Test - 1 Governance Answers PDF

GS Mains Test Series 2018
Answer Hints: Test No.1 www.iasscore.in
GOVERNANCE
1. "Development is a qualitative term". In this context discuss, how growth has preceded
development in India, post-globalization.
Hints:
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The concept of Development is qualitative, whereas that of growth is quantitative. While growth is
an arithmetic number signifying an increase in the output of an economy, development includes
OR
distribution of output or ability of the increased output and income to reach the bottom most stratum
of society. Development implies equitable distribution in the economy.
Earlier it was widely believed that initially increased growth is required and development would
happen, through what is referred as the ‘Trickle –down theory’. This means that the increased
growth would percolate down to the grass root level of the society and provide equitable distribution.
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POST- GLOBALIZATION SECENARIO

• Since the economic reforms initiated in 1991, India has not only broken through the low
growth cycle, but also become one of the fastest growing economies surpassing China.
• The high growth rate achieved since 2005 questions the trickle – down theory in India, as
it has not benefited the Indian masses in terms of lowering absolute poverty levels significantly,
creating employment opportunities, reducing inter/intra-regional imbalances
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Reasons Why trickle- down Theory failed

• Firstly, Indian economy has a structural problem of excessive economic dependence on the
agricultural sector in occupational structure. Over 65% of the population is either directly/
indirectly dependent on this sector.
• The contribution of the agriculture sector to the overall GDP is only 18%, the sector contributing
least to GDP has maximum dependence and the sector contributing the most has the least
dependence (Services i.e. 55%).
• Secondly, India’s growth process, there has been a missing link of the relative earlier maturity
of the services sector, before achieving manufacturing sector maturity. Ideally it should be
first manufacturing sector before services. This is an important feature as there is a linkage
between manufacturing sector and agriculture sector either through raw materials or as a
market for the industrial produce and employment opportunities.
The earlier belief for development to take place, growth was a necessary condition, but now the
nomenclature of ‘development’ has been replaced by ‘Inclusive Growth’ i.e. any growth should
benefit the people by and large which means that benefits of growth be broader based, should have
orientation towards ‘masses’ and not only ‘classes’.
Hints: Governance [1]

2. How do you assess the contemporary bureaucratic culture in India? What measures
can be taken to make bureaucracy, less bureaucratic?
Hints:
Apart from the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary, the Bureaucracy is the fourth branch
of the government.
• The contemporary bureaucratic culture includes the concepts of customers, service, quality,
value, flexibility, innovation, empowerment and continuous improvement. Key influence to
the rise of a post-bureaucratic ethos is to encourage organizations to develop more
entrepreneurial forms of governance in order to secure greater flexibility.
• Bureaucracy is directly under the executive branch of the government and its function is to
carry out the day to day functions of the government of the government including various
laws.
• Bureaucracy is also mentioned as an instrumental of change which not only plays role in the
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developmental sphere but also as integrative force for building a sense of nationhood and
national solidarity. OR
Measures can be taken to make bureaucracy, less bureaucratic
Time Bound Targets: There are well documented bottle-necks regarding files being stuck. Now we
have IT at our disposal, and we must use it for effective monitoring. Example: Proactive Governance
and Timely Implementation - A software in PMO.
• Transparency in Posting and Transfers: Recently a City Police Commissioner was transferred
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amidst on-going investigation in a high-profile case. The relevant authority was by-passed.
This does not boost the morale of officers and hence the poor performance. Matters related
to posting and transfers must be institutionalized and insulated from political influence.
• Free to perform duty: Adequate protection in terms of tenure and personal security must be
ensured. Ex.: Mysterious death of IAS Officer D. Ravi in Karnataka; IPS officer in UP unable
to file FIR against threatening politician. These are instances which bring in inefficiency for
no fault of the bureaucracy.
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• Incentivize Performance: Promotion must take into consideration performance thus far.
• Take Firm Action Against Erring Officers
3. Civil Society movement in India has been a victim of elite capture. Discuss.
Civil Society(CS) is an intermediate space between the citizen (family, business etc.) on one side and
State and its institutions on the other side. The developmental role of Civil Society is being instrumental
in mobilizing for development in a bottom up model
• CS is a crucial agent for limiting Authoritarian govt and works towards the empowerment
of the people
Rise of Civil Society in India
• The focus on civil society dates back to the 1980s, when political scientists began to speak
of a 'crisis of representation'. Citizens across the world had shifted from older and traditional
forms of representation, such as political parties and trade unions, to 'newer' modes: social
movements, informal citizen groups and non-governmental organizations.
• In India, by the late 1970s, the decline of all institutions gave rise to several mass-based
political movements and grassroots activism.
[ 2 ] Hints: Governance
• The anti-caste movement, the struggle for gender justice, the movement for civil liberties, for
a sound environment, and against mega development projects that have displaced thousands
of poor tribal and hill dwellers, the movement against child labour, for the right to information,
for shelter, for primary education, and for food security have mobilized in civil society.
• The fact that vital issues related to livelihoods, to the fulfilment of basic needs, and for justice
were not taken up by political parties but by civil society organizations acted to propel hopes
in civil society as an alternative to the non-performing state and an unresponsive party
system.
Challenges to CS
• The founders of CS generally come from well off families and have good educational
background. They exactly don't belong to the same demographic profile for which they are
working for, for example, even the most popular movements in India are also led by elites
coming from good educational background and influential family links, this includes people
like, Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy, or Medha Patkar, they have no relationship to the cause
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they are fighting for, except ideological, and even courts at times dismiss such activists,
because of absence of loci standii.
•
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Large number of shadow NGO are being run by relatives of those in power be it politicians,
business people or even actors. Even few IB reports criticized few foreign funded NGO
involved in Antinational activities.
• The CS is too diverse with organizations at micro level, foot loose and organizations that are
structured well financed and close to power centers. It is criticized that voice of the strong
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and influential is more herd then the others.
4. Media is a parliament of citizens. Comment on the Pros and Cons of Media freedom
in India.
Hints:
Freedom of the press was not created by the Founding Fathers for the convenience of either the
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politicians or the press. it was created as a guarantor and protector of an informed citizenry, without
which India's democracy is under threat. The 2017 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters without
Borders ranks India at 136 out of 180 countries
Pros of media freedom:
• An independent press and news-media acts as an important check on Government and
Administrators.
• The duty of a free press is to raise voice against any social ill or wrong. It has been said that
internal vigilance is the price of liberty.
• They raise voice against any dictatorship, corruption, and malpractices.
• The people of the country are kept informed of what is happening in the country. Thus,
freedom of press and media is the necessary pre-condition to the fulfilment of democratic
ideologies.
Cons:
• The Indian media is often criticised for its deteriorating reporting standards, jaundiced
coverage of politics and regurgitation of online trends as prime time news
• Over the past few years our media has become the mouthpiece of the party in power.
Coupled with the fact the corporate owners of media houses share close links with the
government, the Indian media has tragically lost its voice.
• Fake news, paid news in the time of elections to gain extra mileage have become reality; The
Election Commission is reported to have identified more than 1,400 cases of paid news
between 2009 and 2013
• Serious issues like the beef ban, the crisis in Kashmir, dissent in universities and even the
unrest in societies where Dalits - the lowest level of India's caste system - have been
discriminated or killed, have received scant mention in media coverage.
• In recent times the race to gain TRP's has led to emergence of sensational news by the press
for example too much attention was given to Panchkula Baba over Doklam issue
• There is also unwillingness across the media to robustly challenge the official narrative on
key issues partly out of its own failings but also largely out of fear of being denied access
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to those in power.
• Advent of social media led to competition for instant and quick news and reporting without
first checking the facts.
OR
– For example: Reporting of GPS Nano chips in new 500 and 2000 notes.
• In recent times in absence of weak regulation, lack of self-control, degradation of ethical and
professional values is making the press a tool used by political and corporate bodies for their
own self-interest.
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Therefore, Media should be more responsible to the press freedom and should provide only authentic
news as it is the fourth pillar of democracy.
5. In the era of E-Governance, specialists have a greater role to play, but our entire
administration structure is designed around "Generalists". Elaborate
Hints:
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The generalists and specialists are two broad functional categories in the Government. They play a
very important role in rendering advice to the political executives, policy making and in
implementation of policies. Simplest case for the generalist is that the administrative function does
not depend on any single form of technical expertise and that the specialist, therefore, has no
particular qualifications for this sort of work. A specialist is one who has special knowledge in some
particular field.
In favor of Specialists:
• A developing country like India requires scientific and not an administrative outlook;
generalists lack in scientific temper which planned development needs
• Specialist inputs are required in tackling the complex and technical problems of modern
administration which have become quite technical. Also, the various areas in administration
call for varied skills, expertise and experience. 'Planning" and 'development' in a scientific
world demand that policy making be entrusted to experts.
• Ministration in future is going to be characterized by new developments in the fields of
science and technology, social and behavioral sciences, decision-making, human relations in
administration etc. Each of these areas required professionality intervention.
• New type of assignment to a civil servant demands competence academic requisites and
specialized training may impart it. In a department the political head, i.e. The Minister is not
supposed to be an expert. He is assisted by a civil servant who tenders advice in policy
formulation and administration. But if the head of a technical department also is not an
expert, then we are likely to fail in coming to grips with the problems.
• The bureaucracy mostly generalists have been given the task of looking after economic
policies, macro-management of fiscal issues, control and regulation of currency, banking and
insurance, financial institutions, municipalities and corporations etc. almost the entire gamut
of nation's life. It has alienated many of the best and brightest products of higher institutions
of learning.
In favor of Generalists:
• The first and foremost of these arguments is the belief that the high caliber of the recruits
to the IAS and the varied experience gained as a result of their postings to a diverse variety
of jobs equip them with qualities needed for the performance of the senior management jobs.
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• Mere technical soundness is not enough. It is argued that a scheme should not only be
technically sound but has also to be examined from various other points of view, its financial
OR
and legal implications, administrative feasibility, political justifiability and whether it should
be acceptable to Parliament and public.
• Generalists have the ability to reconcile conflicting interests and bring together experts from
different fields and evolve a policy which will sub serve to the common good, even by
sacrificing, if necessary technical excellence.
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• The Generalists argue that administration has become so complex that it requires a high
degree of managerial skill including man-management and it has developed into a technique
which can be learnt partly by training but largely by experience over the years.
• The generalists also play a dominant role in problem solving sphere. Since most important
techno-professional work in the governmental organizations has become inter disciplinary,
one arbiter in the form of a generalist administrator is needed to articulate a rational, cost
effective, most beneficial alternative solution.
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• The generalists also argue that the effectiveness of a technical expert depends on his
specialization in department in a particular field and not on broad outlook. His outlook lacks
wider perspective and tends to be narrow and sectarian.
– By appointing an eminent surgeon as Health Secretary, the country will lose his services
as a surgeon and he may not also turn out to be an able administrator.
Suggestions:
• Adapt French model:
– In France, the top bureaucrats are selected on the basis of their specialised knowledge
of the subjects they would be called upon to handle. They are posted in departments
as per their specialization.
– They contribute constructively in that department on the basis of their knowledge and
also in the process gain sufficient knowledge and experience in that department.
– When they become senior and gain enough experience and achieve mature & broad
outlook they are posted in the top policy-making positions or generalist posts.

