IAS PARLIAMENT

A Shankar IAS Academy Initiative

EPW

JULY – 2017
 INDEX

PAGE
SL.NO. TITLE
NO.

EPW – JULY - 2017

1 EDUCATION BUDGET 3
2 EFFECTIVE CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY 4
3 INDEPENDENCE OF NGT 5
4 OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES 6
5 ONE NATION ONE MARKET 7
6 PRIVATISING AIR INDIA 8
7 PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE 10
8 QATAR CRISIS – AL JAZEERA 11
9 RETHINKING INDIA’S FEDERALISM 12
10 RIVERS AS LEGAL PERSONS - A REGRESSIVE STEP 13
11 INDIA ISRAEL - STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP 15
12 PETROLEUM POLICY IN INDIA 15
13 A DIRGE FOR KASHMIR 17

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 EPW – JULY 2017

1. EDUCATION BUDGET  Although, the budgetary provision for the

sector has shown a 10% increase in 2017–18,
What is the issue?
the budgetary allocation when compared to the
 The education budget for 2017–18 has a series gross domestic product (GDP), has decreased
of flaws. from 0.48% in 2016–17 (BE) to 0.47% in
2017–18 (BE).
What are the problems with the budget?

 In last year’s budget, ―Education, skill  The share of education in the total union
development and job creation‖ as a category budget remains stagnant at 3.7%, the same as
was outlined as one of the distinct ―pillars‖ it was in 2016–17 (BE) (Figure 2, p 32).
that will transform India.
 2017–18 Budget Speech overlooked discussing
 This year education, skill development and job the financing of the ―Right to Education‖
creation is presented merely as a proposal for (RTE) and elementary education, despite
the ―youth.‖
widely shared concerns on low-learning levels.

 In 2017–18 (budget estimates (BE)), the

 Last year, the budget speech focused on the
Ministry of Human Resource Development
universal primary education with an emphasis
(MHRD) has been allocated `79,686 crore,
on ―quality education,‖ as the next big step
38% of which is allocated to the Department of
forward. However, this year, the only proposal
School Education and Literacy, and 62% to the
in the union budget aimed at improving the
Department of Higher Education.
quality of school education is the introduction
 Over time, the distribution of the MHRD’s of a system for measuring the annual learning
budget shows clear signs of a reprioritisation outcomes.
towards higher education.

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  Over time, the Government of India has moved 2. EFFECTIVE CLIMATE CHANGE
its focus from inputs towards outcomes;
POLICY
however, there is little effort to identify the
indicators that will improve such outcomes. What is the issue?

 Global climate policy should focuses solely on

 The government has not yet been able to fulfil
basic requirements like school infrastructure reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide,
and an adequate and professionally qualified which is just a symptom of the problem.
teaching staff, both of which are prerequisites
 It should start discussing the causes and
for quality education.
strategies.

What should be done?

What are the new developments?
 The union government’s budgetary spending
 US withdrew from the Paris agreement.
on education accounts for a smaller share than
state governments’ total budgetary spending
 There were different interpretations on what
on education.
was agreed upon at Paris Aggrement, during
 A continuous decrease in the union negotiations at Bonn on the rules for
government’s share of education expenditure implementing the Paris Agreement.
shifts the responsibility more towards state
governments.  The key areas of divergence are whether the

 However, given the present state of education,
with major disparities across states, this
incremental budgeting by the union
government towards education does not offer
any solution to the existing issues and
challenges facing students and the education
sector.
 It is, therefore, imperative for the government
to step up public investment in education,
paying adequate attention to the quality
quotient
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focus is emissions reduction or should include
the adverse effects, finance and technology
transfer.
 A recent report released by UNEP says that
global emissions need to be reduced a further
one-quarter from predicted emissions in 2030,
bringing centre stage the design of the new
rules.
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  Increased pressure on India, as the third  In the accounting of emissions, the
largest emitter, can be expected even though comparison between what countries are doing
and what they should be doing will now be
its per capita emissions are below the global
important.
average.
 Focus of the negotiations should be on long-
 This calls for the rethinking India’s approach. term goals to support the post-2030 actions,
and address the inconsistency in the Paris
What India should do?
Agreement with the overemphasis on near-
 The new principles have to be based on a term mitigation ambition as expressed in
different set of provisions of the Paris current Intended Nationally Determined
Agreement. Contributions.

