Polity & Governance: March 2022 Current Affairs - UPSC PDF Download

National Strategy and Roadmap for Medical and Wellness Tourism

Why in News?
Recently, the Ministry of Tourism has formulated a National Strategy and Roadmap for Medical and Wellness Tourism.

• The policy envisages promoting India as a Medical Value Travel (MVT) and Wellness destination.

What is Medical and Wellness Tourism?

• Medical & Wellness tourism may be defined as ‘activities related to travel and hosting a foreign tourist who stays at least one night at the destination region for the purpose of maintaining, improving or restoring health through medical intervention’ . 

What are the Key Points of the Roadmap?

• Mission: To create a robust framework and synergy amongst the Ministries of Central Government and State Governments and Private Sector for promoting India as a Medical Value Travel (MVT) and Wellness destination.
• New Agency: For this, a new National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board will be created as Minister of Tourism as its Chairman.
  It will provide a dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of Wellness & Medical Tourism.
• Key Strategic Pillars: The Strategy has identified the following key pillars:
  (i)  Develop a brand for India as a wellness destination.  Strengthen the ecosystem for medical and wellness tourism.
  (ii) Enable digitalization by setting up Online MVT Portal.
  (iii) Enhancement of accessibility for MVT.
  (iv) Promoting Wellness Tourism.
  (v) Governance and Institutional Framework.

What are the Steps taken for the Promotion of Medical and Wellness Tourism?

• The Ministry of Tourism, releases global print, electronic and online media campaigns in important and potential markets overseas, under the ‘Incredible India’ brand line.
• ‘Medical Visa’ has been introduced, which can be given for specific purposes to foreign travellers coming to India for medical treatment. ‘E- Medical Visa’ and ‘E-Medical Attendant Visa’ have also been introduced for 156 countries.
• The Ministry of Tourism provides financial Assistance under Market Development Assistance Scheme to Medical Tourism Service Providers accredited by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) for participation in Medical/ Tourism activities.

What are Other Major Schemes of the Ministry of Tourism?

• Iconic Tourist Sites Initiative
• DekhoApnaDesh Campaign
• PRASHAD Scheme
• Swadesh Darshan Scheme

Way Forward

• ‘One India One Tourism’ Approach: Tourism encompasses multiple ministries and takes place in and within many states and thus requires collective efforts and cooperation with centre and other states.
• Promoting Ease of Tourism: To truly ensure a seamless tourist transportation experience we need to standardise all interstate road taxes and make them payable at a single point which will facilitate the ease of doing business.

Representation of Women in Judiciary

Why in News?
Recently, the Chief Justice of India raised concerns about the lack of women among High Court judges.

• He made this remark while addressing an event on the occasion of the International Day of Women Judges (10th March).

What is the International Day of Women Judges?

1. About

• United Nations General Assembly Resolution 75/274 designated 10th March the International Day of Women Judges in 2021.
• India was among the nations that sponsored the resolution, which was moved by Qatar.

2. Significance

• The day aims to recognise the efforts and contributions being made by women judges.
• The day also empowers young women and girls who aspire to become judges and leaders in the community.
• Combating gender disparity in the judicial services will also help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
• SDG Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

What is the State of Women in Judiciary?

• In high courts, the percentage of women judges is a mere 11.5%, while in the Supreme Court there are four sitting women judges out of 33 in office.
• The situation of women lawyers in the country is not any better. Out of 1.7 million advocates registered, only 15% are women.

What are the Reasons for Low Women Representatives?

• Patriarchy in Society:  The primary reason for underrepresentation of women in judiciary is deeply ingrained patriarchy in society.
• Women often have to face hostile atmospheres within courtrooms. Harassment, lack of respect from members of the bar and bench, the silencing of their opinions, are some of the other traumatic experiences often recounted by many women lawyers.
• Opaque Collegium System Functioning: More women tend to enter the lower judiciary at the entry level because of the method of recruitment through an entrance examination.

 However, the higher judiciary has a collegium system, which has tended to be more opaque and, therefore, more likely to reflect bias. Recently, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended 192 candidates for the High Courts,

out of these, 37, that is 19%, were women. But Unfortunately, so far only 17 of the 37 women recommended were appointed.