– This has many advantages - specialists can handle complex and difficult situations
efficiently, there is better crisis management, the jobs are performed swiftly, the approach
is task-oriented & not rules-oriented, positive thinking is developed amongst the
bureaucrats and finally this will remove all types of ill feelings and intra cadre rivalries.
There has to be a combination of lay, elected, political, benevolent, generalist, minister head and a
specialist, experienced, mature, well-trained crisis expert, neutral, bureaucrat-civil servants in Indian
bureaucracy.
6. Sunshine laws like RTI and RTPS, can only be effective when there are enough "Windows
of Democracy". Discuss with respect to the issues of transparency and accountability
in governance in India.
Hints:
Transparency and accountability in Governance:
• Transparency is broadly accepted as a major principle of good governance (World Bank
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(2000) the UNDP has perceived that transparency means "sharing information and acting
in an open manner" OR
• Accountability means being answerable for the performance of tasks assigned to a person;
• Accountability is imperative to Governance as it evaluates the ongoing effectiveness of public
officials or public bodies ensures that they are performing to their full potential.
Why laws like RTI and RTPS are failing:
• With respect to RTI, nearly half of all respondents felt that PIOs were not at all cooperative
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in giving information
• Sheer knowledge of what entitlements are, and who is responsible for fulfilling them, is not
sufficient to ensure that public services are passably and effectively delivered to the 'intended'
recipients.
• Poor governance is being increasingly considered as major root causes of all corrupt practices
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within societies.
• Civil service's indifference and hostility towards the RTI has not diminished over the years.
• But as a tool to inculcate the value of transparency, the RTI has neither sunk deep into the
government nor among most of the citizenry.
• Many high courts had framed very restrictive rules some even fixing a Rs 500 fee for each
piece of information demanded (clearly not intended by the RTI Act), and thus making it
very difficult for people to access the information held by courts.
• The contribution of the information commissions, both Central and state, in diluting the
public interest in the RTI is no less.
– Long pendency in most information commissions some even for a year or more signals
their casual approach. This, in turn, emboldens public authorities to take the RTI casually.
– The appointment of information commissioners, especially in the states many of whom
are not equal to the task in terms of intellect and stature has seriously undermined the
citizen's trust in information commissions.
– The absence of enforcement provisions in the law has rendered the information
commissions toothless.
• Besides, a widespread reluctance to penalize errant government officials also contributes to
a general sense of laxity in the enforcement of this law.
• Consequently, the response of the public authorities has often been sub-optimal and
unsatisfactory for information seekers. Finally, in spite of the mandate of the RTI Act, most
public authorities have failed to digitize their records and make proactive disclosure of their
information in the public domain.
• Due to lack of awareness with respect to right to public services, this act is not too much
known to every Person. Even this act is not passed by some states of India till now. In states,
where this Act is passed by the Government there are not so many complaints lodged by the
People.
• One of the greatest casualties of the resulting parliamentary paralysis has been the grievances
redressal bill that, despite enjoying the support of all major parties including the could not
be taken up for consideration and passage.
Both these laws have played an important role in making governments accountable and ensuring
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good governance but with the issues surrounding it which are systemic need to be rectified.
7. Do you think corruption is more of a cultural problem, than an institutional one? Give
OR
your suggestions.
Hints:
With Black money, Money laundering making headlines every day corruption is one of the most
important topics concerning India.
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Corruption is a systemic problem:

• Corruption will continue, and will probably increase and not decrease, unless and until the
excuses are checked and the political system is reformed.
• Lower-level trial judges notoriously underpaid, incompetent and corrupt.
• License Raj throttled the spirit of entrepreneurship and encouraged bribery.
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• Indian bureaucracy is ranked one of the worst in Asia. It's largely unresponsive, inefficient,
lacks accountability and abuses authority.
• In spite of laws being sound and relevant, they are not implemented properly.
• The system often suffers from problems of excessive centralization and policies and action
plans are far removed from the needs of the citizens. This results in a mismatch between
what is required and what is being provided.
• Defence sector: In the 1980's, government was accused of receiving kickbacks from Swedish
arms manufacturer AB Bofors for winning a bid to supply India with 400 howitzers.
• Police sector: Indian police is largely inefficient and unreformed. The police act of 1861 has
remained unchanged over the past 150 years.
Cultural problem:
• Not unlike their politicians, Indian voters tend to view politics and government through the
lens of "what's in it for me." For decades, politicians in many regions have won and held
office by promising to provide freebies and the cost of bribing the voters has been rampant
elections

• Corruption is there in many countries but What is unique in India is the level of its acceptance,
and the creative ways in which it is sustained.
• Sports sector: Match fixing, Commonwealth games screw-up, Nepotism in IPL.
• Health sector: In 2008, World Bank said it had uncovered serious acts of corruption in its
five health projects in India amounting to $500 million.
• Telecom sector: 2G spectrum scam
• Software Services: The founder of Satyam Co, one of the top service firms in India admitted
he had falsely inflated profits for years and resigned in Jan 2009.
• Real estate sector: Adarsh scam in Maharashtra.
• It's extremely common in India to skip that bill at the grocery store to escape sales tax.
• Extremely common in India to evade income taxes.
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• There are various elements in our deep- rooted culture that has encouraged and accelerated
the spread of corruption: OR
– Lack of social responsibility and initiative among Indian masses.
– Lack of civic sense among masses. Nowhere is it more apparent than in traffic.
– Personal goals take preference over social ethics.
What should be done?
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• Political parties should be made internally democratic the way they are in developed countries;
the "high commands" will not select candidates for any election, but decide party policy
only.
• Ethics and principles needs to be taught to children from school itself.
8. Citizen-Charters are "Expression of an ethical governance", but their real utility is
questionable.
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Hints:
Citizen's Charter is a document which represents a systematic effort to focus on the commitment of
the Organization towards its Citizens in respects of Standard of Services, Information, Choice and
Consultation, Non-discrimination and Accessibility, Grievance Redress, Courtesy and Value for
Money. This also includes expectations of the Organization from the Citizen for fulfilling the
commitment of the Organization.
Objective of Charter exercise is to build bridges between citizens and administration and to streamline
administration in tune with the needs of citizens. to bring about a change in the way the
governmental machinery functions at all levels.
How are Citizen Charters expression of Ethical governance?
• Quality-a sustained new programme for improving the quality of public services
• Choice-Choice wherever possible between competing providers is the best spur to quality
improvement
• Standards: The citizen must be told what service standards are and be able to act where
service is unacceptable
• Value: The citizen as a taxpayer has a right to expect that public services must give value
for money within a tax bill the nation can afford.
• Accountability: By holding both individuals and organizations responsible for performance
in keeping with the specified standards and also ensuring that lapses if any are dealt with
firmly and in an exemplary manner.
• Citizens Will not have to depend on the mercy of the bureaucracy.
– Citizen will not have to face long delays due to red tape.
Utility is less because:
• Standards are poorly defined, it becomes tough to assess whether the desired level of service
has been achieved or not.
• Promises contained in the Charter were vague and meaningless.
• Lack of Public Awareness.
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• The practice of promoting CC demands significant changes in the behaviour and attitude of
the agency and its staff towards citizens which is lacking
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• Can do little to improve the service quality if the concerned organizations suffer from a
dearth of human resources.
• Poor complaint redressal systems and Staff not trained properly.
What can be done?
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• According to 2nd administrative reforms commission

