, the amount should be raised from Rs. 30,000 (as done in in
RSSY)
2. Corruption: Instances of leakages of funds and ghost patients have
been widely reported in RSBY. Use of Aadhar can be implemented to
plug these.
3. Focus only on secondary and tertiary and not on preventive
healthcare.
4. Poor targeting of marginalized sections

Recent steps:
→ RSBY smart cards issued under Shramev Jayate program for workers in the
unorganized sector. Convergence.

Education:
Education forms the core of India’s “tryst with destiny”. Our founding fathers and
freedom fighters, and even spiritual torchbearers such as Vivekananda and Sri
Aurobindo had consistently written about education’s importance in a newly
born nation.

Problems:
1. Primary level schooling suffers from the problem of quality -- content
and pedagogy.
a. Accessibility is pretty good as over 135 million children are
enrolled in primary schools with gross enrollment ration
touching 100%. → However, the quality of education given to
them suffers due to poor course design, teacher absenteeism
and poor teaching methods.
b. Also, lack of community participation where parents and gram
panchayats can control the performance evaluation of teachers
is not there.
2. Secondary level schooling suffers from the problem of choice in
courses due to which a large percentage of students drop out. →
Dropout rate is around 50% for students from primary to secondary
level.
3. The tertiary and vocational level education suffers from the problem
of lack of rating and certifications in public and private institutions.

Solutions:
1. Primary level → New draft education policy envisages revamped
course design at this level. It also envisages compulsory certification

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of teachers, enhanced training and greater monitoring of in class
teaching methods.
2. Secondary level → New draft education policy envisages doing away
with the detention policy to focus on teaching outcomes.
3. Tertiary level → New draft education policy envisages doing away
with UGC and creating an autonomous National Education Regulator
to oversee higher education. → National Knowledge Commission also
recommended this.
→ National Institute Ratings Framework [NIRF] has been launched to rank and
rate colleges both private and public.

Broad Objectives of Education
Education must develop multi - dimensional intelligence among students. This
may include :
1. Cognitive intelligence covering skill development and research
orientation
2. Emotional intelligence for team spirit and risk taking attitude
3. Moral intelligence to blend personal ambitions with national goals
4. Social intelligence to defend civil rights and fight inequality
5. Spiritual intelligence for peace

New Education Policy in India -- TSR Report
Education is the foundation of any modern society. Historically, India has had a
strong tradition of promoting both scientific as well as religious learning.
Customs such as “guru-shishya” relationship and the excellence demonstrated by
Indian engineers, scientists and management personnel on international stage
speaks volumes of the Indian mind.

However, despite several measures, education has not met the rising standards
of the 21st century. An urgent policy to utilize India’s massive demographic
dividend is need of the hour. In this context, TSR Subramaniam committee has
submitted a new education policy for India.

Recommendations of the Committee:
1. Spending Increase: Total public spending on education must increase
from current 3% to 6% of GDP with immediate effect.
2. Scrapping of UGC.
3. Allowing foreign universities to set up campuses in India
4. All India Cadre of Education Service.
5. Compulsory Quality Audit of Schools every 3 years
6. Position of VCs in universities should be non-political
7. Licensing of Teachers: Compulsory licensing or certification for
teachers in government and private schools should be made
mandatory, with provision for renewal every 10 years based on
independent external testing.
8. Pre-school education as a Right: Pre-school education for the age
group of 4-5 years should be declared as a right as provided by DPSPs.
9. Expansion of mid-day meal: The ambit of Mid Day Meal scheme should
be expanded to cover students of secondary schools.

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10. Teacher Entrance Tests (TET) should be made compulsory for
recruitment of all teachers. Also for admission to B.Ed courses
minimum marks at graduate level should be 50%.
11. No Detention Policy to be removed: The no detention policy must be
continued for children until class V only when the child will be 11
years old. After class V, at the upper primary stage, system of
detention shall be restored subject to the provision of remedial
coaching and at least two extra chances being offered to prove
capability to move to a higher class.
12. The 25% economically weaker section quota in private schools should
be extended to minority institutions, as number of schools claiming
religious or linguistic minority status has increased tremendously.
13. Focus on girl education
14. Inclusion of value learning and ethics in the classroom.

No Detention Policy
• Various state governments (18) have demanded repeal of no detention
policy given in Right to Education Act.
• As per Section 16 of RTE Act, the students up to class VIII are
automatically promoted to the next class without being held back even if
they do not get a passing grade.
• This has been implemented as part of the Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation (CCE) under the RTE Act to ensure all-round development of
students.

Older Policies:
1. First policy: 1968; Second: 1986 (most recent), under Indira Gandhi
and Rajiv Gandhi govts respectively.
2. The National Education Policy (NEP) of 1986 was revised in 1992.

Other Schemes:
1. Volunteer Teaching: Vidyanjali scheme

New Draft National Education Policy

The Draft National Policy on education can help in solving these problems in the
following manner:

1) Focus on Pre-school Education -- use Anganwadi network
2) Curriculum Renewal and Examination Reforms
3) Learning outcomes in School Education
4) School Education would be focused on -- expansion of KVs and Jawahar
Navodaya Vidyalayas
5) Literacy and Lifelong Learning through the existing initiatives being
strengthened and curricula revamped with multi-pronged strategies
involving Self Help Groups, NGOs, Government etc.
6) Use of ICT in Education

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7) Enhancing funding for education

National Skill Development Mission

Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social
development for any country.

Problem:
India currently faces a severe shortage of well-trained, skilled workers. It is
estimated that only 2.3 % of the workforce in India has undergone formal skill
training as compared to 68% in the UK, 75% in Germany, 52% in USA, 80% in
Japan and 96% in South Korea. Large sections of the educated workforce have
little or no job skills, making them largely unemployable. Therefore, India must
focus on scaling up skill training efforts to meet the demands of employers and
drive economic growth.

Opportunity: -- demographic dividend
India is one of the youngest nations in the world, with more than 54% of the total
population below 25 years of age and over 62% of the population in the working
age group (15-59 years)
• This demographic advantage is predicted to last only until 2040. India
therefore has a very narrow time frame to harness its demographic
dividend and to overcome its skill shortages.

The enormity of India’s skilling challenge is further aggravated by the fact that
skill training efforts cut across multiple sectors and require the involvement of
diverse stakeholders such as: multiple government departments at the centre
and state levels, private training providers, educational and training institutions,
employers, industry associations, assessment and certification bodies and
trainees.

Submissions of NSDM:
(i) Institutional Training, (ii) Infrastructure, (iii) Convergence, (iv) Trainers, (v)
Overseas Employment, (vi) Sustainable Livelihoods, (vii) Leveraging Public
Infrastructure.

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will support the Mission
through capacity building initiatives and support private training partners.
UDAAN

• Udaan is a Special Industry Initiative for Jammu & Kashmir in the nature
of partnership between the corporates of India and Ministry of Home
Affairs and implemented by National Skill Development Corporation. The
programme aims to provide skills training and enhance the employability
of unemployed youth of J&K. The Scheme covers graduates, post
graduates and three year engineering diploma holders. It has two
objectives:
o To provide an exposure to the unemployed graduates to the best of
Corporate India;

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o To provide Corporate India, an exposure to the rich talent pool
available in the State.

STAR Scheme:
The National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme, known as STAR
(Standard Training Assessment and Reward),was operational between August
2013 and September 2014.

PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana [PMKVY]
The objective of this Skill Certification Scheme is to enable a large number of
Indian youth to take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in
securing a better livelihood. Individuals with prior learning experience or skills
will also be assessed and certified under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Under this Scheme, Training and Assessment fees are completely paid by the
Government. Envisages training of 10 million individuals in the next 4 years.
[2016-2020]

1. Includes NSQF [national skills qualifications framework] to ensure a
standardized mode of training and certification across the country.
2. Envisages skilling in a variety of fields such as manufacturing,
construction, media services etc. through 3rd party partners from the
private sector. This will also enable in placement of trained
individuals in new jobs.
3. Quarterly review of training imparted to ensure targets are met.
4. The new version of the scheme will also include training people to
work overseas including Europe and central Asia.
5. People from the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir and districts
affected by Maoist violence will be encouraged to enlist for residential
training
6. The skill ministry will spend between 10% and 15% of the budget for
creating a pool of workers for jobs created under programmes such as
Make In India, Swachh Bharat and Digital India.
7. A third party auditor for ensuring that targets are met will be set up to
oversee the program as well.

NSFQ
The National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) is a competency-based
framework that organizes all qualifications according to a series of levels of
knowledge, skills and aptitude. These levels, graded from one to ten, are defined
in terms of learning outcomes which the learner must possess regardless of
whether they are obtained through formal, non-formal or informal learning.
NSQF in India was notified on 27th December 2013. All otherframeworks,
including the NVEQF (National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework)
released by the Ministry of HRD, stand superceded by the NSQF.
Under NSQF, the learner can acquire the certification for competency needed at
any level through formal, non-formal or informal learning. In that sense, the
NSQF is a quality assurance framework. Presently, more than 100 countries
have, or are in the process of developing national qualification frameworks.

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The NSQF is anchored at the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) and is
being implemented through the National Skills Qualifications Committee (NSQC)
which comprises of all key stakeholders. The NSQC's functions amongst others
include approving NOSs/QPs, approving accreditation norms, prescribing
guidelines to address the needs of disadvantages sections, reviewing inter-
agency disputes and alignment of NSQF with international qualification
frameworks.
Specific outcomes expected from implementation of NSQF are:
1. Mobility between vocational and general education by alignment of
degrees with NSQF
2. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), allowing transition from non-
formal to organised job market
3. Standardised, consistent, nationally acceptable outcomes of training
across the country through a national quality assurance framework
4. Global mobility of skilled workforce from India, through international
equivalence of NSQF
5. Mapping of progression pathways within sectors and cross-sectorally
6. Approval of NOS/QPs as national standards for skill training

Poverty Reduction -- SECC and graduation approach in Gramin Swarozgar
Yojana (GSY) -- self employment
• Poverty is rarely just a binary state of being poor or not.
• In reality, the poor may experience anything between destitution and
moderate poverty, and their condition may change from one end of the
spectrum to the other over time.
• The Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC), a database created by the
ministry of rural development, attempts to identify such diversity by
measuring various parameters according to which a household is
deprived.
o As per SECC data, nearly half of the 18 crore rural households in
the country are deprived according to one or more of the seven
indicators.
o A staggering 75% of rural households have monthly income of less
than Rs.5,000 and around 38% of rural households are landless
and dependent on manual casual labour as their main source of
income.
o The figures show that the multiple social protection and livelihood
programmes implemented by successive governments, such as the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and
National Rural Livelihoods Mission, have been unable to reach the
extreme poor.
Studies by poverty labs such as J-PAL have shown that ‘ultra-poor’ have little
capital, minimal skills and are usually engaged in insecure and/or low-return
occupations. They are unable to meet basic needs, are extremely vulnerable to
unexpected life events such as health emergencies, and remain trapped in a cycle
of poverty. While there is no universally accepted threshold for being ‘ultra-
poor’, more than one-fifth of the world’s population and one-third of India’s rural
population live on $1.90 (purchasing power parity) or approximately Rs.130 a

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day or less—i.e., below the World Bank and United Nations’ threshold for
extreme poverty.

The ministry of rural development has recently incorporated new evidence into
the design of a newly proposed scheme, tentatively named the Grameen
Swarozgar Yojana (GSY). GSY proposes a diverse framework to achieve poverty-
free panchayats through generation of self-employment opportunities for the
poor. Keeping in mind a region’s natural resources and economic opportunities,
GSY allows implementing partners to apply for government support in
implementing self-employment generation projects specific to the needs of the
ultra-poor, extremely poor and moderately poor without excluding any group.

A core and unprecedented component of GSY is a specific provision for the ultra-
poor using the evidence from graduation approach. Through the proposed
policy, approved implementation agencies will identify ultra-poor families using
both the SECC data and community surveys. Thereafter, implementation
agencies will receive government support to work with these families using the
proven graduation approach.

If approved by the government of India, GSY will become the first government
policy intervention backed by rigorous scientific evidence that will aim to
provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to the ultra-poor at such a large
scale. If India is to truly cater to the poor, such nuanced approaches are required
to address the diversity within the country’s poverty.
NFHS 4 → Results of 1st phase
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released results from the first
phase of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015-16.
• Findings from 13 states and 2 UTs.
• Results:
o Lower IMR
§ Infant mortality has declined in all first phase States/Union
Territories.
§ All 15 States/Union Territories have rates below 51 deaths
per 1,000 live births, although there is considerable
variation among the States/Union Territories. Infant
mortality rates range from a low of 10 in Andaman and
Nicobar Islands to a high of 51 deaths per 1000 live births
in Madhya Pradesh.
• Maternal Health
o 100% mothers have received antenatal care for their most recent
pregnancy
o 90% Institutional Deliveries in some states
• Lower fertility Rates:
o The total fertility rates, or the average number of children per
woman, range from 1.2 in Sikkim to 3.4 in Bihar.
o All First Phase States/Union Territories except Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh and Meghalaya have either achieved or maintained
replacement level of fertility– a major achievement in the past
decade.

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§ Full immunization coverage among children age 12-23
months has increased but still varies widely among states.
§ Poor nutrition is less common than reported in NFHS-3.
o Fewer children under five years of age are now found to be
stunted, showing intake of improved nutrition.
• Sanitation: Indian families in the First Phase households are now more
inclined to use improved water and sanitation facilities.
• Hypertension: Among farmers is high → leading to suicides.

Social Audit
Social Audit is the process of measuring the performance of various government
schemes and public services as against the stated objectives. In short, the social
audits help to evaluate the true ground impact of social schemes.

Benefits:
1. Limiting the scope of leakages and corruption.
2. Enhances local people’s participation in governance and makes it
more effective form of governance.
3. Increases local people’s awareness about government programs and
their entitlement rights.
4. Increases the responsiveness of the government towards the citizens.
5. Allows for more transparency and accountability in various schemes
for government.

Problems:
1. Most states have not implemented social audit despite mandatory
provisions laid down by MGNREGA.
2. Local officials are hesitant in implementing social audit principals and
there is resistance against its institutionalization.
3. The redressal process of social audits is still not strong enough.
4. Stakeholders are ignored

Steps:
1. Ensure institutionalisation of social audits across all states making it
enforceable and credible
2. Capacity building to facilitate beneficiary-led-audits keeping in mind
local circumstances and empowering local participation.


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Rights Based approach to social policy

Rights based approach can be defined as the treatment of various basic
minimum needs such as education, health and social services for the citizens as
essential and absolutely necessary for their development. The government must
view such rights as its obligation to be provided to citizens.

Rights based approach has made governance more people centric.

It allows people to demand their rights to various services and ensure that their
delivery is done in an effective and efficient manner as well.

It ensures accountability and transparency of services available to the citizens.

It ensures that institutions are run for the people and people are not harassed by
institutions in demanding their entitlements.

For example:

The United Nations has declared the MDGs and now the SDGs keeping in mind
the basic rights of all the people to some basic services such as health, education,
social safety nets etc.

Similarly, the Supreme Court has interpreted the Article 21, Right to Life in a
variety of broad ways to include Right to clean environment, Right to privacy,
Right to life with dignity and so on.

Examples: Constitutional Status to PRIs, Adoption of RTI, Right to Education,
Right to Food, Formulation of Right to UHC, Social Audits etc.

The rights are “Basic Minimum” to ensure a particular standard of living, and
they are no more state patronage but they are regarded as state duties towards
its citizens.

