11 Jul 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: HEALTH

1. ‘15-20% tested developed antibodies against virus’

Context:

At least 15-20% of the over 22,000 people tested randomly across Delhi as part of a serological survey have developed antibodies against COVID-19.

This topic has been covered in the 9^th July 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

E. Editorials

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. In the name of ‘cooperative federalism’

The editorial points out that States are not getting what they should have as per the 14th Finance Commission report.

Centre-state relations:

• Federalism refers to relations between the Centre and states of the Union of India.
• It has been a trend in Indian political history that so long as the central and state governments were ruled by the same political party, the cooperative framework worked very well.
• But when different political parties are in power in the centre and the states and more recently when coalition governments are in power, there are signs of stresses and tensions in intergovernmental relations between the Centre and the States.
• In the period ranging between 1980 and 1989, tussle for the rights of States was focused on Article 356. (Using pliant Governors, regional party governments were politically destabilised).
• Little was done to implement the report of the R.S. Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relations.

Details:

• At present, faultline in the Centre-State relation is largely over the way the report of the 14th Finance Commission is being implemented.
• While this began well before COVID-19, the pandemic and its economic disruption have brought things to an edge.
• The 14th Finance Commission report was accepted in 2015 with the promise that it would devolve more finances to the States. As part of the process, States would have new responsibilities, especially in the social sector.
• Two years later, the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was also justified as a grand bargain that would eventually leave all States better off.

Issues:

• In reality, tax devolution to States has been consistently below 14th Finance Commission projections.
  • One reason for this has been the economic slowdown, caused primarily by the Central government, and lower-than-expected GST collections.
  • The shortfall in GST collection for 2018-2019 was 22% when compared to projections. Payments have been delayed as well.
• The Centre has imposed a series of cesses, which are not part of the divisible pool and not shared with the States.
• The nature of public spending in India has undergone a massive shift.
  • In 2014-2015, States undertook programmes and projects spending 46% more than the Central Government; today the figure is 64%.
  • Despite this, the Centre’s fiscal deficit exceeds the consolidated State deficit by 14%.
• In the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, States are being required to spend more to help common citizens and save livelihoods. The Centre is providing almost negligible support.
• Following the pandemic, the Ministry of Finance has asked all Union Ministries to cut expenditure.
  • The immediate impact is being felt by States, and grants-in-aid are drying up.
  • Crucial rural development programmes have come to a standstill.

Way forward:

• Due to the pandemic, the fiscal deficit for States, collectively, is inevitably going to breach the projection of 2.04%.
• As per provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, the GSDP can actually accommodate a fiscal deficit of 3%.
  • While States have respected the limit for years, post-pandemic, this limit will be crossed.
• The FRBM has an “escape clause” that allows for a one-time relaxation of the fiscal deficit threshold up to 0.5% in a time of exigency. The escape clause has been utilised by the Centre but it has proven insufficient in addressing the current crisis.
• The Centre has gone in for subjective interpretation, imposing conditions that are outside the scope of the FRBM.
• There is a wide consensus among fiscal policymakers that the rigidity of the FRBM has to be revisited.
• It should allow for greater flexibility and consultation as to when and how the “escape clause” can be applied.

2. Reform with caution

Context:

The Union Government has constituted a special five-member committee to recommend reforms in India’s criminal laws.

• The ‘Committee for the Reform of Criminal Laws’ has been constituted under Ranbir Singh and several other members.
• The committee, through country-wide consultations with law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, judiciary, advocates, academics, and civil society, including media organizations, is seeking suggestions for changes to the country’s penal code.

Details:

• Criminal Law in India is governed by the Indian Penal Code of 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure that was rewritten in 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act that dates back to 1872.
  • There have been several attempts in recent decades to overhaul the body of criminal law.
  • However, comprehensive legal reform is something that requires careful consideration and a good deal of deliberation.
• In 2003, the Justice V.S. Malimath Committee on reforms in the criminal justice system had come up with some far-reaching suggestions, some of which became part of changes in criminal law.
  • However, it also attracted criticism over the suggestion that the standard of evidence be reduced from “beyond reasonable doubt” to “clear and convincing”.
• In 2007, Madhav Menon Committee submitted its report suggesting various recommendations on reforms in the Criminal Justice System of India.
• The Justice Verma panel came up with a comprehensive and progressive report on reforms needed in laws concerning crimes against women in 2013 in barely one month, but its speed was due to the limited mandate it had.

Criticisms:

• Formation of the committee with an apparently short time frame and limited scope for public consultation has caused considerable disquiet among jurists, lawyers and those concerned with the state of criminal justice in the country.
• It is pointed out that the committee lacks in diversity, as there are no women, Dalits, religious minorities, Adivasis, LGBT persons, differently-abled persons, and grassroots workers from different parts of India.
• Yet another criticism against the Committee is that it has begun its work in the midst of a pandemic. This may not be the ideal time for wide consultations.
  • Activists and lawyers functioning in the hinterland may be at a particular disadvantage in formulating their opinions.
• The panel’s mandate is: “to recommend reforms in the criminal laws of the country in a principled, effective, and efficient manner which ensures the safety and security of the individual, the community and the nation; and which prioritizes the constitutional values of justice, dignity and the inherent worth of the individual.” It is also not clear why the Law Commission has not been vested with this task.

Conclusion:

• The current laws governing crime, investigation and trial require meaningful reform.
• If at all criminal law is to be reformed, there should be a genuine attempt to reach a wide consensus on ways to speed up trials, protect witnesses, address the travails of victims, improve investigative mechanisms and, most importantly, eliminate torture.
• An impression should not gain ground that wide-ranging changes are sought to be made within a short time frame and based on limited inputs from the public.
• Reform is best achieved through a cautious and inclusive approach.

