Indian Society

(December 2020)

Quotes from Yojana

“If you ask me, my ideal would be a society based on Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.” – Dr B R Ambedkar  “I ask no favour for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” - US Supreme Court Judge Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “A truly disability-inclusive society is one where all the policies, development initiatives are inclusive of all marginalised sections of the society.”

Important Facts

Hunger in India			Marginalised Section
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report	189.2 million people undernourished in India	No senior citizens in India		10.46 Cr
India’s food grain requirement	334-350 million tonnes by 2032-33	Population over 60 years of age in India		12 per  cent by 2030
Global Hunger Index Report 2020 - India Rank	94	Swaccha Bharat
World Bank Poverty line	$1.90 per day per person	No of ODF++ cities		489
Invisible Disabilities			Swachhata App downloads		1.7 crores
Expenditure on mental health in India	0.06%  of total health budget	Door-to-door Waste Collection in cities		97%
No of people require intervention for mental illness in India	150 million	Individual Household Toilets Constructed		66.65 lacks

 

 

 

Social Issues in India and Solutions

Syllabus:  GS Paper – II (Social Justice) - Issues relating to Poverty and Hunger.

1. Zero Hunger

State of Hunger in India

• According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates in The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2020 report, 189.2 million people, that is 14% of the population, are undernourished in India.

Definitions Hunger is usually understood to refer to the distress associated with a lack of sufficient calories. Undernutrition goes beyond calories and signifies deficiencies in any or all of the following: energy, protein, and/or essential vitamins and minerals. Undernutrition is the result of inadequate intake of food in terms of either quantity or quality, poor utilisation of nutrients due to infections or other illnesses, or a combination of these factors. Malnutrition refers more broadly to both  undernutrition (problems caused by deficiencies) and  over nutrition (problems caused by unbalanced diets, such  as consuming too many calories in relation to requirements  with or without low intake of micronutrient-rich foods).

Global Hunger Index

• In the Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report, “hunger” refers to the index based on four component indicators.  Taken together, the component indicators reflect deficiencies in calories as well as in micronutrients.
• Four component indicators are:

1. Share of Undernourished Population
2. Child Wasting: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (CWA)
3. Child Stunting: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (CST)
4. Child Mortality: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (CM) 

• Index Values less than 10 reflect ‘low hunger’, values from 20 to 34.9 indicate ‘serious hunger’; values from 35 to 49.9 are ‘alarming’; and values of 50 or more are ‘extremely alarming’.

India’s Progress in GHI

• In the Global Hunger Index Report 2019, India was ranked at 102 out of 117 countries.
• In the Global Hunger Index Report 2020, India ranked 94 with a Global Hunger Index of 27.2.
• India has made considerable progress over the years which is evident from its GHI Scores – 48.1 in 1990 to 27.2 in 2020. 

Steps Taken

• National Health Mission (NHM) includes programmatic components such as health system strengthening, Reproductive Maternal-Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH A), and prevention and treatment of communicable and non-communicable.
• SDG India Index - The NITI Agog has brought out SDG India Index & Dashboard 2019-20 which measure the progress achieved and distance to be covered by the States/UTs in their journey towards meeting the targets, using the SDG India Index, covering 16 out of 17 SDGs.

• SDGs having a bearing on poverty, hunger and nutrition are:  SDG 1. No Poverty SDG 2. Zero Hunger.
• To measure India’s performance towards the Goal of Zero Hunger, seven national-level indicators have been identified, which capture three out of the eight SDG targets for 2030 outlined under this Goal.
• In term of SDG Index Score for Goal 2, Goa and Chandigarh are the top-performing among States and UTs, respectively.

