Click here to Download 9 PM Daily Brief PDF (22nd Sept. 2016)
NATIONAL
[1]. Dance bar without liquor is absurd: Supreme Court
Context:- Maharashtra assembly passed the Maharashtra Prohibition of Obscene Dance in Hotels, Restaurants and Bar Rooms and Protection of Dignity of Women (working therein) Act, 2016 to circumvent SC order of 2014 which ordered dance bars to be throw open again and classified dance as a profession. The law also seeks to ban liquor in dance bars.
What SC has said?
SC said that Maharashtra law prohibiting liquor in dance bars is “absurd”, “absolutely arbitrary” and indicative of the State’s mentality which is “absolutely regressive by centuries”.
- Dancers are allowed to dance in dance bars, you (State) take steps to protect their dignity. But a ban on serving liquor will affect their rights. You can ban liquor in a hotel, but dance bars should be barred from such bans
- What was the point in giving bar licenses and allowing dance performances if there was no service of liquor
What is the government’s stand?
A State has an “absolute right” to ban liquor at any spot of its choice within the State
- Serving and drinking liquor is not a fundamental right. I have an absolute right to say liquor cannot be served unless Supreme Court takes away my right through a judgment.
- The power of the State to prohibit liquor is absolute. I have powers not only to regulate but also prohibit
Installation of CCTV cameras at dance areas
SC also disagreed with the State law mandating the installation of Supreme Court on dance areas
State’s argument: If something goes wrong there. The CCTV image will be used for investigation by the police. If SC denies me this right, SC is denying me the police powers of the State.
Counter argument: CCTVs on dance areas will be an invasion of privacy as individuals do not want to be seen at such places
[2]. Cabinet gives Clean Ganga Mission power to fine polluters
Context:- The Union Cabinet has approved changes allowing the National Mission for Clean Ganga to fine those responsible for polluting the river. Earlier this power was vested solely with the Central Pollution Control Board
National Mission for Clean Ganga
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is the implementation wing of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). Both NGRBA and NMCG are allocated to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR)
- The NMCG has been a registered society since 2012 and its role is largely to fund projects to implementing organizations.
- The bulk of the river cleaning projects under the mission involve setting up of sewage treatment plants, installing trash skimmers and beautifying the ghats.
Area of operation of NMCG
- The area of operation of NMCG shall be the Ganga River Basin, including the states through which Ganga flows, as well as the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
- The area of operation may be extended, varied or altered in future, by the Governing Council to such other states through which major tributaries of the river Ganga flow, and as the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) may decide for the purpose of effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga.
Progress under NMCG
Although at least 230 projects have been sanctioned this year there is very little progress on the ground in various States along the river such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttarakhand among others.
Management structure
The NMCG, which now has the status of an Authority, will have a two-tier management structure with a governing council to be chaired by a Director General. There will also be State-level committees.
Key focus area of the authority
A key focus of the authority will be maintaining required ecological flows in the Ganga with the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable development
[3]. Crucial panel looking into Railways’ finances goes
Context:- Union Cabinet, on 21st Sept 2016, scrapped the Railway Convention Committee (RCC), which determines the rate of dividend to be paid to the Finance Ministry
Railway Convention Committee (RCC)
Members: The Committee consisted of 18 members, 12 members of the Lok Sabha and six of the Rajya Sabha. Both the Ministers of Railways and Finance were its nominated members.
- It was constituted in 1949
- Its primary role was to determine the rate of dividend, modalities of its payment and exemptions. It took on a wider role of examining various subjects related to the working of the Railways and its finances since 1971
The money saved will be used
- to increase investments in track renewal, maintenance, station improvement and passenger amenities
Pension, still a liability of railways
Pension will continue to be a liability of the Railways. In 2016-17, while the pension Bill is pegged at Rs. 45,500 crore, the wage Bill stands at Rs. 70,125 crore
- The Railways will also bear the social commitment obligation by way of concessions or subsidised travel
EDITORIAL
[1]. Railway budget, a vanishing trick
Context:- Union and Rail budget have been merged and from financial year 2017-18 we won’t have a separate Rail budget. Author tries to ascertain the real reasons behind this merger apart from the ones cited by the government itself.