• The Charters should clearly spell out the remedy / penalty / compensation in case there is
a default in meeting the standards spelt out in the Charter.
• Before the organization makes charter, it should restructure its internal system and processes.
• Citizens' Charter should be close to ground reality and local conditions.
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• Feedback needs to be taken from the citizens so that there is a periodic evaluation of the
charter
9. Identity the crucial factors behind "Weak Grievance Redressal" in India. Will the
growth of Tribunals fill the gap in Justice delivery?
Hints:
At the national level, there is no law governing the delivery of services or the redressal of grievances.
According to the 2nd ARC report, most of the citizen's charter in India do not put any specifics on
the kinds of service the corresponding department provides. This vagueness in performance standards
is further exacerbated through user unfriendly complaint mechanisms as it is more focused on the
intricacies of the complaint lodging process itself.
• The diffused responsibility prevalent in many of the public organizations is another cause of
weakness in the current system. Erring officials often gets shielded behind departmental
inquiries and concepts like the single directive.
• The common man is mostly unaware of their rights as a citizen; they consider the public
services as a favor from the authority rather than their right which for then justifies the
delayed and most often nonexistent service.
– In case they are aware of the complaint mechanisms, the cumbersome and time-
consuming process more often than not deter him from complaining in the first place.
• Absence of proper evaluation of working of employees
• High levels of Red tapism and large number of laws have made the democratic system into
an ivory tower system. There is complete apathy towards clients' needs and value have been
over emphasized while goals are seldom achieved.
Tribunals:
• Tribunals were added in the Constitution by Constitution (Forty-Second Amendment) Act,
1976 as Part XIV-A, which has only two articles viz. 323-A and 323-B.
• While article 323-A deals with Administrative Tribunals; article 323-B deals with tribunals
for other matters.
• In general sense, the 'tribunals' are not courts of normal jurisdiction, but they have very
specific and predefined work area. The administrative tribunals are not original invention of
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the Indian Political System.
Tribunals and justice delivery:
OR
• Courts are governed by strict procedure defined in CrPC, IPC and the Indian Evidence Act.
whereas Tribunal follow principles of Natural Justice. Thus, less procedural delay and legal
obligations.
• Ensuring efficiency and independence (Administrative tribunals CAT, SAT)
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• Deal with matters requiring specialized knowledge (National Green Tribunal, Intellectual
Property Appellate Board etc. income tax appellate tribunal, EC etc.) and thus have expert
members also apart from judicial member.
• Provide speedy resolution of disputes as they generally have original jurisdiction for that
particular subject matter (appellate authority under CIC)
• It has all the powers of civil courts thus awards given by Tribunals are binding.
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• Reduced the delays and complication in delivery of judgement related to government services
disputes, tax claims and business and financial markets disputes.
• Paved way for participation of efficient and competent executives with knowledge and rich
experiences over the respective matters in adjudication on those matters.
Challenges:
• India has strived to create a parallel justice delivery mechanism in tribunals. However, the
difficulty lies in finding the right judicial person for tribunals dealing with specific areas of
laws.
• In some states the Tribunals have taken away the jurisdiction of the respective high courts
in service matters, while in some other states, they do not abridge or ban the jurisdiction of
the High Court concerned.
• As of now most state tribunals are losing relevance and some state governments are closing
them down.
• Tribunals are authority created by law therefore they do not enjoy as much independence
from executives as ordinary courts do
[10] Hints: Governance
• Under basic doctrine of Judicial review, awards given by tribunals can be challenged in HC
or SC this hinders the very idea of speedy trial and justice by Natural laws.
• Some of the protections which an individual enjoys at the hands of the Courts is lacking in
case of tribunal.
• For instance, justice based on evidences and facts, procedure of the law, publishing the
reasons for their decision etc. are ignored by tribunals.
• Tribunals are under the direct administrative control of ministries within the government
which administer their day to day functioning and appointments and hence are likely to be
influenced by the government's opinion, thus interfering with the justice delivery.
However, despite so many concerns, tribunals have been pivotal and effective in addressing disputes
in past. They may adjudicate on matters under their jurisdiction but the ultimate power lie with the
High Courts and the Supreme Court.
10. There is a need for "Credibility Index" and "Performance Index" for enforcing
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accountability of NGO's. Comment.
Hints: OR
According to the World Bank, "a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) is a private organization
that pursues activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment,
provide basic social services, or undertake community development".
The primary objective of NGOs is to provide social justice, development and human rights. India
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has around 3.3 million registered NGOs, which cumulatively receive around $8-$16 billion in funding
annually
Need for Accountability of NGOs or why India needs credibility and the performance index:
• Lack of proper utilization of Funds:
– Paucity of funds, delay in government grants.
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– Due to misuse of funds some NGO's have been closed. CAPART is the glaring example
of how corruption in NGO's can ruin a novel government programme.
– Recently government has identified some NGOs as security threat to the country. Such
security considerations have underscored the rising need of improving the governance
practices in the Indian NGOs and exercising better regulatory mechanisms, disclosure
norms, and management processes including financial management and budgeting
systems as well.
– Some recent issues like foreign funding of Maoist groups, separatist forces, green peace
foundation, Kudankulam protests raised questions about NGO's objectives.
" Accreditation:
– A large number receive grants from government. These organizations vary greatly in
their capability and credibility.
– In the absence of any system of accreditation, the government has found it extremely
difficult to distinguish between good organizations and those which have been set up
almost solely for the purpose of receiving government grants.

• To accomplish their 2% CSR spending, many companies may need to partner with non-
profits. But since few NGOs have accreditation, organizations are finding it difficult to
partner with them.
• According to non-profit watchdogs, almost half of that money is misused. Disclosure standards
are poor, annual reports sketchy, and balance sheets non-existent in most cases.
• Many non-profits scoff at these details as bureaucratic hurdles that distract them from" real"
work, or even view accountability requirements as government interference that hampers
their efficiency in holding the governments and corporations to account.
What needs to be done?
• Thus, there is need to have a system of accreditation and certification for NGOs, which
would facilitate and bring transparency in the Government-NGO partnership through an
independent agency like the National Accreditation Council.
• NGOs do internal auditing but for more accountability and transparency, it is advisable to
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go through external auditing also, especially where public funds are involved.
• NGOs must ensure their accountability to government's by submitting Annual reports, income
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and expenditure statements and working towards national development on national interest.
• Intermediary organisations such as rating agencies could definitely be beneficial in building
a robust voluntary sector.
– Experience of rating agencies across the world reveals that ratings are helpful, especially
to donors, in reducing transaction costs, while making investment decisions based on
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financial health, to check compliance of statutory norms, etc. This has been found to
work especially well with certain sub-sectors such as commercial microfinance.
• Some possible measures of sector-wide internal accountability could include:
– A code of ethics: Adoption of code of ethics could help strengthen the non-profit
governance structures.
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– Smart and effective records management
11. Emphasize the role of cooperatives post-independence. To what extent have they been
successful? Are cooperatives relevant in today's India. Critically analyze.
Hints:
"A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common
economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically
controlled enterprise."
Role of Cooperatives post-independence in India:
• After independence formation of District and Apex Cooperative Banks in the 1960s provided
further fillip to this sector.
• Post-Independence, cooperatives were considered to be the part of the strategy of planned
economic development.
• Undue interference from the State, lack of autonomy and widespread politicisation has
severely impaired the functioning of these institutions. On the basis of many committee's
recommendations The Union Government replaced the existing Multi-State Co-operative
Law by a fresh statute - the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002.
• The Constitution (One Hundred and Eleventh Amendment) Bill, 2009 / 97th CA Act, 2011:
– The Bill seeks to develop professionally managed and autonomous cooperatives.
– The state legislature may fix the number of board members but <21. At least 1 would
be SC/ST and 2 women and term of the board will be 5 years.
– A maximum of 2 people with experience in the field can be "co-opted" in the Board.
– The elections of the new board will take place before the end of term of the previous.
– The Board can be superseded or suspended for its failure but within 6 months elections
will have to be conducted.
– Independent audit, professional management

Successes of cooperatives:
• During the first few decades after Independence, this sector played a pivotal role in the
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economy by making significant contribution to our primary sector production It had an
important role
–
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In bringing food sufficiency through the green revolution
– In building up a network for distribution of new varieties of seeds, fertilizers and cash
credit and
– In creating an environment of participation and hope among the people. Beginning
with Amul in Gujarat, it took extraordinary strides in the dairy sector too
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– Eighty-four per cent of our farmers fall in the category of landless, marginal and small
landholders, they do not have access to organised markets for their produce and the
availability of agriculture credit is far too inadequate. The most appropriate institutional
structure which has the capacity to tackle these problems is cooperatives. They can
provide credit to the rural people at affordable rates. They can also play a major role
in other primary sector activities such as livestock development, dairy production, fisheries
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and agro-forestry. Cooperatives can establish linkages between credit and market and
thus develop into multipurpose rural institutions.
Relevance:
• Cooperatives provide credit to the farmers, the most needed thing in the farming. Apart
from this cooperative help farmers by providing top quality fertilizers, seeds, insecticides,
pesticides etc. at reasonable price.
• Farmers also get marketing, warehousing facility and transportation support from the
cooperatives.
• Service cooperative societies help the poor and marginal farmers with tractors, threshers etc.
on rent.
• Rural cooperative societies are now entering into real estate, power, insurance, healthcare
and communication sector.
• In fact, the spatial spread of the credit cooperatives has contributed in their own way in
moving towards financial inclusion.

