Insights 2019 Mains Exclusive (Social issues)

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INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

Table of Contents

ISSUES RELATED TO WOMEN ...... 5 1. Facts for Mains ...... 5 2. Niti Aayog’s ‘Strategy for New @75’ ...... 8 3. Maternity Benefit ...... 9 4. Women Labour Force Participation ...... 10 5. Women of lower social strata ...... 10 6. Women in Agriculture ...... 11 7. Women in freedom struggle...... 12 8. Women’s political representation in India ...... 13 9. Contribution of contemporary women movement in women empowerment ...... 14 10. Water Crises and Women ...... 14 11. Gender Equality ...... 15 12. Reproductive rights of Women ...... 15 13. Women’s financial literacy ...... 16 14. Women as Jawans...... 16 15. Evolution of the Role of Women in Indian Society ...... 17 16. Indian Women in the STEM Field ...... 19 17. India's Sex Offenders' Registry ...... 19 18. Educating girls can improve India’s health outcomes ...... 20 19. Women Financial Inclusion ...... 21 20. Women entry into Sabarimala temple ...... 21 21. Honour Killing ...... 23

ISSUES RELATED TO CHILDREN...... 24 1. Facts for Mains ...... 24 2. Child Marriages in India ...... 25 3. Child ...... 26 4. Child Abuse in India ...... 27 5. Child Adoption ...... 27

OLD AGE ...... 28 1. Facts for Mains ...... 28 2. Impact of digitization and e-governance on the aged population ...... 29

ISSUES RELATED TO HEALTH ...... 30 1. Facts for Mains ...... 30 2. Healthcare Sector in India ...... 32 3. National Health Policy, 2017 ...... 33 4. : A Snapshot ...... 34 5. Lifestyle diseases in India ...... 34 6. National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey 2018-19 ...... 35 7. Achieving Zero Hunger by 2030 ...... 35 8. Technology in Healthcare ...... 36 9. International Examples ...... 37 www.insightsonindia.com Page 2 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

10. Public Health Cadre ...... 37 EDUCATION ...... 38 1. Facts for Mains ...... 38 2. Charging of exorbitant fees in private schools ...... 39 3. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018 ...... 39 4. Government Initiatives in the area of vocational education ...... 40

ISSUES RELATED TO POVERTY ...... 41 1. Issues involved in identification of poor in India ...... 41 2. DAY-NRLM in Reducing ...... 42

DISABILITY ...... 43 1. Facts for Mains ...... 43 2. Disabled Rights in India ...... 45

CASTE RELATED ISSUES / SCS AND STS ...... 46 1. Facts for Mains ...... 46 2. Untouchability in India ...... 47 3. Key findings of the NCRB Report ...... 47 4. Creamy Layer for SC / ST ...... 47

URBANISATION ...... 48 1. Facts for Mains ...... 48 2. Air Pollution ...... 49 3. Urban Observatory ...... 49 4. Municipal Solid Waste Management ...... 50 5. Progress of Smart Cities mission ...... 51

GLOBALIZATION ...... 52 1. Impact of globalization on Indian rural society ...... 52 2. Socio-Cultural Impact of globalisation on Indian Society ...... 52 3. Impact of globalization on Indian urban society...... 53 4. Influence of Globalisation on cultural diversity in India ...... 53 5. Globalisation and Poverty ...... 54

TRIBAL ISSUES ...... 55 1. Facts for Mains ...... 55 2. Rights of Forest-dwellers ...... 56 3. Remote indigenous groups ...... 57

GENDER ISSUES ...... 58 1. Transgenders and Voting ...... 58

COMMUNALISM ...... 58 1. in Indian context ...... 58 www.insightsonindia.com Page 3 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

2. Communalism promoted by British ...... 59

MISCELLANEOUS ...... 60 1. Demographic Dividend ...... 60 2. Migration ...... 60 3. National Policy for Internal Migration ...... 61 4. Manual Scavenging ...... 62 5. Reservation ...... 63 6. Diversity of India ...... 64 7. Impact of Social Media on Society ...... 64 8. School ...... 66

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INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

Issues Related to Women NOTES 1. Facts for Mains • In order to awaken the people, it is the woman who has to be awakened. Once she is on move, the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves - Pandit Jawaharalal Nehru. • Women need the 3C’s Confidence, Capabilities, access to Capital. Men need to understand that women are their equals. • Constitutional Provisions: o The Preamble starts by saying that we, the people of India – which includes women of India also. o The Constitution of India not only grants equality to women but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. o Equality before law for women (Article 14). o The State not to discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them (Article 15 (i)). o The State to make any special provision in favour of women and children (Article 15 (3)). o Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State (Article 16). o The State to direct its policy towards securing for men and women equally the right to an adequate means of livelihood (Article 39(a)). o Equal pay for equal work for both men and women (Article 39(d)). o The State to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief (Article 42). o It shall be the duty of every native of India to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women [Article 51-A(e)]. o 73rd Constitutional Amendment - One-third of seats in every Panchayat and One-third of the number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats shall be reserved for women. o 74th Constitutional Amendment - One-third of the seats in all Municipalities shall be reserved for women and offices of Chairpersons in the Municipalities shall be reserved for women in such manner as the State Legislature may provide. • Legal Provisions: o Some acts which have special provisions to safeguard women and their interests are: o Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 o Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 - combat trafficking and sexual exploitation for commercial purposes. o Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. o The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 o The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 o The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 o of Women at Workplace (Prevention, www.insightsonindia.com Page 5 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. o Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, NOTES 2003. • Special Initiatives For Women: o National Commission for Women. o Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) - for socio-economic empowerment of women. o Reservation for Women in Local Self –Government. o The National Plan of Action for the Girl Child (1991-2000). o Draft National Policy for Women – 2016. o National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW). • Key Supreme Court Judgements: o Vishaka Vs State of Rajasthan - Guidelines to prevent sexual harassment against women in work places. o Shayara Bano v. Union Of India (2017) - Supreme Court had set aside the validity of instant talaq (talaq-e-biddat), thus rendering its pronouncement ineffective in dissolving a marriage. • Reports: o Global Gender Gap Index 2018 ▪ India has been ranked at 108. ▪ It has recorded improvement in wage equality for similar work and has fully closed its tertiary education gender gap for the first time. ▪ India continues to rank third-lowest in the world on health and survival. ▪ India has the second-largest artificial intelligence (AI) workforce but one of the largest AI gender gaps, with only 22% of roles filled by women. ▪ India needs to get more women into senior and professional roles to make more improvement in the rankings. o The ‘Men and Women in 2017’ report released by the statistics and programme implementation ministry in 2018 contains data on average daily wages and salaries for men and women aged 15-59 years, arranged by industry and type of work. ▪ In urban areas, a woman with a graduate degree gets paid Rs 690.68 per day in the transport and storage sector while a man gets 30% more at Rs 902.45. ▪ In agriculture, an illiterate woman worker in rural India receives Rs 88.2 per day while an illiterate man receives Rs 128.52, which is 45% more. ▪ However, there are some sectors in which women get paid more than men, although by smaller margins. o India ranks 127 out 160 countries on the Gender Inequality Index. o According to Global Wage Report 2018-19 published by ILO, on an average, women are paid 34% less than men in India. Inequality is higher in monthly wages, with a gap of 22%.

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INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

o According to data released by Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), India ranks 115 in the World for proportion of National Parliament seats NOTES held by Women. o The World bank’s Women, business and the law 2019 report, published recently, measured gender discrimination in 187 countries and found only six countries in the world give women and men equal legal work rights. India has a score of 71.25 among the 187 countries. o According to a new World Bank study, Access to electricity is associated with significant improvement in women empowerment. It also says that Women’s bargaining power increases by 7-10 percentage points because of electrification. • NGOs working towards Women Empowerment: o CARE India - working for over 65 years to empower women affected by poverty and social discrimination. o Bharatiya Grameen Mahila Sangh - for women empowerment and education. • Government Initiatives: o SHe-Box - Online Complaint Management System. o Mahila Police Volunteers (MPVs) - act as a link between police and community and help women in distress. o National Repository of Information for Women (NARI portal) - provide women citizens with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for women. o Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana - conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women. o Mahila E-Haat - leverages technology for showcasing products made/manufactured/sold by women entrepreneurs. o Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme - empower rural women through community participation. o Sakhi One Stop Centres - aims to facilitate access to an integrated range of services including medical aid, police assistance, legal aid/case management, psychosocial counselling, and temporary support services to women affected by violence. o Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) ▪ Safeguard the health of women & children by providing them with a clean cooking fuel – LPG. ▪ LPG connections issued in the name of the women of the households. • Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) – sample registration system (SRS) data released by the office of Registrar General of India - declined to 130 in 2014-16 from 167 in 2011-13. • Crimes against women – 2016 NCRB data - overall crimes against women have risen by just about 3%, incidents of rape have gone up by 12%. • #MeToo campaign was a harsh reality check, about sexual harassment that take place in our educational institutions, at workplaces, by people in authority, by respected elders. www.insightsonindia.com Page 7 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

• The issue of gender biasness and gender discrimination has been given the utmost priority even by the United Nations. NOTES • According to UN, one out of every three women experiences violence. • Women like Sakshi Malik (wrestler), Dipa Karmakar (gymnast) and Manushi Chhillar (Miss World) have all portrayed extraordinary potential and rose to International recognition. • Recently Hima Das, the Indian sprinter who made headlines after winning five gold medals within a month. • It has been found in various studies conducted by the World Bank, ADB and other renowned research organisations that, educated female-headed households do much better in the provision of health and education of the children at home. • With more than 75% women not contributing to the economy, the nation is not only losing on the economic part but also the development of 50% of our population. • The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 which increased women’s leave entitlements from 12 to 26 weeks does not apply to women working in informal sector. • Issues in implementation of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act: o 70% of the women do not report sexual harassment by superiors due to the fear of repercussions. o According to a 2015 research study, 36% of Indian companies and 25% of multinational companies had not yet constituted their Internal Complaints Committee (ICCs) which is mandatory under the Act. o Cases remain pending in court for long time enhancing the agony of victims. o The Act does not fix accountability as to who is in charge of ensuring that workplaces comply with the Act. o The Act does not contain provisions to address anonymous complaints. o In India wherever the accused has been influential they have got a free hand. It creates a sense of alienation, disbelief about the law. 2. Niti Aayog’s ‘Strategy for New India @75’ • Niti Aayog’s ‘Strategy for New India @75’ document falls short of engaging gender equality in a meaningful way. • The strategy document aims to achieve a female labour force participation of at least 30 per cent by 2022. • Problems: o Crimes: NCRB data recording an 83 per cent increase in crimes against women between 2007 and 2016, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global poll in 2018 naming India as the most dangerous country for women. o Social barriers: According to recent research by Public Affairs Centre (PAC), a major metropolis like Delhi has only 196 female workers per www.insightsonindia.com Page 8 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

1,000 workers, and Mumbai has only 188. In contrast, a state like Nagaland, which has historically been matrilineal, has more than 500 NOTES women workers per 1,000 in most districts. o Unpaid care: Unpaid work done by women in the household o Fixed Gender Roles. o Gender-wage gap: A government report in 2018 finding a 30 per cent wage gap even for men and women with the same qualifications. • Women also lack equal inheritance rights leading to Feminization of poverty. • The NITI Strategy document opted for a GDP-centric approach focusing only on capitalisable gender dividend. The need of the hour to reap economic benefits is by addressing the issues of gender rights and justice. 3. Maternity Benefit • The Maternity Benefit is the one which protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her full paid absence from work, to take care for her child. – Always remember a standard definition. • The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 increased women’s leave entitlements from 12 to 26 weeks for all women in establishments with greater than 10 employees. • Concerns that the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 has a negative impact in the labour market. • Need for Maternity Leave: o Article 42 - right to just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. o Six month of breastfeeding is important - develop immunity for the Child. o WHO and the Union ministry of health and family welfare guidelines – Child needs to be nursed by its mother for a minimum of six months. • Teamlease study finds that 26 weeks of paid maternity leave could have a negative bearing on the hiring of women in the short-term. • Recommendations: o International Labour Organisation recommends 14 weeks of maternity leave. o World Health Organisation recommends 24 weeks. • International Practice: o US provide up to 12 weeks leave, but that is unpaid. o China mandates a 14-week maternity leave along with maternity allowance, assuming she has contributed to maternity insurance. o In Singapore, women get 16 weeks of maternity leave with the employer paying for eight weeks and the next eight reimbursed to the employer by the government. o Some 55 per cent countries recognise the father’s role and give parental leave. • The 2018 ILO report emphasises the need for government support up to at least two-thirds of the costs of maternity benefits, under ILO Convention www.insightsonindia.com Page 9 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