• Under the “Antyodaya Anna Yojana” (AAY), the poorest from amongst the BPL families are entitled to 35 kg of food grains per month at more subsidised rates.
• Under the Integrated Child Development Services children in the age range 6 months to 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers are provided access to nutritious food.
• Mid-day meal (MDM) aimed at achieving better nutrition standards for school going children.
• The National Nutrition Mission (Poshan Abhiyaan) to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls), and low birth weight by 2 per cent, 2 per cent, 3 per cent, and 2 per cent per annum, respectively. It targets to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022. 
• Strategy for doubling farmers’ income focuses on seven growth factors: improved crop productivity, increased livestock productivity, cost-effective production processes, increased cropping intensity, crop diversification favouring high-value crops, access to better prices and shifting to the non-farm occupation.
• 221 million soil health cards have been distributed so far to farmers.
• The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee  Yojana (PMKSY) focuses on improved water efficiency  with the motto of “Har Khet Ko Paani” and “Per drop more  crop”.
• The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) provides better insurance coverage and agricultural credit at a reduced rate of 4 per cent per annum to farmers.
• Minimum support prices for all kharif and rabi crops have been increased at least by 150 per cent of the cost of production.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Scheme has been initiated to extend the payment of INR 6,000 per year to every farmer in the country, which provides a further boost to their income.
• Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana, financing of mega food parks, infrastructure of  agro-processing clusters, and integrated cold chain and  value addition infrastructure are undertaken.

 

Q.1 India has seen tremendous economic growth in the past two decades still it faces a long road ahead in its quest to achieve Zero Hunger. Comment. Also, enumerate the measures taken by government to achieve the goal of Zero Hunger.

 

Syllabus:  GS Paper – II (Social Justice) - Issues relating to Poverty and Hunger.

2. Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

 The MPI was launched in 2010. Ten indicators of MPI -  nutrition, sanitation, child mortality, drinking water, years of schooling, electricity, school attendance, housing, cooking fuel and assets.

Issues with income/calorie based methods

• Annual price adjustments to the poverty line are usually inadequate and tend to underestimate the true incidence of poverty.
•  Intake of the minimum number of calories does not automatically ensure that diet is nutritionally balanced.
• Expenditure on essential non-food items like rent, fuel, health care, education is also often seriously underestimated and unaccounted.

Why use MPI?

• The non-monetary dimensions successfully capture the essence of what it “means” to be poor, thus enhancing the very notion of poverty.
• MPI can be used to successfully figure out a more “appropriate income threshold” and can also thus bring those poor people under its ambit of study who are “unable to participate in their societies due to lack of resources”.
• As Poverty is defined as multidimensional (psychological, psychological, health, education) and therefore multiple indicators can provide more wholesome results.
• According to Amartya Sen, it is lack of facilities and opportunities for individuals that prevents them from developing their full potential and capabilities.  This approach of poverty analysis shifts attention from a “means” (income) to an “ends” (freedom to pursue a fulfilling life).

India’s MPI Performance

• Among all MPI calculating countries, India has been the biggest gainer in terms of MPI. As a lower middle-income country, India has recorded the fastest reductions in poverty.

• Between 2005-06 to 2015-16, India has uplifted 271 million people out of multidimensional poverty.
• Poor states performed very good: In Jharkhand, incidence of MPI has been reduced from 74.9% in 2005-06 to 46.5% in 2015-16.

• However, in terms of absolute numbers, India still has 369 million people facing multidimensional poverty.
• Apart from India, Cambodia resulted in the fastest reductions in MPI in the concerned decade. Bangladesh was also able to uplift 19 million people out of multidimensional poverty from 2004- 2014.

Evolution of poverty measurement in India In 1950, BS Minhas published the first estimates of poverty rates for Independent India using a poverty line based on real expenditure per year. In 1952, the first National Sample Survey (NSS) concluded that the head-count ratio of poverty in India was around 45 percent of the population. In 1971, V M Dander and Nilkantha Rath used a daily intake of 2,250 calories per person to define the poverty line for India. In 1993, an expert group chaired by DT Lakdawala established the poverty line for India. For the first time, state poverty lines were developed using a standard list of commodities and prices. In 2000, the Saxena Committee report using data from 1972 to 2000, separated calorie intake from nominal income in its analysis of poverty in India, and estimated that 50% of Indians lived below the poverty line. In 2010, the Suresh Tendulkar Committee calculated the poverty line based on per capita consumption expenditure per month.  For rural areas, it was Rs. 816 per month (Rs. 27 per  day). For urban areas, it was Rs. 1000  per month (Rs. 33 per day). Using this methodology, the population below the poverty line was 354 million (29.6% of the population).  The Rangarajan Committee established a new poverty threshold for rural areas at Rs. 972 per month or Rs. 32 per day. For urban areas, it was fixed at Rs. 1407 per month or Rs. 47 per day. Under this methodology, the population below the poverty line in 2011-2012 was 363 million (29.5% of the population).