SUGGESTIONS:
• The 2nd ARC is of the view that the first kind of cooperative organisations to perform
important public functions and therefore they should not be closed down unless they become
totally unviable. Since they primarily deal with scarce public resources, they cannot be given
total freedom as well.
• At the same time, member-driven societies will have to be made fully autonomous to enable
them to achieve the desired results. Thus, there has to be two different sets of legislations
which enable the above two to function in their respective jurisdictions.
• The cooperative structure has to be reformed in such a way that the government control on
this sector gradually fades away.
Supplementary Notes
Weakness in the cooperative system:
1. Bureaucratisation and Government control:
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• The government of Independent India, while championing the cause of cooperatives further
added a complex hierarchy of bureaucratic power centres to the existing structure. Existence
OR
of such a government controlled cooperative infrastructure has gone against the very logic
of the cooperative movement.
2. Politicisation of cooperative leadership:
• The Boards of a majority of cooperative Bodies are dominated by politicians. Many of them
are in cooperatives because they want to use this position as a stepping stone for their
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political ambitions. And there are some who join this sector because their current political
standing has gone down.
3. Failure to inculcate self-help principle:
• Self-help is the basic tenet of cooperatives. In its very genesis the movement is opposed to
both Market as well as State. It needs to be understood that governments both in centrally
planned economies and free market regimes have generally, been too eager to provide
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financial and other support to cooperatives and the sector has very often fallen prey to this
temptation. The government thus, succeeds in establishing its dominance over them. This
trend needs to be reversed.
4. Failure to inculcate member centrality principle:
• Cooperatives by their very nature are inward looking organisations. They are meant to serve
the member community but this is not the reality.
5. Lack of credibility:
• The cooperative sector in its present form, has neither values nor competence to accept this
challenge
6. A great degree of viability in the spread and depth of coverage of the cooperative movement.
7. Many places, unfortunately, have cooperatives only on paper, with a complete absence of
the cooperative spirit. Even where they exist, their financial and business strength varies
substantially
8. Predominance of vested interests resulting in non-percolation of benefits to a common member,
particularly to the class of persons for whom such cooperatives were basically formed, has
also retarded the development of cooperatives.
9. Legislative Framework:
• It is strongly felt that the cooperative legislations prevalent in the country have been one the
major factors behind the not so successful cooperative movement in India.
– Most of the laws governing cooperatives suffer from control and accountability related
problems. The provisions of the Companies Act were also amended in 2002 to allow a
cooperative enterprise to register under the Companies Act as a Producer Company.
However, the issue of duality of control still remain
– Incorporating features of both public service cooperatives and member-driven cooperatives
in a single law would be legally clumsy.
10. The recent demonetization programme has disrupted the normal life of people and in particular
the operations of credit cooperative institutions (CCI). The grounds advanced by the Centre/
RBI on excluding CCIs in implementing demonetization, among others, include that CCIs
are not covered under core banking solutions that they don't strictly adhere to KYC norms
and lack professional management.
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12. Which of the following is necessary for success of local self-government in India for the
Devolution or Delegation? Elaborate with reasons. Also Enumerate the differences
OR
between the two terms.
Hints:
Decentralization is one of the tenets which was realized through the 73rd and 74th constitutional
amendment acts and gave rise to local self-governments in India.
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Pros of Delegation:
• Delegation is a more extensive form of decentralization. Through delegation central
governments transfer responsibility for decision-making and administration of public functions
to semi-autonomous organizations not wholly controlled by the central government, but
ultimately accountable to it.
• Governments delegate responsibilities when they create public enterprises or corporations,
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housing authorities, transportation authorities, special service districts, semi-autonomous

school districts, regional development corporations, or special project implementation units.
Usually these organizations have a great deal of discretion in decision-making.
• They may be exempt from constraints on regular civil service personnel and may be able to
charge users directly for services.
Pros of Devolution:
• When governments devolve functions, they transfer authority for decision-making, finance,
and management to quasi-autonomous units of local government with corporate status.
• Devolution usually transfers responsibilities for services to municipalities that elect their own
mayors and councils, raise their own revenues, and have independent authority to make
investment decisions.
• In a devolved system, local governments have clear and legally recognized geographical
boundaries over which they exercise authority and within which they perform public
functions.
• It is this type of administrative decentralization that underlies most political decentralization.

Differences:
• Delegation is the transfer of power for specifically defined functions, without ceding the
authority and responsibility in respect of that function. There is discretion on the part of the
transfer or government in deciding whether or not to delegate power, which powers to
delegate, to curtail or withdraw it later.
• Devolution is the full and permanent transfer of power.
• When you entrust somebody other than yourself, with a particular task. When you assign
a particular set of responsibilities to some other administrative body, it is delegation.
• Devolution specifically means distribution of power to a lower-level authority, unlike
delegation, where it could be to an authority which is at par with whoever is delegating the
task/powers
• Delegation is more related to administration.
• Through devolution the central government relinquishes certain functions or creates new
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units of governments which are outside of its control. In most of the developing nations,
devolution is seen as a form of decentralization. Here this term is also used for devolution
of funds.
OR
– The devolution of funds means giving power to local institutions, which carry out the
civic functions, which will mobilize the local financial resources as well. It also implies
the transfer of financial resources from a higher level to a lower level for performing
different functions.
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13. "Development, democracy and empowerment are obstructed, by a series of accountability

failures." Analyze the statement with emphasis on social accountability and its utility.
Hints:
Social Accountability is an approach towards building accountability that relies on civic engagement,
specifically a situation whereby ordinary citizens and civil society organizations contribute directly
or indirectly in exacting accountability. Such accountability is termed as society driven horizontal
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accountability.
How are development, democracy and empowerment obstructed by series of accountability failures:
• Political accountability mechanisms such as elections and bureaucratic accountability
mechanisms such as intra-government controls are increasingly found to be limited in scope.
• Administrative bottlenecks, weak incentives or corruption in state-centered political and
bureaucratic accountability mechanisms restrict their effectiveness, particularly from the
perspective of the poor and marginalized people who need accountability most, but who
lack the means to work round such obstacles.
How social accountability plays the role:
• In response to the diverse inadequacies of both political and bureaucratic forms of
accountability an array of mechanisms and approaches has emerged which are led by
citizens and social actors who engage with more powerful actors located either within the
state or in private sector entities contracted by the state, across a range of interfaces which
are social rather than political, institutional or bureaucratic.
• These interfaces go beyond the formal democratic institutions of elections, recall of
representatives or internal government audits, although they sometimes serve to trigger these
political and institutional mechanisms
• In India an array of citizen-led budget Transparency accountable institutions have developed,
relating to various stages of the budget process, from the revenue phase, to planning and
execution, to audit and ex-post oversight.
– Central among these approaches are participatory budgeting
– Sector-specific budget monitoring (e.g. gender budgeting, children's budgets)
– Public expenditure monitoring through social audits, participatory audits and tracking
surveys
– Advocacy for budget transparency (e.g. the International Budget Partnership (IBP)'s
Open Budget Index).
• Social accountability improves the quality of governance:

– Citizens' disillusionment with the quality of governance moves them beyond electoral
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participation 'toward engaging with bureaucrats and politicians in a more informed,
organized, constructive and systematic manner' often referred to often as the 'democratic
outcomes' case. OR
• Social accountability contributes to increased development effectiveness:
– Given the difficulty, inability or unwillingness of governments to deliver essential services,
service delivery effectiveness and policy design are improved by citizens' clearer
articulation of their demands and more transparent public decision-making often referred
to as the 'developmental outcomes' case.
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• Social accountability initiatives can lead to empowerment:

– By providing information on rights and soliciting feedback from poor people, 'social
accountability mechanisms provide a means to increase and aggregate the voice of
disadvantaged and vulnerable groups' sometimes referred to as the 'empowerment case'.
14. Discuss the initiatives taken by the government to improve attendance in government
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offices and analyze their impact? What steps can further be taken to improve the public
delivery and work rate in government offices?
Hints:
• The center government has ordered ministers and top officers do the rounds at 9am every
day, personally supervising the cleanup and reorganization drive.
• Government also wants the employees to come to work on time at 9am sharp, rely more on
computers, end extended lunch, be more responsive to the public and resist political
interference by ministers and MPs.
• The new prime minister has made it clear to the top bureaucrats in government that if they
have a good proposal blocked by their minister, they can pitch it directly to him.
• Not just officials, center has ensured that highest standards of probity be maintained by
people holding high offices. Ministers were ordered to leave the conduct and management
of any business they have interests before being appointed minister.