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India’s lags behind as a Digital Economy-- “Network Readiness”

o India has been ranked at 91st position in the recently revealed “Network
Readiness Index” by WEF. -- part of the Global Information Technology
report.
o The report assesses the state of networked readiness of 139 economies
using the NRI and examines the role of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) in driving innovation.
o Reasons for a low rank:
o Lack of a comprehensive Regulatory Environment → lack of a
national digital policy to connect the bottom of the pyramid with
internet
o Lack of a good Business and innovation environment → Ease of
Doing business has not been achieved consistently across India
and expenditure on R&D is as low as <1% of GDP.
o Other countries moving fast ahead -- countries such as Vietnam,
Singapore and Indonesia are addressing these concerns faster and
have significantly improved their rankings.

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o Lack of infrastructure and low levels of skills among the
population remain the key bottlenecks to widespread ICT
adoption, especially in terms of individual usage.
§ A third of the Indian population is still illiterate and a
similar share of youth is not enrolled in secondary
education.
§ Only 15 out of 100 households have access to the Internet
and mobile broadband remains a privilege of the few, with
only 5.5 subscriptions for every 100 people.
o Affordability is good: 8th ranking in affordability
§ A deep divide persists between well-connected
metropolitan hubs and remote rural areas, where even the
most basic infrastructure is insufficient.
§ In 2015, the government launched the Digital India
program, which aims to close this gap by fostering
investment in digital infrastructure, improving digital
literacy, and increasingly providing online services to
citizens.
§ India’s performance in terms of providing online services
and allowing e-participation has so far been in line with
that of peer countries, but far from the global best (57th
and 40th, respectively).

Rights of Minorities in India

o Article 16 guarantees no discrimination on basis of race, religion, caste or
language etc in matters of public employment.
o Article 25, 28 -- Freedom to Religion and Freedom to religious instruction
Articles 29 and 30 -- freedom of cultural and educational rights for
minorities
o Preamble of the constitution provides equality, liberty, fraternity and
Justice
o National Commission for Minorities
o Challenges:
o Personal Laws: Complex social structure of India, presence of
multiple Personal Laws, castes, classes further complicates the
legal and constitutional provisions → Example: Triple Talaq as a
personal law in contradiction to achieving Right to Equality for
women in India.
o Communal and Sectarian tendencies, especially during political
events such as elections.
o Sachar Committee report recommendations still not codified for
implementation
o Poor skill development and education levels among minorities as
compared to other sections is roadblocking their development.

Regulatory Institutions in India

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o FSSAI, RBI, SEBI, TRAI, PFRDA, IRDA

“Trust Based” approach towards local governance institutions
o A trust based approach has been recommended by 14th finance
commission.
o TISS → Devolution Index → 21/24 states evaluated have devolved only
50% of FFF provisions to local institutions.
o Trust based approach → Funds, Functions and Functionaries → devolve
powers and responsibilities. Provide full political capital to the local
elected representatives.
o Allow people to devise their own regional plans for development.
o Enable DPC -- District Planning Committees
o Implement the provisions of PESA in scheduled areas

Women Empowerment
The United Nations defines women empowerment as the process by which
women take control and ownership of their lives through the expansion of their
choices. In general, women empowerment indicates an increase in economic,
social, spiritual and political strength, boosting their self-esteem, enlarging their
decision-making power and allowing them better access to resources. All this
leads to a positive attitude.

One proxy for women empowerment is the status of rural women in India. Rural
women play a significant role in society, and national development is not
possible without nurturing this segment. In the Indian context, studies related to
credit accessibility of women show that relative access to institutional credit of
rural women may be limited vis-a-vis their urban counterparts. In our study, we
found that there is indeed traction, though limited, across Jan Dhan and Mudra
accounts — primarily in the shishu category of loans, that is loans less than Rs
50,000. Interestingly, if we apply the same percentage of the SBI overlap ratio —
that is people having both a Jan Dhan account and a Mudra loan — to the
aggregate Jan Dhan accounts opened till date, then we have close to 100 lakh
Mudra account holders with a Jan Dhan accou
The good thing is that 23 per cent of Mudra loan account holders with the SBI are
women with an average ticket size of around Rs 55,000. Alternatively, this
implies that most of the women account holders have taken loans under the
shishu category only. In contrast, 65 per cent of the Mudra loan account holders
are men with an average exposure of around Rs 87,000, of which there is a good
chunk from the economically backward classes. But the most remarkable finding
was that the distribution of the women entrepreneurs across India with 36 per
cent of the accounts coming from southern India (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu
and Telangana) and 16 per cent from eastern India (West Bengal, Odisha and
Assam). Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh accounted for another 17 per
cent.

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Thus, it clearly seems that states that were laggards in terms of economic growth
in the past are seeing more traction in women entrepreneurship through the
Mudra route.
In terms of the average exposure amount for women entrepreneurs across
states, results were even more interesting. On an average, in most of the states as
mentioned above, activities were related to grocery and kirana stores, retail
shops and even public utility services. But in some of the smaller states like
Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh,
Arunachal Pradesh and even eastern states like Bihar and Jharkhand, the average
exposure was significantly higher than the national average. It is possible that
though limited in number, loans may have been availed by women in such states
for activities like buying trucks, cars for passenger and freight transport, given
the inhospitable terrains which necessitates the need for an efficient transport
infrastructure.
In this context of empowering women, an analogy may be drawn directly to the
self-help group or SHG-bank linkage programme — often considered as the
ultimate benchmark in women’s empowerment and socio-economic
development. Loans like the ones under the Mudra scheme are analogous to
microfinance and remain a powerful tool for development as it brings down the
capital and the operating costs and helps women entrepreneurship blossom
from mere superficiality to productivity.
Coming back to our second major finding: Nearly 35 per cent of the total inward
remittances in the SBI sample are also from states with high women literacy
rates, of which 25 per cent are below the age group of 45 years. Similarly, 48 per
cent of the cash withdrawal — with a larger probability of women withdrawing
cash from their accounts compared to their male counterparts — also comes
from such states. This clearly indicates that the inward remittances sent by their
male counterparts are possibly being put to more productive use by women
facilitating independent decision making.
To sum up, research has confirmed that investing in women’s capabilities results
in the well-being of the family, especially children. The experience of the
successful SHG-bank linkage is a case in point in the Indian context. There is no
harm in emulating this in the context of better Mudra loan targeting by using the
Jan Dhan account interface.
As our results show, even as women entrepreneurs, specifically the rural ones,
are somehow using the Mudra route, we must encourage them even more. This
can be achieved by better targeting using big data analytics. For example, states
with high literacy across women may be specifically targeted for more of Mudra
loans. Simultaneously, the government must think seriously about creating a
database of women entrepreneurs across states pursuing similar activities. This
will create a successful Mudra-bank linkage. After all, as the SHG example shows,
women save more, repay on time and promptly attend the SHG meetings. This is
all we need for making women a visible part of Indian growth story.


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Media and Entertainment Industry Reforms
The media and entertainment sector is a Rs 1.2-lakh-crore industry. Television
accounts for about 46 per cent, the print media about 26 per cent and films 12.5
per cent. Various reports since 2012 have stated that it can grow at 15 to 20 per
cent per annum. It is also a large employer. It is, therefore, surprising that the
sector seems to have escaped the government's attention. Even if legislation is
ruled out, there is still an agenda on which action should be taken. Here's what
can be done.

Digitisation of cable television is a clear priority: It provides better service to the
consumer, it is the quickest way to deliver broadband in urban settings and it
prepares India for convergence. Digitisation is being closely watched by foreign
investors as it will provide a more balanced distribution of income amongst the
broadcasters (content providers), multiple system operators (infrastructure
providers), and last-mile operators. And parliamentary legislation is in place.
One of the most regrettable decisions of the present government was to
postpone digitisation by two years. As a priority, the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting (MIB) must now increase the pressure. A clear message must be
transmitted that the 2016 dates are final. Leave aside all else, this will pave the
way for freeing up the pricing of content. The co-existence of the analogue and
digital systems compels compliance with a Supreme Court (SC) ruling, which
leads to regulation of pricing. Liberating the pricing of content has done wonders
for this sector the world over. Why should India be behind?

Bizarrely, the MIB issues licences that have no provision for extension/renewal.
For instance, DTH (direct to home) licensees get permission to operate for 10
years. The outcome: Corporates are left to the tender mercies of MIB mandarins.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) recommendations on an
entirely new licensing scheme were issued in July 2014. These rationalised
licensing practices and also addressed the licence fee issue to bring the sector on
a par with telecom (both use spectrum). Most of this is straightforward and can
be implemented in three months. Then why don't we?

FM radio licensing has the same bizarre characteristic - namely, no provision for
renewal or extension. An FM operator has to transition from one phase to the
next under a new licence. There are other problems: The space between two
frequency spots of spectrum has been frozen at 800 KHz for over a decade. The
regulator has repeatedly argued that this can be reduced to 400 KHz. It would
vastly augment the number of radio spots that can be put to use. The Wireless
Planning and Coordination wing in the Department of Telecommunications has
been "studying" the issue for over five years. Inaction on spacing only creates
artificial scarcity, escalating auction prices in premier locations. To what end?

The auction held in 2015 primarily enabled existing licence holders to migrate to
Phase III. That took four years. FM radio is not about earning revenue for the
government; it is a means to expand outreach and provide entertainment and
information. The same holds true for community radio (CR) stations; in addition,
CR stations serve local communities. Most class "B", "C" and "D" cities and

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remote locations still have no FM coverage. The regulator recommended
measures to overhaul the licensing regime and expand coverage. Reserve prices
for these cities/towns have been available with the MIB for close to a year. We
should expand the number of radio spots by reducing spacing and conduct the
auction immediately.

Taxation of platforms for content delivery does not yield a level-playing field.
The liability covers the Centre (service tax) and the states (entertainment tax)
and levies such as set-top box charges. There are large variations across and
within states. In some cases, like online delivery, legal liability has not yet been
tested. All in all, it is a mess. Remit the matter to the Trai to make
recommendations on unifying rates and rationalising levies.

Media ownership and regulation have been major issues to which attention has
been drawn by the media itself. Takeover of news channels by conglomerates is
another disconcerting trend. Content regulation is broken. The Press Council of
India is stacked with people from the print media and has no teeth to enforce its
writ. Content regulation in the electronic medium is weak. News channel
regulation is voluntary.

One thing is absolutely clear: Under no circumstances should the government be
associated with content regulation. That does not mean we cannot improve on
what we have. Appoint a commission chaired by a former SC judge to look at
content regulation for all media and make recommendations. That could lay the
foundation for legislative changes in the future.

Another issue hanging fire is the use of airwaves by the government. In the case
of the Cricket Association of Bengal, the SC ruled that the government had no
business using the airwaves other than for a sole exemption, a public
broadcaster. And yet, state governments run TV/cable channels, politicians (or
surrogates) run news channels. The top court's ruling was the basis for setting
up Prasar Bharati. The Trai sent the MIB two sets of recommendations, five years
apart, drawing attention to the court ruling. But government indecision rules.
This is not good for our democracy and the longer we let it linger, the worse will
be the damage.

The MIB has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Enormous energy has
been frittered away on the Film and Television Institute of India episode. Now
the Central Board of Film Certification is in the eye of a storm. Political capital
has been squandered; now, focus on what needs to get done to develop the
industry.


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Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission

o Allocation of Rs. 5142 crores for the development of rural growth
clusters.
o CLUSTER BASED Development of Villages:
o These clusters would be developed by provisioning of economic
activities, developing skills & local entrepreneurship and providing
infrastructure amenities.
o SMART Villages: The Rurban Mission will thus develop a cluster of SMART
Villages.
o The clusters will be geographically contiguous Gram Panchayats
o Cluster Selection based on:
o Demography, economy, tourism and pilgrimage significance and
transportation corridor impact.
o The mission aims to create 300 such Rurban growth clusters over the
next 3 years, across the country.
o To ensure an optimum level of development, fourteen components have
been suggested as desirable for the cluster, which would include; Skill
development training linked to economic activities, Agro Processing/Agri
Services/Storage and Warehousing, Digital Literacy, Sanitation, Provision
of piped water supply, Solid and liquid waste management, Village streets
and drains, Street lights, Fully equipped mobile health unit, Upgrading
school /higher education facilities, Inter-village road connectivity, Citizen
Service Centres- for electronic delivery of citizen centric services/e-gram
connectivity, Public transport., LPG gas connections.
SANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA (SAGY)

o Under the scheme each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility
of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in selected villages
from their constituencies in a phased manner.
o The Scheme places equal stress on nurturing values of national pride,
patriotism, community spirit, self-confidence and on developing
infrastructure.
o It envisages integrated development of the selected village across
multiple areas such as agriculture, health, education, sanitation,
environment, livelihoods etc. Far beyond mere infrastructure
development, SAGY aims at instilling certain values, such as people’s
participation, Antyodaya, gender equality, dignity of women, social
justice, spirit of community service, cleanliness, eco-friendliness,
maintaining ecological balance, peace and harmony, mutual cooperation,
self-reliance, local self-government, transparency and accountability in
public life, etc., in the villages and their people so that they get
transformed into models for others.
o The Members of Parliament (MPs) are the pivots this Scheme will run on.
o Gram Panchayat would be the basic unit for development.
o Benefits:
o Greater empowerment of Gram Panchayats

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§ Strengthening of local democracy through strong and
transparent Gram Panchayats and active Gram Sabhas and
facilitating good governance is also an important objective
of SAGY.
o Development of “villages” that could serve as models of
development for other around them.
o Social mobilization of village community can trigger a chain of
other development activities in the village. For instance, reducing
risk behaviours like alcoholism, smoking, substance abuse
(drugs/tobacco/gutkha etc) among all age groups of population.
o Utilization of Village Development Plan
o Use of the constituency fund, MPLADS.
o Participatory development with MP and officials from the area as
facilitators
o Demand driven program as SAGY gives focus to community
participation.
o Women participation in the decision-making process will be
encouraged.
o Mahila Sabhas and Bal Sabhas to discuss women and children specific
issues and concerns.
o E-governance will also be given a push.
o Adoption and adaptation of technology and introduction of
innovations are critical to this programme.
o This will include use of space application and remote sensing for
planning, mobile based technology for monitoring, agriculture
technology for increasing productivity etc.
ACCESSIBLE INDIA CAMPAIGN [Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan]

o India is signatory to UN Convention on Rights of the Persons with
Disability
o 2.68 crore disabled people in India as per census 2011
o Disability constitutional rights:
o ARTICLE 41 of the Indian constitution says that state shall make
efforts (DPSP) to providing just environment for the development
of disabled.
o The constitution also provides for Rights to Equality, justice,
freedom and dignity to all without discrimination.
o The Persons with Disabilities Act 1995
o National Policy in 2006
o Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan
o Make Buildings and infrastructure Disabled Friendly
o The target is to make at least 50% government buildings disabled friendly
under the campaign in each of the state capital and central capital till end
of May 2018 and make 25 per cent of the public transport vehicles under
government as disabled friendly till mid 2017
o AccessibleIndia website created where people can put their views on the
accessibility of any building and get it converted as well.
o All airports and railway stations to be made disabled friendly.

