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Contemporary Issues - VScience & Environment

IAS Mains 2014

67 Hi-Tech Agriculture

India is principally an agricultural country. Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is unquestionably the largest livelihood provider in India. Most of the industries also depend upon thesector for their raw materials.

Indian agriculture has undergone rapid transformation in the past two decades. The policyof globalization and liberalization has opened up new avenues for agricultural modernization.This has not only led to commercialization and diversification, but also triggered various technological and institutional innovations owing to investments from corporate entities.

From a net importing country, India is today consistently producing 250 million tonnes (MT)of food grains, 100 MT of rice, 90 MT of wheat, 35 million bales of cotton, and more than 18MT of pulses. India has emerged as a major player in the global agriculture market.

As predicted by the international forums, India will become the largest populated nation by2028, even surpassing China. Then the amount of food produced today will be minimal tohandle the situation of population growth. Thus the biggest question arise Where will the foodcome from? How will it be produced? Who will produce it?

In line with the above questions the new government under Narendra Modi proposed theidea of making the Indian agriculture hitech according to the changing times. It enables maximum output on a small plot of land and is thus particularly important in countries with highpopulation density and limited land area.

Why agriculture need to be made hi-tech?

Until recently, the choice of technologies available to farmers was largely determined by theneed to increase production, profits and productivity. The main constraints were the availabilityof capital, knowledge of how to use the technology and market risks risks that in manycountries policies were shielded by government policies. In the past, "good policy practices" wastherefore rather straightforward, relating primarily to increasing output and the aim of agricultural policies was to increase productivity in agriculture. Agricultural research and extensionservices could concentrate, for example, on improving the productivity of small farms.

Now agriculture has to fulfil diverse objectives: it needs to be internationally competitive,produce agricultural products of high quality while meeting sustainability goals. In order toremain competitive, agricultural producers need rapid access to emerging technologies. Farmersare faced with many more constraints and also more opportunities. In addition to beingprofitable, they need to meet environmental standards and regulations, as well as deal withdirect and indirect consumer and lobby group pressures. They may also be flooded with information from various government and industry sources, that make choosing appropriate technologies more difficult. Farmers also need to change their production and management practicesin response to agricultural policies that include environmental conditions.

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Thus hitech methods are needed to be inserted in agriculture practices so that sustainable

development may occur.

Innovations in mechanical technologies, including robots, computers, and improved trac

tors, plus innovations in the application of water, pesticides, and herbicides, are increasing

output, reducing labor needs, and cheapening production costs in whatever part of the world

they have been introduced.

Some hi-tech farming methods

a) Hydroponics

Hydroponics is when you grow plants using nutrient solutions in water without soil. The

roots may be in a nutrient solution only or with gravel, perlite, mineral wool, or coconut husk.

Advantages

No soil is needed for hydroponics.

The water stays in the system and can be reused thus, a lower water requirement.

It is possible to control the nutrition levels in their entirety thus, lower nutrition require

ments.

No nutrition pollution is released into the environment because of the controlled system.

Stable and high yields.

Pests and diseases are easier to get rid of than in soil because of the container's mobility.

Ease of harvesting.

No pesticide damage.

Disadvantages

Without soil as a buffer, any failure to the hydroponic system leads to rapid plant death.

Other disadvantages include pathogen attacks such as dampoff due to Verticillium wilt caused

by the high moisture levels associated with hydroponics and over watering of soil based plants.

Also, many hydroponic plants require different fertilizers and containment systems.

b) Aeroponics

Aeroponics is growing plants in an air/mist environment without soil. The roots of the

plants are in an enclosed area and are misted with a nutrient?rich water solution. The stem and

leaves are not enclosed. Growing plants in this kind of controlled environment also helps reduce

the threat of pests and disease and like hydroponic,conserves water and energy and allows for

rapid food production.

Air cultures optimize access to air for successful plant growth. Materials and devices which

hold and support the aeroponic grown plants must be devoid of disease or pathogens. A distinc

tion of a true aeroponic culture and apparatus is that it provides plant support features that are

minimal. Minimal contact between a plant and support structure allows for 100% of the plant

to be entirely in air. Longterm aeroponic cultivation requires the root systems to be free of

constraints surrounding the stem and root systems. Physical contact is minimized so that it does

not hinder natural growth and root expansion or access to pure water, air exchange and disease

free conditions.

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c) Use of Robots

The Japanese are developing robots for the farm and have developed a robotized combineharvester that senses the side of uncut grain and harvests it. When the operation is done, therobot stops and waits for somebody to give it further direction.

The Israelis have long been using a robotized arm for fruit picking. The arms sense the ripefruit, cut it from the branch, and drop it into a waiting container.

Australia has developed a sheepshearing robot that senses the contours of the sheep, andcuts the wool without harming the sheep or losing as much wool as human labor would.

Harvesting systems for crops such as flower bulbs, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelons, dates, jojoba, peanuts, and chili peppers are designed and manufactured. Special systems and methods for postharvest operations such as separation of clods and stones frompotatoes, weighing and sorting flower bulbs and corms according to size, hotwater washingsystems for fresh produce, accurate vibrating seizers, flower bunching systems, and length sorting are used to improve product quality and reduce labor

d) Use of Sensors

Special sensors have been developed to record and monitor plant growthrate and determine growing needs. The use of these sensors results in significant savings in water and fertilizers, while improving production and quality.

Sensors can also be used for precision farming. Precision farming is defined as informationtechnology based, relatively better management system that identifies, procures, analyzes &manages, natural variability amongst the fields & optimizes productivity, profitability, sustainability,which protects the land resources.

It utilizes real time sensors and feedback control to major the desired properties onthego,usually soil properties or crop characteristics and immediately use this signal to control thevariable rate applicator.

Sensors developed for onthego real time measurement of soil properties have the potentialto provide benefits from increased density of measurements at a relatively low cost. A GPSreceiver and a data logger are used to record the position of each soil sample or measurement,to generate a map which can be processed along with other layers of spatially variable information to control the variable rate applicator.

e) Laser-guided farm machinery

Tillage is not the only advantage. Using special ploughs with lasers to guide them, themachines can install roughly one mile of continuousroll plastic drainage tile per hour. This ismany times the capacity of the old open ditch machines which are used to handset clay orconcrete tiles.

The larger tractor is also better for soil conservation. Because the tractors can complete threeor four processes in one fieldcrossingwhereas the smaller tractor would take, accordingly, threeor four crossingsthe wear on topsoil is reduced. The large models carry a notill drill, which canapply as much as 2,000 pounds of packerwheel pressure per seed opener, while simultaneouslybanding phosphates and nitrogen around the seed, and applying herbicides. The packer wheelpacks soil firmly around the seed, removing air pockets. The drill also applies liquid, gas, or dryfertilizers.

There have also been new developments in sprayers improving chemical application to

crops. Some planters and field preparation machines now apply chemicals at the same time that

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they accomplish other field work. "Broadcast" methods of chemical spraying are almost a thing

of the past. Improvements in the allinone techniques include flotation tires that reduce impac

tion of soil.

f) New irrigation methods

The amount of water used should be minimized. Technologies like drip irrigation, at its most

sophisticated, using microelectronic circuits to control irrigation, should be increased. Drip irri

gation is defined as the precise, slow application of water in the form of discrete or continuous

or tiny streams of miniature sprays through mechanical devices called emitters or applicators

located at selected points along water delivery lines.

The advantages of drip irrigation are:

1. Controlled application of water as per the needs of plants at low pressure to limited soil areas

(root zones).

2. Water saving to the tune of 50 to 70 per cent by reducing the total evaporative surface,

reduction in runoff and controlling deep percolation losses.

3. Soil erosion is minimal, due to no runoff water on surface.

4. Weed growth is minimum.

5. Water loss through transpiration is low.

6. Development of surface crust and determination of surface soil structure is avoided. Soil

compaction is less.

7. Limited soil wetting permits undisturbed cultural practices.

8. It is possible to obtain better yield and quality of crops by controlling soil moistureair

nutrients level.

9. We can save the fertilisers by monitoring the supply of nutrients as per the need of the crop.

10. Improvements in biological fertility can be achieved by avoiding pollution.

The other modern technique of irrigation is known as sprinkler irrigation system. Sprinkler

irrigation system conveys water from the source through pipes under pressure to the field and

distributes over the field in the form of spray of 'rain like' droplets. It is also known as overhead

irrigation.