• No Women Reservation: Many states have a reservation policy for women in the lower judiciary, which is missing in the High Courts and Supreme Court.  States such as Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Rajasthan have benefited from such reservation as they now have 40-50% women judicial officers.
• However, the Bill for giving 33% reservation to women in Parliament and state legislatures has not been passed till date, despite all major political parties publicly supporting it.
• Familial Responsibilities: Factors of age and family responsibilities also affect the elevation of women judges from the subordinate judicial services to the higher courts.
• Not Enough Women in Litigation: Since lawyers elevated from the bar to the bench form a significant proportion of judges in the high courts and Supreme Court, it is worth noting that the number of women advocates is still low, reducing the pool from which women judges can be selected.
• Judicial Infrastructure: Judicial infrastructure, or the lack of it, is another barrier to women in the profession. Small courtrooms which are crowded and cramped, absence of restrooms, and childcare facilities are all barriers.
• No Serious Attempt:  No serious attempt has been made during the past 70 years to give adequate representation to women either in the high courts or in the Supreme Court.
• In India, women constitute about 50% of the total population and a large number of women are available in the Bar and in the judicial services for elevation but, in spite of that, the number of women judges is small.

What is the Significance of High Women Representation?

• Motivates More Women to Seek Justice: Higher numbers, and greater visibility, of women judges can increase the willingness of women to seek justice and enforce their rights through the courts.  Though not true in all cases, having a judge who is the same gender as litigant, can play a role in setting the litigant’s mind at ease.
  For instance, think of a transgender woman as a judge listening to the case of other trans women. That would inspire confidence in the litigant, as well.
• Different Point of Views: It is definitely valuable to have representation of various marginalities in the judiciary because of their different lived experiences. Diversity on the bench would definitely bring in alternative and inclusive perspectives to statutory interpretations.
• Increase Judicial Reasoning: Increased judicial diversity enriches and strengthens the ability of judicial reasoning to encompass and respond to varied social contexts and experiences.
  This can improve justice sector responses to the needs of women and marginalized groups.

Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav

Why in News?
Recently, the government launched a nation-wide campaign called Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav on the eve of the International Women’s Day (8th March).

• The aim of the campaign is to bring back four lakh out-of-school adolescent girls in the 11-14 years age group into the education system.

What are the Key Points of the Campaign?

• Aim: The project aims to work on a complete system for out-of-school girls by building on existing schemes and programmes such as Schemes for Adolescent Girls (SAG), BetiBachaoBetiPadhao (BBBP), and National Education Policy (NEP).
• Implementing Agency: The campaign is being steered by the Ministry of Women And Child Development in partnership with the Ministry of Education.
• Implementation: The campaign focuses on convergence and coordination between ministries, departments and states.
  The campaign will be implemented as part of the BBBP project, with the primary beneficiaries being over 4,00,000 out-of-school adolescent girls.  Over 400 districts across all states will be funded under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme for grassroots level outreach and awareness generation to sensitise communities and families to enrol adolescent girls in schools.
  Further, funding from Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, and Anganwadi workers (AWWs) will be further incentivised for counseling and referring out of school adolescent girls.
• Data to be Collected: It strives to collect data on outof-school girls, based on their visits to anganwadi centres for nutrition, nutrition education and skilling.
• Significance: Bringing out-of-school girls back to the education system has been the target since the Right to Education Act was enacted (2009).
• Need: The need has arisen because the Scheme For Adolescent Girls (SAG), which initially took care of out-of-school girls, was getting less traction.

Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana

Why in News?
The Centre has approved the continuation of the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana (SSSY), under which freedom fighters and their eligible dependents are given pension and other financial benefits, till 2025-26.

What are the Key Points?

1. Background:

 The Government of India introduced the ‘ExAndaman Political Prisoners Pension Scheme’ in 1969 to honor the freedom fighters who had been incarcerated in the Cellular Jail at Port Blair.  In 1972, to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Independence, a regular scheme for grant of freedom fighters’ pension was introduced.  Since 1980, a liberalized scheme, namely the ‘Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, 1980’ has been implemented.
From the financial year 2017-18 onwards, the nomenclature of the Scheme has been changed as ‘Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana’.
The amount of pension has been revised from time to time and Dearness Relief has also been given since 2016.

