30 Jan 2023: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), 2020-2021

Syllabus: Issues Relating to Development & Management of Social Sector/Services

Mains: Various policy interventions in Education sector in India

Context: The Union Education Ministry on January 29,2023 released data from the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), 2020-2021.

Highlights of the Survey:

• Data from the survey showed a 7.5% increase in student enrolments across the country from the 2019-20 figures, with the total enrolments reaching 4.13 crore.
• In 2020-21, at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, there was a 7% rise in enrolments in distance education programmes. 
• Two lakh more Scheduled Caste students, about three lakh more Scheduled Tribe students and six lakh more Other Backward Classes students enrolled for higher education in 2020-21 than in the previous year.
• While the increase was noted in absolute numbers, the proportion of SC students dropped to 14.2% in 2020-21 from 14.7% the previous year and the proportion of OBC students to 35.8% from 37%.
• The proportion of Muslim students dropped to 4.6% from 5.5% in 2019-20 with the proportion of “other minority students” dropping to 2% from 2.3%.
• The number of students in the Persons with Disabilities category also dropped in 2020-21 to 79,035 from 92,831 the previous year. 
• The Gross Enrolment Ratio for all enrolments (as per 2011 Census) increased by over 2 points to 27.3. 
• The highest enrolment was seen at the undergraduate level, which accounted for 78.9% of all enrolments, followed by postgraduate level courses, which accounted for 11.4% of the year’s total enrolments.
• Among all undergraduate enrolments, the Bachelor of Arts programme remained most popular with 104 lakh enrolments , followed by Bachelor of Science courses. 
• At the postgraduate level, the most popular courses remained in the social sciences stream followed by science courses.
• At the Ph.D. level, the most popular course was in the field of engineering and technology, followed by science

Gender Divide:

• Female enrolment had increased to 49% of the total enrolments in 2020-21 compared with 45% the previous year.
• 52.7% women against  47.3% men enrolled for Bachelor of Arts programme. Whereas Women outnumbered men in Bachelor of Science courses. 
• Women accounted for less than 30% of all enrolments in B.Tech. and Bachelor of Engineering courses.
• At the postgraduate level, women accounted for 56% enrolments in the Social Sciences stream and 61.3% of all enrolments in science stream. 
• Enrolment of women stood at 43.1% for management courses at the PG-level. All other PG courses saw women outnumbering men.
• At the Ph.D. level, Women accounted for less than 50% enrolments in engineering (33.3%) and science(48.8%). 

Faculty:

• The total number of faculty/teachers are 15,51,070 of which about 57.1% are male and 42.9% are female. 
  • At All-India level, 56.2% teachers belong to General category; 32.2% to OBC; 9.1% to SC and 2.5% to ST category. 
  • About 5.6% teachers come from Muslim minority groups and 8.8% are from other minority groups.
• The female per 100 male faculty has improved to 75 in 2020-21 from 74 in 2019-20 and 63 in 2014-15.
• The teacher-pupil ratio was at 27 for all universities, colleges and stand-alone institutions and at 24 if only regular mode is considered. 
  • The best ratio was found in States like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Number of Institutions:

• During 2020-21, the number of universities has increased by 70, and the number of colleges has increased by 1,453.
• The maximum increase came in State public universities and State private universities, which saw an increase of 17 and 38, respectively.
• Number of Institutes of National Importance increased to 14.
• Government universities constituting 59.1% of total universities contribute 73.1% of total enrolment.Whereas the 40% private universities account for only 26.3% of total enrolment.

All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE):

• This Report provides key performance indicators on the current status of higher education in the country.
• It has been compiled by the Ministry of Education based on voluntary uploading of data by institutions of Higher Education listed in aishe.gov.in portal in specially designed formats of data collection.
• Indicators of educational development such as Institution Density, Gross Enrolment Ratio, Pupil-teacher ratio, Gender Parity Index, Per Student Expenditure will also be calculated from the data collected through AISHE.

