GENERAL STUDIES - Amazon Web Services€¦ · Indian reputation for delaying Approach: Start with basic principles of India Nepal relation Mention some areas of cooperation What are

1 GS Paper 2_2 Answer Key

GENERAL STUDIES

PAPER – 2_2

SOCIAL JUSTICE, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Q1. Discuss the new reality of India-Nepal

relations in the context of strengthening

ties between Nepal and China. What steps India should take to maintain a positive

relationship with Nepal?

(150 words, 10 marks)

Approach:

Start with basic principles of India

Nepal relation

Mention some areas of cooperation

What are the Challenges in India Nepal relations

Discuss China factor in India and Nepal relations

Measures needed to be taken by India

India Nepal relations:

The relation between India and Nepal was

founded on the age-old connection of history,

culture, tradition and religion; these relations are close, comprehensive and

multidimensional and are pronounced more

in political, social, cultural, religious and economic engagement with each other. It was

based on the principles of peaceful

coexistence, sovereign equality, and understanding of each other’s aspirations and

sensitivities.

Areas of cooperation:

India and Nepal have open borders which allow free flow of people and goods between

the two countries. Some of the major areas of

cooperation are

Development of infrastructure projects

Water resource management

Transport corridors like BBIN

Security and border management

Multilateral and regional fora like

SAARC and BIMSTEC

Disaster management and

humanitarian aid

Bilateral industrial investments

Tourism and cultural development

Challenges in India Nepal relations

Internal Security is a major concern

for India; Indo-Nepal border is virtually open and lightly policed

which is exploited by terrorist outfits

and insurgent groups from North

Eastern part of India eg. supply of trained cadres, fake Indian currency.

Overtime trust deficit has widened between India-Nepal because of the

Indian reputation for delaying

implementation of various projects.

Nepal over the years has witnessed

chronic political instability, including a 10-year violent insurgency,

damaging Nepal’s development and

economy.

The recent political tussle over the

Nepal constitution and economic

blockade strained the India-Nepal relations.

There is anti-India feeling among certain ethnic groups in Nepal which

emanates from the perception that

India indulges too much in Nepal and tinkers with their political sovereignty.

The establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and China

and its growing influence in Nepal has

resulted in declining traditional leverage of India in Nepal.

China factor in India and Nepal relations:

Nepal is strategically located between India in

the south and China in the north. Though Nepal’s relation with India is much closer

than China, the economic prospects from

China gaining more importance. Nepal shows a policy departure by balancing

between India and China for its progress. The

projects like Trans-Himalayan railway by China was warmly welcomed by Nepal. Nepal

also acceded to the Belt and Road Initiative of China. The economic feasibility of these

projects of connecting Nepal to Chinese ports

remains uncertain. For China engaging with Nepal gives it additional access point to South

Asia.

Measures needed to be taken by India:

The prospects of easing the bilateral relations depend on India’s overall capacity to

challenge China and political will to address

its own controversial approaches towards Nepal. In practical terms, India is not in a

suitable position to challenge the economic


might of China. Some of the steps that India

can take to maintain positive relations with Nepal are

Respecting the Sovereignty of Nepal

Timely completion of the infrastructure projects

Non-reciprocal attitude towards Nepal

Development of strong people to

people relations through cultural projects

Accepting the Chinese factor and cooperating with the reality

Conclusion: India has to stick to the principles of non-

interference and peaceful co-existence are respected and a high level of political

engagement with Nepal. The recent initiatives

like the development of Buddhist tourist circuit and 2+1 approach of the relation

between India and China with Nepal is the

right step in the direction. Thus the role of China in Nepal has become a reality, for a

positive relation India has to cooperative

rather confrontation which causes more harm than good.

Q2. How far do you agree with the view

that the presence of Indians diaspora in

the world has given the much-desired fillip to India’s relations with other countries?


Approach:

How Indians diaspora in the world pushing for India's interests abroad.(with examples)

Diaspora's role in shaping India's foreign

policy

The 2015 International Migration Report

estimated that 16 million Indians lived abroad, according to UN World Migration

Report (2018) Indian diaspora is the world's

largest. India was the world's largest recipient of remittances in 2016 having received $62

billion. However, the importance of Diasporas does not end with remittances alone but

extends to knowledge transfer, the sharing of

resources, acting as unofficial Indian ambassadors and pushing for India's

interests abroad.

However, as for the diaspora's role in shaping

and furthering India's foreign policy goals, it

is unclear to the extent of their engagement. Nevertheless, as more people of Indian origin

take up larger roles in politics, business and

entertainment abroad, they will be more likely

to not only invest in India but also help

further India's interests.

Two good examples are Antonio Costa, the

Portuguese Prime Minister, and Leo Varadkar, Ireland's Prime Minister. Both

belong to the Indian diaspora and come from

two economically strong countries that can trade with India. Portugal has already signed

MOUs with India in science and technology,

double taxation avoidance, space, trade and investment. Further, the two countries have

agreed to create a joint science fund of four

million Euros where they will collaborate in science research projects.

As for Ireland and other countries like the

Netherlands with a large Indian diaspora,

they are more likely to support India in her bid to join the United Nations Security

Council (UNSC) and the Nuclear Suppliers

Group (NSG). This will be even more likely with enough pressure from the diaspora.

India can also benefit from the diaspora in North America in achieving her space,

defence and security goals. Groups like the

United States India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), Friends of India,

Canada India Foundation (CIF) and Canada

India Business Council (CIBC), are already actively pushing for India's interests. Take for

example the recent passing of the American

defence budget in June 2017, totaling $US621 billion, where Indian-American

Congressman Ami Bera, stressed in his

amendment for "advanced defence cooperation between our two nations".

India needs delicate balancing between its

relationships with Saudi Arabia, Israel and

Qatar as it has interests engaged with all three countries. Currently, India enjoys a

favourable relationship with the three

countries, perhaps to an extent due to the presence of the diaspora.

Indians in the Middle East are known to be honest and hard workers. This "soft power"

asset may have helped in convincing Saudi

Arabia that India is and will remain a long-term trading partner despite Modi pursuing

stronger ties with Israel.

Smaller but equally important ways in which

the Indian community abroad helps further

India's foreign policy goals is by helping in the return of stolen artefacts. The Indian

Pride Project for example successfully lobbied to bring back the famous Nataraja from


Australia, and sandstone Yakshi from the

United States.

However, the support of the diaspora is

neither automatic nor continuous. They have been critical of bureaucratic procedures in

India among other issues. The Canadian

politician, Jagmeet Singh, for example, has been very critical of the treatment of minority

groups in India. Yet, the diaspora can help

further India's interests and have risen to the occasion when India needed them. Moreover,

the expectations of the diaspora, in return for

their help from the Indian government is varied. While those from countries like

Australia, the US and Canada demand dual citizenship and easier routes to invest in

India, immigrants in the Gulf states require

more help in day-to-day survival, and people of Indian origin in countries like Fiji, Kenya

and Trinidad and Tobago look to India for

cultural ties. The government will have to continue to work with these diaspora groups

separately to fully benefit from the

complementary relationship shared between the diaspora and its home country, focusing

on his flagship programs like ‘Make in India’,

while also playing a larger role in the Indian space programme and in the expansion of

trade, defence and security ties.

Q3. What do you understand by the term

social justice? How has social justice been

guaranteed through the Directive Principle of State Policy?


Approach:

Define social justice

Discuss several aspects of Social Justice

Discuss several provisions of the

Directive Principle of State Policy which provides Social Justice

What Is Social Justice?

Social justice is a political and philosophical concept which holds that all people should

have equal access to wealth, health, well-

being, justice, and opportunity.

It follows the principle that all individuals and groups are entitled to

fair and impartial treatment.

It attempts to prevent human rights abuses.

It is based on notions of equality and equal opportunity in society.

It focuses on the full and equal

participation of all citizens in the economic, social and political aspects

of the nation.

Social justice can also refer to advantages and disadvantages

distributed in a society.

It derives its authority from the codes

of morality in each culture and differs from culture to culture.

United Nation’s objectives of social

justice policies include social, economic and cultural rights,

including the right to an adequate

standard of living; right to work and equal pay for equal work; right to

education; and right of minorities to enjoy their own religion, language and

culture.

How has social justice been guaranteed

through the Directive Principle of State

Policy (DPSP)?

The constitution framers wanted to firmly

establish social justice in India and to achieve their goal they envisioned the Directive

Principles and included them in the

Constitution though they are non-justiciable. Through the successful implementation of the

Directive Principles India seeks to secure an

egalitarian society. The framers of the constitution were not satisfied with only

political justice, their aim was to ensure

people social and economic justice; and so they sought to combine political justice with

social and economic justice.

The DPSP has three main categories, namely

socialistic, Gandhian and liberal democratic In their humanistic and welfare thrust, the

categories sometimes overlap each other.

The socialistic principle (Articles 37, 39, 41,

42 and 43) direct the State to provide for:

adequate means of livelihood to all citizens:

distribution of material resources for common good or all;

avoidance of concentration of wealth and means of production in the hands

of the few;

right to work; equal pay for equal work to both men and women;

living wages for all workers, protection of workers, especially children;

humane conditions of work and

maternity relief;

right to education and public

assistance, etc.


