Polity And Governance - Current Affairs, April 2016 PDF Download

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1.1. CENTRE-STATE RELATIONS: NEW FRAMEWORK FOR GRANTS
Budget 2016–17 has made three important Provisions relating to central transfers to states.

Rationalization of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS)
 Background
 Government of India through NITI Aayog constituted a subgroup of chief ministers for rationalizing and restructuring the CSS.
 It recommended that focus of the CSS should be on the schemes that comprise the National Development Agenda.
 It further recommended that the schemes be divided into “Core” and “Optional” schemes and amongst the Core Schemes those for social protection and inclusion should be called “Core of the Core”.
 The subgroup further recommended that the investment levels in the Core Schemes should be maintained so as to ensure that the optimum size of the programme does not shrink.
 New Framework for Grants in Budget 2016-17
 The government on the recommendation of the subgroup of chief ministers restructured the grants.
 As per the decision of Government, the existing funding pattern of schemes defined as 'core of the core' have been retained.
 The funding pattern of 'core' schemes, which also form part of the National Development agenda, will be shared 60:40 between the Centre and the States (90:10 for the 8 North Eastern States and 3 Himalayan states).
 In case a scheme/sub-scheme in the above classification that has a Central Funding pattern of less than 60:40, the existing funding pattern will continue.
 The other optional schemes will be optional for the State Governments and their fund sharing pattern will be 50:50 between the Centre and the States (80:20 for the 8 North Eastern States and 3 Himalyan States). Examples of such schemes are Border Area Development Programme, National River Conservation Plan, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee RURBAN Mission etc.
 In Union Budget 2016–17 the total number of CSS has been brought down to 28.

Devolution of taxes post the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) award
 Tax devolution has witnessed a major jump in the total resource transfers to states due to the increase in tax devolution to 42% of the divisible pool.
 Aggregate transfer to states2 in 2016–17 is ₹9, 18,093 crore as compared to ₹8, 18,034 crore in 2015–16.

Effective outcome-based monitoring of implementation of schemes and doing away with the plan and non-plan expenditure distinction in the budget after the completion of the Twelfth Five Year Plan
 An exercise to rationalize Plan and Non Plan schemes of all Ministries and Departments had been undertaken.
 The existing programmes and schemes have been re-organized into outcome based Umbrella programmes and schemes to avoid thin spread of resources.

1.2. RIGHTS OF TRANSGENDER PERSONS BILL, 2015
Why in news?
 The ministry of social justice recently sent the draft bill on the ‘Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2015’ to the law ministry for finalization before it is sent to the cabinet for approval.

Background
 The legislation is modelled on the private members’ bill moved by Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva and passed by the Upper House on
April 24, 2015.
 The government then assured the House that it would bring its own law in Lok Sabha after “correcting infirmities” in Siva’s Bill.

Salient Provisions
 It provide for the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive national policy for ensuring overall development of the Transgender Persons and for their welfare to be undertaken by the State.
 The Bill provides recognition of transgender people before law and gives them rights and entitlements including reservation in education and government jobs under the OBC quota(except SC/ST).

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Private Member Bill
 Bills may be broadly classified into Government Bills and Private Members’ Bills depending upon their initiation in the House by a Minister or a Private Member.
 Every member of the parliament who is not a minister is called a private member.
 In Lok Sabha, the last two and a half hours of a sitting on every Friday are generally allotted for transaction of Private Members’ Business, i.e., Private Members’ Bills and Private Members’ Resolutions.
 The last Private Members’ Bill passed by Parliament was ‘The Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968’ that became an Act on 9th August, 1970.
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 TRANSGENDER IDENTITY :
 Transgender should be declared as the third gender, and a Transgender Person should have the option to
identify as ‘man’, ‘woman’ or ‘transgender’ as well as have the right to choose any of the options independent of surgery/hormones.
 Only the nomenclature ‘transgender’ should be used and nomenclatures like ‘other’ or ‘others’ should not be used.
 Certificate to be provided by a state level authority that a person is a transgender person.

 RIGHTS AND ENTITLEMENTS:
 Government shall take all necessary steps to ensure that transgender persons enjoy the right and entitlements as given in Constitution of India on an equal basis with others.
 No child who is a transgender shall be separated from his or her parents on grounds of being a transgender except on an order of competent Court, if required in the best interest of the child.
 Government shall take all appropriate measures to prevent abuse, violence and exploitation against Transgender Persons.
 The bill calls for necessary amendments in IPC to cover the cases of sexual assault on Transgender Persons.

