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IAS

Civil Services (Mains) Examination 2015

Solutions

GS PAPER II

By Orient IAS

Orient IAS, 57, 3rd

Floor, Old Rajendra Nagar, [email protected] || www.orientias.com || +91-9643772112; 9810949873

Note: in many answers, some extra information has also been provided so that students

can have a better idea of the topics and issues asked in the question paper.

1. Discuss the possible factors that inhibit India from enacting for its citizens a uniform civil code as provided for in the Directive Principles of State Policy.

Answer – The provision for Uniform Civil Code has been provided in our Constitution, under Article 44. A Uniform Civil Code essentially refers to a common set of laws governing personal matters of all citizens of the country irrespective of the religion.

Need of Uniform Civil Code

1. Just and fair treatment of women from all sections of the society. 2. Help in progress of society, by realizing the values enshrined in the Constitution. 3. Reducing vote-bank politics, as everyone will be covered under same law. 4. Help in integration of India as it will be a binding thread across the diverse cultural groups. 5. The inconsistency in personal laws is against the right to equality enshrined under article 14.

Challenges in implementing UCC 1. Historical Reasons - India has a strong and long history of personal laws and it cannot be given up easily. UCC

has been opposed by several groups over the years as it may go against their personal laws. Such major change, if carried out in haste, will lead to resistance by the people.

2. Lack of Consensus – Due to the uniquely diverse nature of Indian society, it’s a big challenge to arrive at a consensus. However, a broad consensus must be drawn among different communities, political parties, civil society organizations etc. to facilitate such a landmark step in India’s religious, social, political and most importantly judicial history.

3. Drafting issues - The biggest question is if UCC be a blend of all the personal laws or should it be a new law adhering to the constitutional mandate? No model law has been drafted yet.

4. Misinformation – The misinformation regarding UCC among large section of society, due to various reasons. People form a negative attitude towards UCC, due to this. They do not realize the benefits in longer term. It is one of the biggest impediments. People also wrongly think that India being a secular nation cannot interfere in personal laws of different religions, under article 25.

5. Lack of political will – At the end of it all, it boils down to the political will of the people in power. If there is political will then, above challenges can be easily overcome. But, till now there is a general lack of political will, because of various factors like caste appeasement and vote bank politics.

6. Sensitive nature of issue at hand – The issue is very sensitive as it is directly related to cultural aspect of people’s life. If not handled properly then it may become a law and order challenge across the country. This severely restricts the initiatives to formulate and implement UCC.

Way Forward

1. Gradual reforms in existing personal laws of different communities. 2. Convincing the communities regarding benefits of UCC, through social influence. 3. Institutional mechanisms should be found out for facilitating dialogue between various stakeholders.

So, there is a need of piecemeal approach rather than holistic reforms towards achieving the ultimate objective of Uniform Civil Code. 2. The concept of cooperative federalism has been increasingly emphasized in recent years. Highlight the drawbacks in the existing structure and the extent to which cooperative federalism would answer the shortcomings.

Answer – Cooperative federalism is a concept of federalism in which central and state governments interact cooperatively and collectively to solve common problems, rather than making policies separately.

There are many drawbacks in the existing structure. Some of these are

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1. Planning Process: The existing structure for planning has minimum participation of the states. The Planning Commission carried out this exercise, with minimum representation of states.

2. Resource allocation: It is mainly decided by the Union Government, and states have limited say in this. Even financial resources of states are mostly allocated by the centre, and they have limited capacity of generating finances.

3. Administrative aspect: With respect to All India Services, states have only limited powers. It acts as an impediment in the centre-state relations. Also under article 256, states are directed not to impede the administrative functioning of the central government.

4. Legal aspect: With respect to appointment of Governors, imposition of President’s rule etc states have limited say in legal sphere as well. On subjects mentioned in the concurrent list, a law enacted by the Parliament always prevails over the law made by states.

5. Political aspect: The present structure has greater degree of political coordination between centre and only those states, where same party is ruling. But the coordination with states having a different ruling party, is somewhat compromised.

Cooperative federalism will help in addressing these issues in the following manner:

1. Planning Process: With cooperative federalism, states will be able to participate effectively in the planning

process. It will ensure in making holistic plan, with provisions of flexibility in implementation, across different states. NITI Aayog is expected to provide the institutional mechanism for ensuring greater participation of the states in the planning process. It will promote “bottom’s-up” approach in planning.

2. Resource allocation: It will help in equitable allocation and optimum utilization of available resources as there will be greater degree of coordination between centre and states. The 14th Finance Commission is of the view that tax devolution should be the primary route for transfer of resources to the States.

3. Administrative relations: It will help in achieving better administrative relations between centre and states, as they work for realization of shared goals. Number of Centrally Sponsored schemes, have been reduced, to give more flexibility to states in implementing programmes. It will help in improving effectiveness of schemes.

4. Legal relations: Inter – state councils and zonal councils can be revitalized and strengthened. Further, legal relations will improve in areas of concurrent responsibility, where the Centre has had a tendency to ride roughshod over the States by occupying the common legislative space.

5. Participative policy making and implementation: Sharing of powers and responsibilities between the three levels of government is a key element of the concept, which involves participative policymaking. So, holistic policies can be formulated, along with better implementation at the ground level.