The Gandhian provisions under Articles 40, 43, 46, 47 and 48 direct the State to

organize village Panchayats,

promote cottage industries in rural areas;

provide economic and educational upliftment to scheduled castes,

scheduled tribes and weaker sections of the population;

introduce prohibition of liquor and

drugs;

protect animal wealth and ban cow

slaughter .

The liberal democratic directives (Articles 44,

45, 48, 50 and 51) direct the State to provide:

free and compulsory education for

children up to 14 years of age;

introduce uniform civil code;

separate the judiciary from the executive;

organize agriculture and animal

husbandry on modern lines;

protect historical monuments, and

promote international peace .

In their totality these directives constitute an agenda of comprehensive social revolution.

Q4. Senior citizens are the powerhouse of experience and knowledge, but many of

them feel neglected and unwanted in the

twilight years of their life. Suggest some measures to enable them to live a

respectable life with economic self-

sufficiency. (150 words, 10 marks)

Approach:

How wisdom of an experienced elderly person can be a strong guiding force

for the untrained, fresh minds.

Discuss socio-economic problems of Senior citizens.

Suggest some way forward to enable them to live a respectable life with

economic self-sufficiency.

The elderly have knowledge, patience and a

life full of experiences behind them. While the

young generation is more active physically, energetic and enthusiastic. The young

generation can’t be expected to be self-driven

with not much exposure to the upheavals of life unlike their predecessors, thus making

them more vulnerable to troubles and

mistakes. The wisdom of an experienced elderly person can be a strong guiding force

for the untrained, fresh minds. The

mechanics of experience, vision and guidance combined with relentless energy can bring

positive and much desired results eventually.

This is what is required at the moment.

Once a person reaches a certain age, he/she

and those around automatically assume that the person has become useless and slowly

authority starts shifting from that person

thus making one feel more helpless and dependent on others. It is sad indeed that the

elderly are left on their own by their children

and the society which is also very disturbing from the psychological point of view. They feel

useless, neglected and liable.

As per the 52nd round of the National

Sample Survey Organization, nearly half of the elderly are fully dependent

on others, while another 20 percent

are partially dependent for their economic needs.

About 85% of the aged had to depend on others for their day to day

maintenance. The situation was even

worse for elderly females.

The elders living with their families

are largely contingent on the economic capacity of the family unit for their

economic security and well-being.

Elderly often do not have financial protection such as sufficient pension

and other forms of social security in

India.

The single most pressing challenge to

the welfare of older person is poverty, which is a multiplier of risk for abuse.

Also due to their financial dependence, elderly persons are most

vulnerable to infections have low

priority for own health.

Migration of younger generation, lack

of proper care in the family,

insufficient housing, economic hardship and break-up of joint family

have made the old age homes seem

more relevant even in the Indian context.

Way forward:

It is important to understand the social aspects concerning aged in the

country as they go through the

process of ageing. Increased life expectancy, rapid urbanization and

lifestyle changes have led to an

emergence of varied problems for the elderly in India.


It must be remembered that

comprehensive care to the elderly is possible only with the involvement

and collaboration of family,

community and the Government. India should prepare to meet the

growing challenge of caring for its elderly population.

All social service institutions in the

country need to address the social challenges to elderly care in order to

improve their quality of life.

There is a need to initiate requisite and more appropriate social welfare

programmes to ensure life with dignity for the elderly. In addition, there is

also a need to develop an integrated

and responsive system to meet the care needs and challenges of elderly in

India.

Without government’s interest and support, media’s backing and

involvement of the private sector, this issue like all others, will remain

unresolved.

A separate colony for the Senior Citizens in all the cities of the country

with all the basic facilities of life including a Hospital, Shopping

Centre, Club, Golf Club, Park etc.

within its premises. (No need for old homes anymore in their pathetic and

deplorable states)

Government/Private Sector sponsored projects and setups to provide

employment opportunities and work

facilities to the senior citizens in Offices, Factories and any other

financial earning opportunities etc.

Some services like Medical facilities,

education for those who want to study

with online facilities,Telephone/Mobile facilities, Exclusive transportation

facilities, Sponsored recreational

activities etc should be provided at reasonable cost.

Media should play its important role in educating the society in this respect

etc.

Senior Citizens are equally useful to the

society in every way. Old age doesn’t mean

that their potential or talent has drifted away. They are very much like their successors and

in some cases, better. It is up to society to

realize their value.

Q5. Explain the essence of “Indo-Pacific”

as a geopolitical framework. What are the implications for India of China's presence

in the Indo-Pacific region?

(150 words,10 marks)

Approach:

Explain the “Indo-Pacific” concept

How it acts as a centre of gravity of

the world’s economic, political and strategic interests

Implications for India of China's presence in the Indo-Pacific region

The Indo-Pacific region is an emerging geostrategic and geo-economic concept that

has been gaining significance in the field of

economic, defence and security studies. It is the geographical connotation of the area

which covers the Eastern Coast of Africa

through the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean.

It, in fact, represents the centre of gravity of the world’s economic, political and strategic

interests. It is rich in natural resources,

especially hydrocarbons which fuel the industrial engines of the world’s economies.

The established and emerging powers are

competing over these resources. In recent years, with the global economic power shift, it

has swiftly emerged as a centre of international trade and investments. It indeed

embodies a large market which is defined by

nearly half of the world’s population. This is obvious from the economic issues currently

dominating the regional politics.

The “Indo-Pacific” idea was originally

conceived in 2006-07 for a more constructive

geopolitical amalgamation of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific regions,

including for coping with the growing

comprehensive power of China.

Implications for India of China's presence

in the Indo-Pacific region:

India’s relationship with the South-East and East Asian countries is very

traditional. It has revived this

traditional relationship through its LEP in the early 1990s, and recently

through ‘Act East Policy’ under the

Modi government.

India’s engagements with the two vital

sub-regions of Asia have been enhanced at economic, defence,

politico-diplomatic and strategic

levels.

It currently conducts its bilateral

relationship at the level of ‘strategic partnership’’ with Indonesia, Vietnam,

Japan, South Korea, China and


Australia. India’s strategic

relationship with the ASEAN and the US has dramatically developed over

the last one decade.

There is also an India–Japan–Australia–US quadrilateral and India–

Japan–US trilateral partnership.

India’s strategic partners in the region

not only seek to further strengthen

their ties with India on a wide range of issues, including trade and

investment, defence, maritime

security, science and technology and disaster management, but also urge

India to play a more proactive role in

the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

The US, in particular, considers India

as a ‘linchpin’ in its rebalancing strategy towards the region. It is

perceived that strengthening the

relationship between the world’s largest democracies will help promote

regional peace and stability as they

share common values, interests as well as common security challenges in

the twenty-first century.

Through India’s Look East Policy (LEP) and the US’ rebalancing strategy, the

two countries have further built a new synergy in their regional relationship.

There is, however, concern that ‘the

Indian Ocean Region could witness a major military surge by China,

turning it into an arena of great power

competition in Asia.’

China has rapidly developed its

relationship with Indian Ocean rim countries, which is perceived as a

‘string of pearls’ strategy, to contain

emerging India. In response to the Chinese strategy, India has sought to

further improve its naval and security

cooperation with the South-East and East Asian countries, including

Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia,

Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines, etc.

However, India’s strategic leverage,

particularly in East Asia, is not comparable with that of China’s

growing clout in the Eastern Indian

Ocean. China has recently gained its influence in the region by funding

huge maritime infrastructure projects

such as Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan.

These infrastructural facilities currently may be for commercial

purposes but have a considerable

scope for military applications’.

China’s ability to put India under

strain in the Indian Ocean is a growing factor shaping the broader

dynamic of Asian security.

In addition, the rise of non-traditional security threats, maritime boundary

claims and Great Power competition over resources has further broadened

the security challenges for India.

In this rapidly changing geostrategic and geo-

economic landscape of the Indo-Pacific,

India’s future prosperity and overall security lies in its ability to effectively connect to the

two regions, as well as maintaining peace and

stability in it.

Q6. How far do you agree with the view that Death penalty in cases of rape leading

to the victim's death or her being left in a

persistent vegetative state is a right step to protect women from sexual violence in

India.


Approach:

You can start with the recent

judgments and reforms which involving Death penalty in cases of

violence against women.

Discuss unfairness/fairness of imposing the death penalty

You can mention about various official organisations which opposed the use

of the death penalty

You can suggest some alternative measures to curb sexual violence

against women.

The landmark reforms to India's sexual

violence laws in 2013, expanded the definition of rape and also introduced the

death penalty in cases of rape leading to the

victim's death or her being left in a "persistent vegetative state", and rape by

repeat offenders.

When the Supreme Court upheld the death

sentences of four men convicted of the brutal

gang-rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2012, several political

parties and media stations celebrated the

verdict. But what's been lost in the din is the futility and unfairness of imposing the death

penalty in cases involving violence against

women.

Convictions in cases of sexual violence, however, continue to be rare. More than

34,000 rapes were reported in 2015, but the


conviction rate was only 21.3%. The use of

the death penalty in India has been flawed and arbitrary.