183. • Breastfeeding practice: NOTES o A 2017 report released by the Global Breastfeeding Collective, led by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation, has termed breastfeeding the “best investment in global health” generating $35 in global return for every dollar invested. o ‘Global Breastfeeding Scorecard, 2017’ released by the Collective shows that India spends an abysmal $0.15 (less than ₹10) per child to ensure that it meets the breastfeeding guidelines. o As a result, India is poised to lose an estimated $14 billion in its economy to a high level of child mortality and growing number of deaths in women from cancers and Type II diabetes, directly attributable to inadequate breastfeeding. 4. Women Labour Force Participation • India can increase its GDP by up to 60% by 2025 by enabling more women to participate in its workforce, a 2015 study by the McKinsey Global Institute. • India’s female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)—the share of working-age women who report either being employed, or being available for work—has fallen to a historic low of 23.3% in 2017-18, meaning that over three out of four women over the age of 15 in India are neither working nor seeking work. • While some of the fall in women’s workforce participation is explained by higher rates of higher education enrolment, indicating that more young women are in higher education rather than working or looking for jobs, the data also points to a fall in working rates for older women. o As India grows economically, the number of women in workplaces is declining steadily, despite enrolment of girls in higher education courses is growing steadily to 46% in 2014 from 39% in 2007. o Economic Survey 2018 stressed on the need to increase women participation in labour force. It said that lower women engagement adversely affects the growth potential of the economy. o International Practice: ▪ The global share of women in the workforce is 40%, which means India is well below average. ▪ The female labour force participation rate (LFPR) in Sweden is 88%. ▪ One key ingredient of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic revival strategies was to increase female LFPR. ▪ In Bangladesh, more than 90% of the garment workers are women, far ahead of India. 5. Women of lower social strata • Today Women of lower social strata belonging to lower castes, minority religion or economically backward regions continue to face hardships. • The women’s movements during the independence struggle were initially mostly revolving around the upper-class, educated and those from www.insightsonindia.com Page 10 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

politically influential families. For instance, Swarnakumari Devi, less heard of than her brother Rabindranath Tagore, started the Ladies Theosophical NOTES Society (a multi-religion association of women) way back in 1882 and later became a member of the Indian National Congress. • The nature of issues faced today by the women of lower strata o Economic realm: Very poor Labour force participation rate of women. The Global Gender Gap report reveals that the wage gap remains prominent for semi-skilled and unskilled workers. Feminization of poverty is very high. o Political realm: 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act made 33% reservation mandatory for women in Panchayats and ULBs. However, this is misused under Tokenism and men make the decisions. o Social realm: The worst forms of Patriarchy is more prominent in the lower social strata. Haryana with primarily agricultural economy had the poorest child sex ratio. • Post-independence, the women movements like anti-liqour movements, SHG-revolution, strong legislations like Domestic Violence Act, PCPNDT act etc., governmental schemes like BBBP, etc. and recent MeToo movement has impacted the women in the lower strata in a positive way. However, there is still a lot of scope to improve the status of lower-strata . 6. Women in Agriculture • Agriculture in India is significantly dependent on women. Women make up about 33% of cultivators and about 47% of agricultural labourers in rural India. Overall, the percentage of rural women who depend on agriculture for their livelihood is as high as 84%. • Swaminathan, the famous agricultural scientist describes that it was woman who first domesticated crop plants and thereby initiated the art and science of farming. • The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30%. This could raise total the agricultural output in developing countries by up to 4%, which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12–17% – that’s 100-150 million people. • According to Oxfam India, women are responsible for about 60-80% of food and 90% of dairy production, respectively. The work by women farmers, in crop cultivation, livestock management or at home, often goes unnoticed. • The Food and Agriculture Organisation says that equalising access to productive resources for female and male farmers could increase agricultural output in developing countries by as much as 2.5% to 4%. • In 2014, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, of 8,007 farmer suicides, 441 were women. Also 577 women labourers committed suicide that year. • Women have just a dismal 12.8% of land holdings despite being crucial to the whole production chain. www.insightsonindia.com Page 11 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

• Example: Women in Uttar Pradesh own a little under 18% of the land, and in Kerala it is just 14% NOTES • Government flagship schemes such as the National Food Security Mission, Sub-mission on Seed and Planting Material and the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana must include women-centric strategies and dedicated expenditure. • Krishi Vigyan Kendras in every district can be assigned an additional task to educate and train women farmers about innovative technology along with extension services. • The differential access of women to resources like land, credit, water, seeds and markets needs to be addressed. • Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) - Women beneficiaries get assistance for horticulture mechanization along with assistance in procuring agricultural machinery and equipments. • National Mission on Oilseeds & Oil Palm (NMOOP) - Promoting Women Groups. • The Economic survey 2017-18 said a gender-specific intervention to raise productivity of small farm holdings is required 7. Women in freedom struggle • From the first struggle in 1857 to the last struggle in 1942, Women have played an instrumental role in India’s struggle for independence. • Factors which helped in arousing women’s consciousness: o Colonial domination and the traditional hierarchy. o Gandhiji, during the freedom movement in 1920, successfully managed to evolve his discourse on the position of women both within and outside the domain of home. o The late 19th century educational reforms produced a new variety of reading and writing public. They discussed about radical ideas for women empowerment. Example: In 1908, Rokeya Sekhawat wrote ‘Sultana’s Dream’ in which idea of women’s own governance system was introduced. o 19th century women’s own organisation mushroomed all over India. Sarala Debi Chaudhurani organised ‘Bharat Stree Mahamandal’ in 1910. o The revolutionary women of the 20th century was mobilized to take up arms for the nation inspiring from the tradition of Razia Sultana and Jhansi. o Gandhi politicized the ordinary items like salt which are associated with the daily lives of women. • Role played by women in freedom struggle: o During Swadeshi campaign a nationalistic cult around Bharat Mata (mother India) started to emerge which further necessitated the role of women. o Annie Besant, who became the first woman president of Indian National congress, launched Home Rule movement. o Margret Cousins drafted Indian women’s voting rights bill and launched Women’s India Association. Sarojini Naidu emerged as an important national leader who later became the President of INC. www.insightsonindia.com Page 12 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

o The women’s participation in Non-Cooperation movement helped in incorporating women from all over India. It also saw inclusion of NOTES women from all sections – Hindu/ Muslim, widows, scheduled/marginalised sections. o During Civil Disobedience, women volunteers participated in marches boycotts and prabhat pheris. Desh Sevika Sangh, patriotic groups within their association, was formed for passive resistance. o Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) saw contribution by Durgavati Devi who helped Bhagat singh in his escape after the Saunders killing. Kalpana Dutta of Indian Republican Army led the armed resistance along with Surya Sen. She was joined with Pritilata Waddedar in 1931 in attacking the European club in Chittagong. o The history of women and independence movement is not an end in itself but has roots extended to this day. 8. Women’s political representation in India • B.R. Ambedkar once said that “political power is the key to all social progress”. Remember some famous quotes. • Article 325 and 326: They guarantee political equality, equal right to participate in political activity and right to vote, respectively. • The Economic survey for 2017-18 said factors such as domestic responsibilities, prevailing cultural attitudes regarding roles of women in society and lack of support from family were among main reasons that prevented them from entering politics. • The survey said there are developing countries like Rwanda which has more than 60% women representatives in parliament in 2017. • Sweden with 47% female participation has almost equal participation of women in Parliament followed by Cuba and Iceland. • The Economic Survey 2018 called for more representation of women in decision making process in the country, saying their political participation has been low despite them accounting for 49 per cent of the population. • The newly elected 17th Lok Sabha has 78 women Members of Parliament (MPs), the highest since independence. • The introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in 1996 that would reserve 33 percent of seats in Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for women on a rotational basis, lapsed in 2014. • Enhancing women participation in parliament would ensure the upliftment of status of women: o A study by IndiaSpend reported women panchayat leaders in Tamil Nadu invested 48 percent more money than their male counterparts in building roads and improving access. o Another study by the United Nations found that women-led panchayats delivered 62 percent higher drinking water projects than those led by men.

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INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

9. Contribution of contemporary women movement in women empowerment NOTES • The contemporary women’s movement in India (1975–present) has played an important role in bringing gender issues to the forefront of development planning and defining feminist politics. • National Federation of Indian Women (1954) the Samajwadi Mahila Sabha (1559) were formed to work for championing the cause of Indian women. • The Feminist Network in English and Manushi in Hindi were some of the first women’s newsletters and magazines to appear. • Chipko movement: also enunciated a new theory that women should be given the right for self- determination. • The Chipko movement also picturised women as being an exploited class along with nature, and any violence against nature began to be identified with violence against women. • The New Delhi gang rape in 2012 has become a landmark in the fight for women’s rights and feminism in India, leading to legislative changes and moving gender to the center stage of political debates. • The earliest campaigns – the 2003 Blank Noise Project against eve-teasing, the 2009 Pink Chaddi (underwear) movement against moral policing and the 2011 SlutWalk protest against victim-blaming – were limited in their scope but set the tone for this new mode of protest. • The recent #MeToo campaign shows the changing face of women’s movements in India. 10. Water Crises and Women • For women, the water crisis is personal. They are responsible for finding a resource their families need to survive – for drinking, cooking, sanitation and hygiene. • Even as recently as in 2015, at least 844 million people across the world — 12 percent of the global population — were still lacking basic drinking water services. • Globally, in eight out of 10 households lacking water provision, it is women and girls who bear this responsibility. • 200 million hours women and children spend every day finding and collecting water. • Water scarcity has serious implications on women’s health. • The World Health Organization recommends 20-50 litres of water per person per day for drinking, cooking and washing. • In Asia and Africa, women walk an average of 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) per day collecting water. • In India, water crises usually emerge because access to and control over water is differentiated due to caste, gender, and wealth. Thus, the water crisis is a socially mediated one, with water often flowing uphill to money and power. • Smart, simple and sustainable solutions like Watercredit, rainwater harvesting, watershed www.insightsonindia.com Page 14 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

development needs to be driven by the policies of the state. • Technologies capable of converting non-drinkable water into fresh, NOTES consumable water, offering a potential solution to the impending water crisis are needed. Example: Desalination technologies in Coastal areas, Water-sterilization in polluted water areas. • The lack of access to water is a violation of poor women and men’s human rights. Pictures of women carrying pots may be beautiful and widespread in popular culture, but it is a crime and outrage in the 21st century. 11. Gender Equality • UNICEF says gender equality "means that women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections”. - Always remember a standard definition. • Gender equality is when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society, including economic participation and decision-making. • Gender Equality is central to inclusive economic growth and is critical for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). • A policy framework encouraging and enabling women’s participation should be constructed with active awareness of the “gender-specific” constraints that face most women. • India’s progress towards gender equality, measured by its position on rankings such as the Gender Development Index has been disappointing, despite fairly rapid rates of economic growth. • Half of India’s population consists of women, but as per UNDP’s Gender Inequality Index (GII), Indian women lag behind in the socio-economic indicators. 12. Reproductive rights of Women • India accounts for over one-sixth of the world’s population in 2019 (1.37 billion out of 7.71 billion) and has grown at a rate (1.2% per year between 2010 and 2019) that is just over the world growth rate (1.2%), according to State of the World Population 2019, the flagship report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). • Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. • Women’s reproductive rights may include some or all of the following: the right to legal and safe abortion; the right to birth control; freedom from coerced sterilization and contraception; the right to access good-quality reproductive healthcare; and the right to education and access in order to make free and informed reproductive choices. • Reproductive rights and women health: o Between 2006 and 2017, 86% of births in India were attended by skilled health personnel, as compared to 79% across the world. o India’s maternal mortality ratio in 2015 was 174 deaths per lakh live births (down from 448 in 1994) while the global MMR in 2015 was 216. www.insightsonindia.com Page 15 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

INSIGHTS 2019 MAINS EXCLUSIVE (SOCIAL ISSUES)

o India’s fertility rate in 2019 is 2.3 births per woman, compared to 2.5 worldwide NOTES o While India’s life expectancy at birth is lower than the world’s (69 years to 72), it scores higher than the global average in terms of access to healthcare during childbirth, and also has a much lower adolescent birth rate. • There is an urge to have legislation as Reproductive Rights (Protection) Act in order to protect and promote reproductive rights of women and to look after all the issues of reproductive health of women whether it is as regard to providing medical facilities or creating awareness or having health policies and programmes concerning women. 13. Women’s financial literacy • Financial literacy is the ability to use skills and knowledge to take effective and informed money-management decisions. • Situation of financial literacy of women in India: o Not just rural women, but women in urban economically well-off situations display lower financial literacy levels than men. o With only 20 percent of women being financially literate, 77 percent women depend on their spouse or father for investment decisions. o Various factors that profoundly influenced financial literacy among Indian women include Lack of Independence, Patriarchal Culture, General Literacy, and Lack of confidence and Access to finance. • With India emerging as a top destination for investments and the country set to become a US $ 10 Trillion economy in the next 10-15 years, women empowerment through financial literacy acquires greater importance and must be accorded highest priority. • The Self-Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme (SHG-BLP) programme, which is the largest microfinance programme in the world in terms of client base and outreach, provides SHGs access to institutional lending. More than 86 percent of the groups under this programme comprise exclusively of women. • Programmes like “Jaadu Ginni ka” which engages self-help groups and other women associations across states for taking financial literacy to the base of the pyramid. • Government initiatives like Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, PM JanDhan Yojana and National Center for Financial Education can put their best efforts to increase financial literacy of women. • Financial literacy is an invaluable life skill which should be ingrained in an individual right from the start. A conducive financial landscape with a blend of a favourable regulatory regime, innovative women-centric products/schemes, enhanced mobility, robust customer protection framework and reformed attitudes towards women will increasingly stimulate women to be well equipped with financial skills. 14. Women as Jawans www.insightsonindia.com Page 16 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• The Indian Army recently kicked off the process of inducting women as jawans by starting their online registration for recruitment in the corps of NOTES military police. • Current status: o As per government data, the Army has 3.80 per cent of its workforce as women, the Air Force has 13.09 per cent and the Navy six per cent. o Currently, women are allowed in select areas such as medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army. • Women In India reflected the struggling ethos and has been part of Indian freedom struggle in form of Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi, Rani Gadinlieu of Assam. So they hold prospects in future as well. • It would be significant boost to women empowerment and has spill-over effect to general level of literacy, health, employment of women in defence sector as well as other sector. • Indian women have never obtained their rights without a struggle. As they battle inequality and prejudice, they should also fight for their right to fight for their country. • The move would help bring in Gender Parity in the armed forces to an extent. 15. Evolution of the Role of Women in Indian Society • Rig vedic period:- o Rig Vedic Women in India enjoyed high status in society and their condition was good. o Even the women were provided opportunity to attain high intellectual and spiritual standard. o There was no system or early marriage. o They enjoyed freedom and even they enjoyed freedom in selecting their male partner. o Widows were permitted to remarry. o Women were given complete freedom in family matters. o They were given education at a equal footing to men. • Later vedic period:- o But from enjoying free and esteemed positions in the Rig-Vedic society, women started being discriminated against since the Later- Vedic period in education and other rights and facilities. o Child marriage, widow burning, the purdah and polygamy further worsened the women’s position. • Women in Buddhist period:- o The status of women improved a little during the Buddhist period though there was no tremendous change. o Some of the rigidities and restrictions imposed by the caste system were relaxed. o Buddha preached equality and he tried to improve the cultural, educational and religious statuses of women. o During the benevolent rule of the famous Buddhist kings such as Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Sri Harsha and others, women www.insightsonindia.com Page 17 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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regained a part of their lost freedom and status due to the relatively broadminded Buddhist philosophy. NOTES o Women were permitted to become “Sanyasis”. Many women took a leading role in Buddhist monastic-life, women had their sangha called the Bhikshuni Sangha, which was guided by the same rules and regulations as these of the monks. • Status of women in the Medieval India: o The Medieval period proved to be highly disappointing for the Indian women, for their status further deteriorated during this period. o When foreign conquerors invaded India, they brought with them their own culture. For them women were the sole property of her father, brother or husband and she does not have any will of her own. This type of thinking also crept into the minds of Indian people and they also began to treat their own women like this. o They were not allowed to move freely and this lead to the further deterioration of their status. o These problems related with women resulted in changed mindset of people. Now they began to consider a girl as misery and a burden, which has to be shielded from the eyes of intruders and needs extra care. o All this gave rise to some new evils such as Child Marriage, Sati, Jauhar and restriction on girl education • Position of woman during east India Company: o During the period of East India Company, many social reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar chandara Vidyasagar and Jyotiba Phule had struggled for the improvement of status of woman in Indian society. o Peary Charan Sarkar had firstly started girl’s school in India in 1847 at Calcutta. o Under this period Raja Ram Mohan Roy with some support from British had succeeded to abolish sati system from India. o Women played significant role in freedom movement as well. • Independent India:- o Women in India now participate in all activities such as education, politics, media, art and culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc. • Modern Indian Women o The status of women in modern India is a sort of a paradox. If on one hand she is at the peak of ladder of success, on the other hand she is mutely suffering the violence afflicted on her by her own family members. o But in India still the sex ratio of India shows that the Indian society is still prejudiced against female, sexual violence, safety issues still concern them.