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o Special set-top boxes will be made available to make watching TV more
convenient for the visually impaired.
o In the next 5 years, almost 200 persons will be trained to speak in sign
languages on government TV channels.
o Government websites will also be made more friendly by using text to
speech option.
o The initiative involves retrofitting buildings, framing such standards for
new buildings and transport that they are friendly to the differently-
abled, auditing private companies on 'accessibility index' standard and
making all government websites friendly to the differently-abled.
o Mobile App
o Private companies will be rated on basis of their disability friendly
programs
o Human Resource Policies
o "Sugamya Pustakalaya" launched → Daisy forum of India

National Social Security Authority

o Social security is a program in which the government provides money to
people who are unable to work because they are old, disabled, or
unemployed. It is funded usually by mandatory payroll contribution from
both the employees and the employer and from the government tax
revenue.
o Idea mooted by Labour Ministry
o Social security is still an underdeveloped concept for a country where at
least 30% of the population continues to live in poverty and where old
age is often accompanied by extreme destitution for many.
o The International Labour Organization's World Social Protection Report
2014-15 shows less than a fourth of India's population above the
statutory pensionable age receives any kind of pension.
o The current social sector program covers only a small portion of the
population and is primarily employer driven, limiting its scope to help the
vast majority of people.
o Around 50% of Indians work in Agriculture sector where they enjoy no
social security. Around 92% of India's urban workforce are employed in
informal sector and though number of schemes like RSBY, Atal Pension
Yojana have been launched for them there impact on granting true social
security to the Workers is still found to be not adequate.
o Proposal:
o The authority may have all the ministers and secretaries of all
ministries dealing with social security programmes along with
state government officials as members. It will be headed by The
Prime minister
o The functions of the authority would be mainly to formulate the
National Policy on Social Security and to co-ordinate the central
and state level programmes and to ensure that the objectives of
the policy are achieved within the time frame prescribed.

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o The proposed Social Security Department within the Labour
Ministry will provide “policy inputs” and “secretarial services
” to the body.
o The Ministry note proposes a 4 tier system to cover the entire
population of the country, including both formal and informal
sector workers, through a common Social Security Code.
§ The 1st tier would include the “destitute and people below
the poverty line,” the second tier would have workers in
the unorganized sector who may be covered under a
subsidized scheme and the 3rd tier would cover workers
who can, with the help of employer, can make contribution
to the schemes.
o The 4th tier would include people who are comparatively affluent and can
make their own provisions for meeting contingencies or risks as and
when arise
o Social Security Schemes:
o Atal Pension Yojana
o PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana
o PM Suraksha Bima Yojana
o RSBY
o NSAP
o EPFO

EDUCATION POLICY
UGC and Higher Education Reforms
India is home to the oldest educational institutions such as Nalanda, Vikramshila,
Taxila and many others. It remained the top destination for thousands of
scholars from across the world studies religion, science, mathematics and social
sciences over many years.

UGC was established in 1956 to promote higher education in India. However, the
Indian higher education system is in a poor state today. While the infrastructure
is lacking, various other factors are also stifling its growth. These are:

6. As recommended by the TSR Subramaniam Committee report,
UGC is unable to meet the challenges of new education
paradigm. It must be replaced with a National Higher
Education Act.
7. UGC has failed in ensuring quality standards. According to QS
Rankings, India stands only at 24th out of 50 countries in
Higher education levels.

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8. UGC has delayed fellowships to many scholars resulting in poor
research outcomes.
9. In many cases it has over-regulated, thereby stifling creativity,
and in many it has failed to regulate, thereby resulting in
growth of fake colleges across the country.

Way Forward:
Firstly, higher education must be freed from political and bureaucratic
interference. Academics must be given independence to frame coursework,
administration and other components. A balanced accountability mechanism
should be set-up to ensure overall success of institutions.

Secondly, a new and updated version of UGC Act must be considered to enable
fast processing of fellowships, standard quality measurement, and right amount
of regulation.

________________________________________

New Education Policy in India -- TSR Report

Education is the foundation of any modern society. Historically, India has had a
strong tradition of promoting both scientific as well as religious learning.
Customs such as “guru-shishya” relationship and the excellence demonstrated by
Indian engineers, scientists and management personnel on international stage
speaks volumes of the Indian mind.

However, despite several measures, education has not met the rising standards
of the 21st century. An urgent policy to utilize India’s massive demographic
dividend is need of the hour. In this context, TSR Subramaniam committee has
submitted a new education policy for India.

Recommendations of the Committee:
5. Spending Increase: Total public spending on education must
increase from current 3% to 6% of GDP with immediate effect.
6. Scrapping of UGC.
7. Allowing foreign universities to set up campuses in India
8. All India Cadre of Education Service.
9. Compulsory Quality Audit of Schools every 3 years
10. Position of VCs in universities should be non-political
11. Licensing of Teachers: Compulsory licensing or certification for
teachers in government and private schools should be made
mandatory, with provision for renewal every 10 years based on
independent external testing.
12. Pre-school education as a Right: Pre-school education for the
age group of 4-5 years should be declared as a right as
provided by DPSPs.

Marks in GS: 449
13. Expansion of mid-day meal: The ambit of Mid Day Meal scheme
should be expanded to cover students of secondary schools.
14. Teacher Entrance Tests (TET) should be made compulsory for
recruitment of all teachers. Also for admission to B.Ed courses
minimum marks at graduate level should be 50%.
15. No Detention Policy to be removed: The no detention policy
must be continued for children until class V only when the
child will be 11 years old. After class V, at the upper primary
stage, system of detention shall be restored subject to the
provision of remedial coaching and at least two extra chances
being offered to prove capability to move to a higher class.
16. The 25% economically weaker section quota in private schools
should be extended to minority institutions, as number of
schools claiming religious or linguistic minority status has
increased tremendously.
17. Focus on girl education
18. Inclusion of value learning and ethics in the classroom.

No Detention Policy
• Various state governments (18) have demanded repeal of no detention
policy given in Right to Education Act.
• As per Section 16 of RTE Act, the students up to class VIII are
automatically promoted to the next class without being held back even if
they do not get a passing grade.
• This has been implemented as part of the Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation (CCE) under the RTE Act to ensure all-round development of
students.

Older Policies:
1. First policy: 1968; Second: 1986 (most recent), under Indira Gandhi
and Rajiv Gandhi govts respectively.
2. The National Education Policy (NEP) of 1986 was revised in 1992.

Other Schemes:
1. Volunteer Teaching: Vidyanjali scheme

New Draft National Education Policy

The Draft National Policy on education can help in solving these problems in the
following manner:

1) Focus on Pre-school Education -- use Anganwadi network
2) Curriculum Renewal and Examination Reforms

Marks in GS: 449
3) Learning outcomes in School Education
4) School Education would be focused on -- expansion of KVs and Jawahar
Navodaya Vidyalayas
5) Literacy and Lifelong Learning through the existing initiatives being
strengthened and curricula revamped with multi-pronged strategies
involving Self Help Groups, NGOs, Government etc.
6) Use of ICT in Education
7) Enhancing funding for education

WOMEN
Draft National Policy for Women, 2016
Women form 50% of the population but despite that face challenges in every
aspect of life from birth to old age.

The new National Policy for Women seeks to create an effective framework for
developing policies and practices which will ensure equal rights and
opportunities for women. It takes a new approach by changing entitlements into
rights and empowering women to attain their rightful place in society. It is
drafted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

It covers seven priority areas, including: (i) health, including food security and
nutrition, (ii) education, (iii) economy, (iv) governance and decision making, (v)
violence against women, (vi) enabling environment through housing, drinking
water, sanitation facilities and social security, and (vii) environment and climate
change.

The Policy aims to address emerging issues that affect women by taking steps
such as:

1. Preparing family-friendly policies, which provide for childcare,
dependent care, and paid leave for women and men, both in organized
and unorganized sectors.
2. Reviewing personal and customary laws in accordance with
Constitutional provisions to enable equitable and inclusive
entitlements for women.
3. Developing protective measures in light of an increase in cyber-crimes
as victims of such frauds are largely women.
4. Ensuring the rights of women who take the recourse of artificial
reproductive techniques, such as surrogate mothers, commissioning
mothers and children born as a result are protected.
5. Creating an ecosystem for women to participate in entrepreneurial
activities and take up decision-making and leadership roles in all
sectors of the economy.


Marks in GS: 449
National Women Policy
• Aimed at “re-scripting” women’s empowerment by following a “
socially inclusive rights based approach”
• Roughly based on Pam Rajput Committee (2012) set up by MWCD
• Last time, women empowerment policy came in 2001
• Highlights:
o Create conducive socio-cultural environment for women to
develop their faculties, pursue their careers and life goals.
o Political rights for women to enable them to get full representation
in the political discourse in the country.
o Institutional Development: Effective Gender Institutional Structure
to enable implementation of gender policies
o Gender Budgeting, Inter-Sectoral convergence, stakeholder
partnerships, and collection of gender related data for better
policy making.
o Priority areas for women:
§ Nutrition [anemia, community nutrition, infant and young
child feeding]
§ Education
§ Health
§ Security
§ Governance and decision making
§ Violence against women
§ Environment and climate change
§ Enabling environment
o Schemes and Programs:
§ Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (trilateral ministries: Ministry of
Women and Child Development, Ministry of HRD, Ministry
of Health and Family Welfare)
§ To address declining sex ratio of girls
§ Objectives:
§ Prevent gender based sex selective elimination
§ Ensure survival & protection of the girl child
§ Ensure education of the girl child
§ Focus on gender critical districts and cities low on CSR for
intensive and integrated action.
§ Training of panchayats.
§ Sustained social mobilization and communication
campaign.
• Stand Up India
• Mahila Bank
o Why Important:
o Poor child sex ratio of 918/1000 in 2011

MEDIA

New Print Media Advertisement Policy

Marks in GS: 449
Print media has played a definitive role in Indian history. During National
Freedom movement, it circulated nationalist opinions across the country and
helped in bringing the nation together. Since independence, the print media has
truly acted as a “fourth pillar” of our democracy by showing resilience during
various wars, emergency, liberalisation and other important events.

In contemporary context, the bombardment of advertisements in print media
poses various new challenges. These are:
1. Lack of transparency and accountability in printing of “paid news”
g. Public opinion can be easily manipulated by showcasing “paid
news” as “real news”. For example, during elections various
candidates print ads that appear as articles of their achievements.
This misguides general public.
2. Constitutional rights of Freedom of speech and expression are affected
by any new rules and policies created for this sector.
3. Ethical standards governing print media and its editorialship are
under question.

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has framed a New Print Media
Advertisement Policy for Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP).

Key Highlights of the New Policy For the first time the policy introduces a New
Marking System for newspapers to incentivize Newspapers who have better
professional standing.
1. It includes circulation verification Procedure for empanelment of
Newspapers/Journals with DAVP.
2. The policy also stipulates the empanelment procedure for Multi-
Editions of a newspaper.
3. To promote equity based regional outreach, the policy emphasizes
that the budget for all India release of advertisements shall be divided
among states based on total circulation of newspapers in each State
/Language

________________________________________

New Textile Sector Policy

• India’s textile and apparel industry is all set for an overhaul as the new
National Textile Policy.
• The government has already accepted a Rs.60 billion special package for
this sector with an aim to create 10 million new jobs in the next three
years, attract investments of $11 billion, as well as generate an additional
$30 billion in exports.
• Key changes:
o Flexibility in labour laws to increase productivity
• TEXTILE is SECOND LARGEST EMPLOYER in India after Agriculture.
o It also provides 14% of industrial production in India and 4% to
GDP

Marks in GS: 449
• Sector with a Maze of labour regulations
• Informalisation of jobs has taken place in the sector due to stringent
labour laws
• There are over 200 labour laws, including 52 Central Acts in the industrial
sector in India
• In their book India’s Tryst with Destiny , Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind
Panagariya maintained that it is impossible to comply with 100 per cent
of the labour laws without violating at least 20 per cent.
• The Economic Survey 2016 has rightly pointed out that stringent labour
regulations act as “regulatory cholesterol”, inhibiting the industry from
generating employment and hiring regular workers.
o Additional incentives for duty drawback scheme for garments
o As part of the reform agenda, the Ministry of Textiles would also
seek to lower excise duty on man-made fibre to 6 per cent from the
existing 12 per cent.
o Tax and production incentives for job creation in garment
manufacturing.

HEALTH

New National Mental Health Policy

• According to WHO report, over 2.5 lakh people commit suicides in India
every year -- highest number in the world. Youngsters in age of 15-29
form highest of this.
• Earlier Acts such as Indian Lunacy Act 1912 ignored the Human rights
aspect of this concern. It was treated as a crime.
• Policy is backed by Mental Health Action Plan 365. It clearly spells out
roles to be played by the Central government, state governments, local
bodies and civil society in providing mental healthcare to all.
• Provisions of National policy:
o Decriminalize mental health problems
o Seeks to fulfil India’s international obligation pursuant to the
Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities
o Seeks to empower persons suffering from mental-illness, marking
a departure from the Act of 1987.
o Adopts a rights-based approach, which is a first in the mental
health law of India.
o Universal Access to mental health care

Marks in GS: 449

Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016

The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016 was passed by Rajya Sabha last week, and is
expected to be discussed in Lok Sabha during next session. The Bill repeals the
existing Mental Health Act, 1987, which is vastly different in letter and spirit. The
Act of 1987 had been widely criticised for proving to be inadequate to protect
the rights of mentally ill persons.

Here are certain things you need to know about the new Bill:
1. Mental Healthcare Bill seeks to decriminalise the Attempt to Commit
Suicide.
2. Seeks to fulfil India’s international obligation pursuant to the
3. The Bill adopts a more nuanced understanding of “mental illness” than
the Act of 1987.
h. Seeks to empower persons suffering from mental-illness, marking
a departure from the Act of 1987.
4. The Bill also lays down certain parameters for determination of
mental illness, seeking to use nationally and internationally accepted
medical standards, especially the standards adopted by World Health
Organisation.
5. Adopts a rights-based approach, which is a first in the mental health
law of India. The Bill creates a rights-based framework for mentally ill
persons.
a. The Bill guarantees every person the right to access mental health
care and treatment from mental health services run or funded by
government. This right is meant to ensure mental health services
of affordable cost, of good quality, of sufficient quantity, are
geographically accessible and are provided without
discrimination.
6. The Bill also recognises the right to community living; right to live
with dignity; protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
treatment equal to persons with physical illness; right to relevant
information concerning treatment other rights and recourses; right to
confidentiality; right to access their basic medical records; right to
personal contacts and communication; right to legal aid; recourse
against deficiencies in provision of care, treatment and services.
7. Every insurer is bound to make provision for medical insurance for
treatment of mental illness on the same basis as is available for
treatment of physical illness.
8. Provisions for registration of institutions and regulation of the sector
The Bill provides for the creation of Central and State Mental Health
Authorities
a. The Bill also provides for the creation of Mental Health Review
Boards that has adjudicatory powers over the various rights and
protections guaranteed by the Bill.

Marks in GS: 449
9. Funds: The Bill guarantees a right of affordable, accessible and quality
mental health care and treatment from mental health services run or
funded by Central and State governments. The Bill also makes
provision for a range of services to be provided by the appropriate
government.

Problems in the Bill:
1. However the Bill varies from the social model of disability
incorporated in the Convention. The social model of disability focuses
on how disability hampers a person’s full and effective participation of
the society.
2. The Bill, on the other hand, adopts a narrow approach to see mental
illness as hampering recognition of reality or ability to meet the
ordinary demands of life and also as conditions associated with drug
and alcohol abuse.

Drug Policy
• Supreme Court has stated that "the Drug Policy in India is unreasonable
and irrational"
• Some companies are making unreasonable profits and selling some very
basic medicines for high, unaffordable prices
• In India, only about 35% of people have access to essential medicines, as
per WHO report “World Medicine Situation” All India Drugs Network
was filed in SC
• Government is legitimizing the high
• Government has constituted an Inter Ministerial Committee to review the
Drug Price Control Order, 2013. The committee will look into the drug
pricing mechanism. The Supreme Court had, earlier in this year, declared
the Drug Pricing Policy as irrational and unreasonable. It also observed
that the centre has been fixing the maximum price for a medicine above
the retail price.
• The drug pricing mechanism was termed irrational and unreasonable
because:
o The market prices of all the medicines enlisted in the control order
were not collected
o The collected data was inadequate and sometimes faulty also.
o There were some instances where the selling prices of certain
medicines were higher than the prices of market leader for such
medicines.
o The order has not covered all the dosages of a same drug (only one
or two dosages covered).

