INDEX

General Studies Paper-1

1. Education
01. Dr. K. Kasturirangan Committee for Draft National Education Policy 1-1
02. TSR Subramanian Committee on New Education Policy 2-2
2. Vulnerable Sections
01. Virginius XAXA Committee on Condition of Tribals 3-3
02. Rajiv Gauba Committee 4-4
03. Justice Verma Committee 4-5
04. Sachar Committee Report 5-5
05. Bezbaruah Committee 5-6
3. Constitution
01. National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) 7-7
4. Centre-State Relations
01. Sarkaria Commission 7-8
02. Punchhi Commission 8-8
5. Judiciary
01. Justice Shri Krishna Committee on Alternate Dispute Redressal
9-9
02. Justice Malimath Committee on Criminal Justice System

6. Legislation
01. Ramanujam Committee 11-11

7. NGO and SHGs

01. Vijaya Kumar Committee 11-11
02. Malegam Committee on Microfinance 12-12
8. Electoral Reforms
01. Law Commission Report on Electoral Reforms 12-12
02. Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms 13-13
9. Corporate Governance
01. Uday Kotak Committee 13-14
10. Social Sector
01. Lakdawala Committee 14-14
02. Tendulkar Committee
15-15
03. C. Rangrajan Committee
11. Banking and Finance
01. Bimal Jalan Committee 16-16
02. P.J. Nayak Committee 16-17
03. Janak Raj Committee Report 17-17
04. TK Vishwanath Committee 17-18
05. Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission 18-18
06. Nandan Nilekani Panel 18-19
07. HR Khan Committee 19-19
08. Nachiket Mor Committee 19-20
09. Steering Committee on Fintech Related Issues 20-20
10. Ratan Watal Panel on Digital Payments
21-21
11. K.V. Kamath Committee on Restructuring of Loans
12. Taxation
01. Akhilesh Ranjan Task Force on Direct Tax Law
22-22
02. Akhilesh Ranjan Committee on Taxation of E- Commerce
03. Parthasarathi Shome commission 23-23
13. Employment
01. Sharda Prasad Committee 23-24
02. Kelkar Committee on Public Private Partnership-2015-16 24-24
03. Baba Kalyani Committee
25-25
04. S. Sundar Committee on Road Safety and Traffic Management
05. K Rajeswara Rao Committee to Review National Mineral Policy 2008 25-26
14. Agriculture
01. Swaminathan Committee - National Commission for farmers 26-27
02. Ashok Dalwai Committee on Doubling Farmers Income 28-28
03. Mihir Shah Committee 28-29
04. Dr.TQ Haque Committee 29-29
05. Shanta Kumar Committee on FCI Reforms 29-30
15. Industry
01. Surjit Bhalla Committee 30-30
02. Uk Sinha Panel On MSMEs 31-31
16. Science and Technology
01. Srikrishna Committee Report on Data Protection 31-31
02. V Kamakoti Panel on Artificial Intelligence
32-32
03. Subhash Chandra Garg Committee on Cryptocurrencies
17. Environment
01. Gadgil Vs Kasturirangan Committee on Western Ghats 33-33
02. Shailesh Nayak Committee on Coastal Zone Regulation 33-34
18. Security
01. Dhirendra Singh Committee- Defence Procurement Procedure 34-34
02. Madhukar Gupta Committee 35-35
03. Kargil Review Committee 35-36
04. Jeevan Reddy Committee On AFSPA 36-36
19. Probity in Governance
01. Ethics in Governance - 2nd Arc Report 36-38
20. Recent Committees 38-38
MEP 2020 - Important Committees

General Studies Paper-1

1. Education

01. Dr. K. Kasturirangan Committee for Draft National Education Policy

Formation/Submission of
MoHRD(2017)/2019
report
Chairman: Dr. K. Kasturirangan
Key lines about Proposes an education policy, which seeks to address the
committee: challenges of - access, equity, quality, affordability, and
accountability faced by the current education system.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Extension of the Right To Education (RTE) Act to the entire school system from pre-
school to class XII.
• Restructuring of school curriculum and 5+3+3+4 design
• Sanskrit should be taught at all levels of school and higher education as one of the
optional languages on par with all Schedule 8 languages.
• Introduction of a semester system in school education for students of classes 10 to 12,
with provisions for holding flexible and modular board examinations.
• Restructuring of the higher education institutions by placing them under three
categories:
o Research
o High quality teaching
o Quality teaching focussed on undergraduate education.
• Introduction of four-year undergraduate programmes in higher education institutions
• Establishment of a Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog-(Constitutional body + In each state+PM-
Chair)
• Establishment of National Higher Education Regulatory Authority (NHERA)- will
subsume all other bodies like UGC, AICTE and others into it.
• A national programme for the professional development of faculty members of the
higher education institutions.

5+3+3+4 design:
5--Foundational Stage+ three years of pre-primary plus grade 1 and grade 2
3--Preparatory Stage+include grades 3 to 5
3--Middle Stage+grades 6 to 8)
4--Secondary Stage +Grades 9-12

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02. TSR Subramanian Committee on New Education Policy

Formation/Submission of
MoHRD(2015)/2016
report:
Chairman: Mr. T. S. R Subramanian
Key lines about The report proposes an Education Policy, which seeks
committee: to address challenges faced by the current education
system.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• An Indian Education Service (IES) should be established as an all India.
• The outlay on education should be raised to at least 6% of GDP without further loss of
time.
• There should be minimum eligibility condition with 50% marks at graduate level for
entry to existing B.Ed., courses.
• Teacher Entrance Tests (TET) should be made compulsory for recruitment of all
teachers. The Centre and states should jointly lay down norms and standards for TET.
• 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.
• Pre-school education for children in the age group of 4 to 5 years should be declared as
a right and a programme for it implemented immediately.
• The no detention policy must be continued for young children until completion of class
V when the child will be 11 years old.
• At the upper primary stage, the system of detention shall be restored subject to the
provision of remedial coaching and at least two extra chances being offered to prove his
capability to move to a higher class
• On-demand board exams should be introduced to offer flexibility and reduce year end
stress of students and parents.
• A National Level Test open to every student who has completed class XII from any
School Board should be designed.
• The mid-day meal (MDM) program should now be extended to cover students of
secondary schools.
• University Grants Commission (UGC) needs to be made leaner and thinner and given
the role of disbursal of scholarships and fellowships.
• Top 200 foreign universities should be allowed to open campuses in India and give the
same degree which is acceptable in the home country of the said university.

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2. Vulnerable Sections

01. Virginius XAXA Committee on Condition of Tribals

Formation/Submission of
PMO(2013)/2014
report:
Chairman: Prof. Virginius Xaxa
Key lines about To examine the socio-economic, educational and health
committee: status of tribal communities and recommend appropriate
interventional measures to improve the same
RECOMMENDATIONS:
l. Land Acquisition:
• Prevent all kinds of tribal land alienation
• Gram Sabha’s consent compulsory for any type of land acquisition
• Promote small sized water-harvesting structures instead for large dams.
• Impose penalties on officials, if delayed implementation of Forest Rights Act or PESA.
II. Mining in tribal areas
• In Scheduled Areas, only permit tribals to exploit mineral resources.
• Amend the Coal-Bearing Areas Act, 1957 to return the land back to original owner post
mining
III. Linkage with Extremism
• There is no legal basis for terming anything a “Naxal offence”.
• Appoint a judicial commission to investigate such “naxal cases” registered against
tribals and their (non-tribal) supporters.
IV: Education
• Schemes like Ashram School, Eklavya Model School and Kasturba Gandhi Balika
Vidyalaya should be promoted at large scale.
• Tribal Chair should be established by the UGC in Universities of every State
comprising Fifth Schedule Areas
• Regional Resource Centres in States with significant tribal populations should be
established to provide training, academic and other technical support.
V: Health:
• Separate Medical Colleges for Tribal Areas - in selected scheduled districts(one college
per three million Scheduled Tribe population in the state)
• Constitution of Tribal Health Assembly, Tribal Health Councils, and Tribes Advisory
councils

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02. Rajiv Gauba Committee

Formation/Submission of
May-2018(Ministry of Home Affairs )/sept 2018
report:
Chairman: Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba
Key lines about To effectively deal with incidents of mob violence and
committee: lynching.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Social media platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Twitter – need to act in a
‘time-bound’ manner against fake posts and made accountable for not blocking
malicious posts and videos when brought to their notice.
• Appoint an officer in each district at the level of Superintendent of Police
• set up a special task force to gather intelligence
• closely monitor social media contents to prevent mob attacks on people on the
suspicion of being child-lifters or cattle smugglers.

