indian polity - july 2019 polity.pdf · relevant for: indian polity | topic: indian constitution -...

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2019-07-03

IMITATION REGISTRY: ON NAGALAND NRCRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Features & Significant Provisions related to The

Preamble, Union & its Territories and The Citizenship

Nagaland is following on the footsteps of its western neighbour, Assam, in the task of setting upa Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN). This is a variant of the NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) that Assam has adopted with decidedly mixed results so far.Nagaland claims to have watched the process unfold in Assam, followed it closely, and it willnow complete the task of identifying and registering indigenous inhabitants in less than fivemonths, by December 10, 2019. This is more or less the kind of time-line that was followed byAssam, which is yet to publish its final NRC a year after the process began. In two months fromJuly 10, Nagaland hopes to have a list of indigenous inhabitants, after which it will be publishedand time given till October 10 to file claims and objections, before finalisation. It sounds simple,and Nagaland is considerably less populated than Assam. But the Assam experience shows thatin the complex demographies of the Northeastern States, it may not turn out that way. As manyas 40 lakh people were left out of the NRC listing in Assam, which seemed aimed to filter out‘illegal immigrants’. Indeed, in Nagaland, various local attempts have been made to determinenon-locals, non-tribals and non-Nagas, and identify what some people refer to as the ‘IllegalBangladeshi Immigrant’. Two years ago, a town not farther than 15 km from Dimapur, the largestcity and the commercial capital of the State, passed a resolution to place curbs on IBIs anddevised ways to prevent them from integrating, living or trading in the town. When such is thesituation on the ground, in an already volatile region where the Armed Forces (Special Powers)Act is routinely extended, it is best that Nagaland proceeds with caution in this enterprise. TheRIIN should not ultimately become a vehicle to make outsiders of insiders.

The Assam experiment has no clear end-point. Bangladesh has repeatedly suggested that theprocess going on in Assam is “an internal matter” of India, implying that there is no deportationpossibility here. Other than deepening the existing fault-lines in its own State and rendering thesituation even more volatile, it is unclear what the Nagaland government hopes to achievethrough the exercise. What happens to the people who are in the end found to be on the wrongside of the Nagland list? The right to appeal and a humane hearing should be in-built in thisexercise. The NRC experiment in Assam witnessed extremely divisive political posturing. OtherNortheastern states are sure to be watching with keen interest what is unfolding in Assam andNagaland. Emotive political issues cannot be allowed to drive the compiling of a registry ofcitizens.

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SEDITION CHARGE NO BAR FOR RS CONTESTRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Parliament - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges

and issues arising out of these

Vaiko

MDMK general secretary Vaiko, who is the party’s candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabhaelections in Tamil Nadu, will not suffer disqualification from being elected as sedition — a chargefor which he was convicted on Friday — is not included in the list of offences under theRepresentation of People Act warranting instant disqualification.

Though the MDMK does not have any legislators, Mr Vaiko’s candidature is being backed by theDMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance.

The issue of disqualification is governed by Sections 8 to 11 under Part II Chapter III of theRepresentation of the People Act of 1951. Section 8(1) lists out a host of offences which wouldattract disqualification, from being chosen as a member of the Parliament or a LegislativeAssembly, even if just a fine amount had imposed as punishment.

The provision states that those convicted for the listed offences and sentenced to only finewould remain disqualified for six years from the date of such conviction and those who had beensentenced to imprisonment would suffer disqualification for a further period of six years from thedate of their release from prison.

Interestingly, the offences that fall under Section 8(1) include promoting enmity betweendifferent groups on the ground of religion, race and so on; offence of bribery; exerting undueinfluence or personation in an election; rape; subjecting a female family member to cruelty,commission of Sati, involving in corruption and so on. However, it does not include Setion 124A(sedition) of Indian Penal Code for which the MDMK general secretary was convicted. Further,Section 8(2) of the Representation of the People Act lists out few other offences which attractdisqualification if the sentence was more than six months and sedition does not find place evenamong them.

Provision

This provision states that those who had been convicted and sentenced to more than six monthsof imprisonment for the offence of hoarding, adulterating food products or drugs and demandingor accepting dowry would get disqualified from the date of conviction and continue to bedisqualified for six more years from the date of release from prison.

Section 8(3) of the Act provides for disqualification irrespective of the nature of offence only ifthe sentence imposed by a court of a law was more than two years. The MDMK leader did notsuffer disqualification under this provision too because the sentence imposed on him was onlyfor one year though the maximum punishment for sedition was life imprisonment.

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CRIMES THAT INDIA’S STATUTE BOOKS HAVE FAILEDTO DEFINE

Relevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Amendments, Schedules, and Important Articles

Human rights world and diplomacy.Vector illustrations

Neither ‘crimes against humanity’ nor ‘genocide’ has been made part of India’s criminal law, alacuna that needs to be addressed urgently. This was the lament of Justice S. Muralidhar of theDelhi High Court, while pronouncing the judgment in State v. Sajjan Kumar (2018).

The case concerned the mass killing of Sikhs during the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 in Delhi — andthroughout the country. The court categorically stated that these kind of mass crimes“engineered by political actors with the assistance of the law enforcement agencies” fit into thecategory of crimes against humanity (CAH).

Internationally, CAH are dealt with under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court(ICC). They are defined as offences such as murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation,torture, imprisonment and rape committed as a part of “widespread or systematic attack directedagainst any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack”.

India is not a party to the Rome Statute, which means that it is under no obligation at present toenact a separate legislation dealing with CAH. Even after ratification of the GenocideConvention (1948), India has not enacted it in domestic legislation.

The most probable reason for India’s reluctance to actively participate in the negotiation processon a separate Convention on CAH, which started in 2014, could be the adoption of the samedefinition of CAH as provided in the Rome Statute. The Indian representatives at theInternational Law Commission (ILC) have stated that the draft articles should not conflict with orduplicate the existing treaty regimes.

India had objected to the definition of CAH during negotiations of the Rome Statute on threegrounds.

First, India was not in favour of using ‘widespread or systematic’ as one of the conditions,preferring ‘widespread and systematic’, which would require a higher threshold of proof.

Second, India wanted a distinction to be made between international and internal armedconflicts. This was probably because its internal conflicts with naxals and other non-state actorsin places like Kashmir and the Northeast could fall under the scope of CAH.

The third objection related to the inclusion of enforced disappearance of persons under CAH. Itis pertinent here that India has signed but not yet ratified the UN International Convention for theProtection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances as it would put the country under anobligation to criminalise it through domestic legislation.

Can these objections be seen as providing the basis for India’s objections/silence to the ILC’songoing work? Does India have objections to the very definition of CAH based on the RomeStatute or does it have concerns with the contextual elements of the crime?

In State v. Sajjan Kumar, the Delhi High Court also said that “a familiar pattern of mass killings”

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was seen “in Mumbai in 1993, in Gujarat in 2002, in Kandhamal, Odisha in 2008, andMuzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh in 2013”, where the criminals “have enjoyed political patronageand managed to evade prosecution”.

India’s missing voice at the ILC does not go well with its claim of respect for an internationalrules-based order. Turning a blind eye to the mass crimes taking place in its territory andshielding the perpetrators reflect poorly on India’s status as a democracy. It would be advisablefor India to show political will and constructively engage with the ILC, which would also, in theprocess, address the shortcomings in the domestic criminal justice system.

The writer is a senior research fellow at the Centre for International Legal Studies, JawaharlalNehru University, New Delhi


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LOK SABHA GIVES NOD TO ARBITRATION BILLRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Amendments, Schedules, and Important Articles

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday cleared the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2019.The Bill, which replaces an Ordinance promulgated in March this year, provides for theincorporation of the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) for creating anautonomous regime for institutionalised arbitration.

The Bill, moved by Union Law Minister Ravi Shanker Prasad, has a provision to declare theNDIAC as an Institution of National Importance. The Minister said the Centre will be headed by achairperson, who has been a judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court or an eminent personhaving special knowledge and experience in the administration of arbitration.
















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SINGLE TRIBUNAL TO HEAR WATER DISPUTESRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Issues and Challenges Pertaining to the Federal Structure, Dispute Redressal

Mechanisms, and the Centre-State Relations

Reality check:A file photo of officials inspecting water level in the Cauvery near its entry point inTamil Nadu.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019that will help adjudicate disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers and river valleys. Aversion of this bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2017 but it subsequently lapsed.

The Bill seeks to amend the Inter State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 to streamline theadjudication of inter-State river water disputes.

Adjudication process

A key feature of the bill is the constitution of a single tribunal with different Benches, and thesetting of strict timelines for adjudication.

“When any request under the Act is received from any State Government in respect of any waterdispute on the inter-State rivers and the Central government is of the opinion that the waterdispute cannot be settled by negotiations, the Central Government constitutes a Water DisputesTribunal for the adjudication of the water dispute,” said a press note.

There are about a dozen tribunals that now exist to resolve disputes among States on sharingwater from rivers common to them. The standalone tribunal so envisaged will have a permanentestablishment and permanent office space and infrastructure so as to obviate with the need toset up a separate Tribunal for each water dispute, a time consuming process.