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o DRUG COMBINATIONS: If a price controlled drug is combined with
a non-price controlled drug, then it is out of the purview of the
control order.
o ORDERS NOT FOLLOWED: Drugs like cardiovascular drugs, anti-
diabetic drugs, which are required for life-long therapy, are
excluded from the control order. 108 such drugs were put under
National Pharma Pricing Authority (NPPA) which controls their
prices. However, all the drug manufacturers are not following the
NPPA’s orders. Action has not been taken on those who are not
following
• The 2013 order fixes the ceiling price of essential medicines listed in
Schedule 1. No one can sell the scheduled medicines at a higher price than
the one prescribed by the NPPA. However, the number of such medicines
covered in the Schedule are only 14.3% of the total medicines sold in the
country.
• Pharma industry is a major industry in India. As per 2013 figures, the
pharma industry has a:
• Turn over: $25 billion, of which 60% domestic and 40% exports.
• Cumulative Average Growth Rate: 14% since last 5 years of 2013.
• Ranked 3rd globally in terms of volume and 14th in terms of value.
• The government has launched “Jan Aushadi” stores to ensure
availability of quality generic medicines at affordable prices to all.
However, there are certain lapses in the scheme. 90% of the doctors do
not give prescriptions in generic names. DOCTORS DON’T GIVE
PRESCRIPTIONS IN GENERIC NAMES. Besides, the network connectivity
of Jan Aushadi stores is poor.
• Two areas where there is a lack or absence of government regulation are:
Medical equipment and Diagnostics. This is one of the reasons for
incurring high expenditures on health care.
o In India, only about 35% of people have access to essential
medicines, as per WHO report “World Medicine Situation”
o 60% of the out-of-pocket expenditure on health goes for buying
medicines
o States like Tamil Nadu provide free medicines to their people. It
has a very well organized procurement, distribution and quality
control networks.
o Countries like Brazil also provide free medicines.
o India should also try to implement free health care to its people.
The draft National Health Policy, 2015 highlights this. It proposes
to raise the health expenditure to 2.5% of GDP and to ensure
universal access to free drugs, diagnostics in govt. Hospitals.
Health care should be made a fundamental right

National Capital Goods Policy 2015


Marks in GS: 449
Draft policy aims to create 3.5 million more jobs, increase exports to 40% of total
output, or 2 trillion, by 2025
• In recent years, production of capital goods sector has vastly lagged
behind targets. The former Planning Commission targeted a growth rate
of 16.8% every year in the production of capital goods in the 12th Five
year Plan period (2012-17), but the sector’s compounded annual growth
has only been 0.3%.
• Complement Make of India
• Increase the share of capital goods from 12% to 20% of total value
manufacturing by 2025.
• The government wants to double production of capital goods—which
include equipment and machinery used to produce other goods—to more
than ` 5 trillion from ` 2.2 trillion now. A significant part of the increased
production will be exported to overseas markets.
• The policy is aimed at turning India into “one of the top capital goods
producing nations of the world”, the policy draft said.
• Drastically increase the proportion of production of capital goods in
Indian manufacturing industry
• The policy is an offshoot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious
“Make In India” campaign that seeks to attract foreign investment into
manufacturing and accelerate economic growth.

Primary Healthcare as a Fundamental Right [UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE Policy

in India]

12th Five year plan laid out a definitive strategy.

The recommendations of the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Universal
Health Coverage encompass the area of health financing, health services norms,
human resources for health, community participation and citizen engagement,
access to medicines, vaccines and technology and management and institutional
reforms. The recommendations of the HLEG, inter-alia, include:

(i) Increase public expenditure on health to at least 2.5 percent of
GDP by the end of the 12th Plan and to at least 3% of GDP by
2022.

(ii) Ensure availability of free essential medicines by increasing
public spending on drug procurement.


Marks in GS: 449
(iii) Purchase of all health care services under the Universal Health
Coverage (UHC) system should be undertaken either directly
by the Central and state governments through their
Departments of Health or by quasi-governmental autonomous
agencies established for the purpose.

(iv) All government funded insurance schemes should, over time,
be integrated with the UHC system. All health insurance cards
should, in due course, be replaced by National Health
Entitlement Cards. The technical and other capacities
developed by the Ministry of Labour for the RSBY should be
leveraged as the core of UHC operations – and transferred to
the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

(v) Develop a National Health Package that offers, as part of the
entitlement of every citizen, essential health services at
different levels of the health care delivery system.

(vi) Reorient health care provision to focus significantly on primary
health care.

(vii) Strengthen District Hospitals.

(viii) Ensure adequate numbers of trained health care providers and
technical health care workers at different levels by a) giving
primacy to the provision of primary health care b) increasing
Human Resources for Health (HRH) density to achieve WHO
norms of at least 23 health workers (doctors, nurses, and
midwives).

(ix) Establish District Health Knowledge Institutes (DHKIs).

(x) Establish the National Council for Human Resources in Health
(NCHRH).

(xi) Transform existing Village Health Committees (or Health and
Sanitation Committees) into participatory Health Councils.

(xii) Ensure the rational use of drugs.

(xiii) Set up national and state drug supply logistics corporations.

(xiv) Empower the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to
strengthen the drug regulatory system.

(xv) Introduce All India and state level Public Health Service Cadres
and a specialized state level Health Systems Management Cadre
in order to give greater attention to public health and also
strengthen the management of the UHC system.

Marks in GS: 449

(xvi) Establishment of National Health Regulatory and Development
Authority (NHRDA).

(xvii) National Drug Regulatory and Development Authority
(NDRDA): The main aim of NDRDA should be to regulate
pharmaceuticals and medical devices and provide patients
access to safe and cost effective products.

The recommendations of the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) are considered by
Planning Commission, for formulating the 12th Five Year Plan which has to be
approved by the National Development Council (NDC).

Definition
Ensuring equitable access for all Indian citizens, resident in any part of the
country,regardless of income level, social status, gender, caste or religion, to
affordable, accountable, appropriate health services of assured quality
(promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative) as well as public health
services addressing the wider determinants of health delivered to individuals
and populations, with the government being the guarantor and enabler, although
not necessarily the only provider, of health and related services.

Principles
Ten principles have guided the formulation of UHC in India:
1. Universality

Marks in GS: 449
2. Equity
3. Non-exclusion and non-discrimination
4. Comprehensive care that is rational and of good quality
5. Financial protection
6. Protection of patients’ rights that guarantee appropriateness of care,
patient choice, portability and continuity of care.
7. Consolidated and strengthened public health provisioning
8. Accountability and transparency
9. Community participation
10. Putting health in people’s hands.

Human Trafficking
According to National Crime Records Bureau, human trafficking is the fastest
rising crime in India.

As per the definition given by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC) it includes prostitution, harbouring of humans, transfer and transport
of humans, slave trade, child trade etc.
Human trafficking is the trade of humans, most commonly for the purpose of
sexual slavery, forced labor, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker
or others. This is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force,
fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them.
Forms of Trafficking
1. Trafficking for forced labour:
2. Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation
3. Commercial sexual exploitation of children in tourism
4. Trafficking for tissue, cells and organs
5. People Smuggling:

Human Trafficking In India
As per official estimates, 15 children go missing every hour in India and 8 are
never found. As per the data from Home Ministry, 1379 cases of human
trafficking were reported from Karnataka in the period of four years, in Tamil
Nadu the number is 2,244 whereas Andhra Pradesh has 2,157 cases of human
trafficking. Delhi is the hotspot for illegal trade of young girls for domestic
labour, forced marriage and prostitution.

India is also a destination for women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh
trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.

India has ratified the three protocols of the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime, including the UN Trafficking Protocol.

India’s government policies

Marks in GS: 449
1. Ujjawala: A comprehensive scheme for prevention of Trafficking and
Rescue and Rehabilitation and Re-integration of victims of trafficking
for commercial sexual exploitations.
2. Sudhar Greh: A Scheme for women in difficult circumstances.
3. Juvenile Justice (care and protecting of children) Act 2002 -- includes
trafficked children
4. Code of Criminal Procedure

Issues in policy implementation
1. India’s trafficking recovery laws and policies are piecemeal and
haphazardly applied moreover
2. Lack of coordination among the police and government agencies. for
eg. the holding facilities for rescued trafficked girls often have
miserable conditions and may be worse than the brothels in which
they had previously been housed.
3. In 2013, India enacted groundbreaking legislation, the Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act of 2013, which amended various sections of the
Indian Penal Code, including provisions on human trafficking in India.
a. These reforms reflect a step towards aligning the country with its
obligations under the United Nations Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women
and Children (UN Trafficking Protocol).

UNODC's Response to Human Trafficking

UNODC offers practical help to States, not only helping to draft laws and create
comprehensive national anti-trafficking strategies but also assisting with
resources to implement them. States receive specialized assistance including the
development of local capacity and expertise, as well as practical tools to
encourage cross-border cooperation in investigations and prosecutions.
The adoption in 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly of the Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children marked a significant milestone in international efforts to stop the trade
in people.

Benami Transactions Prohibition Bill -- amendments in 2015

1. Benami literally means “nameless” and a transaction is considered
benami when property is transferred to a person while payment is
done by someone else.
2. The bill amends the 1988 bill and aims to block the avenues for
making black money and transferring it.
3. Provisions:
a. Aimed to curb Black Money
b. Provides for fine of 25% of the fair value of the asset and
imprisonment upto 7 years
c. Property is defined as movable, immovable, tangible, intangible.

Marks in GS: 449
d. In case of joint ownership of property, the taxpayer will have to
show financing sources.
4. Steps:
a. Income Declaration Scheme has been launched which allowed
declaration of property and assets that have been hidden from tax
authorities. Benami properties also come under this ambit.

Draft Trafficking of Persons Bill, 2016

The Ministry of Women & Child Development released the draft Trafficking of
Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016

The Bill sets up anti-trafficking bodies at three levels to prevent trafficking and
rehabilitate victims and creates penalties if provisions of the Act are not
complied with.

Key features of the draft Bill include:
1. Anti-Trafficking bodies: Anti-Trafficking bodies will be constituted at
the district, state and central level.
a. District Anti-Trafficking Committee will perform duties in relation
to prevention of trafficking and rescue and rehabilitation of
victims.
b. It will be headed by a district magistrate or district collector and
will consist of five members.
c. Anti-Trafficking bodies at the state and central level will oversee
the implementation of the Act. The state AntiTrafficking
Committee will be headed by the chief secretary and will have nine
members.
4. Protection and Rehabilitation: Protection homes in every district will
provide immediate care and protection to victims, in the form of
shelter, food and medical care.
a) For long-term institutional support, special homes will be set up.
Both, protection and special homes will be required to be
registered under the Act.
b) Schemes for social integration of trafficked persons will be
formulated by the government.
c) An anti-trafficking fund will also be created for the effective
implementation of the Act.

Marks in GS: 449
5. Offences: Use of narcotic drug or alcohol for the purpose of trafficking
and administering a chemical substance or hormones to a trafficked
woman is punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years.
6. Investigation and prosecution: A special agency will be constituted for
investigation of offences. A Session’s Court in each district will be
specified as a Special Court.

Problems:
1. First: that it includes the word ‘immoral’, inserting an element of
morality when the discussion should be purely legal.
2. Two, that all sex work is assumed to be a result of trafficking with
workers needing rescue.
3. Three, that adult sex workers should be put into homes without their
consent.
4. Four, that adult women should need to produce families to be
released, thus denying them any agency in their lives.

Moral policing: the Draft Bill that allows, among others, any social worker or
public-spirited citizen to ‘rescue’ and ‘produce’ a ‘victim’ before the District Anti-
Trafficking Committees it proposes to set up. This is unprecedented, opening the
door to exactly the kind of moral policing that one begins to suspect the Bill of
wanting to encourage. It could lead to harassment of not just sex workers but
other ordinary people by overzealous, vigilante citizens.

Further, the Draft Bill threatens basic constitutional freedoms of the persons it
seeks to rescue. For instance, Article 22 gives a detained individual the right to
consult a lawyer and be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, but the

Draft Bill allows persons to be directly produced before the member-secretaries
of its District Anti-Trafficking Committees. Second, the Committees can
independently recommend that a victim be repatriated to her home State (or
another State) for increased protection. This contravenes Article 19, which
grants citizens the right to move freely across, and reside anywhere in, the
country. Thousands of men and women voluntarily leave hometowns and
villages to escape poverty. And what about the women who, even when victims
of trafficking, are reluctant to return to homes where they might face further
harassment? Adult trafficked persons must be consulted and made aware of
their rights so that they can take informed and independent decisions on
whether they want to be repatriated.

The bill has been formulated without involving the civil society and stakeholders.

Trafficking in human beings is gross violation of human rights. The Ministry of
Women and Child Development has published the Draft Trafficking of
Persons(Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016, which provides a
mechanism for the redressal of grievances and provides punishment for certain
offences. Though a good piece of work but certain provisions of this Bill have
certain shortcomings -

Marks in GS: 449
1. Sex Worker, the only victim - The Bill specifying about trafficking,
includes only sex workers and not the victim of bonded labor,
domestic labor, labors in mines textiles, girls trafficked for marriage.
2. Direct Representation to the Committee - Sec.30 of the Bill provides to
present the rescued victim directly to the Committees formed and
does not give an opportunity to get represented by the lawyer of
choice,a severe violation of Art.22
3. Victims to send home state or another state - Sec.31 violates Art.19
which provides to reside and settle anywhere in India by forcing the
victim to reside at a particular place.
4. Enormous powers to Committee - Committees are given power to
rescue, produce and rehabilitate the victim can further be fatal
without a proper investigation.
5. Rescue by anyone - the Bill provides that the victims can be rescued
by any citizen - such serious acts should be done by the authorities
who are capable of doing this or else it can be harmful for the victim as
well as rescuer.

In a step to curb the crime against sex workers, the Ministry of Women and Child
Development should think over again on the small loopholes and amend them
with consultation with the experts before passing the bill.

Negatives:
1. Voluntary Prostitution ignored: Draft does not cover this aspect acc to
Verma Committee that it would permit law enforcement agencies to
harass who undertake activities of their own free will
2. Other dimensions untouched: Draft Bill tackles trafficking solely
through the lens of sex work and ignored routinely trafficked for
marriage, domestic labour, forced labor beedi factories
3. Threatens basic constitutional freedoms: Draft Bill allows persons to
be directly produced before District Anti-Trafficking Committees
against Article 22
4. Lead to harassment: As any social worker or public-spirited citizen to
rescue and produce a victim’before committee
Positives:
1. Legal right to be rehabilitated: It would give victims new lease of life
to start afresh in rehabilitation homes under Anti-Trafficking Fund
2. Broadened Coverage: Trafficking current Law ITPA, 1956 only deal
with trafficking for sex work but new law would cover criminal
activities like forced labor, bounded labor and child labor and in line
with United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime
3. Ban on disclosing identity of victim: is right step which would protect
from further victimization
4. Restricted Brothel entry: Nobody can enter a brothel without a
warrant, and only some categories of police officers have the power to
raid a brothel prevent victimization
5. Recovery of the victim’s unpaid wages: due to forced or bounded labor
would empowered them


Marks in GS: 449

National Water Framework Bill

India gets one of the highest rainfalls during monsoons in the world, and also has
a rich source of river, lake and underground water network. However, the
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has categorized India as a
“Water Scarce” nation.

This is due to the fact that Indian states are not able to manage their water
resources properly. This causes acute shortage of potable water, leading to
farmer suicides and poor productivity of farming.

Additionally, water problem is not only related to scarcity, but also with
sanitation, proper management, waste water treatment, river basin health and
its impact on quality of life of women and children in the country.

