Indian Society & Social Issues: September 2022 Current Affairs | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Megh Chakra Operation

Context

• Operation 'Megha Chakra' is one of the major CBI-led global operations conducted recently against child pornography.

About

• Operation 'Megha Chakra' is a Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI’s) rapid response to online child sexual exploitation with international linkages and organised cyber-enabled financial crimes. 
• Nature: Internationally coordinated operation for crackdowns on online circulation/downloading/transmission of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
• Inputs: The CBI acted upon inputs from the Singapore based Crime Against Children (CAC) unit of Interpol, which had received the inputs from New Zealand Police.
• CBI Action: The CBI raided 59 locations in 21 states and UTs across India and recovered electronic devices including mobile phones, laptops etc. of suspects.
• The CBI is India’s first law enforcement agency to set up a cyber crime unit.
• CBI is also the nodal agency for the Interpol.
• CBI will host the 90th Interpol General Assembly in October 2022
• It had conducted 'Operation Carbon' in 2021 for the similar purpose.

Menace of Child Pornography

Definition

• The POCSO Act, 2019 defines Child Pornography as ‘any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child which includes a photograph, video, digital or computer-generated image indistinguishable from an actual child.

Reasons

• Curiosity, fantasizing.by children and adolescents. 
• Monetary benefit from the sale of child pornographic material.
• Pedophilic, hebephilic, ephebophilia tendencies in case of older people or older adolescent with psychiatric disorder of sexual attraction with children of different ages.
• Sadistic tendencies with pleasure in watching children in pain in the act of molestation.
• The advancement of digital technology and internet expansion boosted the child pornography market leading to more viewership with easier accessibility, anonymity and affordability of the videos.

Impacts of Child Pornography

• Psychological: Child porn causes depression, anger, anxiety, mental distress amongst children.  It also impacts their biological clock, work and social relationship.
• Sexuality: If seen regularly, it gives a sense of sexual gratification and sexual obsession.  Evidence suggests that exposure to pornography can increase the likelihood of an earlier first-time sexual experience.
• Unsafe sexual health practices such as not using condoms and unsafe anal and vaginal sex.
• Self-objectification and body surveillance which might reinforce double standards of active male sexuality and passive female receptacle.
• Sexual addiction: According to some experts, pornography is like an addiction. It produces a similar effect on the brain as produced by consumption of drugs or alcohol on a regular basis.
• Reproductive Health
  • Increasing sexual dysfunction among young men
  • Sexual disorders development in young children.
• Behavioural: Adolescent pornography use reinforces stronger beliefs in gender stereotypes in males leading to objectification of women.
  • For e.g. Rise in sexual and domestic violence against women during COVID-19 pamdemic.
• Vulnerability of young children to sexual abuse, cyberbullying and sexual exploitation.
• COVID-19: As per the online data monitoring website India Child Protection Fund (ICPF), there has been an increase in demand for child pornography by 95% during COVID-19 lockdown as compared to traffic before it.

Challenges to Ban Child Pornography

• Lack of sex education in the School curriculum.
• Difficult for agencies to detect the activities of child pornography and monitor them effectively.
• No Healthy dialogues between children, Parents and teachers  on these subjects.
• Lack of technical knowledge and expertise in Internet pornography.

Government Policies & Interventions

• Laws: There is no law in india to ban watching pornography in personal space.
• The Supreme Court's order directed  the Department of Telecommunication to ban several websites containing child pornographic material.
• The Information Technology (IT) Amendment Act, 2008: Section 67B punishes child pornography, child grooming or exploitation.
• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2019: Penalises 
• Storage of pornographic material for commercial purposes with imprisonment of 5 years, or a fine, or both. 
• Failure to destroy, or delete, or report pornographic material involving a child
• Transmitting, displaying, distributing such material except for the purpose of reporting it.

Way Forward & Suggestions

• Child pornography is a societal menace harming innocent children, affecting attitudes and behaviour of adolescents and having potential of psychological disorders in adults. 
• Parents, teachers and caregivers should promote the culture of healthy parenting, foster sex education and importance of consent in relationships.
• Adolescents should be encouraged to pursue digital media literacy.
• Children need to be made more aware about bodily autonomy and respect for the opposite gender’s personal space and privacy.
• Establish links with other agencies and jurisdictions.
• To know the peculiarities of law and the POCSO court working in resonance with the IT Act.

Tribal Forest Rights

Why in News?

Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to implement the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, which will elevate the socio-economic status of a sizable section of the 14-lakh-strong population of tribals and nomadic communities.