6. Political aspect: A key element in fostering cooperative federalism is the respect for the mandate of elected governments, even those run by opposition parties. It will help in establishing viable, working relationship between centre and states, even those run by opposition parties.

The major initiatives of the government which can ensure cooperative federalism are

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1. GST Bill when implemented will help in this 2. NITI Aayog – has more participation of states 3. Fourteenth Finance Commission Recommendations – It has increased the share of states in financial

resources. In this manner Cooperative federalism will solve the existing problems. 3. In absence of a well-educated and organized local level government system, `Panchayats’ and ‘Samitis’ have remained mainly political institutions and not effective instruments of governance. Critically discuss.

Answer – Panchayati Raj Institutions have not been able to achieve their true potential and have remained just a political institution. The main reasons are:

1. Inadequate level of expertise: It has severely affected the effectiveness of Panchayati Raj Institutions, as they are unable to take a holistic approach to find the solutions of existing problems.

2. Absence of well educated members: It has restricted the decision making capability of the members. Hence the issues concerning the local government are not discussed. It only serves the political purpose of candidates.

3. Lack of organization: For proper planning and implementation of policies and programmes, the grassroot level of governance needs to have a well defined structure. Gram Sabha meetings are not held on regular basis, in many cases.

4. Absence of clear cut agenda: Due to lack of clear cut agenda for working and clearly defined goals, these institutions take ad hoc decisions. This reduces the effectiveness of governance at grass root level

Way forward 1. Providing adequate training: It will help in imparting expertise to the members. Hence they can contribute in

better way in planning process and in implementation of policies and programmes. 2. Amendments in Panchayat Raj Act: It should be carried out to provide more powers to these institutions, so

that they can become agents of change at the grassroots level. 3. Devolution of powers: Decentralization of governance can be achieved with devolution of power to lower

levels. This will help in strengthening these institutions. 4. Financial resources: One of biggest challenges facing the Panchayati raj Institutions is the inadequate level of

financial resources. It has severely affected their functioning. So, more financial resource generation powers should be give to these institutions.

5. Qualifications criteria: Certain minimum qualification standards for fighting Panchayat elections will help in improving its effectiveness in governance mechanism. Recently some states like Rajasthan and Haryana introduces such provisions, which was held to be constitutional by the Supreme Court.

So, we need to take these steps to make our Panchayati Raj Institutions, effective centres of local governance.

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4. Khap Panchayats have been in the news for functioning as extra-constitutional authorities, often delivering pronouncements amounting to human rights violations. Discuss critically the actions taken by the legislative, executive and the judiciary to set the things right in this regard.

Answer – Issues regarding Khap Panchayats have been discussed extensively in recent times, because of their extra-constitutional functioning and unjust pronouncements. Legislative actions taken: (i) Many states tried to bring legislation to ban Khap Panchayats, but due to lack of consensus it has not been passed successfully. Bills banning “Honour Killing” has also been proposed by many states, (ii) Law Commission had drafted a Bill - The Prohibition of Unlawful Assembly (Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances) Bill, 2011. It tried to address the issue of Khap panchayats.

Executive actions taken: (i) District Administration has taken many steps to tackle the menace of Khap panchayats in the affected districts. It has declared such assembly to be illegal, subject to severe punishments. (ii) Political executives have taken steps to reform these khap panchayats, as their view is that social change cannot happen immediately.

Judicial actions taken: (i) Supreme Court has declared the Khap panchayats unconstitutional and illegal and they must be “ruthlessly stamped out”. (ii) Condemning honour killings and khap panchayats, the Bench directed the administrative and police officials to take strong measures to prevent such atrocious acts. These steps have been effective, but still a lot more needs to be done. The following steps need to be taken (i) Lok Adalats: These institutions need to be strengthened at the grassroots level. It will help in eliminating the unconstitutional Khap panchayats, as well as in delivering justice. (ii)Legislation: Effective legislation needs to be enacted in the states, to ban Khap panchayats. It will provide the framework for executives to take action against khap panchayats. (iii)Executive action: They need to be proactive in implementing the law and in taking action against khap panchayats. (iv) Attitude change: Elders of the village needs to be persuaded for attitude change in order to bring social change.

5. Resorting to ordinances has always raised concern on violation of the spirit of separation of powers doctrine. While noting the rationales justifying the power to promulgate ordinances, analyze whether the decisions of the Supreme Court on the issue have further facilitated resorting to this power. Should the power to promulgate ordinances be repealed?

Answer – The constitution provides for Ordinance making power to the President under Article 123 and to the Governor under Article 213.

An Ordinance may relate to any subject that the Parliament has the power to legislate on. The following limitations exist with regard to the Ordinance making power of the executive: (i) Legislature is not in session: The President can only promulgate an Ordinance when either of the two Houses of Parliament is not in session. (ii) Immediate action is required: The President cannot promulgate an Ordinance unless he is satisfied that there are circumstances that require taking ‘immediate action’. (iii) Parliamentary approval during session: Ordinances must be approved by Parliament within six weeks of reassembling or they shall cease to operate. They will also cease to operate in case resolutions disapproving the Ordinance are passed by both the Houses.

There has been significant debate surrounding the Ordinance making power. Constitutionally, important issues that have been raised, which include judicial review of the Ordinance making powers of the executive; the necessity for ‘immediate action’ while promulgating an Ordinance; and the granting of Ordinance making powers to the executive, given the principle of separation of powers.