Reasons cited for the merger
- Annual dividend: Indian Railways need not pay the annual dividend to the Government of India on the budgetary support given each year, saving the financially stressed Railways about Rs.10,000 crore annually
- Platform for populism: Over the years politicians have been using the rail budget to further their populist agenda and enhance their own image
- No other ministry has a separate budget and no country has such a practice
- Bibek Debroy committee has recommended the discontinuance of rail budget
Author tries to uncover the whole truth behind the above reasons in the coming paragraphs
Annual dividend: The dividend is paid not only on the budgetary support extended during a year but also on the total “capital at charge” which includes the gross budgetary support (GBS) of previous years. By this merger, a “loan-in-perpetuity” is converted to a grant.
Platform for populism: Yes the rail budget has been used as a platform for furthering political agendas and populism but the larger point is being missed here.
- Rail Budget is not merely a statement of allotment of funds to various projects and programmes, unlike other ministries, but comprises a fairly detailed performance review, physical and financial, of the previous year and prospects for the current (Budget) year.
- Perhaps nowhere in the world is a political functionary called upon to present a financial report card of the country’s largest public undertaking in the full glare of publicity.
- A separate post-Budget discussion in Parliament on the Railways, as indicated by the Finance Minister, is no substitute for a separate rail budget as focus will be on allotment of funds and not on financial performance
Bibek Debroy committee: To say that the Debroy committee has recommended it is only partially true as the committee has recommended a host of other reforms like,
- Complete overhaul of the project financing architecture of the Railways
- Comprehensive accounting reforms
- Separation of infrastructure and operations
- Setting up of a rail regulatory authority
Why Railway should have a separate budget?
In the view of author, railway should have a separate budget because,
- Different than other ministries: Railways is unlike any other Central ministry in size and scope: It is an operational ministry as it earns as well as spends, unlike other ministries that only spend.
- Stats: Its gross earnings (Rs.1.68 lakh crore in 2015-16) are among the highest for any Indian organisation, public or private; it has a staff strength (13.2 lakh) that exceeds that of the Indian Army; it fully meets the pension liabilities of its retired employees (13.8 lakh) out of its own earnings unlike other ministries;
So, if the Railways is to be treated like other ministries, will the government also fund its pension liabilities which are estimated to be about Rs.45,500 crore in 2016-17? If that happens railways are in store for a massive saving
Author states that Rail budget is not a perfect system that can’t be touched or done away with but the haste in which it is being done is perplexing. Author then brings forth the real reason behind this haste
Railways’ financial position is risky
A separate Budget would have meant having to openly declare an operating ratio in excess of 1.0 (in layman’s language, that means one is living beyond one’s means): not a very good advertisement for a system that aspires to have high-speed tilting Talgo trains shortly and Bullet trains in the not-too-distant future.
Conclusion
Author concludes by suggesting that like the economic survey, a separate Indian railway report can be tabled before the parliament. This will signal reforms with transparency
[1]. Plucking the low hanging fruit of agricultural subsidy reform
Context:- Author discusses the misuse of the agricultural subsidies other than for fertilizers given by the central government and how direct benefits transfer can help
Quantum of agricultural subsidies
The Centre, through the agriculture ministry, actually spends over Rs 30,000 crore annually towards subsidies on credit, seeds, pesticides, farm machinery and other inputs
Author, a former IAS officer, cites his own experience in Madhya Pradesh vis-a-vis farm subsidy programmes. He states that,
- Political patronage coupled with corruption has completely subverted the purpose of the farm subsidies as majority of the beneficiaries of the agricultural subsidies have been large and resource-rich farmers. How is this done?
- Big farmers simply split up their holdings on paper among various family members — including minor children and relatives living abroad — to avail benefits reserved for poor cultivators owning less than 5 acres of land. Dalit and tribal farm workers, similarly, are routinely presented as proxies to enable large farmers procure subsidized tractors and other farm machinery against special schemes of assistance meant for the former.