The Bill also proposes a Dispute Resolution Committee set up by the Central Government foramicably resolving inter-State water disputes within 18 months. Any dispute that cannot besettled by negotiations would be referred to the tribunal for its adjudication. The dispute soreferred to the tribunal shall be assigned by the chairperson of the tribunal to a Bench of thetribunal for adjudication.

The Bill can also affect the composition of the members of various tribunals, and has a provisionto have a technical expert as the head of the tribunal. Currently all tribunals are staffed bymembers of the judiciary, nominated by the Chief Justice.







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NEHRU AND THE KASHMIR QUANDARYRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Features & Significant Provisions related to The


A measured handshake: Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru with Kashmir’s Maharaja HariSingh in Srinagar in May 1948. | Photo Credit: HINDU PHOTO ARCHIVE

Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this month held India’s first Prime Minister, JawaharlalNehru, responsible for the country being deprived of one-third of Kashmir. Except forthose who deify Nehru, most others readily agree to the obvious fact that Nehru was notinfallible. However, it is ironical Mr. Shah and his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, focus on anarea of Nehru’s alleged culpability — his handling of the Kashmir question — on which the latterperhaps deserves their indulgences and empathy.

What must one, then, think of when one thinks of Kashmir? Is it a stolen land? Or a symptom ofHindu-Muslim rivalry? Or a case of cross-border terrorism? Or perhaps a battleground for twonuclear rivals?

Kashmir is all these and much more. However, there are some aspects to the muddle that havebeen ignored for far too long.

First, given Nehru’s well-known secular credentials, we tend to treat him as less of a Hindu, ifnot looking at him as an outright anti-Hindu. In reality, on Kashmir, he acted not only as a Hindudetermined to protect his co-religionists, but as a Kashmiri Pandit.

Mirwaiz defends Nehru’s Kashmir policy

In 1947, the immediacy of the crisis in Kashmir — the procrastination of Maharaja Hari Singh tojoin either India or Pakistan and Pakistan’s invasion of the state — dictated that Nehru and theGovernment of India do everything to prevent the impending genocide of the Hindus in Jammuand Kashmir.

Wouldn’t a secular Nehru have also acted in a similar way? Indeed. But a secular Nehru wouldhave liberated the rest of Kashmir, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), as well.Because India could either claim the whole of Jammu and Kashmir or nothing. Ignore, for thetime being, the purported reluctance of Indian Army to proceed further due to the operationalconstraints that forced Nehru to agree to a ceasefire.

Further, if one were to examine Nehru’s actions in solely communal terms, one wouldn’t be ableto visualise a better strategy for the Hindus in the State than the one he chose. It must surelyhave crossed Nehru’s mind that if he liberated PoK, it would create a situation where Hindus inJammu and Kashmir were further relegated to a minority.

Here, it is not difficult to count the benefits of Nehru’s calibrated inaction. A unified Jammu andKashmir would have meant that even a brilliant gerrymandering of political topography would nothave helped the Kashmiri Hindus. Hence, the BJP’s criticism of Nehru’s actions comes acrossas ironical.

Prior to 1947, Jammu and Kashmir and Hyderabad State were mirror images of each other: anautocratic ruler from a minority community having put a heavy yoke on the majority population.

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We are far too willing to accept the gory details of Hyderabad Nizam’s misrule but squeamish inshedding a similar light on Kashmir. This has distorted our understanding of the Kashmirproblem in two ways.

One, the current angst among the Kashmiri Muslims is explained away as the people’s anti-Indiasentiments or the machinations of Pakistan. There is truth in both explanations. But they alsomislead us into believing that the Kashmir problem started after 1947. The fact is that the cross-border terrorism started much before the Partition of the subcontinent when Muslims in BritishIndia used to slip into the princely State of Jammu and Kashmir in solidarity with fellow Muslims,who were getting a raw deal from their ruler. Had we been cognisant of this fact, we would havefocussed more on good governance and ensuring basic liberties to the people in Kashmir.

Two, after its accession into India, Jammu and Kashmir was pushed into adopting democracywhereas it never had the institutions, the cultural temperament and the robust civil society soessential for democracy to take roots and flourish. Recall how Hyderabad State (nowTelangana) suffered for decades from left-wing extremism which was a counter to its feudal set-up.

Leaving aside a few honourable exceptions like the princely States of Travancore, Baroda andKolhapur, most areas under native rule prior to Independence proved to be fallow fordemocracy, whereas British India enjoyed a whiff of rules-based governance.

Understanding the parallels between Hyderabad and Kashmir would give us a whole new way ofdealing with the root cause of the problem, rather than just its symptoms. The Maharaja’s delayin choosing between India and Pakistan prompted Pakistan to resort to military intervention.That its troops were dressed up in mufti should not distract us from that fact.

After accepting the Maharaja’s instrument of accession, Nehru’s main task was to secure thesafety of Hindus, especially in the Valley. Having accomplished his goal, he had to end the warat a time and place of his choosing. How else could he have achieved it without going to theUnited Nations?

He was right in his likely assessment that Hindus wouldn’t be safe in Pakistan and Muslimswould be better off in India. His assessment was proved right during his time. But the fire-fightingnature of Nehru’s actions in 1947-48 should have been additionally followed up with measuresof restoration and rehabilitation, keeping Kashmir’s history and culture in context.

Nehru and India had three policy options at their disposal during the initial years of the problem.They were: a) Use the window of opportunity to relocate Hindus away from the Valley; thatwould have avoided communal strife though democracy would have taken more time to fructify;b) Usher in secular and liberal democracy which would take care of the interests of everyone; orc) Put in place an autocratic system that would be managed from New Delhi.

The first option (evacuation) was never attempted as the government thought it was notnecessary and the Centre was supposed to be following the second option (democracy) but defacto ended up following the third one (direct rule).

Unfortunately, for Nehru, taking possession of Jammu and Kashmir — minus the ‘one-third’ —was an end in itself but not the beginning of a long process of integration. Further, he had toomuch confidence in the superiority of India’s liberal polity, which he believed Kashmiris wouldhappily embrace. He also had too much faith in the sense of justice and equanimity of his

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successors. His faith proved to have been misplaced.

D. Shyam Babu is Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research. Views are personal










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Source : www.pib.nic.in Date : 2019-07-11

RESOLVING INTER-STATE WATER DISPUTESEFFICIENTLY & AT FASTER PACERelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Issues and Challenges Pertaining to the Federal Structure, Dispute Redressal

Mechanisms, and the Centre-State Relations

Cabinet

Resolving Inter-State Water Disputes efficiently & at fasterpace

Cabinet approves Inter-State River Water disputes(Amendment) Bill, 2019

Posted On: 10 JUL 2019 6:06PM by PIB Delhi

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved theInter-State RiverWater disputes(Amendment) Bill, 2019for adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers and river valley thereof.

It will further streamline the adjudication of inter-State river water disputes. The Bill seeks toamend the Inter State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 with a view to streamline the adjudicationof inter-state river water disputes and make the present institutional architecture robust.

Impact:

Constitution of a single tribunal with different benches along with fixation of strict timelines foradjudication will result expeditious resolution of disputes relating to inter-state rivers.Theamendments in the Bill will speed up the adjudication of water disputes referred to it.

When any request under the Act is received from any State Government in respect of any waterdispute on the inter-State rivers and the Central government is of the opinion that the waterdispute cannot be settled by negotiations, the Central Government constitutes a Water DisputesTribunal for the adjudication of the water dispute.

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AKT/PK/SH

(Release ID: 1578194) Visitor Counter : 629

Read this release in: Urdu , Marathi , Bengali , Punjabi , Gujarati , Tamil



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OVERHAULING THE BUREAUCRACYRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Provisions related to UPSC, State PSCs and Civil Services in India, and their

Role in Democracy

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Overhauling the Bureaucracy


In keeping with the principle of ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’, the Government has takenseveral measures to reform bureaucracy. Issue of provisional appointment orders on receipt ofduly filled attestation form and self declaration by candidates pending police verification ofcharacter and antecedents, streamlining the system of posting at senior levels with due regardto integrity and merit, strengthening performance appraisal system of civil servants,strengthening of vigilance system, amendment of All India Services (Disciplinary and Appeal)Rules to provide for specific ‘timeline’ for completing enquiry against officers of All IndiaService(AIS) in a time bound manner and adequate safeguard against arbitrary suspension ofAll India Service (AIS) officers, discontinuation of interviews for lower level posts, removingdead-wood from bureaucracy (i.e. those found ineffective and non-performing are to becompulsorily retired), are some of the reforms made in the recent past.

Some prominent persons have been appointed earlier also on lateral entry basis to manspecific assignments from time to time. This includes among others, appointment of Dr.Manmohan Singh, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Shri Vijay Kelkar, ShriBimalJalan, Shri ShankarAcharya, ShriRakesh Mohan, ShriArvindVirmani, ShriArvindPanagariya, ShriArvindSubramanian, ShriVaidya Rajesh Kotecha, ShriParameswaranIyer, Shri Ram VinayShahi, ShriR. Ramanan and Dr. SekharBonu. No adverse effect on the morale of the civil servants hasresulted from lateral recruitments.

NITI Ayog in its three year Action Agenda 2017-18 to 2019-20 has also highlighted that it isessential that specialists be inducted in to the system through lateral entry on fixed termcontract. The Sectoral Group of Secretaries (SGoS) submitted a report in February, 2017 inwhich it has inter alia been observed that there is shortage of officers at the JointSecretary/Director/Deputy Secretary Level, due to reduction in recruitment in the Service during1995-2002. Based on the recommendation of SGoS, Government has decided to undertakelateral recruitment of ten Joint Secretaries on contract basis in order to achieve the twinobjectives of bringing in fresh talent as well as augment the availability of manpower.