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In RC Cooper vs. Union of India (1970) the Supreme Court, held that the President’s decision could be challenged on the grounds that ‘immediate action’ was not required; and the Ordinance had been passed primarily to by-pass debate and discussion in the legislature.

It was argued in DC Wadhwa vs. State of Bihar (1987) the legislative power of the executive to promulgate Ordinances is to be used in exceptional circumstances and not as a substitute for the law making power of the legislature. The Supreme Court argued that if Ordinance making was made a usual practice, creating an ‘Ordinance raj’ the courts could strike down re-promulgated Ordinances.

However, the general rule in the Wadhwa verdict came with an exception. It was stated that the government may, occasionally, be unable “to introduce and push through” a Bill to convert an ordinance either because “the Legislature [has] too much legislative business” or the time at its disposal is short. In such a case, the verdict stated, the President may “legitimately find that it is necessary to repromulgate the Ordinance”. And such “repromulgation of the Ordinance”, the Court said, “may not be open to attack”.

So, this exception in the Wadhwa judgment has enabled the government to resort to re-promulgation of ordinances, though they need to show that situation is extraordinary.

No, the power to promulgate ordinances should not be repealed. It is a method of last resort, for the executive when there is immediate need and legislature is not in session. So, it is not the use of ordinances, but its misuse which is a cause of concern and must be checked.

6. What are the major changes brought in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 through the recent

Ordinance promulgated by the President? How far will it improve India’s dispute resolution mechanism? Discuss.

Answers – The President promulgated the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 which amends the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The important changes brought in are the following:

(i) Relevant court for domestic and international arbitration matters: The Ordinance states that in the case of international arbitration, the relevant court would only be the high court having original ordinary jurisdiction.

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(ii) Powers of Court to refer a party to arbitration if agreement exists: The Ordinance states that the power of referral is to be exercised by a court even if there is a previous court judgment to the contrary. The Court must refer the parties to arbitration unless it thinks that a valid arbitration agreement does not exist.

(iii) Interim order by a Court: The Ordinance amends the provision to specify that if the Court passes an interim order before the commencement of arbitral proceedings, the proceedings must commence within 90 days from the making of the order, or within a time specified by the Court. Further, the Court must not accept such an application, unless it thinks that the arbitral tribunal will not be able to provide a similar remedy.

(iv) Appointment of arbitrators: The 1996 Act permits parties to appoint arbitrators. If they are unable to appoint arbitrators within 30 days, the matter is referred to the court to make such appointments. The Ordinance states that, at this stage, the Court must confine itself to the examination of the existence of a valid arbitration agreement.

(v) Time period for arbitral awards: The Ordinance introduces a provision that requires an arbitral tribunal to make its award within 12 months. This may be extended by a six month period.

(vi) Time period for disposal of cases by a Court: The Ordinance states that any challenge to an arbitral award that is made before a Court, must be disposed of within a period of one year.

(vii) Fast track procedure for arbitration: The Ordinance permits parties to choose to conduct arbitration proceedings in a fast track manner. The award would be granted within six months.

Dispute resolution mechanism in India will be significantly improved by the provisions of this ordinance. The Amendments reflect the need of the present times, which is a significant improvement over the provisions enacted twenty years earlier. The above provisions introduced in the amendments have addressed major issues which were facing the dispute resolution mechanism in India. The shortcomings of present mechanisms were clear from the Vodafone tax case and Reliance case on KG D6 basin.

Hence, addressing the problems ailing the dispute resolution mechanism, will help in improving the investor sentiments and give a boost to ease of doing business in India. It is in line with our vision of becoming a manufacturing sector hub for the world.

7. Does the right to clean environment entail legal regulations on burning crackers during Diwali? Discuss in the light of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and Judgement(s) of the Apex Court in this regard.

Answer –Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement has pronounced right to clean environment as a fundamental right enshrined under right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Though no law has been enacted on regulating the burning of crackers, but the apex court has issued guidelines in this regard. So, it entails legal regulation on burning fire crackers, on account of these guidelines.

In the landmark case of 2005; “Prevention of Environment & Sound Pollution v. Union of India”, the apex court laid down a few essential guidelines relating to firecrackers and addressing other problems of sound pollution. The key highlights being:

(a) The Department of Explosives may divide the firecrackers into two categories– (i) Sound emitting firecrackers, and (ii) Colour/light emitting firecrackers.

(b) There shall be a complete ban on bursting sound emitting firecrackers between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. It is not necessary to impose restrictions as to time on bursting of colour/light emitting firecrackers.

(c) Every manufacturer shall on the box of each firecracker mention details of its chemical contents and that it satisfies the requirement as laid down by Department of Explosives.

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The court has directed that non-implementation of the guidelines is leading to gross violation of the Fundamental Rights which must be preserved and respected at all times.

Arguments have often been made against such restrictions on the grounds that it violates Article 25 of the Constitution, i.e., to practice and propagate our religion freely. What one must keep in mind that Fundamental Rights are not absolute in nature and falls under the umbrella of certain reasonable restrictions.

The apex court in its landmark judgment; “Church of God in India vs. K.K.R Majestic Colony Welfare Assn.” held that the court can put certain restrictions on controlling the noise, even if such noise was a direct consequence of any religious ritual or activity being held.

