Weekly Current Affairs (22nd to 30th November 2022) - 2 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969

Context: Recently, the Union Home Ministry proposed amendment to the Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969.

• The bill will be introduced in the winter session of parliament.

What are the Proposed Amendments?

• It has been proposed to make birth certificates a mandatory document for almost every sphere of life — admission in educational institutions, inclusion in the voter list, appointment in Central and State government jobs, issue of driving licence and passport.
• It shall be mandatory for hospitals and medical institutions to provide a copy of all death certificates, stating the cause of death, to the local registrar apart from the relative of the deceased.
  • According to the Civil Registration System (CRS) report, the registration level of births for the country increased to 92.7% in 2019 from 82.0% in 2010 and that of registered deaths increased from 66.9% in 2010 to 92.0 % in 2019.
  • CRS is an online system for registration of births and deaths under the operational control of the RGI.

What is the Need for the Amendments?

• The draft amendments would enable the Registrar General of India (RGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to “maintain a database of registered birth and deaths at the national level”.
• The birth and death database at the national level that will be available with the RGI may be used to update the Population Register, the Electoral Register, and the Aadhar, ration card, passport and driving licence databases.
• If the amendments are implemented, the Centre could use the data to update the National Population Register (NPR) that was first prepared in 2010 and revised through door-to-door enumeration in 2015.
  • The NPR already has a database of 119 crore residents and under the Citizenship Rules, 2003, it is the first step towards the creation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC).

What is Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969?

• Registration of Births and Deaths in India is mandatory with the enactment of RBD, Act 1969 and is done as per the place of occurrence of the event.
• Under the RBD Act, it is the responsibility of the States to register births and deaths.
• State governments have set up facilities for registering births and deaths and keeping records.
• A Chief Registrar appointed in every State is the executive authority for implementation of the Act.
  • A hierarchy of officials at the district and lower levels do the work.
• The RGI, appointed under this Act, is responsible for coordinating and unifying the implementation of the RBD Act.

Rare Earth Metals

Context: Amid India's reliance on China for rare earth minerals imports, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has urged the government to encourage private mining in the sector and diversify supply sources.

• Though India has 6% of the world’s rare earth reserves, it only produces 1% of global output, and meets most of its requirements of such minerals from China.
• In 2018-19, for instance, 92% of rare earth metal imports by value and 97% by quantity were sourced from China.

What are the Suggestions of CII?

• CII suggested that an 'India Rare Earths Mission' be set up manned by professionals, similar to the India Semiconductor Mission, as a critical component of the Deep Ocean Mission.
• The industry group has also mooted making rare earth minerals a part of the ‘Make In India’ campaign, citing China’s ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative that focuses on new materials, including permanent magnets that are made using rare earth minerals.

What are Rare Earth Metals?

• They are a set of seventeen metallic elements. These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table in addition to scandium and yttrium that show similar physical and chemical properties to the lanthanides.
  • The 17 Rare Earths are cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y).
• These minerals have unique magnetic, luminescent, and electrochemical properties and thus are used in many modern technologies, including consumer electronics, computers and networks, communications, health care, national defense, clean energy technologies etc.
• Even futuristic technologies need these REEs.
  • For example, high-temperature superconductivity, safe storage and transport of hydrogen for a post-hydrocarbon economy etc.
• They are called 'rare earth' because earlier it was difficult to extract them from their oxides forms technologically.
• They occur in many minerals but typically in low concentrations to be refined in an economical manner.

How China Monopolised Rare Earths?

• China has over time acquired global domination of rare earths, even at one point, it produced 90% of the rare earths the world needs.
• Today, however, it has come down to 60% and the remaining is produced by other countries, including the Quad (Australia, India, Japan and United States).
• Since 2010, when China curbed shipments of Rare Earths to Japan, the US, and Europe, production units have come up in Australia, and the US along with smaller units in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
• Even so, the dominant share of processed Rare Earths lies with China.

What is India's Current Policy on Rare Earths?

• Exploration in India has been conducted by the Bureau of Mines and the Department of Atomic Energy. Mining and processing has been performed by some minor private players in the past, but is today concentrated in the hands of IREL (India) Limited (formerly Indian Rare Earths Limited), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Department of Atomic Energy.
• India has granted government corporations such as IREL a monopoly over the primary mineral that contains REEs: monazite beach sand, found in many coastal states.
• IREL produces rare earth oxides (low-cost, low-reward “upstream processes”), selling these to foreign firms that extract the metals and manufacture end products (high-cost, high-reward “downstream processes”) elsewhere.
• IREL’s focus is to provide thorium — extracted from monazite — to the Department of Atomic Energy.