A 2006 study of Supreme Court judgements on the death penalty by

Amnesty International and the People's Union for Civil Liberties

revealed that the imposition of death

sentences was like a "lethal lottery", disproportionately affecting those with

little wealth or influence.

The Supreme Court has itself admitted that the punishment - meant

to be restricted to those "rarest-of-

rare" cases where the convicted person is deemed to be incapable of

reform - has been inconsistently handed out.

Over the past four years, various offici al organisations have also opposed the use of

the death penalty, including in cases of rape.

The Justice Verma Committee - set up

after the Delhi rape case to review

sexual violence laws in the country - recommended that the death penalty

not be used in cases of sexual violence, calling it "a regressive step in

the field of sentencing and

reformation".

In 2015, the Law Commission of India

recommended the abolition of the

death penalty for most crimes, including sexual violence, stating that

the punishment was not a greater

deterrent to crime than life imprisonment.

A study by the National Law University of Delhi of all death row

prisoners in India showed that three -

quarters of them were from religious minority groups and marginalised

caste groups.The study also brought

to light a range of structural deficiencies in the way the justice

system treated death row prisoners.

Women's rights groups protested against the

government's decision to introduce the death penalty for certain cases of sexual violence

even before it was finally enacted into law.

However, these appeals, as well as the Verma Committee's recommendations, have been

ignored.

The temptation of courts to use the death

penalty to send a "strong message" to the

perpetrators ignores the deep-rooted, structural causes of sexual violence.

Justice will remain elusive for victims until

and unless there is an end to endemic problems that plague the criminal justice

system.These include flawed investigations,

protracted delays in trials, failure to provide adequate compensation and protection,

paternalistic and discriminatory attitudes in

police stations and courts, and an almost complete failure to implement laws that

address caste-based sexual violence.

Offences such as marital rape are not even

recognised as crimes - a fact repeatedly

raised earlier this month during a review of India's human rights record at the UN

Human Rights Council. When most sexual offences are not even

reported to the police, it is naive to believe

that executions will somehow curb violence against women.

Four years ago, the pressure on the government led to reforms that provided an

opportunity to increase women's access to

justice.

However, invoking the death penalty does

nothing to improve access to justice or to secure convictions.

The Supreme Court's repeated justification invoking the "collective conscience" of "the

community" to impose death sentences is

deeply flawed, as judges are not mandated to represent perceptions of the community's

opinions.

This highly discretionary standard, which

seemingly assuages "public outrage", ignores the public outrage directed at the state's

failure to ensure access to, and certainty of,

justice in all cases of sexual violence.

So instead of hiding behind the death

penalty, India needs to take real measures to protect its women from violence.

Q7. Discuss the implications of rising tension between Iran and the USA on

India. What measures India should take for

protecting its energy security and interest in West Asia.


Approach:

In brief provide recent developments in US-Iran relations as context.

Mention implications of rising tension on India.


What measures India can take to

secure its strategic interest

Provide Conclusion based on

arguments provided.

The US pulled out of a nuclear deal alleging it

defective at its core, setting off the escalation between these two countries. The US has

imposed economic sanctions to squeeze

Iranian Economy. Recently there is attack on US drones and oil tankers. All these incidents

have caused war like situation in West Asia.

Implications on India:

1. Economy: Rising tension will affect the supply of Oil to India and inflationary

pressure on Indian Economy will increase. There is concern regarding

the job security of Indian diaspora

living in these west asia countries. 2. Energy Security: India is dependent

on imports for its almost 80% of oil

needs. such tensions in the strait of hormuz can disturb oil and natural

gas supplies to India . So it will

threaten the energy security of the Country.

3. Connectivity with Central Asia: With

India wanting to make inroads into central Asia through Chabahar port,

international north south corridor ,

ashgabat agreement , Iran has substantial role to play for India’s

connectivity with Central Asia.

Turmoil in Iran will affect the India’s Central Asia Policy. Central Asian

Country can be potential supplier of Energy sources to India.

4. Afghanistan: to maintain trade and

ties with Afghanistan in which huge investment has been made by India .It

needs the support of Iran as envisaged

under chabahar port to overlook Pakistan hostility.

Measures By India:

1. Diversification of Energy Sources :

India should diversify its oil energy demand to different countries like the

USA and different African Countries.

India should diversify its energy basket and more focus on exploitation

of renewable energy.

2. Alliance with like minded countries like Japan and China which are also

dependent on West Asia for oil supply.

3. Promotion of Buffer stocks as it act as strategic oil reserve and tackle the oil

crisis for temporary period.

4. Promoting the policy of equal distance

with US and Iran : As both the countries are important for strategic

interest of India. So, diplomatic

channel should remain open for negotiation with both the countries.

Way Forward:

India should adopt the policy of equal

distance between US and Iran. Along with this India should diversify its energy sources.

Q8. Do you think PM Kisan is a step in the right direction towards mitigating India’s

severe agrarian distress? What are the challenges for the implementation of PM

Kisan scheme?


Approach:

In brief highlight severe agrarian

distress in India and reason for

introduction of PM kisan.

Write about Merits of PM KISAN and

its limitations. Write whether it is a right step towards mitigating India’s

severe agrarian distress.

What are the challenges for implementation of PM KISAN

Provide Conclusion based on arguments provided.

The grim picture of agrarian distress can be highlighted by increased number of farmers’

suicides. The major causes of the agrarian

crisis are: unfinished agenda in land reform, quantity and quality of water, technology

fatigue, access, adequacy and timeliness of institutional credit, and opportunities for

assured and remunerative marketing.

Adverse meteorological factors add to these problems.

To provide immediate relief to farmers PM

KISAN scheme (an income support scheme of Rs.6000/- per year in three equal

instalments) was introduced by Government

of India.

Merits of PM KISAN

The merit of cash transfers over loan

waivers and subsidies lies in their potential greater efficiency in enabling

poor households to directly purchase

the required goods and services as well as enhance their market choices.

Across countries, producer support for farmers are quite high; the reason

farming is supported in a lot of


countries is that the risk-return trade-

off is bad in the sector. The recent OECD study which talks about

producers support in India is quite

low. Therefore, this constituent required support and here is defini tely

a case for supporting in a way that

does not create distortion.

The other important benefit of this

scheme is in terms of making farmers credit worthy as financial institutions

have assured cash flow for this

vulnerable section(farmers).

PM KISAN’S limitation in solving agrarian

crisis

The Agrarian crisis is not just of low incomes in agriculture. The genesis of

the current crisis lies in the faulty and

ad hoc export-import policy, lack of infrastructure and cartelization and

collusion in agricultural markets,

which have prevented farmers from realizing the market prices for

agricultural produce

Landless labourers are not being covered under PM-KISAN

Cash transfer is neither a substitute for the structural reforms needed in

agriculture, nor does it adequately

compensate the farmers for the risks and uncertainty of crop cultivation

In the absence of proper tenancy records, it will also benefit the

absentee landlords.

It is no substitute for the lack of investment in agriculture, which has

declined at 2.3% per annum in real terms.

By taking away precious fiscal

resources, it makes the farmer more vulnerable to both market as well as

non-market induced risks.

Implementation issues in PM KISAN

While cash transfers to households may appear simple, the scheme

requires significant implementation capabilities. In a country where a

majority of the States have incomplete

tenancy records and land data are not digitised (for instance, in Jharkhand,

Bihar, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu),

identification of beneficiaries is daunting.

the scheme may end up benefiting only those who hold land titles and

not the small, marginal or tenant

farmers who are the most vulnerable.

the current top-down, rushed

approach of the government ignores governance constraints and is

therefore likely to cause hindrance to

its success.

Way Forward

An alternative bottom-up strategy and well-

planned implementation mechanism would allow weaknesses of PM KISAN to be

identified and rectified at the local level. The

most effective modalities can then be scaled nationally and to ensure success. Also, there

is a requirement to focus on crop insurance,

better irrigation and subsidized seed and fertilizers.

Q9. Do you think that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has lost its sheen in

today’s world? Give reasons to support

your opinion. (150 words, 10 marks)

Approach:

In brief write about NAM

Write why there is debate around the

relevance of NAM

Provide arguments whether it is

relevant or not with reasons to

support your opinion


arguments provided.

The Non-Aligned Movement is a Movement of

countries representing the interests and priorities of developing countries. The

Movement has its origin in the Asia-Africa

Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia in 1955. Non-Aligned Movement was formed

during the Cold War as an organization of

States that did not seek to formally align themselves with either the United States or

the Soviet Union, but sought to remain

independent or neutral.

With the disintegration of the USSR and the end of the cold war in 1991, non alignment,

both as an international movement and as

the core of India’s Foreign Policy, lost some earlier relevance and effectiveness. However,

non alignment retained some core values and

enduring idea, after the end of the cold war it started giving more importance to economic

ideas.

NAM is still relevant today. This is because

of the following reasons:


NAM was based on the principle that

decolonised countries share a historical affiliation and can become

powerful if they all come together.

This affiliation is still relevant.

NAM stressed on the idea that it is not

necessary for small and poor countries in the world to follow any

powerful country if they are able to

follow any independent foreign policy.

