Gist of EPW February Week 1, 2023

The Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) is an important source of study material for IAS, especially for the current affairs segment. In this section, we give you the gist of the EPW magazine every week. The important topics covered in the weekly are analyzed and explained in a simple language, all from a UPSC perspective.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Empowerment through Higher Education
2. Unearthing Technology-facilitated Crimes
3. Adult Suffrage
4. Methodological Issues in SDG India Index
5. Rubber plantation

1. Empowerment through Higher Education

Context: The All India Survey on Higher Education highlights the improvement in women’s enrollment in higher education along with some concerns. 

Detail: 

Stats related to higher education in India: 

• There has been growth in the number of students enrolled in higher education, it has more than doubled to 7.3%, taking the total number of students to 4.1 crores. 
• The 2.1 crore male students are only a little more than the 2 crore females. Thus, the overall share of female students has edged closer to the halfway mark and reached 48.7%.
  • However, the inclusion of students from disadvantaged social groups remains far from satisfactory.
  • The  overall share of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the total number of students has increased by 1 percentage point to 35.9%
  • The increase in the share of Scheduled Tribe (ST) students to 5.8% was even smaller. Meanwhile, the share of Scheduled Caste (SC) students stagnated at 14.3% over the period
• In 2020–21, while the overall enrolment in higher education was 27.2%, that of the SC students was only 23.1%. In the case of STs, the enrolment rate was still a lower 18.9%.
• One of the important outcomes highlighted in this research is that female enrolment rates were higher than that of males across all these segments. 
  • More importantly, the female enrolment rates of all social groups are now increasing faster than that of males.

Area of concern: 

• Despite huge achievements made in different sectors of education, there are some concerns as well. The data for 2016–17 show that the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) in the best-performing states was four times higher than that in the worst-performing states.
  • The gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown.
  • The data for 2016–17 show that the GER in the best-performing states was four times higher than that in the worst-performing states. 
  • Though the level of disparity has come down to around threefold by 2020–21, they are still far too high for comfort.
• The improvement in GER was the least in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Odisha, where it was less than 1% during the period. In fact, GER even declined in Punjab over these years.
• Quality in higher education is a multi-dimensional, multilevel, and dynamic concept. Ensuring quality in higher education is amongst the foremost challenges being faced in India today.
• Faculty shortages and the inability of the state educational system to attract and retain well-qualified teachers have been posing challenges to quality education for many years. 
• There is inadequate focus on research in higher education institutes. There are insufficient resources and facilities, as well as, limited numbers of quality faculty to advise students. Most of the research scholars are without fellowships or not getting their fellowships on time which directly or indirectly affects their research.

Education lies at the foundation of any developed country. India in order to reap its demographic dividend must improve its education quality and accessibility. 

2. Unearthing Technology-facilitated Crimes

Introduction:

• Technology-facilitated crimes, also known as cybercrimes that threaten the safety and security of individuals and communities, have become increasingly prevalent in India over the years.
• These crimes are a growing concern for human rights advocates around the world.
• Unearthing technology-facilitated crimes can be a complex process, as many of these crimes are committed online and can involve multiple jurisdictions and individuals. 

Impact of Deepfakes:

• Deepfakes are a type of digital content that have been altered using artificial intelligence technology, creating a highly realistic and false version of the original media. 
• These types of content are created with the intent to harm individuals and institutions.
• The combination of commodity cloud computing, publicly available artificial intelligence research algorithms, and an abundance of data and media has created an environment that has made it easier for anyone to create and manipulate media, which is commonly known as deepfakes.

Read more on Deepfakes.

Other human rights violations caused by technology-facilitated crimes:

1. Online fraud: Online fraud is a common form of cybercrime in India. Scammers use various tactics, such as phishing emails and fake websites, to trick people into giving away their personal information or money.
2. Hacking: Hacking involves unauthorised access to computer systems and networks. Hackers can steal sensitive information, manipulate data, or cause damage to the system.
3. Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is the use of technology to harass, intimidate, or embarrass someone. This can take the form of sending threatening or abusive messages, spreading rumours, or sharing embarrassing photos or videos.
   1. Research conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center in 2020 revealed that nearly half of the students (45.5%) between 13 and 17 years old have gone through cyberbullying at some point in their lives.
   2. A survey conducted in 2018 revealed that India had the highest incidence of cyberbullying, with 37% of parents reporting that their children had been bullied online. This can severely impact the mental health and well-being of victims, leading to depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
4. Identity theft: Identity theft occurs when someone steals another person’s personal information, such as their name, address, and social security number, and uses it to commit fraud or other crimes.
5. Child pornography: The production, distribution, and possession of child pornography are illegal in India. However, it remains a problem, with many children being exploited and abused for the production of such content.
6. Cyberstalking: Cyberstalking involves using technology to track or harass someone. This can include sending unwanted messages, making threats, and monitoring someone’s online activity.
7. Online extortion: Online extortion involves using threats or intimidation to obtain money or other valuables. This can include threatening to release sensitive information or photos unless a payment is made.
8. Human trafficking: Technology-facilitated crimes also play a significant role in the exploitation and trafficking of individuals.
   1. Criminals use the internet to lure victims into trafficking situations and to advertise and sell victims online. The anonymity of the internet makes it difficult for law enforcement to track down traffickers and rescue victims. 
   2. In addition, the use of blockchain technology has made it easier for traffickers to conduct transactions anonymously, further exacerbating the problem.