The entry in Government run educational cadre at Assistant/Associate/Professor is opento all individuals who are fulfilling the required eligibility criteria independent of whether theperson is currently within the educational institution or not.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge)Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances &Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, DrJitendra Singh in written reply to a question inLokSabha today.

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BB/NK/JMS/PJ


Read this release in: Bengali



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Source : www.indianexpress.com Date : 2019-07-13

LAW AND BEYONDRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Judiciary in India: its Structure, Organization & Functioning, Judges of SC &

High Courts, Judgments and related Issues

© 2019 The Indian Express Ltd.All Rights Reserved

In July 2018, a Chief Justice of India-led bench of the Supreme Court delivered a stingingindictment of what it called “horrendous acts of mobocracy”, and warned against violentvigilantism propelled by prejudice and hatred — “lynching” — becoming “the new normal”. TheCourt directed the Centre to frame a law that dealt specifically with these crimes, and suggestedthe setting up of fast-track courts, lodging of FIRs without delay and framing of compensationschemes for victims and their families. The draft law submitted to Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath by the UP State Law Commission would appear to take cognisance of theCourt’s directive. The Uttar Pradesh Combating of Mob Lynching Bill (2019) proposesimprisonment (upto 10 years for serious injuries and upto life imprisonment in case of death) andstringent fines for perpetrators, as well as those involved in planning and abetting lynchings.Significantly, it also criminalises the “dereliction of duty” by police officers and the districtadministration.

The draft law is welcome for the much-needed signal it sends out — there must beaccountability for hate crime. Far too often, the mob lynching phenomenon, disturbinglyubiquitous since 2014, has been met by the ruling political formation by denial or, at times, withwhat could be described as tacit and symbolic support. A report by IndiaSpend found that of all“bovine-related deaths” between 2011-2017, 97 per cent occurred after the BJP came to powerin 2014. Take the murder of Mohammad Akhlaq in UP in 2015. The case, despite being before afast-track court, has seen little progress. As on date, the court is yet to take cognisance of thecharges framed against the accused. The accused in the case, out on bail, have beencelebrated — one of them was even draped in the national flag after dying of natural causes. Infact, in January 2016, then BJP MP Yogi Adityanath said that Akhlaq should be charged(posthumously) for cow slaughter and the compensation his family received should berescinded. There are incidents, across states, of the victims being charged by the police incases of lynching, even as the will to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators seems weak. In thiscontext, a state government-appointed commission in BJP-ruled UP does well to propose a lawthat recognises, first, that mob lynchings require urgent legislative and administrativeintervention and, second, that police and administration must also share the blame for theclimate that permits such violence.

But a new law can only be a first step. The state must follow it through. Then, in 2018, the apexcourt had also said “grandstanding of the incident by the perpetrators of the crimes including inthe social media aggravates the entire problem”. The political and social sanction for violence, inthe name of the cow or accompanied by chants of “Jai Shri Ram”, is integral to the sense ofimpunity that encourages the lynch mob. These can only be addressed with the active support ofthe political class and civil society.

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© 2019 The Indian Express Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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MAKING CIVIL SERVANTS THINK LIKE A PRIMEMINISTERRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Provisions related to UPSC, State PSCs and Civil Services in India, and their

Role in Democracy

In early June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting of top bureaucrats in which heflagged three key priorities — ‘Make in India’, ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and, a new priority of‘Ease of Living’. Exhorting the Secretaries to “think of themselves as the Prime Minister”, hestressed on the need for the civil servants to break down silos, deploy Information Technologytools and make interaction with the people smoother. Though it is necessary to address theseconcerns, that alone will not be sufficient for India, considering the complexity inherent in acountry which, while having the largest number of poor people, also aims to be a $5 trillioneconomy by 2024.

Here, the role of the NITI Aayog assumes significance. The organisation, set up as a ‘think tankof the government’, is best placed to identify areas that require transformational change and canalso provide a template for adoption of innovative technology for a seamless interaction amongthe Centre, the States, the district administrations and the citizens. Silos will be removed wheneach Secretary fits sectoral priorities to a framework of infrastructure, services and employment,and District Magistrates are provided specific activities for ensuring ‘ease of living’.

Five reform proposals

Here, five transformational reforms, with NITI Aayog in the lead, will be needed.

First, the ‘Agenda 2022’ of the NITI Aayog needs to focus on the policy implementation link. TheAayog is now looking at tardy execution of infrastructure projects in terms of managementissues rather than structural deficiencies and the related corruption. Preventive action againstincreasing corruption in infrastructure projects is not the remit of the enforcement bodies aloneand must also be a central concern of NITI Aayog through effective concurrent evaluation andswift action against lapses at the supervisory level.

Second, we need to increase infrastructure spending, at least doubling it from its current level,which is at about 10% of GDP. The Chinese recognised early that infrastructure is thefoundation of both well-being and growth. On a per capita basis, their infrastructure spending isequal to that of European countries, two-thirds that of the U.S. and five times that of India.Infrastructure development in China peaked at 54% of GDP in 2013 and, by then, the country’sGDP was nearly $10 trillion.

Third, we need an Intellectual Property and data analytics strategy. China, like the U.S.,recognised early that data is the new oil, and restricted the entry of Amazon and Google, did notallow ride-sharing services like Uber to gain a foothold in its territory and built up applicationslike its indigenous search engine Baidu and the chat service WeChat. We are only now debatingnational ownership of public data and are yet to develop our own applications that will lead toprogress in Artificial Intelligence and other technologies that will be the backbone of the fourthindustrial revolution.

Fourth, we have to extend digital services to non-traditional sectors like tele-medicine, ruralcredit, education, retail value chains and logistics. Most importantly, we need to develop labourmarket information, matching skills with jobs. China’s working age population has peaked while

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two-thirds of Indians are below 30 years of age, creating the potential for India to overtake theUnited States.

Fifth, the government should adopt a more holistic approach while embarking on developmentprojects. Can the Jal Shakti Ministry provide piped drinking water without conservation ofmonsoon run-off? Doesn’t the ‘Smart Cities’ programme need to be aligned to ‘ease of living’ —including issues related to provision of drinking water and sewage and waste management? Arewe saving forests for the tribal people or from them? Can we mandate that half of CorporateSocial Responsibility funds be spent on libraries? When it comes to education, the recentlyreleased National Education Policy does not assess why past policies were not implemented.

Military, judicial and land reform

The Prime Minister had told the Combined Commanders Conference in 2014 that the mostimportant task was to bring about increased jointness in the defence forces, prepare them forshort conflicts and seek domination of cyberspace. In 2016, China established three jointcommands, developed precision anti-ship missiles and downsized the land Army. We haveworld-class capability in missiles, space and cyberspace, but continue to be the second-largestarms importer. India is the only BRICS nation which does not manufacture its own civil aircraft.

Another transformational change will be achieved by increasing the digitisation of land recordswith ownership. Doing away with the system of registration of sale deeds, instead of land titleswill require legislative changes. Two-thirds of civil cases deal with inconclusive titles andboundaries and less than 5% of land is leveraged for capital, compared with 40% in the UnitedStates. Moving towards digital, GPS-based boundaries and title documents will more thandouble farm incomes and productivity.

Also, a comprehensive judicial reform is long overdue. Currently, the judiciary gives moreemphasis to procedural rather than substantive aspects. The focus should be on forensicinvestigation, as half the cases end in acquittal. We need to replace the Environmental withSustainable Development Law with a new law, doing away with the need for courts to adjudicatethe trade-offs, especially in infrastructure projects.

Till the beginning of the 19th century, India was richer than China. We can take a leaf out of theChinese strategists’ play-book by using the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership toreform industry and biding our time by downplaying military expenditure and focussing oninfrastructure led-growth and well-being to double per-capita incomes by 2024.

Mukul Sanwal is a former civil servant and UN diplomat







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A TEST OF LAW AND JUSTICERelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Amendments, Schedules, and Important Articles

Constitutional challenges are often described as hard cases. This is, however, seldom true.Invariably, disputes possess a simple solution. We can debate over what theories ofinterpretation to apply and over whether the text of a clause needs to be read literally or in lightof its historical background, but in most cases, the Supreme Court’s own precedent andcommonly accepted legal theories provide an easy enough guide to finding a principled answer.The challenges made to the 103rd constitutional amendment, though, which a two-judge benchof the Supreme Court is slated to hear this month, present a rather more difficult test.

The ambiguity of reservations for the poor

Here, the issues involved concern questions both over whether the amendment infringes theextant idea of equality, and over whether that idea is so intrinsic to the Constitution, thatdeparting from it will somehow breach the document’s basic structure. The court’s answers tothese questions will operate not merely within the realm of the law but will also likely have adeep political bearing — for at stake here is the very nature of justice that India’s democracyembodies.