New lateralmove irrigation systems can travel across a field using a single pump to draw

water. The system covers rectangular plots far better than centerpivot systems, which may need

several pumps to cover the same area. Water is provided by an open ditch or a series of pipes

at one end or in the middle of the area. The system can irrigate a field 2 miles by 1 mile or larger.

Crops, chemicals and fertilizers can be applied with the same system.

g) Polyhouse method of cultivation

The polyhouses are constructed with the help of ultraviolet plastic sheets, so that they may

last for more than 5 years. The structure is covered with 1501 m thick plastic sheet. The structure

is prepared with the bamboos or iron pipes.

The crops grown under the polyhouse are safe from unfavourable environment and hailstorm, heavy rains or scorching sunshine, etc. Crops of the polyhouse can be saved from birds

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and other wild animals. The humidity of polyhouse is not adversely affected by evaporationresulting in less requirement of water. In limited area of polyhouse, insects and pests control isalso easy and less expensive.

By adopting the modern technology of polyhouse, the difference in the demand and supplyof offseason vegetables and fruits etc. can be minimised. This facilitates in maintaining thequality of the product also.

h) Post harvest technology

In the post harvest stage the basic requirement was to supply the markets with produce ofexcellent appearance and free of decay. To achieve these objectives, advanced scientific tools inphysiology, chemistry, pathology, microbiology, entomology, molecular biology, proteomics,genomics and the senses (taste and aroma) are utilizedThese disciplines are combined withtraditional preservation technologies, and with the development of novel treatments for processing, storage and transportation of fresh, dried and processed foods. Special efforts are devotedto identifying and developing alternatives to chemical methods for the control of postharvestpathogens and pests. These alternatives include the reinforcement of host resistance, biologicalcontrol and applications of physical treatments. Basic scientific research fields include the studyof leaf senescence, chilling injury, host pathogen interactions and programmed cell death.

i) Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

The protection of all crops in the country is based on the guiding principle of Integrated PestManagement (IPM) as required by both the domestic and export markets. IPM focuses on reduction of chemical pest control and protection of the environment.

In more practical terms, this means spraying only when necessary, preferring environmentfriendly chemicals, and promoting the use of biological control in a variety of crops such asavocado, mango, strawberry, pepper, tomato and citrus. A parallel supporting activity consistsof the wide adoption of pest monitoring and improved decision making on pest management andcontrol. The technical policy is to expand the area under IPM regime annually.

j) Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) - the Knowledge Hub

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farm Science Centre) is an innovative institution of ICAR establishedat district level. The first KVK was established during 1974 and has grown as a largest networkin the country with 611 KVKs during 2011. KVKs are funded by ICAR and administered byICAR institutes / SAUs /Deemed Universities / Nongovernment Organizations or State Department of Agriculture.

KVKs play a vital role in conducting on farm testings to identify location specific agricultural technologies and demonstrating the production potential of crops at farmers' fields throughfrontline demonstrations. They also conduct need based training programmes for the benefit offarmers and farm women, rural youths and extension personnel to update their knowledge andskills and to orient them in the frontier areas of technology development.

KVKs are creating awareness about improved agricultural technologies through large number of extension programmes. Critical and quality inputs like seeds, planting materials, organicproducts, biofertilizers and livestock, piglet and poultry strains are produced by the KVKs andmade available to the farmers. Agricultural Knowledge and Resource Centres are set up at KVKto support the initiatives of public, private and voluntary sectors at district level.

The KVKs are evolving as the future grass root level institutions for empowering the farmingcommunity. KVKs have made dent and has become part of decentralized planning and implementation instrument to achieve desired level of growth in agriculture and allied sector.

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But in India Agriculture is the single largest livelihood sources in India with nearly two

thirds of people depend on it.India has about 108 million hectares of rainfed area which constitute nearly 75% of the total 143 million hectares of arable land. Dry zone agriculture basically

belongs to these fragile, high risking and low productive agricultural ecosystem where cropproduction becomes relatively difficult as it is mainly depends on rainfall. The annual amountof rainfall is less than 75cm. It covers more than threefifth of Rajasthan and one fifth of Gujaratand some areas of Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka come underdry lands.

Dry lands, besides being water deficient, are characterized by high evaporation rates, exceptionally high day temperature during summer, low humidity and high run off and soil erosion.The soils of such areas are often found to be saline and low in fertility. Thus the life of bothhuman being and cattle becomes difficult and insecure. Thus adoption of hitech agriculture is

low in India.

Further Primitive Subsistence Farming is still practised in few pockets of India. Primitivesubsistence agriculture is practised on small patches of land with the help of primitive tools like

hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family/community labour. This type of farming depends uponmonsoon, natural fertility of the soil and suitability of other environmental conditions to the

crops grown. It is a 'slash and burn' agriculture. Farmers clear a patch of land and producecereals and other food crops to sustain their family. When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers

shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation. This type of shifting allows Nature toreplenish the fertility of the soil through natural processes; land productivity in this type ofagriculture is low as the farmer does not use fertilisers or other modern inputs. It is known by

different names in different parts of the country.

The use of ICTs in most of agricultural implementations is gaining importance but there aresome challenges in implementation of ICT based services that need attention and requires a lot

of research. These are:

Lack of access to ICT tools.

Lack of understanding and awareness of the needs and challenges of small scale farmers

Lack of standardized approaches of ICT usage in national poverty reduction schemes.

Need of appropriate socio cultural issues to achieve the desired objectives.

Poor connectivity, low bandwidth, limited electricity, user driven information.

Educating and catering to the information needs of farmers across nearly seven lakh villagesin India indeed sounds unrealistic as this would require immense financial investment. A one

time major investment in establishing communication technologies in the required places restrictsthe government's objective of covering more people regularly because of insufficient power avail

ability in rural areas, poor infrastructure, illiteracy, non availability of timely relevant content,nonintegration of services, poor advisory services and lack of localization, and in particular nonavailability of agricultural information kiosks/ knowledge centers at the grass root level.

Moreover, farmers sometimes become averse to adopting technology as they think that itmight result in their losing their traditional methods of cropping practices. They simply do notwant to use such systems, even if the cost incurred is negligible. Therefore, the attitude andmindset of farmers needs to be changed first.

It is also necessary to develop hitech based agricultural services along with a communication backbone (such as a fiber optic network) in rural areas.

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68 Issues in National Population Register

The National Population Register (NPR) is a comprehensive identity database to be maintained by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India , Ministry of Home Affairs,Government of India (RGI).

What are the objectives of NPR?

The objective of creating this identity database is to help in better utilization and implementation of the benefits and services under the government schemes, improve planning and securityin the country.

The Government of India has initiated the creation of this database, by collecting specificinformation of all usual residents in the country during the House listing and Housing Censusphase of Census 2011 during April 2010 to September 2010. It is planned that the collectedinformation of the Usual Residency (aged 5 and above) of 17 states and 2 UTs (External websitethat opens in a new window) will now be digitized, and biometric data will be collected fromthese residents for further integration.

What is the historical background behind the launch of NPR?

The National Population Register (NPR) Project goes back to the Kargil days, when after theKargil War, the committee headed by the late K Subrahmanyam flagged the need for colourcoded identity cards for citizens and noncitizens.

Rajasthan was the first state to attempt issuing ID cards for citizens, but in the absence ofan enabling legal framework, the initiative could not achieve much success. Following this, theCitizenship Act 1955 was amended by Parliament in 2003 and provision to create a NationalRegister of Citizens was inserted in the Act. Pilot projects for developing the Register weresubsequently taken up and these went on till 2009.

During the Pilots, it was realised how difficult a task it was to authenticate or determinecitizenship in rural areas, for women and among landless labourers, as these areas or groupsoften have no documents to prove date and place of birth, identity and residence.

A Committee of Secretaries was formed to discuss modalities to be followed for the NationalPopulation Register Project and its recommendations were referred to an empowered Group ofMinisters (eGoM) for final decisions which laid down the roadmap for the NPR project.

What is the legal backing for NPR?

