Social Issues: January 2022 Current Affairs - CLAT PDF Download

1. Recognition of Transgender

Persons in Indian Prisons Recently, the Union Home Ministry sent an advisory to Heads of Prisons in the States/UTs to ensure privacy, dignity of the third gender inmates.

• According to a National Crime Records Bureau, there were 70 transgender prisoners in jails across the country in 2020. 
• The advisory was issued in light of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which came into effect from January 2020. Key Points 
• Infrastructure in Prisons: Separate enclosures or wards and separate toilets and shower facilities for transmen and transwomen to preserve the right to privacy and dignity of the inmates.
• Respect Self-identity: The self-identity of transgender persons must be respected at all times while conducting admission procedures, medical examination, frisking, clothing, requisitioning of a police escort, treatment and care inside prisons. Prisons to facilitate the process of acquiring the transgender identity certificate under the transgender persons law if such a request is made. 
• Search Protocol: Searches should be carried out by a person of their preferred gender or by a trained medical professional or a paramedic trained in conducting searches. The person conducting the search must ensure the safety, privacy and dignity of the person being searched. 
• Admission in Prison: The prison admission register may be suitably revised to include “transgender” as a category other than male and female gender. A similar provision may be made in the Prison Management System in maintaining electronic records. 
• Access to Healthcare: Transgender inmates should have equal right to healthcare, without any discrimination on grounds of their gender identity. 
• Communication with outside World: They must be allowed an opportunity to interact with their family members, relatives, friends and legal advisers and after-care planning by probation, welfare or rehabilitation officers. 
• Training and Sensitisation of Prison Personnel: It should be done for developing an understanding of gender identity, human rights, sexual orientation and legal frameworks for transgender persons. Similar awareness must also be spread among other prisoners. Major Initiatives Related to Transgender 
• Transgender Persons Act, 2019: The Act defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth. It includes transmen and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as kinnar and hijra 
• Judgements of the Supreme Court: National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India, 2014: The SC declared transgender people to be a ‘third gender’. Read down the Provisions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (2018): The SC decriminalised same-sex relationships. 
• Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020: The Central Government made the rules under the powers conferred by the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. National Portal for Transgender Persons was launched under in consonance with the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020. 
• Scheme of ‘Shelter Home for Transgender Persons: To provide safe and secure shelter to transgender persons in need, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is setting up ‘Garima Greh’ shelter homes for them. Prisons Act and Transpersons 
• In India, the Prisons Act, 1894, is the central legislation regulating the administration of prisons. 
• The Act majorly differentiates prisoners convicted under civil law from those convicted under criminal law. 
• Unfortunately, the Act does not even recognise sexual minorities based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) as a different class of prisoners. 
• It only separates prisoners into the categories of women, young offenders, undertrials, convicts, civil prisoners, detenues and high-security prisoners. 
• The NALSA judgment, while extending constitutional protection to trans persons under Articles 14, 15, and 21, directs states to make policies on their legal and socio-economic rights. 
• This extends to trans prisoners as well, since prisons and their administration is a state subject. 
• Even though the directions given in the NALSA judgment constitute the law of the land, there is still a requirement to bring forth changes in the present laws. 
• The Prisons Act, however, allows the prison authorities to follow procedures that are strictly gender-binary. 
• These procedures not only challenge the validity of the legislation but also result in a kind of torture and degrading treatment being inflicted upon trans people inside prisons. 
• All of this is substantiated by a report titled ‘Lost Identity: Transgender Persons Inside Indian Prisons‘ by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). This report sheds light on issues faced by Transgender persons confined in Indian prisons. 

2. Faecal Sludge and Septage Management

According to the NITI Aayog report Faecal sludge and septage management in urban areas, Service and business models, by 2021 more than 700 cities/towns are in various stages of Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) implementation.

Key Points

• Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM).