NAM is also based on the value of

democratizing the international system by thinking about an

alternative world order to address

several issues such as poverty and existing inequalities.

With the emergence of neo colonialism ( use of economic, political, cultural or

other pressure to influence former

colonies), many newly independent nations were unable to take concrete

decisions in the economic fields due to

the pressure exerted by the powerful nations and organisations like the

World Bank, WTO, IMF etc. Under

such circumstances, NAM came forward to help these countries in

trying to assert their economic rights.

USA off late has emerged as a powerful nation. NAM has immense

potentialities and experience to prevent the dominating of USA over

countries like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thus, NAM still remains an important and

powerful force which aims at achieving

international peace, disarmament and economic development. Non-Alignment has

not lost its relevance rather it has stood the

test of time. It has served the useful purpose of protecting and preserving the interest of

the Third World countries well in the past, so

it is also expected to serve their interest well in the future to come.

Q10. What is the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty? Why India has been

reluctant to join CTBT? Also, mention what benefits India can accrue by joining

CTBT?


Approach:

In brief write about CTBT

Why India has not joined CTBT?

What Benefits India can accrue by

joining CTBT


Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

Organisation (CTBTO)

It is a multilateral treaty that bans all

nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all

environments.

It was adopted by the United Nations

General Assembly in 1996 and opened

for signature. So far, 184 countries have signed the treaty and 168 of

them have also ratified it (most

recently Ghana on 14 June 2011).

The CTBT will come into force when

all the 44 countries which possess nuclear capability and research

reactors agree to sign and ratify it. It

was opened for signature in 1996 but is yet to come into force because eight

countries have not signed or ratified it

as yet. India, North Korea and Pakistan have neither signed nor

ratified the treaty whereas China,

Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States have signed but have not

ratified the treaty.

Why India has not joined CTBT?

Divides the world permanently into

nuclear "haves and have-nots”, as it

favors the nuclear power states, who have already achieved sophistication

in nuclear technology and have little

utility in testing further. Whereas other countries’ programs would be

stopped at the nascent stage itself.

No time frame mentioned to dismantle existing nuclear weapons and is silent

on complete nuclear disarmament. India’s principled opposition drew

from its emphasis on universal and

complete nuclear disarmament in a time-bound manner. India has

traditionally believed this to be the

end goal with the test ban just being a path to get there. But CTBT did not

insist on a complete disarmament clause, acknowledging that it was a

“complex issue.”

Does not address India’s security concerns- as India faces threats from

hostile neighbourhood. E.g. as a party

to the CTBT, India would be waiving the possibility of testing and

developing its own nuclear weapons

whereas China would be able to retain its arsenal as per the NPT. This was

compounded by the fear of nuclear collusion between China and

Pakistan.


Hinder India’s strategic nuclear

program development- for scientific development and energy needs given

its growing population and

requirement of clean energy

Benefits India can accrue by joining CTBT

Strategic Interests- By joining CTBT,

India can get easy entry to the Nuclear Suppliers Group as well as strengthen

its claim to the UN Security Council.

May help end the nuclear race in Asia- especially in India's neighbourhood,

as it may lead to a follow up by Pakistan too (Pakistan has already

joined CTBT as an observer).

Gain access to data from the International Monitoring System-

which uses advanced technologies like hydro acoustics, infrasound,

radionuclide and can help India in

areas such as disaster management, plane crash sites, mining and

exploration.

Become a part of international scientific community- which comes

together under the aegis of the CTBTO and help India tap into numerous

scientific cooperation with the world.

India believes its security would be enhanced,

not diminished, in a world free of nuclear

weapons. With the changing geopolitics, India can reacquaint itself with today’s global

nuclear test ban, while making an important

contribution to the multilateral verification regime under the CTBTO.

Q11. After the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, India

withdrew the Most Favoured Nation (MFN)

status accorded to Pakistan. What are the implications of the government’s move?


Approach:

What is the Most Favoured Nation

(MFN) treatment?

Discuss some background of India-Pak relations and MFN

Import tariff increased to 200% how it impact the trade between both nations

Potential for trade retaliation by Pakistan

What is the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment?

MFN is a status or treatment given by

one country to another in trade matters under the WTO. It means that

the recipient country of MFN will

nominally get equal trade advantage as the ‘most favoured nation’ by the

country granting the treatment.

MFN under WTO actually means non-

discrimination and it doesn’t mean

any special treatment to a specific country.

Under the WTO agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate between

their trading partners. If special

favour is granted to a particular country, it should be extended to all

other WTO members. The MFN is so

important that it is the first article of the GATT, which governs trade in

goods.

Though the MFN status says the receiving country is the most favoured

by the issuing country; the meaning is slightly different. Actually, what the

MFN meant is that the receiving

country will not be treated disadvantageously by the issuing

country in trade matters compared to

other countries.

So, when India extends MFN to

Pakistan, it is a promise to consider Pakistan in an equal footing with

other trade partners (read – tariff on

imports will be reduced).

India-Pak relations and MFN India and Pakistan have great trade

potentials. But trade among the two is not

much because of political issues. India has given MFN status to Pakistan in 1996 – one

year after the establishment of the WTO. But

Pakistan has not reciprocated by returning the status to India. Though a cabinet decision

was made on granting MFN status to India in

2011, Pakistan has not proceeded further.

Reasons, why Pakistan was not ready to reciprocate,:

1. Since Pakistan has a big trade deficit in its trade with India, granting MFN

to India may widen that trade deficit

because of the potential increase of imports from India.

2. Fear of political backlash – the

meaning of MFN and it's granting to India may bring negative political

returns in Pakistan.


In 2012, Pakistan brought a negative list ie.,

a list indicating items that should not be imported from India. Earlier, there was a list

that mentioned the items that can be

imported from India. The negative list means that all items except those mentioned in the

list can be imported. From the trade angle, a

negative list is more trade promoting. Hence, Pakistan put a small step forward in trade

engagement with India by bringing the

negative list. Still, it is not equal to the granting of reciprocal MFN.

Besides; to reduce the risk of the term MFN, Pakistan introduced a concept approach

called Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) which is near to MFN. Islamabad

promised to grant NDMA to India though no

action was taken further.

India withdraws MFN status to Pakistan:

The Government has withdrawn the

MFN status given to Pakistan after the

Pulwama terrorist attack that has taken the life of 40 jawans.

Here, the MFN status withdrawal is actually withdrawal of lower import

duty given to imports from Pakistan.

Hence, India can increase the tariff on imports from Pakistan. Already, the

government has raised tariffs to 200%

as a follow up to the removal of MFN status.

The extent of its implication is more applicable to India’s imports from

Pakistan which is meager of around

half a billion (488 million in 2017-18).

Import tariff increased to 200% The government raised customs duty on all

import items from Pakistan to 200%. Hence,

the imports from Pakistan is going to be negligible.

The freshly introduced 200% tariff is well above the MFN rate of 32.8% for agricultural

goods and 10.7%, for non-agricultural items.

Though the MFN rate is much lower, India

can still adopt a much higher bound rate (maximum rate on imports under WTO rules)

of 113.5% on agricultural products and of

34.6% on non-farm products.

According to the government statement, the

raising of the import tariff is as per the security interest provision of the Foreign

Trade Act. The Foreign Trade (Development

and Regulation) Act allows the government to

prohibit, restrict or regulate the import or

export of goods on various grounds. Since the tariff is raised on security grounds, there is

no need for India to furnish any information

or to make any disclosures about the rationale for the tariff imposition.

Potential for trade retaliation by Pakistan

Sometimes, Pakistan, in a retaliatory move

may bring some trade measures including raising the tariff on India’s exports or

increasing the number of goods in the

negative list etc. In that case, India’s exports to Pakistan may come down. For 2017-18,

India’s exports to Pakistan was around $1.9 billion.

Table: India-Pakistan trade in 2017-18

Exports to Pakistan (US

$ billion)

Imports from Pakistan (US

$ billion)

Trade balance for

India

1.924 0.488 Source: RBI

database on

Indian Economy

The consequent decline in India’s export to

Pakistan may adversely affect some of

Pakistan’s industries that depends on Indian raw materials like cotton and chemicals. At

the same time, exports from India through

third countries (specifically, the gulf countries) and illegal channels will go up.

In conclusion, with Pulwama, there will come a trade disengagement between the two

neighbours.

Q12. India’s participation in the mega-

trade agreement, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), has long

been debated. Discuss India's concerns for

joining the agreement. Why India wants strict rules of origin to be included under

this agreement?


Approach:

Give a brief introduction about RECP.

Mention India’s Concerns for joining the agreement

Provide reasons why India want strict rules of origin to be included


arguments provided.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is an ASEAN-centered


proposal for a regional free trade area. It

includes the ten ASEAN member states and those countries which have existing FTAs

with ASEAN — Australia, China, India,

Japan, Republic of Korea and New Zealand. RCEP aims to boost trade by eliminating most

of tariff and non-tariff barriers.

Importance of RCEP for India

The RCEP will provide a boost to India’s Act East policy and will also

influence the economic stature of India among the other South Asian

countries.

India’s trade with the RCEP group of countries as a percentage of its total

trade has increased over the past decade.