The law, which was introduced in January this year, amends Articles 15 and 16 of theConstitution, and grants to government the power to provide for reservation in appointments toposts under the state and in admissions to educational institutions to “economically weakersections of citizens [EWS]”. At first blush, this reservation, which can extend up to 10% of thetotal seats available, may not appear to impinge on the existing constitutional arrangement. Butwhat it does mandate is a quota that will apply only to citizens other than the classes that arealready eligible for reservation. Consequently, persons belonging to Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes and persons who are not part of the creamy layer of the Other BackwardClasses will not be eligible to the seats available under the quota.

Quotas and a verdict

According to the petitioners in the Supreme Court, the central hypothesis of the amendment,where reservation is predicated on individual economic status, violates the Constitution’s basicstructure. In their belief, the law, by providing for affirmative action unmindful of the structuralinequalities inherent in India’s society, overthrows the prevailing rationale for reservations. Indoing so, they argue, the amendment destroys the Constitution’s idea of equal opportunity. TheUnion of India argues that while the Constitution demands equality, it does not confineParliament to any singular vision. According to it, the power to amend the Constitution mustnecessarily include a power to decide how to guarantee equal status to all persons.

In some senses, as sociologist Gail Omvedt wrote in these pages (“The purpose of reservation –I”, March 24, 2000), “the whole history of the struggle for reservation has also been a debateabout its very meaning and purpose”. When reservations were first introduced by some of theprincely states the policy was seen largely as an alleviative measure. For instance, in theprincely State of Mysore, where privileged castes had cornered virtually every post availableunder the government, a system of reservations was introduced denominating communities as“Backward Classes”, and providing for them a larger share in the administration. By the time theConstitution was being drafted as a reading of the Constituent Assembly’s debates shows us,the rationale for reservations had broadened. The Constitution’s framers saw the measure as apromise against prejudice, as a tool to assimilate deprived groups into public life, and as a

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means of reparation, to compensate persons belonging to those groups for the reprehensibleacts of discrimination wrought on them through history. Marc Galanter has called this acompensatory discrimination principle.

Is there a problem with the 10% quota?

Yet, despite the expanded justification, the basic foundational logic for reservations was stillpredicated on a demand for a fairer and more representative share in political administration.This is demonstrated by R.M. Nalavade’s comment in the Constituent Assembly. “Ourexperience in the provinces, though there are provisions for reservation in the services, is bitter,”he said. “Even though the depressed classes are educated and qualified, they are not givenchances of employment under the Provincial Governments. Now that we have provided for thisin the Constitution itself, there is no fear for the Scheduled castes. According to this clause wecan be adequately represented in the provincial as well as in the Central services.”

By providing for a more proportionate distribution of the share in administration, the programmeof reservations, it was believed, would end at least some of caste-based domination of jobs,particularly of employment in the public sector — a domination that was built over thousands ofyears, where Dalits and Adivasis were denied access to equal status. As Ms. Omvedt haspointed out, the strategy behind reservations could, therefore, never have involved an attack onpure economic backwardness. The idea was always to disavow caste-monopoly in the publicsector.

Even when the Constitution’s first amendment was introduced in 1951, to allow the state tomake special provisions beyond reservations in public employment for “the advancement of anysocially and educationally backward classes of citizens, or for the Scheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes”, the rationale, as the lawyer Malavika Prasad has argued, remained constant.Attempts made at the time to categorise individuals on the basis of economic status wereexpressly rejected. Behind this thinking was a distinctive theory of justice: that by according agreater share in public life to historically disadvantaged groups the relative position of thosegroups would stand enhanced. No doubt such a policy would not, in and of itself, help eliminatethe various inequalities produced by the caste system, but it was believed it would represent aresolute effort to eliminate at least some of the caste-based domination prevailing in society.

Legitimacy of the basic structure

Indeed, the policy and the idea of justice that undergirds it have been seen as so indispensableto the Constitution’s aims and purposes that the Supreme Court in State of Kerala v. N.M.Thomas (1975) held that reservations based on social and educational backwardness, far frombeing an exception ought to be seen as an intrinsic facet of the idea of equality.

It is in departing from this logic that the 103rd amendment unseats the Constitution’s code ofequality. Pure financial ability is a transient criterion; it doesn’t place people into a definite grouprequiring special privileges. If anything, allowing for reservation on such a principle only furtherfortifies the ability of powerful castes to retain their positions of authority, by creating an evengreater monopolisation of their share in administration. If such an end is indeed the vision, it’sdifficult to see how the elementary conception of equality guaranteed by the Constitution cancontinue to survive.

Now, no doubt the Supreme Court may, on the face of things, consider Parliament aspossessing the power to altogether dismantle the Constitution’s existing idea of equality withoutsimultaneously demolishing the document’s basic structure. But, if nothing else, when the courthears the challenges made to the 103rd amendment, it must see the petitioners’ arguments as

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representing a credibly defensible view. The least the court ought to do, therefore, is to refer thecase to a constitution bench, given that Article 145(3) mandates such an enquiry on any issueinvolving a substantial question of law concerning the Constitution’s interpretation, and, in themeantime, stay the operation of the amendment until such a bench hears the case fully. Shouldthe court fail to do so the government will surely one day present to it a cruel fait accompli.

Suhrith Parthasarathy is an advocate practising at the Madras High Court









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Source : www.prsindia.org Date : 2019-07-16

PRSINDIARelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Amendments, Schedules, and Important Articles

IntroducedLok SabhaJul 08, 2019Gray



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THE MANY HURDLES IN PROVING CITIZENSHIPRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Features & Significant Provisions related to The


Apart from the floods in Assam, an annual event affecting thousands of families, anotherhumanitarian crisis awaits the State this year. The date is already set for it. It is July 31.

On that day, the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be released, theculmination of a fraught process conducted since 2015 at the urging of the Supreme Court, andmonitored by it.

National Register of Citizens update, or a dance of data

While reports of the many anomalies that dog the process of determining citizenship, includingthe constantly changing list of documents that are (or are not) accepted, are known, the sheerenormity of the crisis facing the State is yet to register in the rest of India.

Numbers alone do not indicate this. What is known today is that of the 32.9 million who haveapplied to be listed as “genuine” Indian citizens in the NRC, roughly 29 million have beenaccepted. The future of the four million excluded so far, a number that might reduce when thefinal list is published on July 31, provides the foundation for the impending human crisis awaitingAssam. Even if half of this number is excluded, we are looking at the future of two millionstateless people.

The citizenry test: Assam NRC explained

What will happen to me and my family after July 31? That is the question that haunts hundredsof men and women as they wait hours in inclement weather, clutching plastic bags full ofdocuments, to meet anyone willing to answer this question. This was the scene that confrontedus as we travelled to three districts in Assam at the end of June.

The majority left out of the NRC so far are abjectly poor; many are unlettered. They cannotunderstand the legal complications of the process, nor do they have the money to hire legalhelp. As a result, thousands stand in danger of being declared “foreigners” even though theycould be “genuine” Indian citizens.

The people affected by this process of verification of citizenship fall into three differentcategories. Those labelled as ‘D voters’, or doubtful voters, were categorised as such when theelectoral rolls were revised in 1997 and thereafter. Their names are excluded from the NRCunless they can establish their credentials before a Foreigner’s Tribunal. There are currently justunder 100 such tribunals in Assam. The opacity that surrounds the way decisions are made inthese quasi-judicial courtrooms is a part of this larger crisis.

India’s shrinking democratic space

In the second category are people who have been picked up by the police on suspicion of beingillegal immigrants. The border police, present in every police station, picks up people, often poorworkers in cities, fingerprints them, and then informs them in writing that they must appearbefore a Foreigner’s Tribunal.

In the third category are those who have registered with the NRC, but have been excluded

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because there was a discrepancy in the documents they submitted. Two lists have beenpublished so far: one with 4 million names last year and another with just over 0.1 million onJune 26 this year. Their fate will be known on July 31.

In addition, there are people who have already been declared “foreigners” by the tribunals. InFebruary 2019, the government informed the Supreme Court that of the 938 people in sixdetention centres, 823 had been declared foreigners. How long will they be held? Can they bedeported? To which country? These questions remain unanswered. In this haze of numbers andjudicial processes, the real and tragic stories of individuals often go unheard.

Take Anjali Das, 50, in Bijni, Chirang district. Dressed in a rust saree, Anjali cannot hide heranxiety. Her maternal home is in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, where her father and brother still live.Anjali came to Assam in 1982 when she married. She has no birth certificate, like many in India.She has a school certificate that confirms she was a student up to Class 5 and gives her date ofbirth as June 1, 1969. She also has a certificate from the Panchayat and her father’s Aadhaarcard as proof that she is Indian. But this will not suffice. Anjali’s name has been excluded fromthe NRC, the only one in her marital home.

Efforts to trace, deport illegal foreigners in Assam have been poor, unsatisfactory: State ChiefSecretary tells SC

Anjali is only one of thousands of married women who have been left out of the NRC for similarreasons. Although disaggregated data is not yet available, it is estimated that more than half ofthose excluded from the NRC are women like her.

Then there are women who are struggling to understand why only some members of theirfamilies have been excluded. In Hanchara village in Morigaon district, Jamina Khatun pulls out aphotocopy of the June 26 list of names excluded from the NRC. It has the names of herhusband, her two sons, and her 11-year-old granddaughter. But not hers, or that of herdaughter-in-law. Jamina’s son, Nur Jamal Ali, was referred to the Foreigner’s Tribunal based ona complaint by his landlord in Jorhat, where he worked as a construction labourer. As a result,Nur Jamal was fingerprinted by the border police, sent a notice to appear before a Foreigner’sTribunal, and then declared a foreigner. His only daughter has also been excluded from theNRC.

