Gist of EPW March Week 3, 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 analysed and explained in a simple language, all from a UPSC perspective.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Legalising Same-sex Marriages
2. Public Order VS Freedom of Speech and Expression
3. Household Pharmaceutical Disposal Practices
4. Fostering an Independent Bar
5. Information and Communication Technology: Female Labour participation rate

1. Legalising Same-sex Marriages

Introduction:

• The movement to acknowledge and respect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, which include their right to get married, has been gaining momentum in countries around the world, including India.
• However, recently, the union government’s stance on same-sex marriage has been a subject of much debate. 
• The union government has opposed the pleas in the supreme court seeking recognition for same-sex marriages and legal status in India.
• The government states that the issue of same-sex marriage is a matter of legislative policy and that it is up to Parliament to decide on its legality.

Read more on Union Government’s stand on same-sex marriages in India.

Arguments in favour:

• Opposition by the government is seen by many as regressive and discriminatory towards the LGBTQ+ community. 
• The Constitution guarantees equality and non-discrimination, implying that every individual, regardless of their sexual orientation, has the right to marry and live a dignified life. 
• The denial of legal recognition to same-sex couples violates their fundamental rights under the Constitution, including the right to equality, non-discrimination, and the right to life with dignity.
• Legalising same-sex marriages would help to promote inclusivity and diversity in Indian society and reduce the mental stress and anxiety faced by same-sex couples who are not recognised under the law.
• The move would be a major step forward in the ongoing fight for equality and human rights, while also helping to break down the persistent discrimination and prejudice that has plagued the community for far too long. 
• Several countries, including the United States, Canada, and various European countries, have already legalised same-sex marriages, and India should follow suit to ensure that the rights of all citizens are protected. 
• It would send a strong message to the world that India is dedicated to safeguarding the rights of all its citizens, irrespective of their gender identity or sexual orientation. 

Associated sociological angle and counter-views:

• One of the primary reasons for the union government’s opposition is based on cultural and social values that do not support same-sex marriages.
• Marriage is defined in India as an institution where people of the opposite sex are tied in a relationship and there are certain rules and regulations guiding it. The children born out of this bond are legitimate. Moreover, marriage, apart from being part of private life, is also a public affair in society.
• According to some sociologists, marriage and relationships are different. Privacy and choice in a relationship can be accepted, but when it comes to the institution of marriage, identity, caste, class, race, etc. become crucial parameters.
• Though society has evolved economically, and culturally there is not much change. For instance, caste still plays a crucial role in the identity of an individual, social interactions, and politics.
• Moreover, for a change to take place majority of the citizens or a larger part of the society should openly accept it.
• India is also diverse in terms of rural and urban areas. Though urban areas might accept same-sex marriage, rural areas will raise concerns.
• However, privacy should be respected but it will have implications for society.
• The acceptance of children from same-sex marriage might face serious challenges in India, where even today, same-caste and class marriages are given more respect and priority.

Conclusion:

• The road ahead towards recognising the issue is long and challenging. There are many who remain opposed to it on religious, cultural, and moral grounds. 
• Conservative groups and religious organisations are likely to mount a strong opposition towards this and the case is likely to face significant scrutiny from both the media and the public.
• However, the hearing of this case by the constitution bench of the Supreme Court resonates with the significance of the issue. The Court’s decision will have significant implications for the LGBTQ+ community as well as Indian society as a whole.
• Therefore, it is imperative that the government takes steps to legalise same-sex marriages in India, thus ending the discrimination and marginalisation faced by the LGBTQ+ community and promoting greater diversity and inclusivity in Indian society.

2. Public Order VS Freedom of Speech and Expression

What is freedom of speech and expression? 

• Article 19 of the Indian Constitution provides for freedom of speech and expression. 
• The freedom of speech under Article 19(1) (a) includes the right to express one’s views and opinions on any issue through any medium, e.g. by word of mouth, writing, printing, picture, film, movie, etc.
• This right is, however, not absolute and it allows the Government to frame laws to impose reasonable restrictions in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency and morality and contempt of court, defamation and incitement to an offence.

Read more on freedom of speech in the linked article.

Concerns related to restrictions on freedom of speech: 

• Freedom of speech can be restricted in the name of a few parameters like “security of the state,” “friendly relations with foreign states,” “incitement to an offence” and “public order,” etc.  These restrictions are neither codified nor defined as a result of which, restrictions of these fundamental rights of the citizens on some dubious grounds are imposed. 