The greater economic integration with

the countries of SouthEast Asia and East Asia achieved through RCEP,

India will have access to vast regional

markets of these countries thereby helping its economy.

India can leverage advantage in areas such as ICT, IT-enabled services,

healthcare, and education services.

RCEP would help in expanding into these markets along attracting greater

FDI into these areas.

India’s Concerns for joining the agreement:

India’s trade deficits with nations have always widened after signing free -

trade-agreements (FTAs) with them, citing the cases with ASEAN, Japan,

Korea, and Singapore, most of which

are RCEP nations.

It has also been pointed out that

India’s vulnerable agriculture and dairy sectors, which are not in a

position to compete with Australia and

New Zealand, will be exposed to the vagaries of global trade.

Indian manufacturing is not

competitive enough to face the vagaries of a free trade regime.

Even after 27 years of liberalisation, inefficiency prevails due to a host of

unimplemented reforms in the

product and factor markets.

On the factor side, labour market

reforms are incomplete. Labour productivity in manufacturing is still

one of the lowest in the world with

spatially fragmented labour laws are escalating the costs of doing business.

Given this, Indian industry is hardly

in a position to compete in the level-playing ground in a free-trade region.

India apprehends that, given its $60-billion trade deficit with China, the

RCEP demand to reduce tariffs on 90

per cent of the traded goods to zero will have a disastrous effect on its

already struggling MSME sector.

India is especially apprehensive about Chinese goods swamping its market,

forcing domestic producers to cut production or shut down.

India has expressed its reservations

over inclusion of e-commerce in the RCEP talks.

The RCEP draft is opposed to data localisation, while India fears the

monopoly power of digital giants

which includes the likes of Tencent and Alibaba.

India has been insisting that any adoption of an agreement on trade in

goods cannot be adopted without

simultaneously adopting agreements on services and investments and any

agreement on trade in goods without

simultaneous agreement on services trade and investment will only harm

India's interests.

India’s demand for strict rules of origin:

India wants strict rules of origin to prevent Chinese goods from flooding

the country through member countries that may have lower or no

duty levels.

Chinese garments are making their way into India through the duty-free

route under the South Asia Free Trade Pact and the Duty-Free Quota-Free

window from Bangladesh. The

Chinese are already taking advantage of our liberal rules of origin with

neighbouring least developed

countries including Bangladesh

Rules of origin help to ensure integrity

and sanctity of tariff differentiation.

Way Forward RCEP as mega trade deal will improve the

trade among the member countries but

concern of India like opening up of service sector and strict rule of origin should also be

addressed.


Q13. India has criticized the slow pace of

UN Security Council reform process and opaque methodologies, non-attribution of

assertions and obfuscation of references

by the member states which are blocking the early reform of the UN. What

constitutes the UN Security Council

reform? Also, explain why reforms are needed in the UN Security Council?


Approach:

In brief write about UNSC reform process and overall debate associated

it

What constitutes the UN Security

Council reform

Explain why reforms are needed in the

UN Security


India has criticized the slow pace of UN

Security Council reform process and opaque methodologies, non-attribution of assertions

and obfuscation of references by the member

states which are blocking the early reform of the UN. Since 1993, the UN General

Assembly has hotly debated Council reform

but has not been able to reach an agreement, primarily due to “institutional inertia”.

Five sets of issues have been identified by the General Assembly. These are

1. Categories of membership

2. The question of the veto 3. Regional representation

4. Size of an enlarged Council and its working methods and

5. The Security Council-General Assembly

relationship

Why reforms are needed? • Changed Geopolitics: The Security Council's

membership and working methods reflect a

bygone era. Though geopolitics have changed drastically, the Council has changed

relatively little since 1945, when wartime

victors crafted a Charter in their interest and awarded "permanent" veto-wielding Council

seats for themselves.

• Reforms Long Overdue: It was expanded only once in 1963 to add 4 non-permanent

members. Although the overall membership

of the UN has increased from 113 to 193 but no change in the composition of the UNSC

happened.

• Inequitable economic and geographical

representation: While Europe is over represented, Asia is under represented. Africa

and South America have no representation at

all. • Crisis of legitimacy and credibility: Stalled

reform agenda and various issues including

its Interventions in Libya and Syria in the name of responsibility have put the credibility

of the institution in jeopardy.

• North South Divide: The permanent UNSC membership of portrays the big North-South

divide in the decision making of security

measures. For instance, there is no permanent member from Africa, despite the

fact that 75% of its work is focused on Africa. • Emerging issues: Issues such as

transnational threats, deepening economic

interdependence, worsening environmental degradation also call for effective multilateral

negotiations based on consensus yet all

critical decisions are still being taken by the veto-wielding permanent members of the

Security Council.

In the current circumstances it has become

crucial for the UNSC to reform itself and

uphold its legitimacy and representativeness in the world. However, for that to happen

political will, especially of P-5 nations and

strong consensus among all the nations is the need of the hour.

Q14. The recently concluded general elections to the 17th Lok Sabha has

registered a higher number of women

members in Parliament as compared to the 16th Lok Sabha general elections.

Although this is an encouraging sign, there is much more needed to be done towards

achieving the goal of women

empowerment in India. Discuss. (250 words, 15 marks)

Approach:

Start answer by providing data about

increased number of elected female MPs

Write about steps/measures that can be taken to further women

empowerment.


The 17th Lok Sabha has the highest number

of women MPs. Women’s representation has

steadily increased in the Lok Sabha. In the first-ever election, only 5% of the House

consisted of women. Now, that has increased

to 14%. This is still a low number given that


it is not near proportional representation. The

U.S. has 32% lawmakers, while neighbouring Bangladesh has 21%. But still it is an

encouraging sign.

Although increasing the number of women

legislators is a part of empowering women but

there are many other things which we need to do for achieving the goal of women

empowerment in India.

Various Measures that can be taken for

Women Empowerment: 1. Provide the ticket to education: clean

water. Girls in poor communities often miss school

because of a lack of clean water in the ir

village. Instead of attending class, millions of girls and women around the world spend 200

million hours each day fetching water that is

often dirty and dangerous to their health. By providing clean water/tapped water in their

house we can open the door to education for

a young girl. And nothing can empower them more than education.

2. Support girls and women in crisis. Millions of girls are subjected to abuse, child

labor, trafficking, child marriage, and other

offenses. Protecting girls and women by equipping skilled, local staff to offer training,

education, counseling, medical care, small

business loans, and other programs that reach women and girls as well as boys —

helping to end cycles of gender-based

violence.

3. Mentor a girl close to home. A growing poverty rate, poor-performing

schools, and teen violence make it tough to

be a girl growing up in the society. Reach out and influence the life of a young girl in your

own community by volunteering as a tutor or

mentor. One way to establish a mentorship is through Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

4. Invest in a small business owner. Up to 87% of the poorest households in India

do not have access to credit, and up to 380

million people are in need of microfinance services, especially women. Unfortunately,

women do not have access to many business

and educational opportunities that men do. Through microloans, women in India are able

to start businesses and develop economic

security. Women learn new skills creating economic development and sustainability, a

network of support, and financial independence in their lives.

5. Ensuring equal wages and non-

discrimination based on gender, especially in higher level management

6. Investing in health, menstruation hygiene

and nutritional support especially to adolescent and lactating mothers.

7. Prevention of sexual violence against

women and improving the criminal justice system.

8. Political Empowerment of Women

The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the

Constitution of India have provided some

special powers to women for reservation of seats (33%). ‘The New Panchayati Raj’ is the

part of the effort to empower women at least at the village level. More such steps are

needed at State and National levels. There is

need for the consensus from different political parties on women reservation bill which being

debated for quite a long time.

Empowering women needs to be about more

than economics and requires changing the

power dynamics and other cultural factors that repress women. So that they can make

decisions about their life and mobility, control

their money and have access to information, transport, tools and land.

Q15. Despite India’s outstanding growth in the last two decades, low pay and wage

inequality remain serious obstacles

towards achieving inclusive growth. In this context how a well-designed minimum

wage system can be a potent tool for

protecting workers and alleviating poverty. (250 words,15 marks)

Approach:

In brief write about present Minimum Wage System

Issues in current minimum wage system

Some policy recommendations for an effective design of minimum wages system

Provide Conclusion based on arguments

provided.

The Indian Minimum Wage System has been

quite a debated and dynamic issue. India was one of the first developing countries to

introduce minimum wages with the

enactment of the Minimum Wages Act way back in 1948.

Despite India’s outstanding growth in the last two decades, low pay and wage inequality

remain serious obstacles towards achieving inclusive growth which can be seen in terms

of Growing inequality, different minimum


wage across states, gender discrimination in

wages and plight of workers and their safety.

Issues in current minimum wage system: 1. Complex minimum wage system in India

The present minimum wage system in India is extremely complex with 1,915 minimum

wages defined for various scheduled job

categories for unskilled workers across various states.

2. The lack of uniform criteria for fixing the minimum wage rate.

In some states or in specific scheduled employments, minimum wages are linked to

the cost of living, through a variable dearness

allowance (VDA) whereas other states do not include the VDA component. All this affects

the level and variation of wage rates that can

be observed across and within States.