 India should leverage its unique position of  The challenge that negotiators have to address

having 300 million of its population without is in continuing to factor social justice, equity
and the need for economic growth and security
access to electricity and concerns on wasteful
into the equation.
urban lifestyles to push these elements as the
primary issues of a long-term global climate  The multilateral process, including the
policy scientific assessment, political negotiations
and national legislators must now frame an
 A framework that maintains this distinction
holistic policy.
between countries whose emissions have yet to
peak and countries whose emissions have 3. EFFECTIVE CLIMATE CHANGE
peaked will be the key in securing ―climate POLICY
justice.‖
What is the issue?
 India needs to take the leadership in defining  Global climate policy should focuses solely on
an ―overarching global climate policy goal‖ to reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide,
support the post-2030 negotiations. which is just a symptom of the problem.

 It should be move away from considering  It should start discussing the causes and
emissions of carbon dioxide to the causes, or strategies.
modification of activities that lead to the
What are the new developments?
emissions.
 US withdrew from the Paris agreement.
 India should raise distribution issues on the
nature of the demand and related standards of  There were different interpretations on what

living driven by countries entering their was agreed upon at Paris Aggrement, during
negotiations at Bonn on the rules for
energy—and material-intensive development
implementing the Paris Agreement.
phase coupled with continuing high levels of
consumption in high-income economies.  The key areas of divergence are whether the
focus is emissions reduction or should include
 How best to modify lifestyles based on specific
the adverse effects, finance and technology
needs and national circumstances requires to
transfer.
be made a part of the global assessment.
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  A recent report released by UNEP says that
global emissions need to be reduced a further
one-quarter from predicted emissions in 2030,
bringing centre stage the design of the new
rules.
 Increased pressure on India, as the third
largest emitter, can be expected even though
its per capita emissions are below the global
average.
 This calls for the rethinking India’s approach.
What India should do?
 The new principles have to be based on a
different set of provisions of the Paris
Agreement.
 India should leverage its unique position of
having 300 million of its population without
access to electricity and concerns on wasteful
urban lifestyles to push these elements as the
primary issues of a long-term global climate
policy
 A framework that maintains this distinction
between countries whose emissions have yet to
peak and countries whose emissions have
peaked will be the key in securing ―climate What is the issue?
justice.‖
 India needs to take the leadership in defining
an ―overarching global climate policy goal‖ to
What is NGT?
support the post-2030 negotiations.
 It should be move away from considering
emissions of carbon dioxide to the causes, or
modification of activities that lead to the
emissions.
 India should raise distribution issues on the
nature of the demand and related standards of
living driven by countries entering their
energy—and material-intensive development
 How best to modify lifestyles based on specific
needs and national circumstances requires to
be made a part of the global assessment.
 In the accounting of emissions, the
comparison between what countries are doing
and what they should be doing will now be
important.
 Focus of the negotiations should be on long-
term goals to support the post-2030 actions,
and address the inconsistency in the Paris
Agreement with the overemphasis on near-
term mitigation ambition as expressed in
current Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions.
 The challenge that negotiators have to address
is in continuing to factor social justice, equity
and the need for economic growth and security
into the equation.
 The multilateral process, including the
scientific assessment, political negotiations
and national legislators must now frame an
holistic policy.
4. INDEPENDENCE OF NGT
 National Green Tribunal (NGT) is in the line of
fire.
 It is set up under the National Green Tribunal
Act, 2010.
 Its remit is to deal with all cases that relate to
protecting the environment, conserving forests
and natural resources, enforcing legal rights
relating to the environment, and giving
compensation and relief to people who have
suffered damage to their property due to

phase coupled with continuing high levels of environmental damage.

consumption in high-income economies.