Field studies showing effectiveness of DBT in farm subsidy
Author states that the step to provide agricultural subsidies through Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme directly in the bank accounts of the poor cultivators has not received apt attention as it deserves. He further points at the two recent filed trials in UP and Odisha that underscore the effective nature of DBT in clamping the leakage.
Uttar Pradesh
The first major pilot was tried out in UP during 2015-16
Methodology: Under this experiment spanning over both the kharif and Rabi seasons,subsidy on hybrid and other seeds to farmers was directly credited into farmers’ bank account, after they had purchased the material at full-cost from the market.
- The farmers were prior to that registered on a special portal and verified as genuine cultivators
- Result: It resulted in a sharp fall, both in the number of claimants as well as in the total subsidy outgo.
- With DBT, the subsidy amount on seeds paid out by the UP government in 2015-16 amounted to Rs. 152 crore, while the previous year’s outgo was Rs. 302 crore.
- Also, for the first time, many small and marginal cultivators actually reported getting the subsidy, which was hitherto being cornered by large or influential farmers.
Odisha
The second experiment in Odisha has been conducted during the current kharif season, again involving subsidized seed.
Methodology: Like in UP, the state government first undertook a campaign to register farmers on a special portal.
- Each farmer was given a unique Farmer Identification Number and given the freedom to buy seeds of his choice from designated agencies by paying the full cost. Around 15.78 lakh got registered
- After receiving details of the transaction from the registered dealer the government credited the farmer’s account with the eligible subsidy amount, which was capped at 2 hectares.
Result: Around 4 lakh farmers availed the benefit of the farm subsidies
However, despite benefits the scheme suffers from problems like,
- The inability of marginal, Dalit and Adivasi farmers to pay the full cost of inputs upfront
- Sharecroppers find themselves in the states that don’t recognize agricultural tenancies
Remedy: On-going reform of land leasing laws should be speeded up, so that sharecroppers, too, can avail benefits from access to subsidized inputs under the DBT regime.
In spite of the problems, good news is that the early results have encouraged states to look at DBT in agriculture seriously.
Way ahead
The additional resources available through savings should enable creation of special pools of funds for supporting resource-poor farmers.
Conclusion
Author says that Agriculture ministry should try to expand the scope of DBT to cover a major part of its budget in the coming fiscal year and harvest this low hanging fruit, whose benefits are sweet and immediate.
[2]. 10 years and waiting
Context:- On the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Prakash Singh case, author tries to being forth the failure of police reforms that the judgement intended to achieve.
On September 22, 2006, the apex court passed an order in the case of Prakash Singh vs Union of India directing all states, Union territories and the Centre to bring in police reforms.
- In a detailed order, which 7 directives on how this was to be done, SC said its order must be followed until all states and the Centre pass new Police Acts incorporating the court’s guidelines.
- The new Police Acts were ordered with an aim to bring police forces in tune with the times and make them people-centric rather than ruler-centric. India still follows the Police Act, 1861, framed by the British, largely with an aim to crush dissent.
Seven directives
SC issued 7 directives as practical steps to kick-start the reforms.
Directive One Constitute a State Security Commission (SSC) to: (i) Ensure that the state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or pressure on the police (ii) Lay down broad policy guideline and (iii) Evaluate the performance of the state police
Directive Two Ensure that the DGP is appointed through merit based transparent process and secure a minimum tenure of two years
Directive Three Ensure that other police officers on operational duties (including Superintendents of Police in-charge of a district and Station House Officers in-charge of a police station) are also provided a minimum tenure of two years
Directive Four Separate the investigation and law and order functions of the police
Directive Five Set up a Police Establishment Board (PEB) to decide transfers, postings, promotions and other service related matters of police officers of and below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and make recommendations on postings and transfers above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police
Directive Six Set up a Police Complaints Authority (PCA) at state level to inquire into public complaints against police officers of and above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police in cases of serious misconduct, including custodial death, grievous hurt, or rape in police custody and at district levels to inquire into public complaints against the police personnel below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police in cases of serious misconduct
Directive Seven Set up a National Security Commission (NSC) at the union level to prepare a panel for selection and placement of Chiefs of the Central Police Organizations (CPO) with a minimum tenure of two years
Implementation
Since the 2006 SC order, 17 states have passed new Acts while 12 have issued executive orders. Almost none follow the SC order either in letter or in spirit. In fact, concerted efforts have been made by all to somehow circumvent the SC directions and retain political control over the police.