3. Minimum Wages Act does not cover all

wage workers.

One in every three wage workers in India has

fallen through the cracks and is not protected by the minimum wage law (ILO,

2018).

Some major vulnerable categories – such as domestic workers – are presently covered only

in 18 States and Union Territories. Further,

the revision of minimum wage rates has often been delayed (Anant and Sundaram, 1998).

4. Reflection of gender discrimination through minimum wage provisions

While the Minimum Wages Act does not

discriminate between women and men, an

analysis of minimum wages for different occupations shows persistence of systematic

bias.

5. Lack of compliance with the minimum

wage act

International experience has shown that

relatively simple systems are more effective

and usually complex systems are least effective. So from above discussion we can

say that there is a need for a well-designed

minimum wage system.

Some policy recommendations for an

effective design of minimum wages system are as follows:

Simplification and Rationalization:

Rationalisation of minimum wages as

proposed under the Code on Wages Bill needs to be supported. This code amalgamates the

Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of

Wages Act, 1936, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976

into a single piece of legislation.

The definition of wages in the new legislation should subsume the present situation of 12

different definitions of wages in different

Labour Acts.

Setting a National Floor Level Minimum

Wage Central Government should notify a “national floor minimum wage” that can vary across the

five geographical regions. Thereafter, states

can fix the minimum wages, which shall not be less than the “floor wage.” This would

bring some uniformity in the minimum wages

across the country and would make all states almost equally attractive from the point of

view of labour cost for investment as well as

reduce distress migration.

Criteria for setting minimum wage Further, the Code on Wages Bill should

consider fixing minimum wages based on

either of the two factors viz; (i) the skill category i.e. unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled

and highly skilled; and (ii) the geographical

region, or else both.This key change would substantially reduce the number of minimum

wages in the country.

For instance, Madhya Pradesh has notified minimum wages based on just four skill

levels of unskilled, semiskilled, skilled and highly skilled across occupations and regions.

The state has just four basic minimum wages

for the four skill categories.

Coverage

The proposed Code on Wages Bill should

extend applicability of minimum wages to all

employments/ workers in all sectors and should cover both the organized as well as

the unorganized sector.

Regular adjustment

A mechanism should be developed to adjust minimum wages regularly and more

frequently, similar to countries like

Montenegro, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Uruguay, and Costa Rica, where the

minimum wage adjustment takes place every six months (ILO, 2014). A dashboard needs to

be set up by the Ministry of Labour &


Employment, which shows the date of the

last revision in the minimum wage adjunct to the mandated period. This would enable

dissemination of information and increased

transparency in the system.

Role of Technology

Use of a variety of online, mobile phone and

networking technologies have the potential to

facilitate the collection and analysis of labour statistics, assist with the dissemination of

information about labour laws and policies,

reduce costs and improve transparency. A national level dashboard can be created at

the Centre with access to the state governments whereby the states can regularly

update the notifications regarding minimum

wages. This portal must be made available at

Common Service Centres (CSCs), rural haats

etc., with the required mass media coverage so that the workers are well-informed and

their bargaining skills and decision-making

power are strengthened.

Grievance Redressal

There should be an easy to remember toll-free

number for anybody to register his grievance

on non-payments of the statutory minimum wages.

This number should be given wide publicity

to make people aware of this avenue for grievance redressal.

Swift action should be taken against the

offenders and this action should be flashed on the dashboard without going into specific

details. The impression of action being taken would act as a deterrent to employers to flout

the statute.

To sum up, the world of work is in a churn as

technology is heralding major

transformations both in the workplace as well as in work and employment relations. The

impact is being felt both in the developed and

developing countries. For India, undergoing a delayed structural and demographic

transition, the challenges posed by the

technology driven changes are enormous. Expanding decent employment to young

aspirants in the labour market is a major

concern. Establishing an effective minimum wage system that will lead to inclusive growth

is therefore an urgent necessity.

Q16. ‘India considers the Central Asian

countries as part of its 'extended and strategic neighborhood’. In light of the

statement, Highlight the importance of

Central Asia for India. Also, highlight the

challenges which may hamper the cooperation between India and Central

Asia.


Approach:

You can start with historical

background of India-Central Asian relationship.

You can also highlight the importance

of Central Asia in general.

Try to give equal weightage to the

Importance as well as challenges.

Keep the answer crisp and divide the

words equally to every point.

India’s engagement with Central Asia has evolved over a period of two decades. In the

initial years, India relied on rekindling old

civilisational links with the region that laid the groundwork for building trust and

goodwill. The idea was to ensure goodwill and

project India’s sincerity in its engagement with the region with the intention of

augmenting its trade ties. However, lack of a

focused approach towards the region, coupled with strained relations among the Central

Asian states inhibited the economic potential

of ties between the two sides.

A politically, geographically and economically

integrated Central Asia is important for India to achieve its goal of ‘connecting’ with the

region. It also provides an opportunity to

invest in several hydro-electric power projects and other such ventures that cannot be

implemented without the cooperation of two regional states.

SIGNIFICANCE OF CENTRAL ASIA FOR INDIA

1. Location: its geographical location, with Russia to the north; China and Mongolia to

the east; India , Pakistan , Iran and

Afghanistan to the south; Turkey and Georgia to the west. Close relations with them could

benefit in several ways:

It would counterbalance Pakistan from using the Islamic card against

India in Islamic fora.

It would provide opportunities for

constructing oil and natural gas

pipelines in the future.

2. Cultural Linkages: Relations between India and Central Asia are ancient and

civilisational.


India has been connected closely with Central

Asia through the Silk Route from circa 3rd century BC till 15th century AD when the sea

route from Europe to India was discovered.

The Silk Route connected India with Central Asia not only for transportation of goods and

wares like silk, textiles, spices etc but was an

effective channel of exchange of thoughts, ideas, religion and philosophy. Buddhism

travelled over this route from India to Central

Asia and from there to West China in contemporary Xinjiang region. India can use

this soft power again to increase its influence

in the region.

3. Security: Afghanistan poses a rising challenge for these countries as well as India.

Withdrawal of US and Nato forces as well as

changes in national leadership in Afghanistan in 2014 has increased violence and

turbulence in the country. Talks between

Afghanistan, Pakistan, USA and China to persuade the Taliban to enter into

negotiations with Kabul are drifting aimlessly.

It is necessary to evolve an inclusive regional solution for ensuring peace in Afghanistan.

For this, India and Central Asia need to

collaborate with other regional powers like Russia, Iran, China and Pakistan as also with

USA and EU to promote security and stability

in Afghanistan. To ensure this the Indian Air Force is operating Farkhor Air Base in

collaboration with the Tajikistan Air Force.

4. Trade and Industry: Significant

opportunities exist for Indian companies to

undertake projects for building infrastructure related to rail network, roads, highways,

power stations, transmission lines, renewable energy, nuclear power etc in these countries.

Several areas present excellent opportunities

for enhancing bilateral trade and economic cooperation. In addition to oil and gas,

information technology, pharmaceuticals and

textiles, areas like higher education, space, civil nuclear energy, small and medium

business, power generation, food processing

and agriculture present rich potential for deeper engagement. Signing of the Chabahar

agreement with Iran resurrected India's

Connect Central Asia Policy by opening up new trade routes, bypassing Pakistan. Those

agreements, besides providing India a

gateway to landlocked Central Asian republics, have also offered these countries

an access to warm waters via the port of

Chabahar to maximise their economic gains. Also International North-South Transport

Corridor (INSTC), a multi modal transportation established in 12 SEP 2000 in

St. Petersburg, by Iran, Russia and India for

the purpose of promoting transportation

cooperation among the Member States will prove to be game changer if materialized.

5. Energy Security: Besides reinvigorated strategic and economic ties with Central Asia,

an enhanced bilateral equation with Iran and

India's membership to the SCO will enhance India's energy security goals by diversifying

its energy needs from West Asia. Notably,

Central Asian states, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and

Uzbekistan are rich in energy resources.

India's SCO membership could now play a bigger role in ensuring greater energy

cooperation between energy producers and consumers by linking Central Asia and South

Asia. In addition this club can seek

investments to boost their hydrocarbon and petrochemical sector in which India can play

a significant role.

Challenges in India-Central Asia

Relationship

1. Lack of Direct Access: The unstable

situation in Afghanistan and a highly

problematic India-Pakistan relations have deprived India from the benefits

of relations with Central Asia. The

Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline (TAPI) would be a game-

changer if it materializes.

2. Chinese Presence: Unlike India, China shares long borders with three Central

Asian states. China, due to its growing

military, economic, and defense cooperation with Central Asia, has

become a threat to India’s ambitions in the region. Some analysts says

that India might find itself isolated in

a perceived strategic triangle of China-Pakistan-Russia, who might have a

common position on certain issues.

3. Regional Imbalances and Extremism: Religious extremism, fundamentalism

and terrorism pose challenges to these

societies and to regional stability. Central Asian republics face se rious

threat from illegal drug trade

emanating from Afghanistan. The modern version is being played out

even today. Russia, China, US,

Turkey, Iran, Europe, EU, Japan, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan have

substantial security and economic

stakes in the region. 4. New Delhi needs to remove the myth

prevailing in Eurasia that India is opposed to any connectivity projects.