03. Justice Verma Committee

Formation/Submission of
MoWCD(2012)/2013
report:
Chairman: Justice J.S. Verma, former Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court
Key lines about To recommend amendments to the Criminal Law so as to
committee: provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for
criminals accused of committing sexual assault against
women.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Gradation of sexual offences should be retained in the IPC, 1860.
• Any non-consensual penetration of a sexual nature should be included in the definition
of rape
• The exception to marital rape under IPC should be removed.
• The offence of sexual assault should be defined so as to include all forms of non-
consensual non-penetrative touching of a sexual nature.
• Use of criminal force to disrobe a woman should be punishable with 3 to 7 years of
imprisonment.
• The use of words, acts or gestures that create an unwelcome threat of a sexual nature
should be termed as sexual assault and be punishable for 1 year imprisonment or fine
or both.
• The central and state government should create a corpus to compensate victims of
crimes against women.
• The requirement of sanction for prosecution of armed forces personnel under Armed
Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) should be specifically excluded when a sexual
offence is alleged.

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• The Committee rejected the proposal for chemical castration as it fails to treat the
social foundations of rape.
• It opined that death penalty should not be awarded for the offence of rape and
recommended life imprisonment for rape.
• The Committee has recommended the discontinuation of the two-finger test for medical
examination of rape victim.
• A Rape Crisis Cell should be set up. The Cell must provide legal assistance to the
victim.

04. Sachar Committee Report

Formation/Submission of
2005/Nov 2006
report:
Chairman: Justice Rajindar Sachar
Key lines about To prepare a report on the social, economic and
committee: educational status of the Muslim community of India.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Set up an Equal Opportunity Commission to look into grievances of deprived groups
like minorities.
• Create a nomination procedure to increase participation of minorities in public bodies.
• Establish a delimitation procedure that does not reserve constituencies with high
minority population for SCs.
• Increase employment share of Muslims, particularly where there is great deal of public
dealing. Work out mechanisms to link madarsas with higher secondary school board.
• Recognise degrees from madarsas for eligibility in defence, civil and banking
examinations.

05. Bezbaruah Committee

Formation/Submission of
Jan-2014 (Ministry of Home Affairs)/Aug-2014
report:
Chairman: Shri M.P Bezbarua(retired IAS and member of the North
Eastern Council)
Key lines about To look into the various concerns of the citizens hailing
committee: from the North Eastern States and suggest measures
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I. Policing:
• Delhi police should recruit 20 police personnel, (10 male – 10 female) each from North
East States.
• Police exchange programme has been approved between NE states and metropolitan
cities including Delhi.

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• North East Special Unit at New Delhi should be activated to address the grievances of
the NE people
• Nodal police stations should be established for the NE peoples, so the police officers
can immediately register FIR instead of asking the victims to go to the other police
stations.
• A proposal to add section 153-C to IPC which makes acts causing or likely to cause
fear or feeling of insecurity among the community punishable with up to five years’
imprisonment.
• Another proposed section 509-A provides up to 3 years’ imprisonment for words,
gesture or act intended to insult a member of any race.
II. Maintenance of law and order:
• The Delhi Government should provide compensation and monetary assistance to the
NE people under Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme 2011.
• Set up a dedicate panel of lawyers to fight cases for North Eastern victims. 50% of
these lawyers should be women.
• creation of fast-track courts for handling the cases relating to the North East people
III. New law against discrimination:
• Either a new law should be promulgated as directed by the High Court of Delhi or the
Indian Penal Code should be amended
• The investigation of the FIR should be completed in 60 days by a special squad
• A special prosecutor should be appointed to handle all cases of atrocities. And the trial
should be completed in 90 days.
IV: Social media:
• Legal awareness campaigns
• Dedicated Facebook page should be created
• Nodal police officers should be in constant touch with members of the community on
WhatsApp.
V: Awareness:
• A special helpline No. 1093 for NE people is being synchronized with helpline No. 100.

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3. Constitution
01. National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC)

Formation/Submission of
February 2000(NDA govt)/2002
report:
Chairman: Justice Manepalli Narayana Rao Venkatachaliah
Key lines about For suggesting possible amendments to the Constitution of
committee: India.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Inter-State Trade and Commerce Commission should be established as given under
Article 307. (statutory body)
• The Governor should be appointed by a committee comprising the Prime Minister,
Home Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha, and the Chief Minister of the state concerned.
• Management of disasters and emergencies should be included in the Concurrent List of
the Seventh Schedule.
• In case of a political breakdown in a state, before invoking Article 356, as far as
practicable, the state should be given an opportunity to explain its position and redress
the situation.
• The Inter-State Council order of 1990 should clearly specify the matters that should
form part of the consultations.

4. Centre-State Relations

01. Sarkaria Commission

Formation/Submission of
June 1983/ 27 October 1987
report:
Chairman: Justice R.S. Sarkaria
Key lines about To review the question of centre state relations.
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• The Constitution of India does not mandate any procedure to be followed by the
Governor, in case of hung assembly.
• The convention of inviting the single largest party in such a case has been outlined by
the Sarkaria Commission, which studied Centre-state relations in the 1980s.
• It specifically dealt with the situation where no single party obtained absolute majority.
• It provided the order of preference the Governor should follow in selecting a CM in such
a situation –
o An alliance of parties that was formed prior to the elections.

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o The single largest party staking a claim to form the government with the support
of others, including independents.
o A post-electoral coalition of parties, with all the partners in the coalition joining
the government.
o A post-electoral alliance of parties, with some of the parties in the alliance forming a
government and the remaining parties, including independents, supporting the
government from outside.
• They were affirmed by a Constitution Bench of the SC in Rameshwar Prasad v Union of
India in 2005.

02. Punchhi Commission

Formation/Submission of
2007/2010
report:
Chairman: Justice M.M. Punchhi Commission
Key lines about On Centre-State Relations+ Commission gave 312
committee: recommendations in its report.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Laid down some guidelines to be followed in the appointment of a chief minister by a
governor.
• It also said the governor should invite the leader of “a pre-poll alliance commanding the
largest number” or the “largest single party” to form the government in case no party or
pre-poll coalition has a clear majority.
• According to Bommai judgment, such a CM must prove the majority on the floor of the
assembly.
• Creation of a superseding structure (much like the Homeland Security Department in
the US), that gave prominence to the National Integration Council.
• Centre should consult states before introducing bills on items in the concurrent list
through the inter-state council.
• There should be a provision by which the President’s decision to use his Pocket veto
power is communicated to the State within six months.
• The Doctrine of Pleasure should be deleted from the Constitution regarding
appointment of governor.

