15 Jul 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: HUMAN RESOURCES

1. The road to rolling out labour codes

Syllabus: Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Human Resources.

Prelims: Labour codes in India

Mains: Concerns about the implementation of the labour codes

Context

This article talks about the implementation of the labour codes in India

Background

• In India, labour falls under the Concurrent List of the Constitution. Therefore, both Parliament and state legislatures can make laws regulating labour.
• The Centre had introduced four labour codes as a part of “Labour reforms”.
• All the then-existing labour laws were consolidated into four codes namely:
  • The Code on Wages (introduced in August 2019) 
  • The Industrial Relations Code (introduced in September 2020)
  • The Code on Social Security (introduced in September 2020)
  • The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (introduced in September 2020)

Read more about – Labour Reforms and Codes

Delay in the implementation of labour codes

• The four labour codes have not yet been implemented.
• The Centre has held that the delay in implementation is because of the delay in the framing of rules by the States. 
• The central government also said that it had offered to help the states to frame rules for the codes.
  • According to a report, 24 States have now issued draft rules for all four codes. 
• Also, as these codes are designed to merge about 29 Central laws and over 100 State laws, framing, drafting, publishing and consulting various stakeholders is consuming a significant amount of time. 
• Further, the SP Mukherjee Committee, which was entrusted to work on the issue of minimum wages, has not yet completed its task as having a national minimum wage standard is a crucial step in the implementation of the Code on Wages.
• Also, the Union government recently announced that the ambit of Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) will be expanded to all districts within two years as social security for unorganised workers is a promise in the Code on Social Security.
  • The expansion of the ESIC ecosystem is also an important step for this purpose which is also contributing to the delay.

Concerns regarding the four labour codes

• The central trade unions (CTUs) have claimed that these codes will impact the existing social and economic security in the employment sector. 
  • The farmers’ organisations have also expressed similar opinions and the employers’ associations have had mixed opinions towards these codes.
  • As per the CTU, these codes, by increasing the threshold level of employment in an establishment and revoking various labour laws which were extended to certain specific sections of employees/workers, will leave a large portion of the workforce out of the coverage of all labour laws.
• The Opposition had raised concerns regarding the manner with which these codes were passed in Parliament in just two days without much discussion. 
• The Labour Minister of Kerala has alleged that many of the provisions in the codes were “anti-worker” in nature.
• Concerns were also raised about the provisions of the registration and working of central trade unions in the Industrial Relations Code.
• Employers’ associations such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) had expressed concerns regarding the proposal for raising the minimum wages limit and expanding the social security network by involving the employers. 
  • They feel that an increase in salary will impact their profits.

Nut graf: The rollout of new labour codes which were supposed to go into effect from July 1st, 2022 has been delayed due to various reasons which include the Government’s fear of a political fallout against their implementation which was seen in the case of the farm laws.

E. Editorials

Category: SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. The great omission in the draft disability policy

Syllabus: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States

Prelims:  Draft of the national policy for persons with disabilities (PwD)

Mains: The need for a new national policy for PwD, the concerns associated with it and key recommendations.

Context

The Department of Empowerment of Person with Disabilities (DoEPwD) notified the draft of the national policy for persons with disabilities.

Draft of the national policy for persons with disabilities

• The draft policy recognises aspects such as early identification and prevention, education, skill development, social security, and disaster management as areas that require interventions to enable persons with disabilities (PwD) to participate fully and effectively in society.
• It also recognises “accessibility” as a key area for intervention which is a prerequisite for guaranteeing rights like health, education, employment and justice to PwD.
• The policy mandates specific commitments to the central government to secure accessibility, develop a convenient environment, transportation, information and communication systems (ICTs), and other facilities and services.
• The policy further makes an effort to introduce “universal design” as a key guiding principle towards making public spaces accessible to not just PwD but to all.

The need for a new national policy for PwD

• The signing of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
• The introduction of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 has raised the types of disabilities from 7 to 21.
• India is also a party to the Incheon Strategy for Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013-2022 famously known as the “Incheon commitment”. 
  • It was prepared under the aegis of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). 
  • It provides 10 goals for Asia-Pacific countries to ensure the inclusion and the empowerment of PwD and conformity with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

The concerns associated with the policy

• The key concern is that the policy fails to include any commitment to the political upliftment of PwD.
• Political empowerment and the inclusion of PwD have not yet been addressed in India’s democratic discussions and this is reflected in the fact that India does not have any policy commitment that is aimed at improving the political participation of PwD.
• The exclusion of disabled people from the political ecosystem takes place in various ways such as the inaccessibility of the voting process, challenges to their participation in politics and lack of representation.

