11 Feb 2023: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. The battle against child marriage

Syllabus: GS-2, Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the people.

Mains: Issues related to women and children – Child Marriage.

Context: Crackdown against child marriage in different parts of Assam.

Details:

• Even today, a few people of the hill-dwelling Tiwa Tribal community in Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district practice Gobhiya Thaka (a kind of live-in relationship).
• Several instances of child marriage were cracked down by the police in different parts of Assam. 
• According to Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam, it was a planned exercise as the police collected data for three years (from 2020) and registered approximately 4074 cases.
• Though the exercise might have some social cost, the State government is keen to control child marriages and has directed the District Magistrates and the Social Welfare Department to take care of the minor married girls.
• Nearly 2763 persons have been arrested (as of 9th February 2023).
• The National Family Health Survey – 5 report was cited to justify the drive against child marriages in Assam.
  • According to the report, about 23.3% of women aged 20-24 years were married before the age of 18 during 2019-21 (it decreased from 27% in 2015-16). 
  • Notably, West Bengal, Bihar, and Tripura topped the list with 40% of such cases. Assam registered 31.8%.
  • Similarly, teenage pregnancy accounted for 16.8% of more than 6.2 lakh pregnancies in Assam in 2022.
• The premises of the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project was turned into a temporary prison for child marriage offenders. Similarly, transit camps set up for foreigners (illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries, specifically Bangladesh) are also being used for judicial custody.
• The exercise is appreciated by many social activists who are hopeful that the fear factor would help in spreading awareness with more authority.
• The Assam government also launched the Arundhati scheme in 2020 promising to provide 1 tola (11.66 grams) of gold to brides belonging to all communities after attaining the legal age of 18 years.
  • However, the age should be verified through a birth certificate and medical examination. And the marriage should be registered. 
  • Furthermore, it is intended for people with an annual income below ₹5 lakhs.

Also read: Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 – Sarda Act Overview

Associated Concerns:

• In many instances, there was an error in the documents while declaring the age of the girls. This implies that the girls were not actually minors during their marriage and their husbands and fathers were wrongly arrested.
• Many tribal people are usually clueless about such laws.
• It is also argued by many local residents that the execution of such a campaign against child marriage could have been better accommodating the concerns of poor people.
• Some officials have also been accused of politicizing or communalizing the drive.
• Concerns have also been raised over classifying the married minor girls into two groups namely ‘below 14 years’ and ‘from 14 to 18 years’. This is used to book people involved under the POCSO Act and the PCMA respectively. 
  • It should be remembered that no such classification is possible under POCSO, especially after the Supreme Court’s judgment of October 2017.
  • In the 2017 case, SC upheld every girl’s right to bodily dignity and ruled that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife who is below 18 years should be considered rape.
• Legal experts have also raised concerns about interpreting the implementation of cases where the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937 and the Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act of 1935 are followed. Notably, these laws do not bar girls under 18 years from getting married.
• Moreover, it is also argued that the Prevention of Child Marriages Act (PCMA) is not a settled law and is subject to interpretation by the court as there is no Uniform Civil Code.
• Currently, the legal age to marry in India is 18 years for women and 21 years for men and a parliamentary standing committee is deliberating to increase the minimum age of marriage for women to 21 years.
• Child marriage is prevalent among many communities, particularly among Muslim dwellers of the chars (shifting sandbars in the Brahmaputra) and the Adivasi tea plantation workers.
• The sustained efforts of the government against the evil practice of child marriage have prevented social ceremonies, but marriages still take place as formalities indoors.
• Many cases of child marriages and teenage abortions go unreported.

Also read: What is Uniform Civil Code in India?

Way Ahead:

• The hard approach of police action should be supplemented by soft measures like ensuring livelihood and education for girls.
• The tea plantation workers should also be convinced against child marriages. 
• There should be more conversation and deliberation on the causes and effects of child marriages that are often resorted to in the case of romantic relationships and to avoid the fear of earning social shame.
• All the stakeholders like police, doctors, health workers, panchayat leaders, village headmen, and public representatives should work in close coordination.

Also read: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis. Nov 6th, 2022

Nut Graf: The Assam Government has strictly acted against child marriages prevalent in the state. However, it is argued by many legal experts and social activists that a holistic approach is required involving mass awareness apart from education and skill development of girls to deal with the social malaise of child marriage prevalent in many communities of Assam.

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. India’s law and order matrix needs a reboot

Syllabus: GS-2, Government policies and interventions.

Mains: Reforming India’s law and order scenario.

Context: Annual All India Conference of Directors General/Inspectors General of Police.

Details:

• The DGPs/IGPs conference is comparatively new and is being held since 1980. Earlier it was held as an annual conference of Heads of Intelligence and CIDs of different States. 
• Apart from intelligence, crime, criminal investigation, technology, and forensics, the conference also deals with policy and personnel matters.

Associated Concerns

• It is argued that the presence of an increasing number of delegates and subjects for discussion leaves little scope for any in-depth discussion.
• It should be noted that security threats are becoming more challenging in the present scenario and need in-depth analysis on issues like cybercrime, the dark web, crypto, maritime security, drones, social media, drug trafficking, etc.
• Inadequate time to discuss these issues results in undermining both the quality and outcomes of such conferences.
• The security problems will grow at an exponential rate with swift technological change and the emerging challenges will require more innovativeness, agility, and newer cognitive skills.
• Furthermore, decision-making would require fundamental changes entailing more purposeful discussion at higher levels.
• It is suggested that law and order require newer skills, in both technology and crowd management, and these are not adequately available with security agencies. Notably, the attention of security forces is mostly focused on terrorism.
• A heavy-handed approach to dealing with angry and unruly mobs in present scenarios might lead to a catastrophic divide between law enforcement agencies and the public.
• It is argued that reforms in the selection process of security personnel are not debated by the higher echelons of the forces.
• It is also said by several experts that ‘Open Source intelligence’  is often neglected by security agencies.
• The techniques and methodologies of different security agencies (intelligence and investigative agencies) are usually different. This results in various contradictions.

Way Ahead:

• Newer practices and skills are required to understand the psychology of agitating mobs and make them realize the dangers of their own predilections.
• Police and security agencies should also be adequately trained. Human skills should be adequately tailored for the Internet, social media, and other breakthroughs, which usually provide protestors/agitators with an upper hand and is detrimental to law and order. 
• Moreover, a top-down approach would be required because there will be significant competition for resources (weaponry and technology) within the agencies.
• The selection process of security personnel would also require to be changed. 
• Apart from acquiring new skills, a new mindset is also required to employ a variety of skills and tactics.
• Reforms should be brought in intelligence approaches, investigative techniques, ground situations, etc.
• Apex-level meetings of higher authorities like DGPs/IGPs should provide necessary direction and policy imperatives.
• It is also suggested that the annual conference of DGPs/IGPs should be split into two separate conferences. For instance, a higher level conference of DGPs/IGPs that should cover policy-related issues, and a separate conference for intelligence and security agencies (IGs/CID) to discuss the finer points of methodology, techniques, and acquisition of new skills for existing and emerging challenges. 

Also read: Police Reforms in India

Nut Graf: With the evolving security challenges, the law and order scenario in the country should be reformed. The high-level conferences should also adequately deliberate on emerging issues and provide appropriate and modern solutions in complex scenarios.