Q.1 Current issues associated with income/calorie based poverty measurement make Multidimensional Poverty Index imperative for poverty calculation in India.

 

 

Syllabus:  GS Paper – II (Social Justice) - Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation; Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

3. Mainstreaming Disability in Development

• How disability is understood has immediate impact upon policy initiatives, impending environmental design and even attitudes of people in general.
• Disability scholars have consistently emphasised upon the need to policy shifting toward social model of disability which is the new way forward for building disability inclusive societies.
• Also, in addition to disability specific, targeted policies and institutions, there needs to be disability-centric approach in all existing policies and development measures.

Approaches to disability

• Medical Model – It can be explained as an individual tragedy approach to disability, where a person’s disability and limitations to participating in social, economic political life, is seen as a tragic but unavoidable outcome of his or her own bodily impairment. Individuals with disabilities are seen as people with deformities, ‘abnormal’.

• The model has been the dominant since the early 1900s.
• Disability rights activists and scholars have critiqued medical model of disability and raised concern against viewing disability as a personal tragedy.

• Social model of disability - This approach is to look at disability as caused externally by barriers (attitudinal or environmental or cultural) and has very little to do with physical limitations.
  • This is the current global policy trend in disability and hence it was important to set this context clearly.

Twin-Track Approach to Disability-Inclusive Policies

• The philosophy encompassed in twin-track approach to disability inclusion is that, in addition to disability specific, targeted policies and institutions, there needs to be disability-centric approach in all existing policies and development measures.
• Targeted, disability-specific measures are those that are created exclusively for the empowerment and inclusion of persons with disabilities. RPD Act 2016 is an example of disability specific targeted legislation. In India, there are also institutional bodies that are exclusively created for the purpose of disability inclusion.  Disability-specific targeted measures also encompass schemes such as ADIP Scheme of Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP Scheme), Braille Press Scheme.

 

 

Steps taken for in mainstreaming disability inclusion in policy

• Sarva  Shiksa Abhiyan provided for a cash grant of up to Rs. 1200 per child per year; evolving plans at the district level for students with disabilities and also involvement of resource institutions.

• The SSA also had a zero-rejection policy implying that no child with disability could be denied enrolment.

• National Education Policy 2020 also aims to ensure children with disabilities will have equal opportunities for participation in mainstream educational system.
• Swachh Bharat Mission, created a set of guidelines for accessible Household Sanitation for Persons with Disabilities. And government also broadened the scope of Government assistance for household toilets to include households having persons with disabilities.
• Chhattisgarh state launched an “Inclusive and Accessible Sanitation Policy for Persons with Disabilities and transgender persons”. 
• RBI released a guideline outlining ‘Banking Facility for Senior Citizens and Differently Abled Persons’, which instructed banks to put in place inclusive mechanisms such as priority service and dedicated counters for elderly and persons with disabilities and door step banking for persons with disabilities and elderly persons unable to reach banks.
• National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) Social Inclusion Protocols outline a priority and early inclusion of the poorest of the poor and other vulnerable sections of community including persons with disabilities in rural poor communities.
•  State Rural Livelihood Missions such as KUDUMBASHREE (Kerala) and JEEViKA (Bihar) have implemented disability-inclusive measures.

Mainstreaming Disability in Development: The Way Forward 

• To develop Disability Inclusion Policy or strategy paper for the whole organisation. E.g. - Bihar State Rural Livelihood Mission, Disability Inclusive Guideline, dated August 13, 2020.
• All the existing themes and departments of the project should encompass disability-inclusive components. 
• To include disability-inclusive indicator components in Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks.
• Disability indicators should be part of Annual Action and Review planning. 
• All staffs should be trained on disability rights framework and inclusion, best-practice measures. 
• Recruitment and HR policies to be in line with RPD Act 2016. 
• Buildings, departmental websites, internal/external communication measures should incorporate accessibility standards and be in sync with RPD Act 2016.
• According to List-II of the Constitution, the empowerment of persons with disabilities is a state subject. States should include components of disability inclusion within Annual planning, budget allocation.

Q.1 For Building disability-inclusive society, we need to understand disability in the right sense and mainstream disability inclusion in all polices and developmental measures. Comment.