Freedom of Speech VS Sedition: Historical Underpinnings

• The first case related to limiting the scope of freedom of speech came before the court in 1950; the court was to decide if the government was authorised to exercise pre-censorship for the “purpose of securing public safety or the maintenance of public order.” 
  • The point of contention before the Court was the government’s use of phrases like “public safety” and “public order,” otherwise absent from the provisions of Article 19(2), which allowed for restrictions solely on the basis of a law relating to any matter that “undermines the security of, or tends to overthrow, the State.”
• The apex court pointed that the Court observed that phrases such as “public safety” or “public order,” defined as “that state of tranquillity which prevails among the members of a political society”, had a much broader interpretation than “security of the State” which was “nothing less than endangering the foundations of the state or threatening its overthrow.” 
  • The court in the above case held that, unless a law restricting freedom of speech and expression is directed solely against the undermining of the security of the State or the overthrow of it, such law cannot fall within the reservation under clause (2) of Article 19, although the restrictions which it seeks to impose may have been conceived generally in the interests of public order.
• The court in the above case had distinguished between the milder effects of public disorder from the gravity of preserving the security of the state. The court held that only in the latter case an individual’s freedom could be curtailed. 
• This interpretation was defended on the grounds that the word “sedition” was specifically excluded from Article 19(2) by the Constitution makers who, the Court contested, by this act of exclusion intended to provide a very narrow sphere of restriction for Article 19(1)(a). 

Confusions in colonial precedents and Constituent Assembly debates: 

• During the initial colonial era, the provision of sedition was given a wide mandate under Section 124A of the penal code and could be deployed against any individual who “excites or attempts to excite feelings of disaffection towards the government.”
• Over time, this provision was further crystalised to get reduced to a narrower interpretation, the meaning of “disaffection” was reduced to having even a “feeling of enmity” or “disloyalty” against the “government”. 
• The court drew a distinction between sedition and opposition and stated that, 
  • The word “sedition” ought to be removed, except in cases where the entire state itself is sought to be overthrown or undermined by force or otherwise, leading to public disorder; but any attack on the government itself ought not to be made an offence under the law. 

Interpretation: 

• Freedom of expression demands that it cannot be suppressed unless the situations created by allowing the freedom are pressing and the community interest is endangered.
• In Bimal Gurung v Union of India, 2018, the court held that demonstrations and protests fall within the ambit of Article 19(1)(a); the Supreme Court has stated that demonstrations which “create public disturbances or operate as nuisances, or create or manifestly threaten some tangible public or private mischief” are prohibited under the “public order” restriction of Article 19(2).
• The freedom of speech and expression along with challenges to the stability of the state is always a point of contention. 
  • If public order is read as “state security and stability,” speech and expression can be restricted even if it exhibits a mere tendency to “disturbing” peace or creating “inconvenience.” 

Freedom of speech and expression are inherent to the survival of democracy. The democratic government rests on the basic idea of the participation of the public in state affairs and thus the exchange of views takes place. Therefore, the restriction of speech cannot be imposed on the basis of whims and fancies, rather there should be a proper standard procedure before imposing any restriction.

3. Household Pharmaceutical Disposal Practices

What is meant by pharmaceutical disposal? 

• Pharmaceutical disposal refers to waste or any leftover, unused, or expired medication that is being discarded. Between five and 10 percent of all pharmaceutical waste is considered to be “hazardous waste”.

Image: Classification of Pharma Waste

Source: medprodisposal.com

• Irrational consumption and disposal behaviours of the public lead to pharmaceutical pollution. Households are reported as one of the critical sources for the entry of pharmaceuticals into the environment, along with hospitals and pharmaceutical production, veterinary use, agriculture, and aquaculture.
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) points out that household pharma waste varies from 3% to 50%. Unwanted pharmaceuticals are often kept at home for a long time before being disposed of.
  • This included antibiotics, hormonal medicines, analgesics, anti-hypertensives, antidiabetics, etc.
• It was found that more than half of the respondents used to dispose of these unwanted medicines with household garbage. 
  • A few others flush the unwanted medicines into the sink, throw them into rivers, or use them as fertilisers for plants. A few believe that wastewater treatment removes all the pharmaceutical contents before reaching any water bodies.

Provisions related to the treatment of pharmaceutical waste: 

• The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016 provide guidelines for house­hold waste management in India.
  • As per the rule, the local authorities shall take responsibility for the transportation of non-biodegradable product wastes which shall be taken to the respective processing facility, material recovery facilities, or secondary storage facility.
• The rules also provide that waste disposal centres should be established for depositing domestic hazardous wastes there for their safe disposal.
• The centres shall notify the timings of receiving domestic hazardous waste (SWM Rules, 2016), treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) function across the country for the scientific and systematic management of hazardous waste. 
• About 1,127 million tonnes of domestic hazardous waste have been received at the said deposition centres, of which 1,089 million tonnes are sent to TSDFs for disposal, and 38 million tonnes are stored at occupier premises. 
• Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016 provides that expired medicines, used needles, contaminated gauges, etc, generated at the household level come under the “domestic hazardous waste” category, along with discarded paint drums, pesticide cans, compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), and tube lights. 

Strategies for Management of Pharma Waste: 

Source: EPW

• A national strategy and action plan shall be designed in collaboration with all the stakeholders. 
  • Designing and implementing a policy mix of source-directed, user-orientated, and end-of-pipe measures targeting stakeholders throughout the life cycle of pharmaceuticals by using a combination of voluntary, economic, and regulatory instruments.
• The circular economy can be formed in terms of keeping end-of-use medicines as long as possible in the economic and social cycle of use. Binding the principles of the circular economy into the pharmaceutical supply chain can improve waste minimisation practices.
  • For example: Medicine take-back or buy-back systems enable the reverse logistics of medicines and their safe disposal.
• There should be targeted monitoring, reporting and management of emission sources along with legislation and educational strategies for its successful implementation. 