The NPR is legally grounded in the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

The Citizenship Act 1955 was amended in 2004 by inserting Section 14A which providesfor the following:?

(1) The Central Government may compulsorily register every citizen of India and issue NationalIdentity Card.

(2) The Central Government may maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens and for thatpurpose establish a National Registration Authority.

(3) On and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, theRegistrar General, India, appointed under sub?section (1) of section 3 of the Registration ofBirths and Deaths Act, 1969 shall act as the National Registration Authority and he shallfunction as the Registrar General of Citizen Registration.

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(4) The Central Government may appoint such other officers and staff as may be required to

assist the Registrar General of Citizen Registration in discharging his functions and respon

sibilities.

(5) The procedure to be followed in compulsory registration of the citizens of in India shall be

such as may be prescribed.

It is mandatory for every usual resident in India to register in the NPR as per Section 14A

of the Citizenship Act, 1955, as amended in 2004. A usual resident is defined for the purposes

of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person

who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.

What is the procedure for creating NPR?

In the NPR process, following details are being gathered by designated enumerators by

visiting each and every household: Details such as Name, Date of Birth, Sex, Present Address,

Permanent Address, Names of Father, Mother and Spouse etc.

All usual residents will be eligible to be included irrespective of their Nationality. Each and

every household will be given an Acknowledgement Slip at the time of enumeration. The data

will then be entered into computers in the local language of the State as well as in English. Once

this database has been created, biometrics such as photograph, 10 fingerprints and Iris informa

tion will be added for all persons aged 15 years and above. This will be done by arranging camps

at every village and at the ward level in every town. Each household will be required to bring

the Acknowledgement Slip to such camps. Those who miss these camps will be given the oppor

tunity to present themselves at permanent NPR Centres to be set up at the Tehsil/Town level.

In the next step, data will be printed out and displayed at prominent places within the

village and ward for the public to see. Objections will be sought and registered at this stage. Each

of these objections will then be enquired into by the local Revenue Department Officer and a

proper disposal given in writing. Persons aggrieved by such order have a right of appeal to the

Tehsildar and then to the District Collector. Once this process is over, the lists will be placed in

the Gram Sabha in villages and the Ward Committee in towns. Claims and Objections will be

received at this stage also and dealt with in the same manner as above.

The Gram Sabha/Ward Committee has to give its clearance or objection within a fixed

period of time after which it will be deemed that the lists have been cleared. The lists thus

authenticated will then be sent to the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) for dedupli

cation and issue of UIDNumbers. All duplicates will be eliminated at this stage based on com

parison of biometrics. Unique ID numbers will also be generated for every person. The cleaned

database along with the UID Number will then be sent back to the Office of the Registrar General

and Census Commissioner, India (ORG&CCI) and would form the National Population Register.

As the UID system works on the basis of biometric deduplication, in the case of persons of age

15 years and above (for whom biometrics is available), the UID Number will be available for each

individual. For those below the age of 15 years (for whom biometrics is not available), the UID

Number will be linked to the parent or guardian.

Which are the different agencies linked for formation of NPR?

Several government agencies are working towards the creation of this National Population

Register. These include the Registrar General of India , the Department of Electronics and Infor

mation Technology (DIETY), DOEACC Society , CSC eGovernance Services India Ltd and

Managed Service Providers (MSPs).

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RE Role of Department of Information Technology (DIT) in NPR

The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India (ORG&CCI) has assigned Department of Information Technology (DIT) with the responsibility of demographic datadigitization and biometric data collection in 17 states and 2 Union Territories of India.

DIT will undertake the following activities on behalf of the ORG&CCI to enable creation ofthe National Population Register and facilitate the issuance of UID numbers to the usual residents within the states assigned to it:

I. Digitization: The ORG&CCI will be responsible for scanning and Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) of the NPR Schedules collected from the field. Once ICR has been performed,the scanned images will be handed over to DIT to complete manual data entry in twolanguages, i.e. English Language and Local Language of the State.

II. Biometric Enrolment: Upon completion of manual data entry, DIT will capture biometricdata of all residents aged 5 years and above.

III. Data Consolidation and Delivery: DIT shall consolidate the captured data, including demographic and biometric data, and deliver the same to ORG&CCI for further deduplicationand assignment of UID number by the UIDAI.

DIT recognizes that this assignment calls for organizations which have demonstrable experience in demographic data digitization and enrolment and also requires significant financialcommitments from them in order to successfully execute it within the time schedule.

Role of National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology(NIELIT)

NIELIT (formerly DOEACC Society), an autonomous Scientific Society of the Department ofInformation Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Governmentof India has presence at 23 locations throughout the country having its Headquarter at NewDelhi. The Society has immense capabilities for execution of eGovernance Projects.

For the purpose of ensuring complete coverage of the 17 States and 2 UTs, DIT plans todivide the work of demographic data digitization and biometric data collection into urban andrural areas. DIT intends to leverage the network of NIELIT (formerly DOEACC Society) whichhas been designated as nodal agency for implementation of NPR Project. The overall responsi

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bility for completing the work of Demographic Data Digitization & Biometric Enrolment of theassigned states/UTs in the urban and rural areas has been delegated to NIELIT (formerlyDOEACC Society) by DIT.

Role of CSC e-GOVERNANCE SERVICES INDIA LIMITED

As part of the existing CSC Scheme under NeGP, the responsibility of establishing CSCsacross various villages in all states and UT in the country lies with Service Centre Agencies(SCAs). Under the CSC Scheme, all states and UT have been categorized into zones with eachSCA managing one or more zones across one or more states/UTs. There are 71 such zones inthe 17 States and 1 UT where NPR activities have to be carried out by DIT. For the rural areas,DIT intends to leverage the network of Common Service Centres (CSCs).

Since CSC eGOVERNANCE SERVICES INDIA LIMITED has been established as a company under the Companies Act 1956 for the sole purpose of managing the CSC scheme underNeGP, therefore, the overall responsibility of monitoring and supervising of the NPR project inthe rural areas of 17 states and 1 UT for demographic data digitization and biometric capturingwill be of CSC e GOVERNANCE SERVICES INDIA LIMITED.

What are the differences between the UID and NPR?

Voluntary vs. Mandatory: It is compulsory for all Indian residents to register with the NPR,while registration with the UIDAI is considered voluntary. However, the NPR will storeindividuals UID number with the NPR data and place it on the Resident Indian Card. In thisway and others, the UID number is becoming compulsory by various means.

Number vs. Register: UID will issue a number, while the NPR is the prelude to the NationalCitizens Register. Thus, it is only a Register. Though earlier the MNIC card was implementedalong the coastal area, there has been no proposal to extend the MNIC to the whole country.The smart card that is proposed under the NPR has only been raised for discussion, andthere has been no official decision to issue a card.

Statute vs. Bill: The enrollment of individuals for the NPR is legally backed by the Citizenship Act, except in relation to the collection of biometrics, while the UID as proposed a billwhich has not been passed for the legal backing of the scheme.

Authentication vs. Identification: The UID number will serve as an authenticator duringtransactions. It can be adopted and made mandatory by any platform. The National ResidentCard will signify resident status and citizenship. It is unclear what circumstances the cardwill be required for use in.

UIDAI vs. RGI: The UIDAI is responsible for enrolling individuals in the UID scheme, andthe RGI is responsible for enrolling individuals in the NPR scheme. It is important to note thatthe UIDAI is located in the Planning Commission, but its status is unclear, as the NIC hadindicated that the data held is not being held by the government.

Door to door canvassing vs. center enrollment: Individuals will have to go to an enrollmentcenter and register for the UID, while the NPR will carry out part of the enrollment ofindividuals through door to door canvassing. Note: Individuals will still have to go to centersfor enrolling their biometrics for the NPR scheme.

Prior documentation vs. census material: The UID will be based off of prior forms ofdocumentation and identification, while the NPR will be based off of census information.

Online vs. Offline: For authentication of an individual's UID number, the UID will requiremobile connectivity, while the NPR can perform offline verification of an individual's card.

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What is the controversy between the UID and NPR?