 

 

Syllabus:  GS Paper – II (Social Justice) - Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

4. Invisible Disabilities

• Invisible conditions are more difficult to detect by medical doctors. Many such conditions go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed.
• Today, India has more than 10 million children with autism, 10 million people with epilepsy, more than 150 million people with a need of intervention for mental illness. 71% of children with disabilities are living in rural areas.

Most common invisible disabilities

• Minimal brain injury and developmental cognitive disorders which interfere with memory, motor skills planning, organisational abilities.
• Learning Disabilities such neurological disorders resulting in impairment in reading (dyslexia), writing (dysgraphia) or mathematics (dyscalculia)
• Autism Spectrum Disorders affecting the ability to communicate, learn social skills and social interaction
• Chronic diseases that cause widespread pain
• Depression
• Sensory Disorders

Challenges

• Many such conditions go undiagnosed or are misdiagnosed as they are difficult to detect even by doctors.  The process of being diagnosed with a learning disability often involves collecting multiple conflicting diagnoses by healthcare providers over a long period of time.

• Associated Social Stigma compels parents to conceal the disability in social settings. Even if protected by law from overt discrimination, they still face potential prejudice or negative evaluations from others.
• There is a lack of specialists in India - according to a World Economic Forum report, India currently needs 11,000 psychiatrists and 54,000 mental health professionals.
• Lack of funds - According to WHO, India spends around 0.06% of its health budget on mental health.

Way Forward

• Create awareness about such disorders. The Rights for Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 is a good step as it includes some of the seemingly invisible conditions such as autism and learning disabilities within its ambit.
• A visionary plan of action at the State level is important to give a sense of direction to professionals, planners and fields level workers.
• Create a trained human resource of professionals, special educators and therapists.
• Early detection, early intervention, and training and empowering parents/caregivers are important steps. Professional counselling for parents is necessary.
• Special Education and Vocational Training such as alternative and augmented communication techniques for children with autism.
• Artificial Intelligence tools and technology can be used for detecting disabilities which are not apparent to onlookers.

Q.1 Invisible or hidden disabilities is major problem faced by people in India. What are challges associated with curing Invisible or hidden disabilities in India. Also, suggest some measures for creation of better ecosystem for treatment of such disabilities.

 

 

Syllabus:  GS Paper – II (Social Justice) - Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

5. Substance Use: Challenges and Way Forward 

 

• According to Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment report, approximately 16 crore people - 14.6% of population between 10-75 years, are consuming alcohol (most used a psychoactive drug). Cannabis and opioids are second in terms of use (2.8% of population) followed by other forms of substance use.
• The report also highlights the major lack of resources to tackle the situation. India has merely close to 10000 trained psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. We have 122 Government-run de-addiction centres, 29 Drug Treatment Centres (DTCs).

Challenges in reducing with substance use:

• Adequately trained professionals. The National Mental Health Survey pointed out that in case of substance use, the treatment gap is 90%.
• Trivialisation of the issue of drug use in the media creating misperceptions such as only the rich and people with power consume it.
• Lack of de-addiction centres.
• Lack of inpatient services and public private partnerships
• People with lesser income and marginalised consuming more psychoactive drugs.
• Lack of funds

Way Forward

• Awareness and sensitisation programmes in schools. Information given to students should be factual, objective, informative and backed by evidence.
• Investment in care services is required.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation as people with substance use disorders are also very vulnerable because of comorbid illnesses.
• Health practitioners like AYUSH and healers can be used.
• Use of technology to increase the efficiency and efficacy of the programmes.
• Community response needs to be strengthened against the substance use.

 

Q.1 In India, various interventions are in practice including the legislative measure to reduce the use of substances but the gaps only highlight that new and more intervention strategies are needed. What are challenges in reducing with substance use in India? Suggest some measures in this regard.

 

Syllabus:  GS Paper – II (Social Justice) - Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

6. Swachh Survekshan

• Swachh Survekshan, the annual cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), has today taken shape of the largest urban sanitation survey in the world.

Features

• Started in 2016 with only 73 cities with million plus population has grown manifold today with 4,242 cities in 2020.
• Till date, five rounds of Swachh Survekshan have been conducted.
• Survey from 2019 onwards has been made completely digital and paperless.
• The design of Swachh Survekshan is based on three key pillars as follows: 

1. Service Level Progress - evaluating progress of cities on ODF status, segregated waste collection, processing, disposal of solid waste and sustainable sanitation.
2. Citizens’ Voice - comprising assessment of cities based on direct feedback, engagement with citizens and innovations helmed by citizens; and 
3. Certifications - assessing progress of cities on their performance under Ministry’s certification protocols such as Star Rating for Garbage Free Cities and ODF/ ODF /ODF /Water. 

