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NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
General Studies – 1
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Reference: orfonline.org
Why the question:
The National Rural Livelihoods Mission which completed the first phase of ten years, since its launch in the year 2011, is gearing up for the next phase of reforms.
Key Demand of the question:
Discuss in detail the major impacts of National Rural Livelihoods Mission on the society of India.
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start with brief introduction of NRLM.
Body:
The answer body must have the following aspects covered:
Discuss first the key initiatives of NRLM.
Then explain the major Impacts of NRLM on the Society; empowering society, bringing women into public sphere, increasing women participation in workforce, augmenting income, financial inclusion etc.
Bring out the challenges associated.
Conclusion:
Conclude with its importance.
Introduction
The National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched in 2011 with support from the World Bank to improve the livelihoods of poor rural people and boost the rural economy. The NRLM utilised the ecosystem of SHGs in these rural districts to execute the Mission. In 2015, the government renamed the Mission as Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM).
Today, ten years since the NRLM was first launched, India has the largest network of women’s SHGs across the world.
Body
Current status of DAY-NRLM:
- NRLM has multiple, overlapping goals: poverty reduction, women’s empowerment, and improving outcomes in health, nutrition, and education.
- As of May 2021, there are 6.9 million SHGs in India with 75 million members.
- In the current era of COVID-19, the SHGs across the country’s rural districts are crucial in mitigating the manifold impacts of the pandemic.
- Community kitchens in states like Kerala, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh have fed migrant workers and other poor families.
- Women in SHGs who work as ‘bank sakhis (banking correspondents)’, facilitated access to cash transfers for the COVID-19 relief package.
Social Impacts of DAY-NRLM
- The NRLM has enabled rural families to negotiate for greater access to essential services such as education and healthcare.
- It has had an impact on access to land for women to grow food, and on gender issues with women’s groups taking on issues like dowry, child marriage, and discrimination against girls.
- SHGs—in the overall context of the NRLM—have had a strong impact on women’s empowerment, including political participation, knowledge of administration, financial literacy, mobility, and decision-making.
- Increasing women’s participation in the work force
- In 2019 the World Bank examined the NRLM’s impact on female labour force participation through women’s self-employment.
- From 2011 to 2016-17, the villages with NRLM intervention experienced an overall increase of 20.4 percent in self-employment livelihood activities.
Economic Impacts of DAY-NRLM
- The NRLM has established structures for financial literacy and credit counselling for women.
- The multi-sectoral approach to financial inclusion by combing micro loans, social networks and upskilling of women has found to be impactful in increasing family income.
- It has mobilised household savings, and provided access to credit and linkages to banks.
- It enrolled SHG members and their spouses for health, life and disability insurance.
- Various studies have indicated that the NRLM has had positive effects on women’s decision making capabilities, by giving them more voice.
Concerns / Challenges
- Most SHGs remain crowded in low-productivity, primary-sector activities, mainly agriculture, and are bogged down by low absorption of technology.
- The programme has not led to diversify into other high-productive activities.
- Most SHGs remain confined to being microfinance units rather than vibrant business entities.
- Often, women themselves are unwilling or inhibited to scale up businesses or do not find support within their families.
- The members of SHGs remain mere beneficiaries of the programmes and have little control over the decision-making process.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the functioning of SHGs—the backbone of the NRLM.
- There has been a massive impact on the savings and income-generating activities of these SHGs.
- Compared to MGNREGS, the NRLM has historically received minuscule allocations.
Way forward
- In its next phase, the NRLM must aim to improve livelihoods by expanding entrepreneurship and creating income opportunities both on-and off-farm.
- The NRLM should tap the startup and private sector space.
- Kerala’s Kudumbshree which again has shown the way. In 2019, it tied up with Amazon for its programme Amazon Saheli, through which it promotes women entrepreneurs by selling their products to Amazon customers.
- The current FY budget is channelling more funds to the NRLM is a step in the right direction.
- Putting more money into the Mission can help make it a truly transformative programme.
- If the issues identified above could be addressed as a matter of urgent concern, the NRLM could prove to be key to rebuilding lives in rural India.
Conclusion
DAY-NRLM is a vital scheme which is imperative in the view of continuous monsoon failures and agrarian distress seen in recent years in Rural India. The scheme helps in sustainable development of the rural people with skilling, job creation and alternative livelihoods across genders. The key to success of DAY-NRLM lies at the core of its successful implementation at the grass-roots level.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
The article presents the case of reviving SAARC.
Key Demand of the question:
Discuss at length in what way revival of SAARC is necessary and it can also contribute positively to the current Afghan situation.
Directive:
Comment– here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
With US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the failure of South Asian nations to act in accord will plunge the region into perilous theatre of discord. A revival of SAARC brings up the hope of reintegration.
Body:
The answer body must have the following aspects covered:
First bring out the complexities of the South Asian Region; beset with unsettled territorial disputes, as well as trans-border criminal and subversive activities; it remains a theatre for ethnic, cultural, and religious tensions and rivalries. A current rise in ultra-nationalism, Nuclear-armed neighbours etc.