In this context, NWFB has been drafted. It’s various features are:
1. Water to be provided as a “fundamental right” to each individual. It
should be provided equally for promotion of sanitation, health,
women and children.
2. No one to be denied water on any ground and drinking would take
precedence over all other uses, including agricultural, industrial and
commercial.
3. Introduce “graded pricing system” for water where rich pay full price
for it and the poorest get it for free.
4. Integrated River Basin Development Management Plan
a. Aviral Dhara, Nirmal Dhara and Swacch Dhara
5. A “binding” national water quality standards for every kind of use is
proposed to be introduced.

National Water Commission Proposal

Mihir Shah committee has been set up to look into forming a National Water
Commission. This will subsume the Central Water Commission and Central
Ground Water Board. This will help in integrating both surface and groundwater
management.

In addition, it must be noted that India’s water needs have changed drastically in
the last 50 years. In the 1960s, the focus on water management was primarily
irrigation to boost the Green Revolution. While this has been achieved, today
new problems have emerged due to overexploitation of underground water and
under utilization of dams built in various states (example: Maharastra has 40%
of country’s dams but only 18% of the agricultural area is irrigated).

Firstly, the committee has also proposed that we should take a multidisciplinary
view of water. Its management should be done with help of economists,
hydrologists, geologists and include stakeholders from various sections of the
society.

Marks in GS: 449

Secondly, we must have a participatory approach to water management
involving both states and concerned regions.

Third, we must also view ground and surface water in an integrated manner.
Therefore merger of CGWB and CWC has been recommended.

Four, focus on river basins which are the main areas through which rivers can be
rejuvenated.

The National River Board and the Namami Gange Program are targeted to
include various factors from the new water policy by the Ministry of
Environment and Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Drinking
water and sanitation.

Model Bill for Conservation, Regulation and Management of Groundwater has
also been released to conserve ground water and promote its sustainable use.

Sanitation related:
• Swacch Yug Campaign
• Make Villages located along Ganga open defecation-free

________________________________________


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Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016

The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016 was passed by Rajya Sabha last week, and is
expected to be discussed in Lok Sabha during next session. The Bill repeals the
existing Mental Health Act, 1987, which is vastly different in letter and spirit. The
Act of 1987 had been widely criticised for proving to be inadequate to protect
the rights of mentally ill persons.

Here are certain things you need to know about the new Bill:
1. Mental Healthcare Bill seeks to decriminalise the Attempt to Commit
Suicide.
2. Seeks to fulfil India’s international obligation pursuant to the
3. The Bill adopts a more nuanced understanding of “mental illness” than
the Act of 1987.
a. Seeks to empower persons suffering from mental-illness,
marking a departure from the Act of 1987.
4. The Bill also lays down certain parameters for determination of
mental illness, seeking to use nationally and internationally accepted
medical standards, especially the standards adopted by World Health
Organisation.
5. Adopts a rights-based approach, which is a first in the mental health
law of India. The Bill creates a rights-based framework for mentally ill
persons.
a. The Bill guarantees every person the right to access mental
health care and treatment from mental health services run or
funded by government. This right is meant to ensure mental
health services of affordable cost, of good quality, of sufficient
quantity, are geographically accessible and are provided
without discrimination.
6. The Bill also recognises the right to community living; right to live
with dignity; protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment;
treatment equal to persons with physical illness; right to relevant
information concerning treatment other rights and recourses; right to
confidentiality; right to access their basic medical records; right to
personal contacts and communication; right to legal aid; recourse
against deficiencies in provision of care, treatment and services.
7. Every insurer is bound to make provision for medical insurance for
treatment of mental illness on the same basis as is available for
treatment of physical illness.
8. Provisions for registration of institutions and regulation of the sector
The Bill provides for the creation of Central and State Mental Health
Authorities
a. The Bill also provides for the creation of Mental Health Review
Boards that has adjudicatory powers over the various rights
and protections guaranteed by the Bill.
9. Funds: The Bill guarantees a right of affordable, accessible and quality
mental health care and treatment from mental health services run or
funded by Central and State governments. The Bill also makes

Marks in GS: 449
provision for a range of services to be provided by the appropriate
government.

Problems in the Bill:
1. However the Bill varies from the social model of disability
incorporated in the Convention. The social model of disability focuses
on how disability hampers a person’s full and effective participation of
the society.
2. The Bill, on the other hand, adopts a narrow approach to see mental
illness as hampering recognition of reality or ability to meet the
ordinary demands of life and also as conditions associated with drug
and alcohol abuse.

Model Shops and Establishments Bill

Centre’s Model Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and
Conditions of Service) Bill, 2016 will affect various stakeholders in following
ways:
1. States – principle of cooperative federalism will be strengthened.
States can either fully adopt the model law or in a modified form.
2. Government at various level - Increased consumer spending, as
establishments stay open for longer hours, will lead to increased
revenue for establishments, and corresponding increase in the tax
base for the governments.
3. Employable youths - employment is likely to get boost because
establishments will need to hire employees for the late-night shift.
4. Women - Women empowerment. Women can have choices to plan for
a better work-life balance as they can opt for evening or night shifts.
5. Business men - Ease of doing business. The bill enables operation of
economic activities all 365 days of the year, and round-the-clock. It
obviates the need of licensing bureaucracy and hence would help
reduce corruption.
6. Society:
a. Social justice - Malls can already operate 27X7.
Now small shopkeepers will have the same
privilege.
b. Improved working condition – The bill specifies
labour issues such as working hours, overtime,
casual and earned leave, protection for women
including transport access for those opting to
work night shifts, and workplace facilities. There
is also enforcement mechanism through cadre of
Chief Facilitators and Facilitators.
The success of center’s model law will depend on the pro-activeness and
intention of states, just like panchayat and APMC acts. Additionally promoting

Marks in GS: 449
retail services round-the-clock also requires a good, affordable public transport
backbone with security arrangements to ensure safe travel.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Maternity Benefit Bill

1. Amends the 1961 Bill
2. A landmark bill that will directly have a positive effect on lives of
millions of women in India.
3. Provisions
a. Maternity Leave: Increases it from 12 weeks to 26 weeks
b. Maternity leave for women adopting children as well as for a “
commissioning mother” (12 weeks)
c. Creche Facility: For every workplace with more than 50 employees
d. Informing women of maternity benefits: The employer is required
to inform new women employees of all the maternity benefits
beforehand at time of joining.
e. Option to work from home: Employer can allow women to work
from home if employer agrees
4. Benefits:
a. Enables greater flexibility for working women, who otherwise face
many difficulties in early years of motherhood.
→ As per National Commission for Women
• It will lead to Child welfare and contribute to child health as mothers will
have greater time to bond and breastfeed newly born children.
→ As per WHO report, the first 30 weeks are critical to health of a young baby.
According to WHO, “Optimal breastfeeding is so critical that it could save over 8
lakh under-5 child lives every year… Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months has
many benefits for the infant and mother… Initiation of breastfeeding, within one
hour of birth, protects the newborn from acquiring infections and reduces
newborn mortality. The risk of mortality due to diarrhoea and other infections
can increase in infants who are either partially breastfed or not breastfed at all.”
→ As per Rapid survey by MWCD, over 30% of children are underweight and
39% stunted, also due to lack of early care by mother.
• Creche facilities at work will enable women to get back to work and
resume their professional lives.
5. Problems:
a. Employers Disincentivized: Due to such long leave provisions for
women and none for men, the employers maybe incentivized to
hire more men.
b. No new provisions for paternal leave:

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c. Absence of paternal leave reinforces the already deeply
entrenched social norm of babycare being left exclusively to the
mother, effectively relieving the father of responsibility.
→ As Independent MP Anu Aga told the House, “Men leave childcare to their
wives and glorify motherhood.”
________________________________________

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill

India has a population of approximately 6 lakh transgenders as per 2011 Census
report. This group has faced societal, economic and political discrimination for a
long period. The Rights of Transgenders Persons Bill aims to overcome various
handicaps faced by transgender persons in the society.

→ The Supreme Court in National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) Case
judgement has already guaranteed transgender people freedom from
discrimination by the state, equal employment and education opportunity,
recognition of their rights to decide their gender, reservation in government jobs
and in educational institutions.

The Bill envisages a Comprehensive national policy for ensuring overall
development of the Transgender Persons and for their welfare to be undertaken
by the State.

The Bill also has provisions regarding social security, health, rehabilitation &
recreation, Education, skill development & employment of Transgenders.
6. Provisions:
a. Prohibition on Discrimination:
b. The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person,
including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to: (i)
education; (ii) employment; (iii) healthcare; (iv) access to, or
enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public;
(v) right to movement; (vi) right to reside, rent, own or otherwise
occupy property; (vii) opportunity to hold public or private office;
and (viii) access to a government or private establishment in
whose care or custody a transgender person is.
c. National Council for Transgender persons (NCT): The NCT will
consist of: (i) Union Minister for Social Justice (Chairperson); (ii)
Minister of State for Social Justice (Vice- Chairperson); (iii)
Secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice; (iv) one representative
from ministries including Health, Home Affairs, Minority Affairs,
Housing, Human Resources Development, etc. Other members
include representatives of the NITI Aayog, National Human Rights
Commission, and National Commission for Women. State
governments will also be represented. The Council will also
consist of five members from the transgender community and five
experts from non-governmental organisations.
d. Right of residence:

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i. Every transgender person shall have a right to reside and
be included in his household. If the immediate family is
unable to care for the transgender person, the person may
be placed in a rehabilitation centre, on the orders of a
competent court.
e. Employment:
i. No government or private entity can discriminate against a
transgender person in employment matters, including
recruitment, promotion, etc.
f. Education:
i. Educational institutions funded or recognised by the
government shall provide inclusive education, sports and
recreational facilities for transgender persons, without
discrimination.
g. Health care:
i. The government shall take steps to provide health facilities
to transgender persons including separate HIV surveillance
centres, sex reassignment surgeries, etc. The government
shall review medical curriculum to address health issues of
transgender persons, and provide comprehensive medical
insurance schemes for them.
h. Certificate of identity for a transgender person: A transgender
person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a
certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’.
The District Magistrate will issue such certificate based on the
recommendations of a District Screening Committee. The
Committee will comprise: (i) the Chief Medical Officer; (ii) District
Social Welfare Officer; (iii) a psychologist or psychiatrist; (iv) a
representative of the transgender community; and (v) an officer of
the relevant government.
i. Welfare measures by the government: The Bill states that the
relevant government will take measures to ensure the full
inclusion and participation of transgender persons in society. It
must also take steps for their rescue and rehabilitation, vocational
training and self-employment, create schemes that are
transgender sensitive, and promote their participation in cultural
activities.
j. Offences and Penalties: The Bill recognizes the following offences:
(i) begging, forced or bonded labour (excluding compulsory
government service for public purposes); (ii) denial of use of a
public place; (iii) denial of residence in household, village, etc.; (iv)
physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse.
k. These offences will attract imprisonment between six months and
two years, and a fine.
l. Problems/Shortcomings:
i. The method of certification as a Transgender by District
committee may be insensitive given the nature of the
subject and discrimination already faced by transgenders

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ii. The definition of transgenders is not based on scientific
inputs but general assumptions about this community.
iii. South Asian Human Rights Association has reported that
over 50% of exploitation of the transgenders is by Police
officials. This has not been addressed in the Bill.
iv. Section 377 remains a roadblock in helping transgenders
achieve full rights.

________________________________________

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

India ranks 136 in the World Bank's resolving of insolvency rankings. This
inhibits FDI as well as local investing by venture capital firms in entrepreneurs
as ease of exit as considered as important as ease of exit for companies.
The Economic Survey 2015-16 has described the insolvency resolution problem
in India as a “Chakravyuh” problem. It hampers “Ease of Doing Business” and
leads to less capital investments as well.

New Code:
1. Time bound process of insolvency resolutions: 180 days; if not
resolved, assets of the borrowers may be sold to repay creditors
2. Licensed Professionals: The resolution process will be conducted by
licensed insolvency professionals (IPs) working under Insolvency
Professional agencies (IPAs).
3. Information utilities (IU) will be established to collect, collate and
disseminate financial information to facilitate insolvency resolution.
4. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will adjudicate
insolvency resolution for companies.
5. The Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) will adjudicate insolvency
resolution for individuals.
6. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India will be established to
regulate the IPs, IPAs and IUs
a. Covers Individuals, Private Partnerships, Companies and LLPs
b. Jail term of 5 years if debtor found guilty
7. WORKER PROTECTION: Protects the worker for 24 months in case of
bankruptcy (salaries of up to 24 months paid)

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Why Ease of Exit Important:
1. Enables creditors of the company to recover their funds in the most
efficient manner.
2. Enables laid-off workers of the company to find new employment and
support livelihoods in the time being.
3. Enables capital formation as poor companies exit from the economic
system and new companies in their place utilize the capital more
effectively
4. The experience in developed economies has shown that without good
bankruptcy laws, creating vibrant entrepreneurial environment is not
possible.

Commercial Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2016

The Warnock Report on human fertilization and embryology has defined
Surrogacy as the process of carrying and delivering a child for another person.
Commercial Surrogacy refers to the practice of surrogacy for compensation. This
compensation is beyond just medical expenses and is considered as a “Fee” for
the services of surrogacy provided by the mother.

India has emerged as a reproductive tourism destination. The usual fee is around
$25,000 to $30,000 in India which is around 1/3rd of that in developed countries
like the USA. This has made India a favourable destination for foreign couples
who look for a cost-effective treatment for infertility and a whole branch of
medical tourism has flourished on the surrogate practice.

ART industry is now a Rs. 25,000 crore pot of gold. Anand, a small town in
Gujarat, has acquired a distinct reputation as a place for outsourcing commercial
surrogacy. It seems that wombs in India are on rent which translates into babies
for foreigners and dollars for Indian surrogate mothers.

The bill is similar to legislations in other countries and also as per 228th LAW
COMMISSION REPORT and as per recommendation by the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR).

Need for the bill
1. Ethical and Moral Challenges:
a. The moral issues associated with surrogacy are pretty obvious, yet
of an eye-opening nature. This includes the criticism that
surrogacy leads to commoditization of the child, breaks the bond
between the mother and the child, interferes with nature and leads
to exploitation of poor women in underdeveloped countries who
sell their bodies for money. Sometimes, psychological
considerations may come in the way of a successful surrogacy
arrangement
2. Cases of surrogate mothers’ death due to complications during
pregnancy have caused more ethical concerns over the practice.

Marks in GS: 449
3. No legal remedies to compensate mothers in case of any medical
problems after child’s birth.
4. Commoditization of child and motherhood and Misuse by companies
that treat the practice as purely commercial and exploit poor women
in need of money

Provisions:
1. Only married couples who are Indian citizens can use surrogacy services: The
bill bars unmarried couples, single parents, live-in partners and homosexuals,
among others, from availing of surrogacy services in India.
2. Only Close Relatives can become surrogate mothers
3. Ethical aspect: The bill seeks to stop the physical, emotional and economic
exploitation of Indian women through unethical surrogacy practices, and
protect the rights of surrogate children.

Problems
1. Reproductive Rights of mothers are part of the Right to Life (dignity)
as per article 21
a. For instance, in B. K. Parthasarthi v. Government of Andhra
Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court upheld “the right of
reproductive autonomy” of an individual as a facet of his “right to
privacy”
2. Critics have also argued that the bill also violates Article 14 which
assures every Indian citizen “equality before the law or the equal
protection of the laws within the territory of India.”
a. By defining limiting eligibility criteria, the Central government is
seeking to deny a host of perfectly suitable individuals who are
well within their rights to demand access to surrogacy services.
This is certainly a direct contravention of the spirit of our
constitution.
3. The bill also puts to end an economic activity for thousands of
mothers. The industry had touched Rs. 25000 crore per year mark as
per ICMR. This would be a huge loss of income for many poor women.

