21 Nov 2023: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: Governance and Social Justice

1. How free cancer care alone won’t help the fight against cancer in India

Syllabus: Government policies and interventions aimed at development in various sectors, Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and the States, Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Mains: Financial challenges faced and the government support provided in the field of cancer care in India.

Context

The increasing prevalence of cancer in India is accompanied by a severe financial burden, particularly in the private healthcare sector, necessitating comprehensive and accessible solutions to alleviate economic distress.

Introduction

• The rising incidence of cancer in India poses significant financial challenges for patients and their families.
• Despite health insurance initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), cancer-related expenses remain a leading cause of financial distress.
• Cancer treatment leads to catastrophic health expenses, impacting over 80% of patients under state-sponsored insurance.

Financial Strain in Cancer Care

• Direct medical and non-medical out-of-pocket expenses (OOPE) in the private sector contribute to the financial burden.
  • Out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE) include direct medical costs (consultation, medicines, tests) and indirect costs (transport, accommodation, food, lost income).
• Private-sector healthcare costs contribute to catastrophic health expenses and impoverishment.
• Delays in public healthcare systems force patients to resort to private centres, adding to costs.
• Indirect expenses include loss of productive hours and income, impacting both patients and caregivers.
• Breadwinners facing cancer diagnosis suffer job loss, affecting the family’s financial stability.
• Rural patients often travel long distances for treatment, incurring additional costs for accommodation, food, and transportation.

Government Initiatives

• Government schemes like PMJAY and state-sponsored health insurance provide some relief but may not fully cover cancer-related expenses.
• Some states have initiated measures like free transport for cancer patients, concessional travel tickets, and financial assistance for accommodation and food.
• Schemes like Arogya Kosh in Delhi offer free tests in private health centres, but a lack of awareness limits their effectiveness.
• ‘Cancer pension’ schemes provide financial aid to patients with advanced-stage cancer in Haryana, Tripura, and Kerala.

Challenges and Suggestions

• Lack of awareness hampers the effectiveness of some initiatives, highlighting the need for better communication.
• Establishing publicly funded cancer care centres nationwide is a long-term solution to make cancer care as accessible as other chronic diseases.
• Until comprehensive accessibility is achieved, continued financial support is crucial to alleviate the suffering of cancer patients and their families.

Nut Graf: As cancer becomes a leading cause of financial devastation in India, the article advocates for a two-pronged approach: establishing widespread public cancer care and sustaining financial support, emphasising the urgency of addressing this critical issue.

E. Editorials

Category: INDIAN ECONOMY

1. Making sense of the employment challenge

Syllabus: GS-3, Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment.

Prelims: Development, Employment generation, Working conditions

Mains: Changes in Industrial Policy to aid growth

Introduction

• Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, proposed Indians work 70 hours per week to increase national output, similar to Japan and Germany post World War II
• He argues longer work hours fueled economic booms in Japan and Germany in the 1950s. 
• This has led to a debate on the possibility of India trying to replicate the Japanese and German model by working longer hours. 

Relationship between labour and aggregate demand

• According to Keynesian economics, industrial output is determined by aggregate demand – the total demand for goods and services in an economy.
• The demand for labour depends entirely on the demand for goods. There is no independent demand for labour.
• Firms that employ more workers without increased aggregate demand will have excess unsold goods.
• Workers offering to work longer hours will not necessarily find jobs if firms are unwilling to hire them. Firms are motivated by profits and will only employ more workers if product demand increases.
• Unemployment reflects a mismatch – workers willing to work but firms unwilling to employ them because it would be unprofitable.
• This relationship between output demand and labour demand is evident in recent layoffs in the tech sector. Google and Amazon have cut hundreds of pandemic-era hires as demand decreased post-lockdowns.
• Software services firms optimize employee levels to match fluctuating demand. So with unemployment, urging longer work hours is not very relevant.

Historical context

• Post-WWII Germany and Japan demonstrate how labour demand determines hours worked. 
• Their economies and workforces were devastated by the war.
• Rebuilding required massive demand for labour to clear rubble given the scale of destruction. 
• Financial assistance like the Marshall Plan enabled employment expansion.
• Without such government support, revival would have taken much longer. 
• The World Bank was created recognizing that private firms alone could not achieve swift recovery in the post-war period.
• Thus, the long working hours in mid-20th century postwar economies were unique.
• Case of South Korea
  • South Korea’s economy in the post-war period had some similarities to Germany and Japan at that time:
    • The country was also recovering from war and received substantial foreign aid, especially from the U.S.
    • Strong nationalism also motivated people to voluntarily work hard to rebuild the nation after the catastrophe.
    • The government instituted labour mobilization programs for large-scale agricultural projects to increase productivity.
    • Manufacturing success in East Asia was built on top of these agricultural advances enabled by coerced long work hours by the government. 
    • Post-war reconstruction drove demand for greater output initially, with longer work days following after. 

Applicability to India

• High working hours in Germany and East Asia in the mid-20th century backed by public funding and coercion might not be a useful model for understanding present-day India. 
• There are two strategies for economic policy to increase output and employment in India:
  • Use the global market and world demand to grow India’s economy. But India’s goods must be globally competitive, which requires an efficient workforce and good infrastructure. India currently lags behind top Asian economies in worker health, skills, and productivity.
  • Expand the domestic market and aggregate demand. It should be recognised that the economy produces both food and non-food goods/services. If food production costs fall, most Indian households’ real income rises. They can spend more on non-food items, aiding production and output growth and thus increasing employment.

Conclusion

• The proposal for 70-hour work weeks likely refers to the formal sector with specified hours and minimum wages.
• In the informal sector, some unorganized workers already labour excessively long hours at very low wages without legal protections. 
• The challenge is to ensure minimum acceptable conditions i.e. fewer hours, higher pay, and less arduous work.
• Considering this, it may not be realistic to expect a rapid economic transformation in India solely through longer working hours.

Nut Graf: While some argue that India should adopt the post world war II Japanese and German model of longer work hours to boost economic growth, this proposal fails to consider the unique circumstances of those countries’ recoveries and overlooks the importance of aggregate demand and labour productivity in driving economic growth. India should focus on enhancing worker health, skills, and infrastructure to become globally competitive and expand domestic demand by increasing real incomes.