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16. Indian Women in the STEM Field NOTES • Science, technology, engineering, and medicine – together known as ‘STEM’ fields – suffer from lack of women, especially in India. • According to the 2018 UNESCO Institute for Statistics’ report on women in science, 44% of bachelor students and 41% of doctoral students in India are female. • According to a recent survey on Women in STEM, 81 per cent women in India perceive gender bias in performance evaluations. • While more women are enrolling in university, relatively few pursue careers in research. • The ideal fraction of 50% of female students has not been achieved. • There is a “major paucity” of women at the senior-most administrative and policy making positions in scientific institutions. • Government Initiatives: o Vigyan Jyoti scheme: The scheme aims to arrange for girl students of classes 9, 10 and 11 meet women scientists, with the IITs and the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. o Inspire-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge): Attract talented young boys and girls to study science and pursue research as a career. o Unnat Bharat Abhiyan programme: Connect India’s elite institutes with local communities and address their developmental challenges with appropriate technological interventions. o Women-centric programmes under the Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN) initiative. • India will have the world's youngest population by 2022 and the women of the country will play a definitive role in devising the country’s future. • It takes a multi-pronged approach to create meaningful, lasting changes in the retention of women in STEM fields. 17. India's Sex Offenders' Registry • India launched a national sex offenders’ registry, which will have records of about 4.4 lakh people convicted of various sexual offences from 2005 onwards. • The registry will be maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). • The records will include the convict’s name, address, fingerprints and photographs of convicted sexual offenders. • The database will have details of offenders convicted under charges of rape, gang rape, POCSO and harassing women. • The sex offenders’ registry will store the data of those convicts classified as “low danger” to society for 15 years, and “moderate danger” to society for 25 years. • India joined eight other countries that maintain a registry of sex offenders.

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• The latest National Crime Records Bureau data shows there has been a 12% rise in rapes between 2015 and 2016, and that the majority of offenders NOTES are known to the victim. In a situation like this, the sex offenders’ list can definitely help the investigation and monitoring process. • Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi had urged the government to push for a registry of sexual offenders, propagating the 'name and shame' approach in dealing with sexual predators. • Since 97% crime against women is caused by known people, the registry will allow women to decide whom to stay away from. • International Practice: o In the United States, the sex offender registry is available to the public. o The US's registry lets citizens search for sex offenders living near them. o In India, and countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Trinidad & Tobago, the registry is available only to law enforcement agencies. 18. Educating girls can improve India’s health outcomes • Nationally, according to 2017 government data, 34 out of every 1,000 new- borns will not survive till their first birthday, of whom 25 would not have lived beyond their first 28 days. • Female literacy = Delayed marriage. • Female literacy rates in Kerala and Tamil Nadu are 92% and 73.9% respectively, while the same rates for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are about half, at 42.2% and 33.1%, respectively. • In northern states, women are routinely forced into early marriages. • Female literacy + delayed marriage = Fewer babies per woman (Low fertility rate). • Multiple pregnancies with inadequate spacing adversely affect the health of mother and child. • Female literacy + delayed marriage + fewer babies per woman = Higher child survival.

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NOTES

19. Women Financial Inclusion • With present trend, it will take 217 years for women’s access to economic opportunity to be on a par with that of men.

• Global Findex Report 2017 estimates that 77% of Indian women now own a bank account against respective 43% and 26% in 2014 and 2011. • The male-female difference, or the gender gap, in account ownership narrowed to 6.4 percentage points in 2017, it was 19.8 in 2014. • Women trail behind even more in access to formal credit markets. • Only 5% took a loan—less than half their Chinese counterparts (11%) and below the global 9%; while 30% continue to borrow informally (family and friends). • Considering that about 10% of India’s total entrepreneurs are women, and that 98% of women are concentrated in micro-enterprises and informal (99%) segments, the virtual lack of access to formal credit is a huge constraint. • Indian women are less financially included than men by other metrics as well like owning debit cards and credit cards. 20. Women entry into Sabarimala temple www.insightsonindia.com Page 21 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• The Supreme Court has struck down the ban on the entry of women aged 10-50 at the Sabarimala temple. NOTES • This ban had been given legal sanction under the Rule 3 (b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965 as unconstitutional. SC held that exclusion on grounds of biological, physiological features are discriminatory. • Entry of women would be tested against the fundamental rights of Article 14 (equality under law) and Article 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste etc) of the Constitution of India. • It curtails her religious freedom assured by Article 25(1). • Prohibition of women’s entry to the shrine solely on the basis of womanhood and the biological features associated with womanhood is derogatory to women, which Article 51A (e) aims to renounce. • How is SC judgement is a triumph of gender justice:- o Social modernisation, especially with respect to ending discriminatory traditions, is a goal that all societies must aspire for. To that end, the law catalysing change is desirable and the judgment provides that. o Religion cannot be covered to deny women right to worship. To treat women as children of lesser God is to blink at Constitutional morality. o Activists claim that not allowing women into the temple is violation of women’s rights ▪ Discrimination based on biological reasons is not permissible going by the constitutional scheme. ▪ They maintain that due to the current exclusion, the right of women to worship the deity, Ayyappa, is violated. o Exclusion is a form of ‘untouchability’ since the exclusion is solely based on notions of purity and impurity. But this argument was resisted on the contention that the prohibition of untouchability was historically intended only to protect the interests of the backward classes. The claim is that the makers of the Constitution never envisioned including women within the ambit of untouchability. • Negatives:- o Some activists criticize that the judgment should have considered the sentiments of the devotees. o While Hinduism is not monolithic, each temple has its own traditions on account of social and historical reasons. o Since the deity Lord Ayyapan is a celibate, the entry of menstruating women inside the temple cannot be allowed, argues the temple Board. • Progressive judgments take time to be accepted by the society be it laws against sati, child marriage, section 377 etc. India being a multicultural society respects views of all people and political parties need to work in public interest and look towards greater objective of building tolerance which is the cornerstone of Indian society rather than igniting insecurity amongst people. www.insightsonindia.com Page 22 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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21. Honour Killing NOTES • Supreme Court has said that adults are free to marry persons of their own choice and hurting couples, or summoning them before clan members, groups, or a khap, is “absolutely illegal”. • Holding honour killings as a slur on the nation, and terming it a barbaric, feudal practice that ought to be stamped out, the Supreme Court directed courts to view such cases as in “rarest of rare” category for awarding death penalty to the convicts.

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Issues related to Children NOTES 1. Facts for Mains • The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) defines the child as a person under 18 years of age. It acknowledges the primary role of parents and the family in the care and protection of children, as well as the obligation of the State to help them carry out these duties. Always remember a standard definition. • Constitutional Provisions: o Article 14 and Article 15. o Article 21- no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. o Article 21 A-The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6-14 years. o Article 23-Traffic in human beings and beggary and other forms of forced labour are prohibited. o Article 24-No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. o Article 45 - envisages that the state shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years. • Legal Provisions: o Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 o POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) was passed in 2012 and it deals with sexual offences against persons below 18 years of age. o Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006. o Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 - allows for juveniles in conflict with Law in the age group of 16–18, involved in Heinous Offences, to be tried as adults. o Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016. • Supreme Court Judgements: o In October 2017, Supreme Court of India gave a landmark judgement criminalising sex with a child bride. • Government Initiatives: o National Policy for Children, 2013. ▪ The Policy has identified four key priority areas: survival, health and nutrition; education and development; protection and participation, for focused attention. o Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme. o Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL) Portal: ▪ Electronic platform that aims at involving Centre, State, District, Governments, civil society and general public in achieving the target of child labour free society.

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o National Child Labour Project - to eliminate all forms of child labour. o Khoya Paya portal - exchange information on missing and found NOTES children. o POCSO e-Box - Online complaint management system for easy and direct reporting of sexual offences against children. o Integrated Child Protection Scheme - building a protective environment for children in difficult circumstances through Government-Civil Society Partnership. o Operation Smile / Operation MUSKAAN - to rescue/rehabilitate missing children. • Institutions: o National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). o National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) - promotion of voluntary action, research, training and documentation in the domain of women and child development. o Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) - monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions. • NGOs working for Child Welfare: o Child Rights and You - ensure that the fundamental rights of children are protected. o Save the Children - fighting child sex abuse, and providing rehabilitation to victims of abuse. o Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) - started by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi is working for the protection of children and ensuring their quality education. o Aarambh Initiative - India’s 1st Online Portal Dedicated to Protect Children from Sexual Offences. • 100 Million For 100 Million Campaign - organized by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation - aims to mobilise 100 million youth and children for 100 million underprivileged children across the world, to end child labour, child slavery, and violence against children and promote the right of every child to be safe, free, and educated. • Child Sex Ratio: As per the Census, 2011 the child sex ratio (0-6 years) has shown a decline from 927 females per thousand males in 2001 to 919 females per thousand males in 2011. • India should prioritise spending on children: Kailash Satyarthi. Quote the statements or recommendation made by famous personalities. 2. Child Marriages in India • UNICEF defines child marriage as marriage before 18 years of age and considers this practice as violation of human right. Always remember a standard definition. • As per the law in India, a child marriage is one in which the girl is below the age of eighteen years and the boy is below the age of twenty one years. • Prohibition of child marriages act was enacted in 2006, yet child marriages are continuing in India. • Nearly three percent of girls are married in the age group of 10 to 14 years. • As per National Family Health Survey 26.8% women were married before www.insightsonindia.com Page 25 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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18 years. • One out of every 5 marriages violates provisions of the Prohibition of Child NOTES Marriage Act. • Rajasthan has the highest incidence of child marriages • India has largest number of Child marriage incidences around the world. • UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2016 report noted that “Girls from the poorest households—and those living in rural areas—face twice the risk of being married before 18 than those living in urban areas. • ‘National Girl Child Day’ - To promote sensitization and awareness on the girl child. • Dhan Laxmi scheme and the Apni beti apna dhan programme - cash incentives and awareness-raising to induce behaviour change. • Odisha Child Marriage Resistance Forum: Quote such unique initiatives o Children who have resisted parental and societal pressure to get married before the legal age have joined hands to bring an end to the regressive practice in Odisha. o Prevent untimely marriages and spread awareness among parents. o ActionAid, an international voluntary organisation, and UNICEF have supported the initiative. • Law Commission of India suggested amendments in the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 to make registration of marriages compulsory, like births and deaths, as an effective antidote to social evils like child marriage, bigamy and gender violence. 3. • “There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.” – Nelson Mandela. Remember some famous quotes. • The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines child labour as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development. Always remember a standard definition. • As per Census 2011, in the age group (5-14) years, 10.1 million (3.9% of total child population) were working, either as ‘main worker’ or as ‘marginal worker’. • Child labour has decreased in rural areas. However, it has increased drastically in the urban areas. • India has ratified two key global conventions for combating child labour. • The Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No 138) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). • The ratification of these conventions will help in achieving Goal 8 of the sustainable development goals. • Goal 8 aims to Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. • A National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987 to focus on rehabilitating children working in hazardous occupations.

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• Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 - prohibit the engagement of children in all occupations and to prohibit the NOTES engagement of adolescents in hazardous occupations. • Constitutional provisions: o Article 21(A) and Article 45 – The child has the right to Education i.e. the state shall provide compulsory and free education to the children of the age six to 14 years. o Article 24 –child below the age of 14 years cannot be employed in any mine, factory or hazardous workplace. o Article 39(f) –The child’s youth and childhood are to be protected against moral and material abandonment and exploitation. • ILO launched Alliance 8.7, a global partnership designed to align the efforts of those working towards the achievement of SDG Target 8.7. • The ILO report said, “We must turn this renewed commitment into accelerated action and consign child labour to the dustbin of history, once and for all.” 4. Child Abuse in India • Child Abuse is defined as “injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child”. • This abuse can be of several kinds according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) – physical, mental, emotional, psychological or in the form of neglect or exploitation. Always remember a standard definition • Articles 14, 15, 15(3), 19(1) (a), 21, 21(A), 23, 24, 39(e) 39(f) - protection, safety, security and well-being of all people, including children. • Rape of children – 2016 NCRB data - rape of children have increased by over 82% compared to 2015. • (POCSO) Act, 2012 and POCSO e-Box. • Child pornography is a . Information Technology Act, 2000 & Indian Penal Code, 1860 provides protection from child pornography. 5. Child Adoption • Adoption means the process through which the adopted child becomes the lawful child of his adoptive parents with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities that are attached to a biological child. Always remember a standard definition • An inter-ministerial panel headed by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had cleared a proposal making district magistrates the final authority to clear child adoption cases. • 800 to 850 adoption cases are pending in civil and family courts at any given time. • Survey shows that there are over 50,000 orphans in the country. The adoption continues to be low because of the delay in getting legal clearances. • Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a statutory body of Ministry of Women & Child Development. • It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children. www.insightsonindia.com Page 27 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on NOTES Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003.