In a recent case, 3 toddlers moved to the Supreme Court with a petition to take action against the rising levels of air pollution. The Supreme Court dismissed this petition which was aimed at putting a blanket ban on bursting of crackers on Diwali or designating a particular place for bursting crackers. The Supreme Court exclaimed that such a blanket ban would be lethal and would cause an unnecessary uproar in the society. The court, however, has directed the government to spread awareness about the hazardous effects of crackers.

Bursting crackers has been a custom in our society which is now proving to be lethal for the coming generations. Article 21- Right to Life, is a basic human right and subsequently a Fundamental Right for Indian Citizens, and to breathe clean air constitutes the same.

Hence, it is necessary to exercise certain prudence and caution in this situation and one must give precedence to various rights in terms of their necessity.

8. Examine critically the recent changes in the rules governing foreign funding of NGOs under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 1976.

Answer –The government has drawn up new guidelines which stipulate that NGOs must not use foreign funds for activities “detrimental to national interest, likely to affect public interest, or likely to prejudicially affect the security, scientific, strategic or economic interest of the state.”

The draft Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2015, also require any NGOs receiving foreign funds to register themselves and to report the receipt of such funds on its website or a government prescribed website within 7 days. The rule replaces the older rule under which only foreign donations in excess of Rs. 1 crore were to be notified at the end of the year. Another rule requires banks to disclose information regarding the entry of foreign funds for NGOs in India within 48 hours. Earlier, banks were only mandated to disclose details of contributions in excess of Rs. 1 crore, within 30 days. The rules also provide for new forms for registration, renewal of registration and disclosure of receipt of foreign funds, which need to filled and uploaded on government portals. The new rules have not only increased the frequency with which NGOs are required to file information with the government, they also have provisions that require the disclosure of additional information. NGOs will now have to reveal the details of their social media accounts, and disclose whether their office bearers are part of other NGOs, to help in profiling them.

The present crackdown on foreign-funded NGOs in India began after the Intelligence Bureau submitted a report on NGOs last year that said that some NGO’s are deliberately trying to restrict India’s developmental projects. So these new guidelines will help in better regulation of NGOs and their funding.

9. The Self-Help Group (SHG) Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP), which is India’s own innovation, has proved to be one of the most effective poverty alleviation and women empowerment programmes. Elucidate.

Answer - The SHG-Bank linkage model is the indigenous model of micro-credit evolved in India and has been widely acclaimed as a successful model. SHG-Bank linkage programme is considered a promising approach to reach the

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poor and has since its inception made rapid strides exhibiting considerable democratic functioning and group dynamism.

SHG-Banking is a programme that helps to promote financial transactions between the formal rural banking system in India comprising of public and private sector commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks with the informal Self Help Groups(SHGs) as clients.

They usually start by making voluntary thrift on a regular -mostly fortnightly or monthly - basis. They use this pooled resource together with the external bank loan to provide interest bearing loans to their members. Such loan provides additional liquidity or purchasing power for use in any of the borrower‟s production, investment, or consumption activities.

The programme has resulted in 34.77 lakh SHGs being credit linked. Further, the programme has enabled an estimated 409.5 lakh poor households to gain access to microfinance from the formal banking system. The programme has indeed helped in the social and economic empowerment of rural folk, especially women, causing significant up-scaling of social capital while at the same time delivering crucial financial services.

Access to finance by the poor and vulnerable groups is a prerequisite for poverty reduction and social cohesion. This has to become an integral part of our efforts to promote inclusive growth and empower the vulnerable groups.

The various financial services include credit, savings, insurance and payments and remittance facilities. The objective of financial inclusion is to extend the scope of activities of the organized financial system to include within its ambit people with low incomes. Through graduated credit, the attempt must be to lift the poor from one level to another so that they come out of poverty

Thus, it has proved to be a successful model wherein the outreach has expanded substantially leading to many advantages like micro savings, timely repayment of loans, reduction in transaction costs to SHG members and banks, etc. 10. How can the role of NGOs be strengthened in India for development works relating to protection of the environment? Discuss throwing light on the major constraints.

Answer – There are large number of NGOs in India that are exclusively working for environmental protection, conservation, and awareness. However, some of the major challenges faced by NGOs in this regard are:

(i) Shortage of trained personnel in the field of environment protection. (ii) Lack of research and development facilities. (iii) Financial constraints. (iv) Lack of cooperation from the governmental agencies. (v) Difficulties in the mobility to remote locations of the country. (vi) Environmental NGOs are facing a credibility crisis with a number of cases of embezzlement and scandals involving some of them coming to the fore.

For strengthening the role of NGOs, to make significant contribution in the field of environment the following steps need to be taken: (i) Regulation: NGOs are not properly regulated in our country. Creating a separate regulatory authority for the same is the need of the hour. It will help in solving many other problems ailing the NGOs. (ii) Strict compliance mechanism: NGOs have been recently under the scanner for their alleged violation of the law of the land. Tax evasions and misappropriation of funds are some of the serious allegations. Some NGOs like Greenpeace were involved in anti-development activities in the name of environmental issues, as highlighted by Intelligence Bureau report. So, we need to put mechanisms in place for strict compliance of the laws, rules and regulations.