Artificial Reproductive Technologies -- social realities in India (228th Law

commission report)
The growth in the ART methods is recognition of the fact that infertility as a
medical condition is a huge impediment in the overall well-being of couples and
cannot be overlooked especially in a patriarchal society like India. A woman is
respected as a wife only if she is mother of a child, so that her husband's
masculinity and sexual potency is proved and the lineage continues. Some
authors put it as follows: The parents construct the child biologically, while the
child constructs the parents socially. The problem however arises when the

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parents are unable to construct the child through the conventional biological
means. Infertility is seen as a major problem as kinship and family ties are
dependent on progeny.

Draft National Sports Development Bill, 2013

Salient Features:
1. National Olympic Committee
2. Sports Appellate Tribunal
3. Ethics Commission
4. Sports Election Commission
a. For elections to National Olympic Committee, National Sports
Federations, and Athletes Commission
5. National Sports Federation
a. Two fold system of sports federations -- i.e. accreditation by
government for funding and recognition by National Olympic
Committee
6. Who Will Represent India -- rules laid down
7. Athletes Commission -- will be set up in each NSF and NOC

Prevention of Sporting Fraud Bill, 2015
1. It is a revamped version of Prevention of Dishonesty in Sports Bill
2001
2. Defined Sporting Fraud
3. Contains provisions for various penalties
4. Deals with jurisdiction of courts in such matters


Marks in GS: 449

Amendments to Child Labour Law [passed]

1. The Bill amends the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986,
which prohibits the employment of children younger than 14 in 83
hazardous occupations and processes.
2. The amendment extends this ban on employment of children under 14
across all sectors except in employment in their family business, outside
of school hours and during holidays, and in entertainment and sports.
a. With the family enterprises clause, critics say, children can be
made to work in carpet, zari and bidi units, mica or diamond
cutting, scavenging, brick kilns, slaughterhouses, handling e-waste
or as domestic help.

Marks in GS: 449
3. Prohibits the employment of adolescents aged 14-18 years in hazardous
occupations
a. However, The Bill brings down the list of hazardous occupations
from the earlier 83 to just three: mining, inflammable substances,
and hazardous processes under the Factories Act
4. Introduces more stringent jail term and fines for offenders: a jail term of
six months to two years and a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000.
5. Children’s rights:
a. Article 21A and Article 45 promise to provide free and compulsory
education to all children between the ages of 6 and 14.
b. National Policy on Child Labour of 1987
c. They also contravene the International Labour Organisation’s
(ILO) Minimum Age Convention and UNICEF’s Convention on the
Rights of the Child, to which India is a signatory.
d. The Central government provided a Rs.6 billion fund for
implementing the policy.
e. Unfortunately, this budget has been cut massively in education (28
per cent) and for women and children (50 per cent) in the last two
years alone, leading to the the closure of 42,000 schools.
f. The Education for All initiative and the Mahila Samakhya
programmes have also been downsized, leading to reports of
increased trafficking of tribal and minority girls from Odisha and
Jharkhand. Taxes charged for the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
campaigns have reportedly been misused

HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill 2014 --

amendments
Over 2.1 million HIV patients live in India as per Ministry of Health. 7.9 lakh of
these are women.

The bill amendments are welcome and in tandem with the SDG of 'Ending the
epidemic by 2030'.

Change in the right direction
1. Insurance cannot be denied: Under the bill, it is a legally
punishable offence to deny a person living with HIV/AIDS
insurance on the ground of the disease that lowers the
immunity. In such a case, the insurer will have to part with a
fine of Rs 10000
2. Discrimination prohibited: It also guarantees protection
against discrimination in the field of education, employment,
access to housing and healthcare
b. Protects Right to Education as per Article 21A,
employment and other constitutional rights.

Marks in GS: 449
3. Confidentiality: The most crucial step is that it recognises the
right of a person to keep his health status confidential.
4. Stop the Spread: It is based on the tenet of stopping the spread
of the disease and at the same time help the infected get
antiretroviral therapy
5. A person between 12-18 years of the age with sufficient
maturity can be at the helm of affairs and can take
guardianship of a sibling below 18 years of age.

However, it is only half the battle won. The various issues unaddressed are -

1. Treatment not legal right: It does not guarantee treatment as the legal
right of the patient implying that a person who is denied treatment
cannot drag the Government to the court. It essentially dilutes an
important part of the bill
2. Insurance companies can use actuarial calculations to limit access to
products to people living with HIV.

The amendment to the bill is progressive on various fronts and the government's
effort must be appreciated. At the same time, the biggest fallacy plaguing HIV is
the parochial mindset of our society. What stops them from merging with the
mainstream is the taboo associated with this disease. The Government must
undertake a nationwide sensitisation program and usher in an era of mental
metamorphosis.

“Meri Sadak” -- an app to send instant grievance about PM Gram Sadak Yojana
Indus -- India’s OS -- now 2nd with 6.8% market share in Indian mobile market

NEET Issue -- common entrance test

• In 2013, SC had given a different judgment on the same case and allowed
states to continue practice of determining own medical entrance tests for
admissions in private college, state colleges as well as minority
institutions.
o This was PAI Foundation Case [old case]
• MCI and IMA both have welcomed the 2016 SC decision
• Medical Education Reforms
o Admissions in medical colleges mired with corruption and MCI has
been held largely responsible for this -- as per the RANJIT ROY
CHAUDHARY COMMITTEE REPORT
o Proposal to replace it with National Commission for Human
Resources for Health (NCHRH)
o Parliamentary Standing Committee on this also revived findings
and proposals of RANJIT ROY CHAUDHARY COMMITTEE report to
replace MCI with NCHRH


Marks in GS: 449

Rajya Sabha -- domicile of candidate standing for RS seat

• Parliament amended RPA to allow candidates “elector” from anywhere
in India as opposed to previously limited to those from the state only.
• Why should be from State only?
o National Commission on The Review of the Constitution has
pointed out that the candidate should be domiciled in the state as
it is necessary to maintain basic federal structure.
o “Representative”: A person from state would be preferable to be
a “representative” of that state in the Rajya Sabha. For instance,
amidst all the running battle between Karnataka and TN, a RS
member from their respective state as a domicile would be more
eligible to represent it in such a case.
o Lowered the status of Rajya Sabha from an independent House to a
“Revising” house
• Shri Gopalswami Ayyanagar, one of the founding fathers of the
Constitution of India expressed the opinion that “the most that we
expect the Second Chamber to do is perhaps to hold dignified debates on
important issues.”
• Why can be from anywhere:
o Supreme court has held that domicile does not have much to do
with representation and the person can belong to anywhere in
India and still be representative of the state.
o India is foremost a Union and then a federation.
o The original constitution also did not envisage a domicile
requirement. It was only inferred as such and not set in the
constitution as a principle.

Supreme Court direction to submit “fees” by big clients for early hearing
• Litigation should be expensive for big clients” and they should pay to get
their cases disposed earlier.
• Why wrong?
o Raises question of “Equal Access to Justice”
§ Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees to all persons a
right to equality before the law and the equal protection of
the laws.
o Goes against the spirit embraced by Supreme Court in the 1980s
when it started accepting PILs to enable access to justice for all
o Makes the Supreme Court a neo-liberal institution that is
fundamentally against the “welfare” principles of the
constitution
o Justice S.N. Dwivedi in his separate judgment in the famous
Kesavananda Bharati case wrote, “The Constitution is not

Marks in GS: 449
intended to be the arena of legal quibbling for men with long
purses”.
• Case for Equal Access
o Ensuring equal access to justice is also a practice note released by
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its report.
o Justice promises treatment beyond class as it sees everyone as
equal.

Shortage of Judges
• Over 40,000 empty positions [44,000 positions recommended by Law
Commission itself] and over 2.6 crore cases pending in-front of lower
courts in India. High Courts have 45 lakh cases pending. Supreme Court
has 65000 cases pending as of 2014.
o Judges to population ratio: US is 107:1 million, India is 10:1 million
o The American Supreme Court decides 81 cases in one full year and
in Indian Supreme Court 17000 backlog cases added last year
alone.
• Why Backlog?
o Judges to population ratio is very low
o Vacancy of judges positions
o Poor infrastructure causes low productivity
o Government itself is the biggest litigator in the country
• Problems Caused:
o “Justice delayed is justice denied”
o Access to justice is a fundamental right and governments cannot
afford to deny it to the people.
o Rule of Law is routinely trampled due to delayed justice.
o Denial of various rights of citizens due to inability of courts to
dispose cases in India.
o Vital programs of the country also suffer -- “Make in India” or
Invest in India suffer as judiciary is not able to address the
cases/concerns of investors

What has government done?
• Rs. 1000 crore invested to improve judiciary infrastructure
• Number of judges increased by 42% as against rise in caseload by 17%
only; hence appointment of judges not lagging behind as supposed
• Consensus being built on: CJI-led Collegium on the memorandum of
procedure

Other problems with justice system
o lakh in prison, 68% are undertrials
o 1987 Law Commission Report had recommended to raise judges
vacancies to 44000
o Imtiaz Ahmed case (2012), the Supreme Court itself has asked the
Law Commission to once again look into the matter.

Marks in GS: 449

Metropolitan Cities -- problems

Importance:
• Economic Hubs: Top 5 metropolitan cities contribute almost 11% to India
’s GDP as per CSO
• Employment centers
• Centers for innovation
• Education hubs
• Large populations reside here

Problems:
• Poor Infrastructure -- transportation, roads, community centers, waste
treatment, parks and recreation centers etc. are lacking planning and
design thinking
• Absence of Planning: The 74th CA envisages setting up Metropolitan
Planning Committees (MPCs) for planning and execution of development
plans. However, most states have not even set up these.
• Growth of Slums: lack of affordable housing has led to degeneration of
major portions of metropolitans due to growth of slums. Indian metros
like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are home to biggest slums areas such as
“Dharavi” in Mumbai and Yamuna Kinara in Delhi.
• Lack of Financial autonomy: Finances of metros are in shambles and
inadequate to develop them quickly.
• Problem in industrialization:
o Urbanisation beyond Municipal Boundaries, a World Bank 2013
report indicates that industrialization concentration has not
occurred to its full potential in most Indian metros, leading to
staggered growth.

Solutions:
• Transit-oriented Development Program that enables to create cities
where movement of people, instead of movement of vehicle is given
preference. → Less pollution, less traffic, higher productivity
• Inter-municipal coordination to enable synergies in planning and
development → Example: STEM Water authority set up by Thane,
Bhiwandi-Nizampur Metro corporation has led to easing of urban water
problems in the area.
• Setting up of MPCs in states at the earliest
• Adoption of SMART cities framework by Metros on their own

Condition of Under trials
• India has over 2.78 lakh under trials
• 2/3rd of total incarcerated people in jails are under trials
• NHRC Report has highlighted the horrible conditions of undertrials.

Marks in GS: 449
• Many of these are languishing in jail for periods even more than their
sentences
• Reasons for so many under trials:
o Primary reason is poverty as these under trials are not able to
afford their legal fees
o Absence of Undertrial Review Committee that function to bring
these individuals to quick justice
o Lack of Adequate Legal Aid
o Delays in the functioning of courts
o Lack of effective Prison Management Systems
• Government Steps:
o Code of criminal procedure amended in 2005 to introduce Section
436A to reduce overcrowding
o Under this section, an under trial must be released on their own
personal bond in case they have spent more than half of the period
specified for their offense in the jail already.
• Recommendations:
a. Legal Aid Agencies must create awareness among prisoners about
their rights
b. Government must undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the
economic and social costs of keeping so many innocent people in
jail as they could even become criminals in poor jail conditions and
their mental conditions may degrade.
c. Expediting the trial process is a critical point
d. Concept of open prisons needs to be further worked on to address
the overcrowding in jails as due to overcrowding there is disorder
and a few prisoners understand the distinction between criminal
conduct and good citizenship;
e. NHRC has found that undertrials in a few cases remained in
judicial custody for 24-54 years which is much above the period of
a sentencing to imprisonment under any section of the IPC.
f. Seeking monthly reports from all the Inspectors General of prison
on the number of convicts and undertrial prisoners in their jails;
g. Release of undertrial prisoners on bond if they have completed
half or two-thirds of their punishment period;
h. Working out a system of holding regular special courts in the
prisons for early disposal of cases;
i. To offload a large number of prisoners by making the availability
of bail accessible, undertaking speedy trials and providing legal
aid;
j. An institutional mechanism should be in place to protect the future
of the children of the prisoners;
k. Prison conditions should be made more people-friendly, keeping
in view the needs of women, aged and mentally-ill prisoners;


Marks in GS: 449
Elderly Health, Housing and Welfare

India is home to over 86 million people aged above 60 years today. By 2030,
India will be home to highest number of old age persons -- over 300 million.

Problems Faced:
1. Health: Old age requires immense care. A universal health care system
is a must to enable such a large section of population to meet its
needs.
2. Housing: Old age people often face the problem of homelessness due
to familial problems or due to lack of social security. A country-wide
network of affordable old-age homes as well as such facilities for BPL
by public sector is needed to be built.
3. Dignity: Due to globalization, influences of western culture and change
in family dynamics, old age people are losing their hierarchical
position and say in the home and family matters. This can lead to poor
psychological state.

Interventions needed:
1. Geriatric Medical Ecosystem
2. “Grey Friendly” public spaces
3. Transport
4. Housing

Steps:
1. Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Citizens Act, 2007
a. Obligatory for children or relatives to provide maintenance to
senior citizens and parents. It also provides for the setting up
of old age homes by State governments.
2. Integrated Program for Older Persons (IPOP)-- old age homes
3. National Old Age Pension Plan (NOAP)
4. Madrid Action Plan for a Barrier Free Society

Opinion Polls
Problems:
1. Impacts mind and perception of the voters, which could change their
voting pattern. → Election Commission has said that opinion polls
have a “deleterious impact” on voters’ minds.
a. “Bandwagon Effect” -- He may feel that in first-past-the-post
system his vote may be wasted and hence may vote according
to the polls.
b. “The Underdog Effect” -- This is opposite to the bandwagon
effect as voter may decide to vote for candidate shown losing in
the election.
2. Agencies do not reveal their methodologies and sample sizes.

Marks in GS: 449
3. “Money Power” comes into play as parties or candidates may pay high
sums to influence these opinion polls.

Alternatively, opinion polls are a form of speech and expression and hence
protected under the Right under Article 19(1)(a).

Hence, a balance between this right and right to fair and free elections has to be
balanced.

Steps:
1. Opinion polls are regulated by ECI under RPA, 1951.--> stopped for a
certain time period.
2. No judicial decision or opinion in this case.

________________________________________

Euthanasia
1. Simone de Beauvoir in her book describes plight of her dying mother
in hospital as “death by intensive care”
2. The plight of a dying patient can only be understood by their closest
family members, relatives and friends. Additionally, the debate cuts
across various ethical, legal, political, social and individual human
rights.
3. Aruna Shanbaug Case: The long vegetative state [42 years] of beloved
nurse Aruna Shanbaug and a plight to the Supreme court to allow
carrying out euthanasia for her had led to the opening of debate on
Euthanasia in India.
4. Arguments Against:
a. Against the principle of Constitutional Right to Life — Article 21 as
it does not entail “Right to death”
b. In Gian Kaur Case, the Supreme Court has interpreted the
constitution’s Article 21 —Right to Life as an article that does not
include the Right to Die.
c. Neglect of Healthcare by State:
d. The Court noted that euthanasia may encourage or incentivize
state to not take care of critical patients. In fact, in Holland, the
legalization of euthanasia has led to severe decline in quality of
care of terminally-ill patients.
e. Commercialization of Health Care:
f. The court wisely noted that we cannot put the life of a person in
hands of commercial health sector (doctors) who could put to
death many older and disabled patients in the hospitals.
g. Malafide Intent:
i. Additionally, unscrupulous elements in the family or
relative circle may not understand the best for the patient.