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5. Judiciary

01. Justice Shri Krishna Committee on Alternate Dispute Redressal

Formation/Submission of
2017/2018
report:
Chairman: Justice B.N. Srikrishna
Key lines about To prepare a road map to make India a hub of international
committee: arbitration.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Creation of the post of an ‘international law adviser’ (ILA) to advise the government on
international legal disputes, particularly BIT disputes.
• Creation of an inter-ministerial committee (IMC), with officials from the Ministries of
Finance, External Affairs and Law for better managing BIT disputes was also called for.
• It also mentioned the possibility of establishing a BIT appellate mechanism and a
multilateral investment court.
• It recommended hiring of external lawyers and appointing counsels having expertise in
BITs to boost the government’s legal expertise.
• It called for the creation of designated fund to fight BIT disputes.

02. Justice Malimath Committee on Criminal Justice System

Formation/Submission of
2000/2003
report:
Chairman: Justice V.S. Malimath, former Chief Justice of the
Karnataka and Kerala High Courts.
Key lines about on reforms in the Criminal Justice System of India
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Rights of the Accused: The Committee suggested that a Schedule to the Code be
brought out in all regional languages so that the accused knows his/her rights, as well
as how to enforce them and whom to approach when there is a denial of those rights.
• Police Investigation: The Committee suggested hiving off the investigation wing from
Law and Order.
• Court and Judges: The report pointed out the judge-population ratio in India is 10.5
per million population as against 50 judges per million population in many parts of the
world. The ratio is 19.66 per million people as of 2017.
• It suggested the increase in strength of judges and courts.
• Witness Protection: It suggested separate witness protection law so that safety and
security of witness can be ensured and they can be treated with dignity.
• Vacations of Court: It recommended reducing the vacations of court on account of long
pendency of cases.

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6. Legislation

01. Ramanujam Committee

Formation/Submission of
By PMO -2014/2014
report:
Chairman: R. Ramanujam, Secretary in the PMO
Key lines about Examine Acts and Rules which may have become obsolete
committee: within the last 10 to 15 years.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Identified around 1,700 old statutes that were ready for repeal.
• Brought out a database of around 2700 existing Union level statutes. Of these, a
considerable number of laws were enacted between 1834 and 1949 i.e. before the
Constitution came into being.

7. NGO and SHGs

01. Vijaya Kumar Committee

Formation/Submission of
2017/2018
report:
Chairman: S. Vijay Kumar, a former Secretary in the Ministry of Rural
Development.
Key lines about To ensure the “light regulation” of non-governmental
committee: organisations (NGOs) so as to reduce their harassment.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Registration procedures be modernised
• Steps must be taken to “reduce the need for a physical interface between NGOs and
public officials acting under the IT Act and the FCRA, along with reduction in mutual
distrust and scope for misuse.
• The committee has drawn up a framework of guidelines for the accreditation of NGOs,
audit of their accounts, and procedures to initiate action for recovering grants in case
of misappropriation.
• A nodal body to oversee the various interfaces between NGOs and the government, and
has recommended that NITI Aayog be vested with the power
• It has recommended an overarching legislation with best practices that would replace
various State-level and existing Central laws.
• Details of NGOs should be available as searchable database information.

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02. Malegam Committee on Microfinance

Formation/Submission of
By RBI in2011/2012
report:
Chairman: Y.H. Malegam.
Key lines about To study the Microfinance sector
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• A separate category of non-banking finance companies was created for those operating
in the microfinance sector to be designated as NBFC-MFI.
• The committee recommended certain conditions to be satisfied for NBFCs to be
classified as NBFC-MFI:
o Not less than 90% of its total assets (other than cash, money market instruments
and bank balances) are in the nature of “qualifying assets.”
o The income it derives from other services is in accordance with the regulation
specified on that behalf.

8. Electoral Reforms

01. Law Commission Report on Electoral Reforms

Formation/Submission of
2014/2014
report:
Chairman: Justice A.P. Shah+255th report
Key lines about Examined issues related to: (i) disqualification of
committee: candidates with criminal background, and (ii)
consequences of filing false affidavits.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Complete state funding
• Type of election should be hybrid Pattern with both FPTP and proportional
representation
• Create a permanent and independent secretariat of ECI
• Define paid news and political advertisement in RPA
• introduce Totaliser for counting of votes
• Only political parties registered can contest Loksabha and state Legislative assembly
elections debarring bogus independent candidates

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02. Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms

Formation/Submission of
1990/1991
report:
Chairman: Dinesh goswami
Key lines about On Electoral reforms
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• There is a need for an amendment to the anti-defection law to restrict disqualification.
The question of disqualification of members should not be decided by the speaker or
the Chairman of the concerned House.
• Changes in the voting pattern and shift to proportional representation of the list
system, instead of present voting system should be made
• There should be fresh delimitation on the basis of 1981 census and there should be a
provision for rotation of reserved seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• No candidates should be allowed to contest an election from more than two
constituencies. The age of Candidates for assembly seats should be reduced to 21 and
for the Council to 25.
• discourage non-serious candidates -deposit for Lok Sabha should be increased to Rs.
5000 and for Assembly it should be increased to Rs. 2500.
• Army and Para-military personnel, diplomats and others placed outside India should
be allowed proxy voting.

9. Corporate Governance

01. Uday Kotak Committee

Formation/Submission of
By SEBI 2019/2020
report:
Chairman: Uday kotak
Key lines about On corporate governance
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• More powers for independent directors, limiting chairmanship to non-executive
directors, and called for a greater focus on transparency and disclosures to improve
corporate governance.
• A listed company should have at least six directors on its board. Current Sebi
regulations do not mandate a minimum number. The panel has suggested at least one
independent director be a woman.
• Directors attend at least half the total board meetings held in a financial year. If they

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fail to do so, they would require shareholders’ nod for continuing.

• Companies have asked to make public the relevant skills of directors, and the age of
non-executive directors has been capped at 75 years.
• chairperson of a listed company will be a non-executive director to ensure that s/he is
independent of the management.
• An independent director cannot be in more than eight listed companies and a
managing director can hold the post of an independent director in only three listed
companies.
• Number of independent directors on a company board be increased from 33% to 50%.
• The minimum sitting fees of independent directors has been halved from the current
Rs1 lakh per meeting as stipulated by the Companies Act 2013 to Rs50,000 for the top
100 companies by market capitalization
• Detailed reasons would need to be furnished when an independent director resigns.
This is to ensure that they remain independent of the company management.
• An audit committee is being proposed with the mandate to look into utilization of funds
infused by a listed entity into unlisted subsidiaries
• Sebi should have clear powers to act against auditors under the securities law.
• The panel has also proposed to tweak the definition of a “material” subsidiary to one
whose net worth or income exceeds 10% (currently 20%) of the consolidated income, or
net worth of the listed entity. This has been done to improve disclosure, since only the
activities of material subsidiaries are disclosed to shareholders.

10. Social Sector

01. Lakdawala Committee

Formation/Submission of
1993/1994
report:
Chairman: DT Lakdawala
Key lines about Poverty estimation
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Consumption expenditure should be calculated based on calorie consumption as
earlier.
• State specific poverty lines should be constructed and these should be updated using
the CPI-IW in urban areas and CPI-AL in rural areas.
• Discontinuation of scaling of poverty estimates based on National Accounts Statistics.