After July 31, the focus will shift to the Foreigner’s Tribunals. The State government plans to setup 200 by the end of this month and eventually 1,000, as all those excluded from the NRC willhave to present themselves before these tribunals.

Only the litigants and their lawyers know what happens within the four walls of these tribunals asneither the public nor the media are permitted there. I tried to get a peek into one in Guwahati.Foreigner’s Tribunal Court Room 3, Kamrup Metro district, Guwahati, is located in a residentialcolony on the ground floor of a building. The small room is arranged like a courtroom. A whiterailing separates the podium on which the tribunal member sits from the litigants. The railingbecomes a small witness stand at one end. The tribunal member has the help of an assistantwho sits on the side. According to him, cases are heard simultaneously, stretching out to fivedays. But a lawyer tells a different story. The case he has come for began in March. It is stillbeing heard in July.

Assam begins deleting foreigners from NRC list

This then is the other problem. Poor people travel long distances to appear before thesetribunals. Their cases stretch out over months. They have to spend on travel and lawyers’ fees,

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unaffordable for most. If they give up, or cannot afford to make the journey, their cases will bejudged “ex parte”. In a statement in the Lok Sabha on July 2, the Minister of State for HomeAffairs, G. Kishan Reddy, said that from 1985 to February 2019, 63,959 people had beendeclared foreigners in ex parte rulings.

The citizenship issue in Assam is layered and complex. It is not easy for people outside theState to understand the multiple threads. What is clear though is that the brunt of the systemicproblems of establishing citizenship in this manner, and in such haste, is being bornedisproportionately by the poorest.

Kalpana Sharma is an independent journalist










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STATUS OF CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILLRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Features & Significant Provisions related to The


Ministry of Home Affairs

Status of Citizenship Amendment Bill


The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2016. It was referred to aJoint Parliamentary Committee. The Committee submitted its report on 07.01.2019 toParliament. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was taken into consideration and passed byLok Sabha on 08.01.2019. It was pending for consideration and passing by the Rajya Sabha.Consequent to dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha, this Bill has lapsed.

The basic object of The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was to facilitate grant of Indiancitizenship to members of six minority communities who migrated from Pakistan, Afghanistanand Bangladesh without valid travel documents or the validity of whose documents had expired.The Citizenship Act, 1955 treats such persons as “illegal migrants” and disentitles them fromapplying for Indian citizenship. The Gazette Notification of October 24, 2018, on the other hand,was issued by the Central Government under section 16 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 to facilitateexpeditious grant of Indian citizenship only to the legal migrants from the above mentioned sixminority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan if they fulfill the eligibilitycriteria. This notification does not amend the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955 or the rulesmade thereunder. The notification of October 24, 2018 and the lapsed Citizenship (Amendment)Bill, 2016 thus deal with different categories of immigrants from the six minority communities ofAfghanistan, Bangladesh & Pakistan.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply toquestion in the Lok Sabha today.

****

VG/VM/SS/JB/3813




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NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY (AMENDMENT)BILL, 2019 PASSED BY LOK SABHA FOLLOWINGAPPEAL FROM UNION HOME MINISTER SHRI AMITSHAH


Ministry of Home Affairs

National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019passed by Lok Sabha following appeal from Union HomeMinister Shri Amit Shah

Bill proposes to empower NIA to investigate Terror Crimesrelating to Indians and Indian interests abroad

POTA should not have been removed in the first place, as itled to a rise in acts of terror: Shri Amit Shah


The National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by Lok Sabha today,after a detailed discussion and a spirited defense by Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri AmitShah.

While replying to the debate on the Bill to give powers to NIA to investigate the terror crimesrelating to Indians and Indian interests abroad, today in Lok Sabha, the Home Minister backed astrong NIA to strengthen the legal framework against terrorism. He said that conviction has beenachieved in 90% of the cases decided so far, which is one of the finest records in the world. ShriShah hailed the NIA for its achievements and said that India would finish terrorism by building astrong NIA.

Allaying opposition's apprehensions on misuse of agencies the Home Minister quoted the PrimeMinister, Shri Narendra Modi and said that this Government is governed by Rule of Law and allinvestigative agencies follow the procedure established by law. He reassured the House that theagency would not be misused in any way by the Government.

Shri Shah said that the POTA should not have been removed in the first place, as it led to a risein acts of terror. This has been corroborated by Indian security agencies as well, he added.Home Minister also questioned why the perpetrators of the Samjhauta Express blast wereallowed to walk free even when American agencies found their involvement in the act of terror.

Reiterating 'Zero Tolerance' policy of the Government against terrorism, Shri Shah said"Terrorism is Terrorism, it's neither RIGHT nor LEFT. Perpetrators of terrorist acts need to bepunished and will get punished." All political parties, members of Parliament and theGovernment must come together to fight terror without pointing fingers at each other, otherwise

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it would boost the morale of the terrorists.

Shri Shah said, "We care for the widows of our martyred soldiers, we care for their sacrifices.Thus, it is important to strengthen NIA to investigate terror related crimes and bring justice tothese widows."

The Home Minister said that by designating special courts, the cases would be expedited andtransfers or delay in appointments of judges would not delay them.

While taking part in the debate on the bill, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri. G. KishanReddy reinforced Government's federal outlook and said that state police teams and otheragencies would work in coordination with NIA in terror related matters. There would be noencroachment by the Centre on the activities of the State machinery, he added.

Shri Reddy said that the multi-agency centre would be strengthened and sharing of informationbetween Centre and states on terrorism related matters would be smoothened. There would beno discrimination among the agencies.

The Minister further added that terrorism has no religion, no caste, no gender. It is againsthumanity. The Government will take all stakeholders along with itself in fighting terrorism,following a 'Zero Tolerance Policy'.

*****

VG/BB/VM


Read this release in: Hindi , Urdu



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BALANCE AND TILT: ON KARNATAKA POLITICALCRISISRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Parliament - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges


The Supreme Court’s interim order stating that the 15 dissident Karnataka legislators cannot becompelled to attend the House, means they are not bound by any whip relating to the trust votemoved by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. This gives the numerical advantage in the Houseto the BJP-led Opposition. Without the support of the 15 lawmakers, the ruling coalition will bereduced to a minority. The other limb of the order permits the Speaker to decide on theresignation of these MLAs in a time-frame he considers appropriate. Although the court saysthere was an imperative necessity “to maintain the constitutional balance”, the order tilts theodds in favour of the Opposition in the vote. It amounts to holding that provisions of the anti-defection law, under which parties can issue whips to their members to vote in a particular way,will not be applicable to the 15 MLAs. The order raises the concern whether it does notconstitute a perilous precedent for granting ad hoc judicial exceptions from constitutionalprovisions on defection and set the tone for future judicial intervention to suspend the operationof any whip in respect of a few. Alternatively, the court, which is understandably reluctant tointervene in the Speaker’s power ahead of his decisions, could have refrained from making anyorders about the legislators’ presence during the trust vote, and made it clear that any actionagainst them arising out of their absence or manner of voting would be subject to judicial review.

Making sense of Karnataka’s politics

To be fair to the Supreme Court, it is being burdened with the task of unravelling political knotscreated by amoral strategems. In this case, the “political thicket” into which the court has beendragged has its origins in manoeuvres to reduce the combined strength of the Janata Dal(S) andthe Congress. In a bid to thwart tactical resignations, the government and the Speaker adoptedthe counter-strategy of not immediately accepting them, but initiating or pursuing disqualificationproceedings. One of the questions in the litigation is whether it is resignation or disqualificationthat should get priority. The objective of disqualifying the MLAs rather than allowing them to quitwill not save the government, but it will prevent them from taking oath as ministers in analternative Cabinet. Though the court’s order recognises the Speaker’s authority to rule whetherthe resignations are genuine, and fixes no time-frame, it is a Pyrrhic victory; for, theircontinuance as members puts them under no obligation to vote for the government in view of theallowance given to stay away during the vote. The dissident MLAs risk nothing other than theirseats, certainly not the opportunity to join the Cabinet of a successor-government. When thecourt takes up the substantive questions of law for adjudication, it should squarely address thenew-found interplay between issues of resignation and disqualification, lest it become aperennial source of political controversy.


An RBI panel’s suggestions on the MSME sector cut to the heart of crucial issues



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IntroducedRajya SabhaJul 15, 2019Gray



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THE TERRORIST TAG: ON THE LATEST AMENDMENTSTO THE NIA ACT


The idea of designating an individual as a terrorist, as the latest amendments to the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act propose to do, may appear innocuous. However, designating anindividual as a terrorist raises serious constitutional questions and has the potential for misuse.The practice of designating individuals under anti-terrorism laws, prevalent in several countries,is seen as being necessary because banned groups tend to change their names and continue tooperate. However, there is no set procedure for designating an individual a terrorist. Parliamentmust consider whether an individual can be called a ‘terrorist’ prior to conviction in a court of law.The absence of a judicial determination may render the provision vulnerable to invalidation.There ought to be a distinction between an individual and an organisation, as the former enjoysthe right to life and liberty. The likely adverse consequences of a terrorist tag may be worse forindividuals than for organisations. Further, individuals may be subjected to arrest and detention;even after obtaining bail from the courts, they may have their travel and movements restricted,besides carrying the taint. This makes it vital that individuals have a faster means of redressthan groups. Unfortunately, there is no change in the process of getting an entity removed fromthe list. Just as any organisation getting the tag, individuals, too, will have to apply to the Centreto get their names removed.

