Doubt Clearance Thread: UPSC 2021
"When in doubt, observe and ask questions. When certain, observe at length and ask many more questions."
Created this thread as a one stop solution for all members so that all the doubts wherein any conceptual clarification is required can be solved here.
To all those who are thru mains 2020,
How do u handle qns like "comment on need for simplification of disqualification of persons for corrupt practises under RPA Section 123."?
I can relate it to criminalization of politics which was in news for the entire year. But no specific points in std book/magazine. The most i found one line in a value added material that election petition is to be made in high court which investigates and finally prez has to pass order for disqualification.A very different material mentioned abt goswami committeethat had recommended power to eci to punish under section 123.
Exam hall me does one know such things or connect the points aka make it up?
What is to be covered for gs2 polity and governance other than Laxmikanth and news to handle this qn? [Altho I don't have the bandwidth to cover anything else
. Still inquisitive.]
I didn't sit in mains so take it as a pinch of salt.
People probably would have gone through VAM or any such notes of RPA, after questions being asked from that topic. Can refer Vision VAM for that.
Moreover, Section 8 & 123 of RPA was in news in daily newspapers. Can mention Lily Thomas case for the same as Court called the 3 month appeal window as unconstitutional.
If you remember Goswami committee recommendations, well and good.
ADR data to substantiate how almost 70% of Political parties funding sources are unknown.
Shailputri,
Greater national integration ironically may deepen rather than alleviate stress on the federal system.how?The simple and straight forward answer to this question is DIVERSITY
But let's try to understand this by comparing USA and Indian freedom struggle.
US freedom struggle was immediately followed by a Civil war on slavery issue. Mainly because their freedom struggle was largely a Political movement fought for economic reasons(" taxation without representation "). They didn't bother about socio-cultural issues of diversity, race and origin. You will be suprised to know that most of their main freedom fighters were absolute beleivers in slavery. George Washington was the largest land owner in the country with most slaves.
Things changed only after Abraham Lincoln. So they tried to create a nation without considering diversity. That is the reason why racism is still a big issue in US. Because of this reason throughout their freedom struggle their states Assembly was stronger than National Assembly. This has manifested in present US constitution also. That is why their states are comparatively stronger than Indian states w.r.t Centre.It is their way of handling diversity.
Now look at India, our approach is completely opposite. Our quest for freedom struggle started from socio religious reforms. Even in Gandhian phase issue of untouchability, dalits representation, women, minorities etc were the most hotly discussed issues. I am not elaborating much on this as you would have already read these things in standard books.
Even if we made a constitution which favours strong centre but after independence we took some major steps that strengthened our federalism(via accomodating diversity).
1. Accomodate linguistic and cultural diversity- States Reorganization Act.
2. Distribution of political power
a) Increased coalition govts after 1967
b) Increased regional parties.
3. Asymmetrical federalism.
Special exemptions to some states like NE.
4. Finance commission allocation.
5. Reservation in public services.
This is our way of handling diversity. One must understand that nations don't accomodate diversity out of their altruism, they do it because they know it is essential for their survival as nation in first place.
So yes excessive national integration puts pressure on federal system because it compermises diversity.
@D503 A good article on this topic has come today in the editorial page of The Hindu. You can have a look.
Dionysus,
Can individual/community rights under Forest Rights Act be granted for Core Areas of National Parks or Biosphere Reserves?
Only for two sets of people-
1. Scheduled Tribes
2. Other traditional forest dwellers =>People who have been residing in the forest area (which is now a national park or biosphere reserve) for at least 3 generations (75 years). The cutoff date to ascertain this group is Dec 2005.
This essentially implies that only those groups of people who have been living in the forest areas prior to this date and subject to them satisfying the criteria of stay for at least 3 generations get such rights. (Apart from STs)
Current-Areas-for-Personality-Test-202122511626256996.pdf
Those of you who are appearing for PT this time, kindly go through this once. You might find this useful.
Best luck👍.
Dionysus,Why is the Arya Samaj considered revivalist?
What explains the aversion of shanta kumar committee and niti aayog towards NFSA. Shanta kumar recommended curtailing coverage from present 66.6% to 40% and niti also made a similar call recently. And is DBT a real substitute for food grains? Given the patriarchal nature wouldnt the money be controlled by male of the family and I know it's a cynical view but how would you ensure that the money actually goes towards nutrition and not towards alcohol, and other vices or priorities. Further , when govt provides food theoretically there's some minimum standard , regardless of how much the inflation is people get food. If DBT isn't inflation adjusted people won't be able to purchase food.m when tomatoes go 100 and onions 80.
And This is being recommended when GHI ranking shows india as one of the hungriest country of the world. Further, CoVid ke time par when the even the much vaunted middle class has shrunk by 3 crore and lining up for ration, niti aisa kyu suggest krega.
Give me counter arguments.
sstarrr,What explains the aversion of shanta kumar committee and niti aayog towards NFSA. Shanta kumar recommended curtailing coverage from present 66.6% to 40% and niti also made a similar call recently. And is DBT a real substitute for food grains? Given the patriarchal nature wouldnt the money be controlled by male of the family and I know it's a cynical view but how would you ensure that the money actually goes towards nutrition and not towards alcohol, and other vices or priorities. Further , when govt provides food theoretically there's some minimum standard , regardless of how much the inflation is people get food. If DBT isn't inflation adjusted people won't be able to purchase food.m when tomatoes go 100 and onions 80.