Effectiveness: There is controversy over which scheme would be more effective and appro

priate for different purposes. For example, the Ministry of Home Affairs has argued that the

NPR would be more suited for distributing subsidies than the UID, as the NPR has data

linking each individual to a household

Legality of sharing data: Both the legality of the UID and NPR collecting data and biomet

rics has been questioned. For example, it has been pointed out that the collection of biometric

information through the NPR, is beyond the scope of subordinate legislation. Especially as

this appears to be left only to guidelines. Collection of any information under the UID

scheme is being questioned as the Bill has not been approved by the Parliament.

Accuracy: The UIDAI's use of multiple registrars and enrolment agencies, the reliance on

'secondary information' via existing ID documents for enrollment in the UID, and the origi

nal plan to enroll individuals via the 'introducer' system has raised by Home Minister

Chidambaram in January 2012 about how accurate the data collected by the UID is that will

be collected. To this extent, the UIDAI has changed the introducer system to a 'verifier'

system. In this system, Government officials verify individuals and their documents prior to

enrolling them.

Biometrics: Though biometrics are mandatory for the UID scheme, according to information

on the NPR website, if an individual has already enrolled with the UID, they will not need

to provide their biometrics again for the NPR. Application of this standard has been haphaz

ard as some individuals have been required to provide biometrics for both the UID and the

NPR, and others have not been required to provide biometrics for the NPR.

What are the issues related to NPR in India?

Issues related to use of biometrics:

Both the UID and the NPR rely on biometrics as a way to identify individuals. Yet, many

concerns have been raised about the use of biometrics in terms of legality, effectiveness, and

accuracy of the technology. With regards to the accuracy and effectiveness of biometrics the

following concerns have been raised:

Biometrics are not infallible: Inaccuracies can arise from variations in individuals attributes

and inaccuracies in the technology.

Environment matters: An individual's biometrics can change in response to a number of

factors including age, environment, stress, activity, and illness.

Population size matters: Because biometrics have differing levels of stability the larger the

population is the higher the possibility for error is.

Technology matters: The accuracy of a biometric match also depends on the accuracy of the

technology used. Many aspects of biometric technology can change including: calibration,

sensors, and algorithms.

Spoofing: It is possible to spoof a fingerprint and fool a biometric reader

Issues related to Cost of project:

The estimated cost of the project is INR 6,600 crore or roughly $0.5 per capita one of the

cheapest in the world.

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Issues related to human rights violation

Information collected during formation of NPR may be misused if safeguards to maintainprivacy are inadequate. Though, the Supreme Court has included privacy as part of the Rightto Life, India does not have a specific law governing issues related to privacy. Also, the authorityis required to maintain details of every request for authentication and the response provided.However, maximum duration for which such data has to be stored is not specified. Data thathas been recorded over a long duration of time may be misused for activities such as profiling

an individual's behaviour.

In view of NHRC's observation that UID/Aadhaar Number will lead to discrimination dueto its distinction between residents and citizens in the name of "delivery of various benefits and

services" and "weaker sections of society" is quite stark

Issues raised by standing committee on Finance

The Committee listed concerns about the scheme raised by government bodies, including: (a)duplication of efforts by agencies for collecting personal information such as NPR, MGNREGS,

BPL census, UIDAI, RSBY and Bank Smart Cards ; (b) efficacy of the introducer system; (c)involvement of private agencies collecting information as a threat to national security; (d) uncer

tainties in the UIDAI revenue model; (e) merits of functioning of UIDAI; (f) necessity of collectionof iris image for enrolment; (g) involvement of several nodal appraising agencies; and (h) method

used for storing of data and its implications on privacy and security.

Issue related to updation of data

The challenges lie in developing a system which would update the database dynamically

and keep it live at all points of time. This would mean capturing every event of birth, death andmigration on a real time basis across the length and breadth of the country. Further the challenge

would be to communicate this information on an anytime anywhere basis. This would requirethe establishment and maintenance of a massive ICT infrastructure throughout the country.

Creating such a vast database is a costly exercise.

69 Land Filling

Growth of population, increasing urbanisation, rising standards of living due to technological innovations have contributed to an increase both in the quantity and variety of solid wastesgenerated by industrial, mining, domestic and agricultural activities. Globally the estimated quantityof wastes generation was 12 billion tonnes in the year 2002 of which 11 billion tonnes wereindustrial wastes and 1.6 billion tonnes were municipal solid wastes (MSW). About 19 billiontonnes of solid wastes are expected to be generated annually by the year 2025 [4]. Annually, Asiaalone generates 4.4 billion tonnes of solid wastes and MSW comprise 790 million tones (MT) ofwhich about 48 (6%) MT are generated in India [4,5]. By the year 2047, MSW generation inIndia, is expected to reach 300 MT and land requirement for disposal of this waste would be169.6 km2 as against which only 20.2 km2 were occupied in 1997 for management of 48 MT.

The major quantity of wastes generated from agricultural sources are sugarcane baggase,paddy and wheat straw and husk, wastes of vegetables, food products, tea, oil production jute?bre, groundnut shell, wooden mill waste, coconut husk, cotton stalk etc., [2,6,8]. The majorindustrial nonhazardous inorganic solid wastes are coal combustion residues, bauxite red mud,tailings from aluminum, iron, copper and zinc primary extraction processes. Generation of allthese inorganic industrial wastes in India is estimated to be 290 MT per annum. The heterogeneous characteristics of the huge quantity of wastes generated lead to complexity in recyclingand utilisation.

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A typical waste management system in India includes the following elements:

Waste generation and storage

Segregation, reuse, and recycling at the household level

Primary waste collection and transport to a transfer station or community bin

Street sweeping and cleaning of public places

Management of the transfer station or community bin

Secondary collection and transport to the waste disposal site

Waste disposal in landfills

In most of the Indian cities, the MSW collection, segregation, transportation, processing anddisposal is carried out by the respective municipal corporations and the state governments enforce regulatory policies.

The major stakeholders in the management of Municipal Solid Waste include: (a) Ministryof Environment and Forests (MoEF) (b) Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) (c) Central andState Pollution Control Boards (d) Department of Urban Development (e) State Level NodalAgency (f) Urban Local Bodies (g) Private Formal and informal Sector.

In some cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad garbage disposal is done by Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). The private sector has been involvedin doortodoor collection of solid waste, street sweeping (in a limited way), secondary storageand transportation and for treatment and disposal of waste. Urban Local Bodies spend aroundRs.500 to Rs.1500 per ton on solid waste management of which, 6070% of the amount is oncollection alone, 20% 30% on transportation, but hardly any fund is spent on treatment anddisposal of waste.

In India Land filling process is done to handle solid waste management.

"Land filling" means disposal of residual solid wastes on land in a facility designed withprotective measures against pollution of ground water, surface water and air fugitive dust, windblown litter, bad odour, fire hazard, bird menace, pests or rodents, greenhouse gas emissions,slope instability and erosion;

(a) Landfilling are done for the following types of waste:

(i) Comingled waste (mixed waste) not found suitable for waste processing;

(ii) Preprocessing and postprocessing rejects from waste processing sites;

(iii) Nonhazardous waste not being processed or recycled.

(b) Landfilling will usually not be done for the following waste streams in the municipalsolid waste:

(i) Biowaste/garden waste;

(ii) Dry recyclables.

Landfills minimise the harmful impact of solid waste on the environment by the followingmechanism (a) isolation of waste through containment; (b) elimination of polluting pathways; (c)controlled collection and treatment of products of physical, chemical and biological changeswithin a waste dump both liquids and gases; and (d) environmental monitoring till the wastebecomes stable.

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Concerns related to land filling process:

(a) Leaching of toxins

A major problem arising from landfills is the discharge of leachate which is formed by waterpassing through the tip and thus becoming contaminated with various organic and inorganicpollutants. This subsequent movement of the leachate into the surrounding soil, ground water orsurface water could lead to severe pollution problems. The mechanisms by which contaminantsare leached out of the waste in a landfill is given below:

(i) Primary Leaching

Dissolution of soluble salts or soluble organic material that exists in the original fill leads toprimary leaching. The dissolved organic material such as humic acids produces a brown colourin the leachate.

(ii) Biodegradation of Complex Organic Molecules

Much of the original organic material in the fill has low solubility but the biodegradation ofthis material tends to produce more soluble end products such as simple organic acids andalcohols. The nitrogen present in the original organic material is converted into ammonia inthe leachate.