India must tell countries in the region


that its objection to joining China’s

BRI scheme relates to the violation of India’s sovereignty. India is not

opposed to projects passing through

non-disputed areas such as Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan

and India (TAPI) pipeline project.

India has yet to translate its aspirations in

Central Asia into reality. For the Connect

Central Asia policy to succeed, it is important that it is realized in practice and not just

present on paper. If India manages to do that,

India’s profile will rise not just in Central Asia but also in the international system. Once

implemented properly, the Connect Central Asia policy could be a game changer for India.

Q17. School education in India has limitations in ensuring equitable,

inclusive, quality “education for all”. How

far do you agree recent draft education policy would achieve the goal of “school

effectiveness”? What other viable

measures you suggest? (250 words,15 marks)

Approach:

Highlight reasons for the failure of equal opportunities and equitable -

quality learning outcomes

What are the reforms provided in the new Draft Education Policy

Suggest some way forward.

As per the ASER 2018 report, there is a

gradual improvement in both basic literacy and numeracy for class 3 students, from

2014 to 2018. On the other hand, it also

shows that 1 out of 4 children leaving class VIII are without basic reading skills.

Multiple reasons could be attributed to the failure of equal opportunities and equitable -

quality learning outcomes:

Inadequate public funding in the

sector added with underutilization of resources, at present allocation by

centre and state remains close to 3 %

of GDP, while A/T WB world average in this regard is 4.7 % of GDP.

Disproportionate focus on school infrastructure as opposed to learning

outcomes.

Discrimination based on caste, ethnicity, gender led to dropouts eg.

Overall retention rate in elementary school is 70.7 % whereas amongst

Scheduled tribes is 50.1% (Economic

Survey 2018-19) .

Curriculum being outdated and

lacking futuristic environment which

constraints overall personality development.

Limited options for vocational education in the school system.

Policy lacunae and non-adherence to acts like RTE, recent survey by civil

society highlight only 8% schools

adhere to complete provisions of RTE.

Economic backwardness makes

children more vulnerable due to family

issues, employability, poor outcomes. Eg. Global education monitoring

report 2016 states that poor children are 4 times more vulnerable.

Inadequate support and counseling

are given to children in school regarding lifetime opportunity and

career.

The Draft Education Policy provides for

reforms at all levels of education from school

to higher education. The Policy seeks to address the challenges of: (i) access, (ii)

equity, (iii) quality, (iv) affordability, and (v) accountability faced by the current education

system. It seeks to increase the focus on early

childhood care, reform the current exam system, strengthen teacher training, and

restructure the education regulatory

framework. It also seeks to set up a National Education Commission, increase public

investment in education, strengthen the use

of technology and increase focus on vocational and adult education, among

others.

Positives of draft policy can be viewed

through its objectives and recommendations

to improve equal opportunities and equitable learning outcomes:

1. Early childhood education: The Policy emphasizes the criticality of the early

years and aims to ensure quality early childhood care and education for all

children between 3-6 years by 2025

with significantly increased investment and new initiatives.

2. Foundational literacy and numeracy: There will be special attention paid to

early language and mathematics in

Grades 1-5. The Policy aims to ensure that every student in Grade 5 and

beyond must achieve foundational

literacy and numeracy by 2025. A National Tutors Programme


(comprising peer tutors) and a

Remedial Instructional Aides Programme (drawing instructors from

the community) will be launched.

3. Curriculum and pedagogy: A new developmentally-appropriate

curriculum and pedagogical structure

for school education based on principles of brain development and

learning has been developed based on

a 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 design. There will be equal emphasis on all subjects -

science, social sciences, arts,

languages, sports, mathematics - with the integration of vocational and

academic streams in school. 4. Universal access: The Policy aims to

achieve 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio

for all school education by 2030 through various measures.

5. Equitable and inclusive education:

The Policy has several concerted initiatives to ensure that no child

loses any opportunity to learn and

excel because of the circumstances of birth or background. Special

education zones will also be set up to

focus on this. 6. Enhancing Transparency and

accountability: Teachers will be

recruited through robust, transparent processes, promotions will be merit-

based, multi-source periodic

performance appraisals will happen and progression paths to become

educational administrators or teacher

educators will be available. 7. School Governance: Schools will be

organized into school complexes (cluster of 10-20 public schools) - this

will be the basic unit of governance

and administration that will ensure availability of all resources -

infrastructure, academic (e.g.

libraries) and people (e.g. art and music teachers) - along with a strong

professional teacher community. Eg.

Rajasthan initiated reforms has improved outcomes in terms of

retention, teacher vacancy.

8. Improving governance: Regulation and operations of schools will be carried

out by separate bodies to eliminate

conflicts of interest. There will be clear, separate systems for

policymaking, regulation, operations

and academic matters.

It does look forward-looking, but what the policy needs to do is differentiate between

deregulation and liberalization. The incentive

for the private sector to invest, grow and

stand on quality parameters needs to be clearly articulated.

What is recommended is the doubling of public funding to 6% of the GDP.

This is desirable but does not appear feasible in the near future given the

most of the additional funding has to

come from the states.

While establishing new institutes for

Pali, Prakrit, Persian appears to be a

novel idea, rather existing institutions like Central Institute of Indian

Languages in Mysuru be strengthened

and perhaps even upgraded to a university.

Language issues have to be handled sensitively in view of their emotional

overtones, as witnessed recently.

Protests are often made without understanding the spirit of the text.

Sexual abuse was another issue of ponderance that was ignored.

According to Delhi Police, around 60%

of child abuse cases reported in Delhi are incidents from schools.

There is less consensus on the integration of foundational learning

with schooling. In Europe, compulsory

education only begins at the age of 6. In certain countries like Denmark,

Germany and Finland, compulsory

education begins at the age of 7.

The NEP draft proposes ‘support staff’

to handle general administration and

“any non-teaching tasks”. While this is a welcome move, particularly in

schools where there is presently no administrative staff, it should be

noted that having support staff alone

may not suffice. It is crucial, therefore, to clearly define non-teaching tasks to

include work such as recordkeeping

and data management, and simultaneously expand the role of

clerical staff to incorporate the same.

While most technology-related points were about technology in education,

the policy vaguely addresses education about technology.

A constitutional amendment is

required to change the limits for compulsory schooling in the country.

Also, increasing the limit on higher

side i.e. up to the age of 18 is not consistent with the limits across the

world. Also, it is a very expensive

proposition.

There is not enough capacity in the

country to provide for teachers’


education. Also, M.Ed has been given

less importance under the policy. The focus has been more on B.Ed.

Way forward:

Revamped governance system to improve monitoring and

accountability.

Gearing system towards learning outcomes, remediation measurement,

individual tracking, reducing mental

stress.

Education is a concurrent list subject.

Apart from a consensus between the centre and the states, all the other

stakeholders including institutions,

public and academicians should also be consulted.

International examples can be learnt to improve outcomes in school

education eg. OECD 10 steps to equity

in education, cooperative learning and teamwork in co-teaching in Finland.

There is need to conduct a robust and

timely survey to have more accurate data for programme implementation

eg. NAS to be made annual.

There is a need to add more recurrent

seminars, presentation over moral

education to create morally responsible human being.

There is a need to prioritise implementation as much as, if not more than, developing new

policies. It should encourage states to

constitute outcome-focused programme management to learn from the systemic

approach taken by some states like Himachal in delivering textbooks to 6 lacs student

before the start of the academic year.The

effective school system is prerequisite in achieving the goal of SDG 4 and creating and

harnessing demographic dividend which

leads to the development of the nation.

Q18. Self-help group (SHG) approach is one

of the most effective strategies for alleviating rural poverty but it has not

been able to achieve the desired

objectives. Discuss the challenges faced by SHGs and suggest measures for achieving

its objective.


Approach:

In the introduction, in brief write

about SHGs, their working and cite few success stories highlighting how

SHGs can help in poverty alleviation

Mention Challenges before SHG

Measures to achieve the objectives of SHGs


Self Help Groups (SHGs) have become the

vehicle of change in the rural areas, transforming the lives of the marginalized.

SHGs have facilitated the process of micro

credit for the rural women folk thus improving their bargaining power in day-to-

day decision making of the household, and

finally in the community.

The few success stories like that of The

Women's Initiative Network (WIN) project in the Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts of

Kerala, Kudumbashree in kerala, SHGs in

Ratnagiri district of maharashtra; shows how SHGs groups can be useful in poverty

alleviation and empowerment.

Despite its success in few pockets, the growth

of SHG has been skewed.

Challenges before SHG:

The inability of the SHG-members to

explore innovative options for

livelihood opportunities or economically beneficial projects

Dominance of patriarchal mentality across rural societies often creates

obstacles for women to join SHG or to

take up income generating assignments/projects outside home.

Because of lack of proper communication, very often rural

banks cannot reach the geographically

isolated or remote villages of our nation which discourages formation of

SHGs in such villages due to lack of

funding-sources or financial assistance.

Incidences of misappropriation of

funds by SHG-members very often reported which maligns the spirit and

ideology of SHG formation.