• The center government has put a restriction on frequent travelling of Governors ensuring
that they spend considerable time in their state. The decision has been taken after it was
noticed that some governors spent days outside their respective states.
• The center sent senior bureaucrats to the places where they had served as young officers.
The bureaucrats were required to give a report after making these visits.
Positive impact:
• The biometric attendance system launched in 2014 has had a big impact on the functioning
of officials. An analysis of the data shows that employees are spending nearly twenty
minutes extra in office every day.
• All ministries are supposed to review and reorganize their offices every four years, but
nobody bothered, and old files and broken furniture just piled up everywhere, including in
the corridors and staircases,
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• Energized bureaucrats to make their working space more presentable and potentially more
productive. OR
• It has made top civil servants enthusiastic about work after a demoralizing phase under the
previous regime.
• After center ordered a cleanup, the home ministry discovered 150,000 unwanted files in its
cupboards.
• The junior staff in government offices has discovered the virtues of punctuality
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• Regular meetings are another feature of the new government. This ensures bureaucrats come
prepared. Earlier such meetings used to happen rarely, giving leeway to officials to work at
their own pace.
Negative impact:
• Centre's approach may seem to undermine the cabinet system of shared ministerial authority.
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• At the lower level, still government offices are riddled with corruption and lack of proper
governance.
Suggestions:
• Despite the measures at the local level government offices are still lethargic so the district
administration need to be made accountable to enhance the work ethos of the office.
• Accountability and transparency need to be ensured by making processes hassle free and
have a single window mechanism.
• Technology need to play a significant role in public delivery of services by trying to make
the offices paperless and more efficient.
• The employees need to be analyzed based on the performance so a sense of healthy competition
develops within the employees and governance improves
For long India's bureaucracy was ranked among the worst in the world which was also to do with
a work culture that shuns initiative and rewards indolence but this seems to be changing now.

15. The VIP culture of India is notorious and tantamount to having various categories of
citizen as per their VIP status. However, of-late there seems to be a general disdain
among political parties to stay away from such practices. Elaborate on the steps taken
by government to reduce or curb the VIP culture in India? Analyze, if these have been
successful?
Hints:
Introduction:
• VIP culture refers to special privileges sought by someone in position of power.
• The decision comes more than three years after the Supreme Court first raised the issue of
red beacons and asked for restrictions on their use in December 2013.
Measures taken by the government to reduce VIP culture:
• Red beacon will no longer be seen atop cars of dignitaries and top government officials. The
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Union cabinet decided to put an end to the practice of using such beacons in a decision that
covers all government vehicles, including those ferrying the prime minister, chief ministers,
central and state ministers and judges of the Supreme Court and high courts.
OR
• The government also decided to make amendments to the rule governing the use of blue
beacons these can only be used by vehicles such as ambulances, fire tenders and police cars
in cases of emergency that will be notified.
• The Punjab government has now prohibited the inscription of names of government
functionaries on foundation stones and inaugural plaques.
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– It has put a two-year ban on foreign travel of all ministers and MLAs on state expense,
and banned banquets or dinners at government expense
– The district administrations will function as normal even if the chief minister or a minister
is visiting its area concerned,
Success:
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• Difference between normal and red beacon vehicles serves as an indicator perpetuates VIP
culture. Taking the beacon away will help in reducing VIP culture
• Red beacon became a symbol of colonial times reflects the attitude of contempt associated
to treat others as slaves. This again will serve in addressing VIP culture.
• ARTICLE 14 - establishes a level playing field i.e. 'Equality of Law' around most prominent
VIP culture among the government machineries between those who use it and those who
do not use it.
• Decisive move to change the perception of the state and its functionaries from rulers to
public servants who are to serve rather than govern. This was the vision of our founding
fathers.
• A large number of those using vehicles with red lights have no respect for the laws of the
country and they treat the ordinary citizens with contempt. The use of red lights on the
vehicles of public representatives and civil servants has no parallel in the world democracies.
• The good thing is that politicians are slowly realizing that people don't like their attitude
anymore.
Failures:
• Unless you effect structural changes, like ease of access to resources and the manner in
which politicians are treated, issues that are at the heart of the privilege culture in India, this
decision doesn't carry much weight.
• Special treatment like easy school admission for children, freer lanes and toll privileges still
exist
• There shall not be any behavioral change in the public figure by merely taking away the
beacon
Suggestions:
• The first one pertains to the cavalcade that accompanies a VIP and the quantum of
security provided. Importance of a VIP is judged by the number of security men surrounding
him, hence the race to extract the highest category of security. Therefore, this needs change
• The practice of addressing dignitaries as Honorable. It is anachronistic in a democracy. By
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putting them on a pedestal, it will give them a false sense of importance that makes them
arrogant.
•
OR
People are asked to get out of the way when a VIP cavalcade is passing through. This kind
of privilege needs change.
• The concept of privilege is used as a smoke screen to misappropriate public resources and
facilities and to evade accountability. So, this needs to be taken care of
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• The public servants should realize that they are the elected representatives of the public and
not their rulers.
• The system of trying to curb VIP culture should be accompanied by instilling the ethos of
public service.
Supplementary Notes
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Most people spend a great deal of their lives going through experiences that are neither pleasant
nor edifying but are an inevitable part of being an ordinary citizen; these include standing in queues,
waiting at the hospital, paying bills, the stresses of daily commute and other chores.
On the other hand, for public elites -- politicians, bureaucrats and judges -- occupying the "front
rows" constitutes the perks of public office, which insulates them from the vicissitudes of ordinary
life.
But perks can serve several positive purposes. Public institutions need talent. The enormous growth
of salaries in the private sector has led to an increase in the opportunity costs of attracting and
retaining talent in state institutions. Matching private sector salaries is unviable because severe
wage compression in public employment is politically impossible to change.
Perks provide a way out through non-transparent benefits. Furthermore, giving senior public
functionaries front-row seats can preserve their energies for more important public purposes. If a
minister, judge or a joint secretary spends a few more hours going over files rather than driving or
standing in queues, it is not just defensible but also desirable.
Indeed, the corporate finance literature on perks in the private sector has rethought its earlier stress
on perks as a mechanism for managers to misappropriate part of the firm's surplus, since perks
were hard to observe and easy to fudge.

More recent research, however, finds little empirical evidence of a systematic misuse of perks and,
indeed, perks can have distinct incentive effects.
Employees evaluate their psychological benefits separately from other monetary wage components
and perceive perks as concern for their welfare and recognition of their performance, while firms
use benefits to ease their employees' effort costs and to attract better employees.
Why, then, are perks for public officials in India a matter of concern? There are three broad reasons:
the number of perks; the type of perks, especially those that confer "status rents"; and, finally, the
link between perks and performance. Consider each in turn.
In 1996, following instructions by the Supreme Court, the Shetty Commission published a report on
conditions of service of members of the subordinate judiciary.
It examined perks for the subordinate judiciary: electricity and water charges; an orderly at home;
a newspaper/magazine allowance; city compensatory allowance; robe allowance (where the
commission discussed stitching charges of Gwalior versus Raymond); conveyance; sumptuary
allowance; hill allowance to enthuse judicial officers to work in hilly areas; risk allowance to
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employees/judicial staff; leave travel concession; medical allowance; special pay; concurrent charge
allowance; encashment of leave and leave salary; transfer grant/disturbance allowance; housing
and house rent allowance; telephone facilities; loans and advances for house building, car purchase
OR
and "marriage advance, festival advance, advance for miscellaneous purposes like purchase of
khadi/handloom cloth, warm clothing, etc"; conveyance advance; and personal computer advance.
The second concern is the
type of perks. Take medical
care, the facility of medical
treatment overseas for
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bureaucrats and senior

police officers is
symptomatic not just of the
chasm between rulers and
the ruled, but also of what
is happening to public
healthcare; whose
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caretakers are the very

people who seek to flee from
it.
Housing is another perk
abused badly, ministers
housing in new delhi is
estimated to be about Rs 65
crore per dwelling.
Senior officials, ministers
and members of Parliament
drag their feet when it
comes to vacating government houses after retirement or demitting office.
Others hold on to prized official quarters in New Delhi, even though they are no longer posted in
the capital.
But perhaps the most insidious of the perks that have overgrown such as poisonous weeds are the
"status perks" -- in other words, the lal batti syndrome that gives exemption from rules that should
apply to all.