(iii) Chemical Reduction

A landfill quickly becomes anaerobic, thus becoming a chemically reducing environmentwhere ferric salts will be reduced to ferrous salts. Ferrous salts are more soluble and thus ironleaches from the landfill. Another means how contaminants leach is via the sulphate in the tipmay be biochemically reduced to sulphides, although this may lead to evolution of small quantities of hydrogen sulphide, the sulphide will remain in the landfill as highly insoluble metalsulphides.

(iv) Washed out Fines and Colloids

Suspended solids and turbidity may be present in the leachate due to the washout of finesolid material from the tip and this is our fourth method how contaminants leach. Therefore,leachate contains a range of organic and inorganic material that has been washed out of the fill.

(b) Atmospheric Effects

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the methane produced by the rottingorganic matter in unmanaged landfills is 20 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trappingheat from the sun. Not only does methane get produced by the various forms of rotting organicmatter that find their way into landfills, but household cleaning chemicals often make their wayhere as well. The mixture of chemicals like bleach and ammonia in landfills can produce toxicgases that can significantly impact the quality of air in the vicinity of the landfill.

Aside from the various types of gases that can be created by these landfills, dust and otherforms of nonchemical contaminants can make their way into the atmosphere. This contributesfurther to the air quality issue that plagues modern landfills.

(c) Ground Water Pollution

The key environmental problem as a result of landfills is groundwater pollution from leachates(the liquid that drains or 'leaches' from a landfill). Although they intended to protect humanbeings from toxins, due to natural deterioration the protective barriers only delay the inevitable.When a new municipal landfill is proposed, advocates of the project always emphasize that "nohazardous wastes will enter the landfill". However several studies have shown that even though

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municipal landfills may not legally receive "hazardous" wastes, the leachate they produce is asdangerous as leachate from hazardous waste landfills.

The major issue caused with landfill leachates is the leakage of a large number of toxins intofresh water waterways, which ultimately end up in our homes as drinking water or water foreveryday use. Since landfills are most often located in and around large bodies of fresh water orin swamps, the pollution often goes undetected. The compounds submerge to the ground, to theground water, and inevitably to our dinner tables. The pollution is also severely harmful toanimal and plant life.

Groundwater contamination may result from leakage of very small amounts of leachate.TCE is a carcinogen typically found in landfill leachate. It would take less than 4 drops of TCEmixed with the water in an average swimming pool (20,000 gallons) to render the water undrinkable. Some surveys conducted have shown that 82% of the landfills have leaks and up to41% of the landfills had a leak area of more than one square foot. EPA sponsored research showsthat burying household garbage in the ground poisoned the ground water. The EPA has stressedthat, even with the double liner landfills, the probability of leaking is very high.

Hyderabad is a major Indian City with a population of more than six million and the extentof solid waste generated from the City is estimated to be 2000 to 2500 tonnes per day. The solidwastes generated in Hyderabad metropolitan area are majorly disposed of as land fill in lowlying areas. There has been a serious concern about the contamination of soils, ground andsurface waters when the wastes are, thus, disposed.

(d) Impact on human health

Studies have shown possible increased risks of certain types of cancer, including bladder,brain and leukemia, among people who live near landfills. Further, a study by researchers at theLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine also found that babies born to mothers wholive near landfills have a greater risk of birth defects. There was a significantly overall increasedrisk of neuraltube defects, malformations of the cardiac septa (holeintheheart), and malformations of the great arteries and veins in residents near the landfill sites in our study.

And, a recent study found that living near a landfill could expose residents to chemicals thatcan reduce immune system function and lead to an increased risk of infections.

The health risks associated with illegal dumping are significant for ragpickers and residentsliving nearby. Areas used for illegal dumping may be easily accessible to people, especiallychildren, who are vulnerable to the physical (protruding nails or sharp edges) and chemical(harmful fluids or dust) hazards posed by wastes. As opposed to children living in clean areas,the study also found that "children living near to waste sites, whether landfills or contaminatedbodies of water, are hospitalized more frequently with acute respiratory infections.

Rodents, insects, and other vermin attracted to open dumpsites may also pose health risks.Dumpsites with scrap tires provide an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, which can multiply100 times faster than normal in the warm stagnant water standing in scrap tire casings. Severeillnesses, including encephalitis and dengue fever, have been attributed to diseasecarrying mosquitoes originating from scrap tire piles.

The government is taking several measures for waste management in urban areas. These arediscussed below:

The Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, has notified the 'MunicipalSolid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000' which has specific directives to theurban local bodies for proper and scientific management of municipal solid waste.

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The Ministry of Urban Development has published a Manual on Municipal Solid Waste

Management in May, 2000 to assist ULBs in management of municipal solid waste.

A Task Force set up by Ministry of Urban Development in March, 2003, has furnished its

report on "Integrated Plant Nutrient Management".

A Pilot project on Solid Waste Management and Drainage scheme in Ten selected airfieldtowns is being implemented at a total cost of Rs.130.67 crores. Six projects have been

completed/commissioned and four projects are at various stages of completion.

Under the Urban Infrastructure Governance (UIG) and Urban Infrastructure Development

Scheme for Small & Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) 41 and 51 number of solid waste management projects have been approved at an estimated cost of Rs.2236.01 crores and Rs.327.02

crores respectively. The projects are at different stages of implementation.

Under the 10% lumpsum scheme for solid waste management in the North East Region

including Sikkim, five projects have been approved since the year 200102.

A Task Force on Waste to Energy WTE projects has been constituted by the Planning Com

mission in June, 2013 to examine the technological aspects of WTE projects. Model Profile/

Scheme for Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects based on WTE will be prepared by

Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and full scale project be taken up by

the Ministry of Urban Development in consultation with MNRE only after the Expert Com

mittee setup by the Planning Commission gives its recommendations. The Ministry of New

and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry for promoting WastetoEnergy projects

(WTE projects). MNRE formulated "Programme on Energy Recovery from Municipal Solid

Waste for Settingup of 5 Pilot Projects" in the cities of Bengaluru (1 no.), Hyderabad (1 no.),

New Delhi (2 nos.) and Pune (1 no.).

The weaknesses of the existing system of solid waste management are: (i) the professionaland managerial capacities of the municipal bodies are limited and this is more pronounced in

case of smaller cities; (ii) no charges are levied for garbage collection or disposal, nor are there

any incentives for reducing garbage generation or recycling waste;(iii) no separate costing is done

for this function; (iv) indiscriminate use of plastic bags and goods; (v) recourse to modern

technology is rare and; (vi) segregation of garbage at the source is not enforced. Thus Indian

waste management system is starved of resources to tackle the increasing demands associatedwith growing urbanisation. Due to budgetary constraints, inadequate equipment and poor plan

ning, housetohouse collection is very rare in India, particularly in certain lowincome areas

where waste is not collected at all. It is estimated that upto 3040 percent of disposed solid wastes

are left uncollected. The areas, which are not serviced, are left with clogged sewers and litter

which create serious health problems for the resident population.

70 Special Category Status to States

The concept of a special category state was first introduced in 1969 when the 5th FinanceCommission sought to provide certain disadvantaged states with preferential treatment in theform of central assistance and tax breaks. Initially three states Assam, Nagaland and Jammu &Kashmir were granted special status but since then eight more have been included (ArunachalPradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand).The rationale for special status is that certain states, because of inherent features, have a lowresource base and cannot mobilize resources for development.

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The criteria for granting special status are as follows:

Some of the features required for special status are: (i) hilly and difficult terrain; (ii) low

population density or sizeable share of tribal population; (iii) strategic location along borders

with neighbouring countries; (iv) economic and infrastructural backwardness; and (v) nonviable

nature of state finances. The decision to grant special category status lies with the National

Development Council, composed of the Prime Minster, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and

members of the Planning Commission, who guide and review the work of the Planning Com

mission.

The special category states have some distinct characteristics. They have international bound

aries, hilly terrains and have distinctly different socioeconomic developmental parameters. These

states have also geographical disadvantages in their effort for infrastructural development. Public

expenditure plays a significant role in the Gross State Domestic Product of the states. The states

in the NorthEast are also late starters in development. In view of the above problems, central

government sanctions 90 percent in the form of grants in plan assistance to the states in special

category. The most important prescription for special category states is interest free loan with

rationalization of public expenditure based on growth enhancing sectoral allocation of resources.