 Non discrimination
 The Bill also states that Government is duty bound to take appropriate steps in protecting rights of Transgenders and to ensure that they are not being discriminated against.
 No establishment shall discriminate against any Transgender Person in any matter relating to employment including but not limited to recruitment, promotion and other related issues.
 The Bill also has provisions regarding social security, health, rehabilitation & recreation, Education, skill development & employment of Transgenders.

Need
 The community which has around 6 lakhs population as per 2011 census had been neglected since a long time, will finally get its dues as citizens of our country.
 The Bill attempts to do cover all types of discrimination faced by the community and clearly lists them to avoid ambiguities. Provision for reservation and support through scholarships etc will help in their empowerment in true sense.
 Will create awareness among the people and sensitize them to be compassionate for the cause of the community and look at them with respect.

1.3. INDUSTRIES DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION AMENDMENT BILL 2015
Why in News?
 During Budget session, The Rajya Sabha has passed the Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015. Lok Sabha has already passed the bill in December 2015.

Important Provisions
 The bill seeks to amend the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951.
 The Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 provides for development and regulation of certain industries including metallurgical, telecommunications, transportation, fermentation (which includes production of alcohol) among others.
 The 1st schedule of the Act includes all industries that are regulated under the Act.
 The Bill amends the schedule to exclude production of alcohol for potable purposes from the ambit of the Act.
 It proposes to bring industries engaged in the manufacture of potable alcohol under the exclusive control of States in all respects.
 However, the Union Government will continue to be responsible for formulating policy and regulating foreign collaboration for all products of fermentation industries, including industrial and potable alcohol.

1.4. REGIONAL CENTRE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY BILL, 2016
Why in News?
 The Loksabha passed The Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016.
 The Bill seeks to establish a Regional Centre for Biotechnology, an institution of education, training and
research, under the auspices of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the National Capital Region.

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Background
 In 2006, India had entered into an agreement with the UNESCO regarding establishment of the Regional Centre to serve the member countries of UNESCO.
 In this regard, the Union government through an executive order had established the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training and Education in Faridabad, Haryana in 2009.

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Provisions
 The Bill seeks to provide legislative backing to the Regional Centre.
 It also confers upon it the status of an institute of national importance.
 The Regional Centre for Biotechnology will take up research and innovation and impart education and training in the new areas of Biotechnology at the interface of multiple disciplines of science creating a hub of technology expertise.

Institute of National Importance
 An Institute of National Importance, in India is defined as one which serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country/state.
 Only a chosen few institutes make it to this coveted list and are usually supported by the Government of India.
 In India, all of the IITs, NITs, AIIMS, NIPERs, ISI and some other institutes as Institutes of National Importance.

1.5. INDIAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Why in News?
 During the Annual Chief Ministers and Chief Justices Conference, problems and solutions for Indian Judicial System were discussed.

Issues in Judiciary
 Appointment:
 The country has a judicial strength of a mere 18,000, as against the requirement of about 50,000 judges.
 At present, 434 vacancies of High Court judges remained unfilled.
 The subordinate judiciary has 4580 vacancies across the country.

 Administrative Inefficiency:
 Inadequacy of staff attached to High Courts.
 There are 60,260 cases pending before the Supreme Court.
 All High Courts in India, as a whole, have an incredible 38.68 lakhs of cases awaiting disposal.
 The backlog of all courts including the lower courts is estimated to be around 3 crores.
 

 Financial Autonomy:
 Planning and budgetary exercises being undertaken without consulting the judiciary.
 Transparency: Despite the decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC), Judiciary has kept itself out of preview of RTI.
 

Steps Taken
 The enactment of Commercial Courts Act, 2015 for dedicated commercial courts at district and High Court level, and also laying down the time limits for disposal of commercial disputes/appeals.
 Amendments to Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 to ensure quick and cost effective settlement of commercial disputes to arbitration.
 To improve the quality of Legal Education in India, setting up of Lawyers ‘Academy in Kochi is a step in right direction.