Witness the number of Indians with high self-regard who express outrage at being treated as mere
mortals and at being questioned or searched in foreign airports.
Imagine if she had expressed outrage at his behaving as Indian males in power seem to behave with
female subordinates. More than six decades after Independence, from courts (such as the Madras
high court) -- where judges are preceded by an orderly who runs in front of the judge through the
corridor to warn people of "your Lord's arrival" -- to the VIP entrances at major temples and shrines
-- where it is unclear which lord is paying obeisance to which god -- the colonial ideal of separating
rulers from the ruled is deeply resonant among India's ruling elite.
It is an affliction that is deeply entrenched among India's public elites and is eroding the very
legitimacy of their authority.
16. Though government has taken several steps to improve the health care in India, but the
sector severely faces the crunch of public funding and lacks a comprehensive approach
including, preventive and promotive health care. In this scenario, critically analyze
National Health Policy 2017 as a solution to improve Health care system in India.
E
Hints:
Though India is making progress in field of healthcare yet its performance is not satisfactory as it
OR
should be. Around 55 percent of Indian women aged between 15 and 49 have anemia or low blood
cell count. Over 38 percent of children in India have stunted growth and 18.6 percent children
under three years have low birth weight (under 2.5 kilograms). Malnutrition is still prevalent in the
country, as only 50.5 percent infants of six to eight months receive solid, semi-solid and soft food.
The rising occurrence of Non-Communicable diseases in India is a public health challenge. WHO
estimates that these diseases (with mostly preventable risk factors) account for 60% of all deaths
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and significant morbidity in India. In such a scenario, National Health Policy 2017 was a much-
needed requirement for comprehensive care.
National Health Policy 2017:
Objective: The main objective of policy is to achieve the highest possible level of good health and
well-being, through a preventive and promotive health care orientation in all developmental policies,
and to achieve universal access to good quality health care services without anyone having to face
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financial hardship therefore

Critical Analysis:
Positive Features:
• It aims to raise public healthcare expenditure to 2.5% of GDP from current 1.4%, with more
than two-thirds of those resources going towards primary healthcare. Thus, enhanced
governments resources and responsibility toward health sector
• It envisages providing a larger package of assured comprehensive primary healthcare through
the 'Health and Wellness Centers'.
• It is a comprehensive package that will include care for major non-communicable diseases
(NCDs), geriatric healthcare, mental health, palliative care and rehabilitative care services.
• It proposes free diagnostics, free drugs and free emergency and essential healthcare services
in all public hospitals to provide healthcare access and financial protection.
• It seeks to establish regular tracking of disability adjusted life years (DALY) Index as a
measure of burden of disease and its major categories trends by 2022.

• It aims to improve and strengthen the regulatory environment by putting in place systems
for setting standards and ensuring quality of healthcare.
• It also looks at reforms in the existing regulatory systems both for easing drugs and devices
manufacturing to promote Make in India and reforming medical education. It advocates
development of mid-level service providers, public health cadre, nurse practitioners to improve
availability of appropriate health human resource.
• Targets: It aims to ensure availability of 2 beds per 1000 population to enable access within
golden hour. It proposes to increase life expectancy from 67.5 to 70 years by 2025. It aims
to reduce total fertility rate (TFR) to 2.1 at sub-national and national level by 2025. It also
aims to reduce mortality rate (MR) of children under 5 years of age to 23 per 1000 by 2025
and maternal mortality rate (MMR) to 100 by 2020. It also aims to reduce infant mortality
rate to 28 by 2019 and reduce neo-natal mortality to 16 and still birth rate to 'single digit'
by 2025.
Issues remains:
E
• Policy is being commended for its strategic shift in focus towards wellness and greater role
of government. But the main issue with Indian policies have been their lackadaisical
implementation and absence of accountability ensuring mechanisms. The present policy also
OR
seems to suffer from that.
• It does not make Right to Health a fundamental right or a legal right. Unless there is legal
obligation there will be no accountability on government. It does not talk of Universal Health
Coverage that guarantees free, cashless health services to all the citizens of the country
irrespective of the type of care needed. This is the minimum standard that most of the
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countries are adopting now a day.

• It does acknowledge that UHC is the way to go, but makes a clear commitment only in
primary care. In secondary and tertiary care, which in fact accounts for most of the
catastrophic expenses, that push people into poverty - some irreversibly - it's not as
unequivocal.
• the implementation of the policy will be fraught with formidable challenges because of the
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disparate health infrastructure landscape in the country, particularly in the poor states, and
the need for aligning existing systems in the states with a national plan of action.
• Public health is a state subject and providing healthcare is a responsibility of the states. With
greater financial devolution to states how the financing will be shared will be another issue.
A policy is only as good as its implementation. The National Health Policy 2017 envisages that an
implementation framework be put in place to deliver on these policy commitments. Such an
implementation framework would provide a roadmap with clear deliverables and milestones to
achieve the goals of the policy. India will have to find models suitable to it by learning from world
and based on its own analysis. States capacity to provide services is very much important and there
is a need to usher in spirit of competitive federalism in this sector also.
Supplementary Notes
The main objective of the National Health Policy 2017 is to achieve the highest possible level of good
health and well-being, through a preventive and promotive health care orientation in all
developmental policies, and to achieve universal access to good quality health care services without
anyone having to face financial hardship therefore.
To provide access and financial protection at secondary and tertiary care levels, the policy proposes
free drugs, free diagnostics and free emergency care services in all public hospitals.
The policy envisages strategic purchase of secondary and tertiary care services as a short-term
measure to supplement and fill critical gaps in the health system.
The Policy recommends prioritizing the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its
dimensions. The roadmap of this new policy is predicated on public spending and provisioning of
a public healthcare system that is comprehensive, integrated and accessible to all.
The NHP, 2017 advocates a positive and proactive engagement with the private sector for critical
gap filling towards achieving national goals. It envisages private sector collaboration for strategic
purchasing, capacity building, skill development programmes, awareness generation, developing
sustainable networks for community to strengthen mental health services, and disaster management.
The policy also advocates financial and non-incentives for encouraging the private sector
participation.
The policy proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time bound manner.
Policy envisages providing larger package of assured comprehensive primary health care through
the Health and Wellness Centers'. This policy denotes important change from very selective to
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comprehensive primary health care package which includes geriatric health care, palliative care
and rehabilitative care services. The policy advocates allocating major proportion (up to two-thirds
or more) of resources to primary care followed by secondary and tertiary care. The policy aspires to
OR
provide at the district level most of the secondary care which is currently provided at a medical
college hospital.
The policy assigns specific quantitative targets aimed at reduction of disease prevalence/incidence,
for health status and programme impact, health system performance and system strengthening. It
seeks to strengthen the health, surveillance system and establish registries for diseases of public
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health importance, by 2020. It also seeks to align other policies for medical devices and equipment
with public health goals.
The primary aim of the National Health Policy, 2017, is to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritize
the role of the Government in shaping health systems in all its dimensions- investment in health,
organization and financing of healthcare services, prevention of diseases and promotion of good
health through cross sectoral action, access to technologies, developing human resources,
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encouraging medical pluralism, building the knowledge base required for better health, financial
protection strategies and regulation and progressive assurance for health. The policy emphasizes
reorienting and strengthening the Public Health Institutions across the country, to provide universal
access to free drugs, diagnostics and other essential healthcare.
The broad principles of the policy are centered on Professionalism, Integrity and Ethics, Equity,
Affordability, Universality, Patient Centered & Quality of Care, Accountability and pluralism.
It seeks to ensure improved access and affordability of quality secondary and tertiary care services
through a combination of public hospitals and strategic purchasing in healthcare deficit areas from
accredited non-governmental healthcare providers, achieve significant reduction in out of pocket
expenditure due to healthcare costs, reinforce trust in public healthcare system and influence
operation and growth of private healthcare industry as well as medical technologies in alignment
with public health goals.
The policy affirms commitment to pre-emptive care (aimed at pre-empting the occurrence of diseases)
to achieve optimum levels of child and adolescent health. The policy envisages school health
programmes as a major focus area as also health and hygiene being made a part of the school
curriculum.

To leverage the pluralistic health care legacy, the policy recommends mainstreaming the different
health systems. Towards mainstreaming the potential of AYUSH the policy envisages better access
to AYUSH remedies through co-location in public facilities. Yoga would also be introduced much
more widely in school and work places as part of promotion of good health.
The policy supports voluntary service in rural and under-served areas on pro-bono basis by
recognized healthcare professionals under a 'giving back to society' initiative.
The policy advocates extensive deployment of digital tools for improving the efficiency and outcome
of the healthcare system and proposes establishment of National Digital Health Authority (NDHA)
to regulate, develop and deploy digital health across the continuum of care.
17. What was the objective of setting up NGT? Has it succeeded in unburdening the
judicial system in India ? Examine its performance in bringing qualitative changes in
environment?
Hints:
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NGT was set up under National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 for protection of environment. Its principal
bench is in New Delhi. OR
India is the third nation after Australia and New Zealand to have such a court. It hears cases
related to these 7 laws
• Water (Prevention and control of Pollution) Act, 1974
• Water (Prevention and control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977
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• Forest Conservation Act,1980

• Air Conservation Act,1981
• Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
• Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991
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• Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Its objective is
• Effective and expeditious disposal of cases related to environmental protection, and
conservation of the environment, including forests and natural resources.
• Enforcement of environmental laws and regulations, and protection of the rights of citizens
to a safe and sound environment
Major Features are-
• It deals with all the cases regarding environmental pollution in India.
• Time limit of 6 months for disposal of cases
• It applies the 'Polluter pays' principle.
• It applies the principle of natural justice for justice delivery.
• It helps to unburden judiciary
• Presence of experts in the panel helps in meting out proper justice.