Discuss the need for revival of SAARC; Regionalism as a confidence-building measure, counter terrorism aspects etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude that if the geopolitical dynamics following World War II could allow die-hard enemies France and Germany to interface effectively enough to create the European Union, there is no reason why India and Pakistan cannot come together. SAARC has the capacity to bring nations together.
Introduction
SAARC was set up in 1985 and today it has 8 members: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka. Afghanistan joined SAARC only in 2007. SAARC member nations cooperate on a range of issues from agriculture, economy, poverty alleviation, S&T and culture to encourage people to people contact. SAARC aims at integration of south Asian nations for undertaking collective efforts to achieve common objective of regional stability and prosperity. Despite geographical contiguity and historical and cultural links, the SAARC region remains the most disconnected regions in the world.
With the US forces pulling out of Afghanistan and Taliban at the helm of affairs with its rampant violence, the countries of SAARC are at a perilous situation. The dysfunctional SAARC needs to be revived at the earliest which could help alleviate the threats posed by Taliban and other non-state actors to SAARC member countries.
Body
Need to revive SAARC:
- The region is beset with unsettled territorial disputes, as well as trans-border criminal and subversive activities.
- It remains a theatre for ethnic, cultural, and religious tensions and rivalries.
- A current rise in ultra-nationalism is taking place against the backdrop of a bloody history of repeated inter-state wars and myriad intra-state conflicts.
- Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan are at loggerheads.
- Cross-border terrorism has again made the region, as former US President Bill Clinton once deemed it, “the world’s most dangerous place.”
- Allowing SAARC to become dysfunctional and irrelevant greatly distorts our ability to address the realities and mounting challenges facing SAARC nations.
- The failure of South Asian nations to act in accord will plunge South Asia into a perilous theatre of discord and escalating tensions with jihadi militias at the forefront, placing the entire region in turmoil.
- SAARC is needed as institutional scaffolding to allow for the diplomacy and coordination that is needed between member-states in order to adequately address the numerous threats and challenges the region faces.
- Though SAARC’s charter prohibits bilateral issues at formal forums, SAARC summits provide a unique, informal window — the retreat — for leaders to meet without aides and chart future courses of action.
- The coming together of leaders, even at the height of tensions, in a region laden with congenital suspicions, misunderstandings, and hostility is a significant strength of SAARC that cannot be overlooked.
- SAARC members are among the top troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions. With the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, a joint peacekeeping force from the SAARC region under the UN aegis could be explored to fill the power vacuum that would otherwise be filled by terrorist and extremist forces.
Measures needed to revive SAARC:
- India should take the lead and work with its neighbors to slash the tariff and non-tariff barriers.
- SAARC should also seek free and preferential trading arrangements with other regional bodies, notably the EU and the ASEAN. It should also remain fully focused on the SAARC social charter to spread out its reach to the common man.
- There is a need to focus on small politics instead of big politics to resolve conflict in conflicting regions. This would mean that they focus on economic cooperation and other small ways that can create cooperation and more peace
- SAARC cannot be effective unless it places itself on a managerial position to achieve regional order, forcing all the members to act mutually in making the region a ‘zone of peace’ and the center for world business.
- All countries should come together to sort out their differences, either multilaterally or bilaterally. It’s not necessary to sort out the differences but despite that, it is necessary to work with the differences like that of India-China, Japan and China, Russia and Japan.
- The bilateral issues between member nations should be resolved. Bilateral Issues between India- Pakistan, India- Sri Lanka, Pakistan- Afghanistan etc. must be improved with serious engagement and collaboration – working together to bring peace and stability as a common good in the region.
- Information on terrorism, trafficking, smuggling etc. must be shared and joint exercises must be conducted to build mutual trust and capability.
- SAARC needs to work on Improving infrastructure and regional connectivity – Collaboration in scientific research, universities exchange programs, tourism etc. will have a positive effect on relations among countries.
Conclusion:
SAARC has the potential to transform the South Asian Region. Mutual mistrust and non-cooperation should not be allowed to undermine this potential. Deeper regional economic integration will create greater interdependence with India acquiring the central role, which, in turn, would serve India’s strategic interests too. SAARC should function as an autonomous institution by which driving principles, strategic actions, and rules of law can be implemented in a way that is relevant to both, its own members and other rising powers.
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
The article highlights the lessons from India’s food security response.
Key Demand of the question:
Critically analyse the effectiveness of government policies and programs to tackle the food crisis during COVID 19 pandemic in India.
Directive:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start with a fact such as; India has made enormous progress in food production over the years, with an inspiring journey towards self-sufficiency in food production marked by the Green Revolution. In 2020, India produced over 30 crore tonnes of cereals and had built up a food stock of 10 crore tonnes.
Body:
The answer body must analyse in detail the food policies by the government amidst the pandemic times.