A wrongful designation will cause irreparable damage to a person’s reputation, career andlivelihood. Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s warning that his government would not spareterrorists or their sympathisers, and his reference to ‘urban Maoists’, are portentous about thepossibility of misuse. It has been argued by some members in Parliament that the Bill containsanti-federal features. The provision to empower the head of the National Investigation Agency toapprove the forfeiture of property of those involved in terrorism cases obviously overrides afunction of the State government. At present, the approval has to be given by the State policehead. Also, there will be a section allowing NIA Inspectors to investigate terrorism cases, asagainst a Deputy Superintendent of Police or an Assistant Commissioner. This significantlyenhances the scope for misuse. The 2004 amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)Act, 1967, made it a comprehensive anti-terror law that provided for punishing acts of terrorism,as well as for designating groups as ‘terrorist organisations’. Parliament further amended it in2008 and 2013 to strengthen the legal framework to combat terror. While none will question theneed for stringent laws that show ‘zero tolerance’ towards terrorism, the government should bemindful of its obligations to preserve fundamental rights while enacting legislation on the subject.

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SC order on rebel MLAs hands over the floor advantage to the Karnataka Opposition

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MAKING NATIONAL LEGISLATURES MORE GENDER-BALANCEDRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Parliament - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges


Gender signs on scales. Balance, equality between men's and a female. Isometry.3D. A vectorillustration in flat style.

The Global Gender Gap report for 2018 said that the widest gender disparity is in the field ofpolitical empowerment. To cite the Inter-Parliamentary Union 2018 report, women legislatorsaccount for barely 24% of all MPs across the world.

However, the experience of the top-ranked countries in the IPU list does give an indication ofhow women’s presence in political spaces took an upward turn in those nations.

Rwanda, a landlocked nation with a population of 11.2 million, tops the list, with 61.3% seats inthe Lower House and 38.5% in the Upper House occupied by women. Since 2003, the countryhas implemented a legislated quota of 30% in all elected positions, which has enabled a steadyinflow of women parliamentarians after successive elections. Its Constitution has also set aquota of 30% in all elected offices. However, some believe that the higher representation ofwomen in the country cannot be attributed solely to quotas — women were thrust into thepolitical limelight due to the huge vacuum that emerged in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide,which resulted in a large chunk of the country’s male population getting killed.

Cuba, the largest Caribbean island nation with a population of about 11.1 million, holds thesecond rank, with 53.2 % seats of its 605-member single House being occupied by womenrepresentatives. The Communist dispensation in Cuba did not opt for legislated gender quotas,but does follow a practice akin to voluntary quota systems. However, Cuban women are lessrepresented at the local level, where candidates are selected by the local communities that oftenoverlook women candidates.

Sweden, the fifth-rank holder in the IPU, has a professedly feminist government and hasmaintained a women’s parliamentary representation of at least 40% since 90s. The 349-membersingle House, Swedish Parliament, now has 161 women with 46.1% representation. Swedendoes not have any constitutional clause or electoral law earmarking representation for women inelected bodies. The issue of compulsory gender quota didn’t find favour in Sweden as it wasbelieved that such a quota will create reverse discrimination and violate the principles of equalopportunities. Almost all political parties there have adopted measures to ensure a fairrepresentation for women at all levels. In 1993, the Social Democratic Party adopted the ‘zippersystem’, described as “a gender quota system whereby women and men are placed alternatelyon all party lists.” This further boosted women’s seat share.

Closer home, Nepal occupies the 36th position in the IPU and its 275-member Lower House has90 women, about 32.7% of the total strength. The Nepal Constitution stole a march over manyothers in the South Asia by earmarking 33% seats for women in all state institutions, includingthe legislature.

India, at 149 among the 192 countries in the IPU list, had barely 11.8% women’s representationin the 16th Lok Sabha, which improved to 14.5% in the current Lower House. At least seven outof the 29 States have not sent a single woman MP. The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill

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stipulating 33% quota for women in the Parliament and in State Assemblies remains in politicalcold storage. The system of voluntary party quotas, which has worked well in many countries, isnot likely to cut much ice in India’s deeply embedded patriarchal society. As has happened inthe case of panchayats and municipalities, only a legally mandated quota could perhaps ensurea large-scale entry of Indian women into the higher echelons of political power.

The writer is a former Indian Information Service Officer and media educationist



Sri Lanka has become free of the viral infection





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Source : www.indianexpress.com Date : 2019-07-27

A MATTER OF DELIBERATIONRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Parliament - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges


© 2019 The Indian Express Ltd.All Rights Reserved

The writer is head of outreach PRS Legislative Research.

Earlier this week, the Rajya Sabha was witness to acrimonious scenes during the discussion onthe RTI Amendment Bill, which amends the RTI Act of 2005. It provides that the term of officeand remuneration of information commissioners (both at the Centre and states) will beprescribed by the central government. The original law specified both of these in the law ratherthan delegating the power to the central government. Opposition parties were demanding thatthe Bill be referred to a committee of the House for detailed scrutiny before being passed. Thetreasury benches and a few other parties were of the opinion that the Bill should be passed afterdebating it on the floor of the House. Ultimately, the House passed the RTI Amendment aftervoting down the demand for sending it to a committee. So far, none of the 13 bills passed byParliament in this session have been referred to a parliamentary committee.

Our Parliament broadly has two forums for discussion. One is on the floor of the House wherethe debate is televised and MPs take positions based on their parties’ stand on a subject. Theother is the closed-door forum of parliamentary committees. These committees are made up ofMPs either from one or both Houses. Their meetings are not televised and the record of themeetings does not reflect the position taken by an individual MP. Both these forums have theirown advantages and disadvantages. A debate on the floor of the House allows for the cut andthrust of political debate and can be wrapped up in a few hours. Debates in committees aremore technical but the deliberations require time and stretch for a few months.

The idea behind the establishment of the committee system in Parliament was to provide aspecialised forum for deliberation on national policy issues, which was not constrained by thelimited number of sitting days (less than three months a year) of Parliament. In 1993, when thismodern subject committee system took shape, the then the Vice President of India summed upthe objectives of parliamentary committees: “…the main purpose, of course, is to ensure theaccountability of Government to Parliament through more detailed consideration of measures inthese committees. The purpose is not to weaken or criticise the administration but to strengthenit by investing it with more meaningful parliamentary support.” The committee, over the years,has worked well in strengthening our legislative process.

The scrutiny of a bill by a committee usually takes a few months. If a bill is referred to acommittee, its legislative journey slows down as it can only be debated after the committee hassubmitted its report. This slow down of legislation has been been a source of continued tensionbetween the ruling party and Opposition over the last five years. A bill can usually be referred toa parliamentary committee in three ways. First, the minister piloting the bill can seek thepermission of the House to refer the Bill to a committee. Second, the Chairman/Speaker has thediscretion in referring the bill to a committee. When ministers are trying to build politicalconsensus on a bill, they welcome its referring to a committee. However, when they are in ahurry to get their legislative proposals approved by Parliament, they impress upon the Chairman/Speaker not to refer the bill to a committee. This is when the third mechanism kicks in. When abill reaches a House where the government does not have a majority, the MPs of the House canmarshall the numbers to move a motion to refer the bill to a committee. This leads to the

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government blaming the Opposition for the slowdown, which counters by accusing thegovernment of trying to bulldoze legislation through Parliament. However, there is an additionaldimension to the scrutiny of bills by committees. Whenever the government and Opposition seeeye to eye on a subject, bills are not referred to a committee.

A robust lawmaking process requires thorough scrutiny by Parliament. Such scrutiny should notbe impacted by either the strength of numbers in Parliament or political agreement on issues.This robustness can be ensured by requiring that all Bills be referred to Parliamentarycommittees. Exceptions to this rule should be strictly defined and the exceptions explained toParliament. In addition, the committees should be strengthened to scrutinise and present theirreports in a timely fashion. These mechanisms will ensure that all bills passed by Parliament,irrespective of the party in power, go through a well laid-out process of debate.

The writer is head of outreach, PRS Legislative Research

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© 2019 The Indian Express Ltd. All Rights Reserved



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SEXISM IN PARLIAMENT: ON AZAM KHAN'S REMARKSIN THE LOK SABHARelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Parliament - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges


The triple talaq bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 25, silencing Opposition voices that theMuslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 should not be pushed through in ahurry, and without scrutiny. But the dissent on the nitty-gritty of the bill was overshadowed by thesexist remarks made by Samajawadi Party MP Azam Khan, directed against Bharatiya JanataParty member Rama Devi who was in the Chair. Referring to an intervention by Minority AffairsMinister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Mr. Khan quoted a couplet, “… tu idhar-udhar ki na baat kar (donot digress).” When Ms. Devi asked Mr. Khan to address the Chair, he made an “objectionable”statement, marking a new parliamentary low. The irony that this was said while the House wasdiscussing an issue concerning women was not lost on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman,who quipped: “Don’t politicise an issue that affects women.” Women and Child DevelopmentMinister Smriti Irani pointed out that Mr. Khan’s comment was a “blot on all legislators includingmen”. Mr. Khan, a veteran from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly but a first-time MP who is nostranger to controversy, was banned from campaigning for 72 hours in the recent Lok Sabhapolls after his misogynist remarks against BJP candidate Jaya Prada. While Mr. Khan has beenasked to apologise to the House, some women members have renewed the pitch for thepassage of the women’s reservation bill.