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(iii) Bringing NGOs under RTI Act : At present NGOs are not covered under RTI Act. This enables opaqueness in their functioning. So bringing them under RTI Act will help in ensuring greater degree of transparency and accountability. (iv) Cooperation: Greater degree of cooperation is needed between Government agencies, Corporate houses, NGOs, Civil Society groups and people at large. This will help in taking a holistic approach towards environmental issues. (v) Providing resource base : Environmental NGOs should be provided with adequate resources and training to their members, so that they are able to carry out their work efficiently. So, we need to strengthen the NGOs working in the environment field, so that together we can achieve our goal of sustainable development. 11. The quality of higher education in India requires major improvements to make it internationally competitive. Do you think that the entry of foreign educational institutions would help improve the quality of higher and technical education in the country? Discuss.

Answer – The debate over whether foreign educational institutions should be allowed to operate in India is divided into three camps.

(i) The opponents argue that it would lead to commercialization of higher education, which would lead to withdrawal of the government from the sector. It would also increase the disparity of access to quality education between the rich and the poor.

(ii) The proponents argue that it would increase choices for students, enhance competition in the sector with potential for qualitative improvement in the Indian educational institutions, provide technical skills for the job market and retain some of the funds that flow overseas.

(iii) Some experts take a middle view arguing that foreign institutions should have limited entry so long as certain concerns over the quality of the education provided, the type of subjects that would be taught, and the possibility of faculty moving from Indian institutions are addressed.

In this regard a Bill was introduced in Parliament - The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010. However the problems facing Higher education system in India are different.

Driven by market opportunities and entrepreneurial zeal, many institutions are taking advantage of the lax regulatory environment to offer 'degrees' not approved by Indian authorities, and many institutions are functioning as pseudo non-profit organizations, developing sophisticated financial methods to siphon off the 'profits'.

Regulatory authorities like UGC and AICTE have been trying to extirpate private universities that run courses with no affiliation or recognition. Students from rural and semi urban background often fall prey to these institutes and colleges. One of the fundamental weaknesses of the system is lack of transparency and recommendations have been made to mandate high standards of data disclosures by institutions on performance.

So, the way forward is, to focus more on strengthening and capacity building of our existing institutes, so that they reach International standards. The shortcomings need to be removed by concerted effort.

12. Public health system has limitations in providing universal health coverage. Do you think that the private sector could help in bridging the gap? What other viable alternatives would you suggest?

Answer - Providing universal health coverage (UHC) to citizens is a priority. As with nearly 80 per cent of health spending being out-of-pocket, health shocks are a major cause of poverty. The respective roles of the public and private sectors in achieving Universal Health Care are a matter of major contention amongst policymakers. But, given that the majority of all healthcare (approx. 93%) in India is provided by the private sector, it will have to play a major role, in achieving UHC.

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Private sector can play a role in the following manner:

(i) Investments and health care infrastructure: India’s current public healthcare spending and infrastructure is currently well short of what is required to fulfill its ambition of achieving universal health care. Large investments by private sector players are likely to contribute significantly to the development of India’s hospital industry, which comprises around 80 per cent of the total market. (ii) Expertise and State-of-the-art facilities: Private sector will also bring expertise which will be crucial for providing good quality secondary and tertiary healthcare sector to the masses. This is the major segment where people are more vulnerable due to changing lifestyle. So, private sector has crucial role to play in this regard. (iii) Increasing access: Access to quality health care services can be provided through private sector participation. In rural areas, the main problem is of access. Initiatives like mobile health units, are bridging this gap. (iv) Affordability: Poor people are unable to afford costly health insurance facilities. In that case private companies can provide community health insurance services. (v) Efficiency: Private sector participation will bring efficiency in overall functioning of health care system, as it will also introduce competition. Functional autonomy to private hospitals, is needed along with regulatory oversight. (vi) Outreach: Outreach of health services will also increase by private sector participation with grassroots organization. Capacity of these grassroots organization will be built, over a period of time, to provide primary health care services.

So, India needs Private sector participation in health care system, to bridge the existing gap. For this, one approach can be Public-Private partnership. Many PPP initiatives in health care sector have been successful in the past like Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).

Other approaches to achieving UHC, can be through privatization of existing public hospitals, creation of new private initiatives and subcontracting of public health centres to NGOs etc. some of these approaches have been tried in the past, with mixed degree of results. To make these approaches viable, their shortcomings need to be found out and removed.

So, India needs prudent compromises to achieve its UHC goals. Public sector should acknowledge its fiscal and personnel constraints. Further, we need to leverage all available resources, public and private, formal and informal. Finally, given the enormous diversity across states, it should avoid embracing one-size-fits-all models and allow enough flexibility for local design experimentation within an overarching national UHC plan.

13. Though there have been several different estimates of poverty in India, all indicate reduction in poverty levels over time. Do you agree? Critically examine with reference to urban and rural poverty indicators.

Answer – Over the years, different methods have been used for data collection and estimation of poverty levels in India. Though the estimates have been different according to different committees, but overall there is a view that poverty levels have declined in India.

In India, we have a long history of studies on the measurement of poverty. The methodology for the estimation of poverty used by the erstwhile Planning Commission was based on recommendations made by various expert groups. The Tendulkar Committee computed new poverty lines for rural and urban areas of each state. It concluded that the all India poverty line was Rs 446.68 per capita per month in rural areas and Rs 578.80 per capita per month in urban areas in 2004-05. The following table outlines the manner in which the percentage of population below the poverty line changed after the application of the Tendulkar Committee’s methodology.