Key measures initiated by the Union government included allowing the States to lift their allocations for six months in one go, in anticipation of a surge in demand for foodgrain through the public distribution system.
As data shows, there was an unprecedented spike in the uptake of subsidized and free food grains during the lockdown. The public distribution system became a lifeline for millions hit by the pandemic.
Discuss the challenges faced.
Conclusion:
Suggest way ahead and conclude.
Introduction
The Covid-19 pandemic has severely derailed development across the world. It has compounded the pre-crisis levels of food insecurity and malnutrition with job losses, supply chain disruptions, and declines in revenue from key exports and remittances.
Body
Globally, the World Food Programme predicts that the number of people facing acute food insecurity around the world will almost double to 270 million, including 121 million new food insecure due to Covid-19.
However, South Asia is particularly vulnerable, with the number of chronically underfed people projected to rise by to 330 million by 2030. It is also the only sub region in the world where more than half the children from the poorest fifth of society are stunted.
As per The State of Food Security Nutrition in the World 2021 (SOFI) report,
- The prevalence of under nutrition among the total population in India was 15.3% during 2018-20. This is significantly low when compared to the global 8.9% during the same period.
- This is an improvement from the 21.6% during 2004-06.
- In the year 2020, about 17.3% of children under the age of five years suffered a wasted growth with low weight for height, the highest among countries.
- About 31% of children have low height for age (stunted) which is an improvement from 41.7% in 2012 but is still higher than many other countries in the world.
- The country has observed an increase in the prevalence of obesity among the adult population from 3% in 2012 to 3.9% in 2016.
- The prevalence of anaemia among women of reproductive age has only marginally improved from 53.2%in 2012 to 53% in 2019.
Government Policies
- PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) : Out of a total monthly allocation of 39.69 lakh Metric Tonnes (MT) under the PMGKAY, 15.55 lakh MT have been lifted by states.
- Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana: government has announced a fresh set of measures, worth around Rs. 1.2 lakh crore, to boost job creation, provide liquidity support to stressed sectors and encourage economic activity in housing and infrastructure areas.
- An additional outlay of Rs. 65,000 crore is being provided as a fertiliser subsidy to support increasing demand on the back of a good monsoon and sharp increase in the crop-sown area.
- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi: The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)is the first universal basic income type of scheme targeted towards farmers. Initially, the scheme was targeted at small and medium farmers, but with the declining growth in gross value added of the agricultural sector, it was extended to all farmers in May 2019.
Positive Impacts
- It covers various sections of the vulnerable, ranging from farmers to healthcare workers.
- It is appreciable on the part of the government that it has made the use of existing schemes like PM Kisan in the package. The efforts appear to keep the funding within the budget as much as possible and retain control over the deficit.
- Application of PM Gareeb Kalyan Yojana will help in the disposal of excess stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India are now holding some 77.6 mt of cereals (3.5 times more than required) and 2.2 mt of pulses respectively.
- The offer to pay both employer and employee contributions to the Provident Fund for very small business enterprises will offer relief to those businesses that have been forced to shut down operations.
- The schemes directly or indirectly helps over 50% of the workforce
- Various studies show that the scheme has significantly helped those who are relatively more dependent on agriculture and have poor access to credit. Nearly, 93% of non-beneficiary farmers had already applied for the scheme, depicting awareness and potential uptake.
Despite these measures food security has been threatened:
- Extreme Hunger: Covid-19 has struck at a time when hunger or undernourishment keeps rising. According to the latest UN estimates, 83 to 132 million more people may suffer extreme hunger in 2020 as a result of the economic recession triggered by the pandemic.
- India’s chances of staving off large-scale Covid-19 deaths will depend on how effectively the menace of hidden hunger is addressed.
- Malnourishment: Apart from extreme hunger people are also suffering from undernourishment. India’s wasting rate is extremely high at 20.8% — the highest wasting rate of any country.
- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 194.4 million people in India (about 14.5% of the total population) are undernourished.
- According to recent estimates, even in the best possible scenario and accounting for changes in the provision of essential health and nutrition services due to COVID-19, India could have around additional 60,000 child deaths (around 3, 00,000 in the worst-case scenario) in the next six months.
- Extreme Poverty: research conducted by Pew Research Centre has found that the coronavirus pandemic has pushed about 32 million Indians out of the middle class and increased poverty in India. Poverty rate in India likely rose to 9.7% in 2020.
- Soaring unemployment rates, income losses and rising food costs are jeopardizing food access in developed and developing countries alike and will have long-term effects on food security.
- Recession: The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), had contracted by 24.4% and 7.3% in the April-June and July-September quarters, respectively, marking a technical recession in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic
- Sharpened Social Divides: Covid-19 has exposed some of the India’s deepest inequalities. The rich have been able to keep enjoying even the luxury due to their wealth accumulation. Millions of people on the other hand have been thrown out of work and don’t have enough money to even feed their families.