About

• India has recognized the gaps in sanitation coverage and embarked purposefully to address them, becoming one of the first countries to announce a national policy on FSSM in 2017. 
• FSSM prioritizes human excreta management, a waste stream with the highest potential for spreading diseases. 
• It is a low-cost and easily scalable sanitation solution that focuses on safe collection, transportation, treatment, and reuse of human waste. 
• As a result, FSSM promises a means to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target 6.2 of adequate and inclusive sanitation for all in a time bound manner. Related Initiatives: 
• India has continued to show its commitment towards FSSM through the launch of Open Defecation-Free (ODF) + and ODF++ protocols, an emphasis on FSSM in Swachh Survekshan, as well as financial allocations for FSSM across 
• Capacity of India’s Sewage Treatment Plants: According to the latest report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in India are able to treat a little more than a third of the sewage generated per day. India generated 72,368 MLD (million litres per day) whereas the installed capacity of STPs was 31,841 MLD (43.9%). 5 states and Union Territories (UT) - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka - account for 60% of the total installed treatment capacity of the country. 
• Issues with Solid Waste Management: Absence of segregation of waste at source. Lack of funds for waste management at Urban Local Bodies (ULB). Lack of technical expertise and appropriate institutional arrangement. Unwillingness of ULBs to introduce proper collection, segregation, transportation and treatment/disposal systems. Indifference of citizens towards waste management due to lack of awareness. Lack of community participation towards waste management and hygienic conditions.

Faecal Sludge management

3. Prohibition Laws and Issues

Recently, the Bihar Government has decided to use Drones to monitor illegal liquor manufacturing. This has initiated the debate of the utility of using physical and financial resources to implement the provisions of the prohibition act. 

Key Points 

About

• Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. 
• Constitutional Provisions: Article 47 The Directive Principle in the Constitution of India states that “The state shall undertake rules to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health”. 
• State Subject: Alcohol is a subject in the State list under the seventh schedule of the Indian Constitution. 
• Other Prohibition Acts in India: Bombay Abkari Act, 1878: The first hint at the prohibition of liquor was through the Bombay Abkari Act, 1878 (in the Province of Bombay). This Act dealt with levying of duties on intoxicants, among other things and aspects of prohibition via amendments made in 1939 and 1947. 
• Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949: There were “many lacuna” in the Bombay Abkari Act, 1878, from the point of view of the government’s decision to enforce prohibition. This led to the birth of Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949. The Supreme Court(SC) upheld the Act broadly barring a few sections in 1951 in the judgment of State of Bombay and another versus FN Balsara. 
• Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949: Gujarat adopted the prohibition policy in 1960 and subsequently chose to enforce it with greater rigidity, but also made processes easier for foreign tourists and visitors to get liquor permits. In 2011, the Act was renamed as Gujarat Prohibition Act. In 2017, the Gujarat Prohibition (Amendment) Act was passed with provision of up to ten years jail for manufacturing, purchase, sale and transportation of liquor in the dry state. 
• Bihar Prohibition Act, 2016: The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act was brought into effect in 2016. Over 3.5 lakh people have been arrested under the stringent prohibition law since 2016 leading to crowded jails and clogged courts. 
• Other States: Alcohol prohibition in India is in force in the states of Mizoram, Nagaland as well as in the union territory of Lakshadweep Arguments against Prohibition of Liquor: The Right of Privacy: Any invasion by the state in an individual’s right to choice of food and beverage amounts to an unreasonable restriction and destroys the individual’s decisional and bodily autonomy. Right to privacy has been held as a fundamental right by the Supreme Court in several judgments since 2017. 
• Aggravate the Sense of Violence: Various research and studies have shown that alcohol tends to aggravate the sense of violence. Most of the domestic violence crimes against women and children are committed behind closed doors. 
• Loss of Revenue: Tax revenues from alcohol is a major part of any government’s revenues. These enable the government to finance several public welfare schemes. Absence of these revenues may severely impacts state’s ability to run public welfare programmes. 
• Source of Employment: Today, the Indian Made Foreign Liquors (IMFL) industry contributes over 1 lakh crore in taxes every year. It supports the livelihood of lakhs of farming families and provides direct and indirect employment to lakhs of workers employed in the industry. 
• Arguments in Favour of Liquor Prohibition: Impact on Livelihoods: Alcohol denudes family resources and reserves and leaves women and children as its most vulnerable victims. A social stigma at least as far as the family unit is concerned is still attached to the consumption of alcohol. 
• Discourage Regular Consumption: Strict state regulation is imperative to discourage regular and excessive consumption of alcohol. As the prohibition is mentioned in the State List under Schedule Seven, it is the duty of the state to make provisions related to prohibition.