Committee Rural Urban Total Lakdawala Committee 28.3 25.7 27.5 Tendulkar Committee 41.8 27.5 37.2

Table below shows national poverty levels for the last twenty years, using methodology suggested by the Tendulkar Committee. According to these estimates, poverty declined at an average rate of 0.74 percentage points per year between 1993-94 and 2004-05, and at 2.18 percentage points per year between 2004-05 and 2011-12.

Year Rural Urban Total

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1993 – 94 50.1 31.8 45.3 2004 – 05 41.8 25.7 37.2 2009 – 10 33.8 20.9 29.8 2011 – 12 25.7 13.7 21.9

However, The Rangarajan Committee has submitted the latest report on povert estimates. It has gone back to the idea of separate poverty line baskets for rural and urban areas, unlike the Tendulkar Committee, which took urban poverty as a given and used it as the common basket for rural and urban households.

The Expert Group (Rangarajan) estimates that the 30.9% of the rural population and 26.4% of the urban population was below the poverty line in 2011-12. The all-India ratio was 29.5%. In rural India, 260.5 million individuals were below poverty and in urban India 102.5 million were under poverty. Totally, 363 million were below poverty in 2011-12.

The poverty ratio has declined from 39.6% in 2009-10 to 30.9% in 2011-12 in rural India and from 35.1% to 26.4% in urban India. The decline was thus a uniform 8.7 percentage points over the two years. The all-India poverty ratio fell from 38.2% to 29.5%. Totally, 91.6 million individuals were lifted out of poverty during this period. Compared to the poverty lines based on the methodology of the Expert Group (Tendulkar), the poverty lines estimated by the Expert Group (Rangarajan) are 19% and 41% higher in rural and urban areas, respectively.

So, the above analysis shows that while there is considerable difference between poverty estimates of different committees, but there is a constant decline in poverty levels over the years.

14. In the light of the Satyam Scandal (2009), discuss the changes brought in corporate governance to ensure transparency, accountability.

Answer - The scam brought to focus multiple flaws in corporate governance practices -- unethical conduct, fraudulent accounting, dubious role of auditors, ineffective board, failure of independent directors and non-disclosure of pledged shares. The Government brought in changes in the Companies Act in 2013, introducing a slew of measures to ensure transparency and accountability in corporate affairs.

The new Companies Act require at least one-third of the Board as Independent Directors with tenure of initial 5 years and receives only fee and not stock options.

The new Act introduced strict norms on related party deals. This is a welcome step. This should go a long way in bringing in transparency to transactions. The class action suit provision empowers minority shareholders and protects their interests.

Section 92 of the Act provides that annual return prepared by companies must have disclosures regarding matters related to certification of compliance and disclosures. They deal with related party transactions, inter-corporate loans, investments, guarantees and conduct of postal ballot.

The directors are supposed to have devised a proper system to ensure compliance as they prepare the Board’s report, conforming to all applicable laws. An important norm was compulsory dematerialization of promoter holdings to ensure transparency in the dealings of shares by promoters, especially pledge or usage as collateral and its subsequent disclosure.

The SEBI made it mandatory to rotate individual auditors after five years and audit firms after 10 years to improve the quality of financial reporting, detect any oversight and ensure independence of auditors in the true sense.

The SEBI also directed the monitoring cell established by stock exchanges to ascertain the adequacy and accuracy of disclosures. Companies were asked to compulsorily devise a whistle blower policy.

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In this way, corporate governance mechanisms have been improved in wake of Satyam scandal, to ensure transparency and accountability.

15. “If amendment bill to the Whistleblowers Act, 2011 tabled in the Parliament is passed, there may be no one left to protect.” Critically evaluate. Answer – The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 amends the Whistleblowers Act, 2011. These amendments to the bill are being carried out with a view to incorporate necessary provisions aimed at strengthening safeguards against disclosures which may prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of the country and security of the state; strategic, scientific or economic interest of the state; relations with a foreign state or leads to incitement of an offence. Some of the important provisions are:

• The Bill prohibits the reporting of a corruption related disclosure if it falls under any 10 categories of information. • These categories include information related to: (i) economic, scientific interests and the security of India; (ii) Cabinet proceedings, (iii) intellectual property; (iv) that received in a fiduciary capacity, etc. • The Act permits disclosures that are prohibited under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), 1923. The Bill reverses this to disallow disclosures that are covered by the OSA. • Any public interest disclosure received by a Competent Authority will be referred to a government authorised authority if it falls under any of the above 10 prohibited categories. This authority will take a decision on the matter, which will be binding. Analysis • The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that the 10 prohibited categories are modelled on those under the RTI Act, 2005. However, this comparison may not be appropriate. Unlike the RTI Act, disclosures under the Bill are not made public but in confidence to a high level constitutional or statutory authority.

• With regard to the 10 prohibited categories, the RTI Act allows (i) the public authority to disclose information if he considers it to be in public interest; and (ii) a two stage appeal process if information is not made available. The Bill does not contain such provisions.

• A Competent Authority is required to refer a prohibited disclosure to a government authority for a final decision. However, the Bill does not specify the minimum qualifications required or the process of appointment of this authority.