Old Age 1. Facts for Mains • According to the law, a "senior citizen" means any person being a citizen of India, who has attained the age of sixty years or above. • Constitutional Provisions: o Article 41: The State shall make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want. • Legal Provisions: o Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007: ▪ The Act makes it obligatory for children and their heirs to provide monthly allowance to their parents and other senior citizens of the family. • Government Initiatives: o National Policy on Senior Citizens 2011 ▪ The policy addresses issues concerning senior citizens living in urban and rural areas, special needs of the oldest old and older women. o National Council of Senior Citizens ▪ Advice the Central and State Governments on issues related to the welfare of senior citizens and enhancement of their quality of life. o Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana - providing Physical Aids and Assisted- living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to BPL category’. o Vayoshreshtha Samman - The Awards are given to eminent citizens and institutions in recognition of their outstanding services to the elderly people, especially indigent senior citizens. • NGOs working for Old age welfare: o HelpAge India - working for disadvantaged elderly for nearly 4 decades. • According to Population Census 2011 there are nearly 104 million elderly persons in India. • A report released by the United Nations Population Fund and HelpAge India suggests that the number of elderly persons is expected to grow to 173 million by 2026. • The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment ensures equitable treatment to such sections of society. • Vietnam’s Old People’s Associations (OPAs): Quote such unique initiatives o In Vietnam, Old People’s Associations (OPAs) are improving the lives of the elderly in many parts of the country. www.insightsonindia.com Page 28 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o The associations are democratically run by the elderly in the communities. NOTES • They represent the needs of the community and the elderly to government agencies, which also see them as a vital support for the government’s outreach programmes into communities. • India’s progress in improving the lives of its citizens can be seen in a single statistic, namely, the increase in life expectancy at birth. In 1950-55, life expectancy at birth in India was 36.6 years, whereas the average in the world was 46.8 years. By 2010-15, life expectancy in India had almost caught up with the global average: 67.5 years in India, compared with 70.5 years globally. 2. Impact of digitization and e-governance on the aged population • Elderly people are increasingly getting marginalised due to digital illiteracy, a new survey has revealed. • According to the Agewell Foundation Survey, approximately 85.8 per cent respondents were found to be digitally and computer illiterate, out of which 76.5 per cent were elderly men and 95 per cent were elderly women. • The challenges increasing Digitization and increasing e-governance has posed on the elderly are: o Digital Illiteracy: Digital illiteracy is a bane to the elderly who find it difficult to use the facilities. o Digital Divide: It increases the “ever-widening generation gap” between the younger and older generations o Poverty: Instances in Jharkhand where elderly couldn’t receive their PDS grains due to failure of Aadhar Verification because of missing finger-prints of senior citizens. Almost 70% of women are part of the unconnected population in the country. o Trust Deficit and Fear: Many older persons live in fear. It is doubled in case of using computer and digital devices due to perceived complications, cyber threats, loss of hard-earned money etc. A lot of older people feel, in the digital age, that they are not relevant or included. • Positives of Digitization for elderly citizens: o Participation o Connection o Information o Inclusion • Digital literacy among the elderly would help the population in getting government benefits on financial inclusion schemes, chatting with friends and relatives, internet banking, online payment of utility bills, getting gainful engagement, online entertainment, among others. • Encouraging digital inclusion is not only about being socially conscious, but it also means being profitable. • There is a need for tailor-made products specifically to the needs of the senior citizens.

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Issues Related to Health NOTES 1. Facts for Mains • Constitutional Provisions: o Article 38 - the state shall secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people. Providing affordable healthcare is one of the ways to promote welfare. o Article 39(e) - the state to make sure that health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused. o Article 41 - duty on state to provide public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement etc. o Article 42 makes provision to protect the health of infant and mother by maternity benefit. o Article 47 - duty of the state to improve public health, securing of justice, human condition of works, extension of sickness, old age, disablement and maternity benefits. o Article 48A - State shall Endeavour to protect and impose the pollution free environment for good health. o Provisions in 11th schedule and 12th schedule - drinking water, health and sanitation, family welfare, women and child development, social welfare etc. • Judiciary: o Judiciary has widely interpreted the scope of Right to Health under Article 21 (right to life) and has thus established right to health as an implied fundamental right. o The Supreme Court in Paramanand Katara v Union of India case gave a landmark judgement that every doctor at government hospital or otherwise has the professional obligation to extend his services with due expertise for protecting life of a patient. • Government Initiatives: o National Nutrition Mission: ▪ To rein in malnourishment and stunted growth. ▪ NNM will address three aspects—the food that should be given to rein in stunting, undernourishment, low birthweight and anaemia. o Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) - accelerate full immunization coverage to more than 90% by December 2018. o Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana - government-run health insurance scheme for the BPL family (a unit of five). o LaQshya – Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative - aims to improve the quality of care that is being provided to the pregnant mother in the Labour Room and Maternity Operation Theatres. o Menstrual Hygiene for Adolescent Girls Scheme: To address the need of menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls residing primarily in rural areas. www.insightsonindia.com Page 30 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018 finds global hunger to have risen for three consecutive years since 2015, to reach 82.1 crore people or 11% of the global population in 2017. • United Nations report in 2017 blames increasing conflicts and violence in several parts of the world for the rise in the number of hungry people. • Countries with the highest incidence of hunger in 2018 are also places affected by conflict, political violence, and population displacement. • Research suggests that $1 spent on nutritional interventions in India could generate $34.1 to $38.6 in public economic returns. • Government Policy Interventions and Programmes to Combat Hunger and Malnutrition Direct Policy Measures Plans, Programmes and Missions • Expand the safety net through ICDS to • Mid-day Meal Programme, 1962-63 cover all vulnerable groups (children, • Goitre Control Programme, 1962 (now adolescent girls, mothers, expectant known as National Iodine Deficiency women) Disorders Control Programme) • Fortify essential foods with appropriate • Special Nutrition Programme, 1970-71 nutrients (e.g., salt with iodine and/or • Balwadi Nutrition Programme, 1970-71 iron) • Nutritional Anaemia Prophylaxis • Popularise low cost nutritious food Programme, 1970 • Control micro-nutrient deficiencies • Prophylaxis Programme against Blindness amongst vulnerable groups due to Vitamin A Deficiency, 1970 • Integrated Child Development Services Indirect Policy Measures (ICDS), 1975 • Ensure food security through increased • National Diarrhoeal Diseases Control production of food grains Programme, 1981 • Improve dietary pattern by promoting • Wheat-based Supplementary Nutrition production and increasing per capita Programme, 1986 availability of nutritionally rich food • National Plan of Action on Nutrition, • Effecting income transfers (improve 1995 purchasing power of landless, rural and • Public Distribution System, 1997 urban poor; expand and improve public • National Nutrition Mission, 2003 distribution system) • National Health Mission, 2013 (subsumes • Other: Implement land reforms (tenure, former Rural & Urban Health Missions) ceiling laws) to reduce vulnerability of • National Iron+ Initiative, 2013 poor; increase health and immunisation • Promotion of Infant & Young Child facilities, and nutrition knowledge; Feeding Practices Guidelines, 2013 prevent food adulteration; monitor • Weekly Iron & Folic Acid nutrition programmes and strengthen Supplementation, 2015 nutrition surveillance; community • National Deworming Day, 2015 participation • Establishment of: Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres; • Village Health Sanitation & Nutrition Committee • Bi-annual Vitamin-A Supplementation • Village Health & Nutrition Days (at Anganwadi centers • Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY): www.insightsonindia.com Page 31 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), under Ayushman Bharat umbrella. Other element of Ayushman Bharat is Health and Wellness NOTES Centres. o PMJAY is a major national health reform to rapidly extend access to hospital care for 500 million poor and vulnerable people. o It is touted as world’s largest healthcare scheme. o The scheme guarantees eligible families are covered for inpatient expenses of up to Rs 5 lakh per year in any government or empanelled private hospitals all over India. o The scheme will create lakhs of jobs for professionals and non- professionals — especially women. • The POSHAN (PM’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan: o The scheme aims to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children. o The initiative seeks to reduce the level of stunting, undernutrition and low birth weight by 2% each, and anaemia by 3%. o It aims to reduce stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022. o A key idea of the initiative is to incentivise Anganwadi Workers (AWs) for using ICT-based tools, making it easier to implement and monitor the programme. o The Union government had signed a loan deal worth US $200 million with the World Bank for the POSHAN Abhiyaan. • Millions of people across India are pushed into poverty because of out-of- pocket spending on health care — at least 4% of the population. • There is a commitment in the National Health Policy to raise the percentage of GDP allocated to health from 1.2% today to 2.5% by 2022. • Boosting nutrition levels across the country is one of the biggest low hanging fruits in the Indian public policy sphere. If we can conquer space, we can conquer malnutrition. • The Global Nutrition Report 2017 calls for nutrition to be placed at the heart of efforts to end poverty, fight disease, raise educational standards and tackle climate change. (For questions related to nutrition – it can be used in the introduction) 2. Healthcare Sector in India • Key reason for the poor quality of public healthcare services in India is the lack of adequate data and monitoring. • The health ministry’s real-time health management information system (HMIS) suffers from poor quality and data gaps. • A 2017 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report showed that 18% of health facilities did not even report basic infrastructure data in the HMIS portal in 2015-16. • The country’s average out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare is one of the highest globally, at 68%. • The out-of-pocket expenditure is much lower in China, at 34%, and in the US it is 11%. www.insightsonindia.com Page 32 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• Due to this high out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure, 7% of the population in India is pushed below poverty threshold every year. NOTES 3. National Health Policy, 2017 • It seeks to reach everyone in a comprehensive integrated way to move towards wellness. • It aims at achieving universal health coverage and delivering quality health care services to all at affordable cost. • Life Expectancy and healthy life o Increase Life Expectancy at birth from 67.5 to 70 by 2025. o Reduction of TFR to 2.1 at national and sub-national level by 2025. • Mortality by Age and/ or cause o Reduce under Five Mortality to 23 by 2025 and MMR from current levels to 100 by 2020. o Reduce infant mortality rate to 28 by 2019. o Reduce neo-natal mortality to 16 and still birth rate to “single digit” by 2025. • Reduction of disease prevalence/ incidence o Achieve global target of 2020 which is also termed as target of 90:90:90, for HIV/AIDS i.e, - 90% of all people living with HIV know their HIV status, - 90% of all people diagnosed with HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression. o Achieve and maintain elimination status of Leprosy by 2018, Kala- Azar by 2017 and Lymphatic Filariasis in endemic pockets by 2017. o To achieve and maintain a cure rate of >85% in new sputum positive patients for TB and reduce incidence of new cases, to reach elimination status by 2025. o To reduce premature mortality from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases by 25% by 2025. • Health finance o Increase health expenditure by Government as a percentage of GDP from the existing 1.1 5 % to 2.5 % by 2025. o Increase State sector health spending to > 8% of their budget by 2020. o Decrease in proportion of households facing catastrophic health expenditure from the current levels by 25%, by 2025. o Preventive and Promotive Health - The policy identifies coordinated action on seven priority areas for improving the environment for health: ▪ The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ▪ Balanced, healthy diets and regular exercises. ▪ Addressing tobacco, alcohol and substance abuse ▪ Yatri Suraksha – preventing deaths due to rail an d road traffic accidents ▪ Nirbhaya Nari – action against gender violence ▪ Reduced stress and improved safety in the work place ▪ Reducing indoor and outdoor air pollution www.insightsonindia.com Page 33 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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4. Malnutrition in India: A Snapshot NOTES • Statistics compiled by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) show that while the Sub-Saharan countries of Africa have the highest prevalence of hunger, in absolute terms, India has the highest number (one quarter) of undernourished (hungry) people in the world (194.6 million or 15 percent of India’s total population during 2014-16). • Malnutrition in children under-five also results in nearly half of the 1.3 million deaths occurring in the country each year. • According to NFHS 2015-16, every second tribal child suffers from growth restricting malnutrition due to chronic hunger. • India’s efforts at improving access to food and good nutrition are led by the National Food Security Act. • At the national level, 53% of women are anaemic, Health Ministry data show. • It is recommended that each person should have diverse diet of at least eight food groups, that include: cereals, roots and tubers; legumes and nuts; dairy products; flesh foods; eggs; fish; dark green leafy vegetables; and other fruits and vegetables. • The NITI Aayog found that families below the poverty line consumed more cereals and less milk compared to the affluent. • PM’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) scheme - to boost nutrition among children and women. • According to M S Swaminathan, to promote nutrient value food production, a multi-pronged strategy involving academic institutions, government, scientists and farmers should be evolved 5. Lifestyle diseases in India • Diseases of affluence refer to diseases that are increasingly common among the populations of the various developed countries of the world. • Obesity, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and coronary heart disease are considered to be the most common examples of such diseases. • The estimated proportion of all deaths due to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) has increased from 37.09% in 1990 to 61.8% in 2016. • As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4; 2015-16, 11% of women (1 in 10) and 15% of men (1 in 7) of age 15-49 are hypertensive. The survey has also found that about 60.4% of persons screened have ever had their blood pressure measured. • The fastest-growing causes of ill health over the past 26 years were diabetes (increased by 174%) and ischaemic heart disease (up 104%). • Poor public spending: 1.2% of GDP is spent on health sector. Consecutive governments have failed to spend more on health sector. • Containing the NCDs has been listed by the WHO as its health goal for this year along with reducing mortality related to air pollution and climate change, global influenza pandemic etc. • It is essential that the government, civil society, academia and media recognise the nuances of health transition which shape the sweep of NCD www.insightsonindia.com Page 34 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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epidemics as they evolve. This will help create a healthier society which will yield inter-generational benefits well beyond 2030. NOTES 6. National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey 2018-19 • The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2018-19, conducted by an Independent Verification Agency (IVA) under the World Bank support project to the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), has found that 96.5% of the households in rural India who have access to a toilet use it. • The NARSS also re-confirmed the Open Defecation Free (ODF) status of 90.7% of villages which were previously declared and verified as ODF by various districts/States. • Way Forward: o Governmental Initiatives of Swachhata Pakwada Campaigns should be promoted to raise awareness of sanitation and hygiene. o Children must be taught the importance of Sanitation and hygiene. Initiatives like Bal Swachhata Mission, Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan are pushing forward the objective. o Competition raising initiatives like Swachha Survekshan Abhiyan will help in boosting the spirit of cities and towns to improve the ODF status. o Swachhata Doots, NGOs and CSOs must be involved at the grassroots level to achieve 100% ODF by October 2nd, 2019. 7. Achieving Zero Hunger by 2030 • Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” • This belief resonates with the theme of World Food Day 2018 – Zero Hunger World is possible by 2030. • Zero hunger means working together to ensure everyone, everywhere, has access to the safe, healthy and nutritious food they need. • Fighting hunger is a global mission and zero hunger is also one of the main Sustainable Development Goals. • Present Status: o According to FAO, 821 million people – one in nine people – suffer from chronic hunger. o Also according to 2016 data, around 11 per cent of the global population is suffering from chronic undernourishment. o The absolute number of undernourished people is the largest in Asia (FAO, 2017). o The prevalence of undernourishment is rising in South Asia, from 9.4 per cent in 2015 to 11.5 per cent in 2016 (FAO 2017). o According to a joint report of UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank approximately two-thirds of all wasted children under five live in Asia. o In mountain regions such as the Hindukush Himalayas (HKH) people face multiple challenges including poverty, inaccessibility, fragility, limited market access and climatic induced risks. • India's Case: www.insightsonindia.com Page 35 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o According to the United Nations, 3 in 10 stunted children in the world are found in India. NOTES o India, which is amongst the largest food grain producing nations, ranks 103rd out of 119 countries in the 2018 Global Hunger Index. o With a score of 31.1, India suffers from a level of hunger that is serious. • International Practice: o Brazil was the first country to take the Zero hunger challenge in 2003. o Countries like China and Myanmar have reduced under nutrition substantially. o Africa had made good progress towards Zero Hunger. It has achieved a 30 per cent drop in the proportion of its people facing hunger over 1990-2015. o Vietnam had launched the Zero Hunger Challenge (ZHC), in collaboration with FAO, to end hunger in the country by 2025. o FAO has been helping countries to fight hunger since 1945 and Zero Hunger is still FAO’s number 1 mission. • Ending food waste is crucial to achieving zero hunger by 2030. • Agro-ecological practices such as zero budget natural farming, organic farming and permaculture play an important role in their impact on food and nutrition security. • Agriculture is a huge business and it is important to create opportunities for the younger generation to take up agriculture in order to safeguard long- term food security. • 80 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas. That’s why Zero hunger calls for a transformation of rural economy. 8. Technology in Healthcare • Information technology and biotechnology are twin engines, with immense potential to transform the healthcare delivery. • The four important C’s in health care — Clinical care, Costs, Connectedness and Compassion — which are pivotal to a successful and sustainable health care model, are the country’s strength • Medical equipments with in-built technologies like IoT, AI, etc are solving complex global problems. • Telemedicine. • The use of artificial intelligence can support clinical diagnosis with evidence-based guidance, and also prevent disease. • From the virtual reality to 3D-printing, we are now moving towards augmented reality (AR), by which, every piece of node in a malignant melanoma can be completely removed, thereby eliminating the risk of the cancer spreading to any other part of the body. • Biotechnology, cell biology and genetics help in understanding of human life and disease, and have made personalised medicine a way of life.