Marks in GS: 449
ii. Hence, active euthanasia has been completely banned in
India.
5. Arguments in Favour of Euthanasia:
a. Right to Die with Dignity
b. Right to get relief from excruciating pain
c. Organ transplantation encouraged
i. Terminally ill patients may be encouraged to donate their
organs, thereby allowing “Right to live” for another
patient
d. The burden of the caregiver
e. The caregiver must provide all the possible treatments regardless
of the financial, legal and personal reasons as it is only ethical
thing to do.
f. Right to Refuse Care
i. Right to refuse care is recognized by the law and effectively
gives way for passive euthanasia.
g. Judicial Pronouncements
i. In Gian Kaur Case 1996, the Supreme Court has interpreted
the constitution’s Article 21 —Right to Life as an article
that does not include the Right to Die.
ii. 2011: In this light, the Supreme Court has ruled in 2011
that only passive euthanasia can be administered in India.
h. Passive euthanasia means that only withdrawal of life support or
nutrition is allowed, and doctors cannot administer any medicine
or drug to actually put the patient to snuff out life.
i. Additionally, the family members need to get a permission from
the relevant High Court.
j. The HC chief justice would form a bench of 2 judges as well as
appoint 3 reputed doctors to administer such as decision.
k. The doctors must provide a report to the next of kin and the state
government in regard to this.

________________________________________

Defamation as Criminal offense — Supreme Court declares it

to remain so.
• “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to death
your right to say it” — Evelyn Beatrice
• Free speech and expression forms the very foundation of any liberal,
progressive democracy. The provision of Article 19(1) in the constitution
highlights the wisdom and foresight of our constitution makers in
regards to the concern of free speech. However, the presence of a
draconian provision of IPC (section 499) has led to much uneasiness in

Marks in GS: 449
the society regarding ability to speak, dissent and disagree without fear
of criminal charges.
o The recent Supreme court judgment that upheld the criminal
nature of defamation opens pandora’s box in this debate.
• The court has upheld the Sections 499/500 and 199(2) of the IPC.
• Why important?
o Freedom of Speech and Expression: The status of defamation as a
criminal offense as per section 499 and 500 of the IPC leads to
suppression of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by
Article 19 of the constitution.
o Speech and Expression are the very fundamentals of a liberal
democracy and without these, rights cannot be achieved in whole.
o Self-Censorship is also a regressive outcome of these sections as
individuals are afraid of pursuing free speech without fear of
criminal prosecution.
o Misused by Large corporates and powerful individuals
• Due to high legal costs and complex legal mechanisms involved, it is
frequently used by powerful individuals and organizations to stifle
dissent, disagreement and sometimes even open reporting against them.
• Historical Burden
o Section 499 and 500 of Lord Macaulay’s Indian Penal Code of
1860, therefore, continue to stand in India. — prescribe 2 years’
punishment in case of defamation.
o Outlawed Elsewhere: No other modern democracy prescribes
defamation as a criminal offense anymore.
• Already outlawed in most of the progressive democracies in the West, as
well as countries like Sri Lanka.
• Judicial Pronouncement:
o Supreme court upholds defamation as criminal offence
o The court said that “mutual respect is the fulcrum of fraternity
that assures dignity. It does not mean that there cannot be dissent
”
o Article 21: The court said that “Right to Reputation” is also a
constituent of Article 21.
o Free Speech not absolute: Supreme Court has said that free speech
cannot be used by media to injure an individual’s reputation. It
noted that free speech is a “highly valued and cherished right”
• It has said that while free press is heart and soul of political intercourse
and is a public educator, an individual’s reputation is precious and
cannot be maligned by the media.
o Role of Media as a “Public Educator”: It called for media to act
like a “public educator” and make formal and non-formal
education possible at a large scale, particularly in a developing
country like India.
• Hence, press must observe “reasonable restrictions” and play its role
of “advancing public interest by publishing facts and opinions without
which a democratic electorate cannot make responsible judgements”

Marks in GS: 449
• The court provided two different strokes on the issue of free speech.
o In the first, it regards the “freedom of speech and expression as
the first condition of liberty”.
o While, in the other, it reins this liberty by cautioning that free
speech is “not an absolute value under our constitution”
o It also says that voice of dissent or disagreement has to be
regarded and respected and not to be scuttled as “unpalatable
criticism”.
• The advocates of making free speech absolute by removing criminal
aspect of defamation argued that this makes free speech difficult and
suppresses it effectively due to the threat of prosecution. It said that
criminal defamation has a chilling effect on press.
• The Supreme Court also called defamation as a “crime against the
society, and not just an individual”

Pros of Supreme Court Decision:
• Right to life under article 21 indeed encapsulates the concept of Right to
to Life with Dignity without doubt. The Supreme court has kept this in
mind as defamation of extreme nature can cause heavy psychological and
social stress for an individual.

Cons:
1. Defamation has been routinely used by powerful and rich individuals
and corporations to stifle free speech through prolonged legal battles.
2. Defamation as a criminal offense automatically leads to self-
censorship of many thoughts and ideas. Hence, application of Article
19(1)(a) is denied by this provision.
3. Internationally, defamation is treated as civil offence in most countries
where once it was a criminal offence. In fact, this is a colonial law in
India and the colonial countries themselves have removed it.
4. UN Commission on Human Rights envisages Freedom of Speech and
Expression as one of the fundamental freedoms without which others
are hard to fulfill.

Censorship
India is home to multitude of views, literature, and a thriving news media and
movie industry. Issue regarding the role of Central Board of Film Certification
and censorship has emerged recently. It encapsulates issues regarding both
constitutional rights as well as creativity rights of individuals in the nation.

This emergence of issue on “excessive” censorship by CBFC owes its origin to
changing societal values. The new generation has a different set of values with
respect to marriage, relationships, openness in public and so on.


Marks in GS: 449
For example, the cutting of drug scenes from the movie Udta Punjab has been
considered against Freedom of Speech and Expression as per Article 19 by many.
On the other hand, many consider it as government’s duty to block any speech
that is against the overall welfare of the society.

Merits of Censorship:
1. Various destabilizing forces can be controlled and prevented in
creating chaos in society.
2. Ensures that sensitive material about religion is not used to create
violence.

Demerits of censorship:
1. Stifles free speech and expression
2. Takes away the right from individuals to judge opinions on basis of
their own faculties
3. Impacts creativity and innovation in society

Clearly, the above demerits of censorship outweigh its merits and suggest that
censorship should be minimized altogether. For example, the banning of Taslima
Nasreen’s book in Bangladesh has effectively suppressed the voice of women’s
rights in the country. Similarly, many Indian artists have complained of facing
harassment during film certification procedures, thereby discouraging them.

Steps by government:
Shyam Benegal Committee has been set up

Way Forward
1. As recommended by the Shyam Benegal Committee on film
certification the mandate of CBFC should be to “certify” films and not
censor or cut them. Hence, the idea of “Self-censorship” has taken
stage
2. CBFC should simply recommend certifications such as “adult”,
“suitable for all” etc. and only recommend extreme cases to higher
level committees.

Background of CBFC:
1. Regulates the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the
Cinematograph Act 1952
2. Provides certifications to movies, television shows, ads, publications
for exhibition etc.
3. Controversies:
a. MSG -- messenger of god and Udta punjab and Dance for
Democracy
4. Film Certification Apellate Tribunal hears appeals

Ex-Post Scrutiny of Legislation
Why needed:
1. Assess whether the legislation is having real impact on the ground.

Marks in GS: 449
2. Unintended consequences.
3. Whether conditions have changed in society or economy that
legislation is no more useful.
4. To collect new data for further research and policy making.

International Experience:
1. UK has a Law Commission report on post legislative scrutiny.

In India, departmentally related standing committees (DRSCs) could take up this
role for legislations under their ministries.

________________________________________

Sedition (IPC Section 124A)

Gandhiji described sedition as the prince of Indian penal code. It was used freely
against our freedom fighters in attempt to muzzle their anti-colonial writings,
speeches and voices. No fundamental right in our constitution is absolute.
Freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) can be
reasonably restricted on the grounds specified in Article 19(2).

It is notable that during constituent assembly debates, our founding fathers
deleted “sedition” as permissible ground of restriction under Article 19(2) on
freedom of speech. However, it remains as a criminal offence under IPC section
124A and provides for inter alia sentence of life imprisonment and fine upon
conviction.

In Kedarnath v. State of Bihar, the Supreme court opined that vigorous words in
writing and very strong criticism of measures of government or acts of public
officials would be outside the scope of Section 124A.

Recent invokements of Sedition law: Amnesty International and Divya Spandana
(Pakistan is no hell)

Marks in GS: 449

Stringent fines who invoke Section 124A casually for any small case, including on
lawyers.

Need for sedition law:
1. Ours is still an evolving democracy with multitudes of ethnic,
linguistic and communal problems faced regularly by us. In this sense,
sedition is necessary to curtail speeches that can lead to public
violence and disorder.

Case against sedition law:
1. It effectively silences many authors and thinkers to present honest
critiques about the government.
2. It insulates government from healthy discussion, criticism and
feedback from the citizens.
3. It creates fear among people on presenting their view.
4. It renders the constitution right of speech and expression powerless.
(Article 19)
5. It raises questions on moral duties of the State to protect citizens
instead of silencing them.
6. It is against India’s commitment to enhancing human rights (which
includes freedom of speech and expression) in international forums
such as the UN Human Rights Commission.

Office of Profit
• Purpose of Office of Profit:
o Independence: To secure independence of the MPs and to ensure
that Parliament does not contain persons who have received
favours or benefits from the executive and who consequently
might be amenable to its influence.
o Eliminate Conflict of Interests: To eliminate or reduce the risk of
conflict between duty and self-interest among MPs
o To protect the democratic fabric of the country from being
corrupted by executive patronage and also secures the
independence of MPs from the influence of the Government so that
they discharge their functions without fear or favour.
• The Constitution of India vide articles 102(1) and 191(1) provides for
disqualification an MP or MLA if she/he holds an Office of Profit under the
Union or the State unless the Parliament or the State Legislature declares
by law that such office does not disqualify its holder.
• President is the deciding authority on whether a person qualifies for
holding office of profit. -- Election Commission’s opinion is required.
[President does not act on the advice of council of ministers here]

Marks in GS: 449
• “Office of Profit” is one to which some power of patronage is attached
or in which the holder is entitled to exercise the executive functions, or
which carries dignity, prestige or honour to the incumbent thereof.
• Not Defined in the constitution.
• BHARGAVA COMMITTEE on OFFICE OF PROFIT
• Exempted offices: Chairman of NC for ST/SCs, National Commission for
Women etc.
• UK:
o In the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 which
specifies a number of state positions that make an individual
ineligible to serve as a Member of Parliament.
o Unlike in India, in England whenever a new office is created, the
law also lays down whether it would be an office of profit or not.

National Court of Appeal

Supreme Court has set up a 5 judges bench to debate the need for a National
Court of Appeal.

A National Court of Appeal will have benches in major metro cities and will take
up appeals from the High Courts and tribunals within their regions in civil,
criminal, labour and revenue matters.

Supreme Court will hear matters of only constitutional law and public law of
national importance.

Need of the court:
1. Supreme court is burdened by many pending cases (over 65000)
which causes delay in justice.
2. Supreme court is unable to give sufficient time to important
constitutional matters.
3. Two-judge benches do not do justice to questions of national
importance with long term repercussions. → Nick Robinson’s
studies have shown that 5 judge benches were as high as 15%
between 1950-54 but have declined to mere 0.12% today. →
Landmark cases such as Shreya Singhal (IT Sec. 69A) and Naz
Foundation Case were decided by only 2 judge benches.
4. Cost of justice is very high as Supreme court has only one bench and
people from far parts of the country cannot access it. → Geographical
proximity of NCOA will make it more accessible.
5. Will improve quality of governance in the country. Make India more
amenable to investments as well.

→ Even 229th Law Commission Report has suggested establishing “Cassation
” benches of the Supreme court in major metro regions.
→ The constitution provides for this via article 130.

Marks in GS: 449
→ Such model has also worked well in Italy, Denmark, Ireland etc.
→ Parliamentary Standing committee has also recommended this.

Problems:
1. Opposed by the government
2. Center argues that such establishment will only lengthen already long
enough process of litigation in India thereby defeating the right to
swift justice under Article 21.
3. Such legislation may also weaken the power of the apex court.

Solutions:
1. This can be achieved by strengthening the lower judiciary. → quicker
disposal of cases at this level, high quality of judgments, fulfilling all
sanctioned strength of the courts will automatically decrease
pendency of cases. → National Judicial Data Grid shows only 1 judge
for every 73,000 people in India. This is less than 7 times than that in
the US.

Supreme Court order on Drought Management
Supreme court’s verdict said clear “lack of will” of part of Center and States to
tackle with drought problems across India. Both “washing hands” from a disaster
of national proportion with more than 1/4th country reeling under the drought/

Court Order to:
1. Supply heavily Subsidized Foodgrains to all households in affected
areas.
a. Center and States not doing so despite the National Food Security
Act provisions for this.
2. Mid Day Meal to be continued during summer vacations in all schools.
3. MGNREGA to be raised from 100 days to 150 days in drought hit
areas.
4. Constitute a Commission for implementation of NFSA and monitoring
it.
5. Evolve a transparent, Rules-based framework: develop a standard
methodology to assess and declare drought, and a standard guideline
to tackle it.

National Drought Crisis Management Plan
• This was released in 2015 to by the Center to handle droughts and has
four components:
a. MGNREGA -- extending and using MGNREGA to provide immediate
employment to people in such areas
b. PDS mechanism to distribute subsidized food grains
c. Recharge of groundwater by building check dams and pipeline
water
d. Waiving off farmer debt and arrange loans for crops.


Marks in GS: 449

Judicial Activism In India:

The constitution has given our legislators and executive a mandate to create a
welfare based society. Unfortunately, poverty gap has become more stark over
the years and rights of individuals have been breached again and again.
Additionally, corruption has left the common man disappointed and
disillusioned.

In this situation, the judiciary has come to the rescue of the common man by
protection his rights. It has strived to fulfill the mandate of Article 37 of the
Indian constitution “DPSPs are fundamental to the governance of the country
and shall be the duty of the state to apply these in making laws” simply because
the state has failed to implement this DPSP.

In this, it has occasionally overreached its jurisdiction or walked a thin line as
well.

What is (fashionably) derided as “judicial overreach” has been recently
described by Upendra Baxi (legal scholar) as the “daring adjudicatory leadership
of the Supreme Court in the past 25- 30 years”.

In an essay just published in the Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution
(2016), he says the highest court has “mutated the discourse of judicially
unenforceable directive principles (as originally enacted) by incorporating them
into Article 21 (as now interpreted)”, and so converted human needs into human
rights.

River Water Dispute -- Cauvery

Why so much angst about the Cauvery?
The river Cauvery is the largest in southern India, and begins in the Coorg region
in Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu, before joining the Bay of Bengal.

The Cauvery’s upper hilly catchment lies in Karnataka and Kerala. It is influenced
by the usually dependable south-west monsoon during June to September. Its
lower part lies in the plains of Tamil Nadu, served by the not-so-dependable
north-east Monsoon during October to December.
In technical water law language, Karnataka is the upper riparian state where the
river originates; Tamil Nadu is a lower riparian state. Puducherry wants its share
of the Cauvery because it is where the river flows into the Bay of Bengal. And
Kerala actually contributes more water to the river than it can utilize, because of
its geography.