What are the Related Steps taken?

Globally:

• The Multilateral Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) was announced in June 2022, with the goal of bringing together countries to build robust critical minerals supply chains needed for climate objectives.
• Involved in this partnership are the United States (US), Canada, Australia, Republic of Korea, Japan, and various European countries.
• India is not included in the partnership.

By India:

• Ministry of Mines has amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957 through the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 for giving boost to mineral production, improving ease of doing business in the country and increasing contribution of mineral production to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• The amendment act provides that no mine will be reserved for particular end-use.

Way Forward

• India must take lessons from other advanced economies on how they are planning to secure their mineral needs and attempt to join multinational fora on assuring critical mineral supply chains – or use existing partnerships, such as Quad and BIMSTEC, to foster such dialogues.
  • There must also be top-level decision making within the government to strategize on how to create vertically integrated supply chains of green technologies manufacturing, or we may be in serious danger of missing out on our climate change mitigation targets.
• India needs to create a new Department for Rare Earths (DRE), which would play the role of a regulator and enabler for businesses in this space.

State of the Climate in Asia 2021

Context: Recently, the State of the Climate in Asia 2021 report was published by the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

What are the Findings of the Report?

• Floods and storms accounted for 80% of the natural disasters that struck Asia in 2021.
  • Asian countries incurred financial losses worth USD 35.6 billion in 2021 because of natural disasters. Flooding was the event with “by far the greatest impact in Asia in terms of fatalities and economic damage.”
  • This showed that the economic impact of such disasters is on the rise compared to the average of the last twenty years.
• India suffered a total loss of USD 3.2 billion from flooding and the country faced heavy rains and flash floods during the monsoon season between June and September 2021.
  • These events resulted in about 1,300 casualties and damaged crops and properties.
  • The country was only second to China in the Asian continent in this regard.
• Similarly, storms also caused significant economic damage, especially in India (USD 4.4 billion), followed by China (USD 3 billion) and Japan (USD 2 billion).
  • During 2021, India experienced five cyclonic storms (Tauktae, Yaas, Gulab, Shaheen, Jawad) with maximum sustained wind speeds of ≥ 34 knots.
  • Additionally, in 2021, thunderstorms and lightning claimed around 800 lives in different parts of the country.

What are the Reasons for these Disasters?

• Arabian Sea and Kuroshio Current's Rapid Warming:
  • Due to the Arabian Sea and Kuroshio Current's rapid warming, these regions are warming three times faster than the average global upper-ocean temperature.
  • Ocean warming could contribute to sea level rise, alter storm paths and ocean currents and increase stratification.
  • Upper-ocean warming is important because it directly affects the atmosphere in terms of convection, winds, cyclones and so on.
  • The deep ocean does not affect the atmosphere directly.
  • The Arabian Sea is unique because it has pathways to receive excess heat through atmospheric tunnels and bridges and mixed warm water from various oceans is pumped into it.
  • But in the case of the Kuroshio Current system, the current system takes warm water from the tropics and stronger winds force more heat into the current.
• La Nina:
  • The last two years were also La Nina years and during this time, the pressure patterns set up in India go from North to South, which drives circulations from Eurasia and China.
  • This can cause excessive rainfall patterns over parts of India, particularly in the Southern Peninsular, which gets the Northeast monsoon. The excess last year was related to the La Nina pressure pattern.

What are the Suggestions?

• Investment in Adaptation:
  • In order to adapt to climate change, India would need to invest USD 46.3 billion annually (which amounts to 1.7% of India's GDP). Generally, comparison to the GDP reflects the capacity of a country to invest in adaptation.
  • Some adaptation priorities that require high investment include resilient infrastructure, improving dry land agriculture, resilient water infrastructure, multi-hazard early warning systems and nature-based solutions.
  • For coastal states of India with an increased risk of cyclone surges, nature-based solutions assume significance and protecting mangroves could help cushion the impact of storms.
• Adaptation Fund: India does not have a separate adaptation fund, but the money is embedded in several schemes by the agriculture, rural and environmental sectors. For example, flagship projects such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme, which had an annual budget of USD 13 billion in 2020, should address adaptation in disaster-prone areas.
  • Around 70% of its budget is marked to go into natural resource management and to build resilient infrastructure.

Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme

Context: Most economists advocate the conversion of all agricultural subsidies into direct income support i.e., Direct Benefit Transfer to farmers.

What is Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme?

• Aim: It has been visioned as an aid for simpler/faster flow of information and funds to the beneficiaries and to reduce the fraud in the delivery system.
• Implementation: It is a mission or an initiative by the government of India started on 1st January 2013 as a way to reform the government delivery system.
  • Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS), the earlier version of the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), of the Office of Controller General of Accounts, was chosen to act as the common platform for routing of the Direct Benefit Transfer.
• Components of DBT: Primary components in the implementation of DBT schemes include Beneficiary Account Validation System, a robust payment and reconciliation platform integrated with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Public & Private Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Cooperative Banks (core banking solutions of banks, settlement systems of RBI, Aadhaar Payment Bridge of NPCI) etc.
• Schemes under DBT: There are 310 Schemes from 53 Ministries under DBT. Some important schemes are:
  • Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, National Food Security Mission, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, PM KISAN, Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin, Atal Pension Yojana, National AYUSH Mission.
• Aadhaar not Mandatory: Aadhaar is not mandatory in DBT schemes. Since Aadhaar provides unique identity and is useful in targeting the intended beneficiaries, Aadhaar is preferred and beneficiaries are encouraged to have Aadhaar.

What are the Benefits of DBT?

• Expanded the Coverage of Services: In a mission-mode approach, it endeavoured to open bank accounts for all households, expanded Aadhaar to all and scaled up the coverage of banking and telecom services.
• Instant and Easy Money Transfer: It created the Aadhaar Payment Bridge to enable instant money transfers from the government to people’s bank accounts.
  • This approach not only allowed all rural and urban households to be uniquely linked under varied government schemes for receiving subsidies directly into their bank accounts but also transferred money with ease.
• Financial Assistance: In rural Bharat, DBT has allowed the government to provide financial assistance effectively and transparently to farmers with lower transaction costs – be it for fertilisers or any of the other schemes.
• Transfer of Funds & Social Security: In urban India, the PM Awas Yojana and LPG Pahal scheme successfully use DBT to transfer funds to eligible beneficiaries. Various scholarship schemes and the National Social Assistance Programme use the DBT architecture to provide social security.
• A Door to New Opportunities: DBT under rehabilitation programmes such as the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) opens new frontiers that enable social mobility of all sections of society.

What are the Issues Regarding DBT?

• Lack of Accessibility: One of the most prominent issues faced by citizens attempting to enroll is the lack of accessibility/proximity to enrolment points, unavailability, or erratic availability of officials/operators responsible for enrolment, etc.
• Shortage of Facilities: Still there are many rural & tribal areas, which don’t have banking facility and road connectivity. There is aslo a need for financial literacy which would enhance awareness among people.
• Uncertainties: Delays in accepting and pushing the applications forward. There is difficulty in procuring the required documentation and errors/issues found therein.
• Disruption in the Process: In terms of receiving money in their bank accounts through DBT, one of the most prominent issues is disruptions to payment schedule.
  • Reasons for disruptions could be spelling errors in Aadhaar details, pending KYC, frozen or inactive bank accounts, mismatch in Aadhaar and bank account details, etc.
• Lack of Beneficiaries: Various Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), the Telangana government’s Rythu Bandhu and Andhra Pradesh’s YSR Rythu Bharosa do not reach tenant farmers, i.e., those who undertake cultivation on leased land.

Way Forward

• Systemising Innovation: Empowering innovation system are some of the aspects that would require continued focus.
  • This would play a vital role for India in meeting the diverse needs of its population and ensuring balanced, equitable and inclusive growth.
• Availability: There is an urgent need to increase the accessibility of enrolment points for citizens across schemes, specifically in rural and peri-urban areas.
• A Common Body for All: A common grievance redress cell for all DBT schemes across tiers — State, district, and block to help the benficiers to resolve their issues.
• Leasing: It can help both tenant and reverse-tenant farmers operate consolidated holdings, while allowing owners to take up non-agricultural employment without risking loss of their lands.

Nai Chetna-Pahal Badlav Ki

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Urban Development launches the “Nai Chetna-Pahal Badlav Ki”- A Community-led National Campaign Against Gender-Based Discrimination.

• Kerala also launched the campaign under the umbrella of the Kudumbashree Mission.

What is the Nai Chetna-Pahal Badlav Ki Campaign?