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  It was set up specifically so that environmental
cases could be dealt with speedily and with the
requisite expertise.
 Only the Supreme Court can reverse its ruling.
What are the changes being made?
 There were some changes brought about via
the Finance Act, 2017. It now has provisions
applying to tribunals that will also apply to the
NGT.
 It brought in the qualifications and service
conditions of members of tribunals like the
NGT.
 Under existing provisions the NGT
chairperson has to be a retired or serving
Supreme Court judge or the chief justice of a
high court—in other words, a person with
experience in judicial matters.
 Under the new rules, anyone who is qualified
to be a Supreme Court judge can head the
tribunal.
 So, even a lawyer with 10 years’ experience in a
high court, who is technically qualified to be a
Supreme Court judge, can be selected to head
the NGT.
 Currently, the NGT chooses its members
through a committee headed by a Supreme
Court judge.
 In future, it would be done by government
officials.
How will this affect NGT?
 The long-term effect of these changes would be
felt in the quality of the rulings of the NGT,
which would be deprived of the judicial
experience of senior judges.
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 It would also compromise its independence;
something that is essential given that it often
has to judge the actions of governments, both
at the centre and in the states.
 Judicial interventions are specific and are
backed by a monitoring mechanism that will
be overseen by the Court and not by
lackadaisical governments.
 So the imperative of an independent tribunal
becomes all the more pressing in every
environmental issue.
5. OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
What is the issue?
 Silicosis is a silent killer.
 An estimated 3 to 10 million workers in India
are affected by it.
 Yet, it is not treated with the kind of attention
it deserves.
Odisha Case Study
 16 families in Odisha had lost their main bread
earner to silicosis.
 They had worked in a unit that ground
pyrophyllite into powder.
 In the process, they were inhaling silica dust
without being aware of the consequences.
 Over time, their lungs collapsed and the men
died, as silicosis is incurable.
 They left behind what was called, a ―village of
widows.‖
 They need not have died if the outfit where
they worked had taken simple precautionary
measures such as giving them safety gear and
using processes that minimised generation of
silica dust.
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  Only after a local organisation moved the
National Human Rights Commission was the
matter investigated.
 The labour court in Odisha has ordered the
Odisha government to pay the families₹46
lakh as compensation.
 The ruling was made possible because of an
important Supreme Court judgment in 2016 in
a case involving 238 workers who died of
silicosis after working for more than 10 years
in quartz-crushing factories in Godhra and
Balasinor in Gujarat.
What are the lacunae?
 The men were employed on short-term
contracts that deprived them of benefits to
which workers are entitled under the law.
 Many such workers are migrant labourers,
often from poverty-stricken areas in
neighbouring state.
 Also, the factories where they worked did not
invest in any protective gear for the workers
even as they worked in a deadly dust haze.
 No medical help was available when they
developed breathing difficulties.
 With no system to monitor the state of their
health, there was no evidence that their
medical condition was directly related to their
place of work.
 When a worker dies of silicosis, it is virtually
impossible to certify this as the cause of death.
As a result, the data on silicosis deaths or
pneumoconiosis or byssinosis are gross
underestimates.
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What should be done?
 Specific steps have been taken in UK to deal
with occupational diseases such as silicosis or
pneumoconiosis by making it mandatory for
industries to implement safety measures.
 These include not just safety gear for every
worker but also using methods of extraction
that reduce the quantum of dust generated.
 The law also requires all workers thus exposed
to go through regular health check-ups and
monitoring as it recognises that silicosis.
 It can only be detected if the individual’s
health parametres are monitored and as it is
incurable, the only way to prevent the disease
is to limit exposure to the hazardous particles.
 Such provisions remain only on paper in India
and are rarely enforced.
 They have to be implemented.
a
6. ONE NATION ONE MARKET
Why in news?
 On 1 July 2017, the Goods and Services Tax
(GST) was rolled out.
How did GST evolve?
 GST was first conceptualised in the 1920s by
Wilhelm von Siemens, a German businessman,
as a destination-based tax levied on the
consumption of goods and services.
 It was first introduced in France in the year
1954, followed by Japan, South Korea, UK and
Australia.
 It should, however, be noted that GST is not
uniform across these countries.
 There being more than 40 models of GST
presently in force.
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  The model of GST India adopted is the dual
GST model followed by only one other country,
namely Canada.
What are the positives?
 GST is said to bring about the economic
unification of India in the form of a single
market.
 Finance Minister proclaimed that GST would
lead to a 2% increase in the GDP.
 A US Federal Reserve research note stated that
assuming the aggregate weighted GST rate is
16%, there would be a positive impact of 4.2%
on real GDP.
 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had
predicted GST to help raise India’s medium-
term GDP growth to over 8%.
 The World Bank held that a smooth
implementation of GST could boost economic
activity to push India’s GDP up to 7.2% in
2017–18 and further to 7.5% in 2018–19.
 The implementation of GST
euphemistically projected as the biggest tax
reform after independence.
What are the shortcomings?
 The GST is undoubtedly great for large
businesses, and the central government.
 But it is not the same case so for the states and
the people.
 There is not much dispute on the desirability
of a simplified tax structure in the form of
GST.
 But it all depends on how it is structured and
implemented in a vast country such as India
with its diversity and constitutional
complexity.
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 If abolishing state taxes under GST was a
definite way of creating efficient markets and
economies, US or the European Union would
have at least considered GST for themselves.
But they have not.
 All the predictions about increased growth are
based on the reduction in inefficiencies in the
production process while eliminating the
current compounding effect of different central
and state levies.
 They do not take into account the complexities
that the Indian context poses.
 It is generally experienced that GST tends to
be inflationary. For instance, Singapore saw a
spike in inflation in 1994, when it introduced
the GST.
 The higher prices of many items of mass
consumption, previously available without tax,
having been brought under the ambit of GST
are likely to hit the poor strata harder.
is being  In lieu of this, many countries had instituted
price control mechanisms when introducing
GST.
 GST grants all states equal votes, undermining
the reality that there is little or no similarity
among Gujarat, Tamil Nadu or Jharkhand, and
Tripura.
 Being a destination tax, it has an intrinsic
disincentive to the manufacturing states. For
example, states like Tamil Nadu, India’s
manufacturing hub, had opposed the GST
precisely due to this reason, as it saw a revenue
loss of around ₹9,270 crore under GST.
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 7. PRIVATISING AIR INDIA  Forcing the exit or merger of an established
state-run airline—with the second or third
Why in news?
largest market share by different indicators,
 The cabinet committee gave ―in-principle‖ which has 31% of the planes in the sector and
approval for privatising Air India. prime slots at airports worldwide—will only
aid in the undesirable concentration of market
Why it should not be done? power with a few already large private airlines,
 It is still undergoing a 10-year rehabilitation and will prove anti-competitive.
package that started in 2012.
What should be done?
 It posted faster-than-anticipated operating  Instead of indulging in virulent criticism the
profits and lower net losses in 2015–16. government must allow the recovery package
to bear fruit, and must not privatise in haste.
 Air India’s passenger load factor i.e its ability
to fill seat capacity has improved steadily over  All signals suggest that Air India will prove to
the last five years. be a profitable venture for the government,
like it used to be earlier.
 With steady passenger growth, it is expected to
be the third largest civil aviation market by the
7. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE
end of the decade.
What is the issue?
 Forecasts expect the number of annual
 India’s public health workforce infrastructure
domestic passengers alone to reach 100
is inadequate, in terms of numbers and
million by next year.
quality, to tackle its current and future public
 It will only benefit some private airlines and is healthcare.
definitely not in the interest of either Air India
What are the problems in India?
or its staff.
 Indicators of poor maternal and child
 It could also prove detrimental for the sector mortality and morbidity,
and for consumers as well.
 High level of preventable infectious diseases,
 Private airlines too have had difficulty
navigating India’s civil aviation sector.  Rising trends of chronic diseases such as
diabetes, strokes,
 Air India must be given the opportunity to
service its debt, one that is not denied to the  Coronary heart disease
private sector that owes much larger amounts
to public banks.
What is the significance of public health
workforce?
 A part of its staffing problem has already been
 A public health workforce requires people, who
addressed, but much needs to be achieved on
have qualifications in public health education,
service quality and reliable delivery.
to occupy positions exclusively or substantially
 The national carrier must invest in its staff to focused on population health.
deliver high quality services efficiently.