Key Points

About

• FRA enacted in 2006 recognises the rights of forest-dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources on which these communities were dependent for a variety of needs, including livelihood, habitation and other sociocultural needs.
• It recognizes and vest the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) who have been residing in such forests for generations.
• It strengthens the conservation regime of the forests while ensuring livelihood and food security of the FDST and OTFD.
• The Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or Community Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to FDST and OTFD.

Rights Under the Forest Rights Act

• Title rights:
  • It gives FDST and OTFD the right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares.
  • Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands will be granted.
  • Use rights: The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas etc.
  • Relief and development rights: To rehabilitate in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection.
• Forest management rights: It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.

Significance

• Constitutional Provision Expansion: It expands the mandate of the Fifth and the Sixth Schedules of the Constitution that protect the claims of indigenous communities over tracts of land or forests they inhabit.
• Security Concerns: The alienation of tribes was one of the factors behind the Naxal Movement, which affected states like Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.
• Forest Governance: It has the potential to democratise forest governance by recognising community forest resource rights.
  It will ensure that people get to manage their forest on their own, which will regulate exploitation of forest resources by officials, improve forest governance and better management of tribal rights.

Challenges

• Administrative Apathy: As tribals are not a big vote bank in most states, governments find it convenient to subvert FRA or not bother about it at all in favour of monetary gains.
  The forest bureaucracy has misinterpreted the FRA as an instrument to regularise encroachment instead of a welfare measure for tribals.
  Corporates fear they may lose the cheap access to valuable natural resources.
• Dilution of Act: Certain sections of environmentalists raise the concern that FRA bends more in the favour of individual rights, giving lesser scope for community rights.
• Institutional Roadblock: Rough maps of community and individual claims are prepared by Gram Sabha which at times often lack technical knowhow and suffers from educational incapacity.
• Misuse of FRA: The FRA has been misused and communities have rushed to file claims. Politicians across party lines have interpreted FRA as a land distribution exercise and have fixed targets for districts.

Way Forward

• It is important that the governments at Central and State levels are strengthened with human and financial resources to help implement FRA on a mission mode.
• Besides leveraging modern technology to map and monitor the implementation of FRA, the forest bureaucracy must also be reformed to serve as service providers to gram sabhas.

Poshan Abhiyaan

Why in News?
Why in News?Recently, under various interventions of the Ministry of Women and Child Development jointly (MWCD) with Ministry of Ayush, close to 4.37 lakh Anganwadi Centres have set up Poshan Vatikas.

• Under ongoing Poshan Maah 2022, activities for setting-up Poshan Vatikas with backyard poultry / fishery units is being carried out in a big way across the country.
• Additionally, so far, 1.10 lakh medicinal saplings have also been planted across some of the selected districts of 6 States.

What do we Know about Poshan Maah?

• The Rashtriya Poshan Maah is being celebrated during the month of September every year under POSHAN Abhiyaan.
• It includes a month-long activity focused on antenatal care, optimal breastfeeding, Anemia, growth monitoring, girls' education, diet, right age of marriage, hygiene and sanitation and eating healthy (Food Fortification).
• The activities focus on Social and Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC) and are based on Jan Andolan Guidelines.
  • SBCC is the strategic use of communication approaches to promote changes in knowledge, attitudes, norms, beliefs and behaviours.

What do we know about Poshan Vatika?

• About 
  • Poshan Vatika means that small piece of land where the people of the house grow vegetables to make sure that all in the family specially children and women should not become victim of mal-nutrition.
• Objective
  • Its main objective is to ensure supply of nutrition through organically home-grown vegetables and fruits simultaneously ensuring that the soil must also remain healthy.
• Implementation
  • Plantation drives for Poshan Vatikas would be taken up by all the stakeholders in the space available at anganwadis, school premises and gram panchayats.

What do we Know about Poshan Abhiyan?

• About 
  • POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) was launched by the government on March 8, 2018.
• Aim
  • The Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
  • The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.
  • POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to ensure service delivery and interventions by use of technology, behavioural change through convergence and lays-down specific targets to be achieved across different monitoring parameters.
  • Under the Abhiyaan, Swasth Bharat Preraks will be deployed one in each district for coordinating with district officials and enabling fast and efficient execution of the Abhiyaan across the country. Swasth Bharat Preraks would function as catalyst for fast tracking the implementation of the Abhiyaan.

