1 May 2024, The Hindu
Make EPI an ‘Essential Programme on Immunisation’
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- The year 2024 marks a significant milestone for immunisation programmes, both globally and in India.
- It commemorates 50 years since the launch of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1974.
- The EPI was introduced as the eradication of smallpox virus was on the horizon, and a need to leverage the then immunisation infrastructure and a trained workforce was recognised to expand the benefit of available vaccines.
- Following the announcement, nearly every country across the world initiated its national immunisation programme. India launched the EPI in 1978, which was later renamed as the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in 1985.
- In India, this year is also two decades since the country conducted the last nationwide independent field evaluation of the UIP, in collaboration with international experts.
- This is an opportune moment to assess the progress made and envision the future.
The need for the use of labour statistics
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GS 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and the States and the performance of these schemes
- The reform of labour institutions is always in the air as objective (variables) and subjective (orientation of agencies involved) factors keep changing.
- In the case of the industrial relations system and labour market (IRS-LM), variables such as product market, technology, trade and investment, and labour institutions such as trade unions, collective bargaining and strikes keep changing.
- There are two aspects of reforms — substantive issues and procedural aspects.
- Social dialogue is an important procedural institutional process to debate and arrive at consensual conclusions which could be used for legal and other policy-oriented actions.
- In the post-reform period, the government uses social dialogue agency, viz., the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), to push the reforms agenda.
- Evidence-based reform arguments enrich social dialogue — something which has not happened thus far. Social partners have been advocating their “class-based opinions” unbacked by credible data or experience.
- The ILC has degenerated into a “talking shop”.
Implementing the Street Vendors Act
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GS 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and the States and the performance of these schemes
- A decade has passed since the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act came into effect on May 1, 2014, marking a significant milestone after nearly four decades of legal jurisprudence and the tireless efforts of street vendor movements across India.
- Celebrated as a progressive legislation, the Act now faces numerous challenges in its implementation.
- Looking back, the mere enactment of a law did not ensure the protection and security of street vendors in Indian cities; there was much to be desired in its execution.
- Street vendors, estimated to constitute 2.5% of any city’s population, play multifaceted roles in city life. Local vegetable sellers and food vendors are essential providers of daily services.
- Vending offers many migrants and the urban poor a source of modest yet consistent income.
- The vendors also make city life affordable for others by providing vital links in the food, nutrition, and goods distribution chain at reasonable prices.
About the redistribution of wealth
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GS 2: Indian Constitution: basic structure doctrine
- At the time of independence, the main property rights were related to agricultural and other land. The government had to acquire the rights in such estates for carrying out land reforms and construction of public assets.
- There have been heated exchanges between the ruling government and the Opposition with respect to the redistribution of wealth during the ongoing election campaign.
- The Supreme Court has also constituted a nine-judge Bench to interpret the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) with respect to ownership and control of material resources.
AstraZeneca submission over COVID vaccine nothing new, say doctors
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance
- Following pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca’s admission in U.K. court documents that its vaccine against COVID-19 has the potential to cause Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a rare side effect associated with blood clotting, doctors in India said this is not new information and that they are “well aware of the warning which has been available in India as an insert with the vaccine since the time it was introduced for general public here”.
- They added that any adverse event associated with the vaccine would have occurred within 21 days to a month of the first dose.
SEBI board approves changes to mutual fund regulations
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance
- The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is making it mandatory for Asset Management Companies (AMCs) to have an institutional mechanism for deterrence of potential market abuse, including front-running.
- Considering the recent front-running instances observed by the market regulator, the SEBI Board on Tuesday approved amendments to SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 to enhance the existing regulatory framework by requiring Asset Management Companies (AMCs) to put in place a structured institutional mechanism for identification and deterrence of potential market abuse including front-running and fraudulent transactions in securities.