• About: It is a four-week campaign, aiming at equipping women to recognise and prevent violence and making them aware of their rights. Activities will be centred on the theme of ‘Gender equality and gender-based violence.’
• Aim: This will be an annual campaign focussing on specific gender issues each year. The focus area of the campaign this year is gender-based violence.
• Implementing Agency: This campaign will be implemented by all states in collaboration with Civil Society Organisations (CSO) partners, and actively executed by all levels including the states, districts and blocks, engaging the community institutions along with the extended community.
• Significance: The campaign will bring together all line departments and stakeholders to create a concerted effort in acknowledging, identifying and addressing the issues of violence.

What is the Kudumbashree Mission?

• It is the poverty eradication and women empowerment programme implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) of the Government of Kerala.
• The name Kudumbashree in Malayalam language means ‘Prosperity of the Family’. The name represents ‘Kudumbashree Mission’ or SPEM as well as the Kudumbashree Community Network.

What is the National Rural Livelihoods Mission?

• About: It is known as “Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM)”. It is a centrally sponsored programme, launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in June 2011. The government accepted the recommendation of the Prof. Radhakrishna Committee and restructured “The Swarnjayanti Gram SwarozgarYojana (SGSY)” into “National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM)” in FY 2010-11.
• Aim: To reduce poverty by enabling the poor households to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in appreciable improvement in their livelihoods on a sustainable basis, through building strong grassroots institutions for the poor.
• Sub-Schemes:
  • MKSP: In order to promote agro-ecological practices that increase women farmers’ income and reduce their input costs and risks, the Mission has been implementing the Mahila Kisan Shashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP).
  • SVEP and AGEY: As part of its non-farm livelihoods strategy, DAY-NRLM is implementing Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) and Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY). SVEP aims to support entrepreneurs in rural areas to set up local enterprises. AGEY, launched in August 2017, to provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services to connect remote rural villages.
  • DDUGKY: Deendayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY) aims at building placement-linked skills of the rural youth and placing them in relatively higher-wage employment sectors of the economy.
  • RSETIs: The Mission, in partnership with 31 Banks and State Governments, is supporting Rural Self Employment Institutes (RSETIs) for skilling rural youth to take up gainful self-employment.

What are the Major Causes of Gender Based Violence?

• Social/Political/Cultural factors:
  • Discriminatory social, cultural or religious laws, norms and practices that marginalize women and girls and fail to respect their rights.
  • Gender stereotypes are often used to justify violence against women. Cultural norms often dictate that men are aggressive, controlling, and dominant, while women are docile, subservient, and rely on men as providers. These norms can foster a culture of outright abuse.
  • Collapse of family, social and communal structures and disrupted roles within the family often expose women and girls to risk and limit coping mechanisms and avenues for protection and redress.
• Judicial Barriers:
  • Lack of access to justice institutions and mechanisms, resulting in a culture of impunity for violence and abuse.
  • Lack of adequate and affordable legal advice and representation.
  • Lack of adequate victim/survivor and witness protection mechanisms.
  • lInadequate legal framework, including national, traditional, customary and religious law, that discriminates against women and girls.
• Individual Barriers:
  • Threat or fear of stigma, isolation and social exclusion and exposure to further violence at the hands of the perpetrator, the community or the authorities, including arrest, detention, ill-treatment and punishment.
  • Lack of information about human rights and on how and where to seek remedies.

What are the Impacts of Violence Against Women?

• It seriously affects all aspects of women’s health- physical, sexual and reproductive, mental and behavioural health, thus preventing them from realizing their full potential.
• Violence and threat of violence affects women’s ability to participate actively, and as equals, in many forms of social and political relationships
• Workplace harassment and domestic violence has an impact on women’s participation in the workforce and their economic empowerment.
• Sexual harassment limits the educational opportunities and achievements of girls.

What can be done to Eliminate Gender Based Violence?

• Gender Based Violence (GBV) can be eliminated through collective efforts of society, government and individuals.
• Training healthcare providers to recognize and respond to gender-based violence is one of the most important ways of identifying and assisting victims.
• The media is a key conduit for making GBV visible, advertising solutions, informing policy-makers and educating the public about legal rights and how to recognize and address GBV.
• School systems are instrumental to stopping GBV before it starts. Regular curricula, sexuality education, school counseling programs and school health services can all convey the message that violence is wrong and can be prevented.
• A number of studies have shown that involving entire communities in recognizing, addressing and working to prevent GBV is one of the surest ways of eliminating it.