The 17th Lok Sabha has the highest number of women MPs, 78, comprising 14.39% of theHouse. This is higher than 2014 and a long way from the first election in 1951-52, when theymade up only 5% of the House. The global average stands at 24.6%, and neighboursBangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal have quotas for women in Parliament. In India, the women’sreservation bill or the Constitution (108th) Amendment Bill to set aside one-third of seats inParliament and State Assemblies for women was passed in the Rajya Sabha in March 2010.However, the Bill couldn’t overcome odds and the opposition in the Lok Sabha and went intocold storage. Critics have cited several reasons behind the bill being thwarted, not least that thequota for women would be appropriated by powerful stand-ins. But this could hold true for menas well. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has an overwhelming majority in the Lok Sabha (303of 543 seats) and has rushed through more than a dozen bills in this session, must take thelead. Slogans such as ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ will sound like mere lip-service if politicalparties don’t speak out against gender prejudice. Women must have greater politicalrepresentation in decision-making bodies as a first step towards changing chauvinistic mindsets,and Parliament needs to show the way.



Pakistan must recognise India’s resolve in securing the safety of Jadhav



END

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STALLING PARLIAMENT & LEGISLATURES ISTANTAMOUNT TO SUBVERTING DEMOCRACY: VICEPRESIDENTRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Parliament - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges


Vice President's Secretariat

Stalling Parliament & Legislatures is tantamount tosubverting democracy: Vice President

VP expresses anguish over unruly behavior of MPs &MLAs;

Respecting people’s mandate essential for the functioningof Legislatures: VP

VP asks States to review progress on transfer of 29subjects to rural local bodies;

Presents 1st Democracy Awards instituted by StateElection Commission of Maharashtra


The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the stalling the functioning ofthe Parliament and Legislatures was tantamount to subverting democracy and betraying people.

Speaking after presenting ‘Democracy Awards’ at a function organized by the Maharashtra StateElection Commission, in Mumbai today, Shri Naidu, who is the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said that he was deeply distressed by the behavior of some sections in the Rajya Sabha duringthe last two years.

The Vice President was pained when members disregard rules and conventions leading topandemonium in the House. The members of the Rajya Sabha have a special responsibility tolead by example. If MPs and MLAs resort to slogan-shouting and disrupting the proceedings,they would be rendering a disservice to Parliamentary democracy, he added.

Expressing his anguish over the objectionable comments made by a member of the Lok Sabhaabout a woman presiding officer, Shri Naidu said it was not in our culture to disrespect women.Such behavior would demean our Parliamentary democracy, he added.

Pointing out that the ruling and opposition parties should not treat each other as enemies or

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adversaries, the Vice President said that respecting the mandate of the people and allowing thegovernments of the day to deliver as per the mandate must be an essential principle offunctioning of legislatures.

Observing that both ruling and opposition parties have a shared responsibility in ensuringeffective functioning of the Parliament and legislatures, Shri Naidu urged them to adopt a spiritof mutual respect and accommodation.

The Vice President stressed that democracy was all about debate, discussion and decision andthey cannot be replaced by disorder, disruption and delay in legislation “which is nothing but anegation of the spirit of democracy”.

Stating that the basic functions of the Parliament and State Legislatures were legislation,deliberation and ensuring accountability of the executive, Shri Naidu said the opposition can andshould take the governments to task if they deviate from what has been offered to the people.

Shri Naidu said the ruling and opposition parties should function as joint stakeholders in the wellbeing of the people and socio-economic transformation of the country. “Our nation needs botheffective and responsible governments and opposition. Country’s interests are not well served ifeither of them is found wanting”, he added.

"As the Presiding Officer of Rajya Sabha, I have always insisted that opposition should beallowed it’s say in all aspects of the functioning of the House. That is the only way we can makeour parliamentary democracy more meaningful. We are the largest democracy in the world. Weshall be the best in terms of quality as well”, the Vice President said.

On the devolution of powers to local bodies as mandated by the 73rd and 74th Constitutionalamendments, he said that even though 26 years have lapsed since they were constitutionallyempowered, the devolution seems to be less than satisfactory.

The Vice President urged all the States to review the progress made on transferring 29 subjectsto them and added that any further delay would be tantamount to violating the constitutionalmandate.

Stressing the need for devolving adequate funds, functions and functionaries—three Fs—toempower the Panchayati Raj bodies, Shri Naidu said democracy would be more meaningful androbust when people participate in their own affairs.

Shri Naidu underscored the importance of 5 “D”s in making democracy successful. They are- 1)Discuss 2) Debate 3) Decision 4) Decentralization 5) Delivery

Referring to the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi Ji thisyear, Shri Naidu reminded that Gandhi Ji was the biggest votary of decentralization of powersand believed that every village has to be responsible for its own affairs. He said it was absolutelyessential for a fully functional and responsive grass-roots level governance system to furtherstrengthen the democratic foundations in the country.

The Vice President also advocated the need to make it mandatory for holding elections to localbodies every five years without giving scope to state governments to postpone them.

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis, the State Election Commissioner,Maharashtra, Shri J.S. Saharia and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

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The Vice President presented Democracy Awards to 15 recipients in different categories.

Following is the text of Vice President's address:

"It is indeed a pleasure to be amongst you and share my thoughts on a subject that is close tomy heart.

Firstly, let me greet various stakeholders of the local-self government in Maharashtra State andcongratulate all the awardees of the First Democracy Awards.

I would like to specially congratulate Mr. J.S. Saharia, State Election Commissioner,Maharashtra for this wonderful initiative of the Commission.

As we are aware, the Constitution was amended in 1992 through historic 73rd and 74thAmendments to accord Local Self-Governments (LSGs) their rightful place in nation-building.

As we celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi Ji thisyear, we should remember that he was the biggest votary of decentralization of powers andbelieved that every village has to be responsible for its own affairs. “In panchayat Raj only thepanchayat will be obeyed and the panchayat can only work through the law of their making”,Gandhi Ji had said. Mahatma Gandhi always talked of self-rule and Gram Swaraj, where heenvisioned the true spirit of democracy and participation of citizens.

Dear sisters and brothers, it is absolutely essential for a fully functional and responsive grass-roots level governance system to further strengthen the democratic foundations in the country.

In a bid to empower the rural local bodies financially and politically, the 73rd constitutionalamendment was enacted. As per the act, 29 items have to be transferred to local bodies,besides the setting up of state election commissions and finance commissions. It also stipulatedenhancing resources for local bodies, reserving one-third seats for women and, in proportion totheir population, for SCs and STs in all three tiers, apart from forming gram sabhas with people’sparticipation.

Even though it has been more than 26 years since local bodies have been constitutionallyempowered, the devolution of powers and functions seems to be less than satisfactory.

I have been always stressing the need for devolving adequate funds, functions andfunctionaries—three Fs—to empower the panchayati raj bodies Democracy would be moremeaningful and robust when people participate in their own affairs.

All the State must review the progress they have made with regard to devolution powers andsee that all the 29 subjects are transferred to the local bodies immediately. Any further delaywould be tantamount to violating the constitutional mandate.

I am happy that the present government had accepted in toto the recommendations of the 14thFinance Commission, which has awarded two lakh two hundreded ninty two crore rupees(Rs.200, 292.2 crores) to Panchayats for 2015-2020, which is more than three times the grant ofthe 13th Finance Commission. The grants are directly transferred to the gram panchayats unlikein the past when they were meant for all the three tiers, including blocks and districts. The sharefor rural local governments has increased from 0.5 per cent to 2 per cent of the total allocationswhen compared to the 13th Finance Commission.

I have also been advocating the need to make it mandatory for holding elections to local bodies

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every five years without giving scope to state governments to postpone them.

Maharashtra has a very long tradition of social reforms and political reforms. Immediately afterthe formation of new State of Maharashtra, in 1961, the then government constituted theV.P.Naik Committee to study the Local Self-Government apparatus for a more decentralizedgovernance process in the state. This had set an example to the other states in the country andstill remains a most important initiative of any state in India.

Maharashtra had to merely develop on this foundation set in 1961. Therefore, one of the strikingfeatures of the local government in Maharashtra is 50% reservation to women in the localbodies.

The State Election Commissions which are vested with powers to conduct elections to LocalSelf-Governments must always ensure that they are held in a free, fair and transparent manner. A vibrant and robust State Election Commission is the cornerstone of an effective democracy.The State Election Commissions have the responsibility to ensure that the trust in the politicalsystem and important institutions of governance is not eroded. They have to ensure that thepurity of elections is never compromised.

Similarly, the State Governments are duty bound to provide all the resources as per theassessment of SECs in order to help them conduct elections in a free, fair and transparentmanner.