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  Public health professionals play a central role
in ensuring the appropriate management of all
aspects of the healthcare system: from logistics
and facility management, to finances, and the
monitoring of healthcare status and healthcare
interventions.
 As of 2011, a total of 23 institutions in India
offered a master of public health (MPH)
degree, and some institutions have launched
diploma programmes in public health related
disciplines.
 IIPHs have introduced many programmes in
the area of public health, including
postgraduate diplomas, a MPH degree and an
integrated Master-Doctoral programme.
 In addition, some state health departments
have also taken the initiative to establish
public health schools, for example,
Institute of Public Health, Kalyani (IPHK) was
established in 2015 by the West Bengal
government (Government of West Bengal
2015). However, until now, none of these
institutes have taken the initiative to introduce
a Bachelors (degree) programme in public
health.
What should be done?
 The government at the national and state
levels should institute policies and incentives
that promote bachelors degree programmes.
 The government must also mandate that
attending such degree programmes is a
prerequisite for occupying positions in the
ministry, and field service systems across the
nation.
 Local colleges and universities should be
supported financially and encouraged
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develop undergraduate degree programmes in
public health, especially in poorer states.
 This will ensure that the needs and
requirements of a public health professional
workforce in India are fulfilled.
 Bachelors level training for healthcare
promotion and public health managers is vital
to the infrastructure development of essential
services, such as environmental health, road
and workplace safety, immunisation, nutrition
and tropical disease control.
 Such programmes, like preventable morbidity
and mortality, are required in developing
countries that face various inequities and the
growing needs of an ageing population.
8. QATAR CRISIS – AL JAZEERA
the What is the issue?
 Following Diplomatic Crisis in Qatar, one of
the 13 demands that the Saudi Arabia-led
group of countries sent to Qatar is that the
news network Al Jazeera be shut down.
 Despite constraints, the Al Jazeera network is
challenging dominant narratives.
What is the significance of AL Jazeera?
 It operates from Qatar.
 Although media in Qatar has been categorised
as ―Not Free‖ in 2016 by the US-based
Freedom House, it is clearly freer than any
other equivalent news network operating in
the region.
 It describes itself as the ―first independent
news channel in the Arab world‖
to  It was principally responsible for the live and
extensive coverage of the so-called ―Arab
Spring‖ in Tunisia and Egypt.
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  And it was the only channel in the world that 9. RETHINKING INDIA’S FEDERALISM
got an interview with Osama bin Laden after
What is the issue?
9/11.
 Addressing the problems in local body
Why was it targeted? governance requires a reimagining of
 Such coverage has boosted its viewership, it federalism in India and moving away from the
has also made Qatar’s neighbours suspicious, centre–state framework.
as the Qatari royal family partly owns Al
What is the need for reviewing?
Jazeera.
 India’s government exists in three tiers: centre,
 The media organisation has been criticised for state, and local bodies, such as municipal
being soft on the Muslim Brotherhood and authorities and panchayats. As a federal
other radical groups. system though, it is only two-and-a-half tiers.