Steps to mitigate the impact of technology-facilitated crimes:

• One of the most effective ways to address these crimes is through international cooperation and collaboration. For instance, the Cybercrime Convention of the Council of Europe offers a structure for nations to collaborate in order to combat cybercrime and safeguard human rights.
• Governments and companies shall take steps to protect individuals from technology-facilitated crimes by implementing strong data protection and privacy laws and investing in technologies that can detect and prevent cybercrime. 
• Law enforcement agencies can also work to improve their ability to investigate and prosecute technology-facilitated crimes. 
• Educating individuals on how to stay safe online can help prevent them from becoming victims of technology-facilitated crimes. This includes teaching them about safe browsing habits, how to recognize phishing emails, and how to secure their personal information.
• Individuals shall be more cautious about the information they share online, using strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and being aware of the signs of cyberbullying and harassment.
  • Individuals should report any suspicious activity they see online, such as phishing emails or suspicious social media posts. 
• Staying informed about the latest cyber threats and security best practices can help individuals and organisations stay ahead of cybercrime. This includes reading news articles, attending cybersecurity conferences, and following technology experts and organisations on social media.

3. Adult Suffrage

Context: Rise in number of the prisoners and denial of suffrage to them is raising questions on the democracy credential of the country.

Detail: 

What is universal suffrage: 

• In a democratic country suffrage is the right given to the individual to elect their representatives through casting their votes in the electoral process. 
• In other words, it means every citizen who has attained a certain age and has not been debarred from the process has a right to vote. 

Legal provision with respect to prisoners: 

• According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973, a person arrested on the basis of suspicion is detained and imprisoned like a convicted criminal who is sentenced to imprisonment.
  • Their rights may differ, and the ones under trial may be considered innocent but the taking away of certain fundamental rights including that of freedom of movement, speech, expression, and trade is not any different for them. The right to vote is one such right. 
• The  Representation of the People Act of 1951. Section 62(5) of the act states:
  • No person shall vote at any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise or is in the lawful custody of the police: Provided that nothing in this subsection shall apply to a person subjected to preventive detention under any law for the time being in force.

Issue related to imprisonment and voting right: 

• A blanket ban on all imprisoned persons from casting their vote in order to elect a government of their choice is violative of the constitutional foundations of the republic of India.
• The voting and electing of a government is for societal purposes; hence, a prisoner being a part of society should be allowed to be included in the governing process.
  • Giving voting rights to them would help in reformation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of prisoners. 
  • If the guilt of the person is not proven then ostracising them from casting a vote is a violation of the fundamental right. 
  • Out of the total prisoners majority of them are the undertrail and thus a large number of the people are denied the right to vote. 
• To keep the criminals away from the society, not only physically but socially and politically, meant at those times safeguarding the society from evil. This idea has outlived its time. New jurisprudence advocates the idea of reformation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the prisoners. 
  • There  is no requirement of an offender to be socially excluded, causing their civil death by disenfranchisement or otherwise is unnecessary and unreasonable.
• Imprisonment being a punishment in itself, additional denial of rights becomes a punishment additional to the judicial sentence passed against the offender. Hence, it amounts to double jeopardy. 
• Denying a person their right to vote may be considered a deterrent but does not contribute to the reformation of the offender. It rather offers a chance for the politicisation of crime under the guise of preventing the criminalisation of politics.

India is a welfare country that aspires to ensure inclusive development for the entire population of the country. Under these circumstances, if the rights of the undertrials are not respected then the vision of inclusive development cannot be realised. 

4. Methodological Issues in SDG India Index

Context: SDG Index released by the NITI Aayog highlights certain underlying problems in the system.

What is SDG Index?