Measures to achieve its objectives:

1. Capacity building of SHG members:

Government should focus on capacity

building of SHG members as many of the SHGs. A network of capacity

building institutions should be set up

to strengthen and develop SHGs. 2. Equitable distribution of SHGs: Most

of the SHGs are concentrated in the


southern region. Penetration of SHGs

in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is very low. So there is a requirement of

improving the penetration of SHGs in

backward areas. 3. Simplify the process of giving loans,

i.e. reduce the number of questions to

important non repetitive ones. 4. Provide gender sensitization training

to bank staff so that they are

sensitized to the needs of rural clients especially women.

5. An integrated approach is required for

meeting overall credit needs of a poor family in terms of backward linkages

with technology and forward linkages with processing and marketing

organizations.

6. We can learn from best practices and successful rural credit program

around the world like that of Grameen

bank of bangladesh, the MC2 Model, the village banking Model, and the

SKS-microfinance model.

Few steps like e-shakti initiative of NABARD,

MUDRA scheme, Stand up scheme, interest

subvention scheme are welcome steps in this regard. There is further requirement of

capacity building and empowerment of SHGs

for rural poverty alleviation and economic growth of rural areas.

Q19. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is a path-breaking step

towards “Universal Health Coverage” and

aims to overcome drawbacks of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). Critically

comment. (250 words,15 marks)

Approach:

Background and objective of Pradhan

Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY)

Drawbacks of Rashtriya Swasthya

Bima Yojana(RSBY)

How PM-JAY would be catering to

such drawbacks

Constraints in PM JAY which need to

be overcome to achieve the overall

objective of UHC

As per NSSO 2013-14 data, near to 1/3rd

death do not seek medical attention in India. Lancet report puts India on 162nd out of 195

countries based on death rates of 32 disease.

In this background PM- JAY is launched with an objective of:

Attaining coverage of at least 75 % of

the population with publicly financed health insurance by 2022-23.

Reduce by 50 % the proportion of households facing catastrophic health

expenditure from the current levels.

It aims to cover 10.74 crore families at the bottom two quintiles with INR 5

lakh cover each year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.

PM JAY is an entitlement based scheme targeting beneficiaries based on latest SECC

data and creating purchasing capacity among

poor.

RSBY, launched in 2009, a state funded

health insurance schemes for unorganized and BPL households making inclusive health

sector with upto INR 30,000 with annual

payment of INR 30. There have been constraints with earlier

public health insurance schemes coupled

with healthcare delivery system, which have failed to address the issue of inclusive health.

There has been inadequate focus on comprehensive preventive care and

primary care in the past.

Lack of adequate data hinders

targeted strategy and led to exclusion errors.

Since outpatient care, drugs,

diagnostics are not covered under several government insurance

schemes, people often delay seeking

care until they are severely ill. Economic hardship led to catastrophic

health expenses, 63.5 % is outpatient care out of total OOPE (out of the

pocket expenditure.)(NSSO 2013-14)

State-funded schemes also do not seem to go well eg. Andhra near 60%

are uninsured and faces catastrophic

expenses.

Inadequate focus on primary health

care infrastructure, though expanded with the launch of NHM 2005,

however, there continues to be a

shortfall in several areas, eg. “Rural Health Stats 2016”- no. of PHC and

CHC stagnated over 3 decades.

Non-revision of several schemes whereas, inflation and increasing

demand led a significant increase in hospitalization cost, eg. RSBY has

been not revised for 10 years, and

hospitalization cost increased by 300%.


There has been a lack of transparency

and accountability, lack of monitoring and tussle between hospitals and

insurers over delayed payments,

frauds etc. led to failure.

Regional disparity, shortage of

personnel and lack of necessary supplies.

How PM-JAY would be catering to such drawbacks:

Costing: Will be shared between the centre and states on 60:40 basis and

also led to much lower premium outgo: expected PM JAY- 1,110 /

family, RSBY – 1,765 for average

claim of INR 20,000.

Primary healthcare: HWCs component

of Ayushman Bharat would complement insurance scheme.

Bringing transparency and portability:

IT system has been implemented for beneficiary identification, hospital

empanelment, and transaction

management, preventing malpractices and enabling transparency.

Enhancing Accountability: Time bound payment to minimize tussle

with private sector eg. 15 days (within

state) and 30 days (outside state).

Better and quality outcomes:

Empanelment after physical verification, mandating to obtain

within one year NABH pre-entry level

accreditation and performance linked outcomes would further enhance

quality service delivery.

Capacity building and training: Frontline health service professionals-

Aarogya Mitra to facilitate provision of treatment to beneficiaries. Nationwide

team of master trainers being trained

who in turn will train Aarogya mitra and CSC operators.

Affordability and inclusiveness: There

will be more coverage and opening of health facilities (pvt sector) will be

more in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. It will reduce catastrophic health expenses

in India.

Improving governance through revamped institutions: NHA is

mandated to roll out scheme and

leveraging of local and community level systems like CSC and VLE would

make it more targeted.

However, there are constraints in PM JAY

which need to be overcome to achieve the overall objective of UHC :

Budgeting: Lower budget allocation in

already low public health expenditure eg. Allocation is even lower than sugar

industry however claims ratio of

insurers serving state health insurance has surpassed 100 %

NSSO.

Data unavailability: Lack of adequate

data on health profile would be

challenging for both insurers and regulators eg. CAG report(2017) shows

that 18% of health facilities did not

even report basic infra data in HMIS portal

Private sector: To get private sector to participate in region where essentially

required eg backward areas, delayed

payments, unsustainable premium and frauds which led to insurer to

refuse to pay.

Limited healthcare domain: Not including outpatient care, drugs

remains a challenge.

Govt needs to formulate robust

mechanism for package rates eg. WB

packaged rates were refused.

“Coverage erosion” pattern- when

costs escalate package covered may be shrunk and caps on co-payments and

coverage.

Way Forward:

It's important to place emphasis on public healthcare and creating

healthcare regulations.

More emphasis may be given to

preventive care rather than on curative to prevent and minimize loss

due to NCDs, accidents, injuries, etc.

Improving nutritional status, the inclusion of pre-natal and natal

education in formal education system.

Thai model with excellent Social Health Insurance coverage which led

to OOPE down to 18% may be followed.

Health being a state subject needs to be covered in a way by improving governance,

promoting cooperative federalism, with more

targeted approach. In order to achieve “Universalization of healthcare” as per

William Bhoore committee and to achieve

SDG 2,3, concrete structural and institutional reforms is required.

Q20. Critically analyze whether the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act

(FCRA) is hindering the growth and functioning of NGOs in India. Suggest


measures for improving the growth of

NGOs. (250 words,15 marks)

Approach:

In brief write about NGOs and their role in society

Provide context by writing about

cancellation of registrations of about 20000 NGOs under FCRA

Write how FCRA can be facilitator and hindrance to growth and functioning

of NGOs


NGOs are typically value-based organizations

which depend, in whole or in part, on

charitable donations and voluntary service. In recent times, under Foreign Contribution

Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of about

20,000 non-profit government organisations (NGOs) were cancelled. In many NGO there is

an issue of accountability and transparency.

These are both the dimension of FCRA regarding growth of voluntary Sector.

FCRA as facilitator of NGOs:

Implementation of FCRA provision bring transparency in foreign funding.

As there are allegations that many

foreign funded NGO are involved in Anti India Activity. As for example,

Public Health Foundation of India

(PHFI) lobbied with parliamentarians and the media on matters related to

tobacco control.

Many NGOs are involved in anti India activity. An Intelligence Bureau report

to the prime minister’s office has warned against a range of NGOs,

suggesting they pose a threat to the

economy, and that they have collectively cost India 2-3 percent of

its GDP. So, Provisions under FCRA

will help in removing those NGO which are involved in Anti India

Activity. In this way it will provide the

credibility to NGOs and good for growth of Voluntary sector.

Implementation of FCRA will help in fixing the accountability of NGO

regarding development activities.

Many NGOs do have agendas that further the interests of their funders,

while others are driven by the

particular causes they speak for. They are not meant to take the large view

and harmonise interests.

FCRA as hindrance to NGOs

1. There are many bureaucratic hurdles

for NGOs regarding enrollment, their

annual returns, and income and expenditure statements, receipts and

payment account, balance sheet for

every fiscal. For all these purposes NGOs getting foreign funding have to

take permission from the Ministry of

Home Affairs. So it hinders the NGOs from getting affiliation from respective

ministry.

2. There are also allegations that those NGOs which are providing alternative

policy are repressed by the government under FCRA provisions.

Measure for Growth of NGOs

1. The implementation of a strategic framework is essentially important in

the management of an NGO. The

endorsement of such a framework brings in professionalism and internal

control mechanisms, which further

makes the organization’s performance more effective.

2. There is need to bolster public

confidence in the voluntary sector by opening it up to greater public

scrutiny.

3. The Government should encourage all relevant Central and State

Government agencies to introduce

pre-service and in-service training modules on constructive relations

with the voluntary sector.

Conclusion

So there is a requirement that foreign funding

NGOs should ensure the compliance towards

the provisions of FCRA for better transparency and accountability. Along with

that Government should also protect and

promote the interests of those NGOs which are working for the betterment of the country.

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