Way Forward
- Departure from Trickle-down Effect: Tackling these new problems will require new ideas and a more robust political will. Past progress was sustained by the benign trickle-down effects of strong economies. The Government must take direct responsibility for the ones who are vulnerable and marginalised.
- Increasing Resilience: Find ways to increase resilience across our food systems by identifying new marketing channels like e-commerce which will provide more avenues to the farmers to sell their product in case of low demand in the local market.
- If feasible, relocate markets to larger premises, while ensuring the appropriate infrastructure is in place to maintain health, hygiene, and quality and food safety.
- Increase Efficiency: Increase efficiency to reduce losses and improve the quality of products available. It would be a good initiative to identify collection centres closer to producers, for example develop storage facilities like warehouse receipt system platforms where farmers can deliver their produce without the need to go to markets.
- If possible, allow local markets to remain open, while putting in place strict physical distancing measures within and outside markets.
- Inclusive Finance: Inclusive access to finance to strengthen and expand rural supply chains is also crucial. Banking products and financial services must be made available to poor populations on priority basis.
- Comprehensive Recovery Programme: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has recently launched a new comprehensive Covid-19 Response and Recovery Programme to provide an agile and coordinated global response aimed at ensuring access to nutritious food for everyone. It aims to mobilise all forms of resources and partnerships at the hands of every country.
- Encouraging Innovation: We must, as a priority, enable farmers to be more dynamic, entrepreneurial and competitive through continual innovation.
- We need smallholder farmers to produce nutritious foods, without fear of crop failures, and we also need to get those foods to the mouths of the hungry across the region and beyond.
- To do this, smallholders desperately need access to financial resources, technology and innovation
Conclusion
There is no time to waste. Everyone needs to lend a hand. Governments, academia, the private sector, UN agencies, civil society organisations, international financial institutions and the people who bring us the food we eat, the smallholders should come together and help each other in every way possible.
Topic: 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.
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
The article brings to us insights on the idea of Indian. It presents a detailed analysis of “Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation”, a report published by the Pew Research Center.
Key Demand of the question:
Analyse in detail in what way a Hindu-Hindi definition threatens to override a superordinate civic identity underlined by the Indian Constitution.
Directive:
Elucidate – Give a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start with the idea of religion in India.
Body:
Explain first the paradox of Indian identity: Despite the centrality of religion and caste in India’s social and political life, there is a larger “superordinate” civic identity that exists.
While most Indians prefer to live in neighborhoods of their caste or religion; prefers endogamy, a high proportion of Indians (82-88%) also say that being “truly Indian” means respecting all religions.
The starting point of the Indian paradox is the high incidence of bonding as opposed to bridging — bonding within one’s religious and caste communities, not bridging across such boundaries.
Muslims with syncretized features: India’s Muslims are closer to Indian Hindus than to Pakistani or Bangladeshi Muslims.
India’s Muslims subscribe to the idea of karma, as much as the Hindus do; every fourth Muslim believes in reincarnation, in the purificatory power of the Ganga, in the multiple manifestations of God; and every fifth Muslim celebrates Diwali.
Unstructured hyphenated identities: Indians want to be Hindus and Indians, Muslims and Indians, Christians and Indians, and so on.
Conclusion:
If regional pushback (from South Indian) expands its geographical ambit, the Hindi-Hindu-India politics will be weakened, and the superordinate identity will become stronger. If the current regime manages to reverse the pushback, India will be headed towards a breakdown of its superordinate civic identity.
Introduction
India is one of the most diverse lands found anywhere else in the world. From language to dressing-style, the country has been hailed as one of the most complex amalgamation of various cultural identities.
The large number of different cultures, knitted together in such a close and perfect manner, make India’s diversity one of the wonders of the world.
Body
Are the various diversities of India — religious, linguistic, caste-based — being flattened by the rising tide of Hindu nationalism? Are more and more Indians beginning to believe that the Hindus and/or Hindi-speakers are the only true Indians? Is celebrating all kinds of diversities as the founding ideology of Indian nationhood — contained in India’s Constitution and constructed under the combined influences of Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar — coming to an end?
The “Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation” report uncovers the paradox of Indian identity — that despite the centrality of religion and caste in India’s social and political life, there is a larger “superordinate” civic identity that exists.
- India’s freedom struggle sought to create this superordinate identity, and scholars have repeatedly talked about it.
- The starting point of the Indian paradox is the high incidence of bonding as opposed to bridging — bonding within one’s religious and caste communities, not bridging across such boundaries.
- In the 1990s, the bonding-bridging distinction was proposed by Robert Putnam in his exploration of America’s race relations and its civil society.
- Most Indians prefer to live in neighbourhoods of their caste or religion; they make friends within their religion and caste; they marry overwhelmingly inside their communities (endogamy), and they want strict prohibition against inter-religious or inter-caste marriages (exogamy).
- Whether or not this was true to the same extent earlier, a very large proportion of Indians today want religious or caste segregation.
- But an overwhelming proportion of Indians (82-88 per cent) also say that being “truly Indian” means respecting all religions, respecting the army, respecting the country’s institutions and laws, respecting elders, and standing for the national anthem.
