NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
1. Digital governance and initiatives are the future but it should not compromise the dignity and rights of the poor and needy. Examine.
The right to live with dignity is a constitutional imperative. However, it rarely manifests in discussions surrounding digital initiatives in governance. Centralised data dashboards — valuable as they are — have become the go-to mode for assessing policies, relegating principles such as human dignity and hardships in accessing rights to its blind spots. Often when technological glitches prevent one from accessing rights, there is a tendency to make the rights-holder feel responsible for it.
Digital governance compromising rights of poor and needy
With digital revolution there must be digital inclusion and transformation must be accompanied by empowerment of masses. Else the spoils will go to the victors and the poor will remain the vanquished in this new era of digital governance. Sabka Saath is more important for sabka vikas.
2. Civil society organizations perform important role to help Governments understand and respond to problems and needs on the ground. Critically examine in the context of Indian civil society.
Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India
Civil Society Organizations can be defined to include all non-market and non-state organizations outside of the family in which people organize themselves to pursue shared interests in the public domain”.
Examples include community-based organizations and village associations, environmental groups, women’s rights groups, farmers’ associations, faith-based organizations, labour unions, co-operatives, professional associations, chambers of commerce, independent research institutes and the not-for-profit media.
Need for an active civil society:
Civil society’s functional contribution to good governance
NGOs, Pressure groups and CSOs form the backbone of democracy. Democracy does not just revolve around elections but how rights of the citizens are protected and are allowed to hold power holders accountable. The state must respect the articulation of the politics of voice and not just the politics of the vote. The promises of democracy can only be realised through collective action in civil society. A democratic state needs a democratic civil society and a democratic civil society also needs a democratic state. They mutually reinforce each other.
3. The India–United States (US) defence and technology cooperation is pivotal in maintaining international security and order and could yet be the defining one for this century. Analyse.
In recent times, India and USA have strengthened their defence partnership accounting to nearly $15 billion since 2014. The signing of BECA agreement during the 2+2 dialogue shows the strategic convergence of India and USA’s world view. This is especially true with a rising China that threatens to revise the world order.
The India–United States (US) defence and technology cooperation so far
India and the United States need a landmark defense deal to strengthen their defense ties, similar to the 2005 nuclear agreement, which marked a turning point in their overall bilateral relationship. Such a deal will demonstrate to India that the U.S is capable of being a strong ally as Russia has been. The defence partnership between India and USA must aim to ensure rules-based world order and to ensure security and peace against hegemonic tendencies.
4. What is blue economy? How can it be equitably and sustainably harnessed as a lever for economic growth? Present India’s strengths and weaknesses in this regard.
Reference: Down to Earth , Insights on India
“Blue Economy” refers to strategic and sustainable use of Marine Resources for the development of Economy and the well-being of human. Gunter Pauli’s book, “The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 innovations, 100 million jobs” (2010) brought the Blue Economy concept into prominence. It offers “Green Approach” to meet the aspirations of mankind. India is endowed with a vast coastline of approximately 7500 Km and hence better placed to harness the “potential of oceans” – with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 2.02 mn. sq.km. It is an upcoming sunrise sector.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, Jitendra Singh has said that the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is finalising a National Policy on the blue economy for the country.
Potential of Blue economy in India:
5. In order to reap the maximum benefits, it becomes pertinent to increase private participation and nudge India towards a scientific pursuit of space exploration driven by economic aims. Discuss.
India is lagging in harnessing the power of private innovation in the space domain. This not only limits the exploitation of space for economic development, but has serious national security implications.
Principal Scientific Adviser Ajay Kumar Sood stated earlier this month that the government would soon come up with a new space policy that could initiate the rise of India’s own “SpaceX-like ventures”.
Potential of private sector in the space sector
Challenges for private space entities in India:
The private sector already supplies majority of the sub-systems in satellite manufacturing. This can be further scaled up into other activities with proper regulation and partnership of the ISRO and private sector. The country must deregulate the space sector to encourage private enterprise if we are to compete in the new space economy.
Indian Space Association or ISpA is a premier industry association of space and satellite companies. In line with the recent measures taken to expand the role of private players in the space sector, the Indian Space Association aims to serve as a body that brings public and private entities together so that they can work in tandem for the expansion of the Indian space programme.
6. As India becomes increasingly urbanised and families break up into smaller units, the care of elderly people is need to be managed by a set of professionals specialised interested in geriatric services. Discuss.
Reference: Indian Express Insights on India
Currently, India’s population is among the youngest in an ageing world, however, a major proportion of India’s population will be aged by 2050. The population share of the youth is starting to taper off as the share of the elderly is expected to steadily surge during 2021-2036. This calls for more forward-looking policies incorporating population dynamics, education and skills, healthcare, gender sensitivity and most importantly geriatric care.