Gadgil formula for granting of special status:

Up to 3rd Five Year Plan (FYP) [196166] and during Plan Holiday (196669), allocation of

Central Plan Assistance was schematic and no formula was in use. The central assistance pro

vided for in the first three plans and annual plans of 19661969 lacked objectivity in its formu

lation and did not lead to equal and balanced growth in the states. The National Development

Council (NDC) approved the following formula:

1. Special Category states like Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland were given prefer

ence. Their needs should first be met out of the total pool of Central assistance.

2. The remaining balance of the Central assistance should be distributed among the remaining

States on the basis of the following criteria:

60 per cent on the basis of population;

10 per cent on the basis of tax effort, determined on the basis of individual State's per capita

tax receipts as percentage of the State's per capita income;

10 per cent on the basis of per capita State income, assistance going only to States whose per

capita incomes are below the national average;

10 per cent on the basis of spillover into the Fourth Plan of major continuing irrigation and

power projects;

10 per cent for special problems of individual States.

Reasoning behind the given weights:

i. Population

In a country like India population acts as an apt measure to represent the requirements of

the people because a major portion of the population lives below the poverty line. This propo

sition was also supported by the empirical data which showed a negative correlation between

population of states and their per capita income.

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ii. Tax effort

This is an important factor to measure the potential of the state as far as its own resources

are concerned. This relative measure incentivizes the states to undertake measures to increase

their own potential through various tax measures.

iii. State per capita income

A problem regarding unequal development amongst the states was faced in the earlier plans

because of larger states with their large plans were able to get a larger share of resources from

the centre. This led to increased inequalities amongst the states. Therefore, to make the distribu

tion fairer to the smaller states with a lesser than national per capita average income were given

extra share in the resources.

iv. Special Problems

This factor was introduced so as to provide enough resources to states to overcome problems

like droughts, famines etc. In the absence of this share, such states would have suffered huge

losses because of these problems and the implementation of their plans could have been hin

dered. This was a discretionary element in the formula which required proper scrutiny of the

states situation by the Finance Commission.

v. Irrigation and power projects

These projects have been in the process of implementation before the fourth plan was

formulated. They needed extra resources for the successful completion of these projects.

Later the formula was modified on the eve of the formulation of the Sixth Plan. The 10

percent indicator for ongoing power and irrigation projects was dropped and the share of per

capita income was increased to 20 percent, to be distributed to those states whose per capita

incomes were below the national average. The modified Gadgil formula continued for the Sixth

and the Seventh Plans. Compared to the allocations in the Fourth and Fifth Plans, the allocations

during the Sixth and the Seventh Plans show a definite shift in favour of the poorer states. All

the low income states, except Tamil Nadu, received Plan assistance higher than the average

income of the 14 states taken into consideration at the time. This can certainly be attributed to

the higher weightage given to per capita income as per the modification. Per capita income

serves as a suitable proxy for changes in the economy. If the states are ranked according to their

per capita income as well as their per capita Plan assistance and the rank correlation coefficient

is worked out, it should give a fair idea of the effectiveness of the modified Gadgil Formula in

terms of progressivity.

Due to reservations of State Governments on revision, a Committee under Shri Pranab

Mukherjee, then Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission was constituted to evolve a suitable

formula. The suggestions made by the Committee were considered by NDC in December 1991,

where following a consensus, the GadgilMukherjee Formula was adopted. It was made the basis

for allocation during 8th FYP (199297) and it has since been in use. After setting apart funds

required for (a) Externally Aided Projects and (b) Special Area Programme, 30% of the balance

of Central Assistance for State Plans is provided to the Special Category States. The remaining

amount is distributed among the nonSpecial Category States, as per GadgilMukherjee Formula.

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So current pattern of formula is:

Advantages of getting special category status

Preferential treatment in federal assistance and tax break

Significant excise duty concessions. Thus, these states attract large number of industrialunits to establish manufacturing facilities within their territory leading to their economyflourishing

The special category states do not have a hard budget constraint as the central transfer ishigh

These states avail themselves of the benefit of debt swapping and debt relief schemes (throughthe enactment of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act) which facilitate reduction of average annual rate of interest.

Significant 30% of the Centre's gross budget goes to the Special category state

In centrally sponsored schemes and external aid special category states get it in the ratio of90% grants and 10% loans. For the rest of the states as per the recommendations of the 12thFinance Commission, in case of centrally sponsored schemes only 70% central funding isthere in the form of grant. The rest of the states receive external aid in the exact ratio (ofgrants and loans) in which it is received by the Center.

Role of Planning Commission in granting special category status

The Planning Commission allocates funds to states through central assistance for state plans.Central assistance can be broadly split into three components: Normal Central Assistance (NCA),Additional Central Assistance (ACA) and Special Central Assistance. NCA, the main assistancefor state plans, is split to favour special category states: the 11 states get 30% of the totalassistance while the other states share the remaining 70%. The nature of the assistance alsovaries for special category states; NCA is split into 90% grants and 10% loans for special categorystates, while the ratio between grants and loans is 30:70 for other states.

For allocation among special category states, there are no explicit criteria for distributionand funds are allocated on the basis of the state's plan size and previous plan expenditures.Allocation between non special category states is determined by the Gadgil Mukherjee formulawhich gives weight to population (60%), per capita income (25%), fiscal performance (7.5%) and

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special problems (7.5%). However, as a proportion of total centrestate transfers NCA typicallyaccounts for a relatively small portion (around 5% of total transfers in 201112).

Special category states also receive specific assistance addressing features like hill areas,tribal subplans and border areas. Beyond additional plan resources, special category states canenjoy concessions in excise and customs duties, income tax rates and corporate tax rates asdetermined by the government. The Planning Commission also allocates funds for ACA (assistance for externally aided projects and other specific project) and funds for Centrally SponsoredSchemes (CSS). Statewise allocation of both ACA and CSS funds are prescribed by the centre.

Controversy related to granting special category status to Bihar

The latest dispute regarding this is the issue that whether Bihar should also be given thestatus of special category state. The chief minister of Bihar Mr. Nitish Kumar has time and againmade this demand because Bihar is economically backward and also falls on Indo Nepal border.

The Interministerial panel has been denying special status to Bihar on two grounds the firstis that it is not a hill state and the second its population density is not less. However ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar has been fighting for the rights of his state on the grounds of electricityconsumption which is lowest in the country. Electricity being the backbone for development ofany state and more power consumption indicates more prosperity, then Bihar lags far behind.

The Bihar Government argues that such status would enable increased Government expenditure and hence would be able to attract private investment via the Keynesian 'crowding in'mechanism, which is necessary to increase overall investment in the State. Currently the StateGovernment expenditure is a major component of the total expenditure in the State and henceforms a major part of GSDP of Bihar.

Whereas in contrary to it the Bihar model of development is now gaining outcomes. Earlier,the Bihar police with a skeleton staff of largely unmotivated and poorly trained officers lackedthe ability to address these challenges and now Bihar's police force model of scientific investigations and speedy trials are being adopted by India's top performing states. In Bihar a new crimefighting model was adopted in 2006 and since then the number of murders has dropped by 13percent, robberies have declined by 46 percent and kidnappings for ransom have dropped by 65percent. Since 2006, 12,861 criminals have been sentenced to life in prison, while 33,588 othershave been sentenced for serious crimes, with a total of 80,199 convictions registered overall. Inthe years before 2006, conviction rates were never even compiled.

Earlier because of lack of robust private sector in Bihar, the condition of infrastructure waspoor in state. Thanks to high external investment levels and human and financial capital flightthat people now are getting to see leading clothing brands and fine restaurant chains in hugemalls. In the past five years, Bihar has been on a high growth path, consistently recordingdoubledigit rate: 12% in 200809; 11% (201011) and 13% (201112).

Following Bihar 5 other States namely Goa, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odishahave also been demanding this status due to extreme poverty, economic backwardness, noncompatible terrains and also the presence of Naxalites within the State territories due to whichno proper development has happened within the States.