• Whistleblower laws in other countries also prohibit the disclosure of certain types of information. These include information related to national security and intelligence, received in a fiduciary capacity, and any disclosure specifically prohibited by a law.

• While the Act sets out the procedure to inquire into the disclosures and provides adequate safeguards against victimization of the whistleblower, it also seeks to provide punishment for false or frivolous complaints. The wrongdoing might take the form of fraud, corruption or mismanagement.

• Ensuring punishment for frivolous cases will act as a deterrent against those who try to misuse the legislation for their vested interests. Undue interference and delay in decision making process can be checked if such safeguards are in place.

So, the amendments are not meant to jeopardize the life of Whistleblowers. It is meant to strike a balance. Its objective is to provide safeguards to both the stakeholders – the public servants and the whistleblower.

16. “For achieving the desired objectives, it is necessary to ensure that the regulatory institutions remain independent and autonomous.” Discuss in the light of the experiences in recent past.

Answer – With the increasing complexity of institutional mechanisms, it has become imperative to ensure independence and autonomy of the regulatory bodies. Some of the examples reflect this clearly.

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1. Securities and Exchange Board of India: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was first established in the year 1988 as a non-statutory body for regulating the securities market. Till 1992, SEBI was not an independent regulator but was under government control. The stock market scam of 1992, paved the way for large scale reforms in regulation of stock market. SEBI became an autonomous body in 1992 and more powers were given through an ordinance. Recent fraudulent operation of Ponzi schemes further made it necessary to give more powers to SEBI. Consequently, Securities Laws(Amendment) Act, 2014, was enacted. Over the years, SEBI has proved its credentials as one of the best regulators of the country. This success is the result of its autonomy and independence in decision making and functioning. 2. Forward Markets commission (FMC): It was the regulator of the commodities market. But due to lack of autonomy, power and independence like that of SEBI, it failed to be effective in regulating the market. The volatility in commodity market was a clear sign of this. It had very limited powers which restricted its range of operation. National Spot Exchange (NSEL) Scam of 2013, further put FMC under pressure. FMC failed completely in checking corruption, which ultimately resulted in scam of this extent. So, in 2015, it was merged with SEBI, which is a more autonomous and competent regulator.

3. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is a national agency of the Government of India. It was formed by an Act of Indian Parliament known as IRDA Act 1999, which was amended in 2002 to incorporate some emerging requirements. It has also done commendable work in regulating the insurance sector and increasing its penetration.

A regulator has important role of not just of regulating the entities, but also of consumer awareness, and deeper penetration of services. With increasing complexity of various sectors and emerging new technologies, the regulators need to be one step ahead in order to control the sector effectively.

So, the above examples clearly show the need for independence and autonomy in decision making and functioning of regulatory institutions.

17. Increasing interest of India in Africa has its pros and cons. critically examine.

Answer – Pros of India’s Interest in Africa:

(i) India and Africa are aligned on the outstanding issues at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and are in favor of multilateral trading systems. At the Bali Ministerial in 2013 too, Africa and India had united in seeking an interim mechanism for safeguarding minimum support prices to farmers against WTO caps till a permanent solution is found and adopted. (ii) Cooperation to tackle terrorism: India strongly advocated stepped-up cooperation through intelligence exchange and training with 54 African countries. (iii) Cooperation on climate change between India and Africa, both who had “contributed the least to global warming,”. Hence, there is convergence in our views, towards climate change action plan. (iv) There’s a convergence of interest for reforming the Security Council. It is imperative for both sides to speak in “one voice” for Security Council reforms. (v) Economic significance: Africa is an important trade partner for India. India-Africa trade was worth almost $70 billion in 2014-15, and Indian companies invested some $30-35 billion in the continent over the past decade. It needs to be taken beyond $100 billion. (vi) People to people contact: There has been a welcome surge in people-to-people contacts as large numbers of African entrepreneurs, medical tourists, trainees and students have started coming to India and Indian experts and entrepreneurs have headed there. (vii) Business-to-business links between India and several African nations have become increasingly important and are driving the government-to-government relationship.(viii) Stronger ties with Africa fit into India’s traditional foreign policy milieu. Cons: (i) Political Instability in the African countries may affect our relations. (ii) Threat of insurgent groups and terrorists. It is a big challenge for Indian Diaspora in African countries as well as for the Indian companies operating there.

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(iii) Drugs trafficking: Many people from poor African countries get involved in drug trafficking business to earn money. Liberal visa norms, can lead to drugs trafficking into India. We should harness our assets in Africa, such as the Indian diaspora there; a growing acceptance of the quality of our healthcare and educational facilities; relevance of our developmental model; and the greater willingness of our private sector to engage the continent. The goodwill India enjoys in the continent is a result of the principled anti-colonial positions the country took in the post-Independence era. Despite the above challenges, India should cash in on the goodwill to build a stronger economic and political partnership with Africa in the new century. 18. Discuss the impediments India is facing in its pursuit of a permanent seat in UN Security Council.