 It has also been acussed of actively promoting  This is because the third tier, comprising the
the protestors in Tahrir Square in Cairo. municipalities and panchayats, only has such
powers that the state governments choose to
 It argues that giving voice to even radical give it.
Islamicist groups is its professional duty.
 Increasing urbanisation and the governance
 Saudi-led group is unwilling to accept as they failures in Indian cities have caused the recent
see it as deliberate provocation. surge in discussion over urban local
government in India.
What should be done?
 Rural self-government has also flourished but
 The region has no concept of freedom of
is once again in focus due to efforts of certain
expression or of the press.
state governments to rein in their

 Every country is an autocracy or an absolute independence and inclusivity.

monarchy.
What are the problems with Indian

 For most of these governments, the media is a Federalism?

handy propaganda tool and works within  It tends to focus discussion almost exclusively
clearly laid out boundaries. on centre–state relations.

 Journalists are routinely threatened, and even
imprisoned, if they cross these boundaries.
 Al Jazeera has effectively demonstrated that
even within constraints, it is possible to
present a plurality of views and challenge
dominant narratives.
 So it is essential for Qatar not to cave in to the
pressures.
 While reservations for women and Dalits in
the panchayat institutions have done much to
strengthen India’s democracy, it has not been
without serious pushback from upper-caste
men and their allies in the state governments.
 There have been efforts to limit eligibility for
panchayat elections based on the number of
children born to parents, education levels, and
even presence of toilets in homes.

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  These are means of reducing participation in
the democratic process.
 According to the 2011 Census, there are 46
cities in India with a population of more than
one million, and eight with a population of
more than four million.
 Seven of the 10 largest cities are also the
capital cities of the states in which they are
 Apart from granting plenary powers to local
authorities, the relation between the union and
the states needs to be re-examined to tilt the
balance of power towards the latter.
 The distribution of powers between the centre
and states in the Seventh Schedule should be
revisited to replacing the post of an appointed
governor with an elected one (like the

located (including Delhi which is a city state by President of India).

itself).
 The two parallel conversations—on

 Yet, all these cities are supposed to be empowering the states and creating better
governed with only the powers that the state forms of local governance—need not
government chooses to give them. necessarily take place separately.

 This has two implications: urban governance  Federalism in the Indian context is not just an
becomes dysfunctional, and where the cities administrative convenience or a colonial
are also the capitals of the states, the chief leftover.
minister of the state is forced to become the de
 It is that feature of India’s Constitution that
facto mayor of the city in question.
acknowledges the bewildering diversity of the
 The consequences of this tangle of authorities country and the attempts to forge a common
and jurisdictions have had many deleterious destiny without sacrificing diversity.
effects.
10. RIVERS AS LEGAL PERSONS - A
What should be done?
REGRESSIVE STEP
 Local authorities should cease to be entirely
What is the issue?
subordinate to the state government and be
considered as a full tier of government with  The High Court of Uttarakhand has
their powers, functions and duties provided for consecrated two Indian rivers as juristic
in the Constitution itself. persons in Mohd Salim v State of
Uttarakhand, 2017.
 This would require the existing panchayats
and municipalities to be vested with plenary  The judgment is skewed and based on flawed
legislative and executive powers, if not legal reasoning.
exclusively, then concurrently with the state
government. What was the judgment?