Nut Graf: To portray the status of higher education in the country, the Union Ministry of Education conducts an annual web-based All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) since 2010-11 on several parameters such as teachers, student enrolment, programmes, examination results, education finance, infrastructure. These are useful in making informed policy decisions and research for development of the education sector.

E. Editorials

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. In NREGA reforms, prioritise the worker and her dues

Syllabus: Welfare Schemes for vulnerable sections of the population.

Mains: NREGA reforms.

Prelims: MGNREGA.

Details:

• Poorer States often struggle to adapt to reforms due to their weaker administrative capacity.
• The current concern of the Union government is that the poorer states spend less NREGA funds when compared to the better-off ones. This highlights the “regressive” spending pattern of the programme.
• It is suggested by the experts that the NREGA is underperforming because the basic design principles of the initiative are either forgotten or wilfully ignored.
• A committee has been constituted to suggest reforms.

Also read: MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) Notes For IAS Preparation

Steps to address the concerns associated with MGNREGA:

• Address the delays in wages:
  • The issue of delays in wage payments should be addressed. This will help in restoring the faith of the workers.
  • The Supreme Court directed the government to pay wages to the workers on time. It equated the act of delaying the payments for months with “forced labour”.
  • Notably, seven or more functionaries have to sign before the payment due to a worker can be approved in only stage one of the wage payment cycle. This is much higher than the loan process of private banks.
  • The Ministry of Rural Development should thus simplify the payment procedure and ensure transparency.
• Strengthen the capacity:
  • The implementation capacities should be strengthened where expenditure is low rather than controlling expenditure where employment generation is high.
  • There needs to be a focus on exclusion instead of inclusion errors. The exclusion should be identified at the household level.
  • Though NREGA is well-targeted for the poorest section, particularly benefiting the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) families, it can be improved more. For instance, pockets(block, panchayat, or district) of lower participation of marginalized communities should be identified. 
  • In this direction, the online Management Information System of NREGA can flag areas where entitlements are violated.
• Programme should be run as a law:
  • The programme should be run like a demand-based law instead of a scheme.
  • One of the fundamental causes of the States not realizing the full potential of the NREGA is the intermittent and unpredictable release of the fund by the Central government. For instance, approximately ₹18191 crore in liabilities is due to 24 States currently.
• Participatory discussion before proposing reforms:
  • The discussions on any proposed reforms should be made participatory. 
  • NREGA became an institutional architecture well before its time because of the spirit of public participation.
  • Consultative forums and processes like the State and Central Employment Guarantee Councils should be built.
  • Any proposed reforms should be tabled in State assemblies apart from the Parliament. Moreover, civil society organizations, worker unions, and representatives of self-help groups must be brought into the discussion.
• Mapping the impact of each reform:
  • The government should attempt to map the impact of each reform on the accessibility and expenditure of NREGA.
  • It should be noted that the majority of reforms like the electronic fund management system, geo-tagging of assets, and a national mobile monitoring system (NMMS) focus on centralization. This has disrupted the implementation process.
  • Additionally, the central government should be made accountable for the denial of entitlements to NREGA workers as the reforms are usually top-down.

CASE STUDY OF BIHAR: Despite getting the receipts for work demand applications, worksites are not opened on time. Furthermore, the work provided does not match the demand. In 2013, the Kaam Mango Abhiyan (Ask for Work Campaign) was launched in 6 districts of 6 states by the Ministry of Rural Development as a result of the diminishing demand for work under NREGA. Around 53000 workers demanded work in the Katihar district alone and dated receipts were provided. However, the funds were not released to States in time.  Similarly, workers in the Barari block of Katihar went on indefinite strike as they were neither provided work nor wages for the work they have done.

Conclusion:

Any new reforms to NREGA should prioritize the access of workers to entitlements with ease and dignity instead of stressing only administrative and fiscal efficacy.

Related Link: How successful is MGNREGA? Answer at BYJU’S IAS

Nut Graf: There are several concerns associated with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. A committee has been constituted by the Government of India. The committee should prioritize the needs and entitlements of the workers.