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02. Tendulkar Committee

Formation/Submission of
By planning commission -2005/2009
report:
Chairman: Suresh Tendulkar
Key lines about Address the shortcomings of the previous methods of
committee: estimation of poverty line
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• A shift away from calorie consumption based poverty estimation
• A uniform poverty line basket (PLB) across rural and urban India
• A change in the price adjustment procedure to correct spatial and temporal issues with
price adjustment
• Incorporation of private expenditure on health and education while estimating poverty.

03. C. Rangrajan Committee

Formation/Submission of
2014/2014
report:
Chairman: C. Rangrajan
Key lines about To review the Methodology for Measurement of Poverty
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• The daily per capita expenditure is pegged at 32 rupees for the rural poor and at 47
rupees for the urban poor.
• Poverty line based on the average monthly per capita expenditure is pegged at 972
rupees for rural India and 1407 rupees for urban India.
• The all-India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure for a family of five is
estimated at 4760 rupees per month in rural areas and 7035 rupees per month in
urban areas in 2011-12.
• The percentage of people below the poverty line in 2011-12 was 30.95 in rural areas
and 26.4 in urban areas
• The respective ratios for the rural and urban areas were 41.8 percent and 25.7 percent,
respectively, and 37.2 percent for the country as a whole in 2004-05. In 1993-94, it
was 50.1 percent in rural areas, 31.8 percent in urban areas and 45.3 per cent for the
country as a whole
• In 2009-10, about 91.6 million people were lifted out of poverty as compared to 454.6
million poor in 2009-10.
• The poverty rate fell by 8.7 percentage points in 2009-10 under the Rangarajan
formula against a 7.9 percentage point fall under the Tendulkar methodology.

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11. Banking and Finance

01. Bimal Jalan Committee

Formation/Submission of
RBI + GoI in2018/2018
report:
Chairman: Dr. Bimal Jalan
Key lines about To review the current economic capital framework
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• International practices: The Committee observed that there is no internationally laid
down risk capital framework for central banks.
• It noted that the RBI’s central banking economic capital, at 26.8% of its balance sheet,
is the fifth largest amongst central banks.
• (Economic capital = its capital + reserves + risk provisions + Revaluation balances.
o Revaluation balances are unrealized gains, net losses resulting from movement of
the exchange rate, gold price or interest rate.
o Note that revaluation balances are the major component of RBI’s economic capital
(73%).
• Risk assessment: The central bank is exposed to different types of risks. These include
(i) market risk arising out of currency, gold or interest rate fluctuations, (ii) credit risk,
(iii) operational risks arising from managing multi-currency portfolios across multiple
legal jurisdictions, and (iv) contingent risks (monetary and financial stability risks).

What is ECF?
The economic capital framework provides a methodology for determining the
appropriate level of risk provisions and profit distribution to be made under
Section 47 of the RBI Act, 1934.

02. P.J. Nayak Committee

Formation/Submission of
2014 by RBI/2014
report:
Chairman: P J Nayak, the former CEO and Chairman of Axis Bank
Key lines about To review the governance of the board of banks in India.
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Repeal the Bank Nationalisation Act (1970, 1980), the SBI Act and the SBI Subsidiaries
Act. This is because these acts require the government to have above 50% share in the
banks.

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• After the above acts are repealed, the government should set up a Bank Investment
Company (BIC) as a holding company or a core investment company.
• BIC will be autonomous and have the power to appoint the Board of Directors and
make other policy decisions.
• Until the BIC is formed, a temporary body called the Bank Boards Bureau (BBB) will be
formed to do the functions of the BIC. Once BIC is formed, the BBB will be dissolved.
• The BBB will advise on appointments to the board, banks’ chairman and other
executive directors.

03. Janak Raj Committee Report

Formation/Submission of
By RBI in 2017/2017
report:
Chairman: Janak Raj
Key lines about on Review the Working of the Marginal Cost of Funds
committee: Based Lending Rate System
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Linking bank lending rates to a market benchmark.
• Interest rate on loans be pegged to anyone of the three benchmark rates such as T-bill,
certificate of deposit rate or the RBI’s repo rate rather than leaving it to the discretion
of each bank.
• Ban on banks charging a conversion fee whenever the bank resets the rate of interest.
• interest rates resets which are now set at annual frequency creating potentially a one
year lag in transmission that these be changed on floating rate loans to quarterly
resets.

04.TK Vishwanath Committee

Formation/Submission of
SEBI(2018)/2018
report:
Chairman: T.K Viswanathan
Key lines about on Fair Market Conduct (Insider Trading)
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• The committee said Benami trading should also be deemed fraudulent if it leads to
manipulation.
• Scope of regulations on fraud should not just cover intermediaries. Should also cover
employees and agents of these intermediaries who often escape after indulging in
fraudulent activity.
• SEBI be given the power to grant immunity to whistle-blowers who help uncover illegal
activities.
• Creation of two separate codes of conduct.

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o One would set minimum standards on dealing with insider information by listed
companies.
o The other would set standards for market intermediaries and others who are
handling price-sensitive information.
• direct power for SEBI to tap telephones and other electronic communication devices.

05. Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission

Formation/Submission of
Ministry of Finance in March 2011/2013
report:
Chairman: Former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice B. N.
Srikrishna a
Key lines about To comprehensively reviewe and redraw the legislations
committee: governing India’s financial system
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Unified Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal (FSAT), subsuming the existing Securities
Appellate Tribunal (SAT), to hear all appeals in finance.
• The draft Code seeks to move away from the current sector-wise regulation to a system
where the RBI regulates the banking and payments system and a Unified Financial
Agency subsumes existing regulators like SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA and FMC, to regulate the
rest of the financial markets.
• FSLRC stresses the need for both independence and accountability

06. Nandan Nilekani Panel

Formation/Submission of
RBI(2019)/2019
report:
Chairman: Nandan Nilekani
Key lines about To strengthen the digital payments
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• It has set a target for the government and regulators to achieve a ten-fold volume
growth in digital payments over the next three years
• Banks need to ensure that no user is more than 5 kms away from a banking access
point and if such areas are found, these must be considered ‘shadow areas’
• A local vendor be made a banking correspondent (BC) as he deals in money and stays
there at shadow area
• removing transaction charges on digital payments made to government
• Government, being the single largest participant in payments, take the lead on all
aspects of digitization of payments.
• RBI to set an interchange rate for transaction between customers and leave the MDR
on competitive market pricing which would reduce the transaction cost for customers.

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• Special impetus on digitising mass volume channels such as recurring bill payments,
toll and ticket payments at public facilities and digital on boarding of khirana store
merchants has also been recommended by the panel in order to achieve the targeted
growth.
• The panel has also asked the government to set up special risk mitigation and
complaint registering digital portals

07. HR Khan Committee

Formation/Submission of
2018/2019
report:
Chairman: Former RBI deputy governor HR Khan
Key lines about To suggest measures for revitalizing and streamlining FPIs.
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• To streamline the regulations to encourage foreign inflows in the Indian market, the
Group has proposed fast track on-boarding procedure for investors, apart from a
simplified registration process.
• The group has recommended pension funds to be considered for Category I Foreign
Portfolio Investors (FPIs) registration, removal of opaque structure and the review of
broad-based conditions for appropriately regulated entities.
• It has proposed a liberalised investment cap under a review of prohibited sectors for
foreign investment for FPIs, restriction on Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) for
investment in corporate debt securities, and permitting FPIs for off-market
transactions.
• The Committee has also proposed alignment of regulations for FPIs and Alternative
Investment Funds (AIFs) and the harmonisation between investment restrictions in FPI
regulations and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
• In terms of restrictions on FPI investments in mutual funds, the group recommended
for further deliberations on whether such restrictions should be there.