• NITI Aayog has constructed the SDG India Index spanning 13 out of 17 SDGs (leaving out Goals 12, 13, 14 and 17).
• The SDG India Index is intended to provide a holistic view of the social, economic and environmental status of the country and its States and UTs.
• The Index tracks the progress of all the States and Union Territories (UTs) on a set of 62 National Indicators, measuring their progress on the outcomes of the interventions and schemes of the Government of India.
• So far, three editions of the SDG India Index have been released (NITI Aayog 2018, 2019, 2020). The 17 SDGs, containing a number of socio-economic outcomes like poverty, health, education, inequality, environment, decent life, and development of infrastructure, require to be measured in combinations of different dimensions (MoSPI 2020).

Methodological issue with the SDG Index: 

• Arithmetic mean is taken for computation of the score and then the composite score for the SDG index is shown. Building composite indices leads to a trade-off between the loss of information and transparency and the ease of communication.
• In other words, a deficit of one unit in one dimension can be compensated fully by one unit surplus in another dimension.
• So, if the purpose of the composite index is to encourage balanced development across different dimensions, the arithmetic aggregation may not be the best aggregation formula.
• In order to do away with this, the geometric mean should be taken into account. The geometric aggregation penalises extreme performance in certain dimensions that a particular state may be vulnerable to.

Image: State ranking by different method

Image source: EPW

• Capping the score to the target value, that is 100, when the state achieves a score beyond the target, say 120, provides a disincentive for states that can improve their performance beyond the target. 
  • It is important that the incentive to perform better than the target is maintained because such states will help India in minimising the gap between target and achievement at the national level when some states remain behind the target by 2030.

Image: State ranking without normalisation 

Image source: EPW

• SDG 1.0 was constructed using 60 indicators, SDG 2.0 with 100 indicators, and SDG 3.0 with 115 indicators. Therefore, states would find it difficult to compare their performance with respect to their own past values. 
• Since old data from 2011–12 to 2018–19 are used, the composite index ignores the current level of performance of the state in those domains. It is possible that the states may have progressed very differently with respect to these indicators.

SDG index reflects the performance of the states at different levels. So, it is important that indicators used must be revised on a regular basis in order to uphold their utility. 

5. Rubber plantation

Rubber constitutes one of the important commercial crops in India. It is used as raw material by many industries like tyres, chemicals, etc. Hence, sustainable growth in this sector is quintessential for economic development. 

Climatic requirement for the growth of rubber crops: 

• A tropical climate with an annual rainfall of 2000 – 4500 mm is suited for cultivation. Minimum and maximum temperatures of 25 to 34°C with 80 % relative humidity is ideal for cultivation. Regions prone to heavy winds should be avoided.
• It requires deep and lateritic fertile soil with an acidic pH of 4.5 to 6.0 which is highly deficient in available phosphorus.

State of the rubber sector in India: 

• Though the natural rubber sector accounts for only 0.4% of the gross cropped area of the country and contributed very less to agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) (0.64%), its contribution towards manufacturing GDP was 3.63% during 2018–19.

Issues that the rubber sector is facing: 

• From 1942 to 1991 rubber was grown under the protective policy of the government. After liberalisation, the government withdrew its protective price policy and the domestic natural rubber price tended to follow the trends in the international market, as a result, it became subject to fluctuations.
  • Sheet rubber constitutes 68% of total production. The implementation of the WTO agreement and other free trade agreements exposed the Indian natural rubber sector to external competition. This translated into a decline in the natural rubber price since 1996, which continued till 2000.

Image: International price of rubber

Image source: EPW

• Before 1991, the natural rubber price had grown by 8.2%. After liberalisation, the price had marked both positive and negative growth rates. Therefore, any volatility or instability in the price level is expected to have an impact on the performance of the crop in the country.
  • This in turn would result in causing a structural crisis in those regions where natural rubber cultivation is concentrated.
• India has been witnessing a decline in rubber plantation and the total tapped area under rubber cultivation. One of the reasons for the low share of India’s tapped area may be the increase in the stock of immature rubber plants due to new planting in recent years.
• Rubber cultivated area is not equally distributed among states. The majority of the growers had stopped or reduced undertaking agro-management practices such as the application of fertilisers and other inputs due to the high cost of production along with the low price for natural rubber that resulted in declining yield per hectare.
• There has been a decline in domestic natural rubber consumption. The low production coupled with high demand resulted in increasing the import of natural rubber, especially solid block rubber from other countries.
• There has been a huge demand for synthetic rubber since they are cheaper in comparison to natural-grown rubber. The share of natural rubber has declined from 79% in 1980–81 to 63% in 2018–19.

Government support is essential for the growth of the rubber sector. Dedicated policy and programmes in this direction could help in providing thrust to this sector. 

Read previous EPW articles in the link.

Gist of EPW February Week 1, 2023:- Download PDF Here