India and Refugee Policy

Context: Recently, many Kuki-Chin refugees from Chittagong Hill Tract Area in Bangladesh entered Mizoram (India) fearing an attack from Bangladesh security forces against them.

• Mizoram Government expressed sympathy for the refugees, who belong to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo communities, and resolved to give temporary shelter, food and other relief as per convenience of the state government.

What Causes these Refugee Influx?

• The CHT (Chittagong Hill Tracts) is an impoverished hilly, forested area that sprawls over more than 13,000 sq km of the Khagrachari, Rangamati, and Bandarban districts of southeastern Bangladesh, bordering Mizoram to the east, Tripura to the north, and Myanmar to the south and southeast.
• A significant portion of the population is tribal, and culturally and ethnically different from the majority Muslim Bangladeshis who live in the country’s deltaic mainland.
• The tribal population of the CHT has ethnic links with tribal populations in the adjacent areas of India, mainly in Mizoram.
  • Mizoram shares a 318-km-long border with Bangladesh
• Mizoram is already playing host to about 30,000 refugees who have been fleeing fighting in Myanmar’s Chin state since around July-August 2021.

How are Refugees Protected in India?

• India ensures that refugees can access protection services that are on a par with their fellow Indian hosts.
• For those refugees registered directly by the Government such as those from Sri Lanka, they are entitled to Aadhaar cards and PAN cards to enable their economic and financial inclusion.
  • They can have access to national welfare schemes and contribute effectively to the Indian economy.
• However, for those registered with UNHCR, such as refugees from Afghanistan, Myanmar and other countries, while they have access to protection and limited assistance services, they do not possess government-issued documentation.
  • Thus, they are unable to open bank accounts and don’t get benefit from all government welfare schemes, and are thus inadvertently left behind.

What is India’s Refugee Policy?

• India lacks specific legislation to address the problem of refugees, in spite of their increasing inflow.
• India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the key legal documents pertaining to refugee protection.
  • However, India has had a stellar record on the issue of refugee protection. India has a moral tradition for assimilating foreign people and culture.
• Moreover, the Foreigners Act, 1946, fails to address the peculiar problems faced by refugees as a class.
  • It also gives unbridled power to the Central government to deport any foreign citizen.
• Further, the constitution of India also respects the life, liberty, and dignity of human beings.
  • The Supreme Court in the National Human Rights Commission vs. State of Arunachal Pradesh (1996) held that “while all rights are available to citizens, persons including foreign citizens are entitled to the right to equality and the right to life, among others.”
• Further, Article 21 of the Constitution encompasses the right of non-refoulement.
  • Non-refoulement is the principle under international law which states that a person fleeing persecution from his own country should not be forced to return to his own country.

What is the Status of Refugees in India?

• Since its independence, India has accepted various groups of refugees from neighbouring countries, including:
• Partition refugees from Pakistan in 1947.
• Tibetan refugees that arrived in 1959.
• Chakma and Hajong from present day Bangladesh in early 1960s.
  • Other Bangladeshi refugees in 1965 and 1971.
• Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from the 1980s.
• Most recently Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, 2022.

Why Hasn’t India Framed a Law on Refugees Yet?

• Refugees vs Immigrants: In the recent past, many people from neighboring countries tend to illegally immigrate to India, not because of state persecution but in search of better economic opportunities in India.
  • While the reality is that much of the debate in the country is about illegal immigrants, not refugees, the two categories tend to get bunched together.
• Open Scope of Maneuver: Absence of legislation has allowed India to keep its options open on the question of refugees. The government can declare any set of refugees as illegal immigrants.
  • This was the case that has happened with Rohingya (they are stateless, Indo-Aryan ethnic group who reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar), despite the UNHCR verification, the government decided to deal with them as trespassers under the Foreigners Act or the Indian Passport Act.

What is the Current Legislative Framework to Handle Refugees?

• Foreigners Act of 1946: Under Section 3, the Central government is empowered to detect, detain and deport illegal foreign nationals.
• Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 : Under Section 5, authorities can remove an illegal foreigner by force under Article 258(1) of the Constitution of India.
• Registration of Foreigners Act of 1939: Under this, there is a mandatory requirement under which all foreign nationals (excluding overseas citizens of India) visiting India on a long-term visa (more than 180 days) is required to register themselves with a Registration Officer within 14 days of arriving in India.
• Citizenship Act, 1955: It provided provisions for renunciation, termination, and deprivation of citizenship.
• Further, Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) seeks to provide citizenship only to Hindu, Christian, Jain, Parsi, Sikh, and Buddhist immigrants persecuted in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

What is the Difference Between Refugees and Migrants?