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• Digitization of health services can have long term benefit at a time when public health spending is less than 2% GDP and more than 60% expenditure NOTES is out of pocket. • Cloud computing allows doctors to access and compare patient data to be able to give better diagnosis and treatment to their patients. • International Experience: o Canada was one of the earliest to start in 2002 to lead the development and implementation of electronic health projects. o U.K., Australia and Singapore have been other prominent countries who have taken initiatives for setting up nationwide e-Health. • India needs to rapidly adapt, embrace and drive change if it wishes to stay relevant in the global healthcare order. • We need to achieve a balance between technology and innovation and continue to deliver worldclass care, while finding efficient ways to lower the cost of care. 9. International Examples • Swedish Model: o Private and public health facilities compete for government funding and the right to provide healthcare to citizens. o There are incentives for providing the quickest and cheapest treatment. o It is a level playing field, and if the government health facility does not provide quality service, it stands to lose out. • Thailand Model: o Thailand’s Universal Health Coverage has earned global appreciation. o Public and private hospitals are treated on a par, and the beneficiary chooses where she goes. • Canada Model: o Medicare, which covers all Canadians, is publicly financed and privately run. o Medical practitioners must only charge fees fixed by governments. 10. Public Health Cadre • Instituting an All India Health Cadre (AIHC), much like IAS, is the much needed and long awaited institutional reform in the health sector. • In 1959 the Mudaliar Committee advocated dedicated personnel for Public health management. • In 1973, the Kartar Singh Committee said that “doctors with no formal training in surveillance systems, data management, leadership and communication skills etc are ill-equipped to work in public facilities”. • In 2011, a High Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage recommended creation of an All India Public Health Service Cadre. • The 12th Five Year Plan and the National Health Policy, 2017 also advocated establishing a public health management cadre to improve the quality of health services. www.insightsonindia.com Page 37 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have maintained a Public Health Directorate staffed by a trained cadre of public health managers. NOTES

Education 1. Facts for Mains • Constitutional Provisions: o Article 21-A - free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years. o Article 28 - freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in educational institutions. o Article 29 - equality of opportunity in educational institutions. o Article 30 - right of the minorities to establish and administer educational institutions. o Article 45 - Provision for free and compulsory education for children. o Article 46 - promotion of education and economic interests of the scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and the weaker sections of society. o Article 350 A - facilities for instruction in mother tongue at primary stage. • Legal Provisions: o The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. • Supreme Court Judgements: o The Supreme Court, in its judgment in the J. P. Unnikrishnan v. the State of Andhra Pradesh case, has held that children under the age of 14 have the fundamental right to free education. • In the Union Budget for the financial year 2018-19, Education sector has witnessed an increase of almost 4% in terms of funds allocation. • “The true teachers are those who help us think for ourselves,” said Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. • Indian education framework needs to change completely – Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. (Remember some famous quotes) • As per UNESCO data, India has one of the lowest public expenditure rates on education per student, especially compared to other Asian countries like China. • With a literacy rate of 77 percent, India lags behind other BRICS nations, which have literacy rates above 90 percent. • Data from the Ministry of Human Resource Development show that only half of all students who enter primary school make it to the upper primary level and less than half that get into the 9-12 class. • Impacting Research INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT)-India: aimed at developing a roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in ten technology domains relevant to India.

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2. Charging of exorbitant fees in private schools • Charging of exorbitant fees in private schools is a major cause of concern in NOTES India. Steep hike in tuition fees along with additional costs such as fees for transport, extra-curricular activities and sports will add much burden on parents. • The constitutional basis for regulating the fees charged by private schools was considered by the Supreme Court in T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka (2002). • In Islamic Academy of Education and Anr. v. State of Karnataka and Ors (2003), a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that these institutions can have the autonomy to generate “surplus” which must be used for their betterment and growth. However, the word ‘surplus’ is not clearly defined. • Supreme Court ruled that any private school in Delhi running on land allotted by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has to take the permission of the Delhi government before hiking the fees. • According to the CAG report, it is found that many private schools collect money from parents under false heads, while at the same time, teachers are being underpaid, and accounts misrepresented. • How did different states respond to prevent schools from charging exorbitant prices? o Tamil Nadu follows the fee fixation model whereby a government committee is empowered to verify and approve fee structures proposed by private schools. o Karnataka is for a formula that caps fees for schools by way of framing rules under its school education legislation. o Maharashtra has a weakly enforced legislation to regulate fees and has multiple government bodies to approve school fees. o The Gujarat High Court has upheld the Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regularisation of Fees) Act, which imposes caps on the fees that private schools can charge, as legally valid. 3. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018 • The survey shows the prevalence of learning deficit and the poverty of basic reading and arithmetic skills among students in Indian schools. • Highlights of the report: o Indian students, especially those in elementary school (Classes I- VIII), are not learning enough. To cite a metric, only half (50.3%) of all students in Class V can read texts meant for Class II students. o There seems to have been some improvement in learning levels, especially among students of Class III and Class V, in 2018 compared with those of the previous five years. However, the improvement is not visible at a higher level, for example among students of Class VIII. o The deficit is across government and private schools. Traditionally, students in private schools have fared better than their government school counterparts, but that’s a relative situation. For example, www.insightsonindia.com Page 39 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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while 40% of Class VIII students in government schools can do simple division, the figure is 54.2% in private schools. NOTES o However, there is gradual improvement in some segments and in some states. The reading ability among Class V students in Kerala jumped 10 percentage points in 2018 from that in 2016. In Himachal Pradesh, the growth is nearly 8 percentage points and in Chhattisgarh and Odisha it is around 7 percentage points between 2016 and 2018. o While 30.9% of students in the 6-14 age group were in private schools in 2018, the figure was 30.6% in 2016 and 30.8% in 2014. This is less than a percentage point growth since 2014. • The governments and civil society need to focus on three aspects—a bigger spending on education, maybe 6% of GDP instead of the present 2.7%, political willingness to improve education, and a drastic change in the quality of teacher education. 4. Government Initiatives in the area of vocational education • National Vocational Qualifications Framework (NVQF) is being established by the Central Government. • Several states have initiated vocational education programmes operated in alignment with NVQF. • Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched the Skills Assessment Matrix for Vocational Advancement of Youth (SAMVAY) that provides seamless movement from education to skill. • PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) - skilling the unemployed youth in engineering skills using the facility of the technical institutions. • Gram Tarang – Targeting tribal/naxal affected areas. Training centres created to train people in Auto CAD, advanced welding on advance machinery funded by NSDC. • Successful Vocational education model in Germany – ‘classroom instruction plus apprentice training’: o The German system of Dual Vocational Education and Training (VET) has proven itself to be successful over the last centuries. o Bridge the gap between the increasing need for theoretical knowledge and real world application of these skills. o The German system encourages the direct involvement and ownership of the industry in the educational process and is in demand all over the globe – also in India.

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Issues Related to Poverty NOTES 1. Issues involved in identification of poor in India • Poverty refers to a situation when people are deprived of basic necessities of life. It is often characterized by inadequacy of food, shelter and clothes. • Absolute poverty is a having a lack of basic resources, and relative poverty is more to do with income inequality. Poverty in India is measured based on consumer expenditure surveys of the National Sample Survey Organisation. • A poor household is defined as one with an expenditure level below a specific poverty line. • The available concepts in India for identifying poor: o In 1962, the Planning Commission constituted a working group to estimate poverty nationally, and it formulated separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas – of Rs 20 and Rs 25 per capita per year respectively. o VM Dandekar and N Rath made the first systematic assessment of poverty in India in 1971, based on National Sample Survey (NSS) data from 1960-61. They argued that the poverty line must be derived from the expenditure that was adequate to provide 2250 calories per day in both rural and urban areas. This generated debate on minimum calorie consumption norms while estimating poverty and variations in these norms based on age and sex. o In 1979, a task force constituted by the Planning Commission for the purpose of poverty estimation, chaired by YK Alagh, constructed a poverty line for rural and urban areas on the basis of nutritional requirements. It was based on expenditure for buying food worth 2,400 calories in rural areas, and 2,100 calories in urban areas. o In 2011, the Suresh Tendulkar Committee defined the poverty line on the basis of monthly spending on food, education, health, electricity and transport. According to this estimate, a person who spends Rs. 27.2 in rural areas and Rs. 33.3 in urban areas a day are defined as living below the poverty line. For a family of five that spends less than Rs. 4,080 and Rs. 5,000 in rural and urban areas respectively is considered below the povertyline. This has been criticised for fixing the poverty line too low. o According to a committee headed by former Reserve Bank governor C Rangarajan, there were 363 million people, or 29.5% of India’s 1.2 billion people, who lived in poverty in 2011-12. The Rangarajan panel considered people living on less than Rs. 32 a day in rural areas and Rs. 47 a day in urban areas as poor. • Issues with the Poverty Line Concept: o The poverty line is not a true indicator of malnourishment because of interpersonal variations in good habits.

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o It does not capture important aspects of poverty — ill health, low educational attainments, geographical isolation, ineffective access NOTES to law, powerlessness in civil society, caste and/or gender based disadvantages, etc. o In a country of India’s continental size and diversity, poverty line based on aggregation at all-India level ignores State-specific variations in consumption patterns and/or prices. • Use of technology like Big Data and data analysis is necessary to find the true levels of poverty in India. 2. DAY-NRLM in Reducing Poverty in India • The Deendayal Antodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is aimed at alleviation of rural poverty through building sustainable community institutions of the poor. • It seeks to mobilize about 9 crore households into SHGs and link them to sustainable livelihood opportunities. • Global Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index 2018 Report: o The pace of reduction of poverty in India has speeded up in recent years as per the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2018. o This is due to the schemes like the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM). o People in rural areas have higher livestock now than before April 2014. o Other findings include the higher tendency of people to save in formal institutions, higher loan size and more borrowing capacity from formal institutions. o The households under the mission earned 22 per cent more than those which are not under the scheme.