71 Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and Issues

In 1976, at the height of the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, India's Parliamentenacted a piece of legislation called the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. It prohibitedpolitical parties and 'organisations of a political nature', civil servants and judges, as also correspondents, columnists and editors/owners of registered newspapers and news broadcastingorganisations and even cartoonistsfrom receiving foreign contributions.

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However, later concern was focused on the increasing influential role of NonGovernmentalOrganisations (NGOs) as institutions of civil society in India.

Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and the voluntary sector in India have expandedover the last few years, of which many are funded at least partially by foreign donors. Foreigncontribution increased from Rs 2,169 crore in 199596 to Rs 6,256 crore in 200405 (with a 23per cent jump between 200304 and 200405).

These funds constitute about 0.6% of the gross annual inflow of foreign funds into India.In comparison, the Indian corporate sector contributed about Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 35,000 croreto charitable institutions in 200607.In addition, individuals also donate to these institutions; wedo not have reliable estimates of the total amount.

The data is listed as follows:

I. A total of 38436 Associations have been registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act up to 31.3.2010. During the year 200910, 2022 Associations were granted registration and 388 Associations were granted prior permission to receive foreign contribution.

II. 21508 Associations reported a total receipt of an amount of Rs.10, 337.59 crore as foreigncontribution.

III. Among the States and the Union Territories, the highest receipt of foreign contribution wasreported by Delhi (Rs. 1815.91 crore), followed by Tamil Nadu (Rs. 1663.31 crore) andAndhra Pradesh (Rs. 1324.87 crore).

IV. Among the districts, the highest receipt of foreign contribution was reported by Chennai (Rs.871.60 crore), followed by Bengaluru (Rs. 702.43 crore) and Mumbai (Rs. 606.63 crore).

V. The list of donor countries is headed by the USA (Rs. 3105.73 crore) followed by Germany(Rs. 1046.30 crore) and UK (Rs. 1038.68 crore).

VI. The list of foreign donors is topped by the Gospel For Asia Inc, USA (Rs. 232.71 crore)followed by the Fundacion Vicente Ferrer, Barcelona, Spain (Rs.228.60 crore) and the WorldVision Global Centre, USA (Rs.197.62 crore).

VII. Among the Associations which reported receipt of foreign contribution, the highest amountof foreign contribution was received by the World Vision of India, Chennai, Tamil Nadu(Rs.208.94 crore), followed by the Rural Development Trust, Ananthapur, A.P. (Rs.151.31crore) and Shri Sevasubramania Nadar Educational Charitable Trust, Chennai, T.N. (Rs.94.28 crore).

VIII. The highest amount of foreign contribution was received and utilized for EstablishmentExpenses (Rs. 1482.58 crore), followed by Rural Development (Rs. 944.30 crore), Welfare ofChildren (Rs. 742.42 crore), Construction and Maintenance of school/college (Rs.630.78crore) and Grant of Stipend/ scholarship/ assistance in cash and kind to poor/deservingchildren (Rs. 454.70 crore).

Thus to control the flow of foreign fund the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 hascome into force with effect from the 1st May, 2011. The prime objective of the Act is to regulatethe acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution and foreign hospitality by persons andassociations working in the important areas of national life.

Salient features of Act:

The central government has the power to prohibit any persons or organisations from accepting foreign contribution or hospitality if it is determined that such acceptance would likely

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"affect prejudicially" (i) the sovereignty and integrity of India, (ii) public interest, (iii) freedomor fairness of election to any legislature, (iv) friendly relations with any foreign State, or (v)harmony between religious, racial, social, linguistic or regional groups, castes or communities.

The focus of the Act is to ensure that the foreign contribution and foreign hospitality is notutilized to affect or influence electoral politics, public servants, judges and other peopleworking the important areas of national life like journalists, printers and publishers of newspapers, etc. The Act also seeks to regulate flow of foreign funds to voluntary organizationswith the objective of preventing any possible diversion of such funds towards activitiesdetrimental to the national interest and to ensure that individuals and organizations mayfunction in a manner consistent with the values of the sovereign democratic republic.

Foreign funds received as fees for service, costs incurred for goods or services in the ordinarycourse of business, and trade or commerce are excluded from the definition of foreign contribution.

Funding from the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund isexempt from the requirements of the Bill. The central government can add other funders tothis exemption list through notification.

All persons or organisations who have a "definite cultural, economic, educational, religiousor social programme" (unless otherwise specified in this Act) must obtain a certificate ofregistration from the central government in order to accept foreign contribution. In additionto associations, societies and other organisations, the new Bill is applicable for individuals,Hindu Undivided Families, and Section 25 Companies (notforprofit companies).

Provision has been made for inspection of accounts if the registered person or person towhom prior permission has been granted fails to furnish or the intimation given is not inaccordance with law.

A new provision has been introduced to the effect that the assets of any person who hasbecome defunct shall be disposed of in such manner as may be, specified by the CentralGovernment.

A new provision has been introduced to the effect that any person, who knowingly givesfalse intimation and seeks prior permission or registration by means of fraud, false representation or concealment of material fact, shall, on conviction by Court, would be liable toimprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or fine or with both.

Any person contravening the provisions of the Act shall be punishable with imprisonmentfor a term which may extend to five years or with fine or with both.

Every person who receives foreign contribution under the Act shall submit a report, dulycertified by a chartered accountant, in the prescribed Form, accompanied by an income andexpenditure statement, receipt and payment account, and balance sheet for every financialyear beginning on the 1st day of April within nine months of the closure of the financialyear, to the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. Theannual return in the prescribed Form shall reflect the foreign contribution received in theexclusive bank account and include the details in respect of the funds transferred to otherbank accounts for utilisation. If the foreign contribution relates to articles or foreign securities, the intimation shall be submitted in the prescribed Forms.

The Central Bureau of Investigation or any other Government investigating agency thatconducts any investigation under the Act shall furnish reports to the Central Government,

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on a quarterly basis, indicating the status of each case that was entrusted to it, includinginformation regarding the case number, date of registration, date of filing charge sheet, courtbefore which it has been filed, progress of trial, date of judgment and the conclusion of eachcase.

In case the foreign contribution is proposed to be transferred to a person who has not beengranted a certificate of registration or prior permission by the Central Government, theperson concerned may apply for permission to the Central Government to transfer a part ofthe foreign contribution, not exceeding ten per cent, of the total value of the foreign contribution received. The application shall be countersigned by the District Magistrate havingjurisdiction in the place where the transferred funds are sought to be utilised. The DistrictMagistrate concerned shall take an appropriate decision in the matter within sixty days ofthe receipt of such request from the person. The donor shall not transfer any foreign contribution until the Central Government has approved the transfer.

Definitions:

Foreign Source

The Bill requires all voluntary organizations to register in order to receive foreign contribution from a "foreign source". The definition of a foreign source includes all companies in whichmajority shareholding is held by persons who are not Indian citizens. This would include anumber of companies such as ICICI Bank Ltd. and Infosys Technologies Ltd.

Foreign Hospitality

The Bill requires members of a Legislature, officebearers of a political party, judges, government servants or employees of any governmentcontrolled corporation or body to obtain priorapproval with the government before accepting any type of foreign hospitality (including stayingwith foreigners on overseas trips). The definition of "foreign hospitality" exempts "purely casual"offers from such prior permission. The Bill does not define "purely casual."

Speculative Business

The Bill prohibits persons from using FCRA funds for "speculative business." The Bill doesnot define "speculative business." (Incidentally, the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 lists the investmentspermissible by a Trust).

Subsidiaries

The Bill defines "subsidiaries" as the meaning assigned in the Companies Act, 1956. That Actdefines a company as a subsidiary of another company if the latter controls the composition ofthe former's board of directors or holds a majority of its equity share capital. This definitioncannot be applied to many entities in the voluntary sector as they may be registered as trusts orassociations, and may not have a "board of directors" or any "equity share capital."

Foreign funds and issues

Environmental policy is an area in which foreignfunded thinktanks have a significantimpact. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), headed by Sunita Narain with a governing board that has Ela Bhatt, BG Verghese, Dr MS Swaminathan and Dr NC Saxena amongothers, has received over Rs 67.7 crore in foreign funds between 2006 and 2012. The CSE's maindonors, according to FCRA records, include the Denmark based Dan Church Aid, Germanybased Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst EV, Heinrich Boll Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Other donors include the Commission of EuropeanCommunities and Government of India.