- Region-wise, only in the East (Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, Odisha) and Northeast are the proportions lower, but not catastrophically so (70-83 per cent, instead of 82-88 per cent). And religion-wise, only Muslims and Christians score lower, but not hugely so (72-81 per cent).
- Departing from doctrinal purity, the practised form of Islam in India has syncretistic features. India’s Muslims subscribe to the idea of karma, as much as the Hindus do; every fourth Muslim believes in reincarnation, in the purificatory power of the Ganga, in the multiple manifestations of God; and every fifth Muslim celebrates Diwali.
- Neha Sahgal, the writer of the Report, and someone who has surveyed Islamic practices in Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Middle East, says that India’s Muslims are closer to Indian Hindus than to Pakistani or Bangladeshi Muslims.
- And yet, it is also clear that they wish to maintain their identity as Muslims and would like Islamic, not secular, courts to adjudicate upon community matters.
- Stated differently, Indians want to be both Hindus and Indians, Muslims and Indians, Christians and Indians, and so on.
- And such hyphenation, says the report, can be extended to linguistic groups and, to some extent, castes as well.
- Being an Indian is basically a hyphenated identity. There aren’t too many unhyphenated Indians.
- India’s hyphenation is not yet structured beyond the possibility of rupture. As many as 65 per cent of Hindus believe that to be a true Indian, you have to be a Hindu, and nearly 50 per cent believe that to be a true Indian, you have to be both a Hindu and a Hindi speaker.
- The idea of Hindus or Hindi speakers being equated with India never went this far in modern Indian history.
Will the Hindu-Hindi-Indian equation go substantially further?
- If it does, then the paradox of having both a Hindu-centric identity and a superordinate civic identity, which respects the Constitution, existing laws, and all religions — simply can’t last. The Constitution is completely against the doctrine that only Hindus are true Indians.
- So long as India remains a democracy, pushes and pulls of politics will strengthen or weaken the existing snapshot of reality, which the survey represents.
- At this time, South India, says the survey, is leading the charge against politics that equates Hindu and Hindi with India. On all measures relevant to this equation, South India differs radically from Northern and Central India. Parts of the East, as we know, have also joined the pushback.
- If this pushback expands its geographical ambit, the Hindi-Hindu-India politics will be weakened, and the superordinate identity will become stronger. If we manage to reverse the pushback, India will be headed towards a breakdown of its superordinate civic identity. Political struggles of the coming years are thus monumentally important.
Conclusion
Despite the diversity in terms of race, religion, Language, caste and culture India is still a strong nation tied together with integration and unity in both politico-geographic and cultural backgrounds. Along with diversity and various such aspects, India is on its way of growth and development and it is worth mentioning that it has one of the string and stable economies in the world.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.
Reference: Live Mint
Why the question:
The article explains that E-commerce has become one of the most important segments of the global economy. Any attempt to regulate it, will have implications for the economy of the country.
Key Demand of the question:
Discuss the concerns associated with growth of e-commerce in India.
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
India’s e-commerce sector is set to expand into an oligopoly with the entry of Reliance, Tata, and a revamped Snap deal from a near-duopoly of Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart at present.
Body:
The answer body must have the following aspects covered:
Explain first the Concerns regarding growth of e-commerce in India.
Brief about the proposed e-commerce rules and analyse their validity.
Then explain the significance of E-commerce entities to India.
Conclusion:
Suggest what needs to be done and conclude with way forward.
Introduction
Introduction
E-Commerce is a business model “enables a firm/individual to conduct business over an electronic network, typically the Internet.” The consumer and seller or service provider interaction gets better and efficient.
Body
E-commerce business in India:
- E-commerce can be carried out for both wholesale trade or for retail trade (sale towards final consumption).
- It can be either Business to Business (B2B) trading or Business to Consumers (B2C) trading.
- There is no restriction on conducting e-commerce per se in India. However, certain restrictions exist, if e-commerce is being done by companies receiving FDI.
- In India, 100% FDI under automatic route is allowed in Business to Business e-commerce since 2000.
- A distinction is made between single brand retail (selling products of a single brand) and multi-brand retail with respect to permission for FDI and e-commerce.
Significance of E-commerce entities to India
- Increase Competitiveness of Indian goods: They offer discounted prices to small sellers for their raw material and lower their cost of production.
- Increase Exports: These platforms have increased the reach of small businesses nationwide and even helped them address export markets.
- Efficient service delivery: For customers, they have made product returns hassle-free and improved product quality and variety.
- Improved Logistics: They have revolutionized the country’s logistics industry and supply chains.
- Employment Generation: Their contribution to employment generation is now significant.
- Increased Disbursal income for poor households: The lower prices that e-commerce companies offer is an indirect real income increase, especially for our relatively low-income households.
Concerns Regarding Growth of E-commerce in India
- India’s e-commerce sector is set to expand into an oligopoly with the entry of Reliance, Tata, and a revamped Snap deal from a near-duopoly of Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart at present.