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Disability NOTES 1. Facts for Mains • United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities defines disability as “those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others." Always remember a standard definition • UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 2006 was a big step towards viewing persons as “subjects with rights” and not “objects of charity”. • The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pledges to “leave no one behind”. It states that persons with disabilities must be both “beneficiaries and agents of change”. • International Day of Persons with Disabilities - aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society. • Constitutional Provisions: o The Constitution secures to the citizens including the disabled, a right of justice, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, equality of status and of opportunity and for the promotion of fraternity. o Article 14 & 16 of the Constitution guarantee equality of opportunity to all citizen of India. o Article 38 - the State to promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order and the State is required to make efforts to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities amongst individuals. • Legal Provisions: o Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2016 ▪ The bill repeals Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995. ▪ It covers a whole spectrum of problems from physical disabilities to mental illness and multiple disabilities. ▪ It complies with the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which India became a signatory in 2007. ▪ The new Act also increased the quota for disability reservation in higher educational institutions from 3% to 5% and in government jobs from 3% to 4%, for a more inclusive society. o National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 ▪ Establishment of an institution for the welfare of people with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities. • Institutions / Departments: o National Trust www.insightsonindia.com Page 43 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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▪ Organise National Conference on Down Syndrome. o Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities NOTES (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. o National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) - NCPEDP is India’s only cross-disability advocacy organisation working towards empowerment of persons with disabilities. • India is home to one of the largest disabled populations in the world. • In India, according to the 2011 Census, 2.21% of the population has one or multiple types of disabilities. • International Day of Persons with Disabilities - promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development. • Exclusion of persons with disabilities from education, employment and participation cost at around 7% of national GDP. • Research estimates the market size of product categories needed by persons with disabilities in India at Rs. 4,500 crore. • Data from the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People show that 84% of seats for persons with disabilities lie vacant in top universities. • Marrakesh Treaty: o Seeks to facilitate access to published works for visually impaired persons. o India becomes the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty. • Government Initiatives: o Divyang Sarathi: ▪ The accessible and comprehensive mobile application for easy dissemination of information to ‘Divyangjans’. ▪ Providing all relevant information pertaining to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), including various acts, rules, regulations and guidelines, employment opportunities, and the disability market in an accessible format. o Accessible India Campaign or (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) - to make a barrier free and conducive environment for Divyangjans all over the country. o National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) - It aims to provide financial assistance to the elderly, widows and persons with disabilities in the form of social pensions. o Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana: The Scheme aims at providing Senior Citizens, belonging to BPL category and suffering from any of the age-related disability/infirmity Low vision, Hearing impairment, Loss of teeth and Locomotor disability, with such assisted-living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions, overcoming the disability/infirmity manifested.

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o Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY): It provides a cover of Rs. Two Lakh for accidental death or total permanent disability NOTES and Rs One Lakh in case of permanent partial disability. 2. Disabled Rights in India • Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (or PWD Act), reserved three percent of government posts for those in the PWD category. • The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006. India signed and ratified this convention in 2007. • The Act fixes responsibility of the Central and State Governments, local bodies to provide services, facilities to people with disabilities to provide equal opportunities for participating as productive citizens of the country. • THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR WELFARE OF PERSONS WITH AUTISM, CEREBRAL PALSY, MENTAL RETARDATION AND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES ACT, 1999 empowered persons with disabilities to live their life freely and independently and to bring them close to the community they belong. • NATIONAL POLICY ON DISABILITY, 2006-A comprehensive national policy was enacted by the government of India on disability covering major areas like education, employment, access, support services, social services etc. • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was a major initiative taken by the government to provide basic education to all the children including the disabled section. • Rights for disabilities act 2016: The 2016 Act which replaces the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 recognises 21 kinds of disabilities compared to the previous seven, including dwarfism, speech and language disability, and three blood disorders. • Accessible India Campaign which will focus on making India a disabled- friendly country. • Sugamaya Pustakalaya is an online platform that makes accessible content available to print-disabled people was also launched. • Data from the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People show that 84% of seats for persons with disabilities lie vacant in top universities. • The rights-based legislation with more Rights and Entitlements and strong monitoring agencies at the National and State Levels and the various schemes and campaigns launched by the government will go a long way in achieving empowerment and mainstreaming of the Persons with Disabilities in the society.

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Caste Related Issues / SCs and STs NOTES 1. Facts for Mains • Constitutional Provisions: o Right to equality (Article 15, 16 and 17). o Right against exploitation (Article 23). o Cultural and Educational Rights (Article 29). o Article 46 says that educational and economic interests of SCs and STs shall be protected and promoted. o Prohibition against disenfranchisement in elections based on one’s religion, race, caste or sex (Article 325). o Article 330 and Article 333 permit union and state legislature to reserve seats for members of the SCs and STs based on their population in each constituency. o Article 338 mandates the creation of a National Commission for SCs and STs to monitor safeguards provided to them. • Supreme Court Judgements: o Indra Sawhney & Others Vs.Union Of India (also known as Mandal Commission case) ▪ Supreme Court upheld the Mandal Commission’s 27% quota for backward classes, as well as the principle that the combined scheduled-caste, scheduled-tribe, and backward- class beneficiaries should not exceed 50 percent. ▪ The court also said the creamy layer of the OBCs should not get the benefits of reservation. ▪ It confined the exclusion of the creamy layer to the OBCs and not the SCs/STs. o Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy pointed out in a 1985 judgment: “efficiency is not to be discounted, it cannot be used as a camouflage to let the upper classes take advantage of the backward classes in its name and to monopolise the services, particularly the higher posts and the professional institutions”. o Jobs, Admissions Secured On Invalid Caste/Tribe Certificates Void: Supreme Court. • Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 was the first-ever caste- based census since 1931 Census of India. • If we want information regarding the size and characteristics of various castes in India, we must look to the Census of 1931. • There are demands for collection of caste data in 2021 Census. • First Census in 1871, included questions about caste. • National Sample Survey (NSS) data shows that poverty persists among forward castes. • India Human Development Survey shows that 56% of children ages 8- 11 cannot read but neither can 32% of forward caste and 47% of OBC children.

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2. Untouchability in India NOTES • Article 17 abolishes and forbids untouchability in any form. • In order to fulfil the mandate of Article 17 of the Constitution, the Parliament enacted the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955. • Later the Act was revamped as the Protection of Civil Rights Act. • Under this Act, ‘untouchability’ as a result of religious and social disabilities was made punishable. • A more comprehensive and more punitive Act was required to protect SCs and STs from violence committed by other communities. • This gave rise to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. • Section 8 in Representation of People’s Act, 1951 states that the people found guilty of committing offence under the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 will be disqualified from contesting elections. 3. Key findings of the NCRB Report • India has over 180 million . A crime is committed against a Dalit every 15 minutes. • Over the last 10 years (2007-2017), there has been a 66% growth in crime against Dalits. • A total of 40,774 cases were registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other sections of law over alleged crimes against SCs and STs in the year 2016. • Of these, charge-sheets were filed in 78.3 per cent cases, and the conviction rate was 25.8 per cent. • Uttar Pradesh in reporting the maximum number of crimes against Dalits. • Based on data it shows that it is mostly ineffective implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act that is leading to atrocities. 4. Creamy Layer for SC / ST • Supreme Court in Nagraj vs Union of India case ruled that the people belonging for SC &ST should be classified into groups and the creamy layer should be excluded from reservation. • Studies such as the Lokur Committee had shown that the benefits were not percolating down to genuine beneficiaries. • Article 14, 15 and 16 ensure fundamental right of equality and social justice to all citizens, including protection of the actual backward and deprived within the SC/STs. • The intention of the framers of the Constitution ensures that benefits percolate to the right persons.

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Urbanisation NOTES 1. Facts for Mains • Goal 11 of UN’s SDG - make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. • About 34% of India's population now lives in urban areas, the U.N. World Urbanization Prospects 2018 report has said. • India’s level of urbanization is lower than its peer group of developing countries: China (45%), Indonesia (54%), Mexico (78%) and Brazil (87%). • As per World Bank, India, along with China, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the United States, will lead the world's urban population surge by 2050. • By 2030, India’s urban population is projected to increase to 600 million. • 14 Indian cities are being ranked amongst the world’s 20 most polluted by a WHO report. • Delhi is projected to become the most populous city in the world by 2028, according to the United Nations. • In India the urban population contributes over 60% to the GDP and is projected to contribute around 75% in the next few years. • India spends about $17 per capita annually on urban infrastructure projects, against a global benchmark of $100 and China’s $116. • A 2014 study by the National Council of Applied Economic Research indicates that every additional rupee of capital invested in the housing sector adds Rs1.54 to the GDP. • Every Rs1 lakh invested in residential housing creates 2.69 new jobs in the economy. • UN's SDG goal 11- ensure adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums. • The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has formed a committee to draft India’s National Urban Policy. • There are strong correlations between urbanisation and economic growth o Between 1978 and 2018, China’s urbanisation rate jumped up from 18% to 58%. o In the process, over 500 million people were lifted out of poverty and the country attained middle-income status. • Over 34% of India’s current population lives in urban areas, rising by 3% since 2011. • About 60% of India’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050. • Cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore are over-populated beyond their carrying capacities. • According to the National Sample Survey, only 47% of urban households have individual water Connections. • Green Spaces: o Green spaces, from large parks to trees and grass, can reduce local temperatures by 1–6°C during the day, in both the sun and shade, www.insightsonindia.com Page 48 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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through albedo change, reduced surface heat storage, and increased evapotranspiration. o Promoting urban forest areas as seen in Chattisgarh can be emulated across cities. 2. Air Pollution • A latest study by Switzerland-based IQAir AirVisual and the environmental champion Greenpeace calls for a red-alert response to India’s worsening Air pollution crisis. According to the findings, India is home to seven of the 10 most polluted cities in the world, going by air-quality numbers recorded last year. • Gurugram and Ghaziabad are the most polluted, while Delhi is the worst off among capital cities. ICMR estimates reveal that one in every eight deaths in India is attributable to air pollution, which now contributes to more disease burden than smoking. • The problem of Air Pollution is aggravated by the burning of urban waste, diesel soot, vehicular exhaust, road and construction dust, and power generation. • According to the Agriculture Ministry, 23 million tonnes of paddy straw is burnt in Punjab, Haryana and UP every year. • In 2017, air pollution accounted for 12.4 lakh deaths in India, which included 6.7 lakh deaths due to outdoor particulate matter air pollution and 4.8 lakh deaths due to household air pollution. • Over half of the deaths due to air pollution were in persons less than 70 years of age. • According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), India had the highest share of welfare costs (or a loss of income from labour), of about $220 billion (about ₹1.4 trillion), in South and South-East Asia of a combined total of $380 billion from mortality due to air pollution. • In addition to human lives lost, there’s an estimated global cost of $225 billion in lost labour, and trillions in medical costs, Greenpeace report says. • Government efforts in dealing with air pollution: o The government acknowledged air pollution as a pan–India problem with the drafting of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which was intended to build and strengthen the institutional capacity to monitor air quality across India. o Odd-even schemes. o Instances of ban on construction activities. o States have got nearly Rs.650 crore to help farmers buy subsidised equipment such as Happy Seeder, Paddy Straw Choppers and Zero Till Drill. o There is a 50% subsidy to farmers, and a 75% waiver to cooperative societies, agencies that rent out equipment, farmers’ interest groups or gram panchayats to buy such machines. • Way forward: o Increase the forest cover. o Use climate change funds to turn farm residues into a resource. o India should at least now give high importance to the WHO warning about air pollution being the new tobacco. o Incentives for adoption of alternate mobility technologies should be promoted. o The World Bank has said it is keen to enhance its lending portfolio to tackle air pollution, opening a new avenue for this. o Governments should make the use of personal vehicles in cities less attractive through strict road pricing mechanisms like Congestion tax, Green-house Gas tax. 3. Urban Observatory