The issue of inadequate representation

• Representation plays a crucial role in advancing the interests of the marginalised communities. However, persons with disabilities are not adequately represented at all the levels of government in India.
• Further, there is no mechanism to maintain data on the disability aspect of representatives.
  • The first visually disabled Member of Parliament in independent India was Sadhan Gupta and this is not mentioned in any of the political discourse.
• However, there have been instances where the States have undertaken efforts to increase their representation.
  • Example: Chhattisgarh started nominating at least one disabled person in each panchayat. 

The importance of political participation for PwD

• Article 29 of the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities says that states must “ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives”. 
• The Incheon commitment also calls for participation in political processes and in decision-making.
• The anti-discrimination commitment under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 recognises the political aspect and says that the participation of disabled people should be allowed to realise their human rights and fundamental freedoms. 
• Section 11 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act says that the Election Commission must undertake efforts to make all the polling stations accessible to PwD and that all the materials related to the electoral process are easily understandable and accessible to them.

Recommendations

• Despite various provisions, disabled people still face accessibility issues during various electoral processes. The Election Commission of India must undertake measures such as using braille electronic voting machines and wheelchair services at all polling centres. 
  • Also, the political parties must ensure proper accessibility measures for the participation of PwD in party meetings, transport facilities for campaigning, etc.
• Experts recommend a four-pronged approach that includes:
  • Undertaking capacity-building measures at PwD organisations and extending training in the electoral system, government structure, and basic organisational and advocacy skills.
  • Bring in changes to the legal and regulatory frameworks that encourage the political participation of disabled people.
  • Collaborate with civil societies to conduct domestic election observation or voter education campaigns.
  • Formulate a framework for political parties to conduct an outreach programme to PwD during election campaigns.
• The Central and State governments must work together with other stakeholders to ensure the political participation of PwD.

Nut graf: Despite the Draft of the national policy for persons with disabilities being lauded for its objectives and intent, the aspects such as political participation and representation must be included in the policy as the inclusiveness and empowerment of PwD cannot be achieved without political inclusion.

Category: ECONOMY

1. Is protectionism compatible with liberalisation?

Syllabus: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth and development.

Mains: Critical evaluation of the Government’s policy of protectionism in India’s Economic Growth.

Context

This article talks about the Government’s effort to protect the domestic economy from foreign competition.

Criticism of the Government’s effort to protect the domestic economy 

• Critics feel that the protectionism approach followed through the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative is not yielding the intended results as there is an increased emphasis on production in India rather than on efficiency which is important to make products and the sector globally competitive. 
• In the 1970s, the policymakers felt that electronics export was the next big thing and they created the Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) in Bombay and removed customs duties. But after about three decades they realised that it was the software industry and the diamond processing industry that flourished and that the government’s industrial policy was wrong.
• Also, the ease of doing business has remained a major issue due to various barriers and bottlenecks that are impeding India’s participation in global supply chains.
• Critics also feel that the government interfering with the ability of an Indian consumer or an Indian firm to buy from abroad is an act of coercion and say that this temporary protectionism will not work in the long run as in a market economy there has to be the freedom to choose. 
• Further, the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes which have incentives linked to certain capacities are compared with the minimum economic scale policy that was followed during the industrial licensing era.
  • The government telling the industry about what could be the minimum economic scale and then directing the industry to produce along those lines is a cause of concern. 

Recommendations

• Experts say that as it is difficult for policymakers to understand the market dynamics, market economy is a great method of discovering what works and what doesn’t.
  • Private players must be encouraged to try out things as it is not in the nature of bureaucracies to experiment.
• Experts also recommend the policymakers use the wild strategy of removing all barriers to globalisation as firms in India that are users of goods become more competitive with the removal of the elements of protectionism.
• The government must replicate the policy of Southeast Asian countries that have been attracting a significant amount of foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment by encouraging the participation of the industry and the market forces, together with the government which plays a role of a facilitator.
  • The industry must identify the issues and should urge the government to address these issues
  • Example: Japan, South Korea, and Singapore

Nut graf: As the Indian economy is struggling with key challenges such as the balance of payments crisis and current account deficit, experts feel that there is an immediate need for the increased participation of the market players together with the government to bring about a change in the economy.

Q1. With respect to Simla Agreement, which of the following statements is/are correct?
(Level – Medium)

Q2. I2U2 recently seen in news is associated with  (Level – Easy)

Q3. Which of the following statements with respect to Fundamental Duties (FD) is/are correct?
  (Level – Difficult)

Q4. Consider the following statements:  (Level – Difficult)

Q5. Consider the following statements:  (Level – Difficult) PYQ (2022)

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. Unless there is political inclusion of the disabled, the goal of inclusiveness and empowerment will remain elusive. In the light of the statement, examine the draft disability policy. (10 marks, 250 Words) (GS-1, Social Issues)
2. Discuss the tools that are used to implement the policy of protectionism and critically analyse if this policy will hinder India’s Economic Growth.(15 Marks, 250 Words) (GS-3, Economy)

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