- An oligopolistic market can indeed see its players join hands to form a cartel and act against consumer interests.
- There are oligopolies that exist in other industries; for example, cement, where producers have been punished by the Competition Commission for operating illegal cartels.
- However, at present, there is no evidence of such anti-competitive practices in the e-commerce sector.
Need for new e-commerce policy
- There is no commonly accepted definition of e-commerce. Further, there is inadequate data on the trade of digital products. Both these shortcomings require effective policy making in the country.
- The e-commerce market is expected to reach US$ 64 billion by 2020 and US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion as of 2017. Thus there is a need for clearly laid-down rules for electronic commerce in the country.
- E- Commerce is currently regulated by multiplicity of government departments such as IT Department, industrial policy, revenue, and RBI. Hence, a national e-commerce policy would consolidate the various norms and regulations to cover all online retailers.
- With the increasing online frauds, there is a need to strengthen the regulatory regime for protecting the consumer in the context of e-commerce
Main provisions Draft e-commerce policy
- A common definition of electronic commerce for the purposes of domestic policy-making and international negotiations would be adopted.
- It proposes a single legislation to address all aspects of digital economy and a single regulator for issues related to FDI implementation and consumer protection.
- It mandates localisation of data in India. The draft also says the government will have access to data stored in India for national security and public policy objectives.
- The draft policy proposes 49% FDI under the inventory model for Indian-owned and Indian-controlled firms to sell locally-produced goods on their online platforms.
- All active e-commerce portals in India will have to register with e-Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). CCPA shall act as a nodal agency for intra-government coordination, checking frauds within the industry, formulating regulations and more.
- On the matter of discounts, the draft policy suggests a period for every discount and offer, beyond which no e-commerce portal can be allowed to provide discounts.
- It recommends Centralized registration instead of local registration of e commerce companies.
Issues in e-commerce policy
- Due to mandatory supervision of Competition Commission of India on Merger and Acquisition and regulation on discounts have led to apprehensions of return of license raj.
- Data localisation norms in draft policy can discourage international firms to invest in India.
- The FDI provision restricted to Indian firms may Influence the much the needed FDI in general and e commerce industry in particular.
- The policy state that the Indian government must have access to e-commerce data at all times. This is a dangerous as it allows state surveillance, in the guise of safeguarding the privacy of Indian citizens.
- The policy fails to distinguish between personal and collective data and treats all data as one whole.
- Electronic commerce or e-commerce is a business model that lets firms and individuals buy and sell things over the Internet.
- Propelled by rising smartphone penetration, the launch of 4G networks and increasing consumer wealth, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow to US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion in 2017.
- India’s e-commerce revenue is expected to jump from US$ 39 billion in 2017 to US$ 120 billion in 2020, growing at an annual rate of 51%, the highest in the world.
- The Indian e-commerce industry has been on an upward growth trajectory and is expected to surpass the US to become the second-largest e-commerce market in the world by 2034.
Way forward
- Encourage market entry and ensure that there is no excessive regulation.
- More e-commerce companies entering the market should result in more choices for small sellers in terms of the platforms they want to list on, depending on the listing fees, commission, and so on.
- Further, many of India’s small-business owners should be gainfully employed elsewhere; large numbers are into subsistence entrepreneurship because of a lack of jobs.
- E-commerce platforms cannot engage in such price discrimination, like any other retail shop. So, they should be allowed to offer discounts for limited periods on specific goods.
Conclusion
E-Commerce has become an important part of many multilateral negotiations such as Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), WTO, BRICS etc., hence Policymakers should be mindful of shaping a vibrant domestic industry. A comprehensive policy is of utmost importance to reflect India’s position in both domestic and international or multilateral forums.
Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Reference: Live Mint
Why the question:
The article explains how digging up the ocean floor for metals could prove disastrous.
Key Demand of the question:
Critically examine the impact of commercialization of sea-floor mining on marine life.
Directive:
Critically examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we have to look into the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start with the context of the question. A startup, The Metals Co, holds prospecting rights over 90,000 square miles of seabed and plans to indulge in seabed mining.
Body:
The seafloor contains potato-sized rocks that contain many metals needed to make electric-car batteries. Many perceive that seabed mining as a green alternative to land-based mineral extraction—and potentially a hugely lucrative business. But it is not completely true.
Talk briefly about polymetallic nodules.
Highlight the challenges in Sea floor mining.
Discuss the impact of it in detail upon the marine life.
Conclusion:
Conclude with what needs to be done; the UN should call for a moratorium on seafloor mining. Further, countries should consider challenging any permits at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and other legal forums.
Introduction
Deep-sea mining is the process of retrieving mineral deposits from the deep sea – the area of the ocean below 200 m. Depleting terrestrial deposits and rising demand for metals are stimulating interest in the deep sea, with commercial mining imminent. The rising demand for terrestrial deposits of metals such as copper, nickel, aluminium, manganese, zinc, lithium and cobalt etc. to produce high-tech applications such as smartphones and green technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and electric storage batteries.