3. Crime as punishment

Context:

Gangster Vikas Dubey, wanted for the killing of the eight policemen in Uttar Pradesh, was fired at when he tried to flee after a police convoy taking him to Kanpur, had overturned.

Details:

• Concerns are being expressed about the possibility of his encounter death being officially sanctioned retribution for the murder of eight policemen who were part of the team that went to arrest him.
• Any demand of probity and accountability in police and military is often contested on the supposed ground that it emerges from a support for criminals, terrorists or enemies of the state by influential political and public figures.
• There is no question that crimes such as those Dubey was involved in must be met with exemplary punishment.
• However, it is widely opined that the brutal last episode of Dubey’s serial crimes should be no defence if the shooting turns out to be an extra-judicial killing.
• The process of establishing guilt and executing punishment is not an incidental part of justice, but its integral soul. A fair and transparent trial cannot be dispensed with, in order to satisfy cries for vengeance.
• Social sanction of instant justice by state agents might have leached into institutions that are mandated to enforce the rule of law.

Concerns:

• In 2019, when the Cyberabad police shot dead four people accused in a case of gang rape and murder, people celebrated in the streets.
• The courts and the National Human Rights Commission have also shown a lenient approach in such cases.
• Goading the police on to deliver instant justice, or even tolerating such behaviour, creates an atmosphere of impunity that could lead to the murder of innocent people.

Conclusion:

• Support for such killings by the police will not make a society more just. Mob justice is no justice at all.
• When law enforcers short-circuit the due process, the damage to state institutions is severe and long-lasting.

Read about Encounter Killings covered in 16^th February 2018 Comprehensive News Analysis and 7^th December 2019 Comprehensive News Analysis.
Category: ECONOMY

1. Do we need a fiscal council?

The editorial discusses the idea of a Fiscal Council in India.

Context:

• In the current economic slowdown in the country owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown, economists opine that the government needs to borrow and spend more now in order to support vulnerable households and engineer an economic recovery.
• Many economists have faulted the government’s fiscal stance, arguing that this is no time for restraint; the government should spend more to stimulate the economy by borrowing as may be necessary, but at the same time come out with a credible plan for fiscal consolidation post-COVID-19 in order to retain market confidence.

What is holding the government back from spending more?

• Borrowing would mean a steep rise in debt which will jeopardise medium-term growth prospects, an issue prominently flagged by all the rating agencies in their recent evaluations.
• It is the fear of market penalties that is holding the government back from borrowing and spending.

Fiscal Council – the way forward?

• The government can signal its virtue by establishing some new institutional mechanism for enforcing fiscal discipline, such as for example a fiscal council.
• It was first recommended by the Thirteenth Finance Commission and was subsequently endorsed by the Fourteenth Finance Commission and then by the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Review Committee headed by N.K. Singh.
• According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), about 50 countries around the world have established fiscal councils with varying degrees of success.
• A fiscal council, at its core, is a permanent agency with a mandate to independently assess the government’s fiscal plans and projections against parameters of macroeconomic sustainability, and put out its findings in the public domain.
• The expectation is that such an open scrutiny will keep the government on the straight and narrow path of fiscal virtue and hold it to account for any default.
• The fiscal council could be a solution because it will give an independent and expert assessment of the government’s fiscal stance, and thereby aid an informed debate in Parliament.
• Another argument made in support of a fiscal council is that in its role as a watchdog, it will prevent the government from gaming the fiscal rules through creative accounting.

Fiscal council’s mandate:

• As per the model suggested by the FRBM Review Committee, the fiscal council’s mandate will include, but not be restricted to,
  • Making multi-year fiscal projections.
  • Preparing fiscal sustainability analysis.
  • Providing an independent assessment of the Central government’s fiscal performance and compliance with fiscal rules.
  • Recommending suitable changes to fiscal strategy to ensure consistency of the annual financial statement.
  • Taking steps to improve quality of fiscal data.
  • Producing an annual fiscal strategy report which will be released publicly.

Arguments against a Fiscal Council:

• The government is required to submit to Parliament a ‘Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement’ (FPSS) to demonstrate the credibility of its fiscal stance. Yet, seldom are there in-depth discussions in Parliament on the government’s fiscal stance. The problem clearly is the lack of demand for accountability.
  • So, another instrumentality such as a fiscal council for the supply of accountability cannot be a solution.
• The fiscal council will give macroeconomic forecasts for the budget, and if the Ministry decides to differ it is required to explain why it has differed.
  • It is argued that it better be left to the Finance Ministry to defend its numbers rather than forcing it to privilege the estimates of one specific agency.
• Forcing the Finance Ministry to use someone else’s estimates will dilute its accountability.
  • If the estimates go awry, it will simply shift the blame to the fiscal council.
• There is already an institutional mechanism by way of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
  • The argument made here is against the fiscal Council’s role as a watchdog.

Conclusion:

The best way forward is to start small and scale it up if it proves to be a positive experience.

Q1. Consider the following statements:

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to ASEEM digital platform:

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to AH-64 Apache:

Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to the recently inaugurated Rewa 
Solar project:

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. Discuss the measures that must be taken by the Centre to address the ongoing fiscal tensions between the Centre and the States. (15 Marks, 250 Words).
2. ‘The ends of justice are not served by retributive measures and constitutional justice is non-negotiable’. In light of the given statement, discuss the significance of the due process of law in criminal investigations. (15 Marks, 250 Words).

Read the previous CNA here.