Marks in GS: 449
How old is the dispute over the Cauvery?
1. It is more than 150 years old.--> started in 1892
2. Agreements signed in 1892 and 1924 to share the water by both the
states.
3. Under the law Mysore could do nothing that would curtail water
supply to Tamil Nadu, the lower riparian state.

However, post-independence, the issue was taken up again in 1974 but
Karnataka did not implement these older agreements. Instead, it formed four
new projects by constructing dams across the tributaries of Cauvery, without
getting clearance from the central government, Planning Commission, and
Central Water Commission. [METTUR Dam is at the center of controversy]

International Law:

• International law clearly says that such river water cannot be said to be
located in any one state, and that no state can claim exclusive ownership
of such waters to deprive other downstream states of their equitable
share.

Contentions:
1. Mismatch in Allocation:
a. Tamil Nadu contends that water being released to it from Mettur
dam is decreasing year after year and it is not enough to support
agriculture. Also, it contends that water release is not as per the
allocation by CAUVERY TRIBUNAL verdict passed in 1991 and
2007.
2. Karnataka contends that it doesn’t have enough drinking water for
Bangalore. Since, national drinking water policy gives higher
weightage to drinking water, it cannot release the water.
3. Difference in verdicts:
a. The 1991 order give TN 205 tmc of water and 2007 order gives it
419 tmc ft. This is not accepted by Karnataka
4. No Plan for Distress Years -- drought years no plan

How did the latest dispute in the Supreme Court even start?
• There are four parties to the dispute—Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and
Puducherry.
• Karnataka constructed four projects on and near the Cauvery: Harangi,
Kabini, Hemavathi and Suvarnavathy. For these, Karnataka did not get the
prior consent of the Tamil Nadu government.

From 1974, Karnataka started diverting river flows into the four new reservoirs.
Unable to resolve the dispute, the Centre referred it to the Cauvery Water
Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) in 1990.


Marks in GS: 449
How did the SC even get dragged into this dispute? Isn’t the CWDT
supposed to sort this stuff out?
• The CWDT had indeed given its interim award in 1991, in favour of Tamil
Nadu, which then asked for implementation. Karnataka was not willing.
So, Tamil Nadu filed suit in the Supreme Court in 2001. It is still pending.
• In the meantime, the CWDT gave its final order in 2007 (which also
technically replaced the 1892 and 1924 agreements on water sharing).
And the latest SC orders have been appealed in special leave petitions
(SLPs) filed by Tamil Nadu against Karnataka.

What was the 1991 CWDT interim order?
• The Tribunal directed Karnataka to ensure that 205,000 million cubic feet
(TMC) of water was available in Tamil Nadu’s Mettur Reservoir in a year
from June to May.

Then what happened?
Karnataka promulgated an ordinance, followed by an Act, to negate the effect of
the tribunal ruling.

The President then made a reference to the Supreme Court for its opinion. The
SC answered this reference in November 1991, saying the ordinance and the Act
were unconstitutional and beyond the legislative competence of the State.

In 1998, the central government set up the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) and a
monitoring committee (MC). The CRA included the Prime Minister, and the chief
ministers of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and of Puducherry. The MC included
secretary of the union ministry of water resources, and chief secretaries of the
three states, and Puducherry, Chairman, Central Water Commission, and others.
The CRA and the MC were supposed to deal with issues on sharing of waters
from time to time.

So, presumably the CRA and the MC failed to resolve matters?
Yes, it appears so. In any case, no one knows whether they still exist, as a new
supervisory committee has been set up in their place in 2013.

What happens when Tamil Nadu approaches the SC from time to time?
Usually, Tamil Nadu approaches the SC for a direction to Karnataka to comply
with the interim order passed by the tribunal, fixing a schedule for release of the
water in different months of the year.
On most of these occasions, Karnataka comes up with the plea that because of
the insufficient rainfall, it had not been possible for it to strictly comply with the
interim order by releasing the quantity of water as directed.

What does the 2007 final order of the Tribunal say?
The Tribunal, in a unanimous decision, determined the total availability of water
in the Cauvery basin at 740 TMC at the Lower Coleroon Anicut site, including 14
TMC for environmental protection and seepage into the sea.

Marks in GS: 449
The final award made an annual allocation of 419 TMC to Tamil Nadu in the
entire Cauvery basin, 270 TMC to Karnataka, 30 TMC to Kerala, and 7 TMC to
Puducherry.

What were the Tribunal’s other conclusions?
It defined a “normal year” as one in which the total yield of the Cauvery basin is
740 TMC. In a normal year, Karnataka has to release to Tamil Nadu at
Biligundulu 192 TMC (as against 205 TMC in the interim award) in monthly
deliveries. This comprises 182 TMC from the allocated share of TN, including 10
TMC for environmental purposes.

In a so-called distress year, the allocated shares are to be proportionately
reduced among Kerala, Karnataka, TN and Puducherry.
The Tribunal also recommended setting up the Cauvery Management Board
(CMB) to implement the Tribunal’s decisions, and said, otherwise, “its decision
would only be on a piece of paper”.

And on paper is where it has mostly remained: the CMB has not yet been set up,
although the final order has been notified in the official gazette on 19 February
2013, and is theoretically binding.

What is the supervisory committee, then?
The supervisory committee was constituted by the ministry of water resources
in 2013., and includes people from the ministry of water resources, chief
secretaries of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, and the CWC.
The role of the committee was to give effect to the implementation of the
Tribunal order of 5 February 2007.
Obviously, this committee replaces the previous Cauvery River Authority and the
monitoring committee, set up in 1998, and is considered an alternative to the
Board, suggested by the Tribunal.
The latest Supreme Court order has asked Tamil Nadu to approach the
supervisory committee to sort out its grievance.

Sounds great on paper; then again, the SC got involved anyway, so what was the
point?
The fact that the Supreme Court intervened does suggest that the Judiciary is
perhaps unnecessarily getting involved in matters that are beyond its
competence. The SC could have just asked this committee to meet urgently and
resolve the crisis amicably, argue observers.

But has the Supreme Court managed to resolve the dispute now?
It is essentially a federal dispute, and needs to be resolved amicably between the
states because the issue is so complex.
Top-down adjudication by the Supreme Court will inevitably favour one state
and alienate another.
The state that is perceived to have lost in the litigation then cannot control
popular sentiments in the state, and will again lead to appeal, as has now
reportedly happened again against the SC judgment.

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Therefore, the matter really has to be dealt with by a professional body including
professional representatives of both States.

So is the dispute likely to drag on and continue into the next century?
It will, if the states concerned do not display maturity and instead constantly
resort to litigation, knowing fully well that the Supreme Court cannot enforce the
Tribunal’s final award. And whenever there are legal battles, emotions will
continue to run high in both states on the issue.

Contempt of Court and Freedom of Speech

1. Constitution has explicitly provided the Parliament with power to
frame law on punishment regarding Contempt of court.
a. Contempt of Courts Act 1971 was passed regarding this and
provides for civil and criminal punishments in case of contempt of
courts.
2. Also. Freedom of Speech under Article 19(2) provides for reasonable
restriction of speech if it causes contempt of court. → Arundhati Roy
has been charged with contempt of court in regards to this.
3. In constituent assembly debates, TT Krishnamachari suggested that
contempt of court as one of the permissible limits on freedom of
speech and expression
a. In the same debate, Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava argued that
contempt of court must be limited to disobedience of court’s
judgment only.
4. Ronald Dworkin argued that freedom of speech has two components:
5. Free speech allows people to speak freely which inherently leads to
good policies
6. Free speech is premised on the commitment to autonomy of an
individual in society

DISE -- District Information System for Education

1. Data from DISE shows that government schools do not fulfill many
norms and standards set by RTE Act.
2. DISE data shows that between 2010-2014 government school
enrollment fell by 1.6 crore students and private school enrollment
rose by 1.8 crore
3. Despite this, private schools are closed down due to their inability to
adhere to RTE Act guidelines. It must be noted here that as per DISE
data there are 3.3 lakh private schools (unaided) in India and most are
LOW FEE establishments (fee comparable or lower than even
government schools). Only 16000 of these are “high or elite fee”
paying schools.

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Leprosy in India
Leprosy is among the world's oldest and most dreaded diseases and India has
highest number of leprosy patients as per WHO.

India’ strategy-
1. Early detection & complete treatment of new leprosy cases. Carrying
out household contact survey in detection of Multibacillary (MB) &
child cases.
2. Decentralized integrated leprosy services through General Health
Care system.
3. Involvement of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in the
detection & complete treatment of Leprosy cases for leprosy work
4. Strengthening of Disability Prevention & Medical Rehabilitation
(DPMR) services.
5. Information, Education & Communication (IEC) activities in the
community to improve self reporting to Primary Health Centre (PHC)
and reduction of stigma. Further Intensive monitoring and
supervision at Primary Health Centre/Community Health Centre.

Various outcomes-
Positives-
1. Indian research contributed to the development of Multi-Drug
Therapy or MDT, which resulted in increase in cure rate.
2. India achieved leprosy elimination of less than 1 per 10000
population in 2005

Negatives-
1. 60% of world’s leprosy patient in India.
2. ICMR estimated that there may be 250000 new cases every year.

Mahatma Gandhi's dream of “Empowerment of People Affected by Leprosy,”- can
be fulfilled by removing the stigma associated with leprosy and giving them
equal rights.

Hence we need to strengthen and modify the National Leprosy Eradication
Programme (NLEP), so that it focuses on both prevention and cure, especially in
endemic regions. Further Leprosy Detection Campaign is a good step which
involve house to house screening hence picturing the ground reality


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Judicial Reforms in Elections
1. Jan Chowkidari Case — jailed elector cannot participate in elections
2. Lily Thomas Case — members of parliament who are convicted are
immediately disqualified from membership of the Houses
3. NOTA
4. VVPAT
5. Promise of benefits in election manifestos
6. Stay on caste based rallies in UP
7. Ruling on Nomination Papers in 2013 — returning officer can reject
nomination papers of a candidate on basis of incomplete information,
non-disclosure, suppression of information including that of assets
and criminal background. In response to PIL filed by NGO Resurgence
India. “No column shall be allowed to remain empty” as it tantamount
to concealing information and not filing complete affidavit.

Article 311
• Civil servants cannot be removed except for authority that has appointed
them.
• Additionally, they cannot be removed, demoted etc. without an inquiry.

Constitutional Experts on various issues

Judicial Activism
• AK Ayyar in the CAD famously said that the judiciary cannot function as a
super-Legislature or super-executive. It’s purpose is to interpret the
constitution and to adjudicate upon rights...

Self Governance and PRIs

• M. A. Ayyangar, prominent constitutionalist has said that we must train
the villages in the art of self-government and autonomy to be able to have
true democracy at the grassroots levels.

Federalism quotes
• Centres overwhelming financial powers:
o TT Krishnammachari, a distinguished finance minister and
member of prestigious National Council for Applied Economic

Marks in GS: 449
Research, said that ultimate responsibility of the economic well-
being of the country has become paramount responsibility of the
Centre, and therefore it must have greater say in its financial
matters and greater control as well.
o More recently, this debate has arisen as part of both the 14th FC
devolution and also the GST.
o TTK also became the first minister to resign due to corruption
scam Mundhra scam that happened in 1957

Swaraj and Su-raj

• “Wishes of the people freely expressed through their freely chosen
representative” — Mahatma Gandhi

Right to Speech and Expression

• Earliest strands of Right to Freedom and Equality found in the writings of
Jyotirao Phule (1827-1890) —> these rights were further sharpened
during the national movement and expanded to constitutional rights.
• Evelyn Beatrice Hall to Voltaire — "I do not agree with what you have to
say but I will defend to death your right to say it.”
• Rajarammohan Roy was the first one in India to protest against the
curtailment of freedom of press by the British colonial state. He argued
that without such right, the citizens cannot communicate their grievance
to the government in the first place. Therefore, state must permit
unlimited freedom of press and publication.

Universal Adult Franchise:

• Universal Adult Franchise was the single provision which was passed
without any debate and with total unanimity in the Constituent Assembly
in 1946.
• Pandit Nehru in Discovery of India has emphasized that Universal
Franchise was not an ideal with which he would compromise as there was
no logic in giving more weight to one person’s opinion over the other.
• A. K. Ayyar, one of the constitution experts said that the assembly adopted
the principle of adult franchise due to its deep faith in the common man
and the ultimate success of democratic rule. The assembly believed that
the introduction of democratic government on the basis of adult suffrage
will promote well-being of all. — Constituent Assembly Debate (CAD)


Marks in GS: 449
Quotes on Constitution, Parliament, Freedoms and Rights, Polity etc.
• “The constitution is only a frame or skeleton, the actual flesh and blood is
provided by the actual process of politics.” — M. A. Ayyangar [constituent
assembly debates]
• Constitution is a living document
• Constitution is not just a maze of rule and procedures, but also a moral
commitment to establish a government that will fulfill the many promises
that the nationalist movement held before the people — those of equality,
liberty, fraternity, justice, sovereignty and a cosmopolitan identity.
• A Justice in Kesavanand Bharti case: “The constitution is not in the state
of being, but becoming”
• Vice President Krishna Kant: “Lok Sabha is the House of Change and the
Rajya Sabha is a house of Continuity”
• Granville Austin, “Indian constitution is not a piece of paper, but a
document of social revolution” — its transcendent goal is to achieve a
social revolution.
• Rivers do not drink their own water, trees do not eat their own fruits,
clouds do not swallow their own rain. What great ones have is always for
the benefit of the others.
• Hamsa Ksheera Nyaya — the justice by the swan who can separate milk
and water
• GV Mavalankar had warned Nehru about possible indiscriminate use of
ordinances.
• Nehru: “Citizenship consists in the service of the country.”
• B. R. Ambedkar — fundamental rights and DPSPs are the “conscience of
the constitution” DPSPs are a vision for good governance and
fundamental to governance in india.
• BR Ambedkar called “Right to Constitutional Remedies” the Heart and
Soul of the constitution
• B. R. Ambedkar said that the newly drafted constitution of a India was a
good one and could hold the country together during peacetime as well
war time. However, the vileness of individual mis-using it is what worried
him.
• Constitutions have a distinct power to act as limitations on the exercise of
power, and in that process delineate the functions of the government and
outline the rights of the people. This is what distinguishes constitutions
from other legislations.
• "Primus Inter Pares" — first among equals
• BR Ambedkar — “Educate, Agitate, Organize"


Marks in GS: 449


Marks in GS: 449

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MANUJ

Full GS 2 Notes (except IR)

Total GS Marks: 449

MANUJ JINDAL, AIR 53 GS 2 notes, GS Marks 111 1

MANUJ JINDAL, AIR 53 GS 2 notes, GS Marks 111 2

MANUJ JINDAL, AIR 53 GS 2 notes, GS Marks 111 3

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MANUJ JINDAL, AIR 53 GS 2 notes, GS Marks 111 5

MANUJ JINDAL, AIR 53 GS 2 notes, GS Marks 111 6

MANUJ JINDAL, AIR 53 GS 2 notes, GS Marks 111 7

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IMPORTANT Examples for GS 2 [MUST FOR REVISION]:

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Various federal features:

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GST [issues such as federalism, GST council etc.]

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POLITICAL PARTIES UNDER RTI

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First Past the Post System in India. Pros and Cons.

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Criminalization of politics: Money Power also →

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Why is Judicial independence central to democracy?

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Political Institutions in India

Increasing Tribunalisation in India.

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Women in Local Governance:

Relevance of Rajya Sabha

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Panchayati Raj [also the new Gram Swarajya Mission]

PESA and its challenges

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The Forest Rights Act (2006) and the Panchayats (Extension to

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Dispute Redressal Mechanisms and Institutions

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Judicial Review in India

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BIT [Bilateral Investment Treaty]

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