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The other green thinktank with generous foreign contributions that works closely with theGovernment is The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The International Bioenergy Summitheld in New Delhi was organised by TERI and sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology(DBT). According to its FCRA filings, TERI, with a staff of over 900, has received about Rs 155.9crore between 2006 and 2012 from a vast variety of donors.

In the field of health policy, one of the most influential thinktanks is the Public HealthFoundation of India (PHFI). Since it was founded in 2006, it has received a total of Rs 219 crorein funds, its biggest foreign donor being the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and biggestIndian donor being the Government of India. Other foreign donors, according to FCRA filings,include the National Institutes of Health (of the US government), Welcome Trust, InternationalDevelopment Research Centre and MacArthur Foundation.

On matters of internet policy, the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), a Bangalorebasedthinktank focused on internet governance and intellectual property issues, has been a memberof some key government committees, like the one under Justice AP Shah to study privacy lawsin India. The CIS also receives foreign funding. According to its website, it has received over Rs8.3 crore in funds, a significant portion of it from foreign donors like the UKbased KusumaTrust, which was founded by Anurag Dikshit, an Indian businessman who made a fortuneselling his stake in a popular online gambling website. He eventually donated most of his wealthto the Kusuma Trust, which funds various charities across the world.

In the human rights space, there is the famous Lawyers Collective, which, apart from itshuman rights advocacy, also provides legal aid to members of disadvantaged communities.Although this collective does not appear to work all that closely with the Government, it isinteresting to note that it was founded by Indira Jaising, who is currently one of the Centre'sAdditional Solicitor Generals. Since 2006, according to its FCRA filings, the organisation hasreceived around Rs 21.8 crore in foreign funds from the Ford, Levi Strauss and Open Societyfoundations and from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Swedish International DevelopmentCooperation Agency, among others.

The above examples demonstrate the influence of foreign funded thinktanks on almost everymajor aspect of Indian policy today, be it economic or environmental, related to public health orinternet governance.

For several thinktanks, it is often hard to figure out the nature of the legal entity throughwhich they conduct their activities. Since they enjoy tax benefits, they might also qualify as'public authorities' under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

The FCRA does not cover national security issues regarding (a) all funds, whether sourcedfrom India or abroad, and (b) all entities, including forprofit companies. Foreign funds currentlyreceived through FCRA are less than one per cent of all foreign funds entering the country. Theseare also less than one fifth of domestic donations to charitable institutions. Under the current lawand the proposed Bill, there are loopholes for bypassing the FCRA requirements by channelingthe funds through commercial firms as consultant fees, exports, etc.

In recent times concerns have been raised that trusts do not spend adequate amounts ontheir core objects. There isn't enough transparency in the administration of the trusts, resultingin disproportionately high administrative expenses.

Establishment expenses consist of buying land, buildings, jeeps, setting up offices, mobiles,laptops, cameras, salaries, consultancy fees, honorarium, and foreign travel etc., constitutingnearly 50 % of the expenses and in some cases as high as 70%. This goes against the grain ofservice motto where the ultimate recipient is supposed to get the maximum. Now, such organizations even recruit "executives" from management institutions. Most of the top recipients are

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Church or Church related organizations. They use the funds for service as well as religiouspurposes.

Recent steps

The Centre has banned direct foreign funding to NGOs operating in India unless they fulfilstringent regulatory norms and show compliance reports. This is seen as the beginning of aprocess to block flow of foreign aid to NGOs, which, it perceives, are engaged in stalling developmental activities in the country. As per this exercise, the Centre has cracked down on NGOGreenpeace and placed on its radars thousands of other voluntary organisations receiving foreign aid.

Further controls over trusts are introduced, providing that not more than 50% of the foreigncontribution received in a financial year by the trust shall be utilised to meet administrativeexpenses. Administrative expenses exceeding 50% can be defrayed only with the prior approvalof the Central Government, which will prescribe the elements that will be included in theadministrative expenses and the manner in which such administrative expenses shall be calculated.

Further the Ministry of Home Affairs has directed the Reserve Bank of India to take priorpermission of the Home Ministry's Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) Departmentbefore clearing any foreign aid to Greenpeace from Greenpeace International and Climate Works.Greenpeace International and Climate Works Foundation are the two principal internationalcontributors to Greenpeace India Society. The RBI has been asked to direct all banks on thisorder. Foreign donations to the Greenpeace have been put on "prior category" list so that permission is taken before any money flows in for funding its activities.

There are NGOs, often funded from the United States and the Scandinavian countries,which are not fully appreciative of the development challenges that our country faces. The IBreport had also recommended cancellation of permission given to Greenpeace for collecting fundsabroad besides reassessment of its tax compliance. The report has also listed another 12 foreignnationals who have been associated with some NGOs in their campaign against coal mines,power projects and Nuclear power plants.

72 Problem of Child Abuse in India due to Lack ofAwareness of Acts

During a discussion on Child Abuse, UNICEF pointed out that though the Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 equipped a state to deal effectively with cases of childsexual abuse, there seemed to be limited awareness about it provisions.

According to UNICEF violence against children can be "physical and mental abuse andinjury, neglect or negligent treatment, exploitation and sexual abuse. Violence may take place inhomes, schools, orphanages, residential care facilities, on the streets, in the workplace, in prisonsand in places of detention." Such violence can affect the normal development of a child impairingtheir mental, physical and social being. In extreme cases abuse of a child can result in death.

Child abuse has many forms: physical, emotional, sexual, neglect, and exploitation. Any ofthese that are potentially or actually harmful to a child's health, survival, dignity and development are abuse.

According to statistics compiled by the Karnataka State Child Protection Society (under theDirectorate of Women and Child Development) between January 1 and August 31 2013, awhopping 193 cases have been reported under the Protection of Children from Sexual OffensesAct of 2012 in Karnataka alone. Those working in the field said much had to be done about thelack of awareness on the Act.

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Further according to a 2007 study on child abuse by the Union Ministry of Women andChild Development, 20.9 per cent children in the country faced sexual abuse, while the corresponding figure was 17.2 per cent in West Bengal.

Highlights of the 'Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012':

The Act defines a child as any person below the age of 18 years and provides protection toall children under the age of 18 years from the offences of sexual assault, sexual harassmentand pornography.

This is the first time that an Act has listed aspects of touch as well as non touch behaviour(eg: photographing a child in a obscene manner) under the ambit of sexual offences.

The Act incorporates child friendly procedures for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and trial of offences

The attempt to commit an offence under the Act has also been made liable for punishmentfor upto half the punishment prescribed for the commission of the offence.

The Act also provides for punishment for abetment of the offence, which is the same as forthe commission of the offence. This would cover trafficking of children for sexual purposes.

For the more heinous offences of Penetrative Sexual Assault, Aggravated Penetrative SexualAssault, Sexual Assault and Aggravated Sexual Assault, the burden of proof is shifted on theaccused.

The media has been barred from disclosing the identity of the child without the permissionof the Special Court.

Issues:

The police are not booking culprits under the act for lack of awareness.

There have been some reported cases of noncooperation from courts as well.

Incidents of child sexual abuse were on the rise in India with very few convictions in caseswhich were reported.

Intrafamily abuse or abuse that takes place in institutions such as schools or governmenthomes has received minimal attention. This may be due to the structure of family in Indiaand the role children have in this structure. Children in India are often highly dependent ontheir parents and elders; they continue to have submissive and obedient roles towards theirparents even after they have moved out of their parental home. This belief that parents andfamily are the sole caretaker of the child has proved to have negative effects on childprotection laws and strategies.

Awareness of various provisions of the law is important as it made even abetting suchsexual crime an offence and put the onus on offenders to prove themselves innocent. The government would soon establish special courts to handle such cases.

Needed course of action:

Launch campaign to raise awareness on 'The role of the bystander in preventing child abuse'.Studies conducted worldwide reveal that the child abuser banks on the psychology of thebystander to continue undeterred. This leaves the child alone, mute and helpless in the handsof the predator, while the adults at home, on a bus, in a school, or in a park look away andremain silent.

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Volunteers should visit nursing homes, hospitals and clinics of paediatricians to engagemedical personnel and parents in recognizing and addressing the emotional, me