08. Nachiket Mor Committee

Formation/Submission of
2013/2014
report:
Chairman: Nachiket Mor.
Key lines about The “Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for
committee: Small Businesses and Low Income Households”
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Providing a universal bank account to all Indians above the age of 18 years by January
1, 2016
• Aadhaar will be the prime driver towards rapid expansion in the number of bank
accounts.

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• Monitoring at the district level such as deposits and advances as a percentage of gross
domestic product (GDP).
• Adjusted 50 per cent priority sector lending target with adjustments for sectors and
regions based on difficulty in lending.
• setting up of 'Payments Bank' to cater to the lower income groups and small
businesses.

09. Steering Committee on Fintech Related Issues

Formation/Submission of
2019/2019
report:
Chairman: Subhash Chandra Garg
Key lines about On Fintech Related Issues
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Expansion of Fintech services
• discriminatory regulatory barriers in digital payments infrastructure need to be
removed
• use of Fintech to bolster cybersecurity, fraud control and money laundering
• The Department of Financial Services (DFS) and public sector banks should explore
use of artificial intelligence for automating back-end processes.
• Regulators should introduce mechanisms like sandbox to spur innovation.
• Fintech be utilised for:
o creating a credit registry for farmers with artificial intelligence and machine learning
based credit scoring mechanism to reduce risks of lending
o claims management and premium payments in agriculture crop insurance schemes,
and
o creating a common digital platform for all small savings products, all micro-pension
and government pension schemes, through which pension subscribers can
subscribe to schemes through various modes of digital payments.
• since Fintech is an evolving area, the government should collaborate with other
countries for a shared understanding of risks and benefits.
• setting up a taskforce in the Ministry of Finance on data protection in the financial
sector.

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10. Ratan Watal Panel on Digital Payments

Formation/Submission of
2016/2016
report:
Chairman: Finance secretary Ratan P Watal
Key lines about To set a roadmap for digital payments to grow substantially
committee: over the next three years
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Make regulation of payments independent from the purview of the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI)
• Update the current Payments and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
• Promote digital payments and receipts within Government.
• Create a fund proposed as DIPAYAN from savings generated from cash-less
transactions.

11. K.V. Kamath Committee on Restructuring of Loans

Formation/Submission of
2010 by RBI/2020
report:
Chairman: K.V. Kamat
Key lines about To recommend parameters for one-time restructuring of
committee: corporate loans.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Graded approach to restructuring of stressed accounts based on severity of the impact
on the borrowers- Banks can classify the accounts into mild, moderate and severe as
recommended by the committee.
• Five financial parameters to gauge the health of sectors facing difficulties
o total outside liabilities to adjusted tangible networth
o total debt to earnings before interest
o Taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda)
o debt service coverage ratio (DSCR)
o current ratio and average debt service coverage ratio (ADSCR).
• 26 sectors have been identified including auto, aviation, construction, hospitality,
power, real estate and tourism.

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12. Taxation
01. Akhilesh Ranjan Task Force on Direct Tax Law

Formation/Submission of
November 2017
report:
Chairman: Akhilesh Ranjan
Key lines about In order to review the Income-tax Act and to draft a new
committee: Direct Tax Law(Task Force, initially headed by former
CBDT Member (Legislation) Arbind Modi and later on by
Akhilesh Ranjan)
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Amendments in Section 147 and Section 148 of the I-T Act, empowering the tax
officer to reopen assessment cases based on predefined criteria.
• The I-T officer can go back up to six years to scrutinise the books of accounts of the
assessees.
• Increasing the threshold limit for opening cases(Currently it is Rs 1 lakh and
above)
• Assessment proceedings should be made faceless
• Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the tax-compliance and administration process.
• Proposal of introducing collaborative compliance in direct tax administration
• Personal Income Tax: A rejig in rates between 5% to 20%.

02. Akhilesh Ranjan Committee on Taxation of E-Commerce

Formation/Submission of
By CBDT-2019/2020
report:
Chairman: Akhilesh Ranjan
Key lines about To examine the business models for e-commerce.
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Equalization Levy may be imposed on payments made by non-residents for specified
services.
• Any income arising from a transaction on which Equalization Levy has been paid
should be exempted from income-tax.
• The definition of business connection in section 9 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 may be
expanded to include the concept of significant economic presence.

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03. Parthasarathi Shome commission

Formation/Submission of
2014/2014
report:
Chairman: Dr Parthasarathi Shome
Key lines about Tax Administration Reforms Commission
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• A minimum of 10% of the tax administration’s budget must be spent on taxpayer
services.
• The decision of the Ombudsman with regard to redressing taxpayer grievances should
be binding on tax officers.
• CBDT and CBEC should be fully integrated in 10 years
• The post of Revenue Secretary should be abolished and its functions should be
assigned to the two Boards. A Governing Council to oversee the working of the two
Boards, and a Tax Council to suggest policy and legislation should be set up.
• There should be a focus on specialisation, including lateral entry of specialists in the
Boards. Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers should specialise in a particular tax
administration areas.
• Retrospective legislation should be avoided.
• The Permanent Account Number (PAN) should be developed as a Common Business
Identification Number (CBIN), to be used by other departments such as customs,
excise, etc.

13. Employment

01. Sharda Prasad Committee

Formation/Submission of
2016/2016
report:
Chairman: Sharda Prasad
Key lines about To rationalise the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), which are
committee: employer bodies mostly promoted by the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the
Confederation of Indian Industry and other industry
associations, and improve 'Skill India'.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• The two goals in ‘Skill India’ are - to meet employers’ needs of skills and, to prepare
workers (young and old) for a decent livelihood.
• Mindset - The report has prominently focused on youth, and has underlined that the
vocational education is not just for underprivileged communities.
• It has stressed that it is not a stopgap arrangement for those who cannot make it

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through formal education but for all.

• School reforms - Concrete steps have been suggested to have a separate stream for
vocational education within the secondary education setup.
• Creating vocational schools and colleges for upward mobility, and having a Central
university to award degrees and diplomas has also been proposed.

02. Kelkar Committee on Public Private Partnership-2015-16

Formation/Submission of
2015/nov-2015
report:
Chairman: Vijay Kelkar.
Key lines about To study and evaluate the extant public-private partnership
committee: (PPP) model in India
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Establishment of 3P India.
• Case based risk allocation formula for various project participants.
• Establishment of independent regulating agencies.
• An amendment in the Prevention of corruption act to differentiate between errors of
judgement and willful corrupt practices.
• Use the PPP model for airport, port and railway projects.
• Banks and other financial institutions be allowed to issue zero-coupon bonds.
• The number of banks in a consortium be restricted.
• Banks develop improved capabilities for risk assessment and appraisal.
• Specific guidelines for encashment of bank guarantees.
• To provide for monetisation of completed projects.
• Create a procedure to resume stuck projects.
• PPP should only be used for large projects.
• Creation of an inbuilt mechanism for renegotiation.
• Model concession agreements in various sectors be reviewed.
• The public sector undertakings be dissuaded from participating in PPP
• Road toll be collected electronically
• Constitution of an Infrastructure PPP Project Review Committee (IPRC) comprising an
expert in finance and economics, law, and at least one related technocrat with not less
than 15 years experience.
• Constitution of an Infrastructure PPP Adjudication Tribunal (IPAT) headed by a former
Supreme Court/ High Court Judge with at a minimum of one technical and financial
expert each as members.