• While the actual assessment is conducted every year, between January 4^th - 31^st across all ULBs, it is preceded with Swachh Survekshan League (introduced in 2019) with the objective of sustaining the on-ground performance of cities along with continuous monitoring of service level performance.
• SS League 2020 was conducted in three quarters and had 25% weightage, which feeds into the final ranking of cities.

Impact of Swacch Survekshan

• Today, urban India has not just become ODF but has moved beyond the Mission mandate to focus on maintaining hygiene and cleanliness of community.

• Solid waste processing has gone up by over 3 times and now stands at 67%.
• Similarly, the Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities built into the Swachh Survekshan framework has driven cities to strive for holistic levels of cleanliness – as on date 6 cities have received 5 stars, 86 cities - 3 stars and 64 cities -1 star.

• Swachh Survekshan has helped transform the Swachhata movement into a true ‘Jan Andolan’. Swachh Survekshan - 2020 had recorded feedback from 1.87 crore citizens.
• SBM-U has placed a strong emphasis on improving the socio-economic conditions of sanitation workers and waste pickers. Over 84,000 informal waste pickers have been integrated into the formal workforce.
• It  has actively promoted key digital  innovations such as Swachhata App - a grievance redressal tool , Swachh Manch - digital citizen engagement platform.
• Building knowledge and capacity of city officials has been strengthened through Swachh Survekshan  framework. Swachh Survekshan 2020’s workshops were attended by over 12,000 ULBs/State government officials.
• It has enabled ‘ease of doing business’ for cities by simplifying procurement processes and incentivising cities/States to register on the Government E-Marketplace (GeM) portal.
• Performance of not just cities but city administrators are linked directly to the ranking of cities in Swachh Survekshan thus becoming an effective ‘report card’ for the city and its leadership.

Q.1 Swachh Survekshan is framework to bring about rigour in progress monitoring and a spirit of healthy competition amongst cities and States to improve their performance in key cleanliness parameters. Discuss the features and impact of the Swachh Survekshan.

 

 

 

 

Syllabus:  GS Paper – III (Economic Development) - Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment; Inclusive Growth and issues arising from it.

7. Gandhian Paradigm of Indian Villages

• Gandhi realised that one of the important ways of removing poverty in rural areas and improving the quality of life of people was by reconstructing villages from the grassroots level.
• If villages perish, India will also perish. India develops in full form when there is rural development.  Hence, Gandhi emphasised the need of development of villages.

Gandhi’s vision of village development

Ideal Village

• His concept of ideal village, which consists of about 1000 persons, is organised on the basis of self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
• The ideal village will have intellectuals and open-minded people. Those people will not live in dirt and darkness. There will be village poets, village artists, village architects, linguists and research workers. 

Gram Swaraj

• Gandhiji called self-governance of villages as ‘Village Swaraj’.
• The government of the village should be conducted by the panchayat of five persons annually elected by the village adults, men or women, possessing minimum prescribed qualifications.
• The village is a complete republic independent of its neighbours for its basic needs, and yet interdependent for many others in which dependence is a necessity.
• The village should have Gomalas, a reserve for its cattle; recreation and playground for adults and children. The ideal  village should maintain a village theatre, school and public hall.

Basic Education 

• Gandhi called his scheme of education as ‘basic education’. It is about the art of living and creation of productive labor.
• Along with vocational training, rural people receive instruction in elementary history, geography, and arithmetic. He desired that the medium of education should be creative labour and not textbooks.
• The education should be aimed at harmonious development of the body, mind and soul of the people.

Hygiene & Health 

• According to Gandhiji, attention to individual’s health and hygiene is undoubtedly the first step to rural reconstruction.
• He suggested to convert excreta of animals and people into organic manures.
• Also, cleanliness is not only next to godliness, it promotes health of the people. He demonstrated about the use of curative herbal plants that grow naturally in the surroundings of the people. The wholesome and balanced diet is of course an integral part of natural cure.

Antyodaya to Sarvodaya

• The Sarvodaya is a comprehensive concept, which includes all aspects of rural life and activity in the sphere of sustainable rural