Also read: New Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules 2016

Limitations of the current rules: 

• SWM does not cover the requirements for drug take-back systems, which are globally practised for medical waste disposal from households. 
• Further, the limited infrastructure available for the scientific processing of hazardous wastes also exacerbates the scenario.

Proper disposal of waste is necessary for the protection of the environment and for reducing its negative impact on humans. 

4. Fostering an Independent Bar

What is the Bar Council of India?

• The Bar Council of India is a statutory body created by Parliament to regulate and represent the Indian Bar. 
• Bar provides the regulatory function by prescribing standards of professional conduct and etiquette and by exercising disciplinary jurisdiction over the bar. 
• It also sets the standards for legal education and grants recognition to Universities whose degrees in law will serve as the qualification for enrolment as an advocate.
• Section 7 covers the Bar Council’s regulatory and representative mandate for the legal profession and legal education in India:
  • To lay down standards of professional conduct and etiquette for advocates.
  • To lay down a procedure to be followed by its disciplinary committee and the disciplinary committees of each State Bar Council.
  • To safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of advocates.
  • To promote and support law reform.
  • To deal with and dispose of any matter which may be referred to it by a State Bar Council.

Also read: Indian Judiciary

Independence of the Bar: 

• The present composition and manner of selection of the members of the bar councils suggest that there is little scope for governmental or any external interference in their functioning. 
  • The BCI is composed of the Attorney-General for India and the Solicitor General of India along with one representative from each of the SBCs. 
• The act has insulated the bar councils from the kinds of institutional capture. 

Bar: Governing mechanism and role in recent times

• Section 29 of the Advocates Act, 1961 mandates that only those advocates enrolled under the act would be entitled to practise law in the country.
  • The qualifications for being enrolled as an advocate, their conduct, and their removal from the profession are largely regulated by the Bar Council of India (BCI).
• The Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association (along with other bar associations) were at the forefront of the case which eventually created the collegium system and struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission amend­ment to the Constitution.
• The Madras Bar Association has been instrumental in constitutional challenges to the tribunalisation of the judiciary, having successfully challenged the National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005 as an attempt to narrow the jurisdiction of the high courts in tax cases.
• The Bombay Bar Association was instrumental in highlighting the serious improprieties in the actions of the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court prompting his resignation.

Politicisation of bar: 

• Even as the bar councils and associations may remain institutionally independent from external interference, the threat to the individual independence of the lawyers cannot be ignored.
• Many lawyers work for the government of the day for their personal elevation and thus put judicial independence at stake. 

5. Information and Communication Technology: Female Labour participation rate

State of female labour participation rate: 

• The female labour force participation rate in India has been recording a precarious drop from 49% in 2004–05 to 37.8% in 2009–10 and further to 35.8% in 2011–12.

ICT and female 

• It is postulated that ICT adoption could directly lead to an increase in the labour market participation of women through the timely availability of important information as well as lower job search efforts and costs. 
• There has been a sharp rise in the number of active telephone users in the country. 
  • As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI 2012), the teledensity for rural areas also experienced a sharp rise from 1.9% in 2005 to 39% in 2012. 
• With a large number of women actively involved in activities like farming, fishing, and agriculture-related activities, the expansion of ICT can lead to better availability of information to the public. 
  • For example: In 2009, “Gaon ki awaaz,” a voice-based mobile service app was launched. The service was about empowering the rural masses through information dissemination by transmitting news alerts twice a day.
  • This provided information to those people who otherwise cannot read newspapers or magazines for receiving information. 
  • The service also allowed advertisements for small business services, complaints against social abuses, and other related issues.
  • Similarly, Babajob.com in India, which started in 2006, aimed at providing access to better job opportunities regardless of people’s income, literacy, and skill level.

Image: Difference in ICT according to ICT adoption

Image source: EPW

The above diagram depicts that: 

• The proportion of employed women is higher for the group that does not have access to mobiles and computers. This may be due to the social stigma and the nature of jobs available in rural areas. 
• It also reflects that the possibility of women having internet and phones, who were unemployed till this time, getting employment is more for those in the urban areas. 
• Similarly, the exit rate of women having ICT is lower in comparison to those that haven’t.

Observation related to the adoption of ICT:

• ICT adoption does not seem to benefit women’s employment but analysis at the sectoral level reveals that the benefits of ICT adoption are limited to urban areas with women dwelling in rural areas losing out on its benefits.
• Lower benefits of ICT on women in rural areas can be attributed to many factors including the profound impact of digital illiteracy. 
• Women’s access to these communication devices may be limited by their lack of financial autonomy to purchase them, gender norms, etc. 
• The impact of ICT was further undermined because of the outbreak of the COVID crisis which left many in utter poverty. 
• Digital literacy level among women in rural areas in comparison to urban areas is very low. Due to this, they are not able to utilise the technology to their advantage to the fullest extent. 

Read previous EPW articles in the link.

Gist of EPW March 2023 Week 3:- Download PDF Here