However, it has not succeeded fully in unburdening the system as
• The appeals from this tribunal is heard by High Court and Supreme Court.
• There is a rise in number of delays
• The judges usually resort to IPC, CrPC foregoing Principles of Natural justice
• Increase in the number of appeals challenging its decision
NGT's performance in bringing sustainable development are
• It gives progressive decisions for environmental protection. E.g.- ban on diesel cars in Delhi-
NCR and ban on sale of crackers in Delhi
• Its stance against activities such as illegal sand mining.
• The tribunal has served as an institution for the marginalized and deprived, where they
have been able to get justice for violation of their environmental rights.
E
• It makes government accountable time and again for its performance
• IT takes hard stance for protection of our natural resources.
OR
However, still it needs a lot of improvement as there is no mechanism to monitor its directives. It
needs a permanent secretariat for itself. Law Commission has recommended one bench in every
state for access to justice law.
18. Government is expanding the mandatory usage of Aadhar in availing various schemes
SC
and providing various services, despite, the concerns regarding data security and its
universal availability. Discuss benefits and challenges associated with using Aadhar
as a platform for public schemes and services. What government should do to subside
the fear of people regarding privacy issue?
Hints:
Since its inception, Aadhaar has been criticized as a project which violates privacy. India not having
GS
a law on privacy has added to this problem. Aadhaar was designed as a digital identity platform
which is inclusive, unique and can be authenticated to participate in any digital transaction.
Government has mandated Aadhar as a platform to transformed the service delivery in our country,
conveniencing residents and reducing leakages. Direct benefit transfer, subscription to various services
and authentication at the point of service delivery are some of the benefits which have accrued.
Benefits of using Aadhar:
• The whole purpose of making Aadhaar for wide range of facilities and services is that it
helps Govt. to target beneficiaries better and track their needs better because multiple agencies
and ministries at center and state level are offering services/subsidies. It is important to
streamline them and have reliable single source data of their entitlements.
• Various services like DBT, pension, digital life certificate, opening bank account, linking
voter card would enhance ease of access, transparency and reduce cost of transactions.
• In several places and all government departments various documentary proof is required,
but, the Aadhar will reduce the burden of many identity proofs.
• Mandating Aadhar in filing return would help in reducing tax evasion and held accountable
the offenders.
• For various monetary transaction providing UIN detail, would be necessary, which reduce
the 'black money' transfer.
• Various types of duplication of data and fake identities created by frauds for a long time,
in India, for their individual benefits, can be stopped with the help of UIN.
• Aadhar India, as it contains all required data of a person, there is no need to submit or
provide personal details again and again.
• It will help in reducing leakages and reducing corruption.
• Better disbursement of social and welfare schemes will result in setting up of egalitarian
society, one of the feature of our constitution.
• This comprehensive coverage is a way forward to cashless economy
• Surveillance: Control terrorism, crime
Challenges associated with using Aadhar:
E
• Aadhaar can be misused as mass surveillance technology. Unlike, targeted surveillance
which is a good thing, and essential for national security and public order - mass surveillance
OR
undermines security at a time when we still do not have a privacy law in place
• The experience suggests that biometric data is not always reliable especially for manual
workers whose fingerprints are difficult to authenticate.
• Threat of identity theft, data smuggling, harassment etc. The cyber security architecture is
in shambles. The security of these data is important.
SC
• Tool for totalitarian policies (used to stifle dissent and criticism of govt).
• Finding of personal details of a person will be easier, which is unsafe regarding privacy.
• Aadhar India project is also accomplished, by some private and foreign companies; hence,
the individual data of people will not be safe.
GS
• Overarching freedom to use it for any other purpose is in violation of SC judgement and the
way such sensitive issue was brought as money bill without any effective parliamentary
scrutiny of its provision is questioning the intent of the executive.
• Also, experts argue that biometric information is necessary for targeted surveillance, but not
suitable for everyday transactions between the state and law-abiding citizens. It can easily
be misused
Steps government should take to subside the fear of people regarding privacy issue:
• Instead of arguing that privacy is not a fundamental right, it should assure the citizens that
it has the technology and systems to protect the data collected.
• It should assure the citizens of India that it will do everything possible to prevent unauthorized
disclosure of or access to such data.
• It should recognize all dimensions of the right to privacy and address concerns about data
safety, protection from unauthorized interception, surveillance, use of personal identifiers
and bodily privacy.
• The data controller should be made accountable for the collection, processing and use to
which data are put.

• As an alternative to the collection of biometric information few experts have suggested
shifting to smart cards Biometrics allows for identification of citizens even when they don't
want to be identified. Smart cards which require pins on the other hand require the citizens'
conscious cooperation during the identification process. Once smart cards are disposed
nobody can use them to identify. Consent is baked into the design of the technology.
• If the UIDAI adopts smart cards, the centralized database of biometrics can be destroyed
just like the UK government did in 2010. This would eliminate the risk of foreign government,
criminals and terrorists using the breached biometric database to remotely, covertly and non-
consensually identify Indians.
• Smart cards based on open standards allow for decentralized authentication by multiple
entities and therefore eliminates the need for a centralized transaction database.
This century comes with certain risks. Therefore, we need to take a level-headed approach and
ensure that ample safeguards are put in place for data protection and privacy. The government
should recognize both the need for Aadhaar and the need for stringent rules concerning access to
E
and security of citizens' biometric data, to preserve their privacy
19. Mental health care is a critical health concern, especially in India, where social stigma
OR
is attached to it. In this reference, discuss the provisions and importance of New Mental
Health care bill. Also discuss challenges mental health care system in country.
Hints:
As per Census 2011, there are 15,05,624 mentally challenged persons in the country. India has only
0.3 psychiatrists for every 100,000 people, the World Health Organization's Mental Health Atlas
SC
2011 says. The government spends 0.06% of its health budget on mental health, according to the
WHO. Thus, India needed an updated mental health law to overcome challenges of mental health
care.
Challenges of Mental Health Care in India:
• Thezn there are massive deficiencies in the availability of trained clinical psychologists and
psychiatric social workers. For over 121 crore people in India, there are only 4,500 to 6,000
GS
psychiatrists.
• Stigma and lack of awareness on mental health: Most people affected with mental disorders
avoid meeting psychiatrist in the country.
• Less research on traditional healing systems: There is comparatively more research on
psychological disorders, their trends, other behavioral aspects but less research on the human
brain. India's rich traditional healing systems such as yoga and Ayurveda should be explored
in the context of mental health.
• Neglected profession: Most psychiatrists felt their profession was neglected compared to
other branches of healthcare
• Evidently, the National Mental Health Programme has not been sufficiently funded within
the health budget;
• Neither has capability been built in most States to absorb the meagre allocation
The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016, aims to provide for mental healthcare and services for persons
with mental illness and ensure these persons have the right to live a life with dignity by not being
discriminated against or harassed. It is a welcome first step in expanding the country's mental
health infrastructure,
Major Provisions:
• Rights of persons with mental illness: This provision states that every person will have the
right to access mental healthcare from services which are operated or funded by the
government. It also includes good quality, easy and affordable access to services. It also
provides for the right to equality of treatment, seeks to protect such persons from inhuman
treatment, access to free legal services, their medical records, and the right to complain in
the event of regarding deficiencies in provisions.
• Advance Directive: This provision empowers a mentally-ill person to have the right to make
an advance directive that explains how she/he wants to be treated for the requisite illness
and who her/his nominated representative shall be. This directive must be vetted by a
medical practitioner.
• Mental Health Establishments: This provision states that every mental health establishment
must be registered with the respective Central or State Mental Health Authority. For
registration, the concerned establishment needs to fulfill different criteria as mentioned in the
E
Bill.
• The bill also outlines the procedure and process for admission, treatment and subsequent
•
discharge of mentally ill persons.
OR
Mental Health Review Commission and Board: This is a quasi-judicial body responsible for
reviewing procedure for making advance directives. It will also advise the government on
the protection of mentally ill persons' rights. It further states that the body in agreement with
the state governments constitute Mental Health Review Boards in states' districts.
SC
• Decriminalizing suicide and prohibiting electro-convulsive therapy: The most notable of all
is this provision effectively decriminalizes suicide attempt under the Indian Penal Code by
mentally ill persons by making it non-punishable. Electro-convulsive therapy, which is allowed
only with the use of anesthesia, is however out of bounds for minors.
What else should be done?
• Raising effective primary and district-level coverage of mental health services for the general
GS
population, without requiring people to travel long distances to see a specialist and get
medicines, should be a priority.
• Since the base of psychiatrists is low in relation to the need, the use of trained general
practitioners as the first line of contact assumes importance.
• Some studies show many of them are not confident enough with their training to detect,
diagnose and manage mental illnesses.
• With a concerted effort, primary care physicians can be trained to help people with mild and
severe problems, ranging from anxiety disorders to depression, psychoses and conditions
arising from alcohol and substance abuse.
• Being able to get professional counselling will reduce the complications arising from extreme
stress, often the trigger for suicide.
• Extending health insurance cover is also a step forward, since out-of-pocket expenditure has
risen along with the expansion of the private sector in this sphere, just as for other ailments.
The government should use the new mental health law to strengthen primary care. The arrival of
the much-needed legislation though delayed gives hope and strength to efforts. Mental health issues