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03. Baba Kalyani Committee

Formation/Submission of Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry in June

report: 2018/2018
Chairman: Baba Kalyani, Chairman, Bharat Forge Ltd.
Key lines about Evaluate the SEZ policy and make it WTO compatible
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• The current environment of manufacturing competitiveness and services has to
undergo a basic paradigm shift if India is going to become a USD 5 trillion economy by
2025.
• The success seen by services sector like IT and ITES has to be promoted in other
services sector like health care, financial services, legal, repair and design services.
• It has recommended continuation of tax incentives, migration of SEZs to employment
and economic enclaves, and creation of link infrastructure and maintenance for
enclaves.
• incentives should be linked with employment, investment, technology/innovation, and
infrastructure status for these zones to improve access to financing.

04. S. Sundar Committee on Road Safety and Traffic Management

Formation/Submission of
report:
Chairman: Shri S. Sundar- Distinguished Fellow (TERI)
Key lines about To recommend a structure for the Directorate of Road
committee: Safety and Traffic Management and advise on its role and
functions.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Create Road Safety Boards to reduce accidents.
• Standardize reporting of accidents and enhance preparedness through better logistics.
• Ban on the sale of alcohol on highways (both state and national) to restrain drunk
driving.

05. K Rajeswara Rao Committee to Review National Mineral Policy 2008

Formation/Submission of
2017/2019
report:
Chairman: Dr. K Rajeswara Rao, Additional Secretary, Ministry of
Key lines about To review NMP 2008.
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
NMP - National mineral policy of 2008 replaced by National Mineral Policy 2019
Features:
• Introduction of Right of First Refusal for RP/PL holders

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• Encouraging the private sector to take up exploration

• Auctioning in virgin areas for composite RP cum PL cum ML on revenue share basis
• Encouragement of merger and acquisition of mining entities
• Transfer of mining leases and creation of dedicated mineral corridors to boost private
sector mining areas.
• The 2019 policy proposes to grant status of industry to mining activity to boost
financing of mining for private sector and for acquisitions of mineral assets in other
countries by private sector.
• It also mentions that long term import export policy for minerals will help private sector
in better planning and stability in business.
• The new policy also mentions rationalise reserved areas given to PSUs which have not
been used and to put these areas to auction, which will give more opportunity to
private sector for participation.
• It also mentions to make efforts to harmonise taxes, levies and royalty with world
benchmarks to help private sector.

14. Agriculture

01. Swaminathan Committee - National Commission for farmers

Formation/Submission of
2004/2005-2006:5 reports
report:
Chairman: Professor M.S. Swaminathan.
Key lines about For “faster and more inclusive growth” for farmers as was
committee: envisaged in the Planning Commission’s Approach to 11th
Five Year Plan.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I. LAND REFORMS:
• Reforms in tenancy laws, land leasing, distribution of ceiling surplus land and
wasteland
• Providing adequate access to common property and wasteland resources, and the
consolidation of holdings.
• Prevent diversion of prime agricultural land and forest to the corporate sector for non-
agricultural purposes.
• landless labour households should be provided with at least 1 acre per household,
which will give them space for home gardens and animal rearing.
• Establish a National Land Use Advisory Service
II. WATER:
• Rainwater harvesting and aquifer recharge should be mandatory

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• Demand management through improved irrigation practices

• A water literacy movement should be launched
• In water-scarce areas, the land use system should place emphasis on the cultivation of
high value – low water requiring crops, such as pulses and oilseeds.
• A Pani Panchayat in every village can help in getting the available water distributed on
an equitable basis.
• Water Users’ Associations may be encouraged to gain expertise in maximizing the
benefits of the available water.
• In drought-prone areas, a Drought Code may be introduced which details the action
needed to minimize the impact of an adverse monsoon and maximize the benefits of a
good season.
III. Livestock:
• Establish Livestock Feed and Fodder Corporations at the State Level for ensuring
availability of quality fodder and feed.
• A National Livestock Development Council may be established to give integrated
attention to all aspects of agriculture
• Poultry rearing should be recognized as an agricultural activity
IV. Fisheries:
• “Fish for All Training and Capacity Building Centres” must be established
• Quality literacy to safeguard the harvested fish
• Inland aquaculture
• Artificial coral reefs to compensate for the loss of natural coral reefs to revive the fish
catch.
V. Bioresources:
• Preserving traditional rights of access to biodiversity
• Conserving, enhancing and improving crops and farm animals as well as fish stocks
through breeding.
• Development of novel genetic combinations for important economic traits, such as
resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.
• Genome Clubs can be organized in rural schools and colleges for imparting an
understanding of the importance of genetic resources conservation.
• A genetic and legal literacy movement must be launched in areas rich in agro-
biodiversities such as the North East, Western and the Eastern Ghats and the Arid
Zone.

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02. Ashok Dalwai Committee on Doubling Farmers Income

Formation/Submission of
2016/2018
report:
Chairman: Ashok Dalwai- CEO of Rainfed Area Authority
Key lines about Doubling farmer’s income
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Adopting a “demand-driven approach” for efficient monetisation of farm produce and to
synchronise the production activities in Agriculture & Allied Sectors.
• Improving and optimising input delivery mechanism and overall input efficiency.
• Offering institutional credit support at the individual farmer and cluster levels.
• Strengthening linkages with MSMEs.
• Demand Driven Agricultural Logistics System for post-production operations such
as produce aggregation, transportation, warehousing, etc.
• Developing Hub and Spoke System at back-end as well as front-end to facilitate and
promote a new market architecture.
• Marketing Intelligence System to provide demand led decision making support
system.
• Agricultural Value System (AVS) as an integration of the supply chain and to drive
market led value system – District level, State level and National Level.
• Farmer-centric National Agricultural Marketing System by restructuring for a new
market architecture.
• Research & Development and ICT designed to support the Doubling of Farmers’
Income.

03. Mihir Shah Committee

Formation/Submission of
2015/2015
report:
Chairman: Former planning commission member Mihir Shah
Key lines about Its report ‘21st Century Institutional Architecture for
committee: India’s Water Reforms: Restructuring the CWC and CGWB’
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• National Water Commission has been proposed which will subsume the Central Water
Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB)
• By focusing on water stored in dams we could add 35 million hectares to irrigate area
over next 10 years at a very low cost. For this we need to shift focus from construction
to management and maintenance.
• NWC be headed by a Chief National Water Commissioner and should have full time
commissioners representing hydrology, hydrogeology, hydrometeorology, river ecology,
ecological economics, agronomy (with focus on soil and water) and participatory
resource planning and management.

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• View groundwater and surface water in an integrated, holistic manner.

• Focus on river basins which must form the fundamental units for management of
water.
• To adopt the participatory approach to water management that has been successfully
tried all over the world, as also in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

4. Dr. TQ Haque Committee

Formation/Submission of
2015 by NITI Aayog/2015
report:
Chairman: Former Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices
(CACP) chairman T Haque.
Key lines about To review the existing agricultural tenancy laws of states,
committee: including hilly states and schedule areas and on land
leasing
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Model agricultural land leasing act 2016 proposed by committee.
Features are:
• Legalise land leasing to promote agricultural efficiency, equity and power reduction.
This will also help in much needed productivity improvement in agriculture as well as
occupational mobility of the people and rapid rural change.
• Landlord can legally lease the land with mutual consent for agriculture and allied
activities
• Lease holder may receive institutional loan, insurance and disaster relief so that he
may invest more and more in agriculture.
• Allow automatic resumption of land after the agreed lease period without requiring any
minimum area of land to be left with the tenant even after termination of tenancy, as
laws of some states require.
• Incentivise tenants to make investment in land improvement and also entitle them to
get back the unused value of investment at the time of termination of tenancy.
• In order to resolve the dispute between the landlord and lease holder, the provision of
“Special Land Tribunal” has been made in the Civil Court.