India will soon launch an ambitious ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ which focuses on deep-sea mining, ocean climate change advisory services, underwater vehicles and underwater robotics related technologies.
Body
Economic Significance:
- One of the main aims of the mission is to explore and extract polymetallic nodules (PMN).
- These are small potato-like rounded accretions composed of minerals such as manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper and iron hydroxide.
- They lie scattered on the Indian Ocean floor at depths of about 6,000 m and the size can vary from a few millimetres to centimetres.
- These metals can be extracted and used in electronic devices, smartphones, batteries and even for solar panels.
- Employment opportunities skill-sets and capacities
- Empowerment of coastal communities and attaining greater social and economic inclusion.
- New development in electronics industry.
- Providing a boost to coastal and national economies
- Promoting entrepreneurship in new areas of economic activity
- Development of blue economy and diplomacy.
- It will also open new doors for mining of oil and gas reservoirs which are potent for India’s energy security.
Challenges posed by the commercialization of sea-floor mining:
- Marine life:
- According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), these deep remote locations can be home to unique species that have adapted themselves to conditions such as poor oxygen and sunlight, high pressure and extremely low temperatures.
- Such mining expeditions can make them go extinct even before they are known to science.
- The deep sea’s biodiversity and ecology remain poorly understood, making it difficult to assess the environmental impact and frame adequate guidelines.
- Many species living in the deep sea are endemic – meaning they do not occur anywhere else on the planet – and physical disturbances in just one mining site can possibly wipe out an entire species.
- Species such as whales, tuna and sharks could be affected by noise, vibrations and light pollution caused by mining equipment and surface vessels, as well as potential leaks and spills of fuel and toxic products.
- Some forms of deep-sea mining will stir up fine sediments on the seafloor consisting of silt, clay and the remains of microorganisms, creating plumes of suspended particles. It is unclear how far these particles may disperse beyond the mining area, how long it would take for them to resettle on the seafloor, and to what extent they may affect ecosystems and species, for instance by smothering animals or harming filter-feeding species that depend on clear, clean water to feed, such as krill and whale sharks.
- Environmental impact:
- Additional concerns have been raised about the noise and light pollution from the mining vehicles and oil spills from the operating vessels.
- Technology:
- The specialized drills and extraction-technology that would be required pulling out the metals from the deep sea would develop a major technical challenge.
- Commercial Viability:
- The latest estimate from the ISA says it will be commercially viable only if about three million tonnes are mined per year. More studies are being carried out to understand how the technology can be scaled up and used efficiently.
Measures needed:
- Baseline studies
- Comprehensive baseline studies are needed to understand what species live in the deep sea, how they live, and how they could be affected by mining activities.
- More funds are needed for training and educational programmes focused on improving our understanding of the deep sea.
- Environmental impact assessments
- High-quality environmental assessments are needed to assess the full range, extent and duration of environmental damage from deep-sea mining operations.
- These assessments are also needed to ensure that the loss of biodiversity as a result of mining operations is properly accounted for in mining regulations set by authorities, well before any decision to mine is approved.
- The costs to the marine environment should be included in the financial and economic assessments conducted by mining companies.
- Mitigation
- Current technologies may not be sufficient to avoid serious and lasting harm to the environment, including the loss of biodiversity.
- Mining operations strategies will need to prioritise the avoidance of environmental impacts.
- This needs to include establishing protected area networks to keep large parts of the seabed undisturbed as well as stringent and precautionary controls on the permissible extent and duration of mining operations.
- Minimising impacts should involve, among other things, improving mining equipment to reduce seafloor disturbance. Remedying environmental impacts has not yet been shown to be effective in practice.
- Enhanced regulation
- The ISA is operating with the dual mandate of promoting the development of deep-sea minerals whilst ensuring that this development is not harmful to the environment.
- This challenging and conflicting mandate will require improved oversight by the international community – including government representatives and the general public – to ensure that marine life is adequately protected.
- To avoid possible conflicts of interest due to the dual mandate of ISA, the organisation should consider divesting itself of some of its responsibilities, and placing them on independent entities.
- Circular economy
- The repair, recycling and reuse of products should be encouraged to help reduce the demand for raw materials from the deep sea.
- Enhancing product design to make use of less or alternative materials can also reduce the demand.
Way forward:
- A better understanding of the deep sea is necessary to guide mitigation strategies and proper enforcement of regulations in order to limit the environmental impacts of mining activities.
- There is an urgent need for an international charter as in the absence of a clear charter, deep sea mining operations could cause irreversible damage to a little understood ecology.
- A new set of exploration guidelines must be worked out with discussions involving multi-stakeholders like ISA, IUCN, UNCLOS, littoral nations etc.
Topic: Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism.
7. How far are India’s internal security challenges linked with border management? (250 words)
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is from the static portions of GS paper III, part Security challenges and their management in border areas.