And This is being recommended when GHI ranking shows india as one of the hungriest country of the world. Further, CoVid ke time par when the even the much vaunted middle class has shrunk by 3 crore and lining up for ration, niti aisa kyu suggest krega.
Give me counter arguments.
Advantages of DBT in Food:
- lower food subsidy (saves money for the govt.)
- reduce operational costs of FCI
- lower transaction and administrative costs
- easier to implement
- increases choices for beneficiaries
Challenges of DBT in Food:
- lack of data on how it impacts food consumption and nutrition
- low financial and digital literacy
- potential for volatility in prices and inflation
Way forward:
- standardization and digitization of databases
- ensure adequate supply of food grains in the open market (rope in pvt. sector)
- will help control inflation and price volatility
- NITI Aayog:
- expand the use of mobile phones as a tool to inc. interaction w/beneficiaries and for rapid grievance redressal
- provide beneficiaries choice b/w DBT or food assistance via PDS i.e. choice-based system
- adjust DBT for inflation
What explains the aversion of shanta kumar committee and niti aayog towards NFSA. Shanta kumar recommended curtailing coverage from present 66.6% to 40% and niti also made a similar call recently. And is DBT a real substitute for food grains? Given the patriarchal nature wouldnt the money be controlled by male of the family and I know it's a cynical view but how would you ensure that the money actually goes towards nutrition and not towards alcohol, and other vices or priorities. Further , when govt provides food theoretically there's some minimum standard , regardless of how much the inflation is people get food. If DBT isn't inflation adjusted people won't be able to purchase food.m when tomatoes go 100 and onions 80.
And This is being recommended when GHI ranking shows india as one of the hungriest country of the world. Further, CoVid ke time par when the even the much vaunted middle class has shrunk by 3 crore and lining up for ration, niti aisa kyu suggest krega.
Give me counter arguments.
Also on the point of the money being controlled by the males I think you have to look at it in a bit longer term and more holistically. If it's combined with women empowerment (education, especially financial literacy) and other such gender mainstreaming policies these issues will reduce over time.
What explains the aversion of shanta kumar committee and niti aayog towards NFSA. Shanta kumar recommended curtailing coverage from present 66.6% to 40% and niti also made a similar call recently. And is DBT a real substitute for food grains? Given the patriarchal nature wouldnt the money be controlled by male of the family and I know it's a cynical view but how would you ensure that the money actually goes towards nutrition and not towards alcohol, and other vices or priorities. Further , when govt provides food theoretically there's some minimum standard , regardless of how much the inflation is people get food. If DBT isn't inflation adjusted people won't be able to purchase food.m when tomatoes go 100 and onions 80.
And This is being recommended when GHI ranking shows india as one of the hungriest country of the world. Further, CoVid ke time par when the even the much vaunted middle class has shrunk by 3 crore and lining up for ration, niti aisa kyu suggest krega.
Give me counter arguments.
The DBT will be given on the basis of ration cards, as it is related to food provisioning. The ration cards are issued in the name of the female head of the household. The ration card has linked to it the bank account of the female head under whose name the ration card is issued. The DBT will be made to this bank account only and most of these bank accounts would be under the PM Jan Dhan Yojana regime and hence I think the DBT funds would be under the direct disposal of these female heads only in most of the cases barring some exceptions and they will decide on how to spend the amount received via this DBT.
And though DBT has several flaws in it but still it is a potential way forward keeping in mind the corruption, ill practices and the discretions the food grain allotters/distributors enjoy under the existing food grain provisioning system.
Dionysus,sstarrr
TheNotorious,sstarrrThe quest for independent decision-making of women gender reminds me of a recent data point coverage of the Hindu wherein it was stated that as per NFHS 5 survey, health outcomes were better for those women who took independent health decisions as compared to those women whose health decisions were taken by their husbands.
But such independence of decision-making is not the sole panacea to all the problems out there. It has to be coupled up with the ability of women to make rational decisions with the resources they have, though limited they may be. For example, if they are getting some amount as DBT for buying food grains but instead they are buying cosmetics like lipstick and makeup instead with that money to flaunt among the neighbouring aunties of the gully, I guess they are at fault for doing so.
Coming to the UBI part, again this has to be viewed wrt rational decision making. Cash transfers are indeed a positive move, condition being the amount is utilised for genuine purposes. For eg, if we go as per NFSA act, majorly, 3 items are provisioned, vis, wheat, rice and pulses. But if rather than providing these commodities to the households directly, if we provide them with an equivalent or a higher amount as a cash transfer, the receiving household would have greater options to spend this money upon. They can either buy these basic food grains, or they can go for other healthy and nutritious stuffs like fruits, vegetables, eggs, diary and likewise. But again, inflation has to be indexed no matter what as we all know how the prices of even the necessities are sky rocketing these days. So, conclusively, UBI, or any cash transfer per say, isn’t that bad an option. It does, to a major extent, depend upon the rationality of the person at the receiving end who is to spend the money, and independence wrt this decision making, plays a vital role.
I would also like to say that food grain provisioning by the government, to an extent, seems to be a kind of monopoly to me, and an antidote to this monopoly is the practice of Public Choice approach wherein citizens are provided with different alternatives/choices, with the inclusion of private domain. And cash transfers seem to be a medium for such kind of approach as cash at hand gives people scope to exercise choices, expecting the choices being made are logical and rational.
P.S. Thanks for the compliment bhai. I too have come to a realisation that many of the knowledge we assume that might be content enriching for the answers/exam, actually do not provide to be of much use when it comes to ground reality and to be honest, this feeling sucks :/
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