• Refugees are people outside their countries of origin who are in need of international protection because of a serious threat to their life, physical integrity or freedom in their country of origin as a result of persecution, armed conflict, violence or serious public disorder.
  • Migrants leave their country because they want to work, study or join a family.
• There are well-defined and specific grounds, which have to be satisfied before a person can qualify to be a ‘refugee’
  • There is no internationally accepted legal definition of a migrant.

Way Forward

• Model laws on asylum and refugees that were drafted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) decades ago but not implemented by the government could be revised by an expert committee.
  • If such laws are enacted, it would give legal sanctity and uniformity, ensuring the protection of human rights.
• If India had domestic legislation regarding refugees, it could have deterred any oppressive government in the neighborhood to persecute their population and make them flee to India.
• Protection of women and child refugees from violence and harassment by authorities or local residents in consonance with Fundamental Duty enshrined in our Constitution.
• Article 51A (e) enjoins upon every citizen to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.

First E-collectorate in Bihar

Context: Saharsa became the first district in Bihar to be declared paperless (e-office) with an aim to end the Great Indian Red Tape.

What is an e-Office Initiative?

• E-Office is a Mission-Mode project as part of e-Governance Initiatives.
• The e-office initiative goes back to 2009, but the towering piles of paperwork were–and still are–a hurdle too high to cross.
  • Idukki in Kerala became paperless in 2012 and Hyderabad in 2016.
• It aims to significantly improve the operational efficiency of Government Ministries and Departments through improvement in the workflow mechanism and office procedure manuals.

What is Red Tape?

• It is a derisive term for excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making.
• It is usually applied to the government but can also be applied to other organisations like corporations.
• It generally includes the filling out of seemingly unnecessary paperwork, obtaining of unnecessary licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one’s affairs slower and/or more difficult.

What are the Consequences of Red Tapism?

• Increased Cost of Doing Business:
  • In addition to time and money spent filling out forms, red tape reduces productivity and innovation in businesses.
  • Small businesses are particularly burdened by this and may discourage people from starting up a new business.
• Poor Governance:
  • Because of red tape, contracts are not enforced consistently, and administration is delayed, resulting in delayed justice, especially for the poor. The burden of red tape requirements prevents many to enjoy their rights due to delayed governance and delayed distribution of welfare measures.
• Citizen Dissatisfaction:
  • The delays caused by government processing and the costs associated with them remain a source of dissatisfaction among citizens. Red Tapism leads to a sense of loss of trust in the government's process most of the time, leaving citizens with unresolved problems.
• Delay in Scheme Implementation:
  • Each new government scheme is met with red tape that eventually kills the larger objective for which it was launched.
  • Lack of proper monitoring, delayed release of funds, etc., are common associated issues connected to Red Tapism.
• Corruption:
  • According to a World Bank study, corruption increases with increasing red tape.
  • By complicating the normal flow of businesses, bureaucracy breeds corruption and lowers growth.

What is the Need to End Red Tape?

• Bring Efficiency:
  • Digitisation can help in bringing efficiency, transparency and accountability.
• Increased Employee Productivity:
  • It has increased employee productivity and reduced the number of workers required to process one file since files are processed within a day.
  • In the government system, it is said that the faster a file moves, the faster a policy will be implemented.
• Bring Accountability:
  • The online system has also brought in more accountability and staff members cannot sit on files for days on end.
• A Step towards Good Governance:
  • Technology is the first step towards good governance and a corruption-free system.
  • The more technology we implement, the easier our service delivery will be to the public.

Way Forward

• With a bottom-up approach of planning through separate urban-rural level socio-economic databases, there is a need for a holistic and Integrated approach from government ministries that includes identifying, evaluating, formulating, implementing and redressing data driven policies to meet the needs of the population at the earliest.
• E-Governance needs to transform all levels of Government, but the focus should be on local governments since local governments are the closest to citizens, and constitute for many, the main interface with government.
• Special attention should be given to improve digital infrastructure especially in rural areas along with better internet connectivity.
  • E-Governance through regional languages is appreciable for nations like India where people from several linguistic backgrounds are the participants.