Reforms needed
 Justice is an integral part of our Constitution. To achieve this objective, we need to continuously improve our legal and judicial framework so that timely and cost effective justice is made available at the door steps to our people.
 Setting up of Fast Track Courts, Additional Courts and Family Courts.
 Increasing the ICT capabilities of the courts.
 Setting up of Alternative dispute resolution centres such as Lok Adalats should be encouraged.
 Uniform methodology to collect judicial data and streamlining of court processes.
 To boost the confidence of the people in judiciary, judiciary should reveal information like the number of pending or reserved judgments by brining itself under ambit of RTI.
 Simplification of Laws: Government should work to remove old and dysfunctional elements in legislation by amending Indian penal code, civil procedures code and Indian evidence Act.
 Rules should be changed to provide a uniform retirement age for judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
 To prevent corruption, cool off period should be introduced for judges before taking up any new government assignment.
 As suggested by the Law Commission, in its 245^th report, a ‘rate of disposal’ method should be adopted in which the number of judges required at each level to dispose of a particular number of cases could be computed based on analysis.

1.6. CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Challenges of Current Criminal Justice System in India
 Because of delay and uncertainties involved, it does not deter criminals.
 Punishments for those convicted are ineffective.
 Wide discretion to police and prosecution makes system vulnerable to corruption and manipulation.
 Ignores the real victim, leading them to resort to extralegal method seeking justice.
 Heavy economic burden on the state without the returns.
 System is overburdened with nearly 30 million criminal cases pending and with 10 million being added every year.

Strategy for Reform
 The Committee on the Reforms of Criminal Justice System in India (2003) suggests a three-fold strategy.
 First, procedural and substantive law needs a change based on changes in society and economy with the guiding principles being decriminalization and diversion.
 A suggestion under this could be dividing the penal code into four different codes: Social Offences Code, Correctional Offences Code, Economic Offences Code and Indian Penal Code.
 The Social Code includes matters of civil nature that can be settled without police intervention and prison terms through administrative processes.
 The Correctional Code includes offence punishable up to three years imprisonment where plea-bargaining can be liberally invoked.
 Economic Code includes property offences, which affect financial stability of the country dealt with through combination of criminal and administrative strategies.
 Indian Penal Code will include only major crimes warranting ten years imprisonment or more or death.
 Second is the institutional reform of police processes. This includes investigation, professionalization, rationalization of court systems through technology and limiting appeal procedures to the minimum.
 Third is giving a bigger and more responsible role to the victim in the whole procedure.
 It involves restoring the confidence of the victim in the system.
 This would include conferring rights on the victim like, participating in proceedings, right to engage an advocate, track progress of case, to assist court in pursuit of truth etc.
 Right to seek compensation for injuries suffered irrespective of the fate of proceedings.
 Following a restorative means which enjoys community support, victim satisfaction and offender acknowledgement of obligations.

1.7. ELECTORAL REFORMS
Why in News?
 Recently, Prime Minister has suggested that elections to the national and state legislatures, panchayats and urban local bodies should be held simultaneously.
Need
 Large amount of money is spent on various elections every year.
 Whole administrative machinery gets engaged in election work which affects the productivity of other government services.
 Frequent elections bring to a standstill normal functioning of the government cannot announce any new schemes, make any new appointments, transfers or postings without EC approval during this period.
 However, frequent elections enhance accountability because it forces the politicians to meet the masses.

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Recommendations of Parliamentary Panel
 Elections of legislative assemblies whose term ends six months before/after the general elections to Lok Sabha should be clubbed together.
 Elections should be held in two phases. In 1st phase, elections to almost half of legislative assemblies should be held during the midterm of Lok Sabha and remaining elections should be held with the end of term of Lok Sabha.
 To hold early elections to state legislative assemblies along with other states/Lok Sabha, a motion for an early general election or a no confidence motion must be passed by the House.

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Concerns
 Local and national issues will get mix up and will distort priorities. In voters’ minds national issues might overtake state and local issues or vice versa.
 Passing a no confidence motion to conduct the election before expiry of the term will be unconstitutional (Article 83(2) -It is state’s prerogative to decide when to call for
elections).
 It is also against the federal feature of the constitution.
 Not easy to implement: Many times a Government is dissolved prematurely, so in long run having a mismatch in elections in inevitable. For e.g. Consider one old scenario when the Lok Sabha gets dissolved in just 13 days, in 1998.
 