2. About the Scheme
The scheme provides for a monthly Samman Pension to freedom fighters, as a token of respect for their contribution in the national freedom struggle. On their demise, pension is provided to their eligible dependents viz. spouses and thereafter, unmarried and unemployed daughters and

dependent parents, as per prescribed eligibility norms and procedure.  It is implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Freedom Fighters Division).  There are 23,566 beneficiaries across the country covered under this scheme

Guardianship of Minors

Why in News?

Recently, a Public interest Litigation (PIL) in Madras High Court sought that all documents must also require the mother’s name to be mentioned along with the father’s.

• In the recent past, there have been changes to the rules for Passport and Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards that allow an applicant to furnish their mother’s name if she is a single parent.
• But this continues to be an annoying issue when it comes to school certificates and a lot of other documents that insist on the father’s name as the guardian.
• PAN is a means of identifying various taxpayers in the country.

What are the Rules for Issuing Passports and PAN cards to those with Single Parents?

• Passports: In December, 2016, the Ministry of External Affairs liberalised its rules for the issuance of passports and took a number of steps.  Certain changes were made following the recommendations of a three-member committee comprising the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Women and Child Development that examined various concerns pertaining to passports for children after a divorce or in case of adoptions.
  Following the changes, applicants could provide the name of either parent instead of providing details of both the father and mother.
  The new passport application form also does not require the applicant to provide the name of her or his spouse when they are divorced and neither are they required to provide the divorce decree.
• PAN: In November 2018, the Central Board of Direct Taxes amended Income Tax Rules, 1962, so that the father’s name was not mandatory when a mother was a single parent. The new PAN application form also seeks the mother’s name alongside the father’s.
  Applicants can also choose whether they want their father’s name on the PAN card or their mother’s name.

What do the guardianship laws in the country say?

• Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act: Indian laws accord superiority to the father in case of guardianship of a minor (below the age of 18 years). Under the religious law of Hindus, or the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, (HMGA) 1956, the natural guardian of a Hindu minor in respect of the minor’s person or property “is the father, and after him, the mother.
• Provided the custody of a minor who has not completed the age of five years shall ordinarily be with the mother.”
• Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937:  It says that the Shariat or the religious law will apply in case of guardianship according to which the father is the natural guardian, but custody vests with the mother until the son reaches the age of seven and the daughter reaches puberty though the father’s right to general supervision and control exists. 
• The concept of Hizanat in Muslim law states that the welfare of the child is above all else.  This is the reason why Muslim law gives preference to the mother over father in the matter of custody of children in their tender years.
• Supreme Court Judgement: The Supreme Court’s landmark judgement in Githa Hariharan v. The Reserve Bank of India in 1999 provided partial relief.
  In this case, the HMGA was challenged for violating the guarantee of equality of sexes under Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
• Article 14 says that no person shall be denied treatment of equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. The court held that the term “after” should not be taken to mean “after the lifetime of the father “, but rather “in the absence of the father”. But the judgement failed to recognise both parents as equal guardians, subordinating a mother’s role to that of the father.
  Though the judgement sets a precedent for courts, it has not led to an amendment to the HMGA.
• Law Commission of India: The Law Commission of India in its 257th report on “Reforms in Guardianship and Custody Laws in India” in May 2015 recommended that:
• The “superiority of one parent over the other should be removed.
• Both the mother and the father should be regarded, simultaneously, as the natural guardians of a minor.”
• The HMGA should be amended to “constitute both the father and the mother as being natural guardians ‘jointly and severally,’ having equal rights in respect of a minor and his property.”

What is the Major Concern?

• Though courts may tend to grant custody of a child following marital dispute to the mother, guardianship rests primarily with the father in the law and this contradiction highlights that mothers are perceived as caregivers, but not as decision makers for children.

Way Forward

• Various Government departments must proactively amend their rules to ensure that they are in sync with the Githa Hariharan judgement as amending laws can be a challenging exercise.
• Until that happens individuals will have to continue to flock courts to seek relief.

Democracy Report 2022

Why in News?
According to the latest report from the V-Dem Institute at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg, the level of democracy enjoyed by the average global citizen in 2021 is down to 1989 levels, with the democratic gains of the post-Cold War period eroding rapidly in the last few years.