 This should include the powers to levy taxes  It declared that the Rivers Ganga and Yamuna,

and fines to raise revenue for the functioning all their tributaries, streams, every natural

of the local body, and a more equitable water flowing with flow continuously and
mechanism to distribute state revenues to local intermittently of these rivers, as juristic/legal
bodies. persons/living entities.

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  It means that they now have the status of legal
persons with all corresponding rights, duties
and liabilities of a living person in order to
preserve and conserve the rivers.
 The bench exercised the doctrine of parens
patriae and directed that a Ganga Management
Board be constituted.
 It appointed the director of the Namami Gange
Programme1 and the chief secretary and
advocate general of the state of Uttarakhand as
persons in loco parentis as the ―human face to
protect, conserve and preserve Rivers Ganga
and Yamuna and their tributaries.‖
Why is it a case of skewed reasoning?
 It is imperative that the rivers be protected.
 The reasoning applied by the bench is skewed.
 The judgment that threatens to undermine
years of progress made in environmental
jurisprudence.
 The concept of an artificial juristic personality
has proved to be an effective tool to look into
the functioning of companies, corporate
bodies, as well as places of religious worship.
 However, to apply it to a common pool
resource like a river is a stretch. Further, the
notion that it will be of any use or significance
when applied towards conservation of a river is
questionable.
 A river is not a deity simpliciter. A particular
section of society may repose faith, belief and
worship in a river, but for others it is only a
natural resource to be utilised in an effective
and sustainable manner.
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 There is no comparison between an idol in a
temple or a private company, and a river,
which is a natural common pool resource.
 The bench has cited Yogendra Nath Naskar v
Commission of Income Tax, Calcutta (1969) as
a precedent where it was held that a ―Hindu
idol is a juristic entity capable of holding
property and of being taxed through its
shebaits who are entrusted with the possession
and management of its property.‖
 This reasoning cannot be applied to a river.
 Temple boards are socio-religious trusts
comprising members nominated by both the
government and community.
 Their aim is to manage temples and their
assets and to ensure their smooth operation in
accordance with traditional rituals and
customs prescribed under religious scriptures.
 A river board, on the other hand was envisaged
as a state body designed to advise the central
government on development opportunities,
and to coordinate activities and resolve
disputes pertaining to rivers.
 Under their mandate, the boards were
required to provide advice to the government
on various issues related to rivers.
 This is an absurd perversion of constitutional
morality, which will give birth to numerous
problems between various stakeholders in any
river issue.
 For example, were the religious wishes of one
section of society to come into conflict with the
needs of another, as is bound to happen in a
multicultural pluralistic society, it will be
difficult to assign priority to either.
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  The sustainable development
environmentalism are simply better served
through a scientific approach supported by
inclusive steps that involve people irrespective
of distinctions of belief, faith, caste and
gender.
 The introduction of a religious narrative now,
after years of constitutional and political
struggle seeking to look at conservation
through a dispassionate and scientific lens, is a
regressive step.
 The appointment of officers of the lone state of
Uttarakhand as persons in loco parentis is
likely to create more problems.
 The language used in the judgment appears to
give the impression that the state
Uttarakhand shall have the sole responsibility
and associated rights for the ―promotion of
health and well-being‖ of the rivers and their
tributaries.
 There are bound to be conflicts between the
states where the river flows, when it comes to
strategies, planning, and implementation of
river rejuvenation and conservation efforts.
 Further, the exact contour of duties of loco
parentis, when applied to natural resources, is
uncharted territory.
11. INDIA ISRAEL - STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIP
What is the issue?
The joint statement issued after Indian PM’s visit to
Israel declared that the bilateral relationship had now
been raised to the level of ―strategic partnership.‖
What are the downsides?
 Promoting an expedient relationship involving
large purchases of military hardware into a
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and strategic partnership requires a willingness to
share in each other’s geopolitical objectives.
 But the commonalties between Israel and
India are unclear.
 Israel has the luxury of complete impunity in
deploying a range of options within its broadly
defined strategic frontiers.
 It would be foolhardy for India to adopt
similar practices.
 So the strategic partnership might then be a
camouflage for India for importing the more
toxic doctrines of Israel’s military occupation
of Palestine into its own political practice.
 Israeli intent is clear from statements by its
of Prime Minister that an entire history of
Palestine should be removed.
 Similar dangerous fantasies are gaining
influence over Indian strategy towards the
insurgency in Kashmir.
 This might lead to an ―aggressive, hardline
approach‖ in dealing our domestic issues.
12. PETROLEUM POLICY IN INDIA
What is the issue?
 In the last 25 years, the Indian petroleum
sector has gone through several structural
changes.
 Each stage of these reforms has favoured
private sector companies, signifying a
loosening of government control on the sector
that had been asserted through investing in
public sector oil companies in the 1970s.
What is the history of petroleum sector?
 Initial Phase - At least until 1970, private oil
companies dominated the petroleum sector.
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 The government did not have much control  Phases of Deregulation - In the era of new
over pricing, and it formed a committee under economic policies, the petroleum sector also
K R Damle (1961) to recommend a new went through structural changes.
approach.
 The story of deregulation can be divided into
 The committee recommended the import five phases.
parity price (IPP) mechanism, and the
 First phase (1998–2002) - APM was
government allowed oil companies to price
dismantled in upstream companies and all
petroleum products at rates not more than
products were decontrolled, barring petrol,
their import price.
diesel, public distribution system (PDS)
 Talukdar Committee (1965) found that private kerosene, domestic liquefied petroleum gas
oil companies were using the highest (LPG), and aviation fuel.
international price, though discounts for
 The government decontrolled aviation fuel in
petroleum products were available in the
April 2001.
international market.