Way Forward
 Simultaneous elections to Panchayats, assembly and Lok Sabha are desirable however they are not feasible. To make the election process more transparent, cost effective, peaceful and quick we should consider some easily implementable solutions such as:
 To cut the role of money power in elections, putting a cap on political party expenditure and state-funding of political parties.
 Also ban on all private, especially corporate funds should be considered.
 Reduce the duration of the election process by half by conducting the elections in one day.
 

1.8. MINISTRY OF POWER: NEW SCHEMES
Why in News?
In order to make country more energy efficient, Union power ministry has launched two schemes namely National Energy Efficient Agriculture Pumps Programme and National Energy Efficient Fan Programme.
 

National Energy Efficient Agriculture Pumps Programme
 Smart BEE star rated Energy Efficient Agricultural Pump sets be distributed to farmers.
 Farmers can replace their inefficient agricultural pump sets free of cost.
 Pumps to come with Smart Control Panes that has a SIM card and a Smart Meter.
 Smart meters to ensure the farmers to monitor consumption on real time basis.
 EESL to distribute 200,000 BEE star rated pump-sets to the farmers under this programme, which will lead to 30% of energy savings by 2019.
 This translates into an annual savings of approx. Rs 20,000 crore on agricultural subsidies or a saving of 50 billon units of energy per year.
 

National Energy Efficient Fan Programme
 Energy-Efficient, 50 Watts and 5-Star Rated Ceiling Fans.
 These fans are 30% more energy efficient as compared to conventional fans.
 At present, two energy efficient fans will be provided to each consumer at Rs 60 a month per fan on EMI basis.
 Scheme will be available to the consumer on providing a copy of latest electricity bill along with a copy of residence proof at the designated distribution centre.
 Consumers can also purchase the fan by making UPFRONT payment of Rs. 1,250 for 50 watts fan.
 It is estimated that consumer’s electricity bill will reduce by about Rs 700-730 per year- which means that the cost of this fan can be recovered in less than 2 years.
 

1.9. ANMOL AND E-RAKTKOSH INITIATIVE
Why in News?
 On the occasion of World Health Day on April 7th, Govt. had launched new health initiatives and Mobile Apps.

ANMOL (ANM Online application)
 ANMOL is a tablet-based application that allows ANMs to enter and updated data for beneficiaries of their jurisdiction.
 This will ensure more prompt entry and updation of data as well as improve the data quality since the data will be entered at source.
 The Application is Aadhaar-enabled hence it will help in authentication of the records of field workers and beneficiaries.

E-RaktKosh initiative
 It is an integrated Blood Bank Management Information System (MIS).
 This web-based mechanism interconnects all the Blood Banks of the State into a single network.
 The Integrated Blood Bank MIS refers the acquisition, validation, storage and circulation of various live data and information electronically regarding blood donation and transfusion service.
 The Application will enable not only information of the nearest blood bank on a mobile but also of the availability of the particular blood group in a given radius.
 

1.10. MODEL ACT FOR FARM LAND LEASE BY NITI AYOG
Why in News?
 The NITI Aayog has proposed a Model Act for freeing up of farm land through leasing of land between farmers and farming cooperatives to boost farming.
 

Provisions of the proposed bill
 The Act provides recognition to farmers cultivating the agricultural land on lease to enable them to access loans through credit institutions, insurance, disaster relief and other support services provided by the government.
 It also protects the land rights of the owners.
 It also suggests legalizing “land leasing in all areas to ensure complete security of land ownership right for land owners and security of tenure for tenants for the agreed lease period.
 It also seeks to remove the clause of adverse possession of land in the land laws of various states as it interferes with free functioning of land lease market.
 It also proposes the automatic resumption of land after the agreed lease period without requiring any minimum area of land to be left with the tenant even after termination of tenancy.
 The Model Act proposes quicker litigation process in case of disputes, by suggesting recourse through criminal proceedings and special tribunal.

Impact
 It will create security among landowners to lease-out agricultural land.
 It had the potential to put to use millions of hectares of fallow land in the country.
 It will also provide landless poor, small and marginal farmers a means of livelihood and protection through access to bank credit and insurance cover.
 It would encourage large land owners to lease out land without fear of losing their land ownership rights and invest in non-farm enterprises.

1.11. AMENDMENTS IN THE COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION FUND BILL, 2015
Why in News?
 On the basis of recommendation of standing committee, the Union Cabinet gave its approval to move official amendments in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015.