Key Demand of the question:
Discuss in detail to what extent India’s internal security challenges are linked with border management.
Directive:
Explain – Clarify the topic by giving a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start with key facts that highlight the vast borders of India.
Body:
The answer body must explain how due to the proclivity of India’s neighbours to exploit India’s nation-building difficulties, the country’s internal security challenges are inextricably linked with border management.
Discuss with each neighbor in what way the border management becomes challenging owing to internal security challenges.
Give examples to justify your position.
Suggest what steps have been taken so far in this direction.
Conclusion:
Conclude by hinting at the initiatives of the government in this direction.
Introduction
India has one of the longest and most varied of international borders. Historical and political reasons have left India with an artificial unnatural border. Border Management is an integral approach towards borders in which along with security enhancement, infrastructure & human development is undertaken. The challenge of coping with long-standing territorial and boundary disputes with China and Pakistan, combined with porous borders along some of the most difficult terrain in the world, has made effective and efficient border management a national priority.
Body:
India has had to deal with numerous challenges with respect to border management such as:
- Porous borders: International borders with Pakistan and Bangladeshrun through diverse terrain including deserts, marshes, plains and mountains. This porosity of borders facilitates various illegal activities such as smuggling, trafficking of humans, drugs and arms and infiltration.
- Contested International borders: History of mistrustand constant border skirmishes with Pakistan along line of control (LOC) makes India highly susceptible to cross-border terrorism. Similarly, India’s border with Myanmar is threatened by several insurgent groups that have found sanctuaries in jungles along the border. Political boundary issues of “enclaves and adverse possessions” in Bangladesh have resulted in political sensitivity along the entire eastern border.
- Inefficiency in Border management: Indian borders continue to be guarded by military and police forces that report to different ministries in the Centre and states, making the border management task arduous and leading to duplication of efforts by the security forces.
- Lack of critical infrastructure: Critical infrastructure such as observation towers, bunkers, Border Flood Lights etc. are lacking in many border areas which also prevent deployment of hi-tech equipment.
- Poor intelligence and resource efficiency: Security forces are ill-equipped to handle border management given poor intelligence capabilities and severe resource deficiency.
- Ethnic conflicts and separatist movements: The situation has worsened due to the changed demographic profile of many Border States and shift in ethnic balance of communities as a result of illegal migration.
- Over-population in the border areas: Density of population in the border areas at some places is approximately 700-800 persons per square km on the Indian side and about 1,000 persons on the Bangladesh side.
- Political instability and disorder in its periphery impacts India’s security directly or indirectly. Proxy war between India and Pakistan adds to this security risk.
The implications on the internal security due to the above challenges of border management is marked by
- increased cross-border terrorism
- infiltration and ex-filtration of armed militants
- emergence of non-state actors
- nexus between narcotics traffickers and arms smugglers
- left-wing extremism
- fake Indian Currency network
- separatist movements aided and abetted by external powers
- illegal cattle trade
Strategies for effective border management have been continuously evolving. Some of them are:
- 24x7x365 day surveillance along Indo-Pak border with 5-layer smart fence
- Agreement on basic guiding principles and standard operating procedures
- Increasing confidence building measures and communication linkages to avoid unnecessary confrontation and escalation
- Integrated border management by involving and enhancing cooperation with counterparts of neighbouring countries especially along open borders.
- Effective implementation of the recommendations of One Border One Force by the Task Force on Border Management to weeds out inter agency frictions.
- Community measures and awareness can be deployed along open borders to prevent illegal activities.
- Implementation of Border Area Development Programme and other developmental initiatives so that there is no feeling of being left out.
Way forward:
- Infrastructure along with border has to be improved – rail connectivity along with road connectivity has to be provided for quick mobilization.
- Building of additional checkpoints and Border posts along major and minor trade routes connected with borders
- Building of floating bridges, walls & electrical fences where there is high probability of infiltration.
- Taking up of joint Border management with Countries like Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.
- Improving healthcare, physical infrastructure and digital connectivity in villages around borders thus making them stakeholder in Border Management.
- Madhav Godbole task force recommendations on border management need to be implemented.
- It had recommended that the CRPF should be designated as the primary national level counter-insurgency force. This would enable the other central paramilitary forces like the BSF and Indo-Tibetan Border Police to return to their primary role of better border management.
- It had also recommended that all paramilitary forces managing unsettled borders should operate directly under the control of the army and that there should be lateral induction from the army to the paramilitary forces so as to enhance their operational effectiveness.
- The principle of ‘single point control’ must be followed if the borders are to be effectively managed.
- The advances in surveillance technology, particularly satellite and aerial imagery, can help to maintain a constant vigil along the LAC and make it possible to reduce physical deployment.
Conclusion:
Keeping a strong vigil on its border is very important for any nation to check any kind of illegal activities or intrusion through them. For India, the task becomes difficult where terrain and climate is very complex across some of its border areas. Focussing on improved technology will help in making the task easier for the security forces and make its borders more secure.
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