 The government allowed oil companies to sell

 Based on this , the government tried to
petroleum products at market-determined
implement different rates of discount for
prices after consulting the Ministry of
different products, but did not succeed when
Petroleum and Natural Gas.
private companies threatened to decrease
supply.  It also marked the beginning of the New
Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), which
 Shantilal Shah Committee (1969) found that
allowed 100% foreign direct investment (FDI)
private companies were producing products in
in the exploration and production of crude oil
India, but charging import parity prices, which
and natural gas.
it believed was unjustified.

 Second Phase (2002–10) - Since then, there

 Despite this, the government could do nothing
has been only two subsidised petroleum
until it realised that investment in the sector
products; LPG and PDS kerosene.
had to be increased.

 The prices of all other products had to be

 Through mergers and takeovers, HPCL &
adjusted in agreement with the import parity
BPCL came into existence.
price.
 In 1976, the Krishnaswamy Committee
 Soon after this, rising world prices of
recommended the administered pricing
petroleum products and crude oil compelled
mechanism (APM), a cost plus return pricing
the government to step in again.
method.

 This led to increasing under-recovery by oil

 The implementation of the APM was possible
companies, which was addressed by the
only because public sector oil companies had a
burden-sharing mechanism.
larger stake than private companies in the
petroleum sector at that time.

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  Third phase (2010 to January 2013) - The Kirit  With this, the physical performance of public
Parikh Committee recommended the sector oil companies has either decreased or
immediate deregulation of petrol, and slowed down, which results in less healthy
suggested the government also consider financial performances.
deregulating diesel. As this was politically
 Private sector oil companies now flourish in
sensitive, policymakers could work out a
the petroleum sector because of policy-level
smooth passage for its implementation only
encouragement by the government, which has
later.
simultaneously been retreating from the
 Fourth Phase (January 2013–September 2014) sector.
- In January 2013, the government allowed oil
 If the petroleum sector’s development
companies to increase the diesel price by 40–
continues on the same road, private companies
50 paise/month. It was a partial decontrol. The
could well be in a position to control the
formula continued until September 2014,
market again
making up for the under-recovery on diesel.

 Fifth Phase (September 2014 to now) - The
prices of only two products are regulated by
the government—PDS kerosene and LPG.
 In the case of domestic LPG, the government
introduced the direct benefit transfer for LPG
(DBTL) scheme in June 2013, which gives the
subsidy directly to consumers.
Who benefitted from these changes?
 One of the main arguments by advocates of
deregulation of the petroleum sector was that
it would lead to an improvement of the
financial health of public sector oil companies.
13. A DIRGE FOR KASHMIR
What is the issue?
 The killing of Burhan Wani intensified people’s
resistance followed by the indiscriminate
killing of over a hundred people by state
forces.
 A new report, ―Why Are People Protesting in
Kashmir? A Citizen’s Report on the Violation
of Democratic Rights in the Kashmir Valley in
2016,‖ brings first-hand accounts the events.
What was the aftermath of Burhan Wani
killing?