05. Shanta Kumar Committee on FCI Reforms

Formation/Submission of
2019/2019
report:
Chairman: Shanta Kumar-6 member committee
Key lines about To suggest restructuring or unbundling of FCI to improve
committee: its financial management and operational efficiency in
procurement, storage and distribution of food grains.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Reduce the number of beneficiaries under the Food Security Act—from the current 67

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per cent to 40 per cent.

• Allow private players to procure and store food grains.
• Stop bonuses on minimum support price (MSP) paid by states to farmers
• Adopt cash transfer system so that MSP and food subsidy amounts can be directly
transferred to the accounts of farmers and food security beneficiaries.
• FCI should involve itself in full-fledged grains procurement only in those states which
are poor in procurement.
• Abolishing levy rice: Under levy rice policy, government buys certain percentage of rice
(varies from 25 to 75 per cent in states) from the mills compulsorily, which is called
levy rice. Mills are allowed to sell only the remainder in the open market.
• Deregulate fertiliser sector and provide cash fertiliser subsidy of Rs 7,000 per hectare
to farmers.
• Outsource of stocking of grains: The committee calls for setting up of negotiable
warehouse receipt (NWR) system
• Clear and transparent liquidation policy for buffer stock

15. Industry

01. Surjit Bhalla Committee

Formation/Submission of
Department of Commerce(2019)/2019
report:
Chairman: Dr. Surjit S. Bhalla
Key lines about On Trade and Policy+ recommendations for boosting India’s
committee: share and importance in global merchandise and services
trade.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• It recommended “Elephant Bonds” as a specialised security product providing funds
towards Long Term Infrastructure.
• It identifies tax reforms to boost export and investment channels for exports.
• It also made recommendations for reforms in Financial Services Framework for making
India a Preferred Destination for financial services.

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02. Uk Sinha Panel On MSMEs

Formation/Submission of
2019/2019
report:
Chairman: Former SEBI Chairman U.K. Sinha
Key lines about To study the problems faced by MSMEs.
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Form a Rs. 5,000 crore stressed asset fund for MSMEs which will assist units in a
cluster becoming sick due to changes in external
• RBI should increase the limit for non-collateralised loans to Rs. 20 lakh.
• It also suggested revision in loan limit sanctioned under MUDRA by the Finance
Ministry to Rs. 20 lakh from Rs. 10 lakh.
• Banks that wish to specialise in MSME lending, their sub-targets for farm loans under
the priority sector lender could be waived off, and instead can be given a target for
loans to the SME sector. The targets could be of 50% of the net bank credit for
universal banks and 80% for small finance banks.
• In order to provide loan portability in a seamless manner to MSMEs, RBI should come
out with measures on portability of MSME loans with a lock-in-period of one year.

16. Science and Technology

01. Srikrishna Committee Report on Data Protection

Formation/Submission of
2017/2018
report:
Chairman: Retired Supreme Court judge Srikrishna
Key lines about On "Data Protection Framework" to the Government.
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Personal data shall be processed only for purposes that are clear, specific and lawful
• All firms and agencies will have to appoint data protection officers
• Data protection officers act as a point of contact for the individuals for raising
grievances
• Exemptions have been provided for processing of personal data for journalistic purpose
or for purely personal or domestic purpose
• Centre shall notify Data protection authority of india
• Individual will have right to withdraw consent
• Firms will have to ensure atleast one data copy of personal data to be stored in india
• Critical personal data shall only be processed in a server or data centre located in india
• Penalties range from 2%-4% of a company’s worldwide turnover or fines between 5cr
and 15 cr whichever higher
• Existing acts such as RTI, Aadhar and IT will have to be amended

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02. V Kamakoti Panel on Artificial Intelligence

Formation/Submission of
Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry-2017/2017
report:
Chairman: V. Kamakoti, a professor in the department of computer
science and engineering at Indian Institute of Technology,
Madras.
Key lines about To ensure “India’s economic transformation".
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Set up digital data banks, marketplaces and exchanges to ensure availability of cross-
industry information.
• Data ombudsman: to address data-related issues and grievances.
• Ensure availability of funds for R&D
• Setting up National Artificial Intelligence Mission (N-AIM)

03. Subhash Chandra Garg Committee on Cryptocurrencies

Formation/Submission of
2019/july 2019
report:
Chairman: Finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg
Key lines about Inter-Ministerial Committee on Virtual Currencies
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Ban on all forms of private cryptocurrencies.
• Impose a fine of up to Rs 25 crore and imprisonment of as much as 10 years for
anyone dealing in them.
• Establish a specific group by the department of economic affairs + RBI + department of
financial services +MeitY for examining and developing an appropriate model of digital
currency in India.
• RBI and the government may look at the introduction of an official digital currency in
the country.
• The panel backed use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) or blockchain for selected
areas.
• It has also suggested the use of DLT to reduce compliance costs for know-your-
customer (KYC) requirements.
• Data localisation requirements proposed in the draft Data Protection Bill may need to
be applied carefully, including with respect to the storage of critical personal data so as
to ensure that there is no adverse impact on Indian firms and Indian consumers who
may stand to benefit from DLT-based services.

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17. Environment

01. Gadgil Vs Kasturirangan Committee on Western Ghats

GADGIL COMMITTEE KASTURIRANGAN COMMITTEE

RECOMMENDATIONS
• Designated the entire hill range as an
Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).
• classified the 142 taluks in the Western
Ghats boundary into Ecologically
Sensitive Zones (ESZ) 1, 2 and 3.
• ESZ-1 being of high priority, almost all
developmental activities (mining, thermal
power plants etc) were restricted in it.
• no new dams based on large-scale
storage be permitted in Ecologically
Sensitive Zone 1
• It asked for a bottom to top approach
(right from Gram sabhas) rather than a
top to bottom approach.
• It also asked for decentralization and
more powers to local authorities.
• constitution of a Western Ghats Ecology
Authority (WGEA)( statutory authority )
under MoEFCC with the power of the
the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
RECOMMENDATIONS
• only 37% (i.e. 60,000 sq. km.) of the
total area be brought under ESA
• A complete ban on mining, quarrying
and sand mining in ESA.
• Distinguished between cultural (58%
occupied in the Western Ghats by it like
human settlements, agricultural fields
and plantations) and natural landscape
(90% of it should come under ESA
according to the committee).
• Current mining areas in the ESA should
be phased out within the next five years,
or at the time of expiry of mining lease,
whichever is earlier
• No thermal power be allowed and
hydropower projects are allowed only
after detailed study.
• Red industries i.e. which are highly
polluting be strictly banned in these
areas.
• 123 villages fall under the ESA purview

02. Shailesh Nayak Committee on Coastal Zone Regulation

Formation/Submission of
2015(MoEFCC)/2015
report:
Chairman: Secretary of the Earth Sciences Ministry, Dr. Shailesh
Nayak.
Key lines about Conserving and protecting the long coastal environment of
committee: India
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Reducing the ‘No Development Zone’ (NDZ) as specified in the CRZ.
• For rural areas with a population density of over 2,161 persons/sq km, this NDZ
should be 50m from the High Tide Line (HTL).
• For other areas, the NDZ should be 200m from the HTL.