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• Urban Observatory is a platform that uses data from different sources to enable analysis and visualization over a geospatial platform. Such NOTES platforms churn out interesting analyses and visualizations by collating massive datasets. The concept of Urban Observatories was formally initiated at the UN Habitat-II Conference in 1997 in Istanbul. • The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has inaugurated India Urban Observatory in New Delhi. • The India Urban Observatory is an important component of the recently launched DataSmart Cities strategy that envisions to create a ‘Culture of Data’ in cities, for intelligent use of data in addressing complex urban challenges. • It would enable evidence-based policy formulation, capacity building of ecosystem partners on data-driven governance, foster innovation through development of newer and better use cases thereby enabling solutions at scale and speed. • Some examples of well-established Urban Observatories are the Global Urban Observatory network, the Dublin Dashboard and the City Dashboard of London. • Cities can be ‘truly smart’ if they can leverage data for intelligent decision- making and the establishment of India Urban Observatory will go a long way in realizing this vision. 4. Municipal Solid Waste Management • India alone generates more than 1,00,000 metric tonnes of solid waste every day, which is higher than many countries’ total daily waste generation taken together. Large metropolis such as Mumbai and Delhi generate around 9,000 metric tonnes and 8,300 metric tonnes of waste per day, respectively. • India suffers from inefficient and insufficient waste infrastructure and also from increasing rates of solid waste generation per capita. • Current Situation of MSW in India: o ULBs are responsible for segregated waste collection, transporting waste in covered vehicle, processing, recyclables, separating domestic hazardous waste and disposing inert material in sanitary landfills. o Various studies reveal that about 90% of MSW is disposed of unscientifically in open dumps and landfills, creating problems to public health and the environment. o Over 377 million urban people live in 7,935 towns and cities and generate 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per annum. o Most cities have confined themselves to collection and transportation of solid waste. Processing and safe disposal are being attempted only in a few cases. o The CPCB report also reveals that only 68% of the MSW generated in the country is collected of which, 28% is treated by the municipal authorities. Thus, merely 19% of the total waste generated is currently treated. www.insightsonindia.com Page 50 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o According to a UN report, India’s e-waste from old computers alone will jump 500 per cent by 2020, compared to 2007. NOTES • South Korea is one of the few countries to separate and recycle food waste. It has also launched landfill recovery projects such as the Nanjido recovery project which have successfully transformed hazardous waste sites into sustainable ecological attractions. • Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is one of the major environmental problems of Indian cities. The need of the hour is scientific, sustainable and environment friendly management of wastes. • Case Study: Vellore city in Tamil Nadu, with a population of five lakh, has been a trailblazer in decentralised management of solid waste and sending no waste to landfills. More recently, it has earned the remarkable distinction of getting all its residents to separate their wet waste from dry waste, which makes the task of solid waste management so much easier for the municipal corporation. • Vellore generates 160 tonnes of solid waste per day, excluding waste from bulk generators. It all began with a PIL in the National Green Tribunal in 2015 seeking closure of the eight-acre dumpsite on a tank bund in Saduperi, a few kilometres away from Vellore. The site had been used for dumping mixed waste since 1991. • Vellore Municipal Corporation (VMC) responded to the challenge by building 42 sheds for micro composting centres (MCCs) across its 60 wards. Each MCC (with a capacity ranging from 1.5 to 5 tonnes) was provided enclosed sheds containing numerous open-brickwork tanks (5 ft deep, 5-6 ft wide and 7-10 ft long) for composting wet waste: • The tanks are filled in rotation, over a starter bed of dry leaves, with one- foot layers of hand-sorted wet waste plus a layer of cow dung-slurry as a compost starter, and allowed to mature for 30-60 days. 5. Progress of Smart Cities mission • All 100 Smart Cities have established their SPVs, constituted their City Level Advisory Forum (CLAF) and all cities have appointed PMCs, indicating that all these Smart Cities are in Mission mode. • The Smart Cities Mission aimed at promoting cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘Smart’ Solutions. • Citizens are at the core of Smart City Mission and it has the largest level of citizen engagement • There are a few cities that have taken the task seriously. Pune has begun by raising funds through the issuance of municipal ‘smart city’ bonds. • Bhubaneswar has launched a railway multi-modal hub, a hi-tech transport signal system and an urban knowledge centre. • The New Delhi Municipal Corporation has started implementation of mini- sewerage plants, Wi-Fi activated ‘smart’ street lights and city surveillance systems through a command and control centre. • But, most cities are still struggling at a primary planning stage, and financial closure to projects is still a long way off. www.insightsonindia.com Page 51 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) becoming operational in 15 cities has resulted in enhanced efficiency in governance, management of NOTES traffic, law enforcement, improved citizen grievance redressal and reduced criminal incidents on city streets and public spaces. • Smart Cities and AMRUT programmes have opened up avenues for local industry and global players to participate in the development of cities across such sectors as utilities, housing, mobility, telecommunications, information technology, healthcare, education and recreational facilities.

Globalization 1. Impact of globalization on Indian rural society • Positives: o Commercialization of agriculture o Expansion of agro-industries o Wider use of information, communication and technologies o Increased Mechanization, better inputs o Socio-economic development o Rise of MSMEs • Negatives: o Changes in Land-Use patterns o Internal labour migration o Increasing privatization of resources o Loss of jobs and Displacement: Dams, Roads, and Mining come up, people are displaced making them internal refugees o Increased inequality o No Behavioural changes: Open defecation still present and caste discriminations. 2. Socio-Cultural Impact of globalisation on Indian Society • Globalisation is the ongoing process that is linking people, neighbourhoods, cities, regions and countries much more closely together than they have ever been before. • Globalization has both positive and negative impacts throughout the globe. • No field is left behind the reach of globalization. o Access to education: Explosion of information on the web and advent of private education. o Urbanization: It has been estimated that by 2050 more than 50% of India’s population will live in cities. o Cuisine: Indian cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe. o Clothing: Indo-western clothing, the fusion of Western and Sub continental fashion. o Language: o Indian Performing Arts: Indian Classical music has gained worldwide recognition. Kalarippayattu is considered one of the world’s oldest www.insightsonindia.com Page 52 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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martial art. More Indian dance shows are held globally. The number of foreigners who are eager to learn Bharatanatyam is rising. NOTES Western dance forms such as Jazz, Hip hop, Salsa, Ballet have become common among Indian youngsters. o Family Structure: Breaking of joint families into nuclear ones. The rise of nuclear families has reduced the social security that the joint family provided. Children have started treating grandparents like guests or visitors. increasing old age homes o Marriage Values: Increasing number of divorce cases and the extra- marital affairs. o Adultery: Friendly approach and the socializing feature. the total breakout of restrictions has adulterated the Indian mindset, playing up with the physical relationship. o Pervasive Media: Foreign media houses have increased their presence in India. India is part of the global launch of Hollywood movies which is very well received here. o McDonaldization: McDonaldization is a reconceptualization of rationalization, or moving from traditional to rational modes of thought, and scientific management. o Walmartization: Rise of big businesses which have nearly killed the small traditional businesses in our society. 3. Impact of globalization on Indian urban society • Positives: o Increased Urbanization o Increased job opportunities o Higher Per capita income o Enhanced lifestyle o Better infrastructure o Rapid Digitization • Negatives: o Family Structure: Breaking of joint families into nuclear ones. The rise of nuclear families has reduced the social security that the joint family provided. Children have started treating grandparents like guests or visitors. increasing old age homes. o Marriage Values: Increasing number of divorce cases and the extra- marital affairs. o McDonaldization: McDonaldization is a reconceptualization of rationalization, or moving from traditional to rational modes of thought, and scientific management. o Walmartization: Rise of big businesses which have nearly killed the small traditional businesses in our society. o Rise in Lifestyle diseases: due to reduced physical activity, increased habits of liquor and smoking etc. o Urban Sprawl: Increasing slums, unplanned urbanizations. 4. Influence of Globalisation on cultural diversity in India • Linguistic diversity: www.insightsonindia.com Page 53 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o In urban areas, most of the families these days talk in English even at homes. NOTES o Indians have excelled in the services sector of the economy. o English as medium of mass communication has undermined the local languages. o Many tribal languages have been wiped out. • Caste Diversity: o Decreased emphasis on localized castes in the urban areas. o increased instances of inter-caste marriages are seen in the urban areas. o However, the socio-economic disparities in societies continue to cause conflicts. • Religious diversity: o increased prosperity and materialistic pursuits have decreased the religion based conflicts. o Questioning the age old exploitative traditions like and Triple-talaq. • Racial diversity: o Migration from North East side of India has to an extent changed the demography of Indian races. • Ethnicity: o Increased consumerism and availability of media has led to erosion of local cultural traits. o Under the influence of Western idea of individualism there has been more homogenization of values and beliefs. E.g.: Loss of local artefacts, promotion of western dressing, shift from local culinary habits etc. • Art and handicrafts: o Countries like China is flooding Indian market with the products which were local to India like toys making. o This has impacted diversity in Art and handicraft. o Technology has helped preserve some of the dying artefacts, document local languages and also exposed Indians to various global arts/movies. Example: Flipkart is selling tribal artefacts, Channapatna wooden toys etc. 5. Globalisation and Poverty • Globalisation reduced poverty o High economic growth: Between 1981 and 2001 the percentage of rural people living on less than $1 a day decreased from 63 to 42 per cent in India. o Percapita income increase. o Employment. o Agriculture benefitted. o Improvement in health care costs. o Women benefitted • It also gave rise to new challenges: o Created opportunities only for the skilled or wealthy people www.insightsonindia.com Page 54 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o Unhealthy process of urbanization o Lives of the rural people have deteriorated NOTES o Unemployment rate o Inequality o Infamous for child labour and underpayment

Tribal Issues 1. Facts for Mains • Constitutional Provisions: o Reservation in educational institution has been provided in Article 15(4) while reservation in posts and services has been provided in Article 16(4), 16(4A) and 16(4B) of the Constitution. o Article 46 – the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the society and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. o Article 23 which prohibits traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour has a special significance for Scheduled Tribes. o Article 24 which prohibits employment of Children below the age of 14 years in any factory or mine or in any other hazards activity is also significant for Scheduled Tribes. o Article 243D provides reservation of Seats for Scheduled Tribes in Panchayats. o Article 330 provides reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People. o Article 332 provides reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in Legislative Assemblies of the States. o Other specific safeguards have been provided in Article 244 read with the provisions contained in Fifth and Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. • Legal Provisions: o In pursuance of Article 23, Parliament has enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. o Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. o The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 - The law concerns the rights of forest-dwelling communities to land and other resources. • Government Initiatives: o The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is implementing a scheme namely “Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)” which covers the 75 identified PVTGs among Scheduled Tribes in 18 States/ UT of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. o Eklavya Model Residential Schools - Government has sought to extend the facility of EMRSs in all the 672 Blocks where ST www.insightsonindia.com Page 55 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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population is more than 50% of the total population in a span of next five years. NOTES o Aadi Mahotsav: National Tribal Festival by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED to celebrate, cherish and promote the spirit of tribal craft, culture, cuisine and commerce. 2. Rights of Forest-dwellers • The Supreme Court recently passed orders on a case challenging the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which seeks to protect the rights of forest-dwellers and communities that have traditionally depended on the forest. They ordered state governments to proceed with evicting those whose traditional claims have been rejected. As a consequence, more than one million tribals could be displaced, mainly in central India. • Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or Forest Rights Act 2006 has been enacted by the government of India to recognize the rights of the forest dwellers and local communities on the forest. • The Act grants legal recognition to the rights of traditional forest dwelling communities. • A leading example emerged in the Niyamgiri case of Odisha in which the Supreme Court upheld FRA and ordered that forests could be diverted for mining only if the gram sabhas of the local Dongria Kond community gave their consent. • The conservationists contest that the FRA is damaging the forest and its resources. • However, the tribals and the FRA are not the culprits for the declining forest cover and biodiversity loss as contested in the petition. • The FRA empowers forest dwelling communities to manage natural resources and conserve. • The government’s own data shows that 14,00,000 ha of forests have been diverted since 1980 for non-forestry purposes, mainly for mining, defence projects, and hydroelectric projects. • In response to a query in Parliament in 2016, it was officially accepted that up to 25,000 ha of forests are being diverted every year for non-forestry activities. • Worrisome condition of the tribes: o Nature conservation programmes such as “Project Tiger” that seek to restore forests as pristine nature spaces have transformed forest- dwellers and turned Adivasis into eco-refugees. o The illegal regimes of forest extraction continue, administrative laxity has permitted the growth of a nature tourism industry in the garb of ‘Eco-tourism’. • Way Forward: o There is an urgent need to treat Adivasis as envisaged in Nehru’s Tribal Panchsheel policy which was in support by Anthropologist s like Verrier Elwin, Thakar Bapa etc.

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o Studies indicate the strength of tribal knowledge of forests and ecological resources. Such knowledge enabled not only the NOTES conservation of flora and biodiversity but also that of fauna. 3. Remote indigenous groups • The death of an American Christian missionary whose covert expedition to convert the residents of North Sentinelese Island. • The indigenous groups face the following grave threats. o Dwindling Population o Threat of new diseases o Alienation o Dwindling forestlands • The importance of isolation of indigenous tribes are: o Right to Life: They must be respected which is in accordance to their fundamental rights. o High Vulnerability: Many primitive vulnerable tribes particularly in Andaman and Nicobar Islands are vulnerable to even diseases such as common flu and their exposure to outside population would wipe out their existence. o Natural way of Life: When the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck, more than a quarter-million people died across 14 countries, but the two isolated Andaman tribes, which rely on traditional warning systems, suffered no known casualties. o Protectors of Nature: As world environmental sentinels, they safeguard 80%of global biodiversity o They act as hub of biological treasure for scientists seeking to reconstruct evolutionary and migration histories.

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Gender Issues NOTES 1. Transgenders and Voting • The Constitution of India grants socio-economic and political justice to all the citizens of India irrespective of their sex, place of birth, religion, race or caste. • National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of India, which declared transgender people to be a ‘third gender’, affirmed that the fundamental rights granted under the Constitution of India will be equally applicable to transgender people. • The number of third genders, who have enrolled themselves in the electoral list, has increased by nearly 127 per cent, from 918 in 2014 to 2,086 in 2019, according to the latest Election Commission (EC) data. • Need to “uphold the rights of all transgender persons and remove the lacunae present in the current Transgender Persons Bill, 2018. • Recently, Shreegauri Sawant was appointed as one of the goodwill ambassadors of the Election Commission in Maharashtra. Such innovative measures will help build confidence among other transgenders as well as sensitize people. • The only way for these transgender women to overcome the challenges is by sticking their neck out in mainstream politics by breaking the glass-ceiling.