Status of elderly in India:
Issues associated with elderly population in India
Roadmap for elderly care with passage of time
Social security is the concurrent responsibility of the central and state governments as, mandated under Indian constitution i.e., Well-being of senior citizens – Article 41 in particular and 46 in general of Indian constitution. In this regard, National Policy on Senior Citizen, 2011 was framed.
For the welfare and care for the older persons, we must focus on the protection of already existing social support systems/traditional social institutions such as family and kinship, neighbourhood bonding, community bonding and community participation must be revived and kins should show sensitivity towards elderly citizens.
7. A number of constraints and challenges both in federal as well fiscal system are part of the problems that must be solved in order to achieve effective fiscal federalism in the country. Critically analyse.
Fiscal federalism is the financial relations between units of governments in a federal government system. It is part of broader public finance discipline. The term was introduced by the German-born American economist Richard Musgrave in 1959. Fiscal federalism deals with the division of governmental functions and financial relations among levels of government
Various issues regarding fiscal federalism in India
To sum up, for a large federal country of a mind-boggling diversity, India’s ability to fight Covid-19 pandemic largely rests on how well it manages its Centre-state relation.
It is important now to rethink the design and structure of a genuine fiscal partnership, which should not merely be a race to garner more resources, but a creative attempt to move towards a vibrant Indian value chain that can catapult India’s growth rate closer to the quest for double-digit growth. Times of economic slowdown must be viewed anecdotally as they are transient in nature and cannot impair India’s vision, both with regard to its potential and its historical compulsions. It is necessary to recast the ideology in a more contemporary context; only then will the practice become more transparent, and India will benefit from congruence between its precepts and practice.
8. India’s relationship with ASEAN is a key pillar of our foreign policy and the foundation of our Act East Policy. Analyse the role that north eastern states can play in strengthening ties with ASEAN.
India’s relationship with ASEAN has emerged as a key cornerstone of our foreign policy. The relationship has evolved from the ‘Look East Policy’ enunciated in early 1990s, to Strategic Partnership in 2012. Since 2014, India is espousing ‘Act East Policy’ that has enhanced the partnership further.
ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership stands on a strong foundation of shared geographical, historical and civilizational ties. ASEAN is central to our Act East Policy and our wider vision of the Indo-Pacific. India and ASEAN will observe 30 years of their Dialogue Partnership in 2022.
Significance of India- ASEAN strategic partnership and its implications on India
A six-fold strategy for the comprehensive development of the region has been proposed
Innovation, Initiatives, Ideas and Implementation–all the four needs to go together. Inclusive growth is possible through improved governance, doing away with the draconian laws and ensuring the local communities are empowered to implement basic services. For this, all the stakeholders need to formulate a comprehensive realistic plan for the overall development of North East.
9. The special economic zones (SEZ) scheme in India has shown tremendous growth in infrastructure investment, employment and exports since its introduction. SEZs suffer from their fair share of challenges and the SEZ policy needs to be revamped to bring in certain enablers and relaxations leading to large-scale investments and export promotion. Analyse.
Reference: Live Mint Insights on India
An SEZ is a territory within a country that is typically duty-free (Fiscal Concession) and has different business and commercial laws chiefly to encourage investment and create employment. SEZs are created also to better administer these areas, thereby increasing the ease of doing business.
About Special Economic Zones India
SEZ and their success in export growth
Measures to revamp SEZ in India
Promotion of MSME investments in SEZs by linking with MSME schemes and allowing alternate sectors to invest in sector-specific SEZs is among the recommendations by the Baba Kalyani Committee on SEZs.
It had also batted for additional enablers and procedural relaxations as well as granting SEZs infrastructure status to improve their access to finance and enable long-term borrowings.
10. The PPP model can be an effective and sustainable option to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure. Examine the role the PPP model can play in bringing India closer to the goal of five trillion-dollar economy.
According to World Bank, public-private partnership (PPP) is a long-term contract between a private party and a government entity, for providing a public asset or service, in which the private party bears significant risk and management responsibility, and remuneration is linked to performance. Public-private partnerships typically are long-term and involve large corporations on the private side. Some of the commonly adopted forms of PPPs include build-operate-transfer (BOT), build-lease-transfer (BLT), design-build-operate-transfer (DBFO), operate-maintain-transfer (OMT), etc. A key element of these contracts is that the private party takes on a significant portion of the risk.
Issues with PPP that need to be resolved
The success of Public-Private Partnership to a large extent depends on optimal risk allocation among stakeholders, the environment of trust and robust institutional capacity to timely implementation of PPP projects. To foster the successful implementation of a PPP project, a robust PPP enabling ecosystem and sound regulatory framework is essential.
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