POSHAN 2.0

• About
  • The government has amalgamated various programmes with similar objectives such as Supplementary Nutrition Programme and POSHAN Abhiyaan under one umbrella–Mission POSHAN 2.0—for creating synergies in operations and adopting an integrated approach in the nutrition services mechanism.
• Components
  • Convergence: The Abhiyaan is to ensure convergence of all nutrition related schemes of MWCD on the target population. The Abhiyaan will ensure convergence of various programmes.
  • ICDS-CAS: Software based tracking of nutritional status will be done.
  • Behavioral change: The Abhiyaan will be run as a Jan Andolan where mass involvement of people is desired. A community-based event will happen once a month to create awareness and address issues.
  • Incentives: Front line workers will be given incentives for performance.
  • Training and Capacity Building: Incremental Learning Approach will be adopted to teach 21 thematic modules. The training will be given by Master Trainers to front line workers.
  • Grievance Redressal: A call centre will be set up for ease of access to solutions to any issues faced.

What was the Need for Poshan Abhiyan?

• Malnutrition and Anaemia among Children
  • According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, India has unacceptably high levels of stunting, despite marginal improvement over the years.
  • In 2019-21, 35.5% of children below five years were stunted and 32.1% were underweight.
• Global Nutrition Report-2021
  • According to the Global Nutrition Report (GNR, 2021), India has made no progress on anaemia and childhood wasting.
    • Over 17% of Indian children under 5 years of age are affected due to childhood wasting.
    • The data in NFHS 2019-21 shows the highest spike in anaemia was reported among children aged 6-59 months from 67.1% (NFHS-5) from 58.6% (NFHS-4, 2015-16).
• Human Capital Index (2020)
• India ranks 116 out of 180 countries on the human capital index.
• Human capital consists of the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lives, enabling them to realize their potential as productive members of society.

What are the other Related Initiatives?

• Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyan.
• The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY).
• PM-POSHAN Scheme.

Way Forward

• Proactive measures are needed to address the longstanding issues of malnutrition and food insecurity in the country.
• The imperative is to formulate structured, time-bound and location-specific strategies with due consideration to the effects of socioeconomic factors and impact of the pandemic.
• It is also crucial to create a comprehensive approach that will address the different sectors and dimensions of nutrition.

Social Audit of Social Sector Schemes

Why in News? 

• Recently, the Rajasthan government has decided to set up a specialised social and performance audit authority to conduct social audit of schemes, a first-of-its-kind in the country.

What is the Significance of this Decision?

• Ensure Public Accountability 
  • The authority will ensure public accountability, transparency and citizen participation in implementation of government schemes, programs and services, and also conduct performance assessment of implementing agencies.
• Assess the Quality Service Delivery 
  • The authority will also assess the quality service delivery by the government schemes and programs. It will also perform people satisfaction surveys to ascertain the outcome of various schemes.
• Plan Social Audit and Performance Audit: 
  • The authority will plan, conduct and finalise the social audit and performance audit of the government departments, undertakings, schemes (central and state), programs, projects and activities in the state of Rajasthan. 
    • It will ascertain the efficiency and effectiveness of the services delivery and whether public money has been spent economically.
• Identify and Build Capacity of Civil Services Organisation
  • It will provide technical assistance towards effective implementation of various schemes and programmes; provide technical assistance to finance and planning department towards strengthening of annual plans and outcome budgeting; and assess the quality standards of development and infrastructure works in rural and as well as urban areas.

What is Social Audit?

• About
  • Social Audit is the audit of a scheme jointly by the Government and the people, especially by those who are affected by the scheme or its beneficiaries.
  • Social audit is different from financial audits which involve inspecting and assessing documents related to financial transactions in an organization to provide a true picture of its profits, losses and financial stability.
• Social Audit and MGNREGA
  • Under Section 17 of the MGNREGA, all works executed under the program must undergo a social audit.
    • Every Social Audit Unit is entitled to funds equivalent to 0.5% of the MNREGA expenditure incurred by the State in the previous year.
  • The audit involves quality checks of infrastructure created under the MNREGA, financial misappropriation in wages, and checking for any procedural deviations.
  • The report titled ‘Social audit calendar vs audits completed’ was released recently by the Union Rural Development Ministry (MoRD) highlights that only 14.29% of the planned audits have been completed in 2021-2022.
  • The Ministry also held that failure to carry out a social audit of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by states will invite action, including withholding of funds.
  • However, it is the Centre that bears the administrative cost of these Social Audit Units, and the inordinate delay in the release of funds has left many of these cash-strapped units nearly paralysed.
• Challenges
  • Lack of Administrative Will: The lack of adequate administrative and political will in institutionalising social audits to deter corruption has meant that social audits in many parts of the country are not independent of the influence of implementing agencies.
    The Social Audit Units of some states such as Kerala, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, had not received the administrative funds that the Centre owes them. Therefore, auditors’ wages have been delayed by three months to one year.
  • Resistance and Intimidation: Social audit units, including village social audit facilitators find it difficult to even access primary records for verification.
  • Lack of People’s Participation: People’s participation has been minuscule due to the lack of education, awareness and capacity building among the common masses.
  • Absence of Independent Agency: There is an absence of an independent agency to investigate and act on social audit findings.