Proposed Amendments
 It will make the list of environmental services inclusive and will delete some of environmental services for which credible model to assess their monetary value do not exist.
 It will provide for prior consultation with States Governments for making rule under the new legislation.
 It will also provide for establishment of State Fund of a Union territory having no legislature under Public Account of the Union of India.
 It will provide for use of monies realized from the user agencies in lieu for forest land diverted in protected areas for voluntary relocation from protected areas.
 To provide wider representation, it will include Secretaries of Ministries dealing with Space and Earth Sciences as members of governing body of the National Authority.
 It will also increase the number of expert members in governing body of National Authority from two to five.
 It will also increase the number of expert members in executive committee of National Authority from two to three.
 It will also include an expert on tribal matters or representative of tribal community as a member in both steering committee and executive committee of a State Authority.
 Amendments have fixed time limit of three months for Executive Committee of National Authority to approve annual plan of operations of State Authorities.

Impact
 It will ensure expeditious utilization of accumulated unspent amounts (approximately 40,000 rupees) available with the ad hoc CAMPA in an efficient and transparent manner.
 It will also facilitate timely execution of appropriate measures to mitigate impact of diversion of forest land.
 Utilisation of these amounts will result in creation of productive assets and generation of huge employment opportunities in the rural areas, especially the backward tribal areas.

1.12. NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS RANKING FRAMEWORK
(Please refer September 2015 Current Affairs for details on NIRF)
 

 This is the first time that an exercise of compiling rankings of various institutions has been undertaken by the Union government.
 The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) has undertaken the task of doing the ranking exercise.
 There are ranking methods for 6 categories of institutions i.e. Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Architecture, Universities and Colleges.
 It declared the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras the best institute for engineering and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Bangalore the best for management.
 In the category of universities, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, is rated the top-ranked institute followed by the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai.

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This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country. The parameters broadly cover
 Teaching
 Learning and Resources
 Research and Professional Practices
 Graduation Outcomes
 Outreach and Inclusivity
 Perception

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1.13. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN 2015: AMNESTY REPORT
 Human rights group Amnesty International has published a new report on number of death penalty
executions across the world.
 

Key Highlights of the Report
 The world saw the highest number of recorded executions in more than 25 years in 2015.
 At least 1,634 people were executed last year, an increase of more than 50% on 2014.
 Iran put 977 people to death in 2015, which is over 200 more than in 2014, and mostly for "drug-related offences.
 Pakistan executed 326 people in 2015, the highest number ever recorded by Amnesty in Pakistan.
 The U.S. carried out 28 executions, the
lowest number since 1991.
 Four more countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 2015, and now the tally of abolitionist states to 102.

1.14. NEW PLANNING FRAMEWORK BY NITI AYOG
Why in news?
 NITI Aayog is working on a sector-based medium-term planning framework.
 The new planning framework could replace five-year plans. The last (12th five year plan) of which is set to end in 2016-17.

What is the new Framework all about?
 A medium term fiscal framework for 3 years may be adopted.
 It would entail prediction of estimates of expenditure and revenue for various items viz. Education, Health, Rural Development, Energy, etc. for the next two or three years.
 Expenditure commitments will be shown separately for Revenue and Capital expenditure as recommended by Dr. C Rangarajan in a report - Efficient Management of Public Expenditure, 2011.

1.15. UTTARAKHAND PRESIDENT’S RULE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
 The Uttarakhand High Court quashed the President’s Rule in Uttarakhand and ordered that a floor test must be held in the Uttarakhand Assembly on April 29 where former Chief Minister’s claim of having majority support shall be put to test.
 HC also opined that the power of judicial review is with courts and the material placed before the President by the Governor is also open to judicial review.
 Later while hearing the center’s appeal against HC’s decision, Supreme Court restored the President’s rule in Uttarakhand because judgment issued by Uttarakhand government was not available for court to proceed further.
 At the same time, government also gave the written undertaking that government will not revoke President’s rule as a ploy to form government in the state.
 After getting the judgment copy of Uttarakhand High Court, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to answer seven questions, such as
 Can a delay in the floor test be a ground for proclamation of President Rule?
 Can proceedings of an assembly be taken as ground for imposition of President’s rule?
 The Supreme Court also asked the Centre to specify what exactly qualifies as perception of destabilization?