In the majority of the 17 Police Acts passed since 2006, state governments have given themselves the sole discretion to appoint police chiefs instead of choosing from a panel recommended by the UPSC
In many of the nine operational Police Complaints Authorities currently in place, their design has been subverted by appointing serving police officers as judges in their own cause
The Centre constituted a State Security Commission for Delhi in 2011. It has both the chief minister and lieutenant governor on it. Despite its potential to create policy, provisioning and performance guarantees for better policing, it has met just five times
Committees have been formed to frame a model police law in line with court’s direction. Model Police Bill 2006 drafted under Soli Sorabjee’s chairpersonship has been adopted in breach by 17 states and entirely ignored by the Centre. Another Police Act drafting committee was formed in 2013 to make revisions to the 2006 model, recommendations of which are gathering dust.
Inconsistency of the SC
Even SC has been inconsistent in ensuring the compliance of its order. After four years of patience, in 2010, it appointed a monitoring committee. Chief secretaries of four states were summoned to explain total non-compliance but nothing much happened.
Conclusion
Author concludes by saying that even after 10 years of the judgement, the zeal to usher in police reform is entirely missing in the state’s agenda. It shows as to how difficult it is to break the police-power connection & to free it from the political clout. Such routine disobedience of SC’s orders is unheard of in any other country of the world & even the courts are no longer agitated to that end.
ECONOMY
[1]. Undersea cable link to Andamans, mainland
Context:- The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal for improving telecom connectivity in Andaman & Nicobar Islands by connecting the union territory with Chennai via an undersea optical fibre cable (OFC) at a cost of Rs.1,102.38 crore. The project is likely to be completed by December 2018.
The undersea cable
The dedicated submarine OFC will connect Mainland (Chennai) and Port Blair and five other islands
- Little Andaman
- Car Nicobar
- Havelock
- Kamorta
- Great Nicobar
Why such a decision?
- Costly satellite connectivity: Because, currently, the only medium of providing telecom connectivity between the Mainland and Andaman & Nicobar Islands is through satellites. However, since satellite bandwidth is very costly and its availability is limited, future bandwidth requirement cannot be met solely through it.
- Socio-economic growth: Lack of bandwidth and telecom connectivity is hampering socio-economic development of the islands. Hence, it is essential to have submarine optical fibre cable (OFC) connectivity between the mainland and Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Connectivity Benefits
- Would allow the implementation of e-governance initiatives
- Establishment of enterprises and e-commerce facilities in the islands
- It would also allow for “support to educational institutes for knowledge-sharing and availability of job opportunities
INTERNATIONAL
[1]. Paris climate deal: 30 more countries to ratify agreement, says UN
Context:- Thirty more countries are expected to formally join the Paris Agreement on climate change, greatly improving the pact’s chances of coming into force just a year after it was negotiated
Process has speeded up
More than 170 world leaders have signed the deal, but it won’t take effect until 55 countries accounting for at least 55 percent of global emissions have ratified or accepted it through their domestic procedures.
- That was initially expected to take several years, but 28 countries accounting for 39 percent of emissions including the world’s two biggest emitters, the United States and China, have already ratified the deal.
47 per cent
Ratification by 30 more countries would bring the total to 58 countries but many are small and their total emissions likely won’t reach the required 55 percent. It will only bring the emissions total to 47 percent.
EU & Paris agreement
The European Union, which considers itself as one of the architects of the Paris deal, is trying to fast-track its ratification process to avoid the embarrassment of sitting on the sidelines when it comes into force.
The EU, which accounts for 12 percent of global emissions, originally planned to wait for its 28 member states to approve the deal domestically, but now wants to ratify it on their behalf.
Note: – Please refer to the 9pm brief of 9th September 2016 for a detailed overview of Paris agreement
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