I want to congratulate Mr. J.S. Saharia, the State Election Commissioner for novel andinnovative practices adopted by him to strengthen the democratic process in the State. I am toldthat his efforts to bring the marginalized and vulnerable groups into the political process haverightfully borne fruits not only in terms of increasing the voting registration by almost 12% in lastfour years, but also helped in empowering them to contest in the local bodies elections. I amalso happy to learn that Maharashtra State Election Commission has taken pioneering initiativeslike digitization of nomination papers and affidavits by all candidates, establishment of Instituteof Democracy for Good Governance (IDEGG) and 100% use of EVMs in LSG elections.

As we all are aware, India is on a fast track of economic development. It is important to ensurethat there is equitable distribution of the fruits of the development. Therefore, it becomesessential to train individuals in democratic practices, especially at the grass roots level.

I must laud the State Election Commission for instituting “Democracy Awards” to recognise theexemplary work carried out by various people and institutions.

Elections cannot be completed without peoples’ participation. People’s participation is notlimited to contesting elections and taking part in voting every five years. When I say “Peoples’Participation”, I am referring to the importance of continuously encouraging and enthusingpeople about elections. It is also equally important to recognise the efforts put in by variousagencies, including the security personnel and Civil Society Organisations.

I would also like to emphasize that the time has come to devolve as many functions as possibleto the rural and urban local bodies.

I also request various State Governments to undertake electoral reforms including amending theState Laws concerning LSGs in conformity with the Constitution.

India has embarked upon a great social revolution by providing universal adult franchise in all itselections and reserving seats for SC / ST & minimum 33% for women in the LSGs. This has led

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to bringing down the walls that were erected in the name of caste, community and community.

On the occasion of presenting these awards today as a mark of celebration of our democracy, itis appropriate on my part to share some of my thoughts and concerns about our cherisheddemocracy, functioning of our legislatures and the conduct of MPs and MLAs.

I am deeply distressed by the behavior of some sections in the Rajya Sabha during last twoyears as the Presiding Officer of Rajya Sabha.

Parliament functions based on the Rules of the constituent Houses, Conventions, earlier rulingsof the Chair and code of conduct for members. As the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, it pains me ifmembers chose to disregard them resulting in pandemonium which in turn erodes the stature ofthe House of Elders in the eyes of the public.

Members of Rajya sabha have a special responsibility cast on them of leading by example beingthe members of the House of Elders. During this session, some members in their wisdom havepreferred to tear official papers and throw them at the Chair on some occasions.

Such conduct does not speak well of the functioning of our parliamentary democracy.

I proudly say that on this occasion today that it is the people of our country who have imbibedthe true spirit of democracy by regularly voting in the elections in rising numbers and choosingtheir representatives to the Parliament and State Legislatures.

After doing so, they expect their representatives to conduct themselves in the best possiblemanner and strive over the next five years to make a difference to their lives by enabling themfulfill their hopes and aspirations.

However, I am sad to say on this occasion that the elected representatives often do not matchthe democratic spirit of our people through their conduct in the legislatures.

Democracy is all about – Debate, Discussion and Decision. This can’t be replaced by –Disorder, Disruption and Delay in legislation which is nothing but a negation of the spirit ofdemocracy.

Basic functions of the Parliament and State Legislatures are ….Legislation that is making lawsfor socio-economic transformation of our country; Deliberation that is raising issues of publicimportance and ensuring the Accountability of the executive of the day.

If MPs and MLAs resort to slogan shouting, rushing into the well of the Houses and disruption ofthe proceedings, they are only compromising on these three core functions of the legislatures.This is a great disservice to the Parliamentary democracy and letting down the people, thepatrons of it.

In every election, people give a certain mandate to the elected governments. Thereafter, thechosen governments go about delivering on the promises made to the people over the next fewyears. Respecting such a mandate of the people and allowing the governments of the day todeliver as per the mandate should be an essential principle of functioning of such legislatures.

Opposition parties do have the right and responsibility of seeking the governments to deliver onthe promises made by them during the polls. Opposition can and should take the governmentsto task if they deviate from what has been offered to the people for which various effectiveinstruments are available in the Parliament and State Legislatures.

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I want to make it clear that both the ruling and opposition parties have shared responsibility ofensuring effective functioning of our legislatures by taking on board concerns of each other.

Stalling the functioning of legislatures means subverting democracy and betraying the people.

The best way of going forward is ..To let the opposition has it’s say and the Government has it’sway. Democracy is all about the ‘numbers’ of each section of a legislature. Whoever has thehighest numbers run the government and those who have lesser numbers are required toensure that governments do not stray from the mandate of the people.

The ruling and opposition parties should not look at each other as enemies or adversaries.Instead, they should function as joint stakeholders in the well being of the people and socio-economic transformation of the country.

Our nation needs both effective and responsible governments and equally effective andresponsible opposition. Country’s interests are not well served if either of them is found wanting.

It is the parliament and state legislatures that give ample opportunities for both the ruling andopposition parties to give out their best. MPs and MLAs should always be guided by this cardinalprinciples so that our legislatures can become vibrant instruments of the change that the peoplewish to happen.

I expect the Members of Parliament and in particular, the Members of Rajya Sabha to take thelead in the transformation of our legislatures through their exemplary conduct and contribution toeffective functioning of the House.

Country has witnessed a couple of days back, a Member of Lok Sabha making someobjectionable comments about a women presiding officer who was in the chair. Members of thatHouse have rightly voiced outrage over the comments of that Member. It is not in our civilizationto disrespect women. This kind of behavior and comments in Parliament and other legislaturesdemean our parliamentary democracy and should be avoided byaccommodatio

As the Presiding Officer of Rajya Sabha, I have always insisted that opposition should beallowed it’s say in all aspects of the functioning of the House. It is because that is the only waywe can make our parliamentary democracy more meaningful. I have always advocated a senseof balance and a spirit of accommodation by all the concerned.

We are the largest democracy in the world. We shall be the best in terms of it’s quality as well.

I urge upon both the ruling and opposition parties in all the legislatures of the country to beguided by such a spirit of mutual respect and accommodation.

I am sure the Democracy Awards will go a long way in enthusing people to strengthen thedemocratic processes. These awards and felicitations are meant to inspire others for achievingexcellence.

I am told that the SEC Maharashtra has drafted a common Representation of People’s Act for allthe LSGs on the lines of Representation of the People’s Act to bring uniformity in the electoralprocess. I am sure the State Government would examine the draft and take appropriate action.

Thank You

JAI HIND!"

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***

RR/BK/MS/RK


Read this release in: Urdu , Hindi , Tamil



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CAPACITY STRENGTHENING INITIATIVE FOR 2.5 LAKHPANCHAYATS LAUNCHEDRelevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Devolution of Powers & Finances up to Local Levels and Challenges therein -

Panchayats & Municipalities

Ministry of Jal Shakti

Capacity Strengthening Initiative for 2.5 lakh Panchayatslaunched

2800 field trainers to strengthen capacity of Panchayats forSwachh Bharat Mission and Rural Water Supply


The Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, today launched the capacitystrengthening initiative of the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry ofJal Shakti, in Ranchi, Jharkhand. He was joined at the event by the Minister of State for theMinistry of Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Shri Raghubar Das,and Minister of the Drinking Water and Sanitation,Government of Jharkhand, Shri RamchandraSahis. This initiative will create a pool of 2800 field trainers in its initial trainings, who will reachout to around 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats across the country.

The initiative seeks to ensure the sustainability of open defecation free (ODF) villages createdunder the Swachh Bharat Missionin the long term and enable field trainers and members ofPRIs (Panchayat Raj Institutions) tocreate capacity to manage solid and liquid wastes as well asimprove access to safe and adequate drinking water supply.

Addressing more than 6000 Mukhiyas, Jal Sahiyas, Swachhagrahis and others present on theoccasion, Jal Shakti MinisterShri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat emphasized the need for people’sparticipation highlighting that it is now time to turn the “jal ka andolan” into “jan ka andolan”toavert the impending water crisis. He appreciated the role of people who has committedthemselvestowards the cause of the Swachh Bharat Mission. Because of their efforts, in ODFand sanitized villages lakhs of lives have been saved, he added. He urged the people to re-energize their efforts for enabling sustained safe sanitation practices and expanding their effortstowards the provision of piped water supply to every household.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Shri Rattan Lal Kataria also appreciated the roleplayed by the various stakeholders in making Jharkhand State ODF and reiterated that thecountry is on track to achieve an ODF India by 2nd October 2019, on the 150th birth anniversaryof Mahatma Gandhi.

Addressing the gathering, Secretary, DDWS, Shri Parameswaran Iyer shared the details ofthecapacity building training programme.He shared that by January 2020, four Field Trainers(FTs) from each district will be trained through 5-day Training of Trainers (ToTs) organized bythe DDWS. The FTs would then train Sarpanchs, village secretaries and Swachhagrahis in theirdistricts through a 3-day field training supported by the states and the districts, completing theentire exercise by March 2020.

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During the event, a booklet and a film on the Jharkhand State Government’s Menstrual HygieneManagement Campaign – ‘ChuppiTodo-SwasthRaho’ Abhiyan were released while grassrootsfunctionaries shared their experiences of being a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission(Grameen). This was followed by an award ceremony recognizing the outstanding contributionsin the field of sanitation.

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SNC


Read this release in: Hindi , Tamil



indian polity - july 2019 polity.pdf · relevant for: indian polity | topic: indian constitution -...

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