06 Jul 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Re-enfranchise the forgotten voter

Context:

• The article discusses the difficulties faced by the migrant labourer class in exercising their franchise and suggests policy measures to mitigate these challenges.

Background:

• In the light of the pandemic crisis, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has made it possible for senior citizens above the age of 65 to vote by postal ballot, given that they are at greater risk from exposure to the novel coronavirus. Previously, this option was available only to disabled citizens and those above 80 years.
• The article argues for a similar empowering approach towards migrant workers.

Details:

Voter turn-out:

• India currently has over 91.05 crore registered voters and in the 2019 general election, a record 67.4%, i.e., 61.36 crore voters, cast their vote.
• Almost one-third, amounting to a substantial 29.68 crore voters, did not cast their vote.
• National Election Study surveys have shown that about 10% of registered voters refrain from voting due to a lack of interest in politics which implies that around 20 crore voters who want to vote are unable to do so.
  • This includes about three crores Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Only about one lakh NRIs have registered to vote, presumably because voting requires their physical presence in India. Of them, about 25,000 voted in the 2019 elections.
  • A substantial proportion of the voters who are unable to vote would include the migrant labourers.

Migrant labourers in India:

• Internal migrant workers constitute about 13.9 crores as in the Economic Survey of 2017, which is nearly a third of India’s labour force.
• They travel across India in search of economic livelihood, in the construction sector, as domestic workers, in brick kilns, mines, transportation, security, agriculture, etc.
• Many never intend to settle down and wish to return to their native villages and towns once their work is completed or the working season ends.
• Often they toil in exploitative low-wage jobs, lacking identity and proper living conditions, without access to welfare and unable to exercise their voting rights.

Challenges:

• The migrant workers face enormous difficulties in exercising their franchise.
  • Migrant workers become quasi-disenfranchised, forgotten voters because they cannot afford to return home on Election Day to choose their representatives.
  • Internal migrant workers do not enrol as voters in their place of employment since they find proof of residence hard to provide.
• Since the migrant workers do not have a vote where they work, their concerns are easy to ignore in their host State. Sometimes, they are targeted for allegedly taking jobs away from the local population.
• This leads to a callous attitude towards the plight of migrants. The migrant labourers are considered mostly politically powerless.
  • To enable NRIs to exercise their franchise, the government brought in legislation in the previous Lok Sabha to enable voting through authorised proxies. However, the proposed legislation has lapsed. The lack of such proposals for the internal poor migrants is evident.

Way forward:

Policy measure:

• Similar to the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme being ushered in to enable migrant workers and their family members to access Public Distribution System benefits from any fair price shop in the country, there is the need to usher in ‘One Nation One Voter ID,’ to ensure domestic ballot portability.
• Migrants should be able to physically vote in their city of work based on the address on their existing voter IDs and the duration of their temporary stay.

Implementation:

• To facilitate voting by migrant workers, the ECI could undertake substantial outreach measures using the network of District Collectorates.
• The COVID-19 crisis mobilized governments and non-governmental organisations to set up registers and portals to reach out to migrant workers. The data available through this can be utilized to register migrant workers.
• Given the developments in digital communications, it is technologically feasible to record and transfer votes to their respective constituencies without compromising the credibility of the election process.
• There are operative systems that enable a form of voter portability that can serve as a model for re-enfranchising migrant workers.
  • Service voters (government employees) posted away from home can vote through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS).
  • Classified service voters (e.g., military personnel) can vote through their proxies.
  • The ECI has said that it is testing an Aadhaar-linked voter-ID based solution to enable electors to cast their votes digitally from anywhere in the country.

Conclusion:

• Voting must be viewed as a civic right. Well-thought-out initiatives that facilitate voting and remove obstacles to voters exercising their franchise must be emphasized on. Ensuring that every Indian voter can participate in elections is imperative to ensure a democratically inclusive India.
• The ‘One Nation One Voter ID,’ approach would help empower the forgotten migrant voter. Once migrant workers get to exercise their franchise, there would also be a change in how they are treated.

Category: ECONOMY

1. How to counter China

Context:

• In light of the ongoing India-China tensions, the article argues that India’s success in countering China’s assertiveness will hinge upon its economic prowess.

Details:

• The article argues that India’s success in countering China’s assertiveness will hinge upon completing the economic reforms begun in 1991, which will not only help India close the widening economic gap between India and China but also help it meet its immediate economic challenges.

Widening gap:

• China’s economic opening-up in the ’90s has left India behind in terms of volume of the economy, contributing to a military imbalance between the two countries.
  • In 1987, India and China’s nominal GDP were almost equal. However, presently China’s economy is nearly five times larger than India’s. Consequently, the military spending of the two countries which was roughly equal in 1989 has been widening.

India’s economic challenges:

• India’s pronounced economic slump, predating the epidemic, will add to the economic impact of the pandemic.
• The government’s near-term attention may be consumed by tending to the needs of the poor. Limited fiscal and monetary tools, and dried-up private financing, constrain India’s options.
• Heightened vigilance along the LAC demands summoning scarce resources. Defence budgets were already tightening.

Concerns:

Slowdown in reforms:

• The root causes of India’s economic woes can be traced to a slowdown in reforms. In 1991, India enacted changes allowing markets to set commodity prices but did not similarly liberalise land, labour and capital.

Threat of protectionist approach:

• India’s focus on self-reliance could inhibit growth and constrain investment opportunities.
• Though home-grown manufacturing of critical medicinal ingredients or digital safeguards on citizens’ personal data help reduce vulnerabilities, conversely, imposing protective barriers to build-up the local defence industry would hamper defence acquisitions.
• In light of the pandemic, several businesses are looking to diversify their international value chains. India’s economic competitors are staking their claim on regulatory predictability, stable tax policies, and fewer trade obstacles.
  • While India remains outside the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, competitors are wooing companies seeking lower trade barriers. Asian countries are pushing ahead with trade deals with developed countries which threaten to slice into India’s exports.
• Protectionist approach would limit the availability of technology know-how and cost-efficient inputs from overseas for use in higher value, manufactured exports from India.

Conclusion:

• India needs structural economic reforms which can lead to consistent high growth. Bold reforms offer the best option to manage China and achieve greater independence on the world stage.

Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Global Environment Facility (GEF):

Q2. Consider the following statements:

Q3. Arrange the following Indian states in the ascending order of the length of 
boundary shared with Bhutan:

Q4. Which of the following pairs of cyclone and naming country is/are correctly 
matched?

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. The migrant workers face challenges in exercising their franchise and remain politically powerless. The ‘One Nation One Voter ID’ approach ensuring domestic ballot portability would truly empower the migrant voter. Comment. (15 marks, 250 words)
2. Analyze the importance of structural economic reforms to help close the widening economic gap between India and China, which would help India counter China’s assertiveness and also help India meet its immediate economic challenges. (10 marks, 150 words)

Read the previous CNA here.