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• Allowing housing infrastructure, slum development activities, ports, tourism, harbour

and fisheries-related activities in the CRZs
• Tourism development activities should be permitted in the NDZs.
• Devolving powers to the state and UT governments as well as the local governments for
development and construction activities, except those that needed environmental
clearance.
• The central government’s role in coastal areas ought to be restricted to regulating
environmentally-sensitive areas and environmental clearances.
• Ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) in CRZ I should be identified and delineated.
• States should prepare coastal zone management plans (CZMPs) for which the
committee had provided guidelines.
• CRZ I comprise ecologically sensitive regions such as mangroves, coral reefs, biosphere
reserves, bird/turtle nesting grounds, etc.
• All such ESAs should be notified under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 by the
respective state/UT governments.
• Allowing reclamations of the sea bed in CRZ IV areas (coastal stretches in the Andaman
& Nicobar, Lakshadweep and small islands, except those designated as CRZ-I, CRZ-II
or CRZ-III) for purposes of tourism, ports, harbour, bridges, national installations
related to coastal security, etc.

18. Security

01. Dhirendra Singh Committee- Defence Procurement Procedure

Formation/Submission of
2015/2015
report:
Chairman: Evolve a policy framework for facilitating ‘Make in India’
within the purview of the Defence Procurement Procedure
(DPP)
Key lines about
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Strategic partnership model- model should be based on “strategic needs, quality
criticality and cost competitiveness.
• Industry Friendly Procurement System
• Emphasis on Greater Indigenisation
• Human Resource Development
• Conducive Financial Framework

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02. Madhukar Gupta Committee

Formation/Submission of
2016(MoHA)/June 2016
report:
Chairman: Madhukar Gupta
Key lines about for strengthening border protection and addressing the
committee: issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing along the
India-Pakistan border.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• The committee has examined security mechanisms of all four Indian states sharing
border with Pakistan keeping in mind challenges of different climate and topography.
• It has given separate recommendations for four states as each of them has different
topography and problems.
• It has flagged gaps and vulnerabilities in border fencing and suggested use of
technology and heightened vigil on riverine frontiers.
• It has expressed displeasure over not installing laser walls in many infiltration-prone
areas due to treacherous and marshy terrain.

03. Kargil Review Committee

Formation/Submission of
29 July 1999/2000
report:
Chairman: K. Subrahmanyam
Key lines about The committee was set up "to examine the sequence of
committee: events of Kargil war and make recommendations for the
future"
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• There must be a full time National Security Adviser
• The role and the tasks of the para-military forces have to be restructured particularly
with reference to command, control and leadership functions.
• They need to be trained to much higher standards of performance and better equipped
to deal with terrorist threats.
• It recommended a detailed study in order to evolve force structures and procedures
that ensure improved border management
• Priority should be given for equipping infantrymen with superior light weight weapons,
equipment and clothing suited to the threats they are required to face in alpine
conditions.
• It recommended the publication of a White Paper on the Indian nuclear weapons
programme.
• Government must review its information policy and develop structures and processes
to keep the public informed on vital national issues
• Facilitating defence exports, the better utilisation of highly sophisticated industrial
capacity and related manpower.

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• The establishment of a civil-military liaison mechanism at various levels, from the

ranking Command headquarters to the operational formations.

04. Jeevan Reddy Committee On AFSPA

Formation/Submission of
November 2004/2005
report:
Chairman: Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy
Key lines about Repealing of the AFSPA
committee:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• AFSPA should be repealed and appropriate provisions should be inserted in the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967
• The Unlawful Activities Act should be modified to clearly specify the powers of the
armed forces and paramilitary forces
• grievance cells should be set up in each district where the armed forces are deployed.

19. Probity in Governance

01. Ethics in Governance - 2nd Arc Report

Formation/Submission of
Aug 2005/2007
report:
Chairman: Veerappa Moily
Key lines about For preparing a detailed blueprint for revamping the public
committee: administrative system.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• A system for partial state funding should be introduced in order to reduce the scope of
illegitimate and unnecessary funding of expenditure for elections.
• The issue of disqualification of members on grounds of defection should be decided by
the President/Governor on the advice of the Election Commission.
• Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 needs to be amended to
disqualify all persons facing charges related to grave and heinous offences and
corruption, with the modification suggested by the Election Commission.
• The Constitution should be amended to ensure that if one or more parties in a coalition
with a common programme mandated by the electorate either explicitly before the
elections or implicitly while forming the government, realign midstream with one or
more parties outside the coalition, then Members of that party or parties shall have to
seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.
• A collegium headed by the Prime Minister with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Law Minister and the Deputy Chairman of

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the Rajya Sabha as members should make recommendations for the consideration of
the President for appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election
Commissioners.
• Special Election Tribunals should be constituted at the regional level under Article
323B of the Constitution to ensure speedy disposal of election petitions and disputes
within a stipulated period of six months.
• Each Tribunal should comprise a High Court Judge and a senior civil servant with at
least 5 years of experience in the conduct of elections (not below the rank of an
Additional Secretary to Government of India/Principal Secretary of a State
Government).
• Its mandate should be to ensure that all election petitions are decided within a period
of six months as provided by law. The Tribunals should normally be set up for a term
of one year only, extendable for a period of 6 months in exceptional circumstances.
• Appropriate legislation may be enacted under Article 102(e) of the Constitution spelling
out the conditions for disqualification of membership of Parliament in an exhaustive
manner. Similarly, the States may also legislate under Article 198 (e).
• there should be a Code of Ethics to provide guidance on how Ministers should uphold
the highest standards of constitutional and ethical conduct in the performance of their
duties.
• Dedicated units should be set up in the offices of the Prime Minister and the Chief
Ministers to monitor the observance of the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct.
• The Code of Ethics, the Code of Conduct and the annual report should be put in the
public domain.
• An Office of ‘Ethics Commissioner’ may be constituted by each House of Parliament.
• Conflict of interest should be comprehensively covered in the Code of Ethics and in the
Code of Conduct for officers.
• A National Judicial Council should be constituted
• A Judge of the Supreme Court should be designated as the Judicial Values
Commissioner. He/she should be assigned the task of enforcing the code of conduct.
Similar arrangement should also be made in the High Court.
• Prior sanction should not be necessary for prosecuting a public servant who has been
trapped red-handed or in cases of possessing assets disproportionate to the known
sources of income.
• The Prevention of Corruption Act should be suitably amended to include in its purview
private sector providers of public utility services.
• The corrupt public servants (forfeiture of property) Bill as suggested by the law
commission should be enacted without further delay.
• Steps should be taken for immediate implementation of the Benami Transactions
(Prohibition) Act, 1988.
• Legislation should be enacted immediately to provide protection to whistleblowers
• A new law on ‘Serious Economic Offences’ should be enacted.

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• The Constitution should be amended to provide for a national Ombudsman to be called

the Rashtriya Lokayukta.
• A local bodies Ombudsman should be constituted for a group of districts to investigate
cases against the functionaries of the local bodies.
• Citizens’ Charters should be made effective by stipulating the service levels and also
the remedy if these service levels are not met.

20. Recent Committees

Committee About what?

1. OBC SubCategorisation Commission
2. Aruna Sundararajan Committee
3. ABHAY KARANDIKAR PANEL
4. Expert committee on Covid vaccine
administration
5. Satyanarayana committee
6. Rajiv Gauba Committee
Examine the uneven distribution of
reservation benefits among different castes
in the central OBC list.
look into the entire issue of Rationalisation
of Levies of telecom operators
spectrum for 5G.
under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog
member Dr VK Paul to consider the logistics
and ethical aspects of procuring and
administering the COVID-19 vaccine
its report named National Digital Health
Blueprint (NDHB). NDHB is the
architectural document for the
implementation of the NHS(National health
stack)
To examine financial stress in telecom
sector

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