Communalism 1. Communalism in Indian context • Communalism is basically an ideology which consists of three elements: - o A belief that people who follow the same religion have common secular interests i.e. they have same political, economic and social interests. So, here socio- political communalities arises. o A notion that, in a multi-religious society like India, these common secular interests of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the follower of another religion. o The interests of the follower of the different religion or of different ‘communities’ are seen to be completely incompatible, antagonist and hostile. • Stages of communalism in India: - o First stage was rise of nationalist Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, etc. Roots of this were led in later part of 19th century with Hindu revivalist movement like Shuddhi movement of Arya Samaj and Cow protection riots of 1892. ▪ On the other hand movements like Faraizi movement started Haji Shariatullah in Bengal to bring the Bengali Muslims back on the true path of Islam, was one of the www.insightsonindia.com Page 58 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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religious reform movement which had bearing on communalism in 19th century. o Second stage was of Liberal communalism. ▪ It believed in communal politics but liberal in democratic, humanist and nationalist values. It was basically before 1937. For example organisations like Hindu Mahasabha, Muslim League and personalities like M.A. Jinnah, M M Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai after 1920s o Third was the stage of Extreme Communalism ▪ It demanded for separate nation, based on fear and hatred. There was tendency to use violence of language, deed and behaviour. For example Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha after 1937. ▪ It spread as a by-product of colonialism, economic stagnations and absence of modern institutions of education and health. These factors caused competition, people started using nepotism. ▪ Short term benefits from communalism started giving validity to communal politics. • Later on, spread of education to peasant and small landlords gave rise to new middle class, as agriculture was becoming stagnant. So, these people started demanding communal representation and this way, social base for communalism widened. Communalism, started rooting deeply, as it was an expression of aspiration and interest of middle class for less opportunity. • Further, from very beginning upper caste Hindus dominated colonial services as they adapted early to colonial structure. • This resulted in resentment in Muslims in late 19thcentury and they then formed a pressure group under Sir Sayed Ahmed Kahn to bargain as a separate community. In contrast Congress standpoint was always focused on ‘rights and freedom of individual’ not on a particular community • Communalism represented a struggle between two upper classes / strata for power, privileges and economic gain. For Example- In western Punjab at that time, Muslim landlord opposed Hindu moneylenders. In eastern Bengal, Muslim jotedars opposed Hindu. Later on, communalism developed as weapon of economically and politically reactionary social classes and political forces. 2. Communalism promoted by British • In India, the communalism has its roots in 1905 when partition of Bengal on religious lines took place. Further, the British provided for separate electorates for Muslims and Hindus under Government of India Act, 1909. • Religious Revivalism in 1924 o The Shuddhi and Sangathan movements among the Hindus and the Tabligh and Tanzim religious movement among the Muslims had invoked religious revivalism. These movements tried to glorify the past and tried to compare them with their present state in order to consolidate their own gains. All these paved ways for Hindu nationalism and Islamic nationalism. o The British took advantage of this situation and began to lay the foundations for a two- nation theory. The British instead of trying to maintain communal harmony used the cultural and religious differences between the Hindus and Muslims to achieve political gains. The official patronage was very strong than the appeal of nascent nationalism. • Communal Violence (1923-30) o The period between 1923 and 1930 witnessed intense communal violence in India. The violence began with the Moplah Rebellion which intensified hatred among the Hindus and Muslims in the Malabar region. The period also witnessed more communal riots than any other period in history. • Communal Award, 1932 www.insightsonindia.com Page 59 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o Further, the Communal Award by the British in the third roundtable conference further fuelled the communal hatred NOTES among the religious communities. o To fuel communalism and appease various communities, the British provided separate representation for Muslims, Sikhs, the Anglo- Indians, the Indian Christians, the Europeans, the Landlords, the depressed classes and the commerce and industry. o The Award of the third roundtable conference had serious ramifications as it further aggravated the communal sentiments among different religious communities. o The award with the main aim to appease Muslim and other communities largely resulted in fragmenting the Indian society and disturbing the communal harmony.

Miscellaneous 1. Demographic Dividend • Demographic dividend occurs when the proportion of working people in the total population is high because this indicates that more people have the potential to be productive and contribute to growth of the economy. • The study on demographic dividend in India by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) throws up two interesting facts. o The window of demographic dividend opportunity in India is available for five decades from 2005-06 to 2055-56, longer than any other country in the world. o This demographic dividend window is available at different times in different states because of differential behaviour of the population parameters. • It also reveals the following findings: o At present, India, overall as a country, has a large proportion of population that is young. Close to 30% of India’s population is in the age group 0-14 years. o The elderly in the 60-plus age group are still a small proportion (8%) of the country’s population. o The working age group 15-59 years accounts for 62.5% of India’s population. The working-age population will reach the highest proportion of approximately 65% in 2036. 2. Migration • People have migrated either in search of better livelihood opportunities or out of extreme need. It is an important factor that drives economic and social development. • The 2018 State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says rural migration, which is often seen by farming households as a strategy to overcome food insecurity, can be tackled by investing in agricultural value chains. www.insightsonindia.com Page 60 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• The conflicts in West Asia, Africa and South America, and the extreme violence associated with them have forced people to leave their homes and NOTES seek a haven in foreign countries. • The world’s focus has been on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar. • Climate change effects also contributed to the growing number of migrants and refugees. Example: Sudan, Libya. According to a report published in 2017 by Cornell University, climate change could account for up to 4 billion forced migrations by the year 2060. By 2100, they estimate that number would surpass 2 billion. • In a number of African countries droughts have become increasingly severe, leaving millions of citizens without the ability to grow the food that feeds them and their livestock. • According to the 2017 Economic Survey, 90 lakh people, on average, migrated between Indian states for either work or education each year between 2011 and 2016. Urban living is predominantly nuclear, and only 8.3 per cent of the urban elderly live in joint families. • India must safeguard the rights of internal migrants. Continued dynamic interventions over long periods of time would yield better results compared to single-point static interventions. • The need of the hour is for the government to consider the needs of this section of the economy and design special assistance for them. 3. National Policy for Internal Migration • The Economic Survey 2017 has brought in new evidence to indicate that Indians are much more mobile than it was generally believed. • Internal migration – movement within national boundaries – is far greater than movement beyond the shores. • Agrarian distress, natural calamities, and input/output market imperfections (a push factor) and an increase in better-paying jobs in urban areas (a pull factor) have been drivers of internal migration. • More than a third of India’s population are internal migrants, while 75% of the youth of the country are migrants. • China’s spectacular economic growth has been fuelled by migration from villages to urban centres of industrial production. • The Economic Survey 2017 estimates that the magnitude of inter-state migration in India was close to 9 million annually between 2011 and 2016. • Benefits of Migration: o According to 2018 State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report by FAO, outmigration often leads to improved food security and nutrition for migrants. o Large-scale migration of male members leads to greater participation of women in agriculture. This is seen as a feminisation movement in agriculture. o The rising contribution of cities to India’s GDP would not be possible without migration and migrant workers. o Migrants also take their skills and knowledge back with them, generally called ‘social remittances’. www.insightsonindia.com Page 61 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o The backbone of the Green Revolution in Punjab was actually migrant labour. NOTES • Costs of Migration: o Access to health insurance, maternal and child health schemes, educational rights, housing benefits, and even food security are often barred to the migrant worker. o Women migrants are victims of gender-based violence, physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. • Government interventions related to employment can be supported by market-led interventions such as microfinance initiatives, which help in tackling seasonality of incomes. • As remittances from migrants are increasingly becoming the lifeline of rural households, improved financial infrastructure is needed to enable the smooth flow of remittances. • Social benefits must be made portable to help migrants to leverage work opportunities, especially in urban India. • The funds collected from the industry under Building and Other Construction Workers Act can be used to support cities in creating quality rental housing and extending basic services to migrant settlements. • The need of the hour is for the government to consider the needs of this section of the economy and design special assistance for them. 4. Manual Scavenging • Manual scavenging refers to the practice of manually cleaning, carrying, disposing or handling in any manner, human excreta from dry latrines and sewers. Despite banning it 26 years ago through a law, technological advancements increasing sensitivity to human rights, manual scavenging persists in India. • Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) released in 2015, states that there were around 18 million manual scavenging households in rural areas. • A government survey identifies 12,226 manual scavengers in 12 states. Most septic tanks are emptied manually in Indian cities. • Statistics show that 80% of India’s sewage cleaners die before they turn 60, after contracting various infectious diseases. • Recently, Delhi Jal Board has prepared a Standard Operating Procedure for cleaning of sewers. The National Policy on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management, 2017, states that employment of manual scavengers is illegal, but it does not suggest mechanical alternatives to unclog septic tanks, drains and sewers. • Government Initiatives regarding Manual Scavenging: o The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act was passed by the parliament in 1993, and set imprisonment of up to one year and a fine of Rs 2,000 for pushing a person to manual scavenging. o Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers(SRMS), a successor scheme to NSLRS (National Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers and their www.insightsonindia.com Page 62 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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Dependents), was introduced in 2007 with the objective to rehabilitate remaining manual scavengers and their dependents in NOTES alternative occupations, in a time bound manner. o Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 came into effect from 6thDecember, 2013. This Act intends to achieve its objectives of eliminating insanitary latrines, prohibition of employment as manual scavengers etc. o The act says National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) would monitor implementation of the Act and enquire into complaints regarding contravention of the provisions of the Act. o Under the provision, no person, local authority or agency should engage or employ people for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks o Mechanised cleaning of septic tanks is the prescribed norm. o A violation can be punished with two years of imprisonment or fine or both. o Supreme Court issued a slew of directions in 2014 to prevent and control the practice and also to prosecute the offenders. o It also directed the government to pay a compensation of 10 lakh rupees to the family members of those killed in acts of manual scavenging since 1993. o Also, the right to live with dignity is implicit in the Fundamental Rights guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution. Article 46 of the Constitution, on the other hand, provides that the State shall protect the weaker sections particularly, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. o In spite of a well-funded programme such as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in operation, little attention is devoted to this aspect of sanitation. • Measures needed: o We need to strike at the root cause —caste prejudice as Raja Ram Mohan Roy said that change should come from society itself. o Swachh Bharat Mission may be used to actively target conversion of insanitary latrines on priority basis. o The zero-waste bio digester technology uses psychotropic bacteria to break down human excreta into usable water and gas. Once applied, the bacteria can work for a lifetime. 5. Reservation • People from various middle castes like Patels in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana, Marathis in Maharashtra and Kapus in Andhra Pradesh have been demanding for reservation. This is an emerging trend where India is witnessing many dominant and landholding castes asking for backward reservation. • Why many landholding castes are demanding reservation: - o Farmer’s distress. o Crippled urban economy. www.insightsonindia.com Page 63 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o Resentment against other OBC communities. o Successful quota system. NOTES o Political support. • Mere inclusion in OBC list will not address structural deficiencies in the caste system. • An overwhelming amount of evidence suggests that these communities are not the most marginalised in their respective states. • Before, extending reservation to more groups, the entire reservation policy needs to be revisited. These efforts should be coupled with a vigorous national effort to provide opportunities to the disadvantaged. 6. Diversity of India • 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. • Diversity of India is visible through: o RELIGION o DANCES o LANGUAGES o ETHNICITY o GEOGRAPHICAL DIVERSITY o Caste Diversity o Festivals • India’s diversity is serving India well: - o Independence o Secularism o Tourism o National Integration o Rich Heritage o Rich Flora and Fauna o Differential Breed of Profession • Issues remain o Communalism o People are being lynched on suspicious grounds o Sectarianism o Casteism o Linguism o Regionalism o Corruption and Illiteracy o Lack of Urbanization in Some states 7. Impact of Social Media on Society • There is a positive effect on business, politics, socialization as well as some negative effects such as cyberbullying, privacy, and fake news. • Positive Impact: o "The Power of Social Media is that, it forces Necessary Change." www.insightsonindia.com Page 64 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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o It is generally agreed that social media provided crucial source of news during the Arab Spring. NOTES o It helped in creating awareness about several issues, eg the fight for LGBTQ rights etc. o Voices previously excluded from conversations can now find a channel. o A few decades ago, if a farmer died due to non-repayment of loans, only the family mourned for the loss. Today if the same happens, the entire nation seems to empathize with the death of such farmers. • Negative Effects: o Technology is double-edged. There are reasons to cheer as also to despair. o Researchers have found that hyper-networking leads to negative health behaviour leading to laziness, obesity, depression, drug abuse, isolation or in the worst cases it may even lead to suicide. o A mere comment or opinion on a certain belief on social media spreads like fire leading to riots and destructive rallies. o Its heavy usage has ill effects on health issues and there is cyber bullying, online harassment and trolling. o The trolling of women has brought to the fore the disturbing reality of online violence and abuse women face in India. • Consequences: o A study was conducted to determine the extent to which a person’s opinion is influenced by a group. o According to it, an individual was willing to give a wrong answer just to conform to the majority view. o This also explains the impact of fake news online, which is said to contribute to a polarised society. o A study found that factors like user homophily and algorithmic filtering have created the cycle of enforcing and reinforcing belief systems. o WhatsApp faced severe criticism as lynching incidents flared up by free flow of fake news on the platform. o Twitter along with Facebook came under intense scrutiny of policymakers in the US for its failure to stop the spread of misinformation during the 2016 election. • Recent Campaigns by Social Media Platforms: o WhatsApp launched a nationwide campaign called “Share Joy, Not Rumours” to help prevent the spread of rumours and fake news. o Facebook launched #Socialforgood campaign to address issues such as cyber bullying, mental wellbeing, and entrepreneurship and was targeted primarily at young users. o Twitter launched #PowerOf18 campaign to encourage youth to contribute to public debate and participate in civic engagement in the upcoming election season. o These campaigns are a way to take ownership of what’s happening on these platforms and find ways to weed out negative content. www.insightsonindia.com Page 65 www.insightsias.com https://t.me/insightsIAStips https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpoccbCX9GEIwaiIe4HLjwA

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• A better and more effective approach to limit the influence of hoaxes on WhatsApp and other platforms is to increase media literacy. NOTES • The need of the hour is to tackle the gendered aspect of online abuse and uphold the rights of women in India. 8. School Education in India • The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) on India’s education system has once again highlighted the low learning levels in the country’s schools. • The infrastructure provision is far from satisfactory (for both students and teachers). • Teachers must only teach: o A study by the National Institute of Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA) revealed that teachers spend only around 19 percent of their time teaching. o They spend rest of their time mostly on non-teaching administrative work. This must be stopped. • Create a single-window system for infrastructure and mainstream fund- flows: o In Bihar, only around 10 percent of the schools fulfil infrastructure norms. o A study revealed that files for renovating schools often takes two- year time through various departments. o We can digitalise this process entirely and create a single-window system. o The same can be applied for teacher salaries and school funds. o These can be transferred directly from the State to the teachers and schools. o In return, this will free the District and Block administration from the burden of moving files the bureaucratic hierarchy. o Instead, the BEOs and DEOs can focus on ensuring that all children go to school and that the schools function. • Empower School Management Committees. • Enabling, Empowering Parents at Every Step. • Education needs innovation to keep it fresh and relevant. • Empowered by technology and tools, our education system can indeed scale up to edify, empower our citizens to help the country on its journey to becoming a digital and knowledge economy.

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