 But the evidence points to the exact opposite of  In many ways, the killing of Burhan Wani was

the situation. portentous for Kashmir.

 In the different phases of deregulation, private  The government proclaimed he was a

companies have captured a significant amount Pakistani terrorist; the people in Kashmir

of market share. hailed him as a freedom fighter.

 With deregulation of upstream activities,  His killing sparked off a fresh wave of protest

private companies have also entered into and sympathy.

exploration for oil and production.

 The retribution from the state security forces

 They have lately been doing well in the retail for that spontaneous show of protest has been

business. deadly.

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  The police and army actions since then, which the Kashmir Valley to maim and blind a
have exceeded all bounds of restraint and generation of Kashmiri people.
humanity.
 There have been instances in which the police
 Right to freedom of expression of Kashmiris in and security forces maimed people and then
the valley has never before been crushed with denied them medical aid, which sometimes
so much brutality. resulted in their death.

Why Are People Protesting in Kashmir?  The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act,

 The impunity of the Indian state and its armed 1978 (PSA) has been used to indict potential

forces has cornered Kashmiris in terms of their ―troublemakers‖ but it has been used

forms of resistance. indiscriminately. Even little boys were arrested

under PSA.
 Several people across the districts said that
those who picked up arms to struggle had been  ―Curfew schools‖ have come up in these

forced to do so due to circumstances created troubled times, set up by local communities to

by the Indian state. help students.

 Even peaceful resistances were responded to  Up to 800 students were taught in Srinagar for

with bullets, pellets and PAVA shells three months in these schools.

(Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide, an organic

 Government teachers who taught in these
compound found in natural chilli pepper).
schools have been arrested and face threats by

 Peaceful protests like those of the APDP have government forces, prohibiting them from

fallen on deaf ears. participating in such schools.

What were the violations by security  During raids or ―crackdowns‖ conducted by

the security forces, houses were attacked in
forces?
Pulwama district, cash was looted and even a
 Since July 2016, more than 15,000 civilians
dog shot dead.
have been injured, one-third of whom were
shot at with pellets.  Kashmir Reader, a Kashmiri newspaper, was
made a target for refusing to use the words
 More than a thousand people have lost their
―jawans‖ or ―security forces,‖ or ―separatists.‖
vision, partially or fully, it stated.
It prefers ―soldiers,‖ ―government forces,‖ and
―pro-freedom.‖
 There was a blatant state repression of human
rights and freedoms of Kashmiri peoples,
 In the dossier presented by the police to the
curfews, bans and protest calendars.
courts, the paper was accused of publishing
content ―that could incite violence and disturb
 It will also be remembered for what is being
public tranquillity.‖
called the world’s first mass blinding.

 Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi tied up Farooq

 Indian Army, the CRPF and the J&K Police
Ahmed Dar to the front of his jeep as a human
have fired more than a million pellets at
shield, and drove him for 27 kilometres.
unarmed protestors that broke out all across
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What is the impact on the Economy?
 Workers engaged in economic activities were
attacked, creating unsafe working conditions.
 Army and CRPF used a new means of
repression - the burning of standing paddy
crops in several districts, including Kulgam,
Baramulla, Budgam and Anantnag.
 The fields as well as orchards of resistance
leaders were particularly attacked and
destroyed.
 The targeting of food crops appears to be
strategic, to hit not only the local economy but
also food sustenance that is crucial to survival
during months of curfews and strikes, when
mobility is also severely restricted.
 The security forces—including the army and
STF—also resorted to burning electricity
transformers in 2016 in Anantnag, Baramulla,
Srinagar and Budgam.
 State armed forces’ attack on essential public
services such as electricity, amount to a
violation of the right to life.
♣♣♣♣♣
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What should be done?
 The resolution of Kashmir dispute can only
come through a political solution, not through
military intervention and a suppression of
human and democratic rights.
 The army and other paramilitary forces should
be withdrawn from civilian areas of J&K.
 The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act,
1978 and the Armed Forces (Jammu and
Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 should be
repealed
 All political prisoners should be released, in
particular all prisoners arrested under the
PSA.
 The United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights for a UN fact-finding mission in
J&K should be granted access.
 A judicial tribunal under the supervision of the
Supreme Court to examine all cases of
extrajudicial killings, including that of Burhan
Wani should be established.
 The government should enter into an open and
transparent dialogue, without preconditions,
with all sections of the Kashmiri people and
their representatives.
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