• The Report is titled ‘Democracy Report 2022: Autocratisation Changing Nature?’.
• Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) produces the largest global dataset on democracy with over 30 million data points for 202 countries from 1789 to 2021.
• Earlier, the Global State of Democracy Report, 2021 was released by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International-IDEA).

What Parameters were used to Assess the Status of a Democracy?

• The report classifies countries into four regime types based on their score in the Liberal Democratic Index (LDI):  Liberal Democracy, Electoral Democracy, Electoral Autocracy, and Closed Autocracy.
• The LDI captures both liberal (individual and minority rights) and electoral aspects (free and fair elections) of a democracy based on 71 indicators that make up the Liberal Component Index (LCI) and the Electoral Democracy Index (EDI).
• The LCI measures aspects such as protection of individual liberties and legislative constraints on the executive, while the EDI considers indicators that guarantee free and fair elections such as freedom of expression and freedom of association. In addition, the LDI also uses an Egalitarian Component Index (to what extent different social groups are equal), Participatory Component Index (health of citizen groups, civil society organisations), and Deliberative Component Index (whether political decisions are taken through public reasoning focused on common good or through emotional appeals, solidarity attachments, coercion).

What are the Main Findings of the Report?

• Top Performance
  Sweden topped the LDI index, other Scandinavian countries such as Denmark and Norway, along with Costa Rica and New Zealand make up the top five in liberal democracy rankings.
• India’s Performance
  India is part of a broader global trend of an anti-plural political party driving a country’s autocratisation.  It was ranked 93rd in the LDI, India figures in the “bottom 50%” of countries. It has slipped further down in the Electoral Democracy Index, to 100, and even lower in the Deliberative Component Index, at 102.
  In South Asia, India is ranked below Sri Lanka (88), Nepal (71), and Bhutan (65) and above Pakistan (117) in the LDI.
• Spreading Autocratisation
  Autocratisation is spreading rapidly, with a record of 33 countries autocratising.  Signaling a sharp break from an average of 1.2 coups per year, 2021 saw a record 6 coups, resulting in 4 new autocracies: Chad, Guinea, Mali and Myanmar.  While the number of liberal democracies stood at 42 in 2012, their number has shrunk to their lowest level in over 25 years, with just 34 countries and 13% of the world population living in liberal democracies. Closed autocracies, or dictatorships, rose from 25 to 30 between 2020 and 2021.
• Electoral Autocracy Most Common Regime Type
  The world today has 89 democracies and 90 autocracies, electoral autocracy remains the most common regime type, accounting for 60 countries and 44% of the world population or 3.4 billion people.
  Electoral democracies were the second most common regime, accounting for 55 countries and 16% of the world population.

What does the report say about the Changing Nature of Autocratisation?

• Biggest Drivers of Autocratisation: One of the biggest drivers of autocratisation is “toxic polarisation”.
• Polarisation has been defined as a phenomenon that erodes respect of counter-arguments and associated aspects of the deliberative component of democracy.
• It is a dominant trend in 40 countries, as opposed to 5 countries that showed rising polarisation in 2011.
• Toxic levels of polarisation contribute to electoral victories of anti-pluralist leaders and the empowerment of their autocratic agendas.
• Noting that “polarisation and autocratisation are mutually reinforcing”, the report states that “measures of polarisation of society, political polarisation, and political parties’ use of hate speech tend to systematically rise together to extreme levels.”
• Tools used to Sharpen Polarisation: “Misinformation” has been identified as a key tool deployed by autocratising governments to sharpen polarisation and shape domestic and international opinion.  Repression of civil society and censorship of media were other favoured tools of autocratising regimes.
• While freedom of expression declined in a record 35 countries in 2021, with only 10 showing improvement, repression of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) worsened in 44 countries over the past ten years, “putting it at the very top of the indicators affected by autocratisation”.
• Also, in 37 countries, direct government control over CSOs’ existence moved in an authoritarian direction — “evidence of the far-ranging weakening of civil society around the world.”
• Decisive autonomy for the Electoral Management Body (EMB) deteriorated in 25 countries

Brahmaputra (NW2) gets connected with Ganga (NW1)

Why in News?
Recently, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways received the maiden voyage of food-grains from Patna to Pandu port via Bangladesh in Guwahati (Assam).

• Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is planning to run a fixed schedule sailing between NW1 and NW2 heralding a new age of inland water transport for Assam & the Northeast India.
• The Inland Vessels Bill, 2021, was also approved to regulate safety, security and registration of inland vessels.

What is the Significance of this Achievement?

• The start of cargo movement through ships through Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBRP) marks the beginning of a new age of economic prosperity for the whole region of Northeast.
• This will pave the way for growth & development of inland water transport.
• This will also provide the business community a viable, economic & ecological alternative and will also play a pivotal role in energising India’s northeast as the engine of growth.
• The sustained effort to rejuvenate the historical trade routes via Bangladesh got a fillip under PM Gati Shakti. It has been envisioned that Northeast will slowly turn & convert into a connectivity hub.  The integrated development plan, under PM Gati Shakti, has been envisioned in order to amp up swift movement of cargo over Brahmaputra.
  

What are Inland Waterways?

1. About
India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways which consist of rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc.  As per the National Waterways Act 2016, 111 waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs).

• NW-1: Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System (Prayagraj-Haldia) with length 1620 km is the longest National Waterway in India.
• The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is implementing the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of Ganga (part of NW-1) with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank.
• Related Steps taken: The waterways have also been proposed to be linked to the eastern and western Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs), as well as the Sagarmala Project, which aims to promote port-led direct and indirect development.
  Further, the provisions of the Indo-Bangladesh (Sonamura-Daudkandi) and Indo-Myanmar protocol (Kaladan) permitting transhipment of goods through Bangladesh and Myanmar waters – which, in many cases, are a continuum of India’s inland waterways – enabling quicker shipments and deeper market penetration in India’s North East.

What is the Scope of Inland Waterways in India?

• About 55 million tonnes of cargo is being moved annually by IWT (Inland Water Transport), a fuel efficient and environment-friendly mode.  However, freight transportation by waterways is highly underutilized in the country as compared to developed countries.
• Its operations are currently restricted to a few stretches in the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly rivers, the Brahmaputra, the Barak river (northeastern India), the rivers in Goa, the backwaters in Kerala, inland waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of the Godavari - Krishna rivers.
• Besides these organized operations by mechanized vessels, country boats of various capacities also operate in various rivers and canals and substantial quantum of cargo and passengers are transported in this unorganized sector as well.
• In India, IWT has the potential to supplement the overburdened railways and congested roadways. In addition to cargo movement, the IWT sector also provides a convenient function in related activities such as carriage of vehicles {on Roll-on-Roll-off (RoRo) mode of cross ferry} and tourism.

What are the Advantages of an Inland Waterways Network?

• Cheaper Mode of Transportation: Waterways are a cheaper mode of transportation visà-vis the available alternatives, significantly reducing the point-to-point cost of goods transportation.  It also reduces time, cost of transportation of goods and cargos, as well as congestion and accidents on highways.
  The network requires no green field investment, but only capex (capital expenditure) for improvement/upgradation.
• Seamless Inter connectivity: They are expected to also “help create seamless inter connectivity connecting hinterlands along navigable river coasts and coastal routes” and “are likely to play a crucial role in connecting the north-eastern states to the mainland.”

What are the Implementation Challenges?

• No Navigability throughout the Year:  Some rivers are seasonal and do not offer navigability through the year. Around 20 out of the 111 identified national waterways have reportedly been found unviable.
• Intensive Capital and Maintenance Dredging: All the identified waterways require intensive capital and maintenance dredging, which could be resisted by the local community on environmental grounds, including displacement fears, thereby posing implementation challenges.
• Other Uses of water: Water also has important competing uses, viz. need for living as well as for irrigation, power generation etc. It would not be possible for the local government/others to overlook these needs.
• Exclusive Jurisdiction of the Central Government: The exclusive jurisdiction of the Central Government is only in regard to shipping and navigation on inland waterways declared to be ‘national waterways’ by an act of Parliament.  Utilisation/sailing of vessels, in other waterways, is within the ambit of the concurrent list or is in the jurisdiction of the respective state governments.