09 Jan 2023: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: GOVERNANCE

1. Rules for Foreign Universities

Syllabus: Government Policies & Interventions for Development

Mains: Initiatives to improve functioning of education in India

Context: The University Grants Commission (UGC) released the draft regulations on setting up foreign universities in India.

Introduction: 

• The UGC announced the draft regulations for ‘Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India’ and invited feedback from stakeholders.
• Internationalisation of higher education in India has a pre-history with several attempts towards bringing in foreign universities in the past. 
  • The government had in 1995 drafted the Foreign Education Bill which had to be shelved.
  • In 2010, the UPA-II government brought the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, which was not passed as the opposition parties opposed it for multiple reasons including concerns of Western influence on Indian ethos.
• The final norms will be notified by the end of January 2023 after feedback from all stakeholders.
• The National Education Policy, 2020, envisages a legislative framework to allow top global universities to operate in India.

Read more on UGC Draft Regulations

Nut Graf: The NEP’s provisions demonstrate a clear purpose to establish campuses for foreign universities in India. Recently released UGC’s draft regulations on setting up foreign universities in India , however, offer clarification for its proper implementation.

E. Editorials

Category: GOVERNANCE

1. Avoid further delay in conducting the Census

Syllabus: Issues relating to the development and management of human resources.

Mains: Census 2021 and associated concerns.

Prelims: Census Exercise.

Context: It is announced that the freezing of administrative boundary for census would be done from 1 July 2023.

Details:

• Census exercise in India is conducted once every ten years. It has been reported that the freezing of administrative boundaries that usually precedes the Census would be done with effect from July 1, 2023.
• The freezing of administrative boundaries is essential because creating new districts and tehsils or reorganizing existing ones by the State governments might result in chaos and a likelihood of some regions being left out of the Census. 
• It should be noted that the House-listing operation is a month-long exercise and was conventionally taken up by different States at different times. It was conventionally conducted between March and September of the year prior to the Census. 
• However, there is no official statement about the Census. Moreover, there is no clarity on even the synchronization of house-listing operations with the freezing of boundaries and census enumeration.
• In 2020, several states were about to begin the house listing process. But due to the pandemic, the house listing exercise and subsequently the census enumeration was postponed.

For more information on Census 2021, read here: Census of India 2021 – Population & Impact of COVID

Background Details:

• The Constitution of India describes the utilization of Census data for delimitation of constituencies and for determining the share of reservation for Scheduled Castes(SCs) and Scheduled Tribes(STs). However, the Constitution is silent on the periodicity of the census. 
• Similarly, the Census Act, 1948, though provides the legal background for various activities of the Census, does not mention anything about periodicity. The act authorizes the central government to decide when to conduct a Census. 
• Notably, in various countries like the U.S. and Japan, either the Constitution or the Census law mandates a Census with defined periodicity.

Also read: Delimitation Commission – UPSC Notes for GS 2, Polity & Governance.

Impact of Delay of Census:

• The Census provides the population count of every village and town in India. It also provides information about demographic characteristics, housing, and amenities.
• Though population projection through surveys is quite reliable at the state and national levels, they are not feasible at lower geographic levels like districts and villages. Furthermore, surveys have some limitations and cannot be used to find all important information. For instance, the number of villages with literacy rates less than 70%, etc. 
• The census data is also used to determine the number of seats reserved for SCs and STs at various levels of government bodies. A delay in the census would imply that 2011 census data will be used, even though there are rapid changes in the population composition of towns and panchayats.
• Moreover, rural-urban distribution has also drastically changed with higher population growth in urban areas due to in-migration.
• Additionally there is a large variation in the growth of urban areas as well. For instance, areas under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike grew by 49.3% during 2001-11 whereas the Kolkata Municipal Corporation recorded a decline in population during the same period.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has also impacted the age distribution by causing more deaths in the adult and aged population in comparison to children.
• The census would also validate or reject the estimates of the number of deaths due to the pandemic.

Census and National Population Register:

• There were controversies associated with the National Population Register(NPR) before the pandemic. The central government has proposed to update the data of NPR during the census.
• Since the census is a single-shot exercise with no scope for a retake. It is advised to separate the two activities and dissociated the census from a politically sensitive issue.
• Separation of two activities will help in timely completion of the exercise and would also maintain its reliability.
• It should also be remembered that the first Census after 2026 would be used for the delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies and for the apportionment of parliamentary seats among the States. As there is a disparity in the growth rates among states, the then census would be held in a politically charged environment. Thus there is a  need to carefully conduct this census. 

Related Link:

Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 – Important Data for Implementation of Government Schemes

Nut Graf: The Census exercise is not only crucial for determining the demography and the quantum of reservation for socially backward sections but is also important for the forthcoming delimitation. It would also validate the estimates of the pandemic. Thus it should be done as early as possible with utmost accuracy.

Category: INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. A timely halt

Syllabus: Government policies and interventions and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Mains: Issues related to encroachment of public spaces.

Context: Supreme Court’s direction halts forcible eviction of people from Haldwani.

Details:

• The timely intervention by the Supreme Court (SC) halted the forcible eviction of around 50,000 people from Haldwani in Uttarakhand. These people in Haldwani are accused of occupying the railway property for decades. 
• The SC Bench focused on the human angle and stressed the need for rehabilitation before eviction while staying the order. 

Background Details:

• The Uttarakhand High Court(HC) took a tough stand against the residents and directed their eviction within a week, backed by force (even including the use of paramilitary forces). 
• It should be noted that in an earlier round of litigation over the same land (adjoining the Haldwani Railway Station) court allowed proceedings against individual occupants under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971. 
• The HC’s detailed judgment displays that the occupants’ claim is traceable to a 1907 Office Memorandum that says the area should be managed under rules pertaining to ‘nazul land’. 
  • Nazul Land means the type of Government land used for nonagricultural purposes like buildings, roads, markets, playgrounds, or any other public purpose.
  • It is the land that has fallen into the hands of the state by escheat.
• It was ruled by the HC that it was not a government order but only a communication regarding the management of land and it does not amount to declaring it as ‘nazul land’. 
• As one of the ‘nazul’ rules says that there cannot be a sale or lease, the HC rejected all claims made by occupants based on purported documents for lease, sale, and, in some cases, purchase through auction.
• The Haldwani eviction effort, unfortunately, took communal overtones. 

Associated Concerns:

• Lack of housing facilities and inadequate recognition of the right to shelter results in a large number of people encroaching on vacant land (sometimes river beds, government property, etc). 
• Any attempts to evict the occupants from these regions result in multiple litigations. The occupancy rights are claimed based on long years of stay at the same location. 
• In multiple cases, courts have held the view that compulsory rehabilitation may prove to be an incentive for encroachment. 

Conclusion:

As India does not have a good record of rehabilitation, this case provides a unique opportunity for the Supreme Court to lay down the law on appropriate rehabilitation apart from ensuring effective prevention of encroachments.

Related Link: Land Encroachment & Religion: RSTV – Big Picture Analysis for UPSC IAS exam.

Nut Graf: The Supreme Court of India took a human angle and stayed the eviction process of the residents of Haldwani, Uttarakhand. The Court can seize this opportunity to ensure effective laws for both illegal encroachment and rehabilitation in case of eviction.