Answer – India is facing challenges on multiple fronts, in its pursuit of a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. Some of these are: Opposition to the expansion: (i) Uniting for Consensus (UfC): It is a movement, nicknamed the Coffee Club, that developed in the 1990s in opposition to the possible expansion of the United Nations Security Council. Under the leadership of Italy, it aims to counter the bids for permanent seats proposed by G4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan) and is calling for a consensus before any decision is reached on the form and size of the Security Council. (ii) Opposition regarding type of reform: India along with Brazil, Germany and South Africa are demanding increasing the number of permanent members. However, countries in the UfC demands a 25-member Security Council with more non-permanent members instead of a few more permanent members. (iii) Regarding Veto Power : Three powerful members of the UNSC — Russia, China, and the U.S. — are opposed to any major restructuring of the Council, and do not want to extend veto power to other countries. Whereas, India favours provision of veto powers to new permanent members. (iv) Global Security role: The major Western criticism has been that India has not shouldered global security responsibilities. Like India didn’t participate in Libya or Syria, along with the western forces. (v) India’s nuclear stand: India has not signed the Global Nuclear agreements like CTBT, NPT etc. Western countries keep it as a precondition for India, to seek permanent membership in UNSC. India’s argument for UNSC seat: (i)India is among the founding members of United Nations. (ii)It is the world’s largest democracy and Asia’s third largest economy. (iii) The Indian Army is the largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping mission since the inception of the mission. (iv) More important, India’s foreign policy has historically been aligned with world peace, and not with conflicts. (v) It has been a member of UNSC for 7 terms and a member of G-77 and G-4, so permanent membership is a logical extension.

Meaningful reform of the Council to make it more representative and democratic would strengthen the UN to address the challenges of a changing world more effectively. The permanent members should realize that a more democratic and representative Security Council would be better-equipped to address global challenges.

So, if the UN still shies away from reforming the Security Council, the possibility of the institution being sidelined by emerging powers cannot be ruled out.

19. Project `Mausam’ is considered a unique foreign policy initiative of the Indian Government to improve relationship with its neighbors. Does the project have a strategic dimension? Discuss.

Answer – Project Mausam: Maritime Routes and Cultural Landscapes across the Indian Ocean, the project focuses on the natural wind phenomenon, especially monsoon winds used by Indian sailors in ancient times for maritime trade, that has shaped interactions between countries and communities connected by the Indian Ocean.

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The endeavour of Project ‘Mausam’ is to position itself at two levels: at the macro level, it aims to re-connect and re-establish communications between countries of the Indian Ocean world, which would lead to an enhanced understanding of cultural values and concerns; while at the micro level, the focus is on understanding national cultures in their regional maritime milieu.

The central themes that hold Project ‘Mausam’ together are those of cultural routes and maritime landscapes that not only linked different parts of the Indian Ocean littoral, but also connected the coastal centres to their hinterlands. More importantly, shared knowledge systems and ideas spread along these routes and impacted both coastal centres, and also large parts of the environs.

The government will seek to draw on its ancient linkages with countries in this region as it offers an alternative which could counter-balance the maritime silk route of China. India also faces the onerous task of matching China's emphasis on building landmark infrastructure in the region, including ports in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. While the facilities are said to be civilian, India fears China getting operational control of these.

So, the project has a strategic significance. Increasing Cooperation with littoral countries of Indian Ocean will strengthen India’s role in the Indian Ocean. It will counter the Chinese influence in the region. Also it will increase the security architecture in the Indian Ocean, safeguarding India’s long coastline. 20. Terrorist activities and mutual distrust have clouded India-Pakistan relations. To what extent the use of soft power like sports and cultural exchanges could help generate goodwill between the two countries? Discuss with suitable examples.

Answer – Soft power is the ability of a country to persuade others to do what it wants without resorting to force or coercion. Use of soft power like sports and cultural exchanges provide a promising opportunity to infuse fresh degree of trust in India – Pakistan relations, in the following manner:

(i) People–to–people contacts will help in driving government-to- government relations. For example, people

from Pakistan coming to India for better healthcare services or Pakistan actors working in Bollywood etc creates such goodwill.

(ii) More cultural exchanges will erode away the distrust. People will know more of our cultural similarity, rather than emphasizing on differences. For example, folk dances across the border have similar representation of lifestyle of people.

(iii) Negating the role of Pakistani Military and Non state actors: They have a considerable influence on the foreign policy of Pakistan towards India. They are the main reasons for growing distrust between the two countries. But, use of soft power can negate the role of these players.

(iv) Building Conducive Environment: Use of soft power will help in creating suitable environment for carrying forward other diplomatic initiatives. So, the setting for peace-talks and other engagements with Pakistan can be provided by the use of soft power.

However, the scope and extent of soft power approach, with respect to our foreign policy towards Pakistan is very limited. It can create conducive environments, but it cannot solve the outstanding issues between the two countries. It can remove the distrust, but not remove the terrorists themselves.

For example, our initiative to start bus and train services between the two countries was an excellent example of our soft power approach. It helped in generating lots of goodwill among people of both the countries. However, the Pakistan Army became the game spoiler by attacking India in Kargil. Then we had to resort to war, to hand over a decisive and humiliating defeat to the enemy.

So, we cannot rely completely on soft power to secure our national interests, with respect to Pakistan. We just need to leverage our soft power, by using it to support larger foreign policy objectives. At the same time we need to use hard power approach to solve the outstanding issues. At present, issues like punishing of Mumbai blast accused, Kashmir and cross-border terrorism are the ones where we cannot go soft. So, we need a mix of both soft power and hard power.

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