Way Forward

• Citizens groups need to campaign for strengthening social audits and make real progress in holding the political executive and implementing agencies accountable.
• Team of social audit experts should be established in each district who are responsible for training social audit committee members (stakeholders).
• Training programmes should be created on social auditing methods such as conducting and preparing social audit reports, and presentation at Gram Sabha.
• The system of social audits needs synergetic endorsement and a push by multiple authorities to establish an institutionalised framework which cannot be undermined by any vested interests.

Economically Weaker Section (EWS) Quota

Why in News?

• Recently, the Attorney-General of India articulated that the 10% quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of society does not erode the rights of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes or the Other Backward Classes.

What are the Government's Views?

• Doesn't Harm Quota of Other Classes: The EWS quota was given independently of the already existing 50% reservation granted for the backward classes, that is, the scheduled communities and the OBCs.
  • The Attorney general rejected arguments by petitioners that the exclusion of backward classes from the EWS quota amounted to discrimination, as they have been loaded with benefits by way of affirmative actions.
    • For example, the members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities have been given several benefits under the Constitution, including Article 16(4)(a) (special provision for promotion), Article 243D (reservation in panchayat and municipality seats), Article 330 (reservation in the Lok Sabha) and Article 332 (reservation in state legislative assemblies).
• Necessary to Uplift the Weaker Section: The reservation for the backward classes, and now the EWS quota, should be considered by the court as “one single approach of the state intended for the upliftment of the weaker sections of the society”.
  • Altogether 18.2% of the total population in the general category belonged to EWS and referred to the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index used by the Niti Ayog, which would be about 350 million (3.5 crores) of the population.
• Confer the Constitution: The reservation for OBCs, SCs and STs fall under different silos other than the EWS quota and it does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
• Examples: As per the written submissions submitted by government referred to how the top court had stood by the validity of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
  • The court had held that the 2009 Act seeks to remove all barriers, including financial and psychological barriers which a child belonging to the weaker section and disadvantaged group has to face while seeking admission and therefore upheld it under Article 21 of the Constitution.

What are the Opponent’s views?

• The amendments run contrary to the constitutional scheme, where no segment of available seats/posts can be reserved, only on the basis of economic criteria.
• The amendments also run contrary to the judgment pronounced in the Indra Sawhney V. Union of India 1992 case, that a backward class cannot be determined only and exclusively with reference to economic criteria.
• The amendments alter the 50% quota limit set up in Indra Sawhney V. Union of India 1992 case, which according to the petitioner is a part Basic Structure of the Constitution.

What is Economically Weaker Section (EWS) Quota?

• About
  • The 10% EWS quota was introduced under the 103rd Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2019 by amending Articles 15 and 16.
    • It inserted Article 15 (6) and Article 16 (6).
  • It is for economic reservation in jobs and admissions in educational institutes for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
  • It was enacted to promote the welfare of the poor not covered by the 50% reservation policy for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC).
  • It enables both the Centre and the States to provide reservations to the EWS of society.
• Significance
  • Addresses Inequality: The 10% quota is progressive and could address the issues of educational and income inequality in India since the economically weaker sections of citizens have remained excluded from attending higher educational institutions and public employment due to their financial incapacity.
  • Recognition of the Economic Backwards: There are many people or classes other than backward classes who are living under hunger and poverty-stricken conditions.
    The proposed reservation through a constitutional amendment would give constitutional recognition to the poor from the upper castes.
  • Reduction of Caste-Based Discrimination: Moreover, it will gradually remove the stigma associated with reservation because reservation has historically been related to caste and most often the upper caste looks down upon those who come through the reservation.
• Concerns
  • Unavailability of Data: The Union or state governments have no such data to prove that ‘upper’ caste individuals, who have less than Rs 8 lakh annual income, are not adequately represented in government jobs and higher educational institutions. There is a strong possibility that they are actually over-represented in these places.
  • Arbitrary Criteria: The criteria used by the government to decide the eligibility for this reservation is vague and is not based on any data or study.
    Even the SC questioned the government whether they have checked the GDP per capita for every State while deciding the monetary limit for giving the EWS reservation. 
    • Statistics show that the per capita income in states differs widely - Goa is the state having the highest per capita income of almost Rs. 4 lakhs whereas Bihar is at the bottom with Rs.40,000.