can be silent killers that can rob the nation silently making it a future that is hazy and dark. It is
important to have holistic and due concern over the issue from the root.
Supplementary Notes
Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016
The Bill defines "mental illness" as a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation
or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality or ability to meet
the ordinary demands of life, mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs, but
does not include mental retardation which is a condition of arrested or incomplete development of
mind of a person, specially characterized by sub normality of intelligence.
Mental illness shall be determined in accordance with such nationally or internationally accepted
medical standards.
Rights of persons with mental illness
The Bill ensures every person shall have a right to access mental health care and treatment from
E
mental health services run or funded by the appropriate government. The Bill also assures free
treatment for such persons if they are homeless or belong to Below Poverty Line, even if they do not
possess a BPL card.
OR
Every person with mental illness shall have a right to live with dignity and there shall be no
discrimination on any basis including gender, sex, sexual orientation, religion, culture, caste, social
or political beliefs, class or disability.
A person with mental illness shall have the right to confidentiality in respect of his mental health,
mental healthcare, treatment and physical healthcare.
SC
The photograph or any other information pertaining to the person cannot be released to the media
without the consent of the person with mental illness.
Advance Directive
A person with mental illness shall have the right to make an advance directive that states how he/
she wants to be treated for the illness and who his/her nominated representative shall be. The
GS
advance directive should be certified by a medical practitioner or registered with the Mental Health
Board.
If a mental health professional/ relative/care-giver does not wish to follow the directive while
treating the person, he can make an application to the Mental Health Board to review/alter/cancel
the advance directive.
Mental Health Authority
The Bill empowers the government to set-up Central Mental Health Authority at national-level and
State Mental Health Authority in every State. Every mental health institute and mental health
practitioners including clinical psychologists, mental health nurses and psychiatric social workers
will have to be registered with this Authority.
These bodies will (a) register, supervise and maintain a register of all mental health establishments,
(b) develop quality and service provision norms for such establishments, (c) maintain a register of
mental health professionals, (d) train law enforcement officials and mental health professionals on
the provisions of the Act, (e) receive complaints about deficiencies in provision of services, and (f)
advise the government on matters relating to mental health.
A Mental Health Review Board will be constituted to protect the rights of persons with mental
illness and manage advance directives.
Mental Health treatment
The Bill also specifies the process and procedure to be followed for admission, treatment and discharge
of mentally-ill individuals.
A medical practitioner or a mental health professional shall not be held liable for any unforeseen
consequences on following a valid advance directive.
A person with mental illness shall not be subjected to electro-convulsive therapy without the use of
muscle relaxants and anesthesia. Also, electro-convulsive therapy will not be performed for minors.
Sterilization will not be performed on such persons.
They shall not be chained in any manner or form whatsoever under any circumstances.
A person with mental illness shall not be subjected to seclusion or solitary confinement. Physical
restraint may only be used, if necessary.
Suicide is decriminalized
E
A person who attempts suicide shall be presumed to be suffering from mental illness at that time
and will not be punished under the Indian Penal Code. The government shall have a duty to provide
care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person, having severe stress and who attempted to commit
OR
suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of attempt to commit suicide.
20. NITI Aayog along with MHRD launched the School Education Quality Index for better
monitoring and raising the education quality by providing insight on various parameters.
In this reference discuss the major features of the School Education Quality Index. Also
suggest steps needed to improve the learning outcomes in schools.
SC
Hints:
Quality of education and learning outcomes is a serious concern of Indian schools. As per ASER
2016, nationally, only 42.5% children in Std III can read at least Std I level text while figure related
to basic arithmetic for same class is 27.7%. To improve on education quality & its assessment front,
The SEQI is a composite index that will report annual improvements of States on key domains of
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education quality, conceptualized and designed by NITI Aayog and the MHRD.
Major Features:
• The larger vision of the index is to shift the focus of States from inputs towards outcomes,
provide objective benchmarks for continuous annual improvements, encourage state-led
innovations to improve quality and facilitate sharing of best practices.
• To precisely report the quality of education imparted across India, SEQI is divided into two
categories: 1. Outcomes and 2. Governance Management.
• These are further divided into three domains of Outcomes (Learning, Access and Equity)
and two domains of Governance & Management (Governance Processes and Structural
Reforms).
• Currently the index has 34 indicators and 1000 points, with the highest weightage given to
learning outcomes (600 out of 1000 points).
Other Steps needed to improve the learning outcomes in schools:
• Make the problem visible: Regular assessments are needed to measure progress in learning
and make the current levels visible in a way that can be understood widely.

• India should participate regularly in international assessments like Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study and Programme for International Student Assessment to set
goals and benchmark its performance and progress.
• The quality of national assessments should be improved and third-party assessors like Annual
Status on Education Report and Educational Initiatives should be encouraged to provide
periodic feedback.
• Divert the student's curiosity to create interest in learning rather than rote learning through
engaging them in activities and participative learning.
There is a need to build systemic and institutional capacity in term of availability and quality of
teachers through better pedagogic training modules and foster school environments where teachers,
students, parents, administrators and the broader community of the school support the adoption of
technology in education. Interactive learning through videos and virtual reality can create a lasting
impression and easy learning.
Supplementary Notes
E
Major Highlights of ASER, 2016
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a household survey that renders the estimate of
OR
children's schooling status and their ability to read simple text and do basic arithmetic. The survey
reaches almost all the rural districts of India and covers the children between the age group of 3-16.
Unlike most of the large-scale learning revaluation, ASER is household based study rather than
being school based. This pattern of the survey allows all the children to be included- even those who
have never been to school or have dropped out, in addition to the children who attends private
SC
schools, government school, religious school or any other type of school. It thus brings forth the
approximation of the basic learning for all children in rural India.
ASER 2016 encompassed 589 rural districts across India. The survey was spread over 17, 473 villages,
which included 350,322 households and 562,305 children among the age group of 3-16.
Key Findings from ASER report 2016:
• In some states, the chunk of out of school children has increased since the last survey.
GS
• The percentage of girls out of school remains higher than 8%.

• The gender gap in private school admission has moderately decreased.
• There's a substantial increase in government school enrolment in the state of Gujarat and
Kerala.
• Although low, the all (rural) India figures for basic arithmetic figures have improved. This
is the first year since 2010 to have an ascending trend in arithmetic figures.
• The ability to do division among the grade VIII students has continued to sink.
• All most all the states show improvement the arithmetic levels of the children admitted in
government schools in class III.
• For class V children, the ability to do simple arithmetic remains same since 2009 except for
the five states that shows a rise of 5%.
• Children's ability to read English remains relatively unchanged since 2009.
• The children who can read (never mind the grade), approximately 60% of the children could
explain the meaning of the said words.
• There's has been a drastic decline in the number of children in upper primary grade who
can read simple sentences in English.
• Children's attendance varies significantly from state to state. States like Himachal Pradesh,
Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Nagaland, Mizoram, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have attendance levels that are above 80%. On the
other hand, states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh,
attendance rates fall to 50% to 60%.
• Data over time shows that children's attendance in both primary and upper primary have
significantly fallen in 2016 compared to 2009.
• The proportion of "small schools" in the government primary sector continues to advance.
• Of the government, primary school visited in 2016, 60% of the schools are the "small schools"
with around 60 or less students enrolled.
• There has been a significant growth in the functionality of useable toilets since 2010. Only
E
3.5% of schools that were visited in 2016 did not have useable toilets.
• The states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh & Haryana saw a rise in the number
OR
of girls' toilets.
• Availability of drinking water in the schools visited in 2016 saw a decline compared to 2014.
In the states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh, drinking water was
available in over 85% of the schools.
• The availability of computers in the schools visited remains stagnate since 2014.
SC
• More children are seen using the library since 2014 but the proportion of schools with
libraries have fallen significantly.
GS
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GS Mains Test Series 2018

Answer Hints: Test No.1 www.iasscore.in

POST- GLOBALIZATION SECENARIO

Reasons Why trickle- down Theory failed

Hints: Governance [1]

and influential is more herd then the others.

Hints: Governance [5]

Corruption is a systemic problem:

Hints: Governance [7]

• According to 2nd administrative reforms commission

Hints: Governance [11]

– Smart and effective records management

– Independent audit, professional management

Hints: Governance [13]

housing authorities, transportation authorities, special service districts, semi-autonomous

Hints: Governance [15]

13. "Development, democracy and empowerment are obstructed, by a series of accountability

– Central among these approaches are participatory budgeting

– Sector-specific budget monitoring (e.g. gender budgeting, children's budgets)

• Social accountability improves the quality of governance:

• Social accountability initiatives can lead to empowerment:

Hints: Governance [17]

[18] Hints: Governance

[20] Hints: Governance

bureaucrats and senior

caretakers are the very

Hints: Governance [21]

financial hardship therefore

[22] Hints: Governance

countries are adopting now a day.

[24] Hints: Governance

• Forest Conservation Act,1980

• Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Hints: Governance [25]

Hints: Governance [27]

Hints: Governance [29]

Hints: Governance [31]

• The percentage of girls out of school remains higher than 8%.

Hints: Governance [33]

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