4. Guidelines for Universal Accessibility

Recently, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) released the new Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021.

• The new rules envisage changes from the design plan to the implementation. Apart from this, various aspects of the built environment have been covered under the new guidelines for universal accessibility. Earlier, in 2021 the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had issued draft guidelines for new accessibility standards. 
• Central Public Works Department of India The Central Public Works Department of India (CPWD), is a premier Central Government authority in charge of public sector works. It comes under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). It deals with buildings, roads, bridges, flyovers, complicated structures like stadiums, auditoriums, laboratories, bunkers, border fencing, border roads (hill roads), etc. It was established by Lord Dalhousie in 1854. 

Key Points 

• About the New Guidelines: The guidelines are a revision of the Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier-Free Built Environment for Persons with Disabilities and Elderly Persons released in 2016. 
• Earlier, the guidelines were for creating a barrierfree environment, but now we are focusing on universal accessibility. Universal Accessibility refers to the degree to which the environment, products, and services are accessible to people with disabilities. The term barrier-free design used to describe the effort of removing physical barriers from the “built environment” for people with disabilities. 
• The guidelines are not just for Persons with Disabilities (PwD), but for those involved in planning projects, from the construction of government buildings to master-planning cities. € Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). 
• Constitutional and Legal Framework for Disabled People: Article 14: The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. In this context, Persons with Disabilities should have similar and equal rights in the eyes of the Constitution. 
• UN Convention the Right of Persons with Disabilities: India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention the Right of Persons with Disabilities, which came into force in 2007. The Convention recognizes accessibility as a human right and requires signatories to adopt appropriate measures to ensure access by persons with disabilities. 
• Accessible India Campaign: The ‘Accessible India Campaign’ also known as the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan to enable Persons with disabilities to gain universal access, equal opportunity for development. The campaign seeks to enhance accessibility by making significant changes to the infrastructure, information and communication systems. 
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: The Government of lndia enacted The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which is the principal and comprehensive legislation concerning persons with disabilities. The Act defines the responsibilities of the Central and State governments with regard to the services for persons with disabilities. The Act also recommends creating a barrierfree environment by removing all types of discrimination against persons with disabilities where they can share the development benefits which a normal person enjoys. 
• Other Related Initiatives: Deen Dayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme National Fellowship for Students with Disabilities. Unique Disability Identification Project International Day of Persons with Disabilities Disability About: Disability is a term associated with some specially-abled people who sustain a condition that prevents him/her from doing things in the same way as the other people around him. 

Types of Disability 

• Intellectual disability: A person having an intellectual disability (ID) is seen to have low intelligence or rational ability which is evident in their lack of skills for the basic day to day activities. 
• Neurological and Cognitive Disorders: People acquire this type of disability throughout their lifetime, either by a bad brain injury or multiple sclerosis. In multiple sclerosis, the cells in a body are attacked by its immune system, thus creating a problem in communication between a body and its brain.
• Physical Disability: It is the most common type of disability found among specially- abled people. These issues can range from the circulatory system to the nervous system and also the respiratory system. Cerebral palsy is one such disability that happens because of brain damage and results in problems in movement. The symptoms of such a disability can be seen from birth. 
• Psychiatric Disability: Such disorders in a person give rise to anxiety disorders, depression, or various kinds of phobias in a person.