Category: HEALTH

1. Revisit the tax treatment of tobacco products

Syllabus: Issues related to health.

Mains: Taxation of tobacco products.

Details:

• In his famous work The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith suggested that the commodities like sugar, rum, and tobacco are widely consumed and thus should be taxed. 
• Many research works around the world also support taxes to regulate the consumption of tobacco.
• However,  tobacco taxes in India, have not considerably increased since the implementation of the Goods and Services Taxation (GST) thereby making these products increasingly affordable.
• The average annual tobacco tax revenue of India is only ₹537.5 billion. Whereas, the economic burden and healthcare expenses due to tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure amounted to approximately ₹2340 billion (or 1.4% of GDP) in the year 2017.
• The increasing affordability of tobacco poses a threat to the vision of a $5 trillion economy.
• Tobacco use causes around 3500 deaths daily in India thereby impacting human capital and GDP growth in a negative way.

Issues with the taxation system and ways to tackle it: 

• The overuse of ad valorem taxes is not effective in regulating consumption. The GST depends more on ad valorem taxes instead of the pre-GST system that used specific excise taxes. 
• The share of central excise duty in total tobacco taxes in India reduced drastically after the roll-out of GST. For instance, 
  • For cigarettes, it declined from 54% to 8%.
  • It reduced from 17% to 1% in bidis.
  • In the case of smokeless tobacco the taxes were reduced from 59% to 11%.
• Notably a large part of National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) or compensation cess applied on tobacco products is specific.
  • NCCD is levied as an excise duty on certain manufactured goods specified under the Seventh Schedule of the Finance Act, 2001.
  • If the specific taxes are not periodically adjusted for inflation, they lose their value.
  • Thus inflation indexing should be made compulsory for any specific tax applied to tobacco products.
• Discrepancies in product taxation:
  • Even though cigarettes account for 15% of tobacco users, they generate nearly 80% of tobacco taxes. 
  • Bidis and smokeless tobacco have low taxes, thereby encouraging their consumption. Furthermore, no compensation cess is applied to the bidis.
  • The core principle of taxing tobacco should be public health. 
  • The present six-tiered tax structure for cigarettes provides opportunities for cigarette companies to legally avoid taxes by manipulating cigarette lengths and filters for similarly named brands. 
  • This tiered system should be gradually phased out or eliminated.
  • The GST rates on certain smokeless tobacco ingredients like tobacco leaves, tendu leaves, betel leaves, areca nuts, etc. are either 0 or 5%-18%.
  • All tobacco-related products should be brought under the uniform 28% GST slab.
• All smokeless tobacco products are inefficiently taxed due to their small retail pack size keeping their price low. To address this concern mandatory standardized packing (at least 50 g-100 g) should be implemented. It will also make it easier to implement graphic health warnings on the packaging.
• Small businesses and manufacturers with an annual turnover of less than ₹40 lakhs are exempted from GST. Notably, many smokeless tobacco and bidi manufacturers belong to the small informal sector, thus reducing the tax base on these products. Appropriate conditions should be imposed on these exemptions.
• States cannot raise taxes on tobacco after the implementation of GST. This hinders their ability to increase revenue and control consumption. The tax should be increased at regular intervals of time.
• The taxes on tobacco products have not increased in India in the past five years. This might undo much of the progress seen in a 17% reduction in tobacco use from 2009-10 to 2016-17. Both the GST council and the Union Budget should significantly increase taxes on all tobacco products.

Related Link: UPSC Exam: Comprehensive News Analysis – January 18

Nut Graf: The current tobacco taxation system in India is hindering efforts in regulating consumption and protecting public health. It is important to regularly increase taxes on all tobacco products through hikes in excise duties or compensation cess to make them less affordable.

Category: EDUCATION

1. The Indian university is in a free fall

Syllabus: Issues relating to the development and management of Education.

Mains: Issues in Indian Universities.

Details:

• It is suggested by the author that a sense of competitiveness with international universities of repute would retard the free fall of Indian universities. 
• Though the new initiative can make India the new global education destination, there is a risk of further worsening the situation. For instance, the best teachers may seek positions in various foreign universities and Indian Universities might be left with mediocrity, leading to further decline. 
• It is thus recommended that the University Grants Commission should take cognizance of such a possibility. 

Also read: Higher & Technical Education in India – BYJU’S

Existing Challenges in Indian Universities:

• The bureaucratized governing bodies and the academic leadership of Universities often lack the ability to handle different views and decisions. 
• Despite being the third largest economy, India is accused of not providing its citizens with a world-class university system. 
• Additionally, the budgetary allocation for education is very small.
• The governing bodies of Universities often overlook the importance of an academic environment with new pedagogical practices. 
• It is also found that impartial and talented persons are often belittled in the University. Many distinguished academics and vice chancellors are sidelined and appointments are arbitrarily made on the basis of ideological allegiances. 
• Moreover, even the governing bodies are disrupted due to ideological beliefs. This prevents Indian Universities from making a mark in International rankings.
• Author also points out that spouses of Civil Servants find easy entry to University positions.
• There are also procedural irregularities like lack of work ethic and ineptitude that have internalized the sluggishness.
• The Selection committees of Universities often find the same members repeated as experts or nominees, thereby ignoring more qualified and senior teachers.
• It is also highlighted that the teaching community remains silent on many important issues of principles of seniority and merit. This threatens the stability and academic reputation of the University apart from the ethical practices.
• There is continued discrimination where the teaching community is directed to submit to governing bodies. This impacts the very core of the academic culture.
• There is a lack of progressive policy that encourages debates and discussion.

Conclusion:

A level playing field and a public debate should be initiated. Conscious academics should also come forth to highlight and address the issues persisting in the Universities of India.

Related Link:

UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis. Jan 23rd, 2023 CNA. Download PDF

Nut Graf: The socio-academic situation in Universities of India is suffering from many serious issues. The need of the hour is to address these concerns by all the associated stakeholders so that India can become a global destination for high-quality education.

F. Prelims Facts

1. Leprosy

Prelims: Endemic Diseases; World Health Organisation

Context: The World Health Organization (WHO) recently urged countries to address gaps in leprosy service. 

Key details:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) on World Leprosy Day urged countries, especially those in the Southeast Asia Region, to urgently address gaps in leprosy services disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• WHO asked the countries to accelerate efforts towards achieving the goal of zero leprosy disease, stigma and discrimination — the vision of the WHO Global Leprosy Strategy 2021-2030. 
• Measures taken by governments to tackle COVID19 pandemic, such as lockdowns and other restrictions, took a heavy toll, particularly on vulnerable communities such as persons affected by leprosy. 
  • Many lost their livelihoods and were unable to access treatment for their disease or its after-effects.
• Leprosy programs were disrupted which led to a significant drop in new case numbers. The decrease masks the fact that cases are going undetected, which contributes to ongoing transmission of leprosy and risks more people developing disabilities.
• Concerned by the impact of COVID-19 on leprosy services, in August 2021, I launched the “Don’t Forget Leprosy”/ “Don’t Forget Hansen’s Disease” campaign to ensure that leprosy was not forgotten even amid the pandemic. 
• The campaign has undertaken many awareness-raising activities in cooperation with a wide range of partners, including the WHO, ministries of health, organisations of persons affected by leprosy, international NGOs, research institutes and universities. 

World Leprosy Day:

• While countries across the globe mark World Leprosy Day on January 29, India observes it on January 30th every year, coinciding with the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
  • It was established by the French journalist Raoul Follereau in 1954 to advocate for those affected by the disease. 
• On January 29, 2023, it was celebrated for the 70th time. This year also sees the 150th anniversary of the discovery of M. leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, by the Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen on February 28, 1873.
• Leprosy, otherwise known as Hansen’s disease, is one of the world’s oldest diseases. Before Dr. Hansen’s discovery that leprosy was caused by a bacterial infection, it was sometimes seen as a divine punishment or a curse.

Read more on Leprosy