Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Polity (Social Justice)) – July 8, 2020

The relevant Articles of the Constitution which govern the entire reservation set up are the following:

• Article 16(4): Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
• Article 46: The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
• Article 335: The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State.

“One is not born, but rather becomes, woman.” So wrote Simone de Beauvoir in her landmark 1949 book, The Second Sex.

• De Beauvoir’s statement still remains an important principle for women and health.
• March 8 marks International Women’s Day—a day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women worldwide.
• But International Women’s Day also signals a moment to reflect not only on what has been achieved, but also what remains to be done.
• And there is, indeed, much more to be done if the goal of gender equity, Sustainable Development Goal 5, is to be won.

The Constitution does not contain any classification of Directive Principles. However, on the basis of their content and direction, they can be classified into three broad categories, viz, socialistic, Gandhian and liberal–intellectual.

Socialistic principles reflect the ideology of socialism. They lay down the framework of a democratic socialist state, aim at providing social and economic justice, and set the path towards welfare state. They direct the state:

1. To promote the welfare of the people by securing a social order permeated by justice—social, economic and political—and to minimize inequalities in income, status, facilities and opportunities (Article 38).
2. To secure

• The right to adequate means of livelihood for all citizens;
• The equitable distribution of material resources of the community for the common good;
• Prevention of concentration of wealth and means of production;
• Equal pay for equal work for men and women;
• Preservation of the health and strength of workers and children against forcible abuse; and
• Opportunities for healthy development of children (Article 39).

1. To promote equal justice and to provide free legal aid to the poor (Article 39 A).
2. To secure the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement (Article 41).
3. To make provision for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief (Article 42).
4. To secure a living wage, a decent standard of life and social and cultural opportunities for all workers (Article 43).
5. To take steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries (Article 43 A).
6. To raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of people and to improve public health (Article 47).

NOTE: Article 48 – The State shall endeavour to organise agriculture and animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and shall, in particular, take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter, of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle – represent both Gandhian and liberal–intellectual principles.

India has been ranked very low at 76th place out of 82 countries on a new Social Mobility Index compiled by the World Economic Forum, while Denmark has topped the charts.

The report, released ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the WEF, also lists India among the five countries that stand to gain the most from a better social mobility score that seeks to measure parameters necessary for creating societies where every person has the same opportunity to fulfill his potential in life irrespective of socioeconomic background.

India’s richest 1% hold more than four-times the wealth held by 953 million people who make up for the bottom 70% of the country’s population, while the total wealth of all Indian billionaires is more than the full-year budget.

• Releasing the study Time to Care,ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), rights group Oxfam also said the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 per cent of the planet’s population.
• The report flagged that global inequality is shockingly entrenched and vast and the number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade, despite their combined wealth having declined in the last year.

Twenty-three years after ethnic clashes in Mizoram forced 37,000 people of the Bru (or Reang) community to flee their homes to neighbouring Tripura, an agreement has been signed to allow them to remain permanently in the latter state.

The agreement among the Bru leaders and the governments of India, Tripura, and Mizoram, signed in New Delhi on January 16, gives the Bru the choice of living in either state. In several ways, the agreement has redefined the way in which internal displacement is treated in India.

The key message from the UN’s World Population Prospects 2019 report is that national leaders must redouble their efforts to raise education, health and living standards for people everywhere.

• India is projected to become the most populous country by 2027 surpassing China, and host 1.64 billion people by 2050;
• The world as a whole could be home to 8.5 billion people in just over a decade from now, and the number could go up to 9.7 billion by mid-century.
• The largest increases in population between 2019 and 2050 will take place in: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, the United Republic of Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States of America (In descending order of the expected increase).
• The UN report shows migration to countries with a falling ratio of working-age people to those above 65 will be steady, as those economies open up to workers to sustain economic production.
• Japan has the lowest such ratio, followed by Europe and the Caribbean; in over three decades, North America, Eastern and Southeastern Asia will join this group.
• India meanwhile will have a vast number of young people and insufficient natural resources left for exploitation. Preparing for the changes and opportunities migration offers will depend on a skills revolution.

National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation(NSKFDC),  A wholly owned Govt. of India Undertaking under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (M/o SJ&E) was set up on  24th January 1997  as a Company “Not for Profit” under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.

• NSKFDC is in operation since October, 1997, as an Apex Corporation for the all round socio-economic upliftment of the Safai Karamcharis, Scavengers and their dependants throughout India, through various loan and non-loan based schemes.
• Apart from operating various loan and non-loan based schemes for the upliftment of the target group, NSKFDC is playing a vital role in elimination of manual scavenging – the worst surviving symbol of untouchability.

NSKFDC has been designated as the Nodal Agency for implementation of the Central Sector Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

Under the Dr. Ambedkar scheme for Social integration through Inter Caste Marriages scheme, 500 couples can apply annually. Each couple gets Rs 2.5 lakh, of which Rs 1.5 lakh is paid up-front. The balance amount is kept as a fixed deposit and released to the couple after three years

• The number of couples who can avail the scheme in a state depends on its Scheduled Caste population as per the 2011 census.
• Among the beneficiary couple, one of the spouses should belong to Scheduled Caste and the other to a Non-Scheduled Caste.
• It shall be the discretion of the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment & Chairman of Dr. Ambedkar Foundation to sanction the incentive to the Couple.

The State List lists subjects under which the legislature of a state may make laws. Public order, police, public health and sanitation; hospitals and